You exercise regularly.  How would you define yourself?  Are you an “athlete” or an “exerciser”?

Many people hesitate to call themselves “athletes” because “athletes” are people who go to the Olympics or get paid to do a sport.  And…really…what does it matter?  I say it ABSOLUTELY matters because how we view & define ourselves (i.e., our identity) directly influences our actions.  James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, calls this phenomenon “identity-based habits“:

The key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first.  Your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity.  What you do now is a mirror image of the type of person you believe that you are (either consciously or subconsciously).

To change your behavior for good, you need to start believing new things about yourself.  You need to build identity-based habits.

When I take on a new coaching client, I have them sign an Athlete Contract.  The first of 7 items they must agree to uphold is:

“I am now ‘an athlete’ rather than ‘someone who does this sport’.”

To me, committing to be “an athlete” is most important simply because, without that mindset shift, habits won’t change.  And when folks come to me for coaching help, they’re asking for better habits, better patterns, better actions & ultimately better results.

So, what changes when we think of ourselves as “athletes” rather than “exercisers”?  In my humble opinion, 5 things change.

Change #1 – Athletes ask for help.

One of the fastest ways to improve is to ask for help from a qualified professional.  Over the 20+ years I’ve been in business I’ve seen people spend thousands of dollars on new equipment…but then tell me they can’t afford my coaching rates???!!  Ok…here’s the deal.  You can put me on Annemiek van Vleuten‘s bike…but I ain’t gonna win the Tour de France Femmes!

Don’t get me wrong – good technology & equipment are certainly important.  But the person USING the technology & equipment is more important.  Athletes prioritize the preparation of their minds & bodies & employ a team of professionals to do this – dieticians, sports psychologists, performance coaches, strength coaches, physical therapists, massage therapists…the list goes on & on.  Just think about it this way.  Just about every Olympian & professional athlete has a coach.  So…why would we think that we can get great results through DIY?

Change #2 – Athletes address ALL areas of fitness…not just 1 or 2.

When folks think about getting fit, the top 2 areas that receive attention are cardiovascular training & strength training.  While these are both important, they are not enough to create “an athlete”.  By comparison, athletes think wholistically about their health & fitness.  They train multiple areas of fitness including, but not limited to:

• Cardiovascular (aerobic, anaerobic)
• Strength (endurance, power, functional)
• Mental (positive thinking, goal setting, visualization, meditation)
• Mobility (flexibility, joint range of motion, muscle/joint coordination)
• Technique (skills, drills)
• Nutrition (macronutrients, micronutrients, hydration, amounts, timing)
• Recovery (sleep, recovery days/weeks/months, prehab, rehab)

Change #3 – Athletes follow a structured plan that focuses on specific goals.

I go to the gym quite regularly to coach, swim, lift weights & do mobility work.  And I very regularly see the same folks there doing the same things week after week after week.  First, I applaud their consistency & their commitment to exercise.  Doing something is hands down better than doing nothing.  Second, I wonder about their goals & how successfully they are reaching them.  If their goal is to routinely exercise, then awesome – they’re achieving it!  But if their goal is to improve efficiency, endurance, speed, and/or strength…they may be making some progress, but I would be surprised if it was significant progress.

Now…I realize that everyone’s goals are different.  Each person has their own reasons for doing what they do.  I get that.  Those folks that I see day in & day out swimming laps in exactly the same way might simply be doing it for stress relief & basic exercise.  Awesome!  Keep doing it.  But if you’re coming to me for coaching…and you’re willing to pay me for help…then we need to do things a bit differently!  Hence the structured plan focused on specific goals!

Change #4 – Athletes track everything.

There are lots of sayings along the lines of “If you don’t track it, you can’t change it.”  And this is totally true!  This is true because we all tell ourselves little white lies to make ourselves feel better.  It’s just human nature.  How much water did you drink yesterday?  Did you get adequate sleep last night?  How many items with added sugar did you eat yesterday?  If you haven’t tracked those specific things then I’ll bet that you overestimate the water, underestimate the number of hours you need for “adequate sleep” & underestimate the number of added sugar items.  Again, we all do it…it’s just human nature.

So, we’re back to change.  If you REALLY want to change something, you have to track it.  And athletes track key metrics (recovery, nutrition, exercise, goal setting, testing) that tell them whether or not they are successfully working their way towards their goals.  An added bonus of tracking is that you can identify if a certain area is underperforming…and then you can change that area.  Talk about intentional, focused & direct!

Change #5 – Athletes attribute success to their own aptitude & failure to external forces.

At first glance, this change sounds bizarre.  It sounds as if athletes are ego-centric when they succeed but make excuses when they don’t.  And that’s sort of correct…but it’s a bit more complicated.  Essentially this change is a shift from a pessimistic outlook to an optimistic outlook.  In Martin E.P. Seligman‘s book, Learned Optimism, he details various explanatory styles.  The way we explain why things happen to us is directly affected by outlook on life.

If you exercise, train & race, then it’s not a matter of “if” obstacles will occur, but “when”.  Injury, illness, a flat tire in a race, getting passed by faster people or bad weather are all obstacles standing in the way of our success.  So, how do you explain that flat tire?  If you beat yourself up because you’re “so stupid because you forgot to check your tire pressure”, then you’re definitely in the pessimistic camp.  But, if you’re an athlete, then your optimistic outlook will help you say that it was just bad luck that you happened to run over the 1 nail on the race course!

By comparison, how you explain successes are even more telling.  Was your success because of luck or because the athlete that you always race against wasn’t there?  That’s pessimism talking.  If your success, however, was because you rocked your training sessions, you really worked hard on your nutrition & your technique has significantly improved…that’s athlete optimism!  It truly makes a difference!

So, I ask again.  Are you an “athlete” or an “exerciser”?  There’s no right answer here.  Only the answer that best fits your goals at this particular moment in time.  But if you want to see significant improvements, I’d encourage you to adapt the “athlete” mindset.  It can’t hurt, right?!!

If you’d like more info on this topic, take a listen to my Are You An “Athlete”?? Live!