Become a Better Athlete

At some point you will ask yourself "how do I really become a better athlete and what is involved?"

The answer is simple – keep at it and do it consistently!

The following are some tips that I had put together for myself and for my fellow athletes while we were training for a special event.

Physical pointers

• Maintain a healthy and simple diet. This means cutting out as many processed food as possible and NO fast foods
• To keep a well balanced sugar level, DO NOT have any soft drinks. Instead opt for tea for good antioxidants, good quality sport drinks which replaces electrolytes, and water to clean out the toxins
• Give your body adequate rest in between training sessions so you can recover in time for your next training session. But try to maintain at least a light level of cardiovascular training (Heart Rate Zone Training) everyday as this helps with recovery
• Incorporate conditioning and strengthening exercises into your training
• Learn to breathe so you can better regulate your body temperature, circulation and heart rate

Psychological pointers

• Overcome your fears – if you do not push yourself outside your comfort zone you will not grow or develop
• Trust your instructor/coach even at your breaking point – they can be more objective and can help you get unstuck
• become automated which mean less conscious effort is required
• Be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses
• And lastly building mental strength is just as important as building physical strength. A Karateka (practitioner of Karate) should endeavour to make all physical techniques pure expressions of their mind's intention. You must also strive to improve your mental focus by understanding the essence of the physical techniques. By refining and re-tuning our physical attribute via continuous practice we are also building our own mentality and spiritual powers.

high kick warm-up at NAS tournament