Jeremy Frish wrote an article on http://www.strengthcoach.com on his 10 things  he wished he had done as an athlete.  After I finished reading the article I was so impressed with his insight on his past training I thought I would give it a try.  This is not a list of my regrets as an athlete, this is simply my list of items i wish I had done more of, known more about or listened more to the advice someone had given me when I was younger.

So here it goes:

1.  I wish I had spent more time static stretching.  I had poor flexibility as a youth athlete, I had poor flexibility as a High School athlete, and I had poor flexibility as a college athlete.  Now after battling injuries that would have been significantly less frequent or prevented all together by having good and functional flexibility.  It is only now as an Adult athlete and coach that I appreciate static stretching and all of the benefits of maintaining and having good flexibility.

2.  I wish I paid more attention to my diet.  In high school I took your typical health class but I never knew until I got to college that I needed to eat different and better as an athlete.  It was not uncommon for me to eat some type of fast food prior to a game or even worse hit up the snack bar during the JV basketball game prior to my game and eat some mike and Ikes with a coke.  Then I would be left wondering why my energy level crashed in the second half.

3.  I wish I had spent more time performing metabolically correct conditioning for my sport.  I was a Basketball player and I would spend a lot of time performing Long Slow Distance running to prepare for the season.  Now I did my fair share of playing basketball but when I wanted to do a conditioning workout I usually laced up a pair of running shoes and went for a 2-5 mile run.  Now I kicked my ass when I went for these runs but every start to the hoop season I would be dying during the first two weeks of practice because metabolically I wasn’t ready.

4.  I wish I never fell for gimmicks.  Yes, I bought Strength Shoes. In the late 80’s early 90’s strength shoes were a staple for basketball players.  If you are unfamiliar with strength shoes they are the shoes with the huge platform on the forefoot and then you perform plyometrics.  Now if I had saved myself $150 bucks and just did the plyometrics. I probably would have seen the same results if not more.  So, the truth about gimmicks is that they are gimmicks and there is no quick and easy way to build strength.

5.  I wish I lifted weights during the season and not just in the summer.  I would hit the weights in the summer hard.  After my freshman year my father got me a weight set for Christmas and we put it in the basement.  There it sat all winter long until spring track ended and I could then hit the weights.  All summer long I would get stronger and I would feel great once soccer season would roll around.  But, then come mid August the weights would sit in the basement and collect dust.  I wish I knew to keep my workouts intense and drop the volume, that I could get stronger during the year that way and maximize my strength.

6.  I wish I didn’t buy a body building book to learn how to lift weights for sports performance.  The first strength training book I had was a paperback Gold’s Gym strength training book.  It was filled with loads of good solid advice and exercise routines if I was training for Mr. Universe but not for high school sports.  I needed to get away from the Knee extensions and biceps curls and do more squats and over head presses.

7.  If I just could have understood that it was NOT cool to fight through injury.  Injury and the resulting pain and loss of function is the body’s response to injury and not just a hurdle to get over to stay in the game.  At the age of 34 I am paying for this mistake over and over again.  Now I am not saying to quit playing with every little bump and bruise.  But, if a medical professional like a Doctor, Athletic Trainer or Physical Therapist for example suggest you should sit out I would follow that advice.  When you are making millions of dollars professionally then think about playing injured.  When you are still developing physically and as an athlete sit it out.

8.  I wish I had more access to video.  Watching video of your play is one of the best ways to see what mistakes you are making as you play.  Now with affordable digital cameras and other forms of multimedia it is easy for athletes to perfect technique in all aspects of performance.  But, the big mistake is watching video for enjoyment or not having an idea of what to look for.  Going through film of you play or drills should be from a critic’s point of view.  You should be looking for your mistakes not looking to see how good you look.  You should watch tape to have a plan of what breakdowns you are looking for and how to correct them.  Critiquing for critiquing sake is no good. 

9.  I wish I worked out with heavier weights and did lower rep.  For some reason playing soccer, basketball and track lifting heavy weight for low rep was frowned upon.  I listened to too many people who did not have the background to give advice on the matter and also listened to my body building book I purchased (See #6).  To build strength you need to lift heavy and for fewer reps.  Working at 90-95% of your 1 Rep max for sets of 2-3 is a good recipe to get strong. Performing 3 sets of 10-12 at 60% max effort is a good scheme for a soccer mom.

10.  I wish I paid attention to having FUN.  Playing sports and participating in athletics is fun!!! Yes the goal of playing sports is to win and be successful.  But, the overall satisfaction of laying it on the line to achieve victory should be fun.  There is no sport that is life or death and it should not be treated as such.  Now, I am not saying that you should not have a bad taste in your mouth after losing, you should.  But, if you know you gave it your all and your all wasn’t good enough it does not mean you shouldn’t have enjoyed the effort!

That is my list of things I wish I did differently.  So, if you are a current young athletes please heed some of my advice as it will only help you achieve your goals.  If you are a former athlete I would love to hear some of your things you would have done differently.