What makes an athlete?

Are they born as record breakers?
In sports making it to the top requires hard work and dedication at many levels. There is no one thing that will make you a great athlete. It is a combination of many factors that make a great athlete! Being fit, eating right, having talent, and a desire to succeed are some of the factors involved in being a great athlete. And yes even Science!

Exercise!
Ride your bike, play ball, go roller blading, take a hike. The possibilities are endless. Besides making you into a great athlete, exercise is good for you! Exercise makes us healthy by increasing our strength, endurance and flexibility. Which, in turn, increases the blood flow throughout your body. By exercising you make your heart, lungs, and body stronger and healthier. All very important components of becoming a great athlete!

Eating Right…
For your body to be strong and healthy you need to eat right! One way to do this is to eat a variety of foods from all the food groups! According to the Food Pyramid you should eat 6-11 servings of breads, cereals, rice, pasta, 2-3 servings of vegetables, 2-3 servings of fruits, 2-3 servings from the milk group, 2-3 servings from the meat group and you should go easy on the foods from the fats, oils, and sweets group! A healthy body helps make a great athlete!

Having Talent…And Desire
Sure it takes talent to be a great athlete! But that talent is usually backed by years of practice. Great athletes are not created overnight! You have to practice, practice and practice some more. Persistence is the key! The desire to succeed comes from having a healthy mind, body and attitude!

Science in Sports
So how does science relate to sports? What about throwing a football? Throwing a football relies on velocity (speed), mechanics (how things move) force (energy applied to an object) and the list goes on and on! Check out the scientific principles behind many sports related activities at Sport Science.

Science is also involved in the prevention and treatment of injuries related to sports. Athletic trainers, coaches and physical therapists train athletes on how to exercise safely to prevent injuries based upon research on how the body moves and heals. If you do get injured playing sports, science will come to the rescue in the form of doctors and physical therapists who will treat your injury and help you rehabilitate so you can get back to playing your favorite sport! Many sports physicians and physical therapists study how the body moves this study is also known as biomechanics.

Biomechanics enables scientists to help athletes jump higher, run faster, dive deeper, and hit harder by studying how the body works and moves. By using computers, scientists are then able to determine how an athlete should move to improve his/her performance!

So … with a little science you can become a better athlete! 

Check out these links to science & sports!