Sports nutrition plays a vital role in promoting athletic success by helping athletes stay healthy and optimally fueling themselves so they can maximize training and conditioning.

Sports nutrition has played a key factor in influencing product development and promoting the growth of the sports nutrition market. Leading nutritionists, coaches and sports people as an important part of any training program increasingly recognizes it. It’s developed as a separate field and there are many specialized nutritionists in this field. Sports nutrition goes beyond sports bars and sports drinks.

Athletes that train properly need to nourish themselves properly for maximum results. However, this isn’t the only step you should take to help you train. For example, proper rest, diet, and sleep habits are also necessary.

Athletes who display symptoms of fatigue, cramping muscles, depression, mood swings, and restless leg syndrome are most likely lacking sufficient magnesium in their body. Athletes usually participate in a variety of sports and have varying aspirations for achievement. Athletes often gain the most from the amount of carbohydrates that are stored in the body.

You want to trim your body fat percentage in the process of your sports training. Most athletes have anywhere between 5-10% of body fat, which is optimal for professional athletes. Body fat percentage can be determined by measuring the thickness of certain skinfolds on the body. Your body composition has a drastic effect on all aspects of your performance, which stresses the importance on properly nourishing and taking caring of your body to achieve prime results.

For more information on our programs and fitness camps, go to our sports fitness registration page.

1. Practice more. If all you do is play-play-play, you never have time to master your skills. It’s not uncommon for youth teams to play more games than a NCAA D1 program and have a comparable travel schedule. At a young age its always about reps – more ball touches for soccer, more swings for baseball, more free throws for basketball. Watch a youth game and count how many instances a player gets to actually work at their game and you’ll quickly discover its not much. If you factor in all the time it takes to suit up and drive to a tournament, and all the time in-between games, how could you have used that time to be more productive at practice? Competition absolutely has its place, but in moderation and in balance with practice.
2. Learn nutrition. Most athletes eat too little (even the ones that think they eat a lot) and rarely consume a quality nutrient. Why nutrition is thought of as a passive relative to peak performance is beyond me. What you eat provides the fuel for EVERYTHING that you do and all of the internal reactions in your body. It often explains why well-conditioned players feel exhausted, make poor decisions, and begin to feel run down throughout the season. Sports nutrition fuels recovery. Over time, a lack of proper nutrition and consequent under recovery causes overtraining symptoms and can result in injury. Proper sports nutrition practices cannot be expressed enough.
3. Build your body. Most team sports, with the exception of football, have substituted preparation with more competition. The athletes that sacrifice training to play year round get hurt and burnt-out. The statistics are there, yet athletes and parents continue to seek out the next travel ball team or showcase event in hope of college exposure. Ask any recruiter and they’ll tell you “flat-out” they only recruit athletes (big, fast, strong, and muscular looking individuals).
4. Speed work. Nothing builds your body faster than sprinting. We love debating the parents who think steady-state “cardio” running is what builds optimal fitness levels. Which of these two individuals would you pick for your [name of sport] team?

   
   Sprinting at top speed requires maximum coordination of your entire body. Most track athletes develop the muscle mass and tone of a bodybuilder without ever lifting a weight! Conversely, a slow steady-state jog (no matter what the distance) requires about 1/10th the coordination and thus 1/10th the muscular output inherent in most team sports. So how do you build speed again? By sprinting as fast as you can!

5. Play pick-up sports. Playing basketball is probably the best way to improve your overall fitness. You jump, sprint, change directions, accelerate/decelerate for short intervals, box-out, etc. You can find a court and a competitive friend without much hassle. Look at a game like baseball and what do you see? A LOT of standing around… and this isn’t a knock on baseball (I played it professionally), but it’s the lazy kids sport. You can have relative success at a significantly high level if you have bat speed or a rocket for an arm. By cross-training with other sports (even at just the pick-up level) you’ll develop better fitness and more athleticism.

I realize that’s a random smattering of recommendations, but hopefully you got some good ideas from it. In general, these recommendations can be tied back to a few basic concepts:

1. Practice more
2. Eat better
3. Train and sprint

Remember, if your goal is to play at a high level, it’s going to take time, patience and a lot of hard work. There are no short-cuts or magic supplements – It’s a LONG-TERM process. Think of it that way. Keep doing the right things and it’ll pay off in the long haul.

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Redefining The Female Athlete

Join DeLuca’s client and Under Armour athlete Vicky Hurst and show the world what beautiful really is. Are you in? Current high school athletes like Lauren Jackson, Olivia Bergau, and Ashley Baerlocher have already proven their dedication. The three women who push it the hardest and farthest will become the new faces of Under Armour Women and have their lives sponsored for a year with greatness, glory and gear. Step up. Declare your goal. Visit Under Armour What’s Beautiful For More Information

This Your Once-A-Year Opportunity To Go Through DeLuca’s Three Phase Summer Program, Join A Family of Supportive Coaches and Athletes, All Leading You Step-By-Step To More Strength, Better Performance and a Leaner, More Athletic Body Than You’ve Ever Had Before!

Through our Summer All-Sports Strength, Speed and Conditioning Camp you can expect to:

• Increase speed – dropping your 10 yard dash by a full step and your 40 by as much as a body length
• Improve your lateral quickness and mobility making you a nightmare to opponents
• Enhance fully body power in sport-specific patterns to elevate your game to a whole new level
• Add functional strength to keep you on the field/court longer and reduce the risk of injury
• Develop core strength and endurance in linear, rotational, and diagonal patterns to become a more consistent competitor
• Improve sport-specific conditioning and work capacity to enter pre-season camp as one of the top athletes

Athletes of all ages and ability levels are welcome to join our summer camp. We cater to all sports and will customize a flexibility, core, speed, strength and conditioning program for each individual athlete. Sessions begin as early as 6:00AM! Athletes have complete access to the training facility and will train for 90-120 minutes everyday Monday through Thursday.

We recommend booking a free consultation and functional movement screen prior to the start of our summer program so you can “hit the ground running.” Sports nutrition and recovery methods are a big component of our program. You’ll receive guidance, coaching and instruction on how to best prepare your body for workouts and competition. In addition to developing a physical advantage over your competition, you’ll also develop the mental toughness to overcome the ups and downs associated with competitive sports. Our coaches are all former college and professional athletes with exercise degrees completely dedicated to helping you succeed.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO REGISTRATION

Come visit our new and improved facility which features:

• 20+ yards of warm-up/agility turf
• 100 feet of linear speed training turf
• two olympic weightlifting platforms
• 12 foot medicine ball wall for ballistic training
• 3 collegiate power racks
• and so much more…

Feel free to stop by and come sample a training session. Call us at (321) 752-1001. We’re located at 3280 Suntree Blvd., Suite #102, Melbourne, FL 32940.

Slide boards and energy system development area

Olympic weightlifting platforms

Check-in and SMR area

Kiosk and front door

Never know when its Prowler time!

Hamstring zone

The Fan Cave

Here’s a look at the early stages of the build-out (February 2012):

Sway Sadoff is not your typical 9 year old baseball player. In the age of video games and “daddy ball,” he is one of the most focused and dedicated young athletes you will come across at any age.

Sway was recently recruited to play for Team Avalanche the #1 ranked 9U team in the nation. His training week consists of 5-6 workouts, 2 practices with a 12U Team, and a 4 hour weekend practice in Lake City with Team Avalanche or tournament baseball.

“Our workouts are extremely focused and pre planned.  Some people think we are crazy, but for us it’s just what we do. From a very young age Sway has shown a lot of drive and extraordinary talent but it has been the amount of time and sacrifice that few people see which sets him apart” says his dad Jeremy Sadoff.

Last season Sway hit over .700 in USSSA and led his team to a runner up in the 8U World Series. What’s impressed many is his work ethic and how he goes about setting up his own workout routines. Sway also maintains near perfect grades and is an honor roll student. Keep an eye on this kid, to follow his progress check out his website at http://sway-sadoff.blogspot.com

The lack of discipline and intense training has “softened” today’s athletes. Awards and trophies are handed out to every member of the team just for wearing jerseys. Long hours of video game play have replaced long hours of street ball and manhunt. The next generation of athletes, teachers, coaches and community leaders are in big trouble unless we [as coaches] help guide them in the “right direction.”

Tom Brady is a modern era warrior-athlete. His work ethic, determination and courage have elevated him to the top of the sports world. Brady paved his own way by believing in himself and making the most of every opportunity. Watch this documentary and pay attention to the life lessons Brady imparts on young athletes then join the conversation over at http://www.facebook.com/delucasperformance.

For 99% of us, September 1st comes and goes as just another uneventful day. But for junior top prospects, it’s the first day colleges can begin the process of “locking you down” as a recruit.

College recruiting coordinators are often former athlete’s who are overworked, underpaid and constantly on the go. As the low man on the totem pole, the last thing they want to deal with is an annoying recruit who doesn’t understand the process. Coordinators may work 60-80 hours per week and receive hundreds of emails and phone calls a day, so when interacting with them it’s best to keep it simple.

When emailing a coordinator, keep it short and to the point. Use the email subject line to provide important data like “Your Name – Graduating Class – Position – GPA – Recent Accolades and Stats.” A compelling subject header will be enough to get your email to stand-out and opened up.

If sending them a link to a YouTube video, configure your channel so the first thing they see is your best highlight video. Provide a Youtube playlist with all your game film and footage of any combines or showcases you attend. Be sure to include contact info on your highlight video. If you’re sending a DVD, get a label put on the disc with your contact info, or write it on with a sharpie.

Keep the recruiting coordinator informed. Let them know you’re attending one of their camps or where you’re playing in showcase events. High school games are not recruited, coaches attend showcase events and combines where they can evaluate hundreds of top level prospects.

Send them a quick update on how you’re doing academically. If you scored higher on the SAT be sure to include that info in an email and on an update to your YouTube channel. It’s also a great idea to keep them informed on how your progressing athletically. If you’re working out hard and gaining muscle, maybe include a short workout clip of you performing a PR vertical jump or power clean. Nothing is off limits, but be tactful and conscience of when it’s too much. Recruiting coordinators can be your best allie in the college process.