An athlete’s life is stressful. If you consistently train in a highly competitive environment, it’s easy to ignore your body’s needs for regular R&R.
Even if you are motivated to achieve certain goals, it’s also important to set aside time for pampering yourself. You need to take rest seriously if you want to see your performance improve.
We believe that athletes who work hard deserve an occasional treat (don’t worry, we’re not talking about a calorific cheat meal here). Whether you want to chill after a game or just want to relax after back-to-back training, here are helpful tips that will help you prevent injury and burnout.
Make Time For Rest
Professional athletes know the value of planned and controlled rest in helping improve performance. Don’t burn yourself out by consistently pushing your body to the point of exhaustion in every single training session.
If you want to be able to play your best, always make rest one of your priorities. No matter how busy you may be, set aside time for self-care and make it sacred.
Don’t move around your schedule because of other “more important” matters. Make rest a part of the big picture—after all, it’s an important element of your success.
Be More Mindful
Just sit back, relax, and breathe.
Deep breathing and relaxation are under-emphasized techniques that can help improve an athlete’s physical performance and mindset.
Just ten minutes of meditation can help you feel more calm and peaceful throughout the day.
Typically, athletes are just bursting with energy, but if you make it a habit to start your day with meditation, it will be easier for you to stay sharp, fresh, and calm.
Visualization
Your imagination is a powerful tool that can help you relax. Use it to create pictures and scenarios that will bring you pleasant thoughts.
When you’re stressed, take ten minutes to visualize your dream vacation or recall a happy memory. Additionally, imagining yourself achieving your goals will help you stay confident and motivated.
Sleep, Sleep, Sleep
There is nothing like a good night’s sleep to help you feel more energized. Sleep affects important aspects of sports such as reaction time, accuracy, and decision-making.
Your performance will clearly suffer if you don’t sleep well. Your body will suffer too.
Treat sleep as one of the most important ingredients of your success. If you sleep well, you will perform better.
Try A Low-Impact Activity
For most athletes, staying inactive is next to impossible. While it is perfectly understandable why you want to keep things fast, try switching things up once in a while.
Take up a low-impact activity that will keep you moving but at a much slower pace. Walking, yoga or Tai Chi can help clear your mind and help your body stay energized. It’s a good option if you want to keep your mind off the stress of competing.
Take A Long, Relaxing Essential Oil Bath And Let Go
You trained hard, so you deserve this.
If you want to give your sore muscles relief, treat yourself to a nice epsom salt bath that will energize and rejuvenate your body. It’s a natural recovery aid that will help you feel better after pushing yourself in training.
Whether you are a bodybuilder, runner, or martial artist, you will surely benefit from a combination of epsom salt and essential oils.
At Better Bath Better Body, we have an Athlete Bath Soak that has soothing aromas (you’ll especially love its distinct pine scent). We also have other blends for athletes, which you can shop here.
