High level athletes and individuals with a passion for fitness have no problem filling their movement desires in high school and college. There’s plenty of sports and clubs to compete in.

But what happens when this athlete graduates and gets a 40 hour a week job and career.

Usually after a trial of being a self driven gym rat or runner, they find themselves in a high level fitness program and competition.

Such as CrossFit, Ironman, Marathons, or Hydrox.

These are great fitness methodologies that allows people to perform at a higher level.

However, there is a common problem I see with a certain population.

The Problem

We can get away with almost anything when we’re younger. Our lifestyle and movement strategies are almost negligible when compared to youth.

But what happens when these high level athletes get into their 20s and have careers and a social life?

The answer is injuries, overtraining, and under recovery.

All these factors accumulate to an allistic load that breaks down the body.

This usually leads to a fork in the road.

And 1 of 3 things happen..

they quit
they stubbornly push through for the next two decades, then find themselves on the surgical table multiple times in their 40s and 50s
they adapt their lifestyle and training to mimic professional athlete’s lifestyle and training

The Solution

It starts with focusing on recovering. Often times it’s the slow acculumation of under recovery that breaks us down.

This involves many things, such as:

>7.5 hrs of sleep
mental health and stress management
healthy diet
possible supplements
avoiding prolonged postures
smart training
healthy supplemental exercises

I also have found that high level athletes benefit from fluid and tissue work. Or in other words, dry needling, massage, joint mobilization, ART, acupuncture, bodywork, sauna, and/or foam rolling.

It can be expensive, but for these athletes I believe it’s well worth it.

Summary

So if you’re in this demographic that’s in their 20’s and starting to have some pain and injuries (like I did), don’t just push through.

Address your system on all levels.

It may be hard to fix every level.

But sometimes even just addressing 1-2 of these factors can make or break an athlete.