Athletes in high school and college are always looking for ways to improve in order to take their game to the next level. Being able to improve year after year is something coaches love to see whether it is on the college or professional level. For those elite athletes taking their game to the next level could result in huge monetary gains depending on sport. Certain sports can result in huge amounts of money as well as a plethora of sponsorship opportunities. The following are ways to help your game and strategies to help you improve.
Drug Testing Approved Supplements
Getting Omega 3 from fish oil is a perfect example of supplementing the diet to get certain nutrients that you might not from your daily diet. The problem with some supplements can be that they might contain ingredients that could cause an athlete to test positive for a banned substance. For this reason it is important to only use trusted brands as certain brands guarantee they are banned substance free. A protein supplement, multivitamin, and BCAA supplement would be a great example of a combination that could yield positive results for a swimmer or other endurance athlete.
Ask Coaches What You Need To Improve
Athletes might not know what they need to improve if they are an exceptional player. Coaches will be able to see what they can do better to make them a more complete athlete. Great athletes have to be willing to take criticism as there are always improvements to be made to technique. Set a plan out to help you achieve the goals you and your coach have set for yourself. This can really make a difference in your offseason training as it can be hard to stay on track if you do not have established goals for the months of the offseason.
Emphasis On Eating For Performance
College athletes have the ability to eat what they want to and know they should as they are on their own. This can lead to quite a few bad dietary decisions as a college campus is not full of healthy options. Most college athletic departments have a nutritionist that you can meet with for free. Take advantage of this as you might find that by changing your diet you recover quickly and are ready for a tough practice/game day after day.
Consistent Sport Based Weight Training Program
Lifting weights is not automatically going to get you better at your sport as they have to be geared towards your sport. A basketball player should emphasize power and explosiveness within their workouts. A football player might want to do heavy squats as this is the motion they use when blocking on the offensive line. Put together a list of things that you want to improve in the weight room and a sport specific reason you want to do so. The best bench press might not be a big deal in something like distance running so keep this in mind.
As you can see it is all about the details when trying to be the best of the best. There is no substitution for hard work but make sure you are working in an intelligent fashion as well.
