Health- Learning from elite athletes

As a country we are obsessed with sport. From the All Blacks to our Silver Ferns, Blackcaps, basketball, League and Olympic sports. We love to watch the nation’s best athletes compete on a global scale. 

It is easy to assume that they have some superhuman ability to train, perform and compete that is beyond us mere mortals. How do they hone such incredible skillsets – is it simply by doing hours of training? Is it the technology that’s available to them? What other factors could possibly result in a talented youth becoming an Olympic medallist?

Recently I have been reading The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle – a deep dive into how the unique talents of this world have come to grace us with their presence. Is it purely genetic, or aspects of their upbringing that are more influential? It is no coincidence that there are ‘hotbeds’ of talent around the world – for example, South Korean female golfers, Russian female tennis players, football players from the streets of Brazil. 

The term ‘deep practice’ has been investigated where some individuals can perform a task then rapidly develop a blueprint and then hone and refine it repeatedly. Football coach Tom Martinez is quoted in the book: “It’s not how fast you can do it, it’s how slow you can do it correctly”. Perhaps all we need to do is slow down?

Soon I will be heading away with the NZ team to the World Cross Country Championships. Our team of 26 athletes will be competing against the best distance runners from around the world. The teams from Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda will no doubt feature. When looking around at the start line of an event like this, there is one final factor in play – what is known as ‘the upper 10cm’. These days with the internet, training methods and a global coaching network; there are very few secrets to success. It is instead, the ability of the athlete to focus, concentrate and endure. Mental strength so often determines the position on a podium. This too is a free skill set that we can all learn from. The field of sports psychology is fast growing, given that coaches and athletes continue to realise how important their mental state is on a performance outcome.

Not all of us will become world champions. There are however learnings that we can take to help us excel in any walk of life…and some of these are free! They include:

• Rest/recovery: Athletes at a high level don’t just train hard, they recover hard too. Ensuring you get a full 8 hours of sleep is a good start to ensuring your body can function at an optimal level.

• Hydration: It is crucial to take on enough water, especially if you are losing fluids from exercise. A simple urine colour chart can help tell if you are dehydrated!

• Mental resilience: This isn’t simply endowed on some and not others – just like any other trait, it can be worked on and improved. Deliberately challenging yourself and working through those challenges, self-reflection, goal setting and more can also help to build the ‘mental muscle’.

As we start a new year, use the blueprint of the elite athlete and let some of those habits and ideas trickle down into your life. If nothing else, go to the local library and borrow The Talent Code…it’s a great read!