5 Factors to Elite Performance

|By: Coach Gaétan Boutin |

The performance of our Strong Athletes is very serious business to us so we always make sure they are ready to perform at the highest level on the big day. Over the years of coaching world-class athletes in all sorts of sports we have formulated what we call the Strong Athlete 5 Factors to Elite Performance. Like any good recipe you have to put in the precise amount of each ingredient if you want it to turn out perfect and there’s no room for shortcuts.

The Strong Athlete 5 Factors to Elite Performance 

MINDSET – It all starts and finishes with a STRONG, positive mindset. This can’t be underestimated so we work constantly on developing and formulating specific mindset strategies for our athletes to ensure they know exactly how to execute come performance time. We don’t like guess work we only like a solid, formulated plan to ensure elite performance!

SKILLS – These are the technical aspects of the athletes sports such as punching, skating, kicking, throwing etc. The athlete’s performance is based primarily on how well they can execute their skills when it matters most so we have to make sure they are running on all cylinders! The remaining 4 factors are basically the supporting cast to ensure that the athlete is able to perform their skills at the highest level every time.

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING – We use this area as the primary tool to physically prepare the athlete to be able to perform the skills from their sport consistently with precision and without limitations. Areas such as strength training, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, mobility, agility, balance and speed work are just a few of the elements we use here to create positive physical adaptations in our athletes.

NUTRITION – You can’t build a world-class racing machine and then piss in the gas tank and expect it to win! When it comes to nutrition we are all about quality first and details second! Strong Athletes eat REAL FOOD, drink REAL WATER and use only the highest quality nutritional supplements available on the market. You can’t waste all your efforts training by refueling your body with low quality sources of protein, carbs, fats and fluids – it just doesn’t work that way!

REST & RECOVERY – A great coach knows when to push their athlete and when to scale them back. All performance adaptations from training occur during the recovery time away from training so make sure you are factoring in enough down time! You can’t always be training full out – hard work alone doesn’t build champions – smart work is what we rely on to take performance to the next level.

It’s important to note that these factors are not in any sort of priority because the dosage of each one will depend heavily on the performance age of the athlete at that given time so know your athletes specific needs. If you really want to get the most out of your performance then we can’t stress enough how important it is to have a balanced, strategic approach to your preparation. There are no shortcuts to greatness!