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Many trainers, strength coaches, and even physical therapists agree that playing multiple sports benefits one’s athletic development far more than specializing in just one. To be more precise, it improves an athlete’s coordination, strength, and conditioning. In some cases, it even helps increase resilience against injury. 

If you’re interested in participating in multiple sports, here are the 6 principles that will help you succeed:

Time Management

First of all, learn how to plan and prioritize. Create a reasonable schedule and plan out the training sessions in a way that will help you balance out efforts in each area. Set specific days for each activity, and make sure they do not overlap. 

While at it, try to choose sports that complement each other. For instance, a passionate basketball player can improve his agility, conditioning, and footwork by playing soccer, or he could enhance his vertical through volleyball. To be honest, most sports help one another somehow, but these are the things to consider if you’re looking to perfect one of them in the end. 

Recovery

Also, have at least one mandatory recovery day each week when you will not train at all. Pursuing more than one sport takes a lot of physical and mental energy, so it is necessary to have that one day when you can rest in every possible way. 

If you are a young athlete, you will also benefit from this one rest day by using it to catch up on school obligations. Either way, you will have a chance to relax and have a chance at a normal social life.

Injury Prevention

Recovery and personal care are equally important for success, and they can help you prevent injuries, too. We already mentioned taking a day off to rest, but besides that, you should learn how to cool down after a workout so you can calm your breathing and the cardiovascular system, and improve the regeneration of muscles and joints. Recovery allows your muscles to rebuild, repair, and increase strength, and become more injury-resilient at the same time. 

Mental Focus and Mindfulness

If you’re an athlete, especially a young one, you should pay a lot of attention to the techniques related to the discipline, but you also need to learn how to enjoy the process. Feeling stressed, pressured, or anxious leads nowhere. 

You must learn how to have fun and preserve your mental health and mindfulness. First of all, do not engage in sports that take too much out of you. Next, try to perform mindfulness - there are smartphone meditation apps that can conveniently guide you through the process. 

Avoiding Burnout

Learn how to listen to your needs. Always remember that your mind and body will not feel the same every day. So at some point, it might happen that you simply start feeling burnt out from all the physical activity and scheduling of your exercise sessions. 

That is why it is essential to prioritize and balance items like passion, quality training, and rest days so you can keep exhaustion at bay. On the contrary, your body and mind will tell you very clearly when they simply need to have more rest than you planned for. 

Reap the Benefits of Cross-Training

When it comes to young athletes, especially kids, playing multiple sports helps maintain interest. Breaking away from their routine and trying something new helps keep the young ones engaged. 

Getting involved in multiple sports when young also helps you decide what you love and which discipline you’re genuinely interested in. 

Finally, trying out various disciplines helps you learn how to be a team player in different situations, and it can even help reduce social anxiety. Taking on so many roles also helps you with adversity so you learn to handle all kinds of roles, from being the star quarterback on your football team to sitting on a bench in basketball. 

As a multiple-discipline sportsperson, you need to learn how to alleviate the pressure from balancing multiple sports to still have a social life and maintain daily obligations, whether they’re related to school or work. Thanks to the strategies listed above, you will be able to reap the benefits of participating in different sports without experiencing burnout, injuries, or any other difficulties. 

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Related Pages

• Hybrid Sports — made up of combining the attributes of two or more current sports to create a new sport.
• Complete List of Sports