The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine provides a Sports Medicine Tip Sheet on different topics.
This edition, "Sports Nutrition Essentials for the Female Athlete," gives helpful information on what foods to eat, hydration and building muscle. The newsletter format makes it an easy-access tool for parents, coaches, and athletes themselves.
Access the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Tip Sheet here.
Nutrition is obviously important for every young athlete. Unfortunately, the proliferation of energy drinks and supplements, coupled with pressure to obtain optimal body weight, can make it difficult for athletes to stick to a healthy diet. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has a position statement on nutrition and athletic performance which cuts through the clutter.
Click here to read this important statement (Note: Scroll down the page a bit once you land on the ACSM home page).
Energy drinks are all too popular with young athletes. This story should make everyone involved in youth sports think twice about using these high-caffeine products.
This article from the New York Times describes several recent studies indicating that youth are gaining massive amounts of weight to play football. These young athletes are raising their risk of being morbidly obese as teens and as adults in pursuit of high achievement on the field. Given what we know about how obesity can wreak havoc on the health of adolescents and adults, it is time to come to grips with this growing problem (no pun intended).
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness
This detailed article by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness describes common habits leading to unhealthy weight, and provides suggestions for healthy alternatives for weight control in young athletes. Some of the topics discussed are: dehydration, binging/purging behavior, and weight and body-composition measurement.
Click here to view full article at the American Academy of Pediatrics website.
Help your athletes build their energy through simple but consistent healthy habits.
It is surprising how many athletes under-perform because they lack energy. They come to practice or competition wanting to do well, but cannot seem to raise the energy necessary to deliver a crisp performance. Even athletes with tremendous athletic gifts often find themselves feeling sluggish or depleted for reasons they do not fully understand. The coach gets annoyed, the athlete gets frustrated, and a potentially good day is wasted.
In the The Power of Full Engagement Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz discuss the importance of building energy for optimal performance. They make the point that physical energy is crucial to overall performance not just only for the obvious reasons, but also because of its affect on the mental, emotional, and spiritual energy of the athlete.
For all of our athletes, building energy begins in the physical sphere with nutrition, hydration, exercise, and rest. When any one of these energy-builders is out of alignment, there is likely to be a depletion of energy and a drop in performance. We can help our athletes become more consistently energetic by reminding them to:
Eat to win. Most young athletes do not eat a diet sufficient to meet their energy needs. Encourage your athletes to eat a balanced diet with plenty of nutrients, and avoid sugary meals that could cause blood sugar to spike during practice and competition.
Hydrate to win. Many young athletes are chronically dehydrated and have no idea how this condition saps their energy. Focusing on hydration on the day of the game is not enough. Encourage your athletes to drink six to eight glasses of water a day, every day.
Exercise to win. Most young athletes get plenty of exercise, but too many fail to work out intelligently for their sport. Help your athletes understand the importance of stamina, strength, flexibility, speed, and balance in addition to skill development. Equip them with plans to work smart so they can build their bodies without succumbing to extreme fatigue or overuse injuries.
Rest to win. Young athletes need recovery time and adequate sleep to optimize their energy for performance. The National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that youth should get at least eight hours and preferably nine hours of sleep per night. Based on this standard, the large majority of American youth are chronically sleep deprived. The studies which show the relationship between sleep deprivation and performance are clear: lack of sleep hurts academic performance and psychomotor performance. Think carefully about early a.m. practices which leave athletes with little recovery time and less than eight hours of sleep. This is especially if your athletes are driving cars to and from practice.
Given the hectic lives we all lead, it is easy to overlook these four basics of energy building for athletes. But in encouraging healthy eating, hyrdration, exercise, and rest, you can help your athletes generate the energy they need to win in competition and in the classroom. Energy building is also an area where parents can have a tremendous positive impact. Think about enlisting your parents in a collaborative effort to help your athletes energize.
As always, thank you for elevating your athletes!
