There are a lot of “extras” your athlete could do to compete at a high level.  Way too many to count.  That being said, what of these “extras” are really beneficial for your athlete.  What is the bare minimum to include in your athlete’s training program?

The last few weeks I’ve discussed what I did with my daughter, Anna.  If the training I gave her was good enough for her to win a state title in track, then it probably would help your athlete.

I’ve discussed her training.  Now it is time to discuss the “extras” I did with her.  I’ve talked about these before, so probably nothing extremely new.  Just in case, let’s do a deep dive into it.

RPR

RPR (or Reflexive Performance Reset) is a system to ensure that the nervous system is firing appropriately.  There are a series of wake-up drills you do to make sure the nervous system is awake and ready to go.  

If your nervous system isn’t firing efficiently, then the muscles might not respond well.  The nervous system has to tell the muscle to do what you want it to do. If the message isn’t received by the muscle, it doesn’t make for a good recipe to perform your sport at a high level.

Anna did these before practices and her meets.  Once these drills are learned, you could do them yourself as well.

WHOOP BAND

Anna wore the Whoop Band (seen in the picture above) starting at the beginning of indoor season her junior year.  The band acquires all sorts of data from the user that can be used to help the athlete understand better how his/her body functions.

Ultimately, one of the biggest advantages to using the Whoop Band is to help determine if your athlete is recovered sufficiently.  Using the Whoop Band, we were able to apply the following to Anna’s training:

  • Sleep Need – The band figures out Anna’s sleep patterns and determines based on how much activity she did that day, sleep debt from the previous night, and her nervous system (HRV) how much sleep she needs.  This was important as we approached a big meet so we could figure out how much she needed and when specifically to get to bed to get that sleep in.  This helped her recover, perform better, and recover quicker from any colds or illnesses she might get.
  • Eating – It kept track of her caloric expenditure which was important so we could adjust her meals accordingly to match that expenditure.  Because she wore the band in meets, we got a good sense of how many calories she burned on meet day, a practice day, and a rest day.  Big difference between all three of those, so understanding that helps plan your eating.  This was important because on meet days she couldn’t eat a lot until after the meet.  Too nervous.  So we would compensate by eating more a couple days prior to and after.  Hoping we had enough energy ready for the meet.
  • Recovery – It wasn’t that she learned about recovery, but specifically what would slow her recovery.  Staying up late too often.  Little sleep.  Once you understand that, it can help you plan better to compete at a high level.

SUPPLEMENTS

I used Advocare products with her to assist in her training.  Not a lot, but here are a few of the products:

  • Mass Impact – This is their creatine product.  We would start this about 8 weeks out from the state meet.  Yes, we were anticipating getting to the state meet.  We felt this helped with the explosion she needed for sprinting and getting out of the blocks.
  • Protein-To-Go – This was a protein drink already pre-packaged.  She just had to grab it and drink.  She would use this at breakfast or just to get some extra calories.
  • Coreplex w/Iron – Just a multi-vitamin with a little extra iron.  Being a female athlete, we felt we needed to have this.
  • I threw in a few extra supplements for vitamins and minerals to help with her immune system – Zinc, Quercetin, Vitamin D, and some Vitamin C.

ICE BATHS

Once we got into the post season, she was running the max amount of events.  After each meet, she would come home and sit in an ice bath for 15 minutes.  I put about 22 pounds of ice in our tub and she’d get in.  It helps decrease the inflammation from the running and help speed up the recovery.

I don’t think one thing shined above the other, but the combo of all these strategies certainly helped.  Who would argue?  She was one of 3 competitors in the D1 girls at state to get 4 medals.  One being a state title.  I think they all helped FOR SURE!