If you’re serious about training then you need to be disciplined about your recovery.

Rest is one of the most critical components to any training programme, and, in order for muscles to grow and repair they need the sufficient recovery time.

For any athlete, it’s important to realise that the greater the effort, the more disciplined you need to be outside of training.

If you’re playing football, for example, and have a game on Friday morning then don’t be doing a heavy weights session the day before.

Our bodies aren’t machines and if you’re not allowing yourself the adequate time to recover then you’ll be stale and lethargic in your next training session.

Away from the gym and training field, take in proper nutrition and plenty of water to help energy levels and mental health.

If you want a piece of chocolate one night a week, have one. Don’t completely cut out unhealthy food as you need to reward yourself for hard work.

In addition, sleep helps provide muscular recovery. It’s recommended to have between six and eight hours of sleep a night. If you care about your health and fitness, then trying to get by on four hours sleep a night isn’t going to work, and it’ll affect your productivity in the office also.

We can’t tweak everything in our lives so aim to make small changes that you feel can benefit a better you!

FINAL TIP: Include some static stretching on your days off to aid muscle recovery and keep the joints supple. Being inflexible around the football pitch is one of the worst feelings and you’ll continue to lack sharpness if you don’t do something about it.