As the days grow shorter and darkness creeps further into each morning, hitting that snooze button instead of trudging to a morning workout becomes more appealing. The struggle transitioning from the structured world of college lacrosse to the train-on-your-own professional ranks is just one of the many demons that drags some of the top NCAA players down into lacrosse anonymity when they enter the real world. Work, family and other life events claw at players’ time. Those hours dedicated to on-field training are the first to go.

Because I have little to no actual lacrosse skill, my 10-year professional career owes much to outworking, out-training and out-will powering the studs coming out of college year after year. However, with a new baby and increased work responsibilities, I feel that same demon creeping up on me.

Luckily for me, I have Wednesdays.

On Wednesdays, the Lax Breakfast Club meets in lower Manhattan to run through ladder and change-of-direction drills, conditioning and ab work. It also features some of the top current and former lacrosse players in the world. Among the 10-12 regulars are five NCAA position player-of-the-year winners, dozens of NCAA All-Americans, three Team USA members, two current MLL champions and three current NLL champions. Things get competitive. 

Studies have shown that working out with a buddy or a group significantly increases the chances that you will not only show up more regularly, but also perform better. But the Lax Breakfast Club provides so much more. When the Georgia Swarm won the NLL title in June, long-time Lax Breakfast Club member and NYAC beast Sarah Mahon presented Joel White, John Ranagan and me with a celebratory bottle of champagne at 7 a.m. on a Wednesday. When Craig Bunker moved to Minneapolis, the entire crew presented him with a tight-fitting shirt and backwards ball cap adorned with the Minnesota Vikings logo so he would fit into his new city. And every Monday or Tuesday night, the GroupMe chat is abuzz with memes and RSVPs for that week’s workout. 

So while the days are getting shorter, the mornings are getting colder and I’m getting older, when my alarm goes off on Wednesdays, I’m still excited to get out of bed: I get to work out with the Lax Breakfast Club and stay one “Cornell conditioning test” ahead of the demon.

Mitch Belisle — a defenseman for MLL’s Boston Cannons, NLL’s Georgia Swarm and the 2014 U.S. national team — is the vice president of sales and marketing for Trilogy Lacrosse.