Improve Your Athletic Performance
Improve Your Athletic Performance
By Elizabeth Quinn, About.com Guide to Sports Medicine
There are several factors that play into how fast you run, how long you can engage in physical activity before you lose steam, and how quickly you can recover -- many of which are within your control.
- Sport Training Basic Principles
- Training Plans, Workouts & Drills
- Strength Training for Sports
- Sports Psychology
- Abdominal Exercise | Core Strength
- Nutrition for Optimal Performance
- Ergogenic Aids | Sports Supplements
- Fitness Testing and Assessment
Sport Training Basic Principles
Whether you're a seasoned athletes or just starting, there are some basics training guidelines and principles that you need to keep in mind in order to get the most from your training. These articles can help you set or reassess your training methods and help you achieve your goals.
- Discover Your Sports Potential
- Exercise Science - What's Behind Your Workout?
- Exercise - Where To Begin?
- Tips for Effective Training
- An Exercise Prescription
- Body Composition | Body Fat
- Detraining | Deconditioning
- Get Fit Faster
- Why You Need Rest & Recovery
- Fast & Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers
- Genetics and Athletic Success
- The Ten Percent Rule
- When To Replace Running Shoes
- Why Your Workouts Don't Work
- Rating Perceived Exertion
- Achieve a Personal Best
- What Causes Muscle Fatigue?
- What Is VO2 Max?
- Does Exercise Order Matter?
- Overtraining Syndrome
Training Plans, Workouts & Drills
Athletes need to practice in order to perform well. Training efficiently for your sport and varying your workouts and skill drills can help you avoid burnout and boredom, as well as reach new levels of performance.
- Endurance Training
- Cross Training Basics
- Interval Training Basics
- Plyometric Exercise Basics
- Explosive Exercise Training
- Circuit Training
- Speed Training
- Treadmills vs. Outdoor Running
- Achieve a Personal Best
- Add 1% of Incline to Your Treadmill
- Peak for Races or Events
- Body Weight Workout | No Equipment
- The Top 10 Tips for All Athletes
- Shuttle Runs Build Endurance
- 30 Second Sprints Improve Performance
- Golf Workouts
- Must Have Fitness Equipment for Your Home Gym
- How to Train Like an Olympian
- Common Exercise Mistakes
- Navy SEALs Workout
Strength Training for Sports
Strength training is a critical component to athletic performance. Increasing muscular strength and endurance improves an athlete's ability to exercise more efficiently, avoid injury and recovery faster.
- Basic Strength Training Principles
- Efficient Strength Training Tips
- A Simplified Strength Training Routine
- How to Safely Use Free Weights
- Strength Training Plateaus - How to Get Unstuck
- Free Weights Vs. Machines - Which is Better?
- Strength Training Over Age 50
- Explosive Exercise Training
- Do You Build More Strength with Full or Partial Lifts?
- Best Butt Exercises (Glutes)
- Strength Training Improves Body Image
- How to Perform a Barbell Military Press
- How to Perform the Full Squat Lift
- The Full Squat Lift - A Checklist for Coaches
- Overtraining with Weights
- How to Perform a Stability Ball Push Up
- Strength Training for Runners
- Should I Do Cardio Before Weight Lifting?
- The Pull Up Exercise: How to Use a Chin Up Bar
- The Push Up Exercise
Sports Psychology
The mind is as much of a part of excelling in a sport as the body. Many elite athletes rely on sports psychology techniques, skills and tools to get a mental advantage over the competition and learn how to improve their focus.
- Dealing with Performance Anxiety (Choking)
- Motivation and Setting Goals
- Regaining and Maintaining Focus
- Tips for Busy Athletes
- Become a Sports Psychologist
- What is a Sport Psychologist?
- Foundations of Sport And Exercise Psychology - Book Review
- Visualization and Guided Imagery for Sports Performance
- Sport Psychology Books - Top Picks
- Mental Focus During Sports - Centering
- The Mental Athlete - Book Review
- Coping with a Sports Injury
- When Your Workouts Don't Work - Tips for Avoding Common Exercise Mistakes
- Ten Ways to Discover Your Sports Potential
Abdominal Exercise | Core Strength
When it comes to moves that target muscle groups, abdominal training exercises are amongst the most popular. But it's selecting those that are proven to be most effective, and performing them properly, that will get you the strong core you're after.
- The Best and the Worst Ab Exercises
- Abdominal Exercises You May Not Have Tried
- How to Build a Strong Core and Better Abs
- Core Muscle Strength and Stability Test
- Top Abdominal Exercise Equipment Choices
- Body Composition, Body Fat and Body Weight
- Top 10 Questions About Abdominal Exercises
- Abs - What They Are and How They Work
- Bicycle Crunch Exercise
- Captain's Chair Exercise
- Ab Crunch on an Exercise Ball
- Vertical Leg Crunch
- Long Arm Crunch
- Reverse Crunch
- Plank (Hover) Exercise
- Traditional (Basic) Abdominal Crunch
- Crossover Crunch
- Seated Oblique Twists with Medicine Ball
- Oblique Crunch
- The Seated Press Up
Nutrition for Optimal Performance
The right nutrition can help you excel in sports, recover faster, decrease your risk of injury, and even reduce muscle soreness. Proper sports nutrition can also help you avoid dehydration, hitting the wall (bonking), general exercise fatigue, and more. Fuel your body right to get the most out of your efforts.
- Sports Nutrition Basics - From Training to Competition
- Energy for Exercise - Fat or Carbs
- Nutrition Tips for Strength Training
- Eating Before Competing
- Post-Exercise Meal
- Hydration and Hyponatremia
- Recommendations for Water, Sodium and Potassium
- How Carbohydrate Provides Energy for Exercise
- How Fat Provides Energy for Exercise
- Protein Needs for Athletes
- Proper Hydration for Exercise - Water or Sports Drinks
- Tips for Vegetarian Athletes
- High Protein Diets and Sports Performance
- Nutrition for Winter Athletes
- Athletes and Iron Deficiency
- Energy Pathways for Exercise - How Food Fuels Exercise
Ergogenic Aids | Sports Supplements
Athletes often look for alternative nutritional supplements or substances to improve performance. Some of these substances are naturally occurring and completely legal while others are manufactured, illegal or banned by many sporting organizations.
- An Overview of Ergogenic Aids and Sports Supplements
- Sports Supplements and Athletic Performance
- Protein Supplements
- Glucosamine
- Ribose
- Creatine
- Glutamine
- B-Vitamins
- Ephedrine
- Caffeine
- Anabolic Steroids
- Androstenedione (Andro)
- Amphetamines
- How to Evaluate Supplement Health Claims
Fitness Testing and Assessment
A fitness assessment is a series of measurements that help determine health status and physical fitness of an individual. There are and endless number of possible tests and measurements that trainers and coaches may use to determine an individual's baseline fitness level and help design an appropriate exercise program. Here are some of the most common fitness tests.
- Vital Sign Measurements
- PAR-Q
- Underwater Weighing - Hydrostatic Weight
- BMI - Body Mass Index
- SkinFold Measurements
- Waist to Hip Ratio Measurement
- Body Fat Analyzers and Scales
- Cardiorespiratory Endurance and VO2 Max
- The Bruce Treadmill Test Protocol
- Exercise Stress Test
- Push Up Test
- Core Strength and Stability Test
- 12 Minute Run Test
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