How to Train Like an Athlete With a Job and Kids
I’m “retired” from sports today, but I used to be a Division I athlete and swam competitively throughout college. From ages 5 – 23 I didn’t do much else aside from training, competing, and improving my game. As a result of all this work I know a thing or two about training like an athlete. In my opinion, it’s the best way to get in shape and get the body you’ve always wanted.
Unfortunately most people don’t have the time necessary to train like get a body like an athlete, including me! Now that I’ve got a full-time job now and have started a family of my own its tough for me to stay consistent. I’ll be the first to admit it’s not easy to maintain a swimmers body with a 40 hour work week, kids, and family activities competing with work out time.
Even though I don’t have time or desire to train like I used to there are some lessons I’ve taken to heart and still use today to help stay healthy with a limited amount of free time. Today, I’m sharing these tips with you to help you get the most return out of every work out.
1.) Build Work Outs into Your Weekly Schedule: Budgeting time for a work out is advice you’ve probably heard before and it’s become a bit of a cliche for a reason. It really works! If you don’t schedule time for work outs consistently each week, they become easier to put off because your either tired or not in the mood. Don’t let this happen to you!
Put together a spreadsheet or get a daily planner that allows you to write down the times and dates you plan to work out every week. Stay consistent and hold yourself accountable. After a few months of follow through exercise will literally become a habit and you’ll start to feel guilty when you skip days.
2.) Don’t Waste Time at the Gym: Believe it or not, you don’t need to spend two hours at the gym seven days a week to get results. You just need to make sure you’re actually working out while at the gym. How many times have you seen someone enter a weight room, do a set of curls followed by 15 minutes of watching reality TV reruns before heading to their next activity?
It doesn’t matter how much time you spend at the gym, if you’re not actually spending the time working out you might as well stay home. It will be much less frustrating too!
About 30 – 45 minutes of intense activity 3 – 4 times per week is all most people need to stay in shape. You may not get a 6-pack from this kind of a regimen, but you will be healthy when combined with a balanced diet.
3.) Short Bursts of Intense Activity: Contrary to popular thinking and depending on the sport, most athletes don’t run, swim, or bike for extremely long distances. They often do short bursts of intense activity followed by a brief resting period…. take football for example.
For football players the average NFL play lasts less than 7 seconds. That’s not very long. However, each player needs to be able to regain energy quickly for another short burst of intense activity. Running a few miles is not the best way to develop this type of endurance.
I also recommend short and intense activities like 30 second sprints, 25 seconds of hard swimming, or 45 seconds of fast peddling on a bike. Multiple reps of intense activities like this will allow you to get more of a work out in less time.
I encourage you to take these tips and use them for your own personal well being. And remember you don’t need to be an athlete to train like an athlet
