ATHLETE

“Go hard or go home”

You are within the first 3 to 6 years of your training career

You are likely setting some significant and respectable performance bests

Most strange training things have simply become a way of life 
Like drinking out of funky smelling shaker cups and carrying Tupperware food with you everywhere

You could be what one would consider “obsessed”

Cuz Your feed is only training videos and icons

You’re likely the fittest person at your job

You’re likely the fittest person in the gym, half of the time (excluding peak time)

Body dysmorphia has begun It’s sinister twist 
and while your physique has never been better, you begin to feel like it is never been worse

Because the reality of the sacrifices that it requires for small incremental improvements, you begin to fear you will never be to where you think “artists” or “adepts” are 
But you can’t admit it yet because there is still too high a level of delusion that “you're special”

You have seen one medium level injury to both your body and your mind

Something always feels funny or is a little sore

You unconsciously have begun to modify many different movements because of a twinge or a tweak here and there

You’re not able to keep up with all your personal bests because you’re setting them in so many weird & small departments 

You look down on most commercial gym trainers for the amateurs that they are 

You spend most of your time digging into more and more niche training related topics 

You’re beginning to see the science repeat itself, but you haven’t quite gotten to hip to the big secret yet 

You no longer care about your original friends who didn’t lift and have become friends with some sketchy individuals who do 

At this point, you have either joined some kind of specialty gym or have built your own 

Your favorite thing to do is find ways to “humble brag” about your lifts or moves

You Truly believe deep down, you might be the greatest of all time you just don’t know in what area yet 

You have your favorite supplements and you enjoy making fun of amateurs who are riding trends 

You’re probably on your third different fitness wardrobe

You’re ripping jeans at a concerning pace 

You begin to resent the sedentary 

And enjoy judging people as a weak 

This is where you find most jocks
The good and bad ones 

The top performers in this category are generally the actual athletes even in most professional sports 

If you’re gonna go pro, you are likely getting close to it by now 
Or at least your performance qualifications are objectively close

You’ve begun to realize the field of professional athletes is not all the same
And you could have an alcoholic golfer qualified as a pro 
Just like a teenage tae-kwon-do sparring champion 

From a performance perspective, your max numbers may not ever go higher than what they set during this phase 

(Many lifetime, personal strength and conditioning bests are set during this phase)

Unfortunately, serious injury is the most common reason for falling off 
Whether it be physical or mental