It is possible to become an Olympian.If you want to get noticed on the international stage, you need to choose a sport and train hard.You'll be on your way to achieving your goal with persistence and the right mindset.
Step 1: Assess your fitness.
It's easy to see the athletes on TV and think, "I could do that!"If you're reading this with a bag of chips in your lap and a soda bottle at your side, you may want to rethink.This is serious.People devote their lives to get to the Olympics.Are you willing to do the same thing?Different Olympic sports require different types of fitness, flexibility, and skill.Different training regimes exist for swimmers, football players, and sharpshooters.
Step 2: Do you like your sport?
You probably want to choose a sport that you've been doing for a while.This whole 10,000 hour, 10 years of practice thing isn't 100% true, but it's not far off.The average Olympian plays the sport for between 8 and 19 years before the Olympics.The majority of Olympians started playing sports at a young age.If you don't have competitive sports experience, consider archery, shooting, or curling.It is easier to make it to the Olympics in less popular sports.Less than 1 in 30,000 competitive basketball or tennis players make it to the Olympics.It's almost impossible to get to the Olympics in a sport you haven't fallen in love with.
Step 3: For long term training, prepare.
Future athletes devote thousands of hours to the sport.250 hours of training per year over 6 months is an example of a typical training schedule.600 hours per year was spent on the junior national team.1100 hours per year over 11 months are the hours after making the Olympics team.
Step 4: A coach is necessary.
Most Olympians say that coaching is the most important factor for success, and recommend it even before you compete at a local level.A coach helps you train effectively and without injury, teaches you new tactics and strategies in your sport, and guides you through the world of competition.
Step 5: Don't let your job go to waste.
The further you get in a sport, the more you'll spend on coaching, equipment, and travel.The US government is looking into a program to help the parents of Olympic hopefuls who go broke.At some point, you may be able to get a college scholarship or athletic sponsorship, but many Olympic sports do not.You can get a job that supports your training by working at a gym or pool.It's a great way to stay in touch with your sport.Once you compete at a national or international level, you'll need some serious time off, so flexible hours are a huge benefit.
Step 6: Have the dreams.
They say you can't have a plan B if you want to be an actor.If you want to be anything that takes work, you have to want it and nothing else.Being an Olympian is one of them.You have to want it so bad that you can't sleep or eat.You have to imagine it at night.This isn't a Sunday afternoon hobby.Without a team, you can't get there.Family, fellow athletes, coaches, and all the supportive people in your life will help you stay motivated and make your dream a reality.
Step 7: Train smart.
During the training season, elite athletes usually train six days a week, but that doesn't mean constant workouts.A training day in weightlifting might involve two hours of lifting and eight hours recovery and active rest.Pushing too hard is a path to the hospital, not the Olympics, as your body needs recovery time to get stronger and healthier.Cross training is an important part of training.Depending on your sport, you'll devote different amounts of time to flexibility, strength, and endurance training.The exact training schedule depends on your sport, which is why a coach is so valuable.
Step 8: Compete to win.
It's great to have a coach, but you have to put your skills up to the test.It's the only way to climb up the ladder and get noticed in many sports.Start locally, go regional, and eventually hit Nationals!The easier it becomes, the more you do it.Imagine competing in the Olympics for the first time.Getting a lot of competition under your belt will prepare you mentally.
Step 9: You can monitor your life 24/7.
You are not training a few hours a day.Your progress, performance, and success will be determined by everything you do.This requires diligence, perseverance, patience, mental stability, and discipline.Your diet is why.Everything you eat affects you.If you load up on carbs at the wrong time, your workout will crash and burn.Too much coffee and you're not sleeping.You can't have too much or too little of anything that keeps you from performing at your best.Sleep.Most Olympic hopefuls get 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night, and often take a 30 to 90 minute nap during the day.After intense exercise, your body needs time to recuperate.You have lifestyle habits.If you're downing a 40 of PBR between bong hits, this isn't for you.Let's leave it at that.
Step 10: You should get financing.
It is possible that you will get noticed if you have been competing for a while.The cream of the crop usually gets at least some money for their time, either from sponsors or from your sport's governing board.Don't expect to make a lot of money, but keep an eye out for opportunities.The National Governing Board is for whatever it is you're doing.You should make yourself known as much as possible.
Step 11: Goal setting.
There are concrete, achievable, short-term and long term goals.You need to work on things that are not about being awesome or training every day.There are records that need to be broken.Competition can be quantified.Set goals for this week.For this month, set goals.Goal setting for this year.It will align your efforts.You'll probably be dealing with a lot of numbers.There is a number associated with it, whether it's going faster, harder, or doing more.Keep an eye on yourself and what you can do.If you know where you started, you can go there.
Step 12: Don't evaluate yourself lightly.
Millions of athletes are good enough to compete.If you want to know if you're made of Olympic-quality stuff, you have to look at yourself.How do you compare?How long will it take to compare?Is the time investment worth it?What has your progress been like?What is feasible?What is the coach's opinion about it?It's important to do this on a regular basis.It doesn't take the fun out of it, but it does affect years of your life.You need to know where you are at any given time.If you want to continue, you need to develop the ability to take feedback, evaluate your progress, and understand what sacrifice needs to be made.
Step 13: It's time to let go of social life.
Sometimes the Olympics aren't always tomorrow.Sometimes you're just training to get better.It will only take the majority of your day on those days.It's your entire life when the Olympics are six months away.Prepare yourself mentally for a full-time job.It's not going to be easy.It will be days when it feels like it's not worth it.Those are the days when you have to grab your mind and wrestle it into submission.All this work has been done for you.You can go back to drinking wine and watching bad movies with your friends.
Step 14: Know what it's like to experience pain.
You don't have to love it, but you need to know it and tolerate it.It's because of pain that we can feel alive, as the author and runner Haruki Murakami wrote.Some days, you won't be able to lift your arms above your head.The next time it happens, it won't feel bad.There is an injury here.If you get hurt, we're talking years of wasted life.It takes a little pain to prevent a lot of pain.You should be safe if you take one thing away from this.It's never a good idea to hurt yourself so hard that you can't come back.Know what your body can and can't do.Be careful.
Step 15: Attend the national Championships.
National championships are the key to the rest of a person's career.It's there that you may be selected to play in the Olympics and secure the next few years of your life.It's time to go big or go home once you've gotten all the smaller contests out of the way.Not all sports are the same.Some sports have tried-and-true trials.Being on a national team is a good step if you want to get into the Olympics.
Step 16: Find a country to represent.
It's not hard to represent a country that accepts you as a citizen once you're an elite athlete.If you have ancestors from a foreign country, look into competing for that nation's team.There are teams that don't require you to get a new citizenship.U.S. citizens can compete in the name of Guam, the Marshall Islands, or American Samoa, and there's almost no competition for those spots.
Step 17: Make it to the Olympics and dominate the trials.
Though not all sports are the same, you may have to participate in the Olympic qualification trials.You have to be in the top of the group to do well.You're in if you score in the top of your sport.That's right!Look at you.That is not necessarily true.Even if you dominate the trials, you may still have to compete in a national tournament.Doing well in the trials is a major boost.
Step 18: Get used to travelling.
You might be traveling all the time between different training centers.This costs a pretty penny, but it can be exhausting in its own right.It's hard on relationships and living out of a suitcase, but you will get to see the world through a plane window.
Step 19: You should consider moving to an Olympic training center.
There are dedicated facilities for training Olympic athletes in many countries.Access to top-level trainers and equipment, as well as introducing you to the international community in your sport, are offered by these.Athletes can benefit from living space at some training centers.In the US, Olympic Training Centers can be found in Colorado Springs, Lake Placid, and Chula Vista.
Step 20: Rest for a while.
There was no joke.As the Olympics approach, many Olympians take it easy.It's a lot harder than a normal person would ever imagine, but still.You don't want to hurt yourself or burn out.Enjoy it.The hard stuff is on the way.You should take a break right now.
Step 21: Depict success.
How you want the process to play out can be visualized.If you want to make a smile for the camera, you need to visualize every inch of your event.It's great to have it all in your head before you go on.Half the battle is not freaked out.Every athlete has a ritual.It could be meditation, yoga, or even jamming out to your own theme song.Whatever gets your brain in the right place is what you should be doing.When you feel it, you'll know it!
Step 22: Have a strong heart.
It needs to be said.The most naturally talented people fail when their hearts aren't in it.A decent athlete who wants nothing in the world but to win can best an athlete wishing he were somewhere else.Get your heart into it.It can make a difference.A British study says that it's not innate talent that makes someone special.There are differences in early experiences, preferences, opportunities, habits, training and practice.If you don't believe in cheese, argue with science.Even if you aren't the best, you can be.