I always thought that'-23 was my prime. I was out with the ladies and worked out all the time and felt generally good overall. I played sports at the time as well and was a fairly good athlete both in high school and in college. I never thought it would come to this.

In order to get the most out of the players during the games a strict practice schedule is put into place. Players are asked to compete during practice to get better athletically at their chosen sport and then at the end there is a "conditioning period" set up to get the players in to better condition. It all boils down to on-field performance as every coach wants the players to play their best on the field during games.

Pre-season workouts were very common for all the sports I participated in. The program was normally a weight lifting course and jump training. There were team building drills and on field sport specific drills as well that were all designed to develop us as athletes. Because of these drills and workouts I was ready both physically and mentally.

If you told me 15 years ago that when I hit my 30's I would still be in excellent condition I wouldn't have believed you. I didn't want my heath to slip so I focused on being smarter about my workouts. Thanks to my persistence I am able to out work many of the younger athletes when I am on the field. The secret was learning to work smarter not harder at your workouts. This includes eating the right food and your intensity level while working out. Both make a huge difference in your results.

Intensity was the first smart workout technique I learned. If you are working out just to workout you won't get the same results you could get if you simply increased your intensity. It isn't easy to turn things up in the gym but if you go to the gym to get results instead of just going to the gym to say you went to the gym you might surprise yourself.

Food was my second secret to a great workout. Once I shifted the way I ate not only did I workout better I worked out smarter. The food you eat has the power to take you and your fitness ability to the next level.

I hope these few secrets give you the vote of confidence to get back on the court or field and participate with these young guys. I think it will shock you to see that you can actually keep up, well until you get your first injury, those take longer to heal.