7 Health and Fitness Tips You Can Get From a Sportsman’s Life

Want to stay as healthy and fit as a sportsman? (And why wouldn’t you!) News flash: it’s possible, and more importantly it’s not all about training. Diet and lifestyle play an important role in helping you look, feel, and perform to the best of your capabilities.

Here are a few health and fitness tips that we have narrowed down after skimming through the lives of successful sportspersons. Go through them, and you’ll find that they are not that difficult to follow:

1.Train smarter, not harder

A common assumption is that in order to be smart and fit, you have to train 24/7, push yourself to do intense exercises, and work out for extended time periods. It’s not true! Professional sportsmen do not work out this way. Their approach is different from that of bodybuilders.

Sportsmen prefer varying their training regime with a variety of activities, intensities, and training modes. For instance, you may see a person doing high interval training early in the morning to develop anaerobic capacity. And then they might do weight lifting later in the evening to build strength. The variation in training regimes enables them to stay consistent with their workout.

What probably helps these sportsmen train right is having a coach. Their coaches focus on training smarter rather than harder. The intensity of the workouts increase overtime to help them reach their highest potential, but it’s a carefully planned regimen.

2. Stay hydrated

Drinking water throughout the day is great but staying hydrated while working out will help you retain energy and maintain strength. Amanda Carlson-Phillips, vice president of Nutrition and Research for Athletes’ Performance in Phoenix, Arizona, Olympic consults with pros regarding fitness. She recommends sportsmen to consume 0.5 to 1 ounce of water per pound of their body weight daily.

Don’t wait for your training to start drinking water and see how your body responds to it. Drink water throughout the day and especially during your training. It will save you from a lot of tummy troubles in the future.

3. Sleep soundly

One thing that every healthy and fit person emphasizes on is getting proper sleep. Proper sleeping habits play a significant role in training and fitness. Sportspersons like Kevin Durant, Serena Williams, and Usain Bolt swear that they get 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night.

Proper sleep provides your body the much-needed rest and helps it recover from the exhaustion of the day. Basketball superstar LeBron James claims that he gets more than 12 hours of sleep at night.

There is a catch, however. Not every hour sleeping is considered restful sleep. REM sleep recharges your body, and it appears in cycles. If you wake up from time to time or stay awake in bed, you won’t be able to get a deep sleep required to feel energized and strengthen your immunity system.

Getting proper sleep increases your performance in areas like endurance, reaction times, accuracy, and decrease chances of injury. In addition to physical benefits, it also contributes to mental strength, helps you focus, and keeps you motivated.

4. Relax

Sure, sleep is one way to relax, but it’s essential to take out some time in the middle of the day to unwind mentally and physically. Sportsmen use a lot of relaxation techniques, ranging from restorative breaths right before the big game to mental breaks, from spa treatments to regular massages, and so much more.

One such technique is progressive muscle relaxation. It enables sportsmen to control and monitor their muscle tension. In this technique, you slowly relax and tense your muscle groups. It helps you focus on these two states of your muscles and makes you more aware of the physical sensations.

Another popular relaxation technique is a detox bath. It drenches your body in restorative minerals, such as clay, sea salts, and at times baking soda and charcoal. This bath is especially helpful for sore or stiff muscles. Also, detox baths strengthen defenses against flu and cold.

5. Regular health check

Staying fit and healthy requires you to understand what is going on with your body at all times. Sportsmen regularly monitor their vitals, like blood pressure, heart rate, potassium and sodium levels, and sleep patterns.

Keeping a check on these health factors will help you prevent diseases and provide you an understanding of your personal baseline so that you can get help if anything is off. It may be difficult to notice subtle changes, which is why you should also consult a physician and get a complete check-up every 3 months.

6. Follow a personalized training regimen

Everyone has a different body. This means that when it comes to fitness, ‘one exercise fits all’ cannot work. Therefore, it’s essential to consult a trainer and get your personalized training routine.

If you’re going for a high-intensity workout, ALWAYS start with a warm-up and make sure it’s dynamic. Include jumping jacks, pushups, arm circles, and squats in your warm-up routine.  Warm-ups are necessary because they enhance performance, help prevent injuries, and can even reduce muscle soreness. Ease into your training routine with a variety of warm-up moves.

7. Prioritize mental health

Being a sportsperson requires you to stay mentally sharp, and that means staying mentally fit is as important as physical fitness. When the situation becomes tough, it’s easy to succumb to the pressure and stop trying. Mental training gives you the strength and tools to manage stressful conditions and perform to the best of your abilities.

In addition to physical exercises, make time for mental exercises as well. These will help you in the long run and prevent you against diseases. MCI online tests and dementia statistics show that mental fitness helps promote physical fitness.

These health and fitness tips prove that staying in tip-top shape is not that difficult. With a little commitment and dedication, you can live a healthy life like a sportsman.

Stay fit, stay healthy, stay smart!

Leave a Comment

Scroll to Top