Become Elite

Joel Younkins 

Physical Preparation Coach

​With the Winter Olympics going on and the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, it brings up a good reminder for myself to share with you. It's funny, the longer you coach, the more gems you build up and store away in the back of your mind. And then out of nowhere, they somehow pop up and circulate back to the forefront of your brain again...And yes that just happened earlier today... 

I remember having this realization many years ago, that the same things that are good for Elite Athletes to do for preparing for their sport, are all the same things that anyone else should be doing to either prevent, perform, and fix for their physical selves. It just may happen on a scaled down version.

Now, maybe you're reading this and you're saying, "slow down Joel, I'm know where near being an Elite Athlete." 

But are you?!

Don't click off of this yet and go back scrolling your timeline!!

Still here? Good! You see, my background in coaching has always been about Sport Performance and getting the most out of my athletes. Whether they are high school athletes, motocross racers, powerlifters, mothers, fathers, business owners, etc, I have always applied the same training and fitness principles to all of them. Not the same programs, but the same principles.

Elite Athletes lives may look a little different from your life. They train hard, and they focus on recovering for their next workout, practice, or competition. At least they should be...So, because of this lifestyle, they have to pay attention to the little details, they can't live like a normal person and get away with 5 hours of sleep, eating honeybuns for breakfast, and sipping on a Coke in the middle of the day. They turn up the pressure to perform, so the stakes get higher. Their life doesn't look exactly like the normal American Lifestyle as you would expect. Here's a brief glimpse of how an Elite would/should be living to maximize physical performance...

• They sleep 8+ hours
• They drink a lot of water
• They eat breakfast 
• They eat multiple meals a day (4-6)
• They eat lean protein sources
• They eat complex carbs (at every meal)
• They eat fruits and vegetables 
• They train really hard a couple times a week
  • They lift heavy weights
• They have some lighter workouts in between their hard workouts
  • They all perform light conditioning and aren't doing HIIT Workouts
• They put a lot of focus into recovery (naps, massages, scheduled down-time)
• They go to bed at a decent time of night

Realize, this is extremely general of how elite athletes spend their time getting ready for competition. So don't take this all out of context. But it's certainly in window of reality of how they are living their lives. And I understand that these athletes may not have half of the responsibilities that you may carry (it's supposed to be that way for them), but almost all of these things above should be very realistic for almost everyone to obtain themselves at some capacity. 

Outside of high level athletes that I work with, a lot of people that come to JYT suffer with so many similar things. All too often I hear of symptoms like...

• Having little energy
• Unwanted body fat levels
• Lacking muscle definition
• Stiff Joints
• Body Aches/Pain

And honestly what's super funny/awesome, when they start adapting these same principles as above that our high level athletes follow, all of these symptoms start to go away for them. Energy levels rise, body fat levels decrease, strength and definition show, they're aches and pains dissipate and they overall feel better in their daily lives.

You may not be as strong, or as fast, or as good at athletics as high level athletes, but the same things that work for Elite Athletes will probably work pretty good for you too!