What's Your "Y"

Josh Slay, Division 1 Athlete,  Villanova University Linebacker 

Josh, give us a brief background of how your fitness/sport journey has evolved?

To me, my journey has been all about being the best version of myself and pushing myself to reach my full potential.

At first, all I cared about was putting on weight because I was a skinny kid and wanted to play football, so I needed to beef up. So I only focused on the scale. Now, I focus more on being the best athlete I can be by eating well and training even harder and smarter to look good on and off the field.

What (or who) has been your main source of motivation over the years?

It has always been and always will be my family and friends because we always strive to get the best out of each other.

I started going to the gym by myself and fell in love with the process, so I brought my best friends and my family with me to grow and better ourselves.

Where do you find more motivation: doubters or supporters?

In my life, I have always had and still have people that doubt me and say that I can’t do something. There is nothing better than proving people wrong and make them regret doubting you.

What is the biggest mental challenge you've had to face in your sport and how have you conquered that?

I had a brutal knee injury that prevented me from playing my sophomore year of high school and continuing to play football would be a risk for me and I knew that my dream was to play Division 1 football. Thankfully, I had a great support staff that supported my decision to go back on the field and take the risk and it ultimately payed off with me receiving over 30+ D1 offers my Junior and Senior year.

What do you do to make sure you're physically and mentally prepared for competition?

Physically, its all about fueling your body and putting the right stuff in and making sure the body can use that fuel to get the best output.

Mentally, I do a lot of meditation that helps me calm my nerves before a big game and it has done wonders to my focus and performance.

Describe your recovery strategies.  

Stretching and eating is big. Stretching is something many people don’t focus on as much anymore, but it is such a great tool to help your muscles joints and ligaments. Eating the right food and getting the right nutrients is also important.

I always get in my greens and take beneficial supplements like YOLKED, which has helped me to stay at the top of my game.

What's Your "Y"? What keeps you going and training as hard as you do?

Because when I look back on my life, I don’t want to have any regrets or ask myself "what if?"

Life is so short and is hard... but the hardest competition you will face is the one with yourself and all those negative thoughts telling you that you cant do something when in fact, you can. 

Push through.  That’s where you see the best results.

Where do you see yourself as an athlete in 5 years?

Hopefully in the NFL. If not, I would love to be a personal trainer on the side because people are always asking me for advice in the gym. I love being able to help people out who are new to the fitness scene because I had to figure most of the stuff out myself.

Seeing people be their best self is a great reward.

Favorite motivational quote or song.

Favorite quote: “One Day or Day One, you decide”
Everyday we battle with ourselves and want the best so you can either start today or keep pushing it off.

Favorite motivational song: Trophies -Drake