Energy

If you are serious about athletics, or know someone who is, you already know that athletes are a slightly different breed of human.  They flirt with the extreme limits of human physiology, and feed off the adrenaline it produces.  Their success often hinges on the most seemingly nominal criteria: seconds, ounces, and inches. 

Athletes rarely stay content with their progress for long, as a benchmark reached ultimately gives rise to another.  They are in a constant strive to become stronger and faster, using the old adage “practice makes perfect” as a motivator to press forward.  But no matter where a person falls on the athletic spectrum of recreational to elite, practice will only ever be half the battle. 

Poor or inadequate nutrition is often implicated in declining physical performance in athletes (1).

Pain

When athletes in pain seek medical help, they tend to have one thing in common. Whether they are professionals or amateurs, they want to get back to their workouts and events as soon as possible. Ankle sprains, shin splints, shoulder injuries, tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, spine-related pain conditions and ACL tears are just some of the common pain-specific musculoskeletal conditions a practitioner may come across in athlete patients.(2)

Recovery

Most athletes know that getting enough rest after exercise is essential to high-level performance, but many still overtrain and feel guilty when they take a day off. The body repairs and strengthens itself in the time between workouts, and continuous training can actually weaken the strongest athletes.

Rest days are critical to sports performance for a variety of reasons. Some are physiological and some are psychological. Rest is physically necessary so that the muscles can repair, rebuild, and strengthen. For recreational athletes, building in rest days can help maintain a better balance between home, work, and fitness goals.