How to become an olympian :: 11 steps

We often get asked by kids "I want to go to the Olympics, what should I do?". and although we never managed to qualify for the Olympics, we do have a saying here in Mexico that might be appropriate for this situation. It translates to "The pupil surpasses the teacher." So in the hopes that one of you goes to the Olympics as an athlete, a coach or a parent, I compiled all my knowledge into a pyramid of what I think are basic swimming needs to help you surpass us and go to the Olympics or to help you help someone make it to the Olympics. And now that I think about it, these could work for any sport. But before we go to the pyramid, just know that you can work hard to improve all of them, except #6. So at the base, we have love for the sport. The road to the Olympics is very long and very tough. If you are a parent or a coach, the best thing to do is to let the athlete fall in love with the sport. There is no use in pushing kids to obsess about something which later they will end up hating. To go to the Olympics you will need to do things that seem crazy to other people, and you'll only do them if you love the sport and you enjoy the process. The second step is having enough money. Although some sports are more expensive than others, all of them require some amount of money. Sadly, if you don't have the money or anyone that can finance your dreams of becoming an Olympian, like your parents, a patron or even an institution, you won't be able to make it. It's sad, but it is true. Good technique is the foundation of any sport. Especially in a sport like swimming, where none of the movements are natural to the human body. I don't know why most coaches don't emphasize this early on, and instead, they focus on strength, endurance or other less important skills, but that brings us to the next step. A good coach is not only someone that gives you a routine, but in my opinion, it should be a business partner with the same goals. Together you will find ways to train the way you need to keep getting better. Endurance and pain tolerance are key. These are both mental and physical skills that you need to be developed in practice and in competitions. Good genes are the only step in the pyramid that you cannot work for. But although they are not strictly essential, especially if you don't live in an Olympic powerhouse country like the USA, you will need to work a lot harder than people that do have good genes. Keep in mind that the lack of talent could be a blessing in disguise because you will probably develop a better work ethic, which is essential for any pro athlete. you need family members, friends and teammates that support your ambition. 2 out of 3 should be good enough. Remember that you need to work hard to build these relationships. Being a good person usually helps. Injury prevention and/or treatment are essential. Taking your body to its limits has a toll on you and injuries happen. But there is no excuse to not inform yourself about the most common injuries of your sport and ways of preventing them. If, or should I say, when you get injured and you have access to treatment remember that your body will heal when it heals. It doesn't care if you have an important competition coming up, or if your coach wants you to swim. Follow the experts' advice and let it heal. Rest is often the best and most difficult thing to do while injured. one important thing to keep in mind is that your muscles don't grow in practice, or at the gym, they grow while you sleep and rest. That is if you give them the proper nutrition. Also, the best Olympians sleep for more than 8 hours. Sleep is even better than performance-enhancing drugs and it is legal. Strength and mobility are some of the most obvious skills. If you don't know what mobility is, then finding out with it mean is now your #1 priority. last but not least is mental training. The only way you find out about the importance of this step is after you lose a race that you were physically prepared to win. That is the only event that you can clearly see the importance of mental training. Fortunately, it comes served with a side of painful feelings to make sure the lesson stays in your mind. Mental training is the very complex, but as a rule of thumb, don't take a loss or a win too seriously, just do your best and try to enjoy it. Now, before you write angry comments on this video, I just want to make something clear. You don't need to have 100 percent of one step to climb to the next. Some of the higher steps in the pyramid will actually help the lower ones. For example, having good teammates will definitely increase your love for the sport, or good mobility and strength will also help your technique. Maybe it's my fault, maybe instead of a pyramid, it should look more like this! It's always a good idea to focus on what you are lacking the most and improve those weaknesses using your strengths. For example, you can use your mental training to strengthen your pain tolerance and endurance. If you do make it to the Olympics one day, make sure to come back to this video and add to the pyramid of needs in the comment section. If you are new to skills and talents welcome! We mainly focus on swimming and occasionally we do fun videos like this. Subscribe by clicking here if you want more videos like these or click here to watch this other fun video. See you there! Swim fast!

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