Chasing Excellence: A Story About Building the World’s Fittest Athletes

by Ben Bergeron

For my athletes, there are five things completely within our control—training, nutrition, sleep, recovery, and mindset. Within each area, we have identified five to ten specific daily tasks or habits that are essential to our ability to make progress. Inside the training category, for example, there are specific warm-up and cool-down techniques and a prescribed number of days they will swim each week. Nutrition is comprised of eating a specific quantity of carbohydrates, protein, and fat at certain times as well as pre- and post-training fueling protocols. We dial in their sleep by tracking total hours and the quality of their sleep, as well as creating a nightly routine that promotes more restful nights. We maximize recovery by having the athletes schedule regular sauna sessions, professional body work, muscle stim, and more. The athletes are accountable for the development of their mental toughness through a pre-training mindfulness practice on a daily basis, as well as other character-development exercises.