Strength Training Essay

Our thoughts, diet/nutrition, exercise, rest, environment and physiology have a positive or negative impact on us which affects how well we perform and feel. In the world of sports, this is very easy to demonstrate because the mind/body connection provides you with immediate feedback. When you are positive, your performance excels. When you are negative, your performance is adversely affected. With various types of distress, or

Meyers (1991) has shown that an increase to fitness levels in athletes is important to enhance their self-esteem and interpersonal behaviours. Physical practice is important not only for mere practice, but having a clear functioning mind toward the sport, adhering to exercise programs in an endeavour to improve athletic performance, both physically and mentally (Meyers, 1991). Researchers are finding it necessary to modify their approach towards athlete behaviour to enhance performance in the field of sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978). Studies also found that mental rehearsal was as effective as physical practice in improving performance, however physical practice gave athletes the benefits of enjoyment and motivation towards sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978).

There are a lot of aspects that should be taken into account when determining what makes an athlete successful. One could argue that natural ability is one of the determining factors which leads to success. For example, if an athlete has dreams of playing in the NBA then height makes a difference. There aren’t many successful players in the league under six feet tall. One could argue that level of competition plays a role in the development of an athlete. This could include the skill level of the opponent or outside factors such as playing conditions or game circumstances. These types of arguments play a role in athlete success, but will not be used in this paper because they are factors that are out of the athlete’s control. This paper

“By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied.” (PH.Ds, Clifton, O., Anderson, E., Schreiner, L., Pg 26) When I read this quote in our StrengthsQuest text I felt as if I was describing my own personality while starring at myself in the mirror. If there was a sentence to explain “Chrissy” this would be it, or at least a very good candidate when summarizing my number one strength. After completing my StrengthQuest survey online and analyzing my results with the three people who

Choosing a vocation can be a daunting task. With the world ever-evolving, one may come across a new attractive career every year. In order to ensure optimal job satisfaction, it is vital to educate oneself about every alluring prospect prior to committing. Simple factors like the time commitment and salary can mean the difference between a content existence and a miserable one.

I am a eighteen year old senior who has played and feel in love with sports . My love for sports stared at a young age. I have played football,basketball,golf , i am a powerlifter and i also ran track and jumped in field events. Sports has always been in my family , my family watchs a varieties of sports .The main sports they do watch would be football and basketball. Although I do have a favorite team thats is different from there’s they always watch my team play weather its sunday or monday night football.As of now powerlifting has won me over in the sense that i enjoy this tough sport more than any other sport .This sport has me going to the gym everyday ,trying to be the best i can be .Powerlifting has taught me so much more than just lift

There are over 450,000 athletes competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level across 24 different sports in the United States (NCAA, 2012). What psychological qualities separate the successful student athlete from the non-successful student athlete (i.e., a student athlete who completes their eligibility and graduates, or gets drafted into the professional level)? We know sport psychology and mental performance training can assist athletes in achieving peak performance by teaching confidence, goal setting, imagery, mental toughness, how to deal with pressure, relaxation, positive self-talk and more (Shemake, 2014). This study aims to identify if certain student athletes posses some of these characteristics without

1.Farrey and Sagas argued against the mentality that early sport immersion and early specialization will lead children to successful careers as athletes. Early specialization was described as children around the age of six choosing only one sport and concentrating only on that specific sport’s performance and practice (Sagas,2013). People in society might presume that specializing children at young ages will help guide them into becoming great athletes, however, “early specialization can have significant negative consequences on the development of an athlete over time” (Sagas, 2013, p.2). Some evidence that Sagas’ (2013) mentioned in his article to dispel the myth of early specialization included multiple studies where it showed children that were early specialized had an increase of dropping out of sports, burnout, social isolation, physiological imbalances, and limited range of motor skills. Farrey also presented evidence that early involvement and early specialization in sports doesn’t lead children to greater success. One argument that Farrey made was that early specialization can cause mental exhaustion and overuse injuries which made the “AAP now formally opposes specialization before a child reaches puberty” (Farrey, 2008, p.58). This evidence proves that overtraining children at young ages will inevitably have negative effects. Farrey also discussed the data that was found from surveying the training patterns of U.S. Olympians. From this data Farrey concluded that “many [U.S. Olympians] played multiple sports as teenagers, dispelling the myth of early specialization” (Farrey, 2008, p.191). Overall, Farrey and Sagas proposed several valid reasons that early immersion and early specialization in sports has negative impacts on children rather than helping them to achieve success.

What makes champions in sport? At the end of the day, it is the moment when one stands at the top of the podium, holding up their well-deserved medals and trophies that all elite athletes strive for. Thus, experts have studied this question extensively to see which programs, or by what means, are elite athletes developed to achieve this goal. One of the many aspects to athlete development is the controversial topic of deliberate practice versus deliberate play. Deliberate practice can be defined as “any training activity (a) undertaken with the specific purpose of increasing performance, (b) requiring cognitive and/or physical effort, and (c) relevant to promoting positive skill development” (Cote et al., 2007, p. 185) On the

Sport’s are an aspect of life that affect societies across the globe. Athletics affect everyone's life, whether that be playing the sport, watching games, or hearing about a sporting event. There is a big difference between playing an individual sport and players relying on their own athletic abilities versus a team sport when members of the team rely on their teammates to complete each individual's specific responsibility to reach the team's goal. Team sports bring people together in countless ways, and they teach many life skills for the athletes that participate in them. Some of these skills include communication, teamwork, discipline, work ethic, dedication, leadership, and numerous more that will help them in their personal and work

Motivation in sports is why people do what they do. It is also the direction and intensity of one’s effort and determination to achieve. The more motivated one is, the more likely one is to succeed.

Motivation is crucial for an athlete in order to want to win. It is hard to want to win if you have no motivation. The main aspect of motivation in terms of the self-determination theory is intrinsic motivation. The self-determination theory can be defined as “a highly appropriate conceptual framework from which to study sport persistence and dropout” (Calvo, Cervelló, Jiménez, Iglesias, & Moreno Murcia, 2010). Intrinsic Motivation can be defined as “an athlete taking up playing a sport just for the enjoyment of playing a sport” (Pelletier, Tuson, Fortier, Vallerand, & Briére, 1995). It is important to realize that the self-determination theory affects an athlete’s motivation intrinsically (internally) because the self-determination theory uses factors like “autonomy” and “competence” to motivate an athlete to play better in their sport. Most athletes, now and in the past, find it easier to motivate themselves intrinsically if they enjoy the sport or have fun while playing the sport (Ryan & Deci, 1985).

Mental toughness is not a new concept in sport, but is generally misunderstood. Coaches design programmes to develop mentally tough athletes, predominately in professional sport, to separate elite performers from good performers (Gould, Jackson, & Finch, 1993) as physical talent itself is not the only component that can lead an athlete to success (Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2008).

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to

It is often said that “practice makes perfect”, but what kids participating in competitive sports find out is that “Perfect practice makes perfect” (Three quotes). Hard work pays off and repetition builds skills. Practice may not be everyone’s favorite part of a sport, but doing something over and over again will make it become an instinct. Regardless of the type of sport that is played, there are some basic fundamentals that are learned and then practiced repeatedly. With each practice, athletes can gain more confidence in their ability (Kuchenbecker 37). Repetitions enable the players to develop skills and become more confident that they can perform when the time comes rather than being worried about failure. The level of discipline and focus developed by these kids helps them throughout their lives in a wide variety of ways.