How much should you train?

I don’t know about you, but I never thought I’d see the day when Mark Spitz’s record of 7 Gold Medals would ever be broken. Primarily because athletes today are so specialised that it would take a super-human to win THAT many medals against the specialists… But Michael Phelps did it with 8 Gold Medals – all in World Record Time in Beijing in 2008.

Sports scientists are suggesting that training loads are increasing by what some estimate as 10 to 20 percent every five years!

Mark Spitz, won his seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics by swimming 9,000 meters per day. Within 20 years, the average COLLEGE swimmer was swimming more than this and by 1995, Olympic hopefuls were swimming a whopping 36,000 meters PER DAY.

That’s no wonder why elite athletes are complaining. 28% and 10% of 1996 Summer and 1998 Winter Olympic athletes cited overtraining as the reason for their sub-optimal results. Trying too hard didn’t work.

Michael Phelps 8 Gold Medals

Michael Phelps 8 Gold Medals

It’s not a question of poor sportsmanship, winging or sour grapes.

I mean c’mon 36,000 meters per DAY… I can’t even fathom that thought.

That’s what it takes to be the best.

Unless you’re a professional athlete, the question is a valid one with a simple answer.

Train as much as you can, focusing on diminishing returns COMBINED with the value you place on your non-competitive activities and commitments.

Simply put, I teach my business clients that to make $100,000/year, you need to VALUE your time at $100/hour.

If you want to make $250,000, you similarly have to VALUE your time at $250/hour.

For sport, it’s no different – at some point you’re going to hit diminishing returns on the court/field or in your life.

It’s a balancing act that you need to control – I suggest you do it with the VALUE attribution and allocation you place on your sport.

Consider everything it gives you and takes away.

VALUE you it FINANCIALLY and you’ll remove the emotions from the equation, even though the VALUE is a qualitative value.

Go ahead and give it a shot – I do this exercise with my clients in my programs. It’s not something that can be done on a blog.

I can tell you without a doubt it’s necessary to get the life-balance that so many people crave and complain they don’t have.

I’ve always had it, albeit to varying degrees.

I’ve been a competitive hockey player when I was younger and now as a top 20 world-ranked Masters Squash Player, I’ve managed to achieve that while growing multiple businesses, being an employee for few years WHILE I completed not one, but two post-graduate degrees.

The KEY is to know the VALUE of your time.

Only then can you determine HOW MUCH YOU CAN AFFORD TO TRAIN!

That’s a different question that how much you SHOULD TRAIN isn’t it?

Aren’t you glad you’re subscribed to this blog?

Imagine how much I could help you if you joined one of my programs….

In my programs, I explain concepts and strategies to prevent this from happening or what to do to overcome ‘burnout’ or what’s called ‘overreaching’. Additional distinctions and clarifications make all the difference. By the way, I have products that start at $27 and on-going coaching programs that start at $97/month. If you’re committed to your sport, you really should consider it. Enough said since as a CHAMPION, you’ve already decided to step up and make it happen.

1 Response to “How much should you train?”


  • This is an interesting concept of putting a value on time, but I can see how it would dramitcally change the way you viewd your daily activities. I wonder what value Michael Phelps puts on his time. . .

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