It is a given that to achieve any level of success in sport
demands hard work. That being said anyone can work hard, the champions are the
ones who work smart. They know how to balance the work in order to get full
benefit from the time and effort in training. Some athletes and coaches make
the choice to try to go hard all the time with the hope that they will survive.
It is just that hope & hope does not win medals. In reality more often than not it is this athlete who is
seldom there when it counts the most. They either get hurt or spend all their
time managing niggling injuries that keep them from achieving results. The
alternative is to train smart, understand you capabilities and recoverability
so that you can thrive and be at your best when the stakes are highest. Smart training balances the hard with
the easy, it takes into account individual differences and allows for differing
adaptation times to different training demands. To train smart listen to your
body and follow what it is telling you. Training accumulates over time so
recognize that you are in it for the long term.