Saturday 22 August 2015

Are you in control?

Quite a philosophical title I know, and a relatively philosophical topic, but I stay true to my point.

Are you in control?

Let us discuss.

In life, you cannot control everything to the finest detail. There'll always be something that comes up to put a halt to things - whether it be a colleague at work, stress at home, or those lovely London Underground workers forcing everyone to use their road bikes (and wear horrible lycra).

But let's be honest, I'm not here to talk about life control right now. Maybe one day, but today I want to talk about what I know, and, more importantly, what I can influence.

In sport, there are external factors that you cannot control (or at least not fully) such as:
- The weather conditions
- The knowledge and performance of sports officials (referees, judges etc)
- The ability of your opposition
- The tactics being employed by your coaching team (potentially but not in all cases)
- The performance of your team mates (in team sports)

Now, before I get started on any those topics and get majorly side-tracked, I want to move on to my main point of this article.

I once watched a video of an elite level athlete, I believe it was a UFC fighter, preparing for the biggest event of their career. It was a fantastic, in-depth look into their preparation covering the physical training, nutrition, technical practises, and down-time during the lead up to this occasion.

Honestly I can't remember which fighter it was, but one quote stood out from this short video series:

"I do everything I can to have control of the things that I can control. And being in the best physical condition is something I have 100% control over. Being the strongest, fastest and fittest version of me, is all in my hands."

That's probably not it word for word, but it was along those lines. 

You can't control what kind of shape your opponent will be in, you can't control the weather, you can't control their tactics, you don't know whether the referee is going to be good or bad on the day.
So why spend your time worrying over it?

Your time can, and should, be best spent preparing for those things that you CAN control!

Your physical performance is 100% in your hands. Only you control what food goes in your mouth, how much water you drink, and how hard you work in preparation. 

You could have the best damn physical preparation program written on the face of this Earth. All of the greatest strength coaches in the World could come together and give you the ultimate physical plan - but if you don't execute, or you go through it half-arsed, then it's all a waste.

Before I go on a rant about people who blame others for their own poor performance, I'll finish this off.

Take control. 
Be the best that you can be. 
If you don't have the knowledge, speak to someone who does. 

Put in the work, prepare as best you can, and leave the day with a smile knowing you gave it your best. 

Thanks for reading,

Rob Nitman.
BSc. ASCC.
www.nitmanperformance.co.uk
Twitter - @nitman89  |  Instagram - @rob_nitman  |  Facebook - facebook.com/NitmanPerformance