For the next part of this journey (and my last year of competing as a junior) changes have been made to ensure I am at the top of my game for the next platform appearance. I really want to push my own potential and see where I can take it too next time I get onto the platform.
Credit where credit is due, to one of my coaches and very good friend: Wylie Sung. By my side for the last few years, he has bought me through this entire process so far and challenged me in ways I couldn’t ever imagine. His excellent programming and all round support has got me to where I am now, and something I am hugely grateful for. I see him at least once a week to train and discuss training, and this has done me wonders. We saw the benefit of this in my last squat PB of 130kg. We managed to add 10KG on my squat in 6 weeks. Wylie putting me under the weight releasers definitely played a huge part in this massive PB; as much as I complained about them they taught me confidence under that squat bar like no other.
I can’t help but wonder if my nutrition held me back last year. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I really wasn’t on top of my food the last year. To help with this I reached out to another coach Liam Turnbull. Under his wing, he will aid Wylie in making sure I’m in top form nutritionally coming into this next phase of training. I now follow a comprehensive diet plan making sure I hit macro and micro nutrients, as well as tracking other variables such as sleep and energy balance. I check in once a week now, keeping me accountable and on track.
Two coaches? It might seem odd, but to have two sets of eyes watching me is something I’m looking forward too. This will ensure all bases are covered and I really am on top form. I never like to be one of the “the best is yet to come” kind of guys, but I’ll stick to my original statement of “I’m not the worlds strongest man, but I am and will be the strongest I can be”. With the top eyes in the industry on me, the best is truly on its way.
Overall, I am hugely positive going into this offseason- in fact training has already begun! Looking forward to meeting more friends along the road like Chris (who writes here also) and for Mark to capture some more of the chaos. This is a very exciting time, just the thought of chasing the 400kg total gives me Goosebumps. I’ll finish the post on some food for thought. This as it’s something I took from one of the posts Chris put on Instagram and that has really stuck in my head the last week (that was a conversation between him and the incredible president of our federation, Emma):
“A minute might not feel like a long time- but you have all the time in the world on the platform”.
Here’s to making this “time” a very successful and fulfilling one. Exciting times ahead!
Great post Owen, and looking forward to watching your progress over this off season. I’m realising more and more that performance (across all aspects of life) is the outcome of everything you put in (e.g. sleep, training, nutrition… as you highlight) – so now you’re working on it all the success will follow. Are you signed up for a comp next year yet?