The effects of lifestyle of sports performers on sports performance

The effects of lifestyle of sports performers on sports performance

Different effectors can stop athletes from performing to the top of their standards. These effectors are alcohol, diet, sleep patterns and culture. All athletes need to keep of these effectors to make sure that they perform well in the sport their performing in.

Alcohol

Alcohol will effect how athletes perform because it will make them feel dizzy, loss of motor control, reduced ability to make decisions and reduced perception of movement. As you consume more alcohol, these effects can become worser, leading to breathlessness, swelling of the legs, muscular fatigue, an increase in body weight, joint problems, liver damage and heart failure.

For example if a gymnast was about to perform on high beams and they consumed alcohol the day before, they may lose control of their hand movements and fall off the beams. This can result in long term injuries to the athlete which can also mean that they won’t be able to perform in that sport again. Alcohol may be used for when you are performing in archery because it can slow down your reactions. However alcohol is very dangerous to use in most sports because performers can hurt other players. For example if you are a formula 1 driver and you consumed alcohol the day before, you can seriously injure other drivers because you may have crashed into other drivers.

Diet

The diet of an athlete is the most important for performing well in sport. They have to make sure that they consume the right food that can contain Protein, Carbohydrates, fats, water, fibre, vitamin, water. Protein will be used in an athlete’s diet to help them repair any muscle damage they may have taken during training. The carbohydrates in diet will allow you to have instant energy. For example football players will have pasta on the day before a game to allow their body to take in the carbohydrates and turn it into energy. Fats provide more energy than carbohydrates and protein, producing more than double the calories. Fats can help with absorption of vitamins, body temperature, brain growth and they are also the main source of energy for cell function. Athletes will have to be careful though because they will need to eat the correct fats and make sure that they don’t eat a lot. Saturated fats can be harmful to your health if you want to stay fit. Foods in this category are meats, dairy products, cakes, pastries and confectionary. Athletes are allowed to have saturated fats but only small amounts. Water needs to be consumed a lot through an athlete’s diet because it prevents dehydration. Water also helps with cell function, maintaining body temperature, transportation of nutrients and movement of the blood, removal of waste products and lubrication of joints. Water can be found in fruits and vegetables. Fibres in diet are used to maintain the function of the gut. Fibre is also rich in carbohydrates. Vitamins and minerals can also be found in fruit and vegetables. Different vitamins are found in different foods. Vitamin A can be found in eggs, milk and carrots. Vitamin E can be found whole grains and egg yolks. There are many different minerals that your body needs to take in daily. These include calcium and iron. Calcium is used to maintain bone strength. Foods that contain calcium are dairy products, canned salmon and sardines, leafy green vegetables and calcium fortified foods. Iron helps the body to take in more oxygen into the muscles. The iron helps blood flow through the body, allowing it to flow into the lungs. Foods rich in iron are meat, tuna eggs, beans, baked potatoes, dried fruits leafy green and whole and enriched grains.

Diet is very good for athletes because it can give them the nutrients they need to perform in sport. However certain diets can be bad because it can cause your body damage if the body takes in food that they haven’t had for a while. One good example of this would be a marathon runner. Each day marathon runners need to have pasta and water to keep themselves hydrated and get more protein into their muscles. A bad diet for performers would be if they were eating large amounts of fats such as chips and chocolate. Athletes would not be gaining the right nutrients their body needs to compete in sport.

Sleep patterns

Sleep patterns can vary in age as younger people may need up to eight hours of sleep whereas older people would need less. But for an athlete they may need extra time for rest as this will allow your muscles to rest for the next day of training. If an athletes sleep patterns are not balanced then the positive effects will not be shown. For example if an marathon runner slept for less time during the night before a race, his muscles my feel more tired and the marathon runner might not be able to complete the whole race. Giving certain sleep patterns to athletes is important because it can make them less tired and their reactions faster. However it can be bad for athletes because they may not stick to their time period and will feel tired for the next day of their performance. Sleep patterns can be affected during sleep because the athlete may be anxious for the next day of a tournament. The athlete may even get up and stop the repair of their muscles. During the morning the athlete may ache and may not be able to compete in the next day of the tournament. In some tests it is shown that if athletes had longer sleep then they will be able to perform better in the sport they are participating in. This has been shown by an experiment in America showing that tennis players can place the ball in better places if they had ten hours sleep.

Culture

Culture can affect sports because their religion forbids them from playing in the sport. For example if a woman was Muslim and wanted to play badminton, their religion wouldn’t allow them because they have to wear certain clothing most of the time. However some cultures have created clothing that they can wear in sport and still follow their religion. This means that they can compete in sports such as badminton. However this can be bad because some cultures do not allow any of their followers to perform in sport, even if they are very good at something such as running or football. In some cultures they create a variety of different sports so that they can compete in them instead of competing in tennis. But in countries like Africa, sporting enthusiasts go to bring different sports to their country. When the world cup was staged at South Africa in 2010, they promoted football to everyone in Africa to get them playing football. In football cultures can change because they may be able to play sport in another country.