7 Ways To Improve Your Athletic Performance
Every athlete is looking for ways to improve their game and maximize their performance. Here are seven easy methods that any athlete can integrate into their daily routine that can help bring dividends on the field, court, and track.
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7. HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE
Drinking a sufficient amount of water can be one of the most critical factors for peak athletic performance. Not only does H2O carry vital nutrients throughout your body and removes waste, but the fluid also helps your fascia (connective tissue) operate in good shape.
Sports Dietitians of Australia offer a helpful Fact Sheet to help you determine how much fluid to drink, and how to estimate your fluid losses.
6. KEEP A FITNESS JOURNAL
It’s vitally important to keep track of your accomplishments over time, so you can gauge your progress and determine where you can approve. Having a day-to-day record of your performance tells you exactly what you’re doing right—and where you need to improve.
Phone Apps such as MyFitnessPal or My Calorie Counter are helpful when tracking your calorie intake and exercise on the go.
5. TAKE YOUR SUPPLEMENTS
While your main source of sufficient nutrients should always be from the food you eat, proper supplements are key in developing that edge. Whether they come in the form of vitamins, whey protein, or fat supplements like conjugated linoleic acids, doctor-approved usage of these substances are an important part of your regimen.
Make sure to schedule an appointment with a doctor, to discuss which supplements are best for you. In addition, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements has a series of Vitamin and Mineral Fact Sheets that provide scientifically-based overviews of a number of vitamins and minerals and can provide a good basis for a discussion with your doctor.
4. GET ENOUGH REST
Knowing when to stop being in motion is just as important as staying in motion. Without an appropriate recovery time between workouts and games—which your fitness journal can help you determine—your body cannot regain its peak condition for the next match or training session.
Read our recent blog post How Sleep Can Affect Athlete Performance to learn more about the importance of rest on athletic performance. It also offers easy-to-use, good sleep habits.
3. TRAIN WITH A PARTNER OR GROUP
Sharing fitness goals with a buddy can help you stay on track, as well as give you a healthy sense of competition that can drive you to new plateaus in your workout. It can also simply be more fun than hitting the gym alone!
A great resource is to look at Meetup groups in your area. Many cities have running groups, hiking groups and groups that offer sport pickup games to encourage you to join a community with a shared goal.
2. DO THE CORRECT EXERCISES
Before you begin to train, it’s crucial that you pinpoint what specific workout is the right one for your body and your needs—or else you’re just wasting your time! Develop functional routines (perhaps with a trainer) that target the right muscles and limit the possibility of injury.
Our local Seattle friends at Volt Athletics offer an elite-level strength training app for athletes. Each workout is part of your personalized training plan that tells you exactly what to do in the gym to train correctly for your sport. It offers videos, instructions and coaching cues and is available for $29.99 with a free trial period.
1. EAT RIGHT
Your body is a temple, and anything you eat should be reflective of that metaphor. The food you take into your system will absolutely impact not just your health but your performance. Work with a sports nutritionist to develop a diet that is fit for a champion!
Former Ironman Brendan Brazier offers great insight into how nutrition is a key factor building athlete performance in his Ted Talk: Find your athletic edge. He describes the benefits of a plant-based diet and the dangerous of consuming high calories density and processed foods.
IMPROVE ATHLETE PERFORMANCE WITH ATHLETE INTELLIGENCE
Don’t forget that you can also improve your athletic performance with our Athlete Intelligence system. Our sensors provide athletes with impact and performance metrics that can be used to correct improper technique. All the data is translated into what we call Coachable Moments, which provide actionable recommendations for improvement.
For example, our using the Vector MouthGuard in football our smart system will notice when an athlete is taking more hits to the crown of their heads in fourth quarter. It will automatically provide the athlete or coach with a Coachable Moment that recognizes the athlete is tiring and dropping his head. The athlete can then recognize that do to overexposure on the field his technique has begun to decrease in performance and may result in injuries.
While using the Cue Sport Sensor in soccer our Athlete Intelligence system can recognize when players are using improper heading techniques and will provide Coachable Moments on proper technique in order to reduce the risk of serious injury.
To learn more about our system please download our Info Booklet below.
