The 6 Traits and Habits of Elite Athletes

What Can Powerlifters Learn From The Best In The World

I have worked in sport for 20 years and I have been incredibly blessed to work with some of the best athletes and coaches in the world.

Athletes from World Cup winners in professional rugby, Premier League footballers, elite rowers and obviously world class Powerlifters. Coaches who have won Grand Slams, coached multiple World Champions and won awards themselves for coaching practice. There are common themes you will see in the very best, those that make their way to the very top of their sport and achieve results that all others aspire to.

Below is a list of these themes, and you see them time and time again in the very best.

Loving The Process

These athletes and coaches love the process of self improvement, they buy into it wholeheartedly and as a result they get better and better and better over the course of their careers. You will not reach the summit of your potential if you do not love the process and this is why your understanding of training systems, models and practices needs to increase because with that increase in understanding you will now see all the benefits of what you are programmed or plan yourself to carry out. The other point to labour is the distinction of the summit and potential, this has to become a personal journey that you go on to be the very best version of yourself, not outcome driven with medals, accolades and awards. the likelihood of achieving these things will increase drastically if you don’t have them as end goals. They need to become part of the process of self improvement. The goal is the journey.

Always Turn Up

Consistency has been present in all the top performers I have known, they know the value of repeated exposure. If we take a step back and view the body as a biological organism that responds and adapts to stress you will then see how important it is to provide repeated specific stimulus over a decade or more. There will always be days when you feel tired, unmotivated, sore. But these days are the ones where real progress is made because you didn’t wait until you felt “good” you applied the stimulus that will crate change. Alway turn up, always do the work.

The Highs and Lows

Declan Kidney was one of the best coaches I worked with in my time in rugby. He would always say “Don’t get too high from the highs and don’t get too low from the lows”. He wanted there to be balance, he wanted the players he worked with to never get too far ahead of themselves when things go well because you are likely not as good as you think you are and you must stay grounded and continue to work hard. Conversely when things go badly you are likely not as bad as you think you are and you must not beat yourself up too much from a poor performance, again getting back to the things that make you better and less self loathing. The very best athletes I have worked with know the power of this, they won’t ever start talking themselves up and become complacent they will stay grounded and return to the hard fundamental hard work that got them where they currently are. They also won’t beat themselves up too much, self confidence is a double edged sword but when used in the right way you can get over a poor performance and write it off as just that “a bad day”. From my own research more recently I think the best quote I have ever heard on winning and losing is the “You either win or you learn”. If you adopt this mindset you can never lose, you just get better.

The Journey Of A Thousand Miles

Alongside consistency and turning up, the very best know that they are on a journey and on that journey they will travel a very rocky road. The first few years of lifting and competing you will get better no matter what you do. As you progress and get closer to your genetic ceiling you will find roadblocks, injury, life stress and increasing performance pressure to name a few. The important thing the elites all exhibit is that they try to make small improvements daily. Whether thats training based, recovery based, nutrition, lifestyle, mindset, they are always looking to improve something. This trait over time has a huge compounding effect on performance and allows for continued progression even though you may not immediately notice the change from the individual action.

Embracing Collaboration

There are no real individual sports, you may have the performer standing alone in the arena but they are supported by a whole host of people who would have helped get them to that point. To be elite is to understand this and seek out help and assistance, to know the limits of your own knowledge and get help. All the elite performers I have witnessed seek assistance but they are very clear on the outcome goal they want from the help and are incredibly demanding of support staff to provide genuine expertise. If you wish to be an elite performer do not let yourself be spoon fed. Think often about your Powerlifting preparation and ask questions of the people around you to constantly improve, this continual feedback is collaboration, not just waiting to be told what to do.

Love of Competition

Finally and this may be the most important trait of all. It seems obvious when you say it out loud. Elite performers love competition and competing, it is something they seek out and don’t shy away from. They want to be tested and consciously or unconsciously they know that seeking out competition will ultimately make them better. If the stakes are higher then they rise to the occasion knowing full well that their best on the day still may not be enough, but they want to know. You will not find an elite performer who doesn’t love the pressure of competition. How do you develop this? Is it in-built in people? What drives them to seek out challenge? Across all of the very best you may find some level of trauma in their history, not necessarily bereavement or things of that nature but definitely some period where they were given a choice to either continue or give up and that will stay with them for a large period of their lives. If you don’t seek out challenge you will never be the best version of yourself you could be.

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