The Truth About Getting Better

Here is the ugly truth: if you want to get better, it takes time, patience, a lot of work, and there is nothing fancy about it. So it drives me crazy when I hear things like "seven minute abs" or "lose 20 pounds in a week."

If you want to get better at anything, there is no shortcut. Getting better usually means doing something really simple over and over and over and over. It's persistence that gets you from Point A to Point B, not some secret trick that somebody is trying to sell to you.

This is true in basketball, and it will be true for the rest of your life. Let me give you an example...

You have to burn 3500 calories to burn one pound of cellular fat in your body. There are two ways you can do this: (1) Eat less, and (2) Exercise more.

To give you an idea, if you went for a 20-30 minute jog, you'd burn about 250-300 calories. So if you did a good job with your diet, ate a little less everyday, and did a good, consistent 20-30 minute aerobic workout for a week, you'd probably lose ONE POUND. Do that for a month, and you'd lose 4-5 pounds.

Sounds easy, right? Well have you ever tried to eat really, really good for a month and keep doing the same workout routine for a month? It's not that easy! It gets boring. You have to come up with ways to keep it interesting.

So here are three tips that might help you stay on the road to continuous improvement:

1) It takes time. It takes time to get better, so make time. Whether your goal is to lose weight or study more to be a better student or get stronger or get better at basketball... whatever you're trying to get better at, what time of day works best for you? Maybe you have to wake up early to make time? Maybe you can do it after school or work? But you need to find a time slot that you can commit to on a regular basis. The key is making A CONSISTENT EFFORT. So find a time you can commit to.

2) Fancy is bad. Don't get fooled by anybody trying to tell you they have a way you can get better really fast. Right now, one of my biggest pet peeves is these online basketball coaches teaching "NBA Moves." It drives me nuts. That's not how you improve. It just sounds good. You want to lose weight? You have to do some cardio, not some new killer ab workout. You want to dribble a basketball better? You have to do some pretty basic ball handling drills before you can even try those "NBA Moves." So keep it simple. Find a workout that is good for you, and then do that over and over and over...

3) Find a partner or support group. You are going to hit a spot in your training when it gets hard, or when you find yourself getting bored, etc. It helps so much to be a part of a group, or to be accountable to somebody else. After my horrible car wreck, when I finally started to be able to work out again, I signed up for a class at the gym. It really helped me to have a trainer or a coach helping to push me. No matter how self motivated you are, it helps to have that support. If you are an athlete playing on a team, think about it this way, by getting other people to workout with you, you're also making your teammates get better. Your team is going to get better.

So try this out. Carve some time out of your day. Keep it simple. Try to find a partner or group you can workout with. Do this for 6-8 weeks, and no matter what you're trying to do, you should see some REAL results. Thanks for reading. #JWT