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How are you guys doing? My name is Coach Tim, and just a short decade ago I was in your shoes. Sports were life, and I had my eyes on the prize! College and Pro Sports were in my future if I had anything to say about it. That time training and playing went SUPER fast. If I can give the next generation a piece of advice, is that every moment counts, and you are either wasting your precious time or you are building towards that dream outcome.
I was infatuated enough with the process that I ended up being a coach after sports ended. Imagine how many precious opportunities are wasted by not taking your time seriously. I wanted to write you all an article about what you can expect over the next 4 to 8 years of the primetime of your sporting careers. Hopefully, there is some useful wisdom that you can immediately apply the next time we see you at training or the next time you are on the court/field.
First let's break down how many hours you actually spend playing your sport, then roughly how many hours you can put towards training. There are 24 hours in a day, and you should be sleeping at least 8 of them for optimal recovery. In that case, that leaves us with 16 hours, and if you factor in time to eat, go to school, and do homework we are probably looking at 10 to 12 hours a day participating in these mandatory activities. That leaves us with roughly 4 hours left to ourselves.
If we have practice every day for 2 hours then really we only have 2 hours left that we can dedicate towards what most excites us, or that we want to achieve. Or you can waste it and play video games, scroll through TikTok, or generally not take actionable steps towards those athletic dreams. If we make that extra 2 hours on a weekly schedule that means we have, 10 to 14 hours of investable time.
You can see how 2 to 3 hours a week at AIGA really isn’t that big of a commitment, so 110% effort and attention to detail during the sessions is paramount to gleaning the benefits. Let's answer some questions:
What to expect as an athlete training at AIGA?
You will get a component of movement education, speed development, agility improvement, and strength and power training as well as tissue armoring in any given session at AIGA. You have coaches who genuinely want to see you go on and play at the next level, and want you to be an even better person than an athlete.
Why are we doing these exercises?
There are certain positions that optimize the human anatomy for efficiency. These are taken into account and must be replicated if we seek athletic improvement. Next, high levels of intent are needed to level up the body. Competing and improving the speed and load at which sprints can be performed is essential. After that, the spatial awareness and kinesthetic intelligence needed to perform the increasingly difficult agility drill will help your body prepare for the test that is the game day of your chosen sport. Lastly, the ability to put force into the ground, and decelerate or control one's body in space is paramount in taking your game to the next level and seeing the difference in physical superiority over the outcome of wins and losses.
How long does it take to see results?
Speed and strength take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to see changes, and tissue changes take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and your capabilities directly reflect what you ask your body to do on a routine basis. If you are slow and overweight and can’t catch your breath, then it means you probably haven’t put the work in to have those physical advantages needed for your sport. If you are faster, jump higher, and able to control the outcome of the game with your enhanced strength chances are you have been doing some work consistently and with high effort for a while. Either way, the best athletes focus on the process and not the outcome.
What are some markers I should shoot for?
Speed Agility Goals: 10-yard acceleration 1.5-1.7 10-yard fly 1.1-1.4 Pro Agility Sub 5 Vertical Jump 30+ Approach Vertical 30+ Broad Jump 8ft+ Triple Broad Jump 26ft+ RSI 2.0+
Strength: Deadlift 1.5 to 2x BW Clean 1 to 1.5x BW Bench 1 to 1.5xBW Pullup BW+1/4 to 1/2BW x 3RM Reverse Lunge 1.5 to 2xBW Front Squat 1.5 to 2xBW
These certainly aren’t mandatory to be the best at your sport. But the more boxes you check, the easier time you will have overcome the competition. One important thing to remember is that most sports are based upon skills, but conditioning can certainly win or lose your games because it becomes increasingly hard to perform complex skills when the battery is on empty, or your opponent has a bigger and better engine than you do.
Take Home Message
If you love your sport, and if you are serious about playing it as long as humanly possible, potentially for money someday. Then I hope this article serves as some inspiration as to what it takes to make it a reality, and just how a little more conscious effort can set you apart from your peers. I hope this also, can serve as a reminder of just how much fun you are currently having, and can remind you to not get caught up in trivial, petty, or meaningless thought patterns and behaviors because you have everything that you want right in front of you for the taking. Now you just got to show up, and show out!
