As summer approaches, summer training is almost set to be in session for athletes participating in fall sports. Hand in hand, performance, and health are vital for athletes to maintain throughout the season. With summer training, students are dealing with the rising temperatures and the means to get back in shape for the season.
“We don’t expect kids to be in great shape when the summer begins and so we try to slowly get their bodies ready to go do the stuff, do the work, the running, the pushups, weightlifting, etc.” said Football coach, Christopher Murphy.
Rigorous training is key for a well-prepped start to a season, but balancing fitness with recovery and rest are crucial to an athlete’s physicality. Over-training derives from the overuse of certain muscles which often results in more harm than benefit.
“Well, I think rest and recovery is really important, [it] doesn’t matter what the sport is, kids should not play year round. And oftentimes when you’re training for a sport, you’re lifting and running and working on quickness…what’s happening now is kids play one sport year round and they likely overtrain” said Murphy.
To avoid overuse of the body and muscles, training different muscle groups each workout, rest, and a healthy diet are ways to make sure the body maintains in good shape. However, from a coach’s perspective, Coach Murphy recognizes his athletes’ habits and elaborates on the importance of a nutritious diet which is often overlooked.
“If I work out for five days and don’t eat the right things, and I take two days off, like my body’s really not recovering because I’m not putting the right things into it, which is part of the recovery. It’s the nutrition and the time. And I feel like some kids are really good about one or the other, but maybe not both” said Murphy.
Coaches create fitness routines aiming to train their sport, however on the other hand, athletes know their own body and can personalize their own routine.
“A couple of ways you can prepare yourself is by stretching or doing minimal ab workouts, they’ll help you so you don’t feel as sore while training preseason” said Water Polo and Swim athlete, Krisha Nandish (‘26).
Fall sports are almost in session and information can be found on the Amador Valley Athletics website for those interested in trying out.
