Athlete 101: Trust The Process
Written by Tino Marini
If you have been part of our community then you will have undoubtedly heard the title of this article stated over and over again. The question is, do you just read it, or do you actually believe it? Trust the process!
You Have to Believe
One of the key components in an athlete’s success is that they trust the program they follow and/or the direction their coach is giving them. No matter how good the program or coach is, if an athlete doesn’t believe in what he is doing, he will not make progress. It seems that one of the biggest stumbling blocks in being a successful athlete is the tendency to overthink the process and second guess everything they are doing. At Invictus, we are strong believers that an athlete’s job is to be an athlete, and a coach’s job is to be a coach.
This doesn’t mean that an athlete can’t ask questions, give feedback and make suggestions on what seems to be working and not working. It just means that the athlete shouldn’t have to think about the finer details of a program like progressions, energy systems, loading and volume. Too often we see athletes stress out because they aren’t seeing enough pulling or enough conditioning or the volume is too low, in their opinion. As soon as this happens they either stop putting the effort into their sessions because they think “what is the point in this” or they add in a bunch of unnecessary volume. If they think “what is the point in this” then intensity drops and progress will undoubtedly suffer. If they add in a bunch of volume, then they likely become overtrained and injured. Both are not ideal scenarios.
The Problem with Program Hopping
There are a lot of people who hop from program to program. They never really commit to a full program cycle. They do some of one program and add it to another workout they have seen a Games athlete do on Instagram. Before they know it, the Open has come back around and they are still the same athlete as they were the year before since they have just been “working out” for a year instead of working on weaknesses and building their strengths.
What you SHOULD Focus On
Our advice is to start by finding a program or coach who has produced good athletes. A good coach will always be judged by the athletes they produce and work with on a day-to-day basis. It’s pretty easy to write out a progression and send it to someone and hope that it works. The real test is to see if it works with the athletes you work with face to face, day to day.
Another extremely important aspect is communication. Whether it is individual or group programming, there must be a feedback loop. If the athlete or athletes don’t post results or communicate, how does the coach know if the program is working? It’s an extremely important element that people forget. Some think that just doing the program will make them better, but what happens when you can’t hit the numbers or percentages posted and you don’t communicate that? Well in a good progression you will likely increase in load the next week, but if an athlete or group of athletes are struggling, this needs to be communicated in order for the coach to adjust accordingly.
The Invictus Athlete Team puts a lot of effort into looking at results, replying to posts and reviewing video as we understand the importance of communication and accountability. It also shows that we care about the community and understand that in order to help athletes progress we need to build a relationship and community.
Becoming a great athlete isn’t as easy as following a program. There are so many factors that play into programming and a coaching relationship, but the most important for us is that you trust the process. That will only come from finding the right program and the right coaches that are best for you to surround yourself with.
If you need a coach to design a program specifically for you, hold you accountable and help you find your potential, email us at info@invictusathlete.com.Â
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