The Hierarchy of an Athlete

Are you confused on what you should focus on in your training or health?
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Do you feel overwhelmed at how many things are to work on and end up feeling like your making no progress?

Sometimes focusing on too many things at the same time can cause us to give up before we've even started! There's so much choice, so many diets, so many training types and gyms, no wonder people get lost.  

This quick guide will help you move step-by-step to build a strong, healthy base and help you eat, train and think like an athlete. Take it one step at a time, whether that takes you a week or 10 weeks. Remember, rushing leads to dodgy work and the collapse of the whole structure... build a strong base.

Introducing, the Hierarchy of an Athlete.

1. HYDRATION
The first and most important is H20. Our cells are 70% water. You know what will happen if we go without it, yet most of us only will only drink a couple of glasses per day.  Drink a few litres per day, every day without fail then move onto the next step.

2. GOOD NUTRITION
Eat meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, a little starch and no sugar. Eat enough food to support your training, but not body fat. Get in control of your eating by learning more about calories, macronutrients, sugar, good fats, nutrient density, fibre and more. 

Water and good nutrition are the nuts and bolts, the base. The bigger and stronger my base is, the higher I can make my peak.

The bigger the base, the better the athlete

3. METABOLIC CONDITIONING
A fancy word for fitness workouts, circuits and cardio. Can you run, do push ups, burpees and sit-ups continually for 10 – 20min without stopping? This style of intense work is designed to challenge the two major energy systems (we have 3) that contribute to exercise effectiveness. 

 4. GYMNASTICS
Next is gymnastics, using your bodyweight to build strength, stability, flexibility and coordination. Handstands, push ups, muscle ups, forwards rolls, backwards roll, splits and tumbling. Not only will you build your fitness but you'll have a fun time doing it. 

5. WEIGHTLIFTING
From here we can now add in weights and your body will transform even faster. Weights include any foreign object such as kettle bells, sandbags, dumbbells and barbells. For some of us, this is intimidating but the benefits of weightlifting are so important that we should all be doing it. With the right instruction from a smart coach, you will be safe, confident and strong!
 
Next and equal to weightlifting is throwing, or core to extremity movement. Very basically, all movements start at your core and energy is transferred to your limbs, understanding this is a big part of CrossFit and training with functional movements.  We need to know how to "turn on" our core for safe, efficient movement and maximising our power output at the same time. 
 
6. SPORT
Only at the top of the peak is sport, a test of your fitness that you’ve built. Sport helps to put us in a different mind frame, to see how much we are truly capable of. You can always hang on that little bit longer during a race, shoot a little more accurately or kick a bit harder when the adrenaline is going! There are so many benefits to sport mentally and physically and we encourage everyone to get a little competitive every now and then.

Joe Reweti

Owner & Head Coach

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