Myprotein Community & Forums - Inside the mind of a motivator

Training, diet and lifestyle. It’s fair to say we’ve all got our own personal goals within these categories. Whether it’s to look better, be healthier or improve athletic performance, our goals keep us on track, in the gym, eating well and living a healthy lifestyle. Staying focussed on these goals and achieving them takes dedication, something we can all admit to lacking at some point or another.

Are you dedicated to achieving your goals? Do you eat the way you should? Do you always train to the best of your ability? If the answer to any of these questions is no or one of uncertainty then this article is worth your time.

A man that epitomises the word dedication is Myprotein’s latest addition, Shaun Edwards. The rugby league legend and current Wasps coach has built a career on winning and achieving his goals.

Shaun spoke to Myprotein about his career and imparted some pearls of wisdom that will help you take your training to the next level.

Starting out right

Dedication is important for athletes from a young age and this was certainly the case with Shaun. Usually the smallest player on the pitch, Shaun wasn’t blessed with the best physical attributes so he had to put in the hard yards. His advice to any young aspiring athletes is to work on speed.

“Speed is an essential component for most sports but especially team sports, so working on it from a young age will prove to be a big advantage. Find a good athletics club and they’ll ensure you have the right technique. That’s exactly what I did and it made a massive difference to my game. From the age of 13-14 it’s also important to look at diet and supplementation. Some big gains can be made at that age if you get your nutrition correct. It’s also the perfect age to focus on a particular sport.”

Shaun’s forthcoming with the fact that 14 is a great age to start taking your sport seriously. It was the age of 14 when Shaun started to attract attention from top professional clubs.

“I was aware of scouts watching me play from 14-15 years old but fortunately I had a very forward thinking school teacher called Steve McCloud. He’d monitor how many games we were playing to ensure we weren’t playing 3 times a week for different teams. It meant we had enough time to train and get better and allowed us to dedicate time to our studies.
“The point being, don’t overstretch your time and effort. You’ll never achieve anything if you spread yourself too thin.”

Motivate yourself

We’ve all had those days when we skip the gym, or give in to our cravings. There’s nothing wrong with having an occasional treat or taking some rest from training, in fact it’s essential. Nobody has to tell you, however, when you slack off from plain laziness or lack of drive. Deep down we all know the difference between a cheat meal and cheating ourselves and Shaun believes the first place we need to look is in the mirror.

“Motivation starts from within. I’m lucky enough to work with some highly motivated players. They all need a nudge sometimes but they are where they are because of their own personal dedication. No-one is going to do that for you, it’s not something you can buy. Only you can motivate yourself towards achieving a goal.”

When Shaun speaks about dedication he’s talking from the experience of EIGHT Challenge Cup Final triumphs with the Wigan side he captained.

“We were the first rugby league club to turn pro back in the eighties and we worked hard to make sure that move paid off. Our training was very advanced for the time and we were using supplements like creatine long before any other mainstream sports. That’s what dedication is about. Leave no stone unturned and cover all the bases, that one per cent difference your efforts make is so often the difference between winning and losing.”

Shaun’s carried this approach through into his coaching career, visiting coaches from other countries, other sports, reading, learning and absorbing what he can to ensure his team are getting the best of him. His mentoring skills and experience really come in to their own when things get rough.

When the chips are down

“Everyone’s an individual so I have to man manage my players carefully to ensure I get the best out of them. Some guys can be told straight without taking offence whilst others need a gentler approach. The fact is everyone goes through rough periods or bad form. It can sometimes be the hardest thing in the world to escape a negative mindset but that’s what you must remember, it’s in your mind and you have the power to change this.”

“If a player’s really struggling then I’ll put together a show reel of some of the more positive performances they’ve had. It just helps to remind them that they’re a quality player, and bad form is temporary. Falling back on a strong work ethic will also help you overcome negative periods in life.

“I do strongly believe that confidence comes from being in peak condition. If you’re in great shape and know you’ve put the hard work in then you’ll always be confident. I break it down into an equation. Not a clever equation, just a simple one:

Conditioning=Confidence=Performance

“If you’re prepared and you’ve done the hard yards then you’ll be confident. This gives you the determination to take what belongs to you, what you’ve worked so hard for. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Guinness Premiership, the local 10k run or lifting a PB in the gym. The same rules apply.”

Shaun on nutrition

When it comes to nutrition, Shaun is a great believer in having a plan. Build your nutrition plan around realistic and flexible short term goals. You won’t go from a junk food diet to perfect clean eating over night. Constantly look to make small changes to your diet. Cut out things like sugar, refined carbs and processed foods on a gradual step by step basis.
Sticking to a clean diet can be tough so don’t try to dive straight in. Even professional athletes can find it a hard slog.

“Nutrition is the toughest thing for my players as it’s down to them. The real dedication comes when no-one else can see what you’re doing. Only you can truly know if you’re sticking to the plan which will ultimately see you achieve your goals. Constantly critique your diet and look to make small improvements every week.”

“Supplementation plays a huge role in nutrition and those looking to improve fitness and health should have individual supplementation to suit their needs. In real terms it’s impossible to get the necessary levels of protein from food if you’re training on a regular basis.”

Doing it when it counts

When it comes down to the main event, all the preparation in the world means nothing unless you do yourself justice. Performing under pressure is something Shaun has always lived with and reacted to. Re-creating these moments in practice helps to prepare the body for the big game situations.

“It’s a fine line I have to tread when it comes to pushing players in training. Push too hard and injuries will creep in, don’t push hard enough and the standard won’t be right. We do a lot of Prehab work to prevent injuries but ultimately I need to test the players before they go into competition, not just physically but mentally. Drilling conditioning alongside conditioned games pushes the players to their limits. It tests who can co-operate and be accurate while fatigued, but in short it tells me who the champions are.”

We all watched the England football team fall apart this summer. The most frustrating thing was the amount of ‘talent’ on paper. With players that had starred in the world’s greatest league, England were among the favourites, but they failed to defeat some of international football’s minnows, capping it off with an embarrassing defeat to the hands of arch rivals Germany.
There were many reasons and excuses flying around after the game but it all comes down to not performing on the day – irrelevant of what might be going on behind the scenes. For Shaun, performing when it matters and making the right decisions is the true hall mark of greatness.

“Being ‘in the moment’ is perhaps one of the greatest attributes an athlete can have. If a player is mentally strong then they won’t be thinking about the past or the future, they’ll be focussing on what they’re doing right there and then. This is what all great game-turning players possess. They won’t be thinking about how badly they or the team might have played, or worrying about the next game while waiting for one to end. They play with an instinctive desire to win which means anything is possible, they play for the moment.”

“They’re the players that always do something special and turn the game on its head.”

Products Shaun recommends: