Summer can be a tough time to maintain your fitness for your sport.
With the break from the daily school routine, traveling with family and friends, a summer job or just the wonderful lazy ways of vacation, there are many distractions to making sure you're fit and ready to go come fall.
Here are a few tips to help you stay in top condition and excel once school starts back up.
1.
Join or form a club team or summer league.
The best way to stay on your A-game for your sport is to play it.
Whether you're a hockey player or endurance athlete, practicing whatever it is you do during competitions is very important.
The great thing about clubs and summer leagues is the offer a great competitive atmosphere that may be as close as you can get to your school team.
Depending on your sport, you may just be able to get a few friends together a few times a week to practice skills and push your fitness.
If you can't actually play your sport without access to the right equipment, consider joining an established club.
Even if you have a job or other activity during the day, many clubs are full of people with just the same schedule, and practices will be early a.
m.
or at night.
It can be a fun addition to your summer without completely taking over your activities.
2.
Get a workout buddy.
It's a proven fact that most athletes will push themselves much harder when they train with someone near or above their own level.
A training buddy can make workouts more fun, and keep you from skipping days because you don't feel like working out.
Even if you're the type of person that never slacks, having a training partner will allow you to push yourself to new lengths that you would not have found simply training alone.
Competition is a wonderful thing! 3.
Train for your sport.
If you're a runner, run.
If you're a cyclist, bike.
This is most applicable for endurance athletes like runners, cyclists, rowers, etc, but can also apply to game sports as well.
If you spend a lot of time during throwing, shooting, or dodging, practice that.
Cross training is wonderful if you don't have the ability to practice your sport during the summer (eg: rowers without access to boats, hockey players without access to ice), and it's a great way to give your body a rest from doing the same thing all the time, but the most efficient way to get in shape for your specific sport is to do it.
4.
Be consistent.
Don't train like a maniac for two weeks, then take a week off.
You can loose a surprising amount of fitness by doing absolutely nothing for an entire week, and will likely not end up much fitter.
The way to maintain fitness is to maintain a consistent or increasing level of physical activity.
Try to work out every day, set a schedule and stick to it.
Even if you're traveling, try to go out for a run in the mornings before activities start up.
Change up the workouts throughout the week so as not to exhaust yourself.
I would usually try long, steady state workouts to improve endurance three days a week, speed workouts two days a week, and one day a week to simulate the kind of workout I would get in a competition.
Lift two days a week before your shorter workouts (try to lift first, lifting exhausted will only lead to injuries).
The most important thing is to build a solid base of endurance, strength and skills.
5.
Have fun! Summer is the time to try training in new ways, and fall in love all over again with your sport.
Don't work yourself into the ground, you don't want to peak before your season even starts.
Just maintain and improve on your base, and go back to school refreshed, eager, and ready to go!