Athlete Blog: Tracey Lambrechs – Similarities Between our Gym Members & Athletes

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Lately I have been thinking a lot about the similarities between most of our AUT Millennium Gym members and athletes. After talking to many members there are two main areas that struck me this last week.

Firstly, everybody hates being sick because it interrupts their training routine or it sticks around a lot longer if you try to train through it.

A few weeks ago, I seemed to run myself down with lots of training and work/life, so the stress just built up, next thing,

I had no voice, headaches, coughs, aches and pains. I was not happy as I was working so hard to get into a routine and get everything done – not sure if many of you know, but this is a big year for me with Rio qualifications just around the corner. So, I was stubborn and tried to train through it, which only prolonged the time I needed off.

When you are sick what your body really needs is rest, so don’t be a hero, rest up, drink plenty of fluid and then worry about getting back in to the gym, especially coming into winter.

If you need help getting back into routine, I find having a training buddy works or else book in with a trainer – we are lovely people.

Secondly, learning to overcome mental and physical barriers and learning to push through when you’re tired before/after work or after a weekend running around with friends and family is important.

I am amazed at the amount of people that train at 5am in the morning as well as the people who train as late as 7:30pm.

Waking up before 5am is hard work, trust me I know, Tuesday and Thursday (when I work) I’m up at 4am and then I also have to train after work.

It’s easy to make excuses, but then again it’s just as easy to train.

I think its important to realise that many people experience this lack of motivation or just plain old tiredness at times and it’s ok to have an afternoon nap (if you can) or to have scheduled breaks in your training, just make sure they aren’t too long and that you come back.

My training is going well, I’ll be heading into a 3 day training camp at the end of April, a final team catch up with all the New Zealand athletes travelling Fiji for the Oceania Championships, in the next write up I’ll fill you in on the life of a weightlifter in a NZ training camp.

Train hard and have fun!

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