Treat yourself like the athlete you want to be!

Professional athletes are often seen as the pinnacle of physical development. In many sports we see athletes that not only perform at the highest levels, but also will often display physiques worthy of the bodybuilding or figure stage! Take a look at an NFL running back, a pro beach volleyball player, an Olympic sprinter, a UFC fighter, or a EPLS soccer player. What do they have in common? Speed. Athleticism. Varying degrees of muscular development. Lean physiques. Work ethic! Also (in general), a commitment to fueling their bodies properly. Aside from the occasional story we hear of certain running backs pounding bags of Cheetos after team workouts, it's pretty safe to say that most pro athletes take good care of their bodies both nutritionally and with their exercise regimens. After all, their physical health and ability is their livelihood; it stands to reason that they'd look after their investments pretty well. From this regard, many aspire to look or perform on their chosen field like the greats of the sporting world.

So what can we, as mere mortals, learn from examining the habits of these phenoms?

On the subject of work ethic, NFL linebacker Ray Lewis, who went to 12 pro bowls in his career, attributed all of his success to EFFORT and WORK ETHIC. He is quoted as having said that "never in my life did I find a man that flat-out outworked me." That's a powerful statement coming from a guy with two Super Bowl rings, a Super Bowl MVP award, and two time All American. He states that he wasn't the biggest, the fastest or the strongest, and never had been. So how does a smaller, slower, weaker guy beat everyone else on the field. By giving 100% every single play, every single practice, year in and year out. Work. Effort. Consistency. That's what builds champions. Genetics will play a role in how we perform or look, but effort will carry you over the goal line, or can hold you back. That choice is up to you.

Aside from work ethic, what else can we gain from examining the habits of the pros? How about an insight into nutrition....

Take, for example, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. The nutritional habits of Phelps became the stuff of legends during his first run at Olympic glory. He is stated as having eaten roughly 12,000 calories per day during intense training. That's right, 12,000. The comma is in the right place. And have you seen Phelps? Extremely lean and muscular, and his performance in the pool is unparalleled.

So am I recommending to all of you reading this to pound down the entire dollar menu for breakfast? No. The goal is to realize that Phelps and other athletes eat to fuel their bodies to perform, and the results are pretty obvious. Athletes eat enough food to meet their own bodies' nutritional needs, but not to excess. No sprinter or wide receiver wants to be propelling an extra 30 lbs of fat down the field or track at top speed. Extra weight would cause them to lose a competitive edge, and would render them obsolete in a highly competitive field. BUT neither do they starve themselves on crash fad diets or arbitrarily remove calories for the sake of vanity or out of laziness. They need to have the energy to perform day in and day out in training and on game day. So too should all of you reading this. Eat to fuel YOUR body, and YOUR physical training needs. Too many times I see people drop their calories unnecessarily low in an effort to drop body fat (or simply neglecting to eat due to life's way of making things tough), and subsequently hamper their gym performance, feel like hell, and often actually wind up GAINING body fat from throwing their body into a starvation mode. I'll use myself as an example, as I've done this to myself more than once in the past. Trust me, eating too little is not fun, and it makes you suck in the gym. Stubborn can take you so far, but your body needs fuel. No two ways about it.

So, in conclusion, there are a number of things we can learn from examining the habits of big time athletes. I wouldn't recommend carrying a firearm to a nightclub, getting in an elevator with ray rice, or attending the Peterson school of patenting, but by looking at the work ethic and nutritional habits of the highly motivated and truly consummate profession athletes of the world, we can gain some solid insight as to how we can improve our bodies' looks and performance.

Steve Decker