Sports Nutrition, Physical Fitness and Peak Performance

What is the secret of achieving peak performance?

Is it regular practice, a consistent high level physical activity? Or maybe a good diet of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins? Is it having the positive attitude that gives an athlete that definitive competitive edge?

As a matter of fact it’s a good combination of all these elements – regular exercise and physical fitness, a sound and well-balanced diet, and the right attitude. These are essential tools in achieving peak performance.

Sports nutrition is an area which is very important since you need to supply your body with ample energy since you demand so much output from it. You should also have enough input of energy to balance the calories you use up in practice as well as in the game itself. As an athlete you tend to move more and perform more physical activities than the average person and it follows that your nutritional needs are different. Your diet should have more carbohydrates because this is the body’s main source of energy.

A consistent high level of physical fitness is important for any athlete, not only when in season but off season as well. You can’t afford to slack off and cut down on your exercise sessions because it will not be your first game until four months from today. You must always be in good physical form. A sports car has regular tune ups and is kept in perfect running order to achieve peak performance and this is pretty much the same with an athlete’s body.

The key ingredient is positive attitude. Sometimes, walking into the game and thinking you will be holding the trophy by the end of the game means a lot of difference, sometimes it’s what makes you win the game – that picture in your head at the start of the game – an image that by the time the buzzer sounds, it will be you who will emerge the winner.

Again, remember – the right sports nutrition, consistent high level of physical fitness, and positive attitude are your essentials in achieving peak performance.

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The Mental Game: Just One More!

Preparing for a competition or just doing your everyday workout routine can be quite a challenge especially when you’re not up to it anymore and you just want to stop.

Here’s a great approach to that problem: the “Just One More” approach of doing your training exercises or your workout routine.

Sometimes, there comes a point when running or doing weights prove to be downright boring and unproductive. We all go through this phase once in a while and it could mean that we’re getting too comfortable with our training or fitness exercises.

Pushing yourself just beyond your capacities ensure that you are continuously improving yourself. However, there are limits on how far you can push your body and knowing to read the signals your body sends you is important so that you’ll know when to stop, and when to pusher harder and step it up.

Who ever said you’ll only need to be mentally prepared when going into a big game? Practice and
training also needs the same level of mental preparedness.

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Overcoming Performance Anxiety

Have you ever experienced jitters or the sensation of having butterflies in your stomach or the feeling that you’re going to throw up, just before a really big game?

That reaction is known as performance anxiety.

Performance anxiety is defined as the “the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially.”

Most public performers such as musician, speakers and lecturers as well as athletes have a varying degree of performance anxiety. Some have just a healthy level that enables them to perform better; others have an incapacitating case which can get in the way of achieving peak performance.

Most athletes experience performance anxiety and worry over how they will perform in the game. All these negative thoughts can spell disaster. Even if the athlete had undergone well-designed and rigorous physical training when he has insufficient mental and psychological training, he will experience performance anxiety.

Training should also be done to address mental and psychological areas. Training an athlete to think positive and believe in his athletic abilities is as important as a physical training.

Breathe in, close your eyes and see yourself waving that trophy in the air.

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Visualization for Improved Sports Performance

Visualization is synonymous to guided imagery, and mental imagery and rehearsal. This is a technique used by professional athletes. Many college athletes and other amateur sports practitioners are now incorporating visualization into their training to improve athletic performance and achieve the peak performance of athletes.

What is visualization? How does it work?

Visualization is the creation of “an image or a series of images relevant to their sport, without any external prompts or stimulation; the images are mentally generated by the athlete alone.”

How many times have you seen athletes with obvious superior physical abilities end up first runner-ups in the competition?

The difference between the champion and the first runner-up is that the champion thinks and imagines himself winning and waving that trophy in the air. He has conditioned himself to see that image in his mind and when the final buzzer sounded, that image in his head made all the difference.

Visualize yourself winning. Train your body to achieve the physical capacities needed to win. Prepare yourself emotionally for the stress and pressures of the game.

Train not only your body but also your mind. Imagine. Visualize. Win.

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Sports Psychology and Peak Performance

What is sports psychology? How will it help you achieve peak performance?

Sports psychology is defined as “the study of a person’s behavior in sport…it is also a specialization within the brain psychology and kinesiology that seeks to understand psychological/mental factors that affect performance in sports, physical activity, and exercise and apply these to enhance individual and team performance.”

That’s it –an objective study of factors affecting sports performance and acting on these factors to enhance and achieve peak performance of an athlete.

The main goal of sports psychologists is to help athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, exercisers, fitness professionals, and parents is to assist optimal sports involvement, boost athletic performance, and promote better enjoyment of sport and exercise.

Sports psychology uses scientific research to come up with techniques to help athletes. The most common areas dealt by sports psychology which greatly affect peak performance are: anxiety management, attention and concentration, goal setting, and team building.

Sport psychology professionals are now receiving considerable attention. Professional athletes, fitness specialists, and major universities have acknowledged the significance of sports psychology in performance improvement.

The “knowledge and techniques developed by applied sport and exercise psychology to assist with improving exercise adherence, rehabilitating injuries, educating coaches and parents, building self-esteem, teaching group dynamics, and increasing effectiveness” are now taken advantage of to achieve not only peak performance but also improved attitudes and personalities of the athletes.

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