Body Transformation Series Part 2: Routine and Rest

Read Part 1 of the Body Transformation Series: Last years Start to a New Life Resolution

“Understanding that my body could handle it, preparing and planning while executing the most effective exercises was the key. Doing something every day kept me sharp and on track”

For my 2 month “Body Transformation” I knew hitting the gym, functional work outs along with fitness conditioning needed to be refocused, organized and properly arranged so that I could gain the maximum results. With that there were several important components of scheduling that needed to be considered. As a professional player with an entire training and match schedule that required me to fully utilize my body, it got a bit tricky when trying to plan my extra workout sessions. Due to the nature of the training and game schedule, the demands on my body differ from day to day and week to week. This was my biggest challenge: Setting a work regimen and orchestrating a consistent long term routine. I found myself making weekly schedules that focused on specific areas of my improvement, but they were often met with many revisions and alterations. Perhaps a change in practice time, perhaps a change in game dates, or maybe the addition of team fitness or rest day, all had a slight effect on what I had planned. At times, I was excited and motivated to execute elaborate workout plans, but because rest and/or recovery needed to be considered with a tight schedule balanced between two teams, things had to constantly be modified.

So one of the biggest things I learned about setting and accomplishing my personal body transformation was to always be relative and always be flexible to change. The second important thing I learned was that, no matter how much your planned workouts had to modified, changed or moved, there is always time for something. No matter, how tired, sore or inconvenient, there is always time and energy to do something good for your body on any given day.

My goal for the 2 month period was to really focus in on a productive routine that would allow me to do something, whether it was little or big every single day of the week. Some days were simple with more rest and others more elaborate . What I really wanted to share is even as an athlete, with a job that requires an abundance of precise physical demands there is always time for a little more. On the days where my body felt absolutely depleted and I knew that rest was all my body was screaming for, I knew that my body had well enough energy for something simple, such as stretching, rehab exercises, preventative movements, and/or a core workout.

“Even if I was dead tired or it was my ‘rest day,’ a little core and abs could never hurt… Make that a lot of core and abs…”

So, for this time period, what ever I might have had planned or had to alter and change, I made a vow to myself that something would be done every single day. This meant that my “rest day” were exactly that…For some parts of me. I would allow certain parts of my body to rest, BUT other parts picked up the load, knowing they will get a chance to rest some other time.

My point is this: no matter what kind of schedule you have, whether it is a “9-5” or it is a full training schedule as a professional athlete, in order to maximize results, doing something every single day is absolutely necessary. It was imperative for me to create this mental, physical, figurative and literal routine of doing something everyday.

Read Part 3 of the Body Transformation Series: Cutting Out the Bad and Changing Thoughts

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