I love the analogy of building a wall when it comes to how we should build our fitness, don’t you?
In some important ways, our body is a lot like a house…
If you’re going to age gracefully and remain durable as you prepare for your races this coming season, you’d be smart to remember that you need to build your own “athletic” foundation, similar to your home’s foundation.
Think about it…if you’re driving down the road and you see a house that is leaning off to the side with a crumbling foundation, you sure wouldn’t want to buy that house, would you?
Even though you and I would desperately LIKE to be able to, we can’t build true ironman, marathon, or ultra-running fitness by just saying it, OR by taking it ALL in one bite. Just as Will said, we need to start by laying that brick, one at a time, as perfectly as we can, day after day after day.
If we do it right, soon we’ll have that great foundation – one that is stable and straight and strong and that will support OUR “house” in any kind of wind, or more specifically, as the weeks, months, and miles add up!
Which brings me to the main message in today’s blog post:
Any smart season-long training plan and progression BEGINS by:
- Restoring health and balance and fundamental movement quality, and then…
- Establishing a solid foundation that will support all the training that is to come.
At Pursuit Athletic Performance, we call this first training phase, Restoration and Foundation.
So what’s YOUR story?
During this time period, it’s about learning as much as you can about your body – it’s about self-discovery, from a movement point of view – learning your “story” as an athlete. That might sound a little strange but as a coach, I can’t express just how important it is.
Try on some of these questions to get to the heart of who you are as an athlete:
- Where do you feel tight? Why?
- Where do you feel weak? Why?
- Are you routinely fighting some kind of virus? If so, why?
- Do you struggle frequently with constant nagging pain or injuries? If so, why?
- Are you a strong, fatigue-resistant swimmer or a weak, slow swimmer? If you’re a weaker swimmer, why?
- Are you a strong cyclist who can climb with ease, or do you struggle to push a larger gear? If you struggle to push that larger gear, why?
- Are you a strong, durable runner or would you consider yourself injury prone? If you’re not durable, then why?
- When you get tired out on the race course or during long training sessions, do you struggle to maintain efficient form?
Now if your house is about to blow over in the wind, or if that foundation is crumbling and starting to show some cracks…well then, the color of your window shades doesn’t matter very much, ya know?
Your body and your fitness are the exact same thing.
Get started NOW. Answer the questions and take action, and you’ll be on your way to building the biggest, baddest, greatest, fitness “wall” that has ever been built! It won’t happen any other way.
As always, if you have questions, leave a comment of email me directly and let me know. I’m here to help.
To your success!
~Coach Al
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