Best preparation tips before exercise. Not everybody does 12 sports on 1 day. That’s why we give our participants some useful tips before coming to the Hercules Trophy. Our Herculean coaches have decades of experience in sports, nutrition and wellness. Feel free to use this advice for any exercise or sport activity.
NUTRITIONAL TIPS
FROM SABINE APPELMANS
“Although you may be tempted to skip the calories, the food you eat before
you exercise will fuel your workout and maximize your efforts and results.
If you FUEL CORRECTLY you’ll workout harder.Eating before doing sports also prevents low blood sugar, which leads to lightheadedness and fatigue. The perfect food before a workout? BANANAS! They’re nature’s Power Bar. Bananas are loaded with digestible
carbohydrates (read: fuel) and are packed with potassium, which aids in maintaining nerve and muscle function. The body doesn’t store potassium for very long, so a medium banana before a workout will help keep nutrient levels high.” Sabine Appelmans
WHAT’S THE MENTAL SECRET OF A WINNING TEAM?
BY SERGE HAUBOURDIN
“I’ve coached a lot of sports people to victory. Being part of a team transcends individual performances. These characteristics lead to team excellence: 
• CLEAR VISION: What’s the dream and how does it translate to our tasks today?
• NATURAL LEADERSHIP: Choose a leader who gets everyone’s support and who makes
decisions that benefit the team.
• IDENTIFY strengths and weaknesses: Work together to identify individual talents
and weaknesses and develop a strategy to capitalise on the strengths. Strengths need
to be refined, identifying key ‘touch points’ and adding 1% to generate improvement.
• TEAM FLEXIBILITY: adapt and change to the environment as required.
• MAKE SACRIFICES: No room for egos in a highly effective team. A job needs to be done
and the team needs to be cohesive. Sacrifices need to be made for the greater good.
• SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE: Lost a challenge? Bring down the stress level in the team.
Always look at the greater purpose. Rome wasn’t built in 1 day.” Serge Haubourdin
HOW TO AVOID INJURIES?
BY GELLA VANDECAVEYE
“As an Olympic athlete and World Champion, I’ve had to deal with too many injuries. Here are a few lessons I’ve learnt and that I’d like to share with you. 
The 12 Herculean labours are a wide variety of sports that require different muscles.
Reduce the risk of sport injuries by following these simple but basic rules:
1. WARM UP: the warming up dance is a fun start of the day,
but it’s also the perfect way to warm your muscles.
2. DRINK enough water during the day. Dehydration is a very common cause
of injuries at the Hercules Trophy and yet easy to avoid.
3. KNOW and ABIDE by the rules of the sport and follow the instructions
of the Hercules crew.
4. REST. You have 15 minutes break in between every Hercules labour. Use it.
5. AVOID playing when tired or in pain.” Gella Vandecaveye
REMEMBER:
IT’S JUST A GAME.
YOUR TEAM IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM.
THE MARSHALLS ARE HUMAN.
IT’S NOT THE WORLD CUP FINAL.