The Day-To-Day Athlete.

Are you the day-to-day athlete? Remember, an athlete is defined as someone who regular participates in some form of sport. To better assess your eligibility, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you train everyday or regularly in a week hitting the gym just to sweat it out?

• Do you just pick the exercises based on what you feel like doing?

• Are there days where you train like a cyclist, then others where you train like a bodybuilder?

• Are you just training in order to achieve a timeless goal such as to lose weight or gain strength?

Then you have the symptoms of what I call the day-to-day (D2D) athlete. Working in a gym within a corporate environment, I see plenty of these D2D athletes.

They come in, hop onto the treadmill or bike, do abit of cardio, hop off onto the machines or free weights, move their limbs around and walk out feeling like they have accomplished their exercise quota for the day. No structure or form in their training, just monotonous workouts all dependent on their state of well-being. And with training like that, they want to achieve goals that have no deadline such as "I want to lose weight, I want to tone up!".

This is why everyone, even these D2D athletes, need to apply Strength & Conditioning in their lives.

The benefits of applying Strength & Conditioning into your training:

• Periodization - Gives you structure in the way you train. Allows you to plan phases in your training to help you constantly progress, keeping you motivated throught your training life.

• Specificity - Targets your needs as a person and as a D2D athlete. Enhances your goal-setting methods to give you something specific to work towards (i.e. bodyweight back squats, lose 10kg in 5 months etc.)

• Time-Management - Better allocation of activities in your schedule. Giving structure to your own lives and still allowing you to complete the necessary tasks in everday life (i.e. work, rest, play etc.)

• Holistic Approach - Although the need to be specific, having a good general all-rounded base of fitness encompassing all aspects of fitness is crucial before you get specific in your training.

So, Strength & Conditioning is not only for elite athletes or sports people.

The person sitting at the desk all day, who always wanted to lose at least 10kg, or who has the lifelong ambition of running 10km, also requires strength & conditioning to help them achieve the goals they have. As long as you are training regularly, whether to achieve something or maintain something, learn to apply some form of Strength & Conditioning and see the difference in your training.

Keep that in mind, and if you need some ideas, you know who to look for.

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Stay Strong and Keep Moving,

The Training Geek.