It can be frustrating for an athlete to put hours of hard work in the gym prepping for their sport.  But when it comes time to perform, you still aren’t making any ground on the competition.  You just don’t seem to be getting any better.

What the heck!!

Here are 5 reasons why you aren’t improving and what you can do to change it:

  1. You are on the wrong workout plan! – A lot of times the workouts that seem trendy or you read about in magazines don’t benefit athletes a whole lot.  They are for your average Joe Blow who hasn’t done much in the last century.  Thus they don’t really challenge the athlete a whole heck of a lot and the athlete’s body doesn’t improve.Solution – You need to find a certified strength and conditioning coach who has worked with athletes to advice you on the proper plan.  That coach will understand the skills you need to develop for your sport and a challenging progression to get you from point A to point B.
  2. If you are on the right workout plan, then your form might be awful! – Some lifts, like a clean, take months to get even a little proficient at it.  If you are trying to do it based on some pictures you saw, chances are you are doing it wrong.  This could lead to the wrong muscles being emphasized, less strength development, and ultimately injuries.Solution – Once again, find a certified strength and conditioning coach to go over your form.  You want to be able to move heavy weight, BUT with proper form.  That way, the chance of injuries will go down and the right muscles will be getting stronger.
  3. You are not getting enough rest! – I’m talking rest at night and also rest away from your sport.  If you don’t get enough sleep, well… I just had a whole blog post on why you need sleep.  As you get older, you also need to step away from your sport for a chunk of consecutive days or injuries could happen.Solution – Duh!  Read the blog post I hyperlinked above and try and get 8 – 10 hours sleep if you are serious on improving yourself as an athlete.  Take at least one or two weeks off in the year from your sport.  Don’t do anything for your sport during that time.  I wrote a blog post about that which you can read about how that rest from the sport will help you as well.
  4. You eat like CR@P! – If you see an athlete get done with a workout and start downing pop and some cheese puffs, you need to smack that person in the back of his/her head.  That’s like getting a luxury car and filling it up with sugar water.  Ain’t going to go very far.Solution – As an athlete, you can make nutrition as important of a weapon as speed or strength training.  Learn what healthy choices you can make that will replenish your energy and help your body grow.  You will be refreshed and always ready to go if you eat properly.  Read this post about 5 foods that have incredible benefits for athletes.
  5. Look in the mirror! – Are you working hard enough?  The ten minutes you take inbetween sets, is that necessary?  If you are working with a trainer, is he/she always harping on you to go faster, harder, stop sitting down, etc.Solution – 99% of the time, you know if you gave it your all during a workout.  At some point, you need to take responsibility and if you want to be successful, put the work into it.  Don’t be that guy looking back on his (or her) life saying, I probably should have been doing something on my off days or added a day in.  I could have added more weight to that exercise, but the trainer didn’t say anything so…  Such and such priority really wasn’t that big of a deal, I could have squeezed in another workout each week.  GET IT DONE AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!!