- Why it’s crucial to prepare mentally and physically for a return to daily activities with sufficient sleep and proper recovery, which also enhances game-time intelligence.
- How adopting healthy eating habits, cooking nutritious meals, and cutting out junk food contribute to overall well-being and improved physical condition.
- What Regular cardiovascular exercise and flexibility routines are essential to counteract the effects of sedentary lifestyles and ensure readiness for upcoming activities.
Back on the Field
Many of us are excited to get back to our normal routine after what seems like forever of being quarantined. But we also want to make sure that we are preparing our bodies for the activities that we are planning to pursue. The past few months of eating junk food, playing video games, and being inactive most likely took an unforeseen toll on our bodies. Therefore we want to make sure we are preparing ourselves to be in the correct mindset as well as making sure our bodies are conditioned enough to return to our daily activities. Here are some tips to make sure you are setting yourselves up for success heading into next season.
1) Sleep:
Sleep is the single most important aspect of life. Sleep is the best and easiest recovery tactic allowing our body to prepare for the next day. While we sleep the brain is also at work integrating everything we learned that day with the information we already know. What this means is that sufficient sleep is almost like a form of mental practice allowing the drills you learned today, to be incorporated into drills you already know allowing you to more fully understand all aspects of the game. This is why you hear stories of people waking up from a “dream” with a new great idea. Sleep helps integrate knowledge and therefore may help with increasing your overall game-time intelligence. In regards to exercise, sleep is what allows the body to recover and assists with building muscle/losing fat.
2) Eating Habits:
Everyone knows that they should eat healthy but few rarely follow through. With all the downtime learn how to cook healthy meals. There are plenty of tutorials online and you can easily youtube any recipe that you would like to try. Begin your diet by cutting out junk food and attempting to have a “colorful” plate. By this I mean make sure you have well-rounded meals consisting of protein, carbs (veggies preferably), and good fats. There are also a variety of free diet apps you can use if you don’t know where to get started. Myfitnesspal is a free app that will help you start in the right direction. Always choose a diet that best fits your lifestyle and most importantly makes you feel good every day.
3) Exercise: Conditioning/Flexibility
Many of us have not had access to adequate fitness facilities and have become one with our couches during this time. If you are not continually challenging your body and improving your overall fitness levels; the excessive rest we have been taking is gradually making us slow and weak. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” This is very true in regards to physical fitness therefore it is time to start prepping your body for the upcoming season. Spend at least 30 min per day 3x a week doing some sort of cardiovascular exercise. This will make sure when you step on the field you’re not running off gasping for air after a few minutes. The weather is getting nice so get outside and start a running routine. The prolonged sitting that we have also been engaging in can make your muscles tight and stiff so performing a gentle stretching routine every day will keep you flexible. When playing sports we also want to make sure that we have full flexibility in order to perform the movements that are required of us.
4) Exercise: Rotational Stability
In Lacrosse, we are constantly twisting our bodies whether it be passing, shooting, running, or getting ready to deliver a big hit. This motion can be very taxing on our body if we don’t train to be strong with rotation prior to the season. Some exercises that assist with rotational stability are basically unilateral or off-set exercises. Some exercises may include single-leg deadlifts, single-leg squats, side planks, single-arm bench/row, or single-arm shoulder presses to name a few basics. By only loading one side of the body we are training rotational/lateral stability of the core which can assist with our lacrosse movements.
5) Stick Skills:
In any sport, we always need to practice our skills. The weather is warming up so get outside and work on any stick skills you need to practice with. This can even be combined with your pre-season conditioning training, run with the stick in your right hand for a mile then switch to your left. Make sure to be working on any weaknesses you have so when the season comes you will be confident in all situations. If able head out to a field and work on ground balls, agility drills with stick handling as well as shooting if applicable. The more you do now the better you will feel and perform on the field.
P.S. We are offering FREE 30 Minutes in-person/online visit for anyone that is dealing with some nagging PAIN. Just because you are stuck at home, that doesn’t mean you should be in pain as well =) call us at 973-585-4990 or email info@myokinetix.com
