When just “Showing Up” isn’t enough.

I have heard this comment many times from different fitness professionals.

“All you have to do is show up” - meaning all you have to do is get to the gym or just show up for your fitness session, and you will get great results. Yes, for some people having the energy to go or “show up” is an accomplishment; kudos to you!

But what about the actual fitness training session itself? You know the actual work? Putting forth the effort, passion, desire, and intensity to get the most out of every session. Training at a certain intensity for any elite athlete is required to increase one’s fitness and perform consistently at a high level. “Showing up” is only half of what is required. Showing up and putting in the hard work at the required intensity, is what is going to aid in achieving a better fitness level.

A quote from one of my favorite movies

“When you put that uniform on, that Titan Uniform, you better come to work!” - Denzel Washington - Remember the Titans.

This can never be truer then when it comes to referee fitness - - each time you put that training gear/clothes on or your referee uniform - you better come to every training session and match ready to work hard!

Let me give you one scenario - a person just “shows up”, isn’t too excited about the workout and goes through the motions of the workout, without putting any effort or intensity into the session. Basically, this person thinks “I am here, and that’s good enough for me.” They don’t look forward to the training. They think that just being there is the work that is required, and they will get all the results they need. Then 6 months later that same person can’t figure out why they haven’t made more progress with their fitness - - Yes, they will make some progress but not what is required for performing at a high level.

Now, the second scenario - another person also “shows up” - but has the right mentality of how they want to attack this training session. They will give the effort and intensity that will be required in this session. It will challenge them, and they will have to work hard. The difference between the two scenarios, is the second one trains with a purpose and is dedicated to achieving a higher level of fitness. They know just “showing up” won’t work for them - they need to train with a certain intensity to achieve maximal fitness.

Now, there are some questions that come up, when talking about effort and intensity -

-How do I know if my effort is high enough?

-What type of intensity should I train at today

-What is the best intensity to train at?

The answers - - Being able to monitor through heart rate, GPS measuring data, and perceived exertion rate. The data and/or numbers won’t lie when it comes to how much effort you are putting into the training session.

If you have been following my blog for some time; you will remember one I did last year about “Managing Workload During the Season.” At the end of the blog, I showed a GPS Player Tek Plus/Catapult comparison between a MAS Training Day Run - The device measures the overall training load - based on two factors - intensity and volume. Heart Data was also incorporated into this as represented by a red line in graph. Based on the day’s training session and certain measuring data points; the training load will always be measured by volume and intensity. Go check out the full blog if you want to see the difference between a match and a high intensity training session!

Also, depending on the day - we will be able to monitor/track what kind of session we want to accomplish - is it a hard effort, high heart rate - zone 4-5 training? Or is it more of a less intense, recovery type workout with a lower heart rate, like a zone 2-3 training? Are we focusing on weight training with muscular endurance, strength, or power? Each will yield a different kind of heart rate and different intensity level. This takes a lot of the guess work out of training for the day as well.

Remember, we want to have a good balance of high intensity training days, low intensity training days, active recovery, and rest. Having a good balance will help with the overall fitness mindset, avoiding overtraining, and possible injury. We are trying to achieve the understanding that just “showing up” and going through the motions won’t be enough for us to achieve a high fitness level. As referees we have to understand what the modern-day game brings in terms of fitness level and how we must prepare accordingly.

So, are you just “showing up” or are you showing up, giving your best effort, and training with intensity.