If I get asked once I get asked a thousand times…“Jeff, can you tell me what the pro athletes you train do differently than me so I can get the same body?” I actually laugh at this because it’s said with the utmost sincerity and almost like I’m TRYING to keep a secret so that the only ones that are entitled to look good are the guys getting paid the big bucks to be in the best shape of their lives to make a living.
While I do very much respect the privacy of my clients and their desire to train out of the limelight, it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t willingly share some of the key elements of what makes pro athlete workouts far superior to what the average guy is hammering away at with much less results.
What Pro Athletes DO and DON’T DO
The key lies in what they DON’T do rather than what they DO. Let me explain. You see, coming from professional baseball, where we played roughly 162 games in just 180 days or so (not to mention in the scalding hot sun most of the time) the reality quickly sinks in that weight training every day simply will not work!
Just as important as the workout itself is the time spent far away from the gym recovering. As a matter of fact, over 60% of all muscle growth occurs when you’re sleeping at night. Last time I checked I never got in a good workout while I was sleeping.
That’s not to say I haven’t had some productive muscle building nights though! And you should too, provided you’re getting adequate sleep (as we talked about in an earlier blog) and you’re nutrition is supporting your efforts while you’re awake.
More Misperceptions
That’s the other thing…people think that the pros don’t watch what they’re eating. It couldn’t be further from the truth. In the three years I spent in the major league clubhouse, great strides were taken to make sure that the food served up to all of the players was of very high quality and mostly healthy choices. So much for beer, peanuts and cracker jacks!
Moving on, the perception is that pro athletes only train using the most up to date, state of the art equipment while working out in huge gyms. Again, this isn’t true. These guys are using dumbbells, kettlebells, squat racks, jump ropes, pull up bars and medicine balls…and are using them in areas that are less than a tenth of what you’d find in your neighborhood gyms!
Finally, the supplements! Not only are there NOT any secret supplements that pro athletes take that allows them to get bigger muscles, fast results, and more shredded but there are actually just a few that they can legally choose from because of all the restrictions that have come down on pro sports and pro athletes in light of recent struggles within the game with performance enhancing drugs.
Supplement companies must bear NSF certification in order to be approved for use by pro athletes. To date, that leaves just a few very reputable companies to choose from and certainly narrows the selection size down far greater than the average guy gets at his local nutrition or supplement store.
There’s No Mystery Here…
So you see, while it’s customary to attach a lot of intrigue and mystery to what it is that makes pro athletes what they are…the reality is that there really are no “secrets”. They are real guys who train just like you and are limited to the number of hours each day they can do so.
They have lots of skill work to improve upon in addition to their weight room work and this often times keeps them in search of quick workouts that are still effective at building strength and size. Their nutrition, while not perfect, is still very well thought out and their supplement use isn’t far behind.
Physically, there is no difference between you and them. You’re both made up of the same muscles, the same joints, the same tendons and attachments. Hopefully, after reading this…you’ll now see that you even have access to the same workout facilities and equipment. So what’s holding you back? What’s preventing you from looking like a pro athlete? The answer is simple. Nothing…and there’s no better time than now to get started.
Stay Strong,
Jeff
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