JonErik Alford is currently a 6th year senior at Ohio State University. During his first few years in college, JonErik battled various health issues which doctors could not diagnose. Through this, JonErik went down a personal health journey which led him to seek out functional medicine methods that eventually brought him back into competition. During his fifth year as a buckeye JonErik competed in the Big Ten Championships, NCAA Regionals, and the NCAA National Championship.
One of the things JonErik learned during his health issues, is that he had to be extremely disciplined. The pain and sickness he was feeling was partly a result of general inflammation. He learned that he needed to eat extremely differently and workout and do different exercises often. In order to do that, he borrowed from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, and used habit stacking, which is adding one thing to your normal routine, so it becomes a habit.
For example, JonErik wanted to improve his mental health, so he had positive affirmations he would say about himself before he would brush his teeth. This made it part of his daily routine, and something he got used to doing. Through this and his focus on health, he was able to make it back healthy and play at a high level.
For more information, listen to the episode here https://rss.com/podcasts/thetournamentcode/
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