Whether you are dreaming of playing FIFA World Cup or want to become a professional runner one day, it’s utterly crucial for you to maintain a healthy, flexible, and pain-free body. Yes, nothing is more vital for a professional athlete than building strong muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints, and bones because that’s the only way they can improve their performance and prevent injuries.
Although, it’s correct that sports injuries are common; however, that doesn’t change the fact that they diminish an athlete’s performance and in the worst-case scenario can even keep them away from their sport for a long time.
Following sports injuries can have a severe impact on an athletes’ career
l Hip flexor strain
l Concussion
l ACL Tear Shin Splints
l Groin pull
l Hamstring strain
l Golf Elbow
l Severe knee, hip, ankle, and shoulder injuries
What should an athlete do to stay healthy?
Well, the first thing that an athlete should do is consult a physical therapist at a reliable clinic. Physical therapy is utterly significant for every professional athlete to retain a healthy body. There is little doubt that the demand for physical therapy is increasing day by day because of the countless health benefits that it offers.
According to physical therapists, athletes need to do the following things to maintain a healthy life.
- Manage Your Injuries Effectively
Injuries are normal for athletes, but it is essential to treat them at the right time to keep the performance up. It’s hard for them to give good performance if they are living with pain. Therefore, they must seek physical therapy services to relieve pain and heal injuries.
According to Rehab Dynamics Physical Therapy, “The best treatment for a sports injury will depend on several factors, including the severity of the injury, the type of the injury, and any other personal health concerns that may have an impact on your recovery. Working with a physical therapist soon after experiencing an injury can help you to recover faster, helping you to get back to work and play as quickly as possible.”
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- Start Your Morning With a Glass of Lukewarm Water
As soon as you wake up from sleep, it’s essential that you drink a glass of lukewarm water. There are endless benefits of following this habit because lukewarm water helps in digestion, weight loss, calms the central nervous system, relieves constipation, improves circulation, removes toxins from the body, and reduces stress. Besides it also helps in relieving nasal congestion apart from keeping your body hydrated.
On the other hand, lack of water can lead to a variety of health problems linked to skin, muscles, and joints, etc. Therefore, it’s always better to kickstart your day with a glass of lukewarm water.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “a study carried out to find out the effect of drinking 500 ml of water on energy expenditure and substrate oxidation rates, showed positive results. Its result suggests that drinking 500 ml of water increased the metabolic rate by 30%. People with normal weight were part of the study.”
- Maintain A Healthy Diet
A healthy diet is highly significant to maintain a solid body and a calm mind. You can’t think of living a pain-free life if you fail to pay attention to what you eat. As an athlete, you can’t afford to gulp down everything that you find tempting. You will find several options to satisfy your hunger, but you can’t choose anything without knowing how healthy it is for your body.
So, consume foods that can supply an adequate amount of protein, vitamins, fiber, carbs, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, etc., to your body. When your body fails to receive any of these nutrients in the right amount, it becomes weak, due to which you confront several types of health problems.
Your body fails to function effectively in the absence of adequate nutrition; therefore, make sure that you up the intake of healthy fruits, fresh veggies, nuts, pulses, milk products, and meat products, etc., for peak athletic performance.
- Don’t Workout on Empty Stomach
Following an effective workout routine is an integral part of an athlete’s life. A lot of athletes make the mistake of exercising on an empty stomach because they think that they can burn more calories. However, the fact remains that if you don’t eat anything before starting your workout session, then you will not feel energetic enough to carry out hard exercises.
So, if you want to perform at an optimum level, make sure that you eat high carb foods at least one and a half hours before you start your workouts. It will give you that much-needed energy to focus on your exercise.
Also, make sure that you keep sipping water during the workout session. In case you exercise for an hour, then it’s essential that you drink a 1/4 glass of water after half an hour of starting the exercise routine. Since you sweat a lot while performing stretching and strength-building moves, it’s essential that you drink an adequate amount of water during the workout session.
- Don’t Skip Warm-Ups
Warm-ups are utterly crucial to prepare your body for carrying out high-intensity exercises. They not only help in making your body more flexible but are also essential for preventing injuries. You should follow at least a 15 minutes warm-up session before performing high-intensity weight training.
- Stick To Cool Down Exercises
Cooldown exercises are also important; however, not everyone pays attention to them. The cool-down exercises make it easier for your breath and heart rate to return to a normal rhythm.
Besides, you should take sufficient rest, in case you are not feeling well.
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