If you’re a student-athlete, your plate is already full, and yet, heaping portions of class, practice, homework, labs and travel, continue to pile higher and higher. You sprint from weight-lifting sessions to study halls to team meetings. Here are some tips for staying grounded, organized, and happy during this hectic, but thrilling, time in your life.
Make meal time, friends time. Your friends understand you’re slammed during your sport’s season. Since student-athletes should be eating three balanced meals each day, use this time to meet with your pals. “Set up breakfast, lunch and dinner dates with your non-student-athlete friends to catch up on life,” advises Kelly Clayton in a USA Today article. “This tip not only gets you into good eating habits but also lets you unwind and have a social life.”
Stay in shape all year. This doesn’t mean you should continue to exert yourself at mid-season levels throughout the summer. Allow your body to relax and recover from the pounding it took, but don’t lose everything you built through hard work and dedication.
“Coaches are always preaching how it is easier to stay in shape than to get back into shape, and it’s the truth,” Clayton writes. “Staying in shape can be as minimum as riding a bike for 30 minutes four times a week!”
For five more great tips about keeping your game, grades and relationships on track during the season, check out this story.