**The Athlete's Monday: How Competitive Athletes Actually Start Their Training Week** For hockey players, runners, CrossFitters, powerlifters, weekend competitors, and anyone training for something—how you start your training week determines how you finish it. Today we pull back the curtain on how elite athletes begin their week. --- **The Athlete's Monday Problem** After a hard training week or weekend competition, Monday brings: - Tissues inflamed from micro-damage - Nervous system fatigued from high-intensity output - Joints compressed from repeated loading - Motor patterns degraded from accumulated fatigue Jumping straight into heavy training loads tissues that haven't recovered. This is how overuse injuries happen, nagging issues become chronic, and promising athletes plateau or break down. The solution isn't to train less—it's to start your week strategically. --- **The Pro Athlete's Monday Framework** Elite athletes treat Monday as a reset—a chance to assess, restore, and prepare for the week's demands. **Component 1: Assessment** Systematic body awareness before any training: - How did I sleep? (Poor sleep = compromised training capacity) - What's my soreness level? (Muscle soreness expected; joint pain is a warning) - What's restricted? (Hips, thoracic spine, ankles, shoulders) - What's my energy? (Low energy = last week's load was high) **Component 2: Restoration** Before adding training stress, restore what was depleted: *Dedicated Mobility Work:* Hip CARs for tight hip flexors, thoracic mobility for rounded shoulders, ankle work for calf stiffness—focused attention on restricted areas. *Iso-Ramping with a Lacrosse Ball:* More effective than passive rolling. Find a tender area, apply pressure, then actively contract the muscle against the ball—ramp up over 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds at maximum effort, release over 5 seconds. This creates neurological change, resets muscle tone, and prepares muscles for loading. *Nervous System Downregulation:* Box breathing, light movement, meditation—restore capacity to handle stress. **Component 3: Activation** Targeted neuromuscular preparation (not a workout): - Hockey players: Glute activation, hip stability - Runners: Foot intrinsics, single-leg stability, hip control - Lifters: Core activation, scapular control, motor pattern rehearsal Principle: Activate before you load. **Component 4: Strategic Loading** Monday is typically moderate—not maximal. The goal is to stimulate adaptation without overwhelming a system still recovering from last week. **Critical insight:** When you train hardest should be dictated by your *personalized periodization plan*—not by motivation, not by what day of the week it is, and not by what everyone else in the gym is doing. Your hardest sessions should align with your competition schedule, recovery capacity, and individual adaptation rate. Training without periodization is like driving without a map—you might move, but you won't arrive anywhere specific. --- **The Monday Athlete Protocol** **Morning Assessment (5 min):** - Rate sleep quality: 1-10 - Rate muscle soreness: 1-10 - Rate joint discomfort: 1-10 - Rate energy/motivation: 1-10 - Quick movement screen: deep squat, single-leg balance, shoulder rotation, spinal rotation **Restoration Phase (15-20 min):** - Joint mobility: CARs for hips, shoulders, thoracic spine, ankles - Iso-ramping with lacrosse ball: 3-5 min per region (glutes, hip flexors, pecs, lats, calves) - Breathing reset: 2 min box breathing (4-4-4-4) **Activation Phase (10 min):** - Lower-body dominant: Glute bridges, single-leg RDL holds, lateral band walks, dead bugs - Upper-body dominant: Scapular push-ups, band pull-aparts, thoracic rotations with reach, dead bugs - Rotational athletes: Pallof presses, bird dogs, hip 90/90 transitions, medicine ball holds **Then Train:** According to your personalized plan—not your ego. --- **The Injury Prevention Equation** Injuries rarely happen from a single event. They happen when accumulated stress exceeds tissue capacity. Every training session adds stress. Recovery removes stress. When the stress account overdraws—something fails. Monday is your weekly reset. Clear the stress account before adding new deposits. Athletes who skip this operate in overdraft until something breaks—then they're shocked it "came out of nowhere." It didn't come out of nowhere. It came from weeks of accumulated stress without adequate recovery. --- **Long-Term Athletic Development** Think in years, not weeks. Athletes who perform into their 30s, 40s, and beyond aren't the ones who trained hardest—they're the ones who trained smartest. They respected recovery, prioritized preparation, and built resilience alongside performance. The Monday protocol isn't just about this week. It's about building a sustainable athletic career. --- **Your Challenge** 1. Complete the assessment before your next training session 2. Dedicate 15-20 minutes to restoration before any ...
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