For the longest time, athletes, both male and female, strived to achieve minimal body mass and maximum fitness. This often came at the cost of under recovery, increased risk of injuries, and less than ideal performance in sports.
The good news is that this phase is finally shifting, making way for a greater emphasis on health, durability and power as a female athlete. Overall, we’re seeing less burnout, overtraining and injuries across the board, which is a huge win for female athletes, especially those who compete in endurance events.
So with that said, how do you ensure that you’re hitting peak performance as a female athlete? Keep reading on to find out.
Make sure your body is getting enough high-quality fuel
Athletes and women in sports are beginning to understand the importance of high carb fuelling for hard training. There’s a misconception that women or athletes with a smaller body mass need less carbs, but this simply isn’t the case. In fact, underfuelling could actually be impairing your gains.
The limiting factor here is actually your body’s ability to absorb and tolerate carbs. The average person is burning around 3g of carbohydrates per minute, so therefore improving your fuelling ability can be particularly beneficial as a female athlete.
The results? A dramatic improvement in the quality of your workout, recovery times, and even your daily nutritional balance.
Pushing your body to its limits isn’t necessary
Are you a female athlete who likes to push your body to the limits to improve your performance? It’s time to stop that! Reaching peak performance is a marathon, not a sprint.
In order to access a higher ceiling during your workouts, it’s vital to build a healthy and efficient cardiovascular system. Remember it’s okay to go slow on some days, so that when you do need to train hard your body is capable of doing so.
Focus on strength training
It’s no secret that strength training offers a host of great benefits to our health and endurance. In fact, female athletes who compete in endurance events would benefit greatly from better bone density, strength and fewer injuries.
Do your body a favour and add strength training to your workout schedule!
Don’t forget to rest!
This is a big one – in order to achieve peak performance as a female athlete, you need to let your body rest. With proper recovery comes greater fitness, health and peak performance. It sounds counterintuitive but without some periods of rest you can’t capitalise on your training.
As a female athlete it’s vital to give your body easy days, off days and times where you don’t train at all. This gives your body time to heal, rebuild and come back into balance.
When it’s time to gear up, choose Fempro Armour
Here at Fempro Armour, our mission is to equip female athletes, women in high-impact sports, and frontline workers with the right gear to protect their bodies.
Our female designed body armour and garments reflect who women are and celebrate the sports and work that we love.
Check out our collection of body armour and other accessories here.