In sports, there are certain aspects which are out of an individual's control. For example, his genetic, his opponents, and his talents or lack thereof. However, there are aspects which are within his realm of control. I will be touching on three aspects: body, mind and spirit; or in order of their importance to an athlete: spirit, body and finally mind.
To start off, we will define spirit, body and mind. Spirit refers to the psychological and mental well-being of the athlete. Body, to the physical and fitness level of the athlete, and mind refers to the knowledge, tactics and skills of the athlete in his chosen sport.
In spirit. We talk about the mindset of an athlete. His desire to train and perform. Without the correct mindset and desire, an athlete will fail to take off, thus flying is not even part of the discussion. There are sport talents all around us, but most of them will just remain 'talents' and will never step over the line to join the elite athlete group.
My friend, was offered a youth contract to play in the Prime League. He turned it down as he lack the confidence to win and see no future for himself in football. He is talented, everyone agrees. But instead of playing at a higher level, he choose to be a big fish in a small pond. Only when an athlete acquired the desire to fight and the mindset to win, then can he take off and soar.
The body of an athlete is his tool of trade. Fitness is required in whatever sport one choose to compete in. Although the type of fitness varies, the need never disappears!
An athlete must train to fulfill the fitness need of his sport. A judoka requires balance, strength and endurance. A gymnast requires agility, flexibility and coordination. A footballer needs power, stamina and accuracy. Although everyone is born with different potential and talent, training is still required to hit the potential and allow his talent to run free.
Without strength, a judoka can forget about the armlock he intended to use. The gymnast without flexibility can give up on the routine he wanted to perform. And the footballer may not even last the full 90 minutes, much less show off his fancy footworks.
Which brings us to the last and least important part of the topic, but the one which separates the great from the good, and the good from the normal. As I have defined earlier, mind refers to knowledge, tactics and skills of the athlete. For example, with everything else being equal, height, weight, mindset and general fitness, the one with the greater 'mind' will win.
A fighter catch in an armlock can use his skills of the sport, and his knowledge of the human body to break out of it, and turn the table around. The manager at pitch side, can make tactical changes to turn a losing game into a winning one. And of course, the diver (aquatic sports!) with the skills will rate a higher score with the judges.
In short, an athlete must first have the spirit to train and compete. Next he must train to the requirement of his sport and be able to last the game, whatever game it is. Finally he must acquire the 'mind' to distingush himself from the rest.
An athlete without spirit would not be putting his best into training and would not fight to win. An athlete without fitness, would not be able to even perform as his opponents with fitness will overwhelm him. Lastly, an athlete without 'mind' will not beat his opponents at the highest level.
Notes for the half day course... Really complicated stuff this radiation... =x
Mr Jonathan Thwaites... Radiation expert... And environmental sustainability warrior... Funny guy who peppered his presentation with jokes... Without which I would have fallen asleep...
X-ray tubes... The nasty little things that produces x-ray in x-ray machines...
So... What's DEXA? Without getting into details... DEXA scanning can be used to give body composition datas... A typical DEXA scan would break body composition into the '3 model' body composition... Bone mineral content (BMC), lean body mass and fat... The above is my read out... I'm not fat... =x
