What I Learned Training Like a Sponsored Pro Athlete
When you're a professional athlete, your physical performance is the most important thing in the world.
That's the simple truth I was reminded time and again in my nearly month-long effort to live like one of Under Armour's sponsored athletes. I was provided gear, specifically from the Rush collection, UA's latest high-tech performance base layer, along with an assessment by and access to the brand's team of sports scientists, who work with big names like Steph Curry and Anthony Joshua to fine-tune their health and conditioning. Coincidentally, I played a year of professional American football in Germany (at a much lower level than the athletes the team UA works with)-but that experience still taught me the level of training and focus it takes to maintain the performance demanded by the job. I've been out of that lifestyle for over half a decade, though, so I was intrigued to see what this new experiment might teach me.
By the end of my trial (or, to be more accurate, within the first few days), I was convinced of two truths: I don't sleep nearly enough, and there's no way that any normal person could possibly keep up with the demands of a pro athlete's schedule without making big behavioral shifts. You're either all-in to make yourself the best you can be to accomplish your goals, or you're making concessions to get to work on time.
The Pro-Level Assessment
The whole experience kicked off with a top-secret press event in NYC. The UA team brought in a group of journalists to check out the new Rush gear and take a movement assessment, from which the performance trainers would make recommendations for corrective exercises, stretches, and more.
The Rush line is made from a new fabric the company says is infused with minerals to enhance performance by providing more energy, endurance, strength, and more. Your movement produces body heat, which is then absorbed and converted into infrared energy, "recycling your body's energy to you," according to the presentation and UA's supplementary materials. The brand partnered with Celliant to create the gear (UA also makes a post-workout and sleep line, Recovery, using a similar material).
I was wearing Rush head to toe during the presentation, but I didn't feel a burst of power in the leggings and shirt any more than when I put on the top and leggings (the brand reps later shared that the purported effects of the material come as you move and sweat, and even over multiple wears). That said, the outfit was super comfortable.
The screening, conducted by members of UA's performance team, consisted of a series of simple mobility drills and exercises like overhead squats, single-leg squats, and pushups.
Each movement was carefully monitored and recorded, then added to the complete body profile, which aimed to identify points of weakness and symmetrical imbalance. The protocol is the same type of intro UA athletes might expect when they first visit the company's performance center in Portland, Oregon. My assessment found that my shoulder movement was particularly poor, which didn't surprise me given my injury history, but also that I have some issues with trunk and hip rotation, which came as a surprise.
The data was for an app called Fusionetics, which is used to crunch the data and create a personalized training program to address and correct the functional issues spotted during the screening. The performance team reps then walked us through a foam rolling session, emphasizing the importance of self-myofascial release for recovery.
We were also encouraged to take steps to improve our sleep by cutting down on screen time before bed, and to track everything we did in journals, from what we ate (sponsored athletes would likely work with nutritionists to fine-tune their meal plans) to how we felt in the gym. I left the session with a few sets of Rush leggings and shirts, along with a cache of other recovery tools like blue light-blocking glasses, special light bulbs, foam rollers, recovery pajamas, and a recovery travel suit.
The stuff made me feel like I was being taken care of like a real pro, since these were the tools and protocols the performance team provides UA athletes-but the real challenge would come when I tried to put it all into practice.
Trying to Train Like a Pro
I started out the testing period strong. I switched out my bedside light with the special new one, and did my best to keep my phone on the night stand once I settled down for the night in the recovery PJs. I wore the Rush kit for every weight room training workout and Muay Thai session, and it felt pretty cool to have a set uniform of top-line gear.
But the cracks in the routine started to show early. The Fusionetics protocol I was meant to follow demanded about 15 minutes of foam rolling, dynamic movement, and strength-building moves every other day. I stuck with the routine for my first two weight room workouts, but I had to curtail my routine to be able to fit it all in. Other days, when I trained before work, I had to choose between waking up even earlier than my typical 5:45 a.m. alarm or the protocol. Most days, I chose to sleep.
After the first week, the journal I received stayed untouched in my work bag, since I was constantly focusing on working to finish other articles and projects for work. I used my bedtime to catch up on what I missed on social media during the day on my phone, only setting it aside right before I closed my eyes.
I found that even though I train at least five or six days a week, I had trouble fitting in the full routine. I kept logging my workouts in the app, but as time wore on, I stopped the recovery protocol completely, only feeling halfway guilty when I saw other people taking enough time to get a full rollout session in the gym.
What I was really missing was a more structured framework to keep me more focused on training, which the pros have in the coaches and personal trainers they use to keep their performance sharp.
Mikey Watts, the member of the UA performance team who administered my assessment, told me that while he understood why I was struggling to find the time to stick to the routine, I could be more strategic in my implementation. "We understand that not everyone would do this in the ideal scenario prior to exercise, because you might only have a 40 to 45 minute window," he said in a phone interview a few weeks into the trial. "You just have to find the window that works for you and get that consistency around it. The real win is just doing it, versus finding the exact right time to do certain things."
Watts also acknowledged such a big shift in behavior can be difficult-even for the pros. "It's a longer term relationship [with sponsored athletes] where we like to try and direct feed versus 'go and change everything at once,' because that's almost overwhelming," he said. "It's really like these small wins where if you start to change a few small things that becomes habitual, and then a few weeks down the line you look at where your journey began and it's like, wow. It's just a case of small steps, empower the athlete to control what they can."
According to Watts, the most important thing his team can do for UA sponsored athletes-or anyone else-is to give them the tools and knowledge to enhance their recovery and performance and encourage them to do the work. This is the type of knowledge I would have loved to have had in my own pro days, when I had the time and focus to commit to putting it all into practice.
But when I thought back to my earlier career, I realized that the most glaring difference now wasn't necessarily my daily schedule. The real x-factor was that I didn't have a specific goal motivating me to train and make other performance-focused lifestyle choices. For pro athletes, their physical performance is so important because of what they want to achieve through all that hard work. Watts and UA gave me all the gear and knowledge for this experiment, but without a real target to work toward, I could never make the rough choices to put training first.
To find real success-whether you're Steph Curry or just a normal guy looking to live a healthier life-you've got to identify what you want to accomplish first. Then, you can truly begin to unlock your potential.
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