3 key ingredients of an Olympic athlete

3 key ingredients of an Olympic athlete.

The 2016 Summer Olympic games has come to an end & at the LAB we decided to investigate the 3 ingredients used to build an Olympic athlete.

With Thailand excelling in 4 weightlifting and 2 Taekwondo events, a total of 6 medals, many of us must have been inspired by the results achieved. Finishing 35^th on the medal ranking, Thailand has performed exceptionally well compared to those of neighboring countries eg, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines. Thailand 48kg weight class representative Sopita Tanasan who was only 21 years of age, bagged a gold medal for the nation so did her counterpart Sukanya Srisurat, same age with the similar achievement, a gold medal in the 58kg category.

Have you ever wondered, what does it take to become mentally and physically strong just like one of these athletes?

Here are the 3 top ingredients you will need to get you ready to take on the grueling training sessions it takes to give you massive results.

1. Knowing the importance of being able to identify your weaknesses in order to work on it and let it propel you forward e.g. not being able to do a bodyweight pull-up. Working on weaknesses might mean you need to be humble enough to admit it in the first place, be coachable, be patient with the slow progress, and be persistent. Why keep working on something you’re already good at when there are things you need to take care of especially in the area of fitness.
2. Speaking of being coachable, first of all, Olympic athletes all have coaches. Why? It’s not because they don’t have any idea on how to train or improve themselves, but they see the importance of having extra pair of eyes to watch & provide them with external input and feedback so that they may progress. Simply because they’re striving for extraordinarily more than what they are capable of on their own and wish to avoid wasting time on making mistakes which could potentially set them back. Hiring a coach is for all levels.
3. Having the knowledge and skills to juggle and manage multiple things is essential. Achieving a fitness goal is not about doing one or two things right, which is the common mistake people make. Many work hard at the gym and eat clean, but they are lacking in sleep, or the ability to handle stress or maintaining the overall wellbeing in many different areas eg. emotional, spiritual and relationship wellbeing. How do we get good at this? Daily rituals of meditation, a morning jog, listening to inspirational podcast or having a supportive group of friends and family to get you through is essential.

Is now a good time to start?

Your fitness family,

The LAB Crew.