Sports Performance Lift
Optimal athletic performance depends on many factors, the biggest of them all being – unsurprisingly – nutrition. Good nutrition is a fundamental part not only of peak performance, but of good health in general.
The whole concept of being well and staying that way depends on our intake of adequate minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and a host of other components which make up the balance for our bodies to stay healthy.
My Naturopath focuses very much on optimum nutrition through food, by analyzing your daily diet, over-all lifestyle and dietary habits. Since each person is different and has different dietary requirements, it’s necessary to look at each person individually to determine which factors are contributing to your well-being and good health, and which aren’t. Certain foods may need to be increased or decreased, or even avoided for a time, to bring the body into complete balance for enhanced performance.
The naturopathic analysis also assesses your body composition, to work out the ideal fat/muscle/fluid ratio for your body. To find out in detail how we can help you reach your ideal athletic performance, make an appointment with My Naturopath today.
6 tips & tricks to improve athletic performance
Use deep breathing and conscious breathing exercises to help with stress reduction
– this will naturally lead to improved health and increased athletic performance. Stress is bad for both the body and the mind, as it can hamper judgment and negatively impact sports performance.
How to Reduce Stress with Conscious Breathing
Work toward reducing stress in life situations through conscious breathing. The easiest conscious breathing exercise requires a person to take an individually preset number of deep breaths (usually five to 10) when encountering a stressful situation, before responding or taking action. Beyond that, greater stress reduction can be achieved by using particular meditation techniques that involve conscious awareness of breathing, among other tactics.
Using Deep Breathing to Improve Sports Performance
As in stressful situations encountered in life, uncontrolled stress can significantly undermine sports performance. By using conscious deep breathing exercises, however, an athlete can improve sports performance overnight. Athletes should optimally begin deep, exaggerated, rhythmic breathing prior to beginning a given athletic activity (in both training and competition). That way the athlete’s muscles will already be primed with oxygen, and the rhythm of deep breathing will be established and habitual.
Don't under-eat.
As an athlete, your body needs fuel. If you are training hard enough, you are highly unlikely to pile on pounds of fat – so don't skimp on breakfast! You need the energy to push yourself to the next level.
Don't rely on supplements.
There are as many sports supplements as there are athletes in training. A well-planned, well-balanced diet will provide you with everything you need to perform well. In some circumstances, certain supplements can provide the “cherry on the cake”, but the net benefit of these highly expensive products is at best limited. The same is doubly true of exotic-sounding supplements and foods that make extraordinary claims: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Don't give up!
Throughout your training, you will experience peaks and troughs, both physically and mentally. Your physical progress will increase over time, but you will also experience the “plateau” effect, where it seems that you aren't improving, no matter what you do. Don't panic, this is a natural part of the training process. Talk to friends, talk to your training partners, keep going, and you will get through it.
