The Olympics just ended and some of you probably watched the amazing athletes from all over the world compete in different events. Maybe it was track athletes on the 400m run that you thought were incredibly fast, maybe it was swimming, and you were amazed by the athletes being so fast in the water, or maybe it was even softball, and you were wondering how someone can hit a ball travelling at 110km/h. But how are the athletes able to push their bodies beyond limits like that?
Olympics athletes are amazing, they are some of the best athletes in the world and they can seriously do amazing things with their bodies. But they did not turn into Olympic athletes overnight, this comes with countless hours or practices, sacrifices, disappointment, failures and for some, injuries. Only the most dedicated athletes make it to the higher level that the Olympics require. All these athletes had to go through strength and conditioning in parallel to practicing their sport skills and it probably was not easy everyday. This is how they got strong, fast, agile, and powerful so they could perform better at their sport. No doubt that all these athletes have amazing skill sets and physical abilities, but what separates them from the rest of the top world is their mentality. They learned how to cope with difficulties, how to push through adversity and how to even go beyond their physical limits sometimes.
The brain is a strong organ, and it controls the rest of the body. It will make your body stop way before you even get close to exhaustion. To go past this limit is merely possible for most people because you must push through pain, through burning muscles and often through your mind screaming at you too quickly. You need to have an extremely strong mind to get there. However, athletes have trained their head to be able to push that limit further and further and their goal becomes bigger than their pain. This is how they are able to push through and how you saw Olympians break Olympic and World records. They spent years and years with this exact goal in mind and they prepared their heads to push through the adversity of an Olympic event. But you too can be an athlete and stick with the goal you have fixed yourself. Your body can do so much more than you think it can! So, remember, when you think you are done, you are only halfway there, keep pushing!