Become an elite athlete, instantly! No gimmicks!

Written by: Guest Writer Danny Albers

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Become an elite athlete, instantly! No gimmicks!

How can you do this? Decide to.

When I was 325 pounds and started at the gym, I decided I was not a fat guy trying to lose weight, but an elite athlete. So, since I was an elite athlete I trained like one. I woke up very early so I could go train before work. I shuffled my personal life and work life so I could train at night to. I ate food that would fuel my body, not my pleasure centers. In my mind I was an athlete, no question, and it was only a matter of time until my body caught up. Elite athletes sacrifice things to maintain their training schedule. Elite athletes make training IMPORTANT. We ALWAYS find times for things important (just ask any hockey nut if he caught the game last night, in the next breath he will tell you why he has no time to work out). I became an elite athlete in 30 seconds flat; my body only has to finish catching up.

Goals? Yes i had them. I still do. An athlete needs goals. Goals drive you and motivate you. Reaching them rewards your self-esteem and encourages you to try harder, failing them humbles you and teaches you and, if you in your mind are an elite athlete, will motivate you even more than your successes.

People always ask me, at my gym, where I get my motivation from. I have easily the best weight loss track record at my gym in recent years. And of those who have lost significant weight, I am in a far better state of fitness. The reason is as I stated above, I am not a guy trying to lose weight. In my mind I am elite already, so I train that way. When I go to the gym, I am not "working out", I am "training".

Weight loss is not even a goal for me these days. My goals are to run a half marathon soon. To pass the police physical by my 40th birthday (but I likely can now), and to win a Muay Thai or kickboxing tournament fight. On the way to my athletic goals, I will lose weight, it is inevitable, and I do not have to pay extra attention or mental energy to it.

When I started Muay Thai, I liked it very much. That night, I became an elite Muay Thai warrior. So now I train like one. My body? It gets no say in the matter. It is being sculpted and honed as I leave it no choice. Mentally, I am an elite, bad ass mother warrior at the top of the food chain, and I train that way. Every power punch I hold nothing back, even if I roll my wrist and hurt it that day (which thankfully does not happen now). Every round of speed punches leaves me completely exhausted, cause I give it my all. Why? Because that is what the best of the best do. And I consider myself in that crowd, my body only has to catch up.

So the next time you set goals, or find yourself lacking in motivation, ask yourself "What am I?" Are you a guy trying to run faster? Lose weight? Fight better? Or are you an elite athlete, training hard?

I write this to share what motivates me to train hard, as I know that conditioning training is about the hardest training there is. An elite athlete welcomes it, and the person who wants to lose weight, or just work out, dreads it. It is your choice.