We know athletes train and play hard during game season, but most sports aren’t played year-round. There is an offseason, giving athletes a moment to rest and management the opportunity to change and build their teams. For elite players, the offseason isn’t a time to take a long break from work. In order to maintain their performance during the season, athletes need to continue training during the offseason.
Peter Schieffelin Nyberg is an entrepreneur, businessman, and sports fan. He advanced his career during the dot-com boom with a quickly evolving company to match the rapid changes in the marketplace. Now, he serves as Chief Financial Officer for Camino Community Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, a center currently experiencing similar rapid expansion and restructuring. As part of Camino Community Center’s offerings, fitness programs are available to inspire holistic health in the community.
Pace Yourself
To encourage a healthy lifestyle, Peter Nyberg often draws inspiration from his sports heroes—athletes in baseball, basketball, football and tennis. Like many other sports, these leagues experience an annual offseason. So, what do athletes do during the offseason to maintain their top performance? The first trick is to take a short break of at least a couple of days. Rest is important for everybody. That’s not to say that athletes stop working out during the offseason, they just take a short break for their bodies to recover after the intense strain of competitive sport. Peter Schieffelin Nyberg notes that after a short break, athletes will continue their training with easier, maintenance workouts so that they don’t lose those all-important gains from the season.
Rest and Reflect
The offseason is a chance to get everything in order after the chaos of playoffs, championships, and high-stress performance. For Peter Nyberg, this is where holistic health comes into play. It’s important to be mentally rested and prepared as well as physically, he says. If the mind is not prepared, the body will struggle. All budding and young athletes with great aspirations should take the offseason as a chance to reflect. What worked during the season? Where were the weaknesses? After identifying areas for improvement, many athletes will take this time to increase their efforts in those weak spots.
Pre-Season Training
As the offseason progresses, pre-season training is popular among most elite, professional, and even some recreational teams. While these games and training sessions with teammates can be crucial to maintaining fitness levels, they also offer an opportunity to get in tune with your team. Learn your teammates strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. Work together to support each other while refining your own skills and preparing yourself for the pressure of the season, says Peter Nyberg who champions team building in his own community. A strong team makes for a strong season, he says.
Whenever athletes are working out or practicing, says Peter Schieffelin Nyberg, there is always a chance of injury. Injuries sustained during the offseason can affect starting roles during game season. For professionals, offseason injuries can even affect a player’s statistics. Therefore, take every practice game and workout session as seriously during the offseason as you do during game season.
Whether you are an athlete or not, concludes Peter Nyberg, it’s important to stay in shape no matter the season. Your health and wellbeing depend on a healthy body.