Abante Performance & Fitness

Pretty accurate I’d say 🎯😭

As I’ve gotten older, one thing that’s changed is I need a little more time to get my body switched on before I play.

I need to get activated, get moving, and actually prepare.

One thing I notice every time I play is that most people don’t do anything.

If you’re younger, you can often get away with walking on cold and just playing.

Trust me, that doesn’t last forever.

But what surprises me even more is seeing older guys do the exact same thing, then wonder why they feel stiff, slow, or never really get into the game.

For me, this goes beyond sport.

Even if your goal is just to look better, get leaner, build confidence, and balance training around work, kids, and life, I still think you should train like an athlete.

Why?

Because you’ll build a body that’s ready for whatever life throws at you.

You’ll be able to run, sprint, play with your kids, jump into a pickup game with your mates, or try a new sport without feeling like you’re going to break.

And as a bonus, you’ll probably look pretty damn good doing it.

I’d rather be prepared for everything than only be prepared for one thing.

So if you want to stay athletic, keep playing the sports you love, or simply build a body that looks good, feels good, and performs for years to come, give me a follow.

That’s exactly what I help my guys do.

Stack The Days

Everyone’s looking for the secret to athleticism.

Let’s be honest, it doesn’t exist.

Fascia, sport specific, isometrics, loads of stuff out there that people grab hold of.

If there was a “secret”, this is what it would be IMO (without over complicating it)

✅ Get strong.
✅ Sprint regularly.
✅ Jump regularly.
✅ Build your conditioning.
✅ Do something explosive.
✅ Progress it for years, not weeks.

That’s it.

The problem isn’t that people don’t know what to do (I mean some people don’t, let’s be real).

It’s that most people aren’t willing to build towards it patiently.

You can’t go from zero to sprinting flat out and wonder why you pull a hamstring.

You can’t go from never jumping to trying to dunk without first building the brakes, eccentric strength, and landing mechanics.

Strength is your foundation.

It makes you more resilient, more powerful, and gives you something to express when you sprint and jump.

Chase big numbers on your squats, trap bar deadlifts, pull-ups, presses, and rows.

Then layer in explosive work. Olympic lift variations, jumps, throws, sprints… success leaves clues.

Look at the best jumpers and sprinters in the world.

They don’t just do one thing well.

They’ve built strength, power, coordination, and conditioning over years of consistent training.

Athleticism isn’t built in 12 weeks.

It’s built by stacking quality work for years.

You can absolutely become more athletic as you get older.

You just have to be willing to keep showing up long after everyone else has quit.

Stack The Days

Let’s be honest about what getting older does to an athlete.

The jumping gets harder.

The first step slows down.

You play against a younger guy and you feel it. That half second you used to have just isn’t there anymore.

I’ve had to swallow that pill myself.

I’m not on a court every day now.

I’m building a business.

I’m showing up for my partner, my friends, and my family.

Life pulls you in directions that eighteen year old you never had to deal with.

So no, I’m not the most athletic guy on the floor anymore.

And I’ve made peace with that.

But here’s what I won’t make peace with.

The idea that getting older means it’s over.

That you quietly accept the decline, hang it up, and decide your body can’t do the things it used to.

That’s the lie most men buy into.

And it’s a choice, not a fact.

Because the truth is, you never stop being an athlete.

You just stop training like one.

Competing still fills my cup.

It makes me better for everyone around me.

It’s my outlet.

My reset.

The thing that keeps me sharp.

I’m not chasing the NBA.

I’m chasing the version of me that gets to keep playing for as long as possible.

You can build a body that does what you want it to do.

Maybe not exactly like you were at eighteen.

But a long way past what most guys settle for.

Don’t accept the decline.

Stack the Days.

Most guys just want to get leaner and look good as they get older.

Nothing wrong with that.

But how you get there is the whole game.

I’m biased. I train the way I do because I want to keep jumping, running and playing sport for as long as possible.

Basketball, padel, golf, hockey, whatever it is.

I want to still be in it.

And it turns out when you train like an athlete, you look the part anyway.

You stay lean. You move well.

You do it without breaking down.

But I won’t sugarcoat it.

I’ve trained consistently for over a decade.

had a solid base as a kid playing college basketball and other sports.

And I’ve been lucky, no major injuries.

So don’t compare yourself to me.

Some guys are more athletic.
A lot aren’t.

I can still dunk, actually had one in a game last night.

But that’s my road, not yours.

Here’s what matters.

As you get older your game changes.

You stop trying to be who you were and you lean into where you are strong now.

Your thing might be shooting. Might be passing.
Might be a high IQ.

Might just be that you understand the game differently to everyone else.

Figure out where you are at and build from there.

Because if you can stay fit, stay healthy, and look the part while you do it, you feel better day to day and chances are you keep playing the sport you love for a long, long time.

That is aging like wine.

So how has your game changed as you’ve got older?

Tell me below 👇

A big thing that happens as you get older is you naturally become a bit more risk averse.

If you’re not regularly moving in different directions, landing, stopping, and changing pace, it’s really hard to go from zero to 100 when you jump into a game.

One thing I notice all the time is people really struggle to slow themselves down.

Watch your parents, your uncles, or someone who’s stopped playing sport for a few years.

When they have to stop quickly or change direction, it often looks awkward, almost like they’re about to hurt themselves.

The good news is you can train it.

These are some of my favourite drills to build your brakes back up.

I’ve used them with junior athletes, university athletes, recreational players, and guys in their 40s and 50s.

Add these into your warm-up or training sessions and you’ll build the confidence to stop, cut, and change direction again, so you can keep playing sport for years to come

and still look athletic while you’re doing it.

Stack the Days.

✅ Follow if you want to keep playing sports as you get older