Who is Scott Lincoln?

So this post is mainly to raise awareness of my sponsored athlete Scott Lincoln, GB shot putter/builder. Scott is great to work with, he listens, does his homework and trains extremely hard (with very little funding compared to some athletes), whilst working full time as a builder.  I asked Scott a few questions about his training and competition. This is what he said:

1. How did you get into shot putt?

I was thrown into shot putt literally, a school teacher told me I was a big strong lad (told me I was a meat head) and to throw “this ball”. And went from there, I was unbeaten throughout school, and reached the biggest competition of the year, the English Schools Athletics Championships. After reaching English Schools 2 or 3 times, I was then put in touch with a coach at City of York A.C. I’m still with Paul now and never looked back, and progress every year!

2. What’s your training schedule like? (hours/sessions per week)

My training schedule is pretty intense as I work full time, so I train after work 5 nights a week, and then 2 sessions on a Saturday! So I train in York Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and at home in my gym Tuesday and Thursday, and a light session of stretching and plyometric work in a Friday. I litrally use my house to sleep and eat in, the rest of the time I’m putting the hours in the gym or at work!

3. How do you find balancing work and training?

It was always pretty hard to balance work and training, but once you get into rhythm and the routine of doing what you need to do, it gets easier, you have to start and prioritise, so a lot of my social life has been cut down, but I feel that the sacrafice is well worth it. Well worth the feeling you get when you medal, and improve!

4. Its the start of the season, how are things going so far?

Its still very early days yet as far as the season in concerned, my indoors have finished on a high, with a UK lead from over in Vienna, and followed up with a silver medal at the UK Senior Championships. My first senior medal! Feel a lot more is in the tank and I’m in the shape of my life and not only physically in shape, but my head is in the best place its ever been! Im looking forward to a good solid season outdoors, and push for the Number 1 spot!

5. What’s the best bit of advice you’ve received?

I’ve had quiet a bit of advice and motivational speeches from all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, I study a lot of inspirational people, such as Mohammed Ali, the things he says are just genius! Something along the lines of “I hated every minute of training, but I told myself, struggle now and live the rest of your life a champion” I mean come on, thats a strong saying, everyone has bad days, but its dealing with those bad days with advice and motivation like that that makes you still produce the goods on a bad day! One of the most ridiculous sayings I ever heard also has stuck massively in my head every day, it was Lizzy Yarnold (skeleton winter olympic gold medallist) she said she was told a quote, and it was so stupid but stuck in her head as well as mine, its “am I struggling here… yes, well dig deep and just get it done” and it just stayed there in my head!

6. Who are your sporting hero’s?

I’ve got a few sporting heros, a lot of them are not in the world of my sport, but other sports, I have a hero in Reece Hoffa (world medalist shot putter) had that chance to train with him in the early part of my career, and that was an amazing experience and if it wasnt for him and his coach I wouldnt of turned to the rotational technique I dont think. But my main sporting hero is a guy called Tai Woffinden, he’s a pro speedway motorcycle rider, he has shown that hard work pays off, he publically showed on social media him put in hard work and digging deep, and his debut year back in the World Championships, he proved the bookies 55/1 odds wrong and became the first British World Champion in a long while.

7. What’s the biggest challenge you face as an athlete?

I think its staying mentally strong, what I mean by that, is not to get too far ahead of yourself. It is very easy to try to push too hard and chase targets, but your best performances come when you are most relaxed. Also staying injury free is a big part, you have to be sensible and listen to your body, its like anything, if your struggling your body will let you know it needs to rest. Along with them is having to work full time rather than train full time, all the best in my sport, train every day twice a day. And that gives them a very big edge!

8. How does your diet affect your sport?

Well I was always ignorant when it came to diet, always thought i could eat what I wanted, and perform how I want, but I found out the hard way in 2013, I was exhausted all of the time, I was nodding off nearly as soon as I sat down after work and then had to go training. After finding a small bald patch on the back.of my head, me and my parents thought it was time I should get it checked out, it turned out to be a lack of Iron in my body, I was told I need alot more green veg! So that was a massive turn around in my career! I have a spinach smoothie every morning, a bright green drink and thats like rocket fuel! I’ve also been working on eating properly at breakfast, and mostly keeping the calories up to stop me losing weight! I’ve been working with a couple of nutritional experts, and that seemed to have progressed my throwing massively.

9. How important is it to have the support from Ed Pratt Sports Therapy?

Ed Pratt, he is a vital part of my team, any niggles, injurys, or even just an occasional losen up, he is there, he gets straight to work and puts in the hard graft to get me fixed up as quick as he can, which is vital for my season. If I have niggles during the season, I need them to be sorted very quickly! There are many times he has given me advice and also shown me views from the outside looking in if you know what I mean! This is vital to be able to move forward.