Skip to main content

Our women in fitness series is a celebration of fly girls doing fly things. Meet Tiffeny – a US heptathlete, Lululemon run ambassador, nutritionist and coach who’s currently training as a Bobsled athlete for the 2018 Winter Olympics (and all before the age of 30!)

Tiffany’s story

I got into fitness at a young age because it was an outlet for me. I was a middle child that didn’t really have anything that set me apart so I picked up sports because it kept me active and away from home drama: being an athlete was my escape from reality at home. I was able to be who I wanted to be and could show that I was not just a middle child. I was a rock star with major talent that would take me some place.

I truly started as a track and field athlete ( in) my junior year of high school. My coaches definitely saw the talent that I had. Going into my sophomore year, they said I could get a scholarship for track and field, and that my education was going to be the thing that takes me out of the situation that I was in. In order for me to do that, I needed to make track and field a commitment, not an option.

Because my coaches truly believed in me,  that led me to go and compete collegiately for five years. I did four years of my undergrad and a year of my masters. 2012 was the year that I graduated, and the first year that I trained post-collegiately. My coach / training partner at the time, who was a two-time medalist, asked me, “You know what the difference is between you and these collegiate athletes?”. I was like, ‘no… I train longer?”.

The 5%

He was like, “No! You are an elite athlete and they are collegiate athletes. You truly have to know the difference if you plan on making this a career that’s worth something at the end of it. There’s literally only a 5% difference between what you’re doing and what they’re doing. You can’t cut out the small things or say, I don’t really feel like doing it today. That’s the 5% that makes elite athletes great. They can do things so many times the correct way and count the number of times they do it wrong. That is what you have to ingrain into anything that you do with your entire career”.

From 2012 leading up to now, that was my game changer. The extra 5%. It led me, not only in my athletic career but with all the decisions I make. Whether it’s marketing, whether it’s school, whether it’s what I need or want my job to be. I’m not a high-rolling, sponsored athlete even though I’ve made US teams. That’s just not how the US rolls. It’s not like other countries where they pay their athletes to train. So for me I’ve come up with all of these extra 5%  ways to make happen what I needed to happen. It’s still a process and I’ve had to be vulnerable and truly put myself out there to hear ideas from other people of what I need in order to create my success.

So in 2018,  I am taking over the fitness world and getting ready to inspire people! I’ve launched a blog where I give people the behind-the-scenes look at what athletes truly eat for performance, working while being an athlete, and how to set goals and achieve them by knowing 5% is the changing factor.

A Lululemon campaign is dropping with more background of who I am and why I do what I do, so stay tuned!

Finally, I’ve   launched my “In the Kit” virtual coaching nutrition made easy in guide form. It helps you learn how to make the best out of the food kits families may order by teaching them how to identify proper portion size, well balance, and easy ways to identify substitutes/ingredients to make cooking fun, easy and healthy even when you are on vacation and on the go! It’s a way to truly learn about nutrition and how to make it a part of your life.

Tiffeny’s fitness and health tips

If you always say you SHOULD start or you SHOULD go to the gym, that is giving your mind the option to fail. If you make health and wellness a MUST, then you will see WHY fitness and exercise are important to achieve that.

TiffenyHeptathlete

Music to move to: listen to Tiffeny’s five dope tracks

Follow Tiffeny’s fitness journey on her websitw tiffenyparker.net, Instagram (@tiffiep), Facebook (Tiffenysparker)  or Twitter (@tiffie_p).

Leave a Reply