balance

Mental Moment-vacation

Written by on September 25, 2012

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I am on vacation this week. Why am I telling you this? I want to talk about the importance of vacation for elite performers. Balance & relaxation First and foremost vacations give your body the much needed rest it deserves. Our bodies were not meant to go 24/7 and when we do burnout tends to happen. We get tired, cranky, unable to deal with stress and anxiety or even simple everyday tasks. I would say that all of the elite performers I work with have had to deal with burnout at some level and I am sure they’d all agree … Continued

Mental Moment-elite performers ‘work-life’ scales are unequal

Written by on September 3, 2012

executive privilege

The Sunday NY Times rarely lets me down when it comes to having good articles that I can use for blogs. Yesterday’s paper had an article: When the Work-Life Scales Are Unequal talks about how work-life scales are largely unbalanced and unequal for people who don’t have children. Other executives with children For many years I worked as a salaried executive. What this means is that I work as many hours as I need to in order to get my work done and in many instances the work of others. Being type A and highly motivated I can get a lot … Continued

Mental Moment-taking a day off/finding balance

Written by on August 6, 2012

timeoff

There is a lot of voodoo around participating in activities outside of your performance and taking time off from performing. If you participate in outside activities then you are not training, practicing or working hard enough. Some performers think if they take time off it means: OMG I can’t ‘stick it out’ or I can’t handle the pressure or I don’t have the strength to keep going. Some may go so far as to think if they take time off they might never come back: how will I get started again. Have you ever felt this way? For many Elite … Continued

For triathletes this is a time of transition

Written by on November 4, 2011

Burnout

A friend trained a full year to do an Ironman triathlon. At the conclusion of her event she had a conversation with me about her depression, weight gain, irritability, and lack of energy. My friend spent a lot of time with her team and now doesn’t. She spent hours every day training and now doesn’t. She put in an enormous amount of energy, training and learning about the sport; all things that weren’t ordinary to her life and now doesn’t. Unconsciously she gave up everything in her life during that time and when the event was over she had no … Continued

Life as a professional athlete in-between times

Written by on September 16, 2011

If you are not yourself

As a professional athlete all you know is how to be an athlete! With the whirlwind speed of your life, training and competing there isn’t really much time to sit and think about a lot of other stuff. It seems that most of you shield yourself  (consciously or unconsciously) from thinking and dealing with emotions while, because you are busy in your daily life. Transitions are difficult for professional athletes When you have down time from your sports career what happens? I’ll bet you are surrounded and confronted with a lot of challenging stuff. It makes sense. You life is generally surrounded with training … Continued

Shifting Gears & finding balance: final case study

Written by on September 15, 2011

Mommy and athlete

The is the last of a three part series. K has realized that being a Mom and being a triathlete are both important to her and that she needs to keep them both in her life. She‟s figured out the balance and feels good about making it all happen. Now the entire family is involved in her triathlon life. She is very pleased that she has figured out how to incorporate her two favorite things together. “So I guess I got through the transition from competitive athlete to pregnant mother ( and back again) by writing my own set of rules and … Continued

Professional athletes deal with mental struggles too

Written by on September 10, 2011

You struggle with mental performance!I am working with some Olympic athletes right now who are struggling with their mental performance. Just because you are a professional athlete does not mean it’s too late to add a mental game plan to your physical training. What things do you struggle with on and off the court, field or course? What skills do you feel you can improve on? You’ve come a long way in your professional sports career otherwise you wouldn’t be a professional but what gets in the way of you getting even better particularly in the most challenging moments: when … Continued

Shifting Gears & Finding Balance as a Mommy and a Triathlete (part II: case study)

Written by on September 2, 2011

Book cover

This is the second part of a three part series. Last week K was in the initial stages of questioning her ability to be a Mom and a triathlete. In this second part balancing both gets extremely more difficult. Just as K was figuring out how to be a Mom and a triathlete she got pregnant again. She was feeling anxious about having another baby because, although she loved her kids, it was a lot of responsibility. K feels selfish for wanting to train and feels guilty for wanting her body back so she can train. Continuing to train, she … Continued

Shifting Gears & Finding Balance as a Mommy and a Triathlete (part I: case study)

Written by on August 26, 2011

Book cover

The next few weeks I am going to share a case study from my book that emphasizes what some women triathletes go through to find balance in their lives. My book: Shifting Gears: How Women Triathletes Balance Life with Sport was written about the transitions women triathletes go through to participate in the sport of triathlon. Part of those transitions include balance. Balancing Mommy & Triathlete K’s transition is about balancing being a Mom and having time for herself to be a triathlete. Although she identifies as being a Mommy she also likes to be identified as a triathlete. “Did … Continued

How do you help your clients find balance in their life

Written by on August 24, 2011

balancing life

  Clients struggle and sometimes quit. What does this mean? As a coach and a personal trainer it’s important to have a sense of balance and what that means for each client. I can’t tell  you how many times I’ve worked with an exerciser who’s said that in their first experience with exercise they hired a personal trainer and the trainer gave them so many things to do and things that were so difficult they didn’t go back; they quit exercising. On the other hand, I’ve sat with people who were addicted to exercise. My dissertation was about what transitions women … Continued