You probably don't know this about me, but in college I studied Health and Human Sciences with a Concentration in Sports Performance MEANING I worked on the strength and conditioning aspect of sports.
During my two internships working with Women's Basketball and Volleyball, I really spent most of my time picking brains of the professionals around me.
...you're probably not surprised, but, I wanted advice from THE BIG DOG.
The Director of Sports Performance at Purdue at the time was Duane Carlisle. He had come from being the Head S&C Coach for the 49ers and worked with multiple NFL teams, so when it comes to big dogs...he was the cream of the crop.
My naive but curious self would pop into his office a few times a week to check in, ask if he needed help with anything, because I knew he was someone I could learn SO MUCH from.
We had some GREAT conversations.
I wanted to be the best athlete I could be, so of course, I wanted to learn from the best to get there...and that's exactly what happened.
Since I was interning in the MIDST of my final two seasons at Purdue, I wanted to take what he was teaching me directly into my own game, and with his guidance and motivation, he helped me level up physically in a way I never thought was possible.
I was the strongest and healthiest version of myself my final two seasons, and my last two record-breaking years made it clear that it wasn't just coincidence.
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Why am I telling you this entire story about how he helped me become great?!
Because last night, he and I had a LIVE 45 minute conversation on Instagram about what youth athletes (basically 5th grade through high school!) should be doing to make the most of their training from home right now.
He even talked about training as an analogy of a "bank account". If you're not constantly making deposits into your account, you're depleting what you have worked hard for in the past...and honestly, it's time for your athletes to own up if they've been making deposits, or taking out withdrawals with poor sleep, cutting out training cold turkey, snacking on unhealthy foods, or sitting on the couch all day.
If this is your athlete in any way right now, I recommend they STOP what they're doing, and have them watch this interview.
It's a REAL conversation about what EASY steps they can be taking every single day to make the most of their time at home and start making DEPOSITS into their physical "bank account" instead of WITHDRAWALS!
Make sure you watch it quick, 'cause some of the ideas he gives are things athletes can do on this PERFECT day outside (at least where I live!) so they can start STAYING READY for when they get to play again.
Your athlete WILL eventually have a season, and like Coach Carlisle said:
"If you STAY ready, you don't have to GET ready!"
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