A lot has changed in the almost 1,5 years Nielsen's used the Be Your Best Trainer.
- A whole lot has happened, especially the latest new features like the replay feature. That's been really good.
Nielsen's own career-journey has also been fast-paced and eventful. Playing football from a young age, debuting as a pro at 16 years old, and signing with Red Bull Salzburg at 19 years old, he's since played with several different German clubs in The Bundesliga.
- Going to Salzburg wasn't something I had necessarily planned to do. Everything kind of just happened, and happened quickly. Now I've been in Germany for 6-7 years, and I really enjoy the German style of football. There's a lot of focus on team orientation, and it's been easy to become part of the group with every club I've played at.
- I always wanted to do more, but I was focusing on the wrong things.
Nielsen explains that although he always focused on putting in an extra effort in his own development, his extra effort used to be limited to working on ball technique and strength training. It was first after he had signed with Freiburg and later Fortuna Düsseldorf, and experienced a tough period of injury, that he started looking into other ways of improving his skills.
- I always wanted to do more, but I was focusing on the wrong things. Strength and technique - not nutrition, core or mental training. It came to a point where I told myself that now I really have to do something different. So I changed my whole diet, consulted with separate mental trainers and experts, and physical therapists.
- I started researching and looking for things that could give me those extra percentages I needed, that extra edge. I started talking with Geir [Jordet], who introduced me to Be Your Best and VR-training.
- Now I really have to get a 100% score!
Nielsen got to try one of the earliest versions of the Be Your Best Trainer together with our developers.
- I was kind of nervous. I had never tried VR before, and with all the different developers there I kind of felt like now I really have to get a 100% score with everyone watching me. But it was a lot of fun. And still is.
- You feel like you're in a whole different place. In a match situation.
Next steps: structured training
Nielsen is a firm believer that continuous structured training over time when using the Be Your Best Trainer is best. But first he had to figure out how.
- At first I was mostly focused on the score, and trying to figure out how often and for how long I should train. I think you have to figure out what works best for you - the player. For me, I found using it before my other training sessions and physical workouts works best. I then use it as a type of activation; getting ready before my next session.
- But I know some have used the Be Your Best Trainer during injury and rehabilitation, and others have used it after their physical workouts to emulate how they might feel in a match. So there are several interesting possibilities!
We will continue to support Nielsen in his journey to achieve that extra edge!
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