22/10/2026
I see young athletes looking at what professionals are doing and wanting to copy everything.
Their gym programmes.
Their training schedules.
Their recovery routines.
Their diets.
And I understand it.
If you want to reach that level, why wouldn’t you look at what the best are doing?
But there’s something important to understand.
Those athletes have usually spent YEARS building the physical qualities and training capacity that allow them to do what they do.
You can’t just skip that process.
If you’re 14, 15 or 16 years old, your training needs to reflect where YOU are in your development.
Not where a professional athlete is.
That means learning to move well.
Building strength with good technique.
Developing speed, coordination and control.
Getting plenty of quality practice in your sport.
Gradually increasing the demands of training as your body becomes capable of handling more.
And making sure you’re eating and recovering enough to support it.
None of that means young athletes shouldn’t train hard.
They absolutely should be challenged.
But the challenge needs to be appropriate.
The goal isn’t to see how much work you can throw at a young athlete.
It’s to build the foundations that allow them to KEEP improving for years to come.
Don’t be in such a rush to train like a professional that you neglect the work required to become one.
Build the foundations.
Earn the progressions.
Play the long game.
