The Pros And Cons Of Athletic Training

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“Think in the morning, act in the noon, eat in the evening, and sleep in the night”, words to live by from William Blake about taking care of one’s soul and body. Providing for one’s body is one of the earliest practices parents teach their children, including making sure they eat healthy and sleep soundly. When a person takes care of themselves, they feel more productive, live longer, and are happier. Athletes seem to take this to a new level, constantly training to keep their bodies in the best shape, as their bodies are both their job and their temples. Athletes create routines to keep their bodies healthy, making sure they keep themselves mentally and physically balance in order to promote the most energy out of their bodies. However, what…show more content…
However, many athletes confusing proper training with exercising and pushing their bodies to the limits every day. This act is known as overtraining, and is characterized by symptoms like general soreness and fatigue. Generally when training properly, athletes will develop a baseline workout. After deciding on a goal to reach, many athletic training challenge athletes slowly, day by day, to increase their endurance and activity. The slope of stress in a proper work out is steady, matching the athlete’s own ability. However, when overtraining, athletes will perform high-endurance activities in excessive amounts, in order to meet muscle gain goals more quickly. The stress of constant activity leaves a toll on an athlete’s body. Foremost, an athlete who is fatigued and sore will often be too tired to perform correctly. Furthermore, it’ll also affect their mood, increasing irritability. However, most importantly, the effects of overtraining one’s body can lead to “...the athlete’s becoming more susceptible to minor illnesses” (Fry 33). A common myth is that training can prevent the body from getting sick. Although, it has been proven when one overtrains their body becomes more susceptible to disease, not less. One of the most damaging diseases an athlete can receive is an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, as it restricts air to the lungs, often sidelining athletes. Studies have shown “...infection risk…show more content…
Additionally, this weakness helps athlete’s catch infections and diseases as well. Even without overtraining, lack of sleep is still detrimental to an athlete. As mentioned above, without sleep athletes cannot focus, whether it be on a match or throughout daily life. Furthermore, continuously forcing one’s self to stay awake through use of energy drinks can lead to additional health troubles like heart palpitations and caffeine dependency. A proper night’s sleep is around 7-8 for adults and 10-11 hours for teenagers. However, many athletes only sleep around a third of this time, due to the high stress and intensity of their lifestyle. Without a good night’s sleep, similar to overtraining, an athlete can face a severe drop in performance, therefore it is necessary to set time aside to train your body to sleep
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