T2 Fitness: What it Takes to Make It and What We Don’t See

The experts at T2 Fitness give us some insider info on what it takes to make it, and what work goes on that we don't see...

This blog post serves a couple of purposes. Number one, I want to explore exactly what it takes to gain and maintain your place as a top class athlete. We have a tendency to build people up and cut them down just as quickly. In today’s sports landscape, with lots of prominent athletes making way to their successors at this time it just felt like an appropriate post. I didn’t want these natural successions to take place without acknowledgment – This is the second reason for the post. I wanted to speak to the importance athletes and teams play in our lives and why we hold them on such a pedestal.

Recently my girlfriend asked me if, and I quote, “Will you still love Conor McGregor if he loses to Jose Aldo?” My immediate answer within half a second of the last syllable of her sentence leaving her mouth…’Yes, 100%’.

Granted my admiration of McGregor has to do with his attitude and personality. I love the swagger, the brash nature by which he has taken MMA by the scruff of the neck. Maybe my affinity for the Irish propensity to ‘have a crack’ has had a huge bearing on my opinion of him? Most of all I absolutely love his work ethic. I know that’s the most obvious thing for a fitness professional to latch on to but anyone who has studied him at any length or seen him on YouTube can tell he is absolutely dedicated to his craft beyond anything else at all. His movement and footwork is a thing of beauty. The way he maximises the power harnessed in a 65kg body is borderline unfair, and anyone with the mental toughness to continue a full 25-minute UFC fight with torn ligaments in his knee deserves a massive level of respect.

My feeling is that it’s his time to be champ. I think he will win the belt, beating Aldo, however at this level of sport it is never easy to tell and anyone can leave themselves open for a split second and end up on their back.

For an example of that we need only revisit the tale of Ronda Rousey.

Ronda had been the UFC Female Bantamweight champion for some time and recently got beat in the 2nd round to her foe Holly Holm. No one gave Holm a chance to beat Rousey, an easy assumption to make considering Rouseys last 3 title fights had lasted only 64 seconds…combined!

Most shocking was the reaction to Holms win. Rousey received a torrent of abuse and backlash over the loss from all corners of the planet and from all manner of critics including U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump!

The fact remains Trump would have had no clue about UFC, let alone Women’s UFC had it not been for Ronda. If she had won the fight the overwhelming response from all observers would have been that Holm was just another cannon fodder opponent, fed to the beast and woefully overmatched. Instead the entire world seemed to turn on Rousey and couldn’t wait to rub it in her face.

Fortunately this hasn’t happened to another hero I share with millions of others, the one and only Kobe Bryant. Kobe entered the NBA (National Basketball Association) directly out of high school in America as a 17 year old in 1996. 19 years later and he has finally made the decision that his body is not going to carry him at a high level around the court anymore. No one can deny his ability and transcendent talent. He is a 5-time NBA champion and has remade his game several times to deal with his changing athletic ability.

It is the most natural thing in the world for the body and mind to age, for athletes thoughts and feeling to not belong solely to the sport they grew up in love with and to need a new challenge. However, for these extraordinary people to gain this status takes an almost inhuman effort in the first place. This says nothing about the superhuman workload it takes to maintain it.

Think for a second about the occupation you hold. Now imagine being literally the very best in the world at whatever it is you do! Now imagine that everyone else in your profession was trying to negate your status. That is a seriously stressful environment in which to ply your trade. Any slightly underpar day you have at work is blown out of proportion to the point it seems like you are on your last legs.

Another topic of conversation in my household if the ‘ludicrous’ wages top athletes take home. Having described what I just have, do you begrudge them their earnings?

So aside from the obvious genetic potentials and the talent these people possess in the first place…

What exactly does it take to be a TOP athlete?

One short answer: WORK!

Hours and hours of work dedicated to the trade of course is necessary. If you’re a football player you need to play. If you’re a basketball player you need to practice your shooting. But, I’m not here to state the obvious.

The training regime of high level athletes is hugely overlooked when we are discussing their wages and flash cars.

In my experience of training with high level athletes in an S & C environment the work put in is as draining mentally as it is physically and the dedication to it is not ever questioned. One of the athletes I am lucky enough to work closely with is a professional footballer.

There has never been a single drill, let alone a training session that has been met with anything less than a nod and a ‘How many do I do?’ Nothing is too much trouble, no session too early in the morning. Recently we have worked to increase the functionality of his hip, the goal being to prevent injury reoccurrence and every session I am met with a motivated person hugely educated on his specific ailments.

It takes a tremendous amount of effort to maintain enthusiasm in the face of adversity. Ronda is going through it now. Conor lost two fights prior to his UFC days before recovering to be champion at two weight classes. Kobe threw up two air-balls as a teenager in the deciding moments of a Playoff series that his team wound up losing! He recovered to be compared to Michael Jordan for his whole career.

And my footballer? We have chatted about what it feels like to hear your fans boo, to suffer big defeats. We’ve also discussed playing for your home town team and scoring against your fiercest rivals. He has felt the adversity of injury and has had tremendous success in his career. It takes an unbelievable level of dedication and single-minded focus to make it to a high level in any sport and I just hope people read this and it has an impact on their appreciation of these fantastic people that give us so much joy.