It’s not your first time working out, but it is your first time playing with the team; or maybe it is your first time playing with any team. Yet today, you just can’t keep up. Your teammates lap you around the track as you run out of breath and stop midway. In the gym, as sweat runs down your face you see them; they all are lifting more weight, working harder and once again you give it your all but still can’t keep up. Finally, when game time arrives the rest of the team is in sync and while you are not far off, you know you are not performing at their level. This is the last straw. You’re gonna do something about it.

High performance athletes are not born, they are made. Working hard, playing hard and following a strict routine are all necessary to go from zero to hero. However, taking on such a big challenge can be intimidating. But where do you start? If you are already a hardworking athlete, how do you take that next step and become a high performance athlete? Fortunately, The Columbus School has a number of high performance athletes who can help break down the process of going from recreational to high performance athlete in  5 easy steps.

Step 1: The Psyche

A high performance athlete is as much mind as body, therefore must have the right psychological approach is crucial.

It all starts with a good attitude towards failure and  having to put in effort, so no giving up, no high performance athlete would be where they are if they had given up. From there high performance athletes have been shown to have confidence. Confidence gives athletes the power to push through, to take the shot the they dont know they’ll make, to push themselves to the maximum and believe in themselves. Finally along the lines of having confidence is anxiety, an athlete should never give in to anxiety as it affects your coordination and perception. Yet its closely related to confidence, the more confident the athlete the less likely is to give in. Just as Urbano Mesa, the 11th grade soccer coach says “The psychological part must be really clear and mature, as that psychological part must be well planned and taken care off to succeed.”

Step 2: Nutrition

Nutrition is key for a high performance athlete. An athlete must follow a balanced diet to have the correct supplements, energy, and  means to built up muscle. All of this so an athlete can work to his fullest potential. Next, percentages must be applied based on the individual’s base caloric intake, taking into consideration workout age and gender.

“One of the most important thing to be a high performance athlete is discipline, as you are conscious of your actions as an athlete and how such actions affect you, this is especially true for your diet as it is truly down to you to have discipline and follow it,” Pablo Gongas, 11th grade soccer player, said.

This means a diet high in fiber rich carbohydrates like black beans and lentils to account for 55-75% of a day’s caloric intake/total day food intake. The higher the percent in regards of if it was a workout day or not. This percentage must be supplemented with fats, believe it or not.

Fats function as long term energy source for the body, this said fats must never account for more than 30% caloric intake/total day food intake, of that 30% less than 10% should be saturated fats. This are found in butter and processed meats. Always consume less than 300 mg of cholesterol, check food labels for nutritional facts like mg of cholesterol and cut out ALL trans fats.

This means no fried or battered foods and no very sweet dough products like cakes and pies. Add eating high quality protein like eggs, milk, fish and lean meats, the amount of protein for an athlete should be 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight. Finally as cherry on top, make sure you are eating a fare share of mix veggies to fill up on the extra vitamins.

Step 3: Sleep and Rest

Every athlete needs to know their body and its limits. Even though athletes are people who must push their limits to get better they have to know when to stop and take a rest, Pablo Florez one of the school top high school basketball athletes says that “One of the most important things during playoff is a night of proper sleep.” making it his most important pre-game ritual.

Take sleep  seriously, more than a regular person should.  Sleep helps the body and mind to reste and be ready before a game or to built back up and heal after a hard workout. An athlete minimum sleep cycle must be of 8 hour but a cycle of around 10 hours is ideal. Those extra hour have been proven to help performance, mood and alertness.

Step 4: Technic and Practice

No matter what sport you play, if you don’t play with good technique and practice accordingly to get better, you will be left foreshadowed by competition; any trainer will tell you so as its point out by Urbano Mesa, Columbus School soccer team trainer “One of the most important aspects that a high performance athlete must have is good technique, independent of the sport he practice the technique must be very specific and polished.”

As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect, and as tired of hearing this it’s simply the truth, but things can be made easy. Set for yourself with or without help a easy to follow routine where you outline what you will practice each time. If  you find it hard at the beginning to follow a strict routine, then start with an easy one and work your way up. So outline your week, on Tuesday run half a mile more than before, on Wednesday lift one more repetition on your weight lifting set, a routine like this will allow you to stay focused.

Step 5: Set Achievable Goals

Finally it will be all for nothing if you don’t understand where you are and where you are going,and even then make sure the ride is fun because if not your goals will look unreachable if each day it’s a torture.

To set a goal is a must for an athlete, as the visualization of where you want to be will helps you through the darker time, but at the same time that goal could put you in darker times. Make sure any goal to wish to achieve doesn’t make you pass through living hell to get it. If you do this and are too hard on yourself then you are more likely to quit. Strain yourself but make sure in the end what ever you are doing brings you enjoyment in one way or another, as that will make the journey to your goal less tedious.

If you follow this 5 steps you can become a high performance athlete, it will take dedication and time, just as Pablo Gongas, 11th grade student and high performance athlete says “The most important thing to be an athlete is discipline as you have the conscience of having the motivation to play and doing what you want to do, along with the responsibility of fulfilling your role for yourself and your team.