Guest Blog from TrueFitness: Working out by Yourself

Training for your upcoming season is a team thing. It should not be individualistic. It is a time to create a bond and build chemistry as a team when you are all pushing your bodies to the limit and maximizing the team’s chances of success and victory. When the team trains together it helps to create a competitive environment which is a natural motivator amongst athletes. The competitive nature of athletes helps them to naturally push harder and get every last bit of effort when they compare themselves against their teammates. This is why we like to train athletes as a team or small group rather than as an individual.

Picture back to a time when you went for a workout and just weren’t quite feeling it that day. You went through the motions to get in a workout but really never applied full effort. For athletes this is simply unacceptable as this is the recipe for disaster when the season starts and any athlete who missed a chance during off-season to prepare to be their best will increase the risk of defeat.
Allowing the competitive nature of athletes to be present during the workout helps to foster an environment of maximum effort and intensity. The competitiveness of athletes needs to be harnessed and manipulated so it brings out the best in each individual. This will improve every workout meaning that the athlete will have a greater chance to reach their potential. An athlete reaching their potential is what we as trainers and coaches are striving for since we need only care about game performance, wins, losses and championships. Yes, the health of our athletes is important but as long as our program is safe, structured and follows the principles of specificity and overload then their health shall be ensured.

Any individual who trains alone will be lacking this competitive training environment and will surely have individual workouts that are lacking in intensity. With the lack of time and training days, any training sessions that are wasted will not help to prepare an athlete. As a trainer we need to prevent this from happening. We as trainers will always be there to push our athletes but even the best trainers in the world need some extra help with motivating athletes from time to time. This little bit of help comes in the form of the competitive nature of athletes and any athlete worth his salt undoubtedly has a burning desire to win and more importantly not to lose. Allowing our athletes to be competitive will give them the extra motivation we seek and will help any trainer push their athletes to their potential.

So how do we create the most effective environment for bringing about the competitive nature of athletes? It starts by creating workouts that naturally allow athletes to be going head to head against players of the same size, speed, or position. Also using positive and negative cueing tactics will help to motivate. Using reverse negative psychology will work on any athlete as long as it isn’t done as the only source of motivation and not done too often. Having an athlete go against someone that is better, faster, stronger or quicker will help to push the person who is a step slower or weaker. Remember however that the faster athlete needs to be treated the same and challenged in the same way against someone slightly better. “There will always be someone better than you” are words that will help to push athletes as well.

These are just a few of the tactics that a trainer can use to push and motivate athletes to create a competitive environment and bring about the best of an athlete, group and team. Use what you can to help motivate your athletes but also remember that negativity can go too far. Use it sparingly. Now go out and push your athletes to the limit and watch as their athleticism improves and your chance of team victory improves.

This article was written by Spencer Aiken,CSCS CEO of TrueFitness San Diego,CA. To contact TrueFitness or for training, contact them at 951 296 7993 or email: m#mce_temp_url#