The six elements that prevent many amateur athletes from being professional
Age group and amateur athletes share more characteristics with professional athletes than you may think. At the same time, amateur athletes lack features that professional athletes have mastered to perfection. In actuality, these features may play a much more significant role in success than plain physical parameters such as VO2 max, economy, lean muscle mass, metabolic efficiency and mental toughness. First, let's just try to see how success happens. Being successful as an athlete, amateur or professional alike, has nothing to do with the number of podium wins achieved. Podium wins are irrelevant. Whether you are an amateur athlete that has just started the sport or you have been doing it for a few or multiple years, whether you are a tier 2/3 (newbie) or a tier 1 (top 10 in the world) professional athlete, the podium does not define you. You can always find a relevant race somewhere in the world that you can probably earn a podium spot, regardless of your experience, level o...