Want to Compete at the Next Level? Your Training Has to Grow With You
Want to Compete at the Next Level? Your Training Has to Grow With You
Before you add another workout, figure out what is actually holding you back.
You want to rodeo in college. You want to get your permit. You want to fill your card. You want to make the circuit finals. Maybe you're saying you want to make the NFR someday. Good.
There's nothing wrong with having big goals. But at some point, the way you prepare has to start matching the level you say you want to compete at.
> You can't keep preparing like a hobbyist and expect to perform like a professional.
That doesn't mean you need to train seven days a week, live in the gym, or make rodeo your entire personality. It means your preparation needs to grow with you.
What Got You Here Might Not Get You There
This happens in every sport. At a lower level, talent can cover up a lot. Maybe you're naturally strong. Maybe you're athletic. Maybe you've ridden since you could walk. Maybe you've always been one of the better kids around your area, so you've never really needed to think about your physical preparation.
Then you move up. Everybody is good. Everybody has talent. Everybody has won somewhere. Suddenly the things you could get away with become harder to hide.
Poor conditioning starts showing up during long stretches on the road. A lack of strength becomes more obvious against bigger, faster stock. Poor recovery habits start stacking up when you're entering multiple rodeos every week. That shoulder you've ignored for two years doesn't care that you just bought your PRCA card.
The level changed. Your preparation didn't.
> That's a problem.
Working Out and Training Aren't the Same Thing
One of the biggest transitions I want aspiring professional athletes to make is going from working out to training. Working out is doing something hard. Training is preparing for something. There is a difference.
A hard workout can make you tired. A good training program should move you toward a specific outcome. That means we need progression. We need a plan. We need to know what physical qualities we're trying to develop. We need to know when we're pushing and when we're backing off. And we need to understand where that training fits within your rodeo schedule.
If Monday's workout has absolutely nothing to do with what happened last week or what's coming this weekend, we're probably leaving a lot on the table.
Your Training Should Become More Individualized
When you're first learning to train, you don't need the most complicated program in the world. Learn how to squat. Learn how to hinge. Push. Pull. Carry. Brace. Sprint. Jump. Build strength. Develop movement competency. Get consistent. That's a great start.
But as you become more experienced and your competitive goals get higher, your individual needs start mattering more. A bareback rider traveling hard through the summer doesn't have the same demands as a barrel racer. A steer wrestler doesn't have the same needs as a bull rider. Two bull riders might not even need the same program.
One athlete might need more strength. Another might already be plenty strong but needs to develop power. One might need better conditioning. Another might need to stop doing so much and actually recover. One athlete might have years of training experience. Another might have touched a barbell for the first time six months ago. The higher you go, the more those differences matter.
More Training Isn't the Answer
This is where athletes sometimes get it wrong. They decide they're serious now, so they just start doing more. More lifting. More conditioning. More practice. More rodeos. More everything.
That's not necessarily professional preparation. Sometimes it's just more fatigue. Your ability to recover is not unlimited. If you're practicing your event, lifting four days a week, doing extra conditioning, driving all night, competing three days in a row, sleeping five hours, and eating whatever you can find at a gas station, adding another workout probably isn't the thing that's going to take you to the next level.
At some point, being serious about your career means learning when not to do more.
> You only get better from the work you can recover from.
The Calendar Matters
If you want to compete professionally, your training can't exist separately from your rodeo schedule. January and July shouldn't necessarily look the same. Neither should a week with no rodeos and a week where you're entered five times.
There are periods where we can push strength. Periods where we can emphasize power. Times where we can build conditioning. Times where we're mostly trying to maintain what we've built while managing the stress of competition and travel.
This is one of the biggest differences between random workouts and actual programming. We're not only asking: What does this athlete need? We're asking: What does this athlete need right now?
Recovery Has to Grow Up Too
You can't talk about higher-level performance without talking about recovery. When you're younger, you can get away with some pretty stupid stuff. Stay up all night. Eat terribly. Barely warm up. Compete all weekend. Wake up Monday and feel fine.
That doesn't mean those habits were helping you. And as competition volume increases, those little decisions start adding up. Sleep matters. Nutrition matters. Hydration matters. Managing your training volume matters. Having some sort of recovery routine on the road matters.
You don't need to obsess over every metric or turn your life into a science experiment. But you do need to stop treating recovery like something you worry about only when your body starts falling apart.
Your Weaknesses Don't Care About Your Goals
This is probably the hardest part. Wanting to go pro doesn't make you ready to go pro. Your goals don't change your current abilities. You have to be willing to look at yourself objectively.
What are you actually good at? Where are you physically behind? What's breaking down? What keeps showing up during the season? Do you lose strength? Do you get beat up? Are you powerful enough? Can you handle the travel and competition volume? Do you recover well? Are you consistent with training for three months and then disappear for three?
Those answers matter more than saying you want it really bad. The goal tells us where you want to go. The assessment tells us where we're starting. Then we build the bridge between the two.
Start Acting Like the Athlete You Want to Become
You don't have to wait until somebody calls you a professional to start preparing like one. And I'm not talking about pretending you're further along than you are. I'm talking about taking ownership. Have a plan. Know why you're training. Take your weaknesses seriously. Practice your event. Get stronger where you need to get stronger. Develop power. Build the conditioning your schedule requires. Eat like your performance matters. Sleep. Take care of your body before something forces you to. And be willing to adjust when the plan isn't working.
That's what I want younger athletes to understand about getting to the next level. The training that got you through high school might not be enough for college. What worked in college might not be enough when you start rodeoing professionally. And what works during your first year as a professional might need to change again when you're trying to make a run at the NFR. That's not a failure of the old program. That's development.
> As you grow as an athlete, your preparation has to grow with you.
If you're serious about seeing how far you can take this, stop looking for another random workout. Figure out where you are. Figure out where you're trying to go. Then train for the gap between the two.
If you want to compete at a higher level, get assessed properly so your plan matches the level you are aiming at.
Start the coaching conversation here.
For athletes who are serious about competing at a higher level, the Optimal Performance Academy pathway is the next step in athlete development.
You do not need another random workout. You need to figure out where you are, where you are trying to go, and how to train for the gap between the two.
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Disclaimer
This material is an educational resource and is not a substitute for professional medical, physiotherapy, nutrition, or mental-health advice.
Young athletes and developing athletes should train under appropriate supervision, with programming adjusted for their age, development, and training history. This is not medical advice. Persistent, worsening, or injury-associated pain should be evaluated by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Athletes competing in Australia are responsible for understanding the applicable anti-doping rules, checking medications and supplements through Sport Integrity Australia, and using independently tested products.
