Did you  know that as soon as your body is slightly dehydrated overall pace and endurance are drastically diminished. As an athlete I'm sure you bring a water bottle to practice and to a game... but do you stay hydrated throughout the day? Do you think about your hydration? Do yo think of it everyday?  Even on non-training days?

Staying hydrated on a daily basis (not just during training sessions, workouts and competitions) is crucial to your success as an athlete. Doing so will ensure that you have a strong practice, have ample energy during competitions and will increase your energy throughout the day-no matter what you are doing. Hydration is also paramount to optimal recovery. Your body needs adequate fluid to perform AND recover! This will ensure that you can hit each session just as hard day after day after day. 

How do you monitor and measure hydration? There are a few ways to do this:

1- Ask yourself if you're thirsty. This is a method used by many, although...

Tip#3

Nutrient-Rich Eating 

Eating a nutrient rich diet is all about optimizing the quality of the foods you eat. You can make a choice between eating a meal packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, fiber, water, protein, fats and carbohydrates....or a food with very little of any of those. Athletes who choose to eat a diet filled with powerful and health enhancing nutrients will have the energy available to them to perform at their best.  

Making  the most of the foods you choose to eat will ensure that you will perform at your best and recover the most efficiently!  Whenever possible, choose foods, combinations of foods and meals that contain nutrients that will help fuel your body and/or help you recover from the high level of training that you are doing on a day to day basis.

For example, instead of grabbing a rice cake in the morning for breakfast, choose whole grain toast with avocado, arugula and flax seeds....