10 tips to look like your favourite sports stars: Work out secrets
Whether you’re a football fan, addicted to athletics, crazy about cricket or passionate about any other sport – watching top class sports men and women in action is awe-inspiring. Not only that, it’s also fairly inspiring when it comes to our own fitness regimes. But what can you do? How can you tap into the magic formula of famous sports stars and, in part at least, get their look?
Here are 10 tips to take on board:
Which sports star and why?
Which sports star inspires you most? Ideally you should focus on one person engaged in one sport. Different disciplines require different regimes, depending on the nature of the physical activity involved. For example, a boxer requires a different regime to a long-distance runner. Think carefully about why you want to look like them too. Don’t build your regime about someone because of their personality or fashion sense – you can be inspired by this in other ways. Clearly, it helps that you pick someone involved in sport that you play yourself and with a height or physique that isn’t wildly different to your own.
Have a goal
Top sports stars work hard to get the right body for an important reason – so that they can success in their chosen field. In order to be as driven as they are, you need that same focus. Find a goal – whether it’s a weight, size, time or score – and build up to that.
Get the help of a fitness instructor
Even the experts need expert help. Find an instructor or coach who can help you to set on the right path – and give you pointers on your exercises and diet throughout. Having someone to turn to for support can be invaluable.
Adopt the right mindset
Having the right attitude is vital. If you want to look like a sports star, you need to think like a sports star. As Ross Herridge, sports and conditioning coach for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, puts it: “General fitness is a mindset. Your readiness to play comes from what you eat, how you train, how much you sleep. It's a way of thinking, without sounding wishy-washy.”
The right fuel
As Ross hints, once you have the right mindset, your diet is one thing that needs to change. Sports stars need a balanced intake of all the essential nutrients to provide their body with the right fuel they need to perform at their peak. This article from the Mirror shows what five members of Team GB typically eat.
Consider supplements
In the quest to get stronger, faster and fitter, many athletes top up their diet with the smart use of sports supplements. As Fysiqal shows in this article, sports stars have used supplements such as creatine since the early 1990s and there are a host of different products that can help you strike the right balance with the fuel you put into your body.
Water is vital
All athletes have to guard against dehydration. Put simply, you need to drink lots and lots of water before, during and after your workouts. Learn to love water – and ditch the alcohol. Serious sports stars wean themselves off the booze.
Fully active lifestyle
Don’t think that a few hours in the gym is enough. Part of the mindset we mentioned above should be about embracing a generally more active lifestyle. Walk or cycle instead of driving or using public transport, go for a jog in your lunch break, take the stairs and not the lift and generally avoid sitting still behind a desk all day. Sports stars have the time in their day to be able to work out for longer – you can make this up by generally being more active in your daily life.
Get your beauty sleep
Cristiano Ronaldo knows a thing or two about keeping fit and the Real Madrid superstar stresses the importance of a good night’s kip. He said: “Proper sleep is really important for getting the most out of training. I go to bed early and get up early, especially before matches. Sleep helps muscles recover which is really important.”
Strength, abs, cardio
As well as a balanced diet, you need a balanced workout regime. Split your time between strength, abs and cardio work so that your body can your body can become stronger and slimmer while boosting your stamina to go further. You aren’t going to get your desired result just by repeating sit-ups for hours on end.