The off-season could be a make or break for many athletes when it comes to staying in shape. Most athletes struggle when it comes to knowing what to do to stay in shape so I’m here to tell you some things you can do to benefit yourself in the offseason. 

One of the things that most female athletes struggle with but the male athletes also struggle with is not being strong enough while in season. I truly recommend a good lifting schedule in the offseason to keep your muscles moving and strengthen the muscles that you need for your sport. It all depends on your sport on what muscles you need to strengthen but one muscle group that all athletes should continue to work on in the offseason is your core. Your core is what can keep you balanced if you’re going up against an opponent or it can help make straight training with your arms and legs easier. The core is one of the muscle groups that you can and will use for all sports so I highly recommend adding core training with your other strength training. 

Another thing you can do to stay in shape and to be in the best shape you can be in when your season comes around is working on cardio. Every sport needs cardio when it comes from being able to have good breath control and to be able to run miles on miles without stopping. My best tip for cardio is not to run for distance but to run for time, I don’t mean run a mile as fast as you can but to run for 30 minutes at the same pace then stop. This would help with being able to run longer instead of just running a mile, which in reality is only less than 10 minutes of running. Obviously, when 30 minutes at the same pace becomes easy you can either pick up the pace or add another 10 minutes at the same pace. Being able to run 30 minutes at a time without stopping can help in a sport like soccer, hockey, or lacrosse because it’s all fast-paced and you have barely any time to stop and take a breath, so if you can run for 30 minutes or more without stopping you’re already ahead of the competition.  

The last tip I have for staying in shape is to have a good diet, I do recommend this for both the off-season and in-season. What I mean by a diet is just eating healthy food for the majority of the time. Don’t stop eating the junk foods you like, but just lower your intake of them. I can’t sit here and lie and say I’ve cut out all junk foods when I eat dessert every night. It’s completely fine to let your body eat the foods it wants, but it’s not healthy to eat just junk food all the time. I’m not a nutritionist, but in your off-season training, I recommend lots of protein to build up your muscles and to eat your greens. Green vegetables can help with giving you more nutrients and overall better health.