A Day In The Life
What does a typical day look like in the life of an athlete preparing his comeback? I can’t speak for all of them, but here’s a look at mine.
8:30am: No crazy 5am routines for me. I’m lucky to get to wake up pretty late, and I take advantage of it. These days, the only morning ritual I’m 100% committed to is going to see my baby daughter. The rest of my day is going to be jam packed, so I try to steal moments with her whenever I can.
9am: Breakfast. Obviously, I watch what I eat to an extent, but for those of you who have asked me what my nutrition plan is like in the hope of unlocking some diet secret… Sorry, nothing fancy. I eat pretty much whatever I feel like, and no food is completely off-limits for me. 🙂
10am: First training session of the day. This one lasts two hours and consists mostly of a stationary bike warm-up, mobility work, some joint flexibility stuff, and some strength exercises.
12 noon: Not quite time for lunch yet. I jump right into tennis training for the next two hours. You can get a sneak peek at some of the work I’ve been doing in my vlogs if you’re interested.
2pm: After four hours of training, I’ve worked up a pretty decent appetite. Again, I don’t fuss too much about what I eat—though I have to be careful not to go too hard at lunchtime, because I’ve got another two hours of training waiting for me at the end of the day.
3pm-4pm: I’ve got about an hour before my last training session of the day. This is where I’ll try and fit time for one of my other interests: maybe some magic tricks, maybe a quick video meeting with someone I’ve connected with on LinkedIn. I try to say ‘yes’ to meetings as often as possible. It’s not about people-pleasing; I’m just hyper-curious. If Skaï is awake, I drop everything to go play with her for a bit. Power naps? Never. I’m proudly hyperactive.
4pm: An hour of cardio, and just under an hour of stretching. Now, it’s time to hang with Natoo.
6pm: Natho, AKA Nathanael, my physio slash world’s most badass massage therapist. He’s been such an incredible help on my path to recovery.
7pm: Remember when I said I was proudly hyperactive? Yeah. The rest of the evening is almost always full, too. I’ll have dinner and spend some time with Elina and our daughter. Then I’ll dive into some of my side projects—maybe a video meeting with my creative team, a chat with my writing consultants about my latest blog posts, a new magic trick. (Props to my wife Elina for putting up with having to watch the same trick 150 times. What a queen.)
Midnight: Bed. Finally. As you’d imagine, I never have much trouble falling asleep.
I think I’ve found a good mix between structured and unstructured time. My philosophy is basically “do your six hours, then do anything you want.” What’s yours?
Until next time,
Gaël
