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Most People Have No Idea How to Build Good Habits, Unfortunately
The 2003 British cycling team was a disaster.
Since 1908, they’ve won one gold Olympic medal. They haven’t won a single Tour de France in 110 years.
They were so bad that some bike manufacturers refused to sell them bikes because they thought it would hurt their image. Imagine that.
One day, they decided to hire a man called Dave Brailsford to train the athletes. They had nothing to lose, and this was their last resort.
The man had an unusual approach. Instead of barging in with an entirely new training programme, he decided to focus on invisible, 1% improvements wherever he could find them.
He redesigned bike seats to make them more comfortable.
He tested different kinds of massage gels to see which offered quickest muscle recovery.
He found which particular pillow gave athletes the best night’s sleep.
He asked riders to wear a particular brand of electrically heated overshorts to maintain ideal muscle temperature during a race.
He even hired a surgeon who showed cyclists how to wash their hands to reduce their chances of getting a cold.
