Top Tips to Take Your Athleticism to the Next Level
Think you got what it takes to play big-time college sports and go pro? That is great! Now do not stop believing in that. This blog’s topic is how to turn those dreams into reality by giving you tips to take your athleticism to the next level. We will further break down mentality when training, rehab tools necessary to incorporate into your daily habits, and the importance of diet and recovery.
To begin, if you are serious about playing at the next level, your training sessions need to represent that. You need to stay focused and give every single drill your 100% effort while always wanting to do more. Nothing should be “just good enough”, but rather, you should be asking yourself and the coach, “what can I be doing or change to be better?” Changing your behavior and mentality from “thank goodness there are only 25 minutes left in this session’’ to, “let’s use the remaining 25 minutes of the session to get better” is a strong mentality to have because training should not be a chore if you want to take it to the next level, it should be something you are excited about doing. Ultimately, you should want to get the opportunity to train.
Next, due to the possible increase in training volume and intensity, you need to treat your body right when not training. Stretching and making sure to rid the body of any soreness is key to staying healthy to be able to go train tomorrow. Get yourself the necessary tools you need, whether that is bands, Theragun, foam rollers, heat pads, etc. Anything to give you the upper hand while staying one step ahead of your training is so important for recovery. Recovery after a training session comes in many different forms and some of these recovery tactics include things like deep breathing exercises or yoga, or other forms of stretching like static stretching, loosening tight muscles by placing heat packs on the site of tightness, or using the foam roller to help break up the muscle fibers in the body, and bands are good to use for strengthening the smaller muscles to prevent injury which is used more in the prehab side of things but is still crucial to overall development. Recovery also comes in the form of diet and sleep, which might be the most important effort.
Diet goes hand and hand with exercise because if you are exercising 3/4/5/6 days a week, your body needs the fuel to keep going. Making sure you are eating enough protein for muscle building and the formation of new muscles is obviously important for everyone who is a dedicated weight lifter, but to take your sport to the next level most likely requires you to gain weight and pack on the muscle in which protein is at the top of the food requirements. Carbohydrates are necessary for athletes as a main fuel source of the body and will help you maintain the drive factor so you do not burn out. Drinking enough water and staying hydrated before training, while training, as well as throughout the day helps regulate muscle contractions to prevent muscle cramps and dehydration. The last piece of the puzzle is sleep. Sleep is a must. If an athlete is training at a high frequency and not sleeping, it is pretty simple; they will not have the energy to train. The body won’t have the needed time to recover and repair the muscles, and vital organs won’t have time to “catch their breath.”
As you can see, if you genuinely want to take your athleticism to the next level, you may need to make sacrifices in your life to help you live out your dream. You may need to change your behavior or mentality when training, and about your life in general, and you need to make sure you are recovering properly, which includes diet, hydration, and sleep. These are important pieces you need to incorporate into your life, and if you stay focused, and dedicated, you can achieve your goals and do great things!
If you're ready to take your athleticism to the next level, get in touch with us today. We offer in-person training options at our facility in Centennial, Colorado. We look forward to working with you.