To be capable of playing sports at a high level requires that you do the things necessary to keep your body fit. Without this approach, there is a pretty good chance you will be injured and potentially Occasionally we will hear about a professional athlete who excels in spite of the fact that he or she is not in good physical shape. Maybe the person parties a lot, smokes cigarettes or drinks lots of alcohol. But these are the exceptions and you can believe that no matter how successful the athlete is, he or she would be even more successful if they did not engage in the negative behaviors. So if you are playing sports be like Jack Elway and get serious about your physical conditioning. Follow these guidelines to be a better player and have good health.

Eat Right

Sports requires a balanced diet where you get good amounts of all the important food groups. These are: Vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates fats and proteins. Typically, we in the west have a meat heavy diet and for sports having a good amount of protein is important. But we need to ensure that the protein from good sources and is not filled with chemicals and negative substances that are so often present in our meat sources today.

Unfortunately, fish, the best source for protein, is often tainted with mercury that can cause terrible health issues. Doctors recommend that you avoid certain fish altogether and limit the fish you do eat to no more than twice each week. When you eat fish, look for those that are high in omega-3 fatty acids which have an abundance of healthy benefits.

When selecting meat you should aim for free range sources. Free range animals are raised on farms and allowed to roam in pastures rather than kept in pens. Free range dairy cows are fed grass for their entire lives, chickens, pheasants, ducks and turkeys are fed grass and grain supplements, and pigs are fed a natural diet. These animals are not given antibiotics or animal hormones to increase their size, and are kept to the highest safety standards. Additionally because of how they are raised they are leaner, contain higher nutrients and are less prone to disease.

Stay in Shape

Too often people that engage in sports only practice enough to play the sport. Maybe they have a Saturday volleyball game and a practice every Tuesday, so these are the only times they actually exercise. This is a bad approach. You should set times for you to practice more and exercise at least five times each week. This means hitting the gym or running between practices and the game. When you exercise be sure to work on three critical areas.

1. Do a warm-upthat includes stretching your muscles and getting your body warmed up before you begin the exercise. This should be 15 minutes of your workout.
2. Do an aerobics portionof the exercise where you get your heart rate up to at least 80% of capacity for 30 minutes each session.
3. Do a weight training or resistance portionof your workout where you place resistance on the major muscle groups for at least fifteen minutes each session.

Sports are a wonderful way to stay in shape and have fun. Do the things you need to do to get the most out of them and avoid injury.