Gaining the Advantage: Tips for Athletes
“The inches we need are all around us”
- Coach Tony D’Amato in Any Given Sunday
“Gentleman, we don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone”
- Coach Herb Brooks, 1980 U.S Olympic Hockey team
This blog is written with the high school and college athletes in mind, but the ideas apply to athletes of all ages. In reality, they can apply to anyone who strives for success in any field.
Youth sports can teach you the power of the body and can lead to a lifetime of fitness. They teach you that focused practice results in acquiring new skills. You learn teamwork and you learn how to be coached. Most of all, they should be a source of fun and enjoyment. However, there is an aspect of needing to be good enough to keep advancing in order to keep having fun. The athletes with the most talent will keep advancing, but ultimately they will run up against opponents with equal or even more talent. Many will be satisfied at the level of success that they have had, but others are obsessed and will search for the extra advantage or that extra inch. This may be an athlete trying to make the team, an athlete trying to break into the starting line up, or an athlete trying to win a championship. For anyone who follows sports it is obvious there is often little difference between success and failure. One kid is almost good enough to make the team, one backup is almost good enough to be a starter, one team is one second, one inch, one point from winning the championship. If you are in this situation you are searching for that extra advantage, but remember your opponent is as well. At the top levels everyone plays hard. Everyone practices hard. Every coach is preparing their team. You are looking for the inches your opponent may not see.
If you want to reach your highest potential you may want to consider your overall health. Be mindful that your sleep, your nutrition and your stress level will all affect your performance. Many have watched the Netflix series, Quarterbacks, which followed Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota through the 2022 NFL season. It is an interesting look behind the scenes of what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. All three men are successful and dedicated athletes. What I saw was Mahomes was obsessed with winning championships and being one of the best quarterbacks of all time. The series focused on his intense workouts away from team practice and his film study, but it also mentioned his dedication to nutrition and recovery. Kirk Cousins was also obsessed with winning, but at 35 years old his schedule was different from the 28 year old Mahomes. He needed to spend significantly more time on recovery so his body could tolerate the game each week. As he was attempting to hold his body together during a grueling season, he dedicated more time to sports psychology. Marioitta, who was a former Heisman winner and second overall NFL pick, has had a journeyman career being a starter and a backup. Of course the editors could have given him a bad deal, but he did not seem to work nearly as hard as Mahomes and Cousins. For the first time, he hired a personal chef/nutritionist and mentioned nutrition was something with which he struggled. Additionally, he was not shown working out much besides team practice. My point is he did not appear willing to go the extra inch. This is not a criticism, he has had an amazing career both athletically and financially. My point is he was portrayed as someone who was not keeping up with his competitors despite having great potential out of college. Another popular documentary on Netflix was Untold Story: Johnny Manziel. This is the classic story of the athlete who played hard and partied hard. He had amazing college success winning on talent alone, but he ultimately failed at the professional level because talent was not enough. He may be perfectly content with his success, but he is a cautionary tale about how difficult it is to succeed at the next level. If being an NFL starting quarterback or even a championship quarterback was his goal he needed to give his off field habits some more attention. If you watch both series, the habits of Mahomes versus Manziel explain their very different careers after college. So, what are some of the things you can pay attention to off the field if you are looking to excel? Let's start with sleep.
Sleep is a superpower. Of course you need to be well rested before any competition, but it is also the most important recovery tool. During the deepest stages of sleep is when our bodies secret up to 70% of the hormones required for tissue repair and growth. When you are well rested you are more focused and energetic. You are better able to handle stress and anxiety. You are less fatigued which not only makes you more competitive but also more resistant to injury. Roger Federer sleeps 10 hours a night with a 2 hour nap as part of his tennis training. Usain Bolt has woken up from naps and set world records. Think of animals in the wild. The panther lounges around napping on a tree branch waiting to spring into action. Now this may be difficult, but not impossible for a student athlete. You may certainly need to sacrifice sleep on occasion for academics and sports travel. If excelling or winning championships is your goal you may not want to sacrifice it for much else. Be mindful of how much sleep you are getting. Are you staying up late scrolling on your phone or playing video games? Did you stay up late writing a paper that could have been done earlier? Did you sleep in too late on Sunday and now you can not fall asleep Sunday night and the big game is Tuesday? These are choices you make and if you choose to be fatigued you are also choosing to be less than your best or more injury prone. It may not matter in your performance……..yet. Until you need something extra to reach your goal.
“Napping is a great hobby”
- Nick Chief Executive Editor of The Real House MD
Napping can be beneficial to athletes. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night you should avoid naps especially in the late afternoon or evening. Review the Sleep section in Lifestyle for recommendations . If your evening sleep is in order, a daily nap can increase your focus, restore energy, and decrease fatigue. Many athletes nap for 10-30 minutes in the afternoon. For a college athlete this would be after morning workout or academics, but before afternoon practice or competition. In general, you should avoid a nap longer than 90 minutes. At 90 minutes you may fall into REM sleep and wake up more fatigued and disoriented. If you can not fall asleep to nap in the afternoon consider a Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) practice. This protocol is similar to some mediation practices and has great benefits without falling asleep.
Nutrition may be the most overlooked performance enhancing tool for athletes at the high school and college level. It is often overlooked even at the professional level. As athletes age, it becomes obvious that they can not out train a bad diet. Tom Brady may be the athlete most associated with his diet because he credits his strict diet with his ability to compete at 47 years old. Most young athletes are more interested in performance now. The following video explains how Nick Bosa over hauled his diet to improve his performance. He discusses how he was previously missing sacks by a second and improving his nutrition turned those near misses into sacks. Nutrition is the inches that are all around us.
Now, what you should eat is specific to your sport, your position, and your body. The men's sprinter needs a different diet than the female cross country runner. The football offensive lineman needs a different diet than the wide receiver. The athlete who has difficulty maintaining their playing weight during a grueling season needs a different diet than the player who struggles gaining too much weight in the offseason. A specific diet protocol for each sport and each individual is beyond the scope of this blog. If you are at the elite, college level I would encourage you to really listen to the team nutritionist, do your own background research, and decide what works best for you. At lower college levels, you may need to find your own nutritionist or a mentor. There are many coaches or teammates who are doing it the right way and can serve as guides. At the highschool level you have the benefits and drawbacks of living at home. If your parents are dedicated to their own fitness and nutrition you are already starting with a competitive advantage. You merely need to tweak your nutrition because what a middle aged athlete needs is different from a young athlete. If your household has not been interested in nutrition you may need to educate your family. They have likely already proven they are all in sacrificing their time and money getting you to practice and competitions, so nutrition is just one more step on the ladder to success. An added benefit is it could benefit your entire family's overall health.
A couple things are universal in sports nutrition. First, you need to be properly hydrated. Dehydration can drastically affect performance and make you injury prone. Even dehydration of only 2-3% can result in decreased muscle strength and performance. It is well established that hydrating throughout the day is critical.
It is also important to be aware of caffeine and alcohol consumption as these can be dehydrating. When it comes to food, try to do your best to have balanced meals with lean meats, fruits and vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Try your best to avoid a high sugar diet and processed carbs. A general rule is foods with no label or one ingredient are healthier than foods with multiple ingredients especially if you need to look up those ingredients on a scientific website. Be careful not to follow the latest fad diet without significant research. For example, you may be interested in the intermittent fasting trend, but this may not be the best option for a young athlete who is burning huge amounts of calories. There are cases of successful professional athletes who follow a vegan diet, but you need to be aware they may have access to a wide range of vegan foods and supplements that are not available to you. We are not created metabolically equal. Your hero may tolerate some foods that do not work with your gastrointestinal system. The Carnivore or Keto diet has become popular for many athletes. I would caution you that for most athletes there could be a reduction in aerobic fitness with these diets. However, at the elite levels, there's some evidence you could have an increased aerobic capacity, but you would need a thorough analysis of your performance to confirm this. Remember an athletic competition is not a beauty contest. Your older brother who has retired from sports may look shredded on a high protein diet, but that doesn’t mean it is the best diet for your performance. A final word of caution. An anti-inflammatory diet is the best diet for middle aged athletes to limit joint pain and disease of chronic inflammation. This may be the diet your healthy parents follow, but you may need some more calorie dense foods due to the amount of energy burned during your workouts.
“Do not believe everything you read on the internet”*
- Abraham Lincoln
Nutritional science is difficult. You can make a short term study show whatever you want just by tweaking the cofactors and inclusion data. Beware big food industries and nutrition experts will design studies, lectures, and videos to boost their product at the expense of others. An example would be how the cereal manufacturers denigrated eggs(a great food for athletes) in order to boost cereal sales at the expense of health. I encourage everyone to do their own research - as I have said before you have a computer in your pocket and knowledge is power. Remember, you are a unique individual, so you need to find what works best for you. Plan meals that increase your energy, focus, and endurance. Pay attention to how you feel and how you perform after certain meals. The goal is to improve your performance through nutrition. Keep in mind that perfection is not the objective and it may be difficult especially at the college level as you may only have access to a certain amount of food options. Do your best.
Your playing days will come to an end at some point. Whenever this occurs, your nutrition needs may need to change greatly. Most athletes are going from daily practice to a period of less intense fitness. What I have seen is some former competitive athletes gain significant weight when they stop competing. This is not beneficial to their physical or mental health. Fortunately, the athletic community appears to be aware of this issue. My advice is two parts. First, be mindful of your new caloric needs. Second, when you lift the championship trophy for the final time on Saturday, rest on Sunday and start your new fitness routine Monday. You have spent your athletic career building beneficial, lifetime fitness habits, so do not let these habits go to waste.
The last area to discuss is how stress can affect your performance. Being a student athlete is stressful, but this type of stress is often a good thing. Stress can increase your focus and your energy for the task at hand whether it is academics or athletics. Having the ability to control your stress is crucial as uncontrolled stress can decrease performance and increase fatigue. Off the field stress can affect your athletic performance, fatigue you, and make you prone to injury. An example would be losing sleep worrying about a paper or an exam when you should be resting. Or having difficulty focusing on academics in class or your sport while practicing due to stress or lack of focus. A stress management practice might be helpful.
Another area of stress is pregame stress. Some athletes may need high amounts of pregame stress to succeed. Think of the Hall of Famers who get so hyped up they vomit before every game. If this is how you are wired, great. However, if this causes you to be fatigued at the start of competitions you may benefit from some stress reduction techniques. If you are so energized you need that first hit or shot to settle down that could work for you. Just remember that the first shot could be the inch you needed to win the game. Learning some stress reduction techniques could benefit you.
How you handle big moment stress is critical to success. This comes naturally to some athletes. Nothing replaces working to excel at your craft but excelling at the big moment does not come naturally to all athletes. Some athletes just tighten up when it matters most but dominate when the stakes are not so high. Fortunately, you can work on your mental game to improve in this area. Many professional and elite college athletes work with sports psychologists, and if you have this tool at your disposal I encourage you to use it. If you do not, there are many options. Meditation has been scientifically proven to increase focus and decrease stress. The Headspace app has meditations and tutorials designed for athletes. A quick YouTube search will also give you plenty of options. Personally, I am a big fan of breathwork to increase focus and control stress. These techniques can also help during competition to help you recover or catch your breath on the field.
The following are some techniques to get started:
Wim Hoff is “The Iceman” - he climbed mount Everest in just a T-shirt and ran marathons in the desert. His techniques are interesting and even fun to try.
Andrew Huberman explains a technique to decrease stress at the moment stress arrives. This could be of great benefits in competition and life.
If you search “breathwork” on YouTube, many DMT breathwork exercises will show up. These are breath exercises to decrease stress. In theory, these exercises could allegedly trigger the natural release of DMT from the pineal gland in the brain, but that is likely an exaggeration. They do seem to help with relaxation and stress and help people with active minds get into a relaxed or meditative state.
Some stress as a student athlete is inevitable and necessary, but severe stress could lead to anxiety or depression. This is a serious issue and you need to seek help if this applies to you. If you are considering hurting yourself or others you need to reach out to a trusted adult immediately. This could be a physician, trainer, parent, coach, or student health personnel. Be blunt and make it clear what is going on. You are more important than any exam or game.
You can look to sleep, nutrition, and stress control techniques to find a competitive edge. Your level of dedication to these areas depends on your commitment to excellence. Sports should be enjoyable and some athletes depend on a more carefree approach to succeed. Afterall, there’s way more to college than athletics. Just keep in mind the pain of regret is often worse than the pain of discipline. The human brain does not fully develop until 27 years old in most individuals. If your coaches bring in a nutritionist or a sports psychologist or recommend stress reduction techniques take the time to consider what they are attempting to teach. Your coach may know more than you. It could benefit you during the season or in the future. There are countless stories of championship athletes who burned the candle at both ends, but were always ready to play. Just be aware this works for some, but not for all. Do what it takes to put yourself in the best position to succeed and remember there may come a time where you need that extra inch.
“Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman”
Jim Craig was the Olympic Hockey goalie who led the US to the gold medal in one of the greatest upsets in sports history. This video shows he was the player who would have skipped over this blog. On the other hand, he failed at the NHL level so maybe he would have benefitted from it.
* Except in this case. I am a board certified orthopedic surgeon with 20 years of experience treating athletes. I have coached multiple sports and remain an avid, middle aged athlete and outdoorsman. As a former high school and college athlete, I have been on top ranked, average, and losing teams. I’ve been a starter, an All-Star, a role player, a benchwarmer, and even cut from the team. I have seen it all.