Part 1: An inside look to an Athlete’s Path

Written by Joe Garcia owner of Arena Fitness

First I would like to take some time to thank everyone who has helped support me during this exciting period of my life. To all of my training partners, family, and friends I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I can only strive to be the best if I am only around the very best, thank you for all the lessons and experiences that have helped me to reach this point and the ones to follow.

Over the next four weeks I will be cataloging my experiences on the road to the Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships. (https://www.ibjjf.org/) I will be taking you on one of the most difficult training regimens both physically and mentally I have yet to experience. I will share with you the 5 components of my training regimen that I will be exercise daily in order to prepare me for whats to come.

My 5 Components to Training (Listed in order of importance)

1. Visualization and Mental Rehearsal
2. Nutrition
3. Rest
4. Systems of Support
5. Strength Training and Jiu Jitsu

My first inside look to this series ironically will start with the inspiration I have had for writing this blog as well as the ones to follow. Over the years I have struggled with my own exercise regimen over a thousand times. Going from being on fire with nutrition and frequency of workouts on a weekly basis to absolutely being a complete slob. About two years ago I made a profound effort towards reflecting on my own “Fitness.” I asked myself, “why have I gone so many years struggling from one workout to the next, dreading each one but still getting through it as if I was punching into work at a Bean Factory?” “Why have my only forms of motivation been how low I can get my body fat percentage down or seeing how much my body could possibly lift before absolute failure?” By the way having goals like this came also with a price. Usually it was 6 month hiatus from the gym after achieving these goals, ultimately disrupted by summer BBQ’s and outings that I have had over the years. So after over 10 years of being in the gym and surrounded by fitness, I came to a profound question, actually two profound questions. Wanna know what that those questions were? I’ll tell you. “WHAT” AM I TRAINING FOR? Quickly followed by a much more profound question, which in my opinion takes a much longer time to answer. “WHO” AM I TRAINING FOR? Most people would say the second question is easy but when looked at under a microscope it proves to be a much more difficult question to answer. I’ll take on this question in later blogs.

My first challenge to all of you is to take a good hard look at these two questions and write the answers down. This exercise is only for those of you who truly want to reach a goal. Whether that goal is big or small it doesn’t matter, everyone will have to take the same path. If you feel comfortable please post your answers on this blog. In the blogs to follow I will be going over my own new found perspective on what it is to be “Fit” and how it has changed my life forever. Over the next four weeks I will be sharing with you all of my struggles and achievements with my own training and how I will manage exercising My 5 Components to Training on a daily/weekly basis all the way up to the fight. Good training and remember to have fun!

Look for the continuation of Part 1 of my blog series soon…

The most important part of a player’s body is above his shoulders. – TY Cobb

“Invest in knowing thyself. A champion manages to understand his limitations and pursue the means to overcome them. Don’t wait around for someone to show you the way.” – Carlos Gracie Jr.