What’s Easy?
There are plenty of hard things in sport. I remember one of the hardest workouts we used to do when I was training for NCAA Division I cross-country skiing was bounding up a nearby alpine hill (it was relatively small) and then jogging back down and doing it all again. We’d take a pretty steep way up and the shortest way down, keeping the recovery short. It was tough. It was aerobically demanding. Muscularly demanding. But I knew it made me a better skier.
It can be easy to see the value of these hard things. Pushing ourselves in workouts. Getting out the door. Challenging ourselves in the gym. Learning a new skill. Improving our technical efficiency. They all have clear benefit to us as athletes. Sometimes, it can almost feel like we’re getting better. That feels good. And it also gives us things to focus on.
But the reality is that not every workout needs to be hard. That’s unsustainable, and I’ve written before about the importance of rest when we’re training well. Instead, I want to pose a question: “What’s the easiest thing you can do to get better?”
Or phrased differently, “what’s one thing you could do today to make you a better athlete?” This can go against the idea that there is some complex formula to greatness. I’m not saying you need to stop doing hard things. Keep that up.
For today, instead focus on simple things that can move the needle towards greatness:
1. Drink more water. This is something most of us could do better with, and staying hydrated helps us function better as athletes and as humans. Try to drink 1 extra glass of water during the day.
2. Get to sleep earlier. Sleep is our most valuable recovery tool. See if you can get into bed and disconnect 15 minutes earlier.
3. Move a bit more. You don’t need to add more workout time. Get out for a 10-minute walk. Do some light yoga or stretching for 10 minutes. Notice a theme? Try to add in one 10-minute chunk of non-exercise movement into your day. This will help physically, mentally, and emotionally.
The key with all of these (and just pick 1 to start) is that we don’t need to make a sea change to get better. You don’t need to start going to sleep 3 hours earlier. That’s ridiculous. Again, “what’s the easiest thing you can do to get better?” Think of your goal as sitting at the top of a staircase. You’ve got a lot of steps to get up there. What’s the first step you can take? What’s the first small shift you can make to your habits to improve?
