I had an amazing Saturday afternoon this past weekend. I got the opportunity to present to a group of Elite level basketball players at a camp held at a local Division I University here in Philadelphia. The camp was composed of 60 Freshmen and Sophomores in high school, and they had been identified as some of the best players in the area at their age group. Needless to say, there were some flat-out studs at this camp… and most of them were way taller than me!
The topic I chose to speak about was “Conditioning Your Body for Division I Basketball.” We talked about a number of different areas that communicated what it was like to be a D-1 student-athlete. These included a section on the commitment to a structured, year-round strength program, new ideas on conditioning, athletic testing standards, and mental toughness ideas, to name a few. But there was one topic I mapped out for them that I thought went over very well, and that I wanted to break down for you guys in the blog this week.
The section title was “Are you Wasting your Time?” Prior to my talk, I took the time to break down the college athlete’s average week in terms of their time requirements. What are they required to do, and how much time outside of these requirements is available? From there, and most importantly, how are they spending that discretionary time? Is it used productively and in a way that will better them as students or athletes? Or is it wasted and used in a way that will better them at mastering the Wii? Here are the averages that I came up with.
There are 168 total hours in a week (24 hrs x 7 days). Of that 168:
- 56 hours are spent sleeping
- 18 hours are spent at practice
- 22.5 hours are spent in class
- 18 hours are spent studying
- 2-4 hours are spent studying film for their sport
- 21 hours are spent eating
- 3-4 hours are spent training or working out
That’s it… that is the average college student-athlete’s time requirements (and I was very conservative on some of those numbers… believe me, it is RARE for a college student to get 8 hours of sleep EVERY night!) This breakdown leaves 20-30 hours of discretionary time, that they can choose for themselves how to use!
Each of the athletes at the camp told me at the beginning of the talk that it was their goal to become a Division I Basketball player, and to hopefully make it into the NBA at some point. After this portion of the talk, I asked them: How will you use your time when you get to college? How are you using your spare time now, as young high school athletes? If they are truly committed to their goals, they will spend a good portion of their discretionary time working on things that will help them reach those goals… extra court time, additional studying, extra lifting or conditioning, time to stretch, etc.
You will always make time for social activities like hanging out with friends, television, video games, etc. Very few young athletes I know need to budget time for those, they usually happen pretty easily. But it’s the extra work that needs to be mapped out and scheduled. Without making it a priority, and making a conscious effort to get in your extra work each week, it won’t happen. And the goals you set for yourself may not happen either…
So now ask yourself… How are you spending your time?
Yours in Strength,
Jesse
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