5 Expert Fitness Tips Every Summer Athlete Should Know

Whether you're a former athlete returning to summer sports or just gearing up for a casual family kickball game, the last thing you want is to be sidelined by a sore back for weeks — not to mention the embarrassment of falling short in front of friends and family.

To help everyone safely jump back into seasonal activities, I’ve teamed up with four coaching experts from professional sports to share tips on staying active, performing at your best, and enjoying summer sports without injury.

Keep reading to discover how you can unlock your full summer sports potential and get back in the game.

Lay a strong foundation

Jason Glass, a leading performance coach who works with elite athletes on the PGA Tour, stresses the importance of daily routines. 'Whether you're a pro or a weekend warrior, you can't prepare for game day on game day,' he explains. 'Real preparation comes from the habits you practice every day.'

Glass suggests creating a daily lifestyle checklist he calls the 'Foundational Five':

'Sleep like it's your job:' Quality sleep is crucial for both recovery and peak performance. Make sure to get consistent, restful sleep each night.

'Stay hydrated:' Drink half your body weight in fluid ounces every day. For instance, a 200-pound athlete should aim for 100 ounces of water daily.

'Eat clean:' Be aware of what's in your food and how it impacts your body. This mindfulness helps you make better choices, especially on game day.'

'Move with purpose:' Incorporate an activity into your daily routine that makes you feel strong and energized, whether it's yoga, weightlifting, or something else. Pay attention to what your body is telling you.

'Train with intention:' Approach your training with clear goals in mind. Even something as simple as a nap can be valuable if you take it with the purpose of recharging before an important event.

Glass recommends that you evaluate your performance on each of these five foundational habits daily, scoring yourself from 0 to 5. Aim for a total of 20 or more points by day’s end. 'Focus on mastering these five pillars before adding other performance-enhancing techniques,' he advises.

Begin with care

Bill Burgos, former head of strength and conditioning for three NBA teams, shares advice for those returning to sports after a break. 'If you've been away from physical activity for a while, it’s essential to ease back in safely and effectively,' he explains, emphasizing that preparation shouldn’t wait until game day.

Here are Burgos' top three tips:

'Prepare your body for movement:' Incorporate foam rolling and dynamic stretches such as walking lunges with elbow-to-instep and walking knee hugs to improve flexibility and mobility.

'Gradually increase your heart rate:' Start with low-intensity exercises like a gentle jog, and gradually ramp up the intensity to match the demands of your sport.

'Tune in to your body:' Pay close attention to your body's signals and adjust your workout intensity as needed.

Keep strength and speed at the forefront

Paul Fournier, a strength and conditioning coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers with over 30 years of experience in Major League Baseball, emphasizes the importance of maintaining strength and speed for long-term health and injury prevention. 'Maintaining strength and the speed of your movements is critical to avoiding chronic pain and injuries,' he states.

Fournier advises adding calisthenics, weight training, sprinting, and plyometric exercises to your fitness routine. He recommends starting with two sessions per week that include:

'Low-intensity plyometrics:' Incorporate exercises like jump rope, step-ups, and light medicine ball work to build endurance in both your muscles and nervous system.

'Core strengthening:' Include exercises such as planks, dead bugs, and rollouts to improve torso stability and protect your lower back.

'Strength training:' Prioritize compound lower-body exercises like lunges and squats, while also adding targeted upper-body exercises such as chest presses, rows, and curls.

Ensure you warm up properly before each session

Matt Nichol, a coach with over 30 years of experience working with professional and Olympic athletes, stresses the importance of a proper warm-up. 'A warm-up is just as crucial as the workout itself,' he explains.

Nichol shares some practical warm-up advice:

'Arrive ahead of time:' Just as pro athletes show up at least three hours before their games, give yourself extra time to warm up before any recreational activity or competition.

Take more steps: Park farther from your destination to add some light movement as you walk to your activity.

Warm up properly: Don’t stretch cold muscles. Instead, engage in sport-specific movements like jogging, dribbling, or swinging a bat or racquet at a lower intensity, then gradually ramp up to match the intensity of your game.

Tune in to your body: Be mindful of any discomfort or pain during your warm-up. These could signal potential injuries. It's wiser to ease off for a game rather than push through and risk sidelining yourself for the whole season.

Prioritize sport-specific mobility

As a mobility coach with over 20 years of experience in professional sports, my goal is to help athletes maximize their range of motion in movements specific to their sport. Here are three key strategies I recommend:

Set clear goals and create a plan to reach them: Your objectives should be aligned with the demands of your sport, guiding your mobility training. For example, if you're aiming to get back into rotational sports like golf or tennis, prioritize mobility exercises that enhance rotation.

Develop powerful, efficient movements: To boost sports performance, movement quality relies on strength and power. As Fournier emphasized, core strengthening is key for stabilizing the lower back and preventing injuries. A strong core not only prevents injury but also lays the groundwork for powerful spine and limb movements.

Focus on controlled movement: Don’t just depend on stretching to increase passive range of motion, as this could lead to injuries during activity.

Instead, concentrate on strength and mobility exercises that improve control at the end ranges of motion.

For example, instead of performing seated toe touches for a passive hamstring stretch, try single-leg Romanian deadlifts to both lengthen and strengthen the hamstrings while also enhancing pelvic stability and mobility.

Before diving into that next pickup basketball game or signing up for the local softball league, take a moment to consider these valuable tips to boost your performance and lower your injury risk.