Olympic fitness: How athletes prepare for their time in the spotlight

American athletes have faced a range of challenges in the Olympic competitions at Sochi. They have had to rely more than ever on the practice and motivation that got them there. Here’s what they have been doing to prepare for their time in the spotlight.

Train smarter, not harder

The Olympics Committee has brought a new generation of extreme sports to the Games in the last two decades. 10 snowboarding events have been added since 1998. Two generations of snowboarders are now in competition. The younger competitors have the fire and edge of youth. Older snowboarders, like Shaun White and Kelly Clark, take a longer perspective. They adjust their training schedules to fit their aging bodies. White gives himself more recovery time between workouts, trains more precisely and puts in fewer hours on the slopes.

Prepare for defeat

There’s been a big change in sports psychology over the last decade. Coaches once advised their athletes never to think about losing. Research has begun to suggest, though, that a person can’t completely suppress a negative thought. Sports psychologists working with US athletes in Sochi are coaching them to face their worst fears and deal with them as they come up. Aerial skier Emily Cook prepared herself for competition by imagining how each of her friends and family members would react if she didn’t bring home a medal. She realized, by doing the mental exercise, that they would still love her. This boosted her confidence.

Visualize winning

Mentally preparing yourself for winning is still the tried-and-true method for psychological fitness at the Games. Athletes go through each moment of the upcoming event, feeling the push at the start, hearing their surge along the track, seeing themselves coming in ahead of everyone else. Successful athletes develop a psychological foundation for competing with as much diligence as they use in athletic practice. They say the mental discipline pays off at tough moments during the competition.

Prepare your muscles

Being in the games is a totally different experience than just practising for it. Many of the trainers got their contestants into good habits beforehand to continue throughout the games, such as soaking their muscles in hot and cold water to make them ready for the next physical demand. If you look at hot tubs from bullfrogspas.com you will see that the same products can be found.

Eat like home

Sochi isn’t the first Olympic Games to which U.S. teams have brought their own cooks. It’s been a standard practice for almost a decade. But Sochi presents such unusual challenges in its sometimes-inadequate accommodations that American athletes are extra-prepared. They’ve brought their own filtered water. Chefs prepare their favourite foods. Diet and nutrition are important aspects of Olympic training. Having familiar food boosts morale for athletes away from home as well as keeps up their nutrition levels and standard diet to keep their performance up to par.

American athletes bring home their share of medals, because they have trained hard to be in the spotlight.