6 Tips To Improve Sports Performance This Spring
To improve sports for amateur and recreational athletes planning to participate in summer sports such as marathons, and triathlons, and perform their best this season, the goal is to maximize strength, speed, performance, and optimize recovery.
Trying to improve sports performance can be confusing, and it’s far more complex than simply training as hard as you can all the time. To be at your best at your race or on game day, you need to ensure all aspects of your life including sleep, nutrition, and even your psychology are right.
At Prep Performance Center, we work with young athletes, right through to people in their 50s who want to play hard, and remain injury-free.
6 Tips To Improve Your Sports Performance And Remain Injury-Free
Here are six vital tips from our experts, that will help you reach peak performance and avoid nasty injuries that leave you stuck on the side lines:
Start Early With Training
To get the most out of sports season this summer, you’ll need to start preparing now. Begin with a thorough assessment of your current fitness level and adjust your training accordingly.
Increase the intensity and duration of workouts gradually over time to build up your endurance, strength, and agility – this will also reduce the chance of picking up injuries that wreck your season.
Use Recovery Strategies After Workouts (to improve sports)
After a strenuous workout or race, it’s important to use recovery strategies such as stretching, massage, compression garments, foam rolling, heat/cold therapy, nutrition, etc., to aid in muscle recovery and reduce the risk of sports injuries.
The right recovery strategies for you depend on a lot of things including your previous injury history (such as an ACL injury), your training volume, and your preferences.
Follow The Right Training Programme For You
To stay on top of your sports performance and sports injury prevention, it’s important to follow a well-planned training program – like our Prep Performance Academy or Youth Sports Performance Program.
This training program should be tailored to you such as your sport, your goals, and your training background.
It should include stretching, strength training, cardio exercise, sport-specific training, recovery activities, nutrition advice, and rest days.
Failing to get any one of these aspects right can drastically reduce your sports performance, and leave you unable to play as well as you could.
Stay Hydrated
This might sound obvious, but it’s essential – Dehydration can have serious consequences on sports performance so make sure that you stay adequately hydrated before, during, and after sports.
Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day and remember to replenish lost electrolytes with sports drinks or coconut water.
Get Adequate Sleep
The body needs rest to repair itself and rebuild energy stores so make sure that you get enough quality sleep each night.
Aim for 7-9 hours per night depending on your age and activity level, as well as how hard you are pushing yourself in training.
If you are training really hard, and you feel tidier than usual, then this is a simple, but pretty reliable indicator that you aren’t recovering enough, and your body is struggling to keep up. This will usually happen during a time when you are ramping up your training intensity, increasing your training volume, or you’re coming off the back of intense games.
Speed Up Recovery With Physical Therapy
If you’re experiencing an injury, ache, or pain that is affecting sports performance physical therapy is a great, natural way to a fast recovery.
Physical Therapy at Prep Performance Center, Chicago can provide targeted treatment for sports-related injuries and help you recover quickly so that you can get back to performing your best.
At our clinic, we offer a wide variety of options including Kinesio Taping, Massage Therapy and Joint Mobilization so you are able to get the most effective treatment that’s right for you, and your particular situation.
By following these tips from our physical therapy team, amateur, recreational, and even professional athletes should be able to maximize their performance for the upcoming summer sports season.
Protect your young athlete from preventable injuries with our free guide. Download now and get expert advice on how to keep your child safe while playing sports. Don’t wait until it’s too late – take action today and give your young athlete and even seasoned players the best chance for success.
Download our Guide to Preventing Injury for Young Athlete
Hit Your Peak Performance In 2023
If you’re struggling to get stronger, can’t keep up with the competition, and keep coming up against the same niggling injuries, our team are here to help you.
We would love to see you at one of our Free Peak Performance Assessments where you can speak to a member of our team 1-1, and learn about the most effective ways you can improve your sports performance without getting injured.
Due to high demand at our clinic, we only have a limited number available right now, so click the link below, or call us on (773) 609-1847 now.
Arrange My Free Peak Performance Assessment
More Free Resources To Improve Your Sports Performance
Read Our Blog – How Athletes Can Loosen Tight Lower Back Muscles Fast
Read Our Blog – How To Prevent Knee Pain When Running
Follow Us On Social Media – Prep Performance Center Facebook, Prep Performance Center Instagram, and Prep Performance Center YouTube
