3 tips to help you get back to playing the sports you love
If you played high school or college athletics, you’ve probably come across that dreadful day when you realized your career is most likely over. 20 years and a few grey hairs later, you’re telling all of your friends about the glory days and how you wish you can play again for old times’ sake! Well good news… you can, but you have to start training first or else you’ll join the long list of injured adults who thought they were young again.
Here are our 3 tips to prepare you for your big comeback!
Find a training program that is mentally engaging.
Playing sports has taught us “time flies when you’re having fun”. So make your training program fun to avoid boring tedious work. Your training doesn’t have to be a traditional workout in order to get back into shape. Many former athletes enjoy the weight training they used to do to prepare for their sport, while others just actually enjoy playing the sport itself to get back into shape. Want to eventually play a full game of Tennis again? Start with hitting the ball against a wall to yourself, reacting and shuffling side to side is perfect to get those motor skills back into high gear! Or train for Basketball by playing tag with your kids or chasing your dog around the park a few times a week, that’ll get the heart rate up while working on your agility and quickness! We suggest training 2-3x a week to start and then build up as you get more fit.
Make sure you recover and do it religiously.
After you found your new training program you MUST adopt a recovery program. You’re not the rookie you used to be… you’re the seasoned vet just a few moves away from a major injury so you have to recover! Start with foam rolling tight muscles before your workout for at least 10 minutes and then follow up with stretching or light yoga after your workout for at least 10 mins. We suggest recovering 3-4x a week and maintaining that even when you’re body begins to bend like Simone Biles.
Grab a friend or even better, find a team!
Sports are all about team, even if you played an individual sport, your coach or trainer was a part of your team. The team feel is what pushed you to be in the best shape of your life, so getting back into tip top shape is easiest with a friend or team with the same goals. You push each other, inspire each other and create a community with each other. We suggest grabbing a friend to join your training program to keep things fun and to hold each other accountable. And who knows, maybe that friend is the perfect opponent to play 1v1 with in the near future!
Those are our tips! Remember to train smart and make things fun again!