The life of an athlete can be divided into various passions. There are those who love running, those who love climbing and those who enjoy combat sports such as kickboxing. And this is the case with Simone Barber, professional kickboxer who also practices CrossFit®.
We interviewed him for you, to understand a little more about his routine and how he manages his life between work, training and leisure.
Here's to you:
Index
Hi Simone, first of all tell us: what do you do in life?
Hello! So in life I am a sport and sports science teacher, a kickboxing and functional training instructor… I am multitasking [laughs].
You are a professional kickboxer but we know of your passion for CrossFit®. What binds you?
In a nutshell its methodology: this fits perfectly with the performance demands of combat sports.
Forcespeed, resistance, coordination are just some of the fundamental skills that can be translated into the specific sport of reference through CrossFit® training.
For this reason I want to thank Riccardo Moscatti, owner of CrossFit® Bomaye, a friend and a support for several years now.
Beautiful! And do you have any future plans in this area?
In fact, this was only the beginning, in the meantime, with the study and the experience gained, I made my training even more specific by giving life to the Action Team Functional Training sector which supports our kickboxing school Action Team Italia directed by the M ° Enzo Barbiere, as well as my father.
The passion for kickboxing was born thanks to my father, Enzo Barbiere, who at the age of 4 showed me this discipline by transmitting me the educational and sporting values that today I try, in turn, to transmit to my young students.
But only towards the age of 15 I really understood that I wanted to become an athlete and I started working to reach every competitive goal.
What's your off / on season like?
To answer this question I use the scheme used to reach the title of champion of Europe and the world: in a period still far from the race event I use 3/5 specific sessions of muscle strengthening and 2/3 sessions of technical / tactical part kickboxing.
Twice a week I prefer the division of training into two phases of the day, interspersing the aforementioned with a break of at least 6-8 hours. However, this proportion is not fixed and varies according to the weeks of loading and unloading and with the approach of the competition.
Do you follow any type of power supply and integration?
To achieve a result, whatever it is, I think the details make the difference, which is why I decided to rely on a professional, Ragone Francesco, biologist nutritionist, who takes care of my nutrition in a careful and detailed way both during my preparation periods both in the pre and post race phases.
I thank the Big One Evolution family that for some years now has been taking care of my integration and is available for any eventuality, always making the athlete feel the center of attention.
Idra, based on mineral salts and vitamins, and BCAA Big pro are their products at the basis of my integration.
Tell us your secret to achieve the goals, the relationship between head and sport ...
There is no magic formula, but I think that at the basis of a result, sporty and not only, there is that desire to get there, to win; sure, it is a matter of priority, to achieve certain results there is no shortage of sacrifices but this makes the difference between an excellent athlete and an average athlete.
In your life as an athlete there will have been moments of despair / anxiety / stress ... how do you manage them?
These are moments that every athlete should take into account in their sport life; however, each of us is different and reacts to difficulties differently.
I have undergone several injuries in my sporting life, more or less serious, but the desire to achieve the result has always been stronger than the discouragement; also in this case being supported by a professional, Guarini Fabio, masso-physiotherapist and kinesiologist, helped me overcome the physical difficulties encountered.
Often people ask me how I can be calm before a competition but, even in this case, I don't think there is a magic formula that can be used by everyone; knowing our potential and our limits, pausing to reflect on the performance capacity and not to the mere result was the key to my successes.
Tell us about how you fit family, work and workouts?
Another key point of my sporting life was the moment when I realized that to do things in a certain way it was necessary to organize.
Now I write all my commitments and organize my week by managing my workouts in the best possible way by fitting work commitments and private life. I can only thank my family who has always been a fundamental support in these years.
Simone Barbiere was born in Chivasso on 9.3.1991, today he lives in Brandizzo (TO) and practices Kickboxing and is a coach at Action Team Functional Training.
11x Italian FIKBMS champion
6x WAKO World Cup
2014 European Championships 3rd place Maribor
2016 European Championships 2rd place Maribor
2017 World Championships 2nd place Budapest
2018 European Championships 1rd place Maribor
2019 World Championships 1st place Sarajevo
FB page: Simone Barber
Instagram: simone_barber