School is out for Summer – that means vacations, barbecues and no homework! It can also mean a struggle for your typical student athlete in terms of staying in shape. Unless you’re a coach or a former athlete yourself, you’d never know the lengths a true competitor takes to stay fit. Whether you’re a quarterback, shooting guard or pitcher, these coach-suggested tips will help you stay season-ready during your off months.
1. Practice Yoga
Yoga is an underestimated way to stay healthy and fit. An athlete can increase their strength and flexibility with routine yoga sessions. Believe it or not, your breathing can also improve from practicing yoga, helping improve one’s lung capacity, which is extremely important while playing sports. Looking to regain lost range of motion or muscle control, especially after an injury? Yoga can do that! In fact, yoga has been proven to decrease injuries due to the involvement of more muscle groups at once.
2. Stay Hydrated
When the temperatures rise, it’s crucial to remain hydrated. Our bodies are made up of mostly water, therefore, that’s the best means of hydration we can have! Water can maintain a cooler body temperature, help with blood circulation and help to remove waste. Feel like you drink enough water already? Try eating foods that are higher in water content such as cucumbers or the Summer favorite, watermelon.
3. Run
Whether your sport of choice requires you to run or not, the benefits of running can be felt by every athlete. Running can give you greater flexibility, which stretches your joints, ligaments and muscles. Those who run move more fluidly on the track, field or court giving the athlete sharper coordination when it matters most. Not only does running help a student athlete physically, but it is known to be an aide to those living with depression, and just the average daily adolescent stresses. One of the most obvious benefits of running, is losing and/or maintaining weight.
4. Proper Rest
Despite not having to get up early to go to school, rest is imperative, even in the Summer. It’s recommended for student athletes to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. Lack of sleep can affect the way you eat and can decrease your metabolism, causing unwanted weight gain. A good amount of rest will also give you more energy, and more energy will give a student athlete the fuel they need to have an effective workout. Sleep also provides better mental clarity and focus.
5. Eat Right
Summer is a tough time to lose/maintain weight. Every weekend is most likely filled with some event that involves delicious, yet often unhealthy food. It’s ok to treat yourself occasionally, but it’s important to not go overboard. Avoid junk food and snacks on a regular basis by eating a healthy, balanced diet. Adopting poor eating habits will sabotage your healthier lifestyle, causing you to take even longer to get back in shape.
We hope these tips will help student athletes stay the course this Summer so they will be ready for their respective seasons and can still fit into their treasured varsity jackets! For information on how to order your varsity jacket now so that you have it ready for the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, call 973.575.7840 or email sales@unitedsportapparel.com.