How to Get Ready For a Female Gymnastic Competition

By Adele-mcmasters on 16th July

Your body and mind both should be ready and healthy before you take part in a gymnastics competition. This is essential if you are to give a successful performance. There are several factors that you really need to keep in mind if you are to be ready both physically and mentally for the day of the competition. Here are some basic guidelines to follow.

Eating and Drinking the Night Before

Eating and Drinking

You need to make sure that you take in ample complex carbohydrates that will keep the energy supply to your body constant. For example, multi-grain cereals, while grain cereals, bread, fresh and dried fruit, pasta, bagels, low-fat yoghurt, beans and fruit bars are all great choices. You can also have pretzels, waffles, rice, pancakes, potatoes and toast. Do not consume any fatty foods that do not store energy, drink at least 16 ounces of liquid to stay hydrated. Water and Gatorade are both really great options, do not try any new foods that could potentially upset your stomach.

Packing the Gym Bag

Gym Bag

You need to pack your warm up suits. Take grips so that you can perform the uneven bar routine. Always carry your own music in addition to the one that your coach carries, in case of technical difficulties. You can also carry on some athletic tae if there is a current injury that you are ailing from. Carry a small snack and a bottle of water. Also remember to take a hairspray in case you have to touch up between rounds.

Get Enough Sleep

Enough Sleep

You must get at least eight hours of sleep before the competition. You will not feel tired during the day of the competition if you have given your body enough time to rest the night before. You also need to keep enough time for sleeping because you will need to wake up at least two or three hours before the competition and eat at least half an hour before it.

Prepare Your Body

You must keep your body well prepared for the upcoming competition. Take a long and hot shower the night before so that it can help release the tension in your muscles. Remove all of your nail polish. Remember that judges will remove points if any flashy or easily visible colours are seen on your finger or toe nails. You also need to get ready with the clothing, hair and makeup. You will need to get dressed in your competition leotard and pull your hair tightly back into a bun with no loose bits of fly-aways hanging around your face. This is why a hairspray should always be there to hand. You can use a glitter hairspray so that you give yourself a bit of a shimmer. The makeup that you use n=must have a simple and clean look. Your undergarments should also be compatible with the attire you wear. Judges will deduct points if your undergarments are showing.

 

Mistakes to Avoid Before a Swimming Competition

By Adele-mcmasters on 28th April

If you are a swimmer and you are about to take part in a competition, you would do well to make certain changes to your diet and sleeping patterns and the likes if you are to perform at your best during the competition. However, there are also cases where some of these changes that are made can result in poor performance and affect the ultimate outcome of the game. Here are some of the changes that you need to be careful about.

Changing Your Diet

Diet

If your body has been used to a certain pattern of diet, making massive changes to it just before a championship is never a good idea. If you feel like your normal diet is good enough for practicing but not for a championship, you need to revaluate what you are putting in your body. If this is the case, the best course of action would be to make changes to your regular diet so that you can increase your scores during a championship. Any of the changes that are made around your diet need to be implemented at the beginning of the season and not at the end. Making abrupt changes before the championship will affect you negatively.

Wearing New Swimwear

Swimwear

Swimwear is not something that lasts forever. That said, new swimwear can be uncomfortable until your body gets used to it. Therefore, going into a championship with new swimwear is a bad decision as it may restrict your moves ad make you slower. Once more, pick new swimwear with ample time for the championship and let your body get used to it. Replace your cap and goggles at about the same time that you make changes to your swim costume as well.

Not Enough or Too Much Warming Up

Warming Up

You need to ensure that you warm up really well before the championship. You will not be wasting time by staying in your warming up zone for an additional few minutes, make sure to do a few sprint laps as well. Three or four is usually more than enough. Remember that if you want to get the best speed and results, your body needs to be warmed up sufficiently. However, also be careful enough to not overdo the warming up as well. You will wear out all of your energy if this happens and will poorly perform during the actual competition. The warming up exercises should be done before the championship and your coach will guide you on the right techniques for this. These are some very simple mistakes that you can easily avoid during a swimming competition.