5 things that are killing your performance in sports

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Don't steal achievements from yourself.

Eat, exercise, rest - these are the golden rules for good results in sports and fitness. But there are other important things that are not talked about very often. We will list five factors that can slow down your progress, or even stop it altogether.

1. Alcohol

This is especially important for those looking to build muscle and increase strength. For your muscles to grow in response to exercise and protein intake, you need a supportive hormonal environment. In particular, high levels of testosterone Effect of testosterone on muscle mass and muscle protein synthesis and growth hormone Growth hormone acutely stimulates skeletal muscle but not whole-body protein synthesis in humans and low levels of cortisol Acute response of human muscle protein to catabolic hormones.

Consumption of 0.8 g of ethanol per 1 kg of body weight before bedtime (about 200 g of vodka or 1.5 liters of beer for an 80-kg man) reduces the level of growth hormone in blood plasma by 70–75%.

It turns out that first you train to induce a metabolic response, and then you yourself kill it.

Also, alcohol after exercise reduces the combined effect of alcohol and physical exercise on serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and cortisol in males testosterone levels. If you drink 1.5 g of ethanol per 1 kg of body weight (about 350 g of vodka for a man weighing 80 kg), the amount of the hormone The pulsatile secretion of gonadotropins and growth hormone, and the biological activity of luteinizing hormone in men acutely intoxicated with ethanol will decrease almost by a quarter.

In addition, alcohol prevents the body from recovering strength. For example, if you drink 200-250 g of vodka or 1.5-2 liters of beer after a strength training, even after 36 hours your strength will be less than if you had eliminated alcohol.

It should be noted that all studies are related to fairly large doses of alcohol. It is difficult to predict how a glass of beer or wine will affect the level of hormones and the recovery of the body.

What to do

Avoid alcoholic beverages, especially after exercise and before bed. If this is not possible, reduce the amount to one serving: 340 ml of beer, 140 ml of wine, or 40 ml of spirits.

2. Psychological stress

Stress is used to being perceived as something very negative. In fact, this is a normal reaction of the body to trials and difficulties, and it is impossible to live fully without stress at all. Problems begin when it becomes chronic or too severe for a person to cope with.

Exercise is also stressful, and if it is superimposed on psychological stress, the body's reserves can be depleted. Your physical capabilities and energy will decrease. Effects of acute psychological stress on athletic performance in elite male swimmers, during intense exercise, pain and burning sensation in the muscles will appear faster.

After training, muscle pain will be worse and you will need Chronic Psychological Stress Impairs Recovery of Muscular Function and Somatic Sensations Over a 96 ‑ Hour Period twice the time to fully recover.

What to do

Until the psychological stress in everyday life has passed, reduce the intensity of your training and do not chase records. Try to manage your condition through meditation, music, companionship, and reading books.

3. Failure to prioritize

Regardless of the level of motivation, your central nervous system (CNS) can only withstand a certain level of stress, after which it limits the ability to work effectively.

The nuance is that you do not feel when the central nervous system is tired.

Everything seems to be the same: you try your best, it is hard for you, but at the same time the muscles do not strain so much that you can take a good weight or jump high enough. This is because some muscle fibers no longer receive electrical impulses.

It is not necessary to work with maximum weights for such fatigue to manifest. A comparison of central aspects of fatigue in submaximal and maximal voluntary contractions also do a good job with this task.

You can get tired of exercising with light weights, if you do them to muscle failure, and even from pre-cardio loads. After 3-7 km of running, the ability of the thigh muscles to contract decreases Acute effects of aerobic exercise performed with different volumes on strength performance and neuromuscular parameters by an average of 6-14%, and the training volume (the sum of working weights, approaches and reps) - by 14 –22%.

But most of all, the central nervous system is tired of basic multi-joint exercises that involve several muscle groups: deadlift, squatting with a barbell on the back and on the chest, bench press, lunges with weights, and others.

Fatigue builds up as you train, so there isn't much you can do in the end as you did in the beginning.

This is especially important if you are going to hit your 1RM. You will not be able to take on the weight that you are capable of, if you have previously tired the central nervous system with other exercises.

What to do

Try to avoid performance degradation in the following ways:

• All the main elements of your workout - technically challenging movements, heavy multi-joint exercises - should be done first.
• If you decide to reach your 1RM in some exercise, do it immediately after warm-up, and not after five other exercises, even if they are generally on different muscle groups.
• Avoid doing long aerobic exercise before strength training. If you want to warm up well, run for a maximum of 5 minutes at a calm pace, do joint exercises and ride a massage roller.
• If you are training all muscle groups, periodically reverse the exercises. For example, start on one day by working on the upper body, and on the next day, start working on the bottom. Otherwise, each time you will train some muscle group when tired and it will lose its development.

4. Uniformity in training

Specialization is important for professional athletes. They train the qualities necessary to fulfill their discipline, and the more time they devote to this, the better their results become.

But even within the same sport, exercises can be varied. Take weightlifting, for example. Athletes hone the technique of competitive movements: jerk and snatch, but at the same time they develop muscle strength with the help of presses, deadlifts and squats, arrange jumping trainings to develop explosive leg strength, and work on flexibility. If the set of exercises includes only snatch and jerk, progress is noticeably lower: even with good technique, you will not vomit more than muscle strength and joint mobility will allow.

This applies to almost any sport. Runners - even marathon runners - do weight training, boxers and other fighters do long cardio sessions with a rope or treadmill.

Our body is not designed for a narrow specialization.

We can do many things: run well, jump, swim, bend in different directions, lift heavy weights and drag them. If you devote all your time to developing one quality and do not touch others at all, progress can slow down.

Plus, monotony kills motivation. This banal "tired" when you are already sick of the same movements and do not want to go to the gym.

What to do

Diversify your workout periodically: try other exercises - they will help to pump muscle fibers that are usually not used. Work on joint mobility, flex your core muscles - abs and back extensors, and do balance exercises such as one-arm weights or unstable conditions.

Add other activities as well. For example, if you do strength training, do cardio on some days. Swimming is especially useful: it will help unload the spine and at the same time will train endurance.

5. Inability to control your thoughts

The body works in training, but thoughts also matter a lot. If during the approach you are thinking about problems at work or in a relationship, the results will be much more modest.

Thinking right will possibly increase your progress. Scientists have found Effects of Dynamic and Static Imagery on Vividness of Imagery, Skiing Performance, and Confidence, that if you visualize the movement in detail before performing it, you can improve your performance.

By imagining, you activate Motor Imagery various subconscious processes involved in training motor skills. Repeated activation of the motor networks required for certain movements improves the transmission of impulses between the neurons of these networks and has the same positive effects as physical training of motor skills.

But if you think about which muscles to tense during the movement, and not in front of it, it reduces your performance.

In the process of work, you need to concentrate on external tasks: raise the barbell, push off with your feet from the floor, run over to those trees.

External concentration increases the speed Experience level influences the effect of attentional focus on sprint performance, Attentional focusing instructions influence force production and muscular activity during isokinetic elbow flexions, The Effects of Attentional Focusing Instructions on Force Production During the Isometric Midthigh Pull and strength endurance Instructions to adopt an external focus enhance muscular endurance, promotes Thinking about your running movement makes you less efficient: attentional focus effects on running economy and kinematics of running economy and helps Attentional focus and motor learning: A review of 15 years to learn movements faster.

What to do

• Coming to training, leave thoughts of your problems and worries outside the doors of the gym.
• Before performing complex movements, imagine in detail how you will act. This mental practice is easy to do when resting between sets. Yes, it’s not as fun as chatting with friends, but much more rewarding.
• During the exercise, concentrate on external tasks: raise the barbell above your head, push off the floor with your feet, squeeze an imaginary orange between your shoulder blades. This will help you to perform better in almost any movement.