Becoming a better athlete (& human) needs work and direction. This is easier said than done while we face adversity and knowledge gaps. With the following series of blog posts I will introduce you to my coaching framework that is based on first principle thinking and doing the basics right. The goal is to help you to reach your full potential no matter where you are in your athletic development.
Why first principle thinking?
Breaking down problems to the smallest known core truth will help you to build up knowledge and apply this to your very personal situation.
Here is an example: “I want to run a faster 5k“. Good! Let’s break this down. What is needed to move your body faster from A to B? You need to put one foot in front of the other. Duh! How do we know what the best way of doing this is tho (good running technique)? Well thanks to physics (& years of experience of humans running fast) we will find a solution. So before we do anything else we have to look at the movement pattern of your running technique and figure out if that foundation is set up right or if you are trying to build a huge house (good fitness) on a shaky foundation (bad technique). For example this might lead us to look into gait analysis and how the force from the impact of running will travel through your body. Once we are past the point of getting into a great running technique (that will make you less prone to injuries) we can move up the thought chain again and go to the next bigger problem: worrying about how to structure your training. To do that we need to figure out what your other limiting factors are to run a faster 5k. Do we need more oxygen intake or more efficient muscles? What kind of work (training, nutrition, mental, time management etc) do we need to put in to get past these limiting factors? And then we build up your program from there.
This approach might feel overwhelming at first but it will set you up for LONGTERM success. As we go along you will get a hang of it and it will make a lot of sense. Let’s take a look at our topics:
Reach Your Full Potential Series:
- Goal Setting – Understand Your Why
- Know Your Limits – Testing & Planning
- Adaptation In The Body – Cardiovascular, Metabolic, Muscular, Bones & Hormones
- Training Zones
- Trainings Load & Stress Management
- Intensity – How Much & How Hard
- Recovery – Sleep & Stress
- Nutrition – Fuel The Work & Energy Demands
- Mind Games & Longterm Planning
- Winning By Making Less Mistakes
- Putting It All Together
There is a lot of ground to cover and the personal rate of learning will fluctuate. To make it easier I will try to paint a vivid picture by using examples along the way. As my background is in cycling and triathlon these examples will often be from those sports but the cool thing about first principle thinking: you will understand how you can relate this to your sport & situation.
To reach our full potential as an athlete and human we need to work hard and learn from our mistakes. While trying to manage a social, work and family this can be a lot. So show yourself some compassion along the way and keep up the grind.
Flo
