Preparedness; How to be prepared for the hill, gym and life…

pre·par·ed·ness

noun

a state of readiness

Being Prepared is the key to “luck.” Luck is the intersection of opportunity and readiness. If you’re not prepared for greatness, you’ll never achieve it… PERIOD.

So what are the 3 keys to being prepared? Mindset, Goals/Planning and Gear.

Mindset:

I’m going to jump right in on mindset, this has got to be my number one favorite piece to work on as an Athlete and easily the most frustrating. As athlete’s we are designed to be externally validated, by PRs(personal records), results, times and more. This leads many on emotional rollercoasters and ultimately in dissatisfaction unless the mindset is changed to a more internally validated system.

“How?” You’re thinking.
I want to accomplish X and Y, and if I don’t I’m going to be frustrated, I’ve worked so hard for it.

Fear and Pain are bigger motivators for most people than positives, that’s how average American thinks, but athletes and often athletes in sports like skiing and biking, do it for fun. The most successful athletes in the world from the ones I grew up with like Angel Collinson and Marcus Caston, to Joey Schusler in the biking world, to people like Michael Jordan, they enjoy the sport. You can’t make a sport so prevalent in your life without loving every minute of it, this is how it becomes and obsession. This is how you find yourself doing everything you can for it, including making sacrifices.

When you’re starting a sport or working out, it’s best that you understand that we as humans avoid pain and gravitate towards fun. Taking it slowly and introducing it in a manageable pace is probably the #1 key to longevity in sport and fitness.

We’ll look at this again in skiing but in fitness, this could look like adding 2 work outs a week and 2 walks for a month and slowly building the work outs up as well as the cardio, like biking or running.

Make it FUN! Get a partner, do it together, make commitments to make it fun and to lift each other up. Do this and the benefits will be so much greater than you’d ever think.

Check out my article on the most important thing about skiing, it translates to any form of athletics.

Make goals together, whether running certain metrics or learning new tricks on the hill, if you have a why, you are so much more inclined to show up(back to the fun thing.)

Goals:

Let’s take a look a at how I set my goals, I borrowed this from Tony Robbins. SMART goals

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timed

If you’re goal is to just to get strong, how will you measure it and hold yourself accountable? Where is your baseline and how are you going to improve? Or if your goal is to become a pro skier how are you going to do it? What tricks, benchmarks etc. will take you there?

Let’s look at how I use this goal setting practice to create realistic timelines for completion.

If I want to land a backflip I’ll set a date, say it’s October 1st now I’d set it for maybe January 1st. This season like a reasonable timeline to accomplish the task for a number of reasons. Obviously there will actually be snow, I can take the time to make sure my fitness and physiology is ready to complete the task. So I’d write this down every morning, “My goal is to stomp the #$%^ out of a backflip by January 1st 20__.” It’s specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and I have a specific date.

Next I’ll create an RPM plan(also taken from Tony Robbins) on how to get there:

Results : What you want to attain

Purpose: Why are you doing it? What’s going to make you persevere through anything to get it

Massive Action Plan: What are the steps that are going to take you there.

So this is how I’d spell that out.

Results : I want to land a backflip by January 1st

Purpose : This will help me with my self confidence as an athlete and ultimately put me on the path of success as a professional skier if I can set and accomplish this goal. Being a professional skier is what I want to be so I will do anything to accomplish the short term goals in order to accomplish the end goal.

Disclaimer: Do not attempt a backflip without proper training and supervision from a professional.

Massive action plan :
Week One

– Run 1 mile 3 times and do 2 Academy of Skiing Work Out
– Look at my diet and see if I can orient eating carbs around my work outs on work out days.
– Buy a Journal to Document my journey
-Visualize Land Backflips on skis 5 times a day

Week Two

– Run 2 miles 3 times and do 2 Academy of Skiing Work Outs
– Make the commitment to take refined sugar out of my diet and to eat carbs only around working out on my work out days. Document How I feel.
– Look around for Rec Centers or place that have trampolines I can use.
-Visualize Land Backflips on skis 5 times a day

Week Three

– Run 2.5 Miles 3 times and do 2 Academy of Skiing Work Outs with bonus work in mind.
– Continue with out sugar, look into meal prep for the week on Sundays.
– Go jump on the trampoline for an hour 1 day.
-Visualize Land Backflips on skis 5 times a day

Week Four

– Run 3 Miles 3 times do 2 Academy of Skiing Work Outs.
– Do meal prep on Sunday and really hone in my diet.
– Jump on the Trampoline 2 times for an hour each time, find someone who can backflip and ask for advice for when I am ready.
-Visualize Land Backflips on skis 5 times a day

Week Five

– Run 3 Miles 3 times and do 2 AOS work outs(up the intensity level from Beginner to Intermediate.)
– Do Meal Prep on Sunday, continue to hone in my diet
– Jump on the Tramponline 2 times for an hour each time, land front flips.
-Visualize Land Backflips on skis 5 times a day

Week Six