5 Tips to Train Like a Pro!

1. Dedication: you have to remember that for professional athletes, training and practicing is their job. They have gotten to where they are because of their dedication and work ethic so if you want results, you need to take your workout seriously! Hanging out by the water fountain and talking to people at the gym or standing around staring at other people working out isn’t going to cut it. Enter your workout with the attitude that you’re there to get work done and to accomplish something. Just like in a game, I zone out everyone else in the gym as if I’m zoning out the away crowd during one of my games. Nothing is going to come between me and getting a good workout in. Another way to focus is to listen to your I-pod when you work out. Try listening to music with an upbeat tempo, something that will keep you moving and keep your heart rate up throughout your work out.

2. Get a trainer: It is difficult for the majority of individuals to push themselves working out alone. It’s always those last few repetitions or that last lap on the track that is the most difficult. A good trainer can not only correct any bad form you might have, but can help motivate you and push you through those tough times. Doing those extra reps is what makes the difference between a pro and a regular ’ole Joe. All professional athletes work out with a trainer or strength and conditioning coach. These trainers are there to push them to the limits and to make them the best.

3. Eat like an athlete: If you are going to workout like a pro athlete, you better eat like one. So guess what… you better kick that “no carb” diet to the curb. The primary sources of energy for the body are Carbohydrates and Fats. At rest, the body uses about the same percentage of each as energy. As the intensity of the exercise increases the body uses a much greater percentage of carbohydrates than fats as energy. If you’re working out pretty strenuously from an hour to two hours a day, then you should be eating around 3 grams of carbohydrates for every lb. of body weight you have. Not having that energy readily available will hurt both the intensity and duration of your workout.

4. Physical toughness: There are days when pro athletes are sore, tired, hurt, but they still go in and work out. If you’ve taken 2 to 3 days rest and your hamstrings and gluts are still on fire from doing lunges, do them again! They have most likely recovered by then but still probably have some lactic acid build up in the muscles, so working those muscles again will help break up the lactic acid in those muscles and get the soreness out.

5. Mental toughness: As the Navy Seal’s put it: the body can take all the pain in the world; it’s the mind that often isn’t tough enough. If you’re working out correctly or whether you’re doing resistance training or cardio, your muscles should burn. That pain can be intense sometimes, but it’s that mental toughness to keep going. That is what separates the professional athletes from recreational athletes, that mental toughness to grit down and keep going when things get tough.