How to get ahead of the game this summer

For many of us, it might feel like the long nightmare is over. Summer is upon us, and school is out. Summer always felt like a time of freedom and possibility for me growing up, but this year more so than ever. 

Another thing that comes along with summer time is a freedom from the structure and schedule of the school year. Instead of classes, practice, and after school activities, it can feel like the entire day is open to you. So what exactly are you supposed to do with it? It can be tempting to spend the day scrolling through Tiktok, watching videos on YouTube, or playing video games. And guess what? There isn’t anything wrong with that! It can be rewarding to blow off some steam and relax a bit. This is totally normal, and I wouldn’t suggest anyone stop doing things that are a fun break.

But (and of course there is a but here), it’s important to use that time that you have wisely. During the school year the structure is already built into your schedule, but during the summer it’s up to you to build it. I think a key point here is that you would be surprised by how much you can accomplish in a day if you plan ahead. If you take the initiative to plan out your day in advance, and build rock solid AM/PM routines, you’ll be able to use this “off” time to increase your skills and get *way* ahead of the competition. Think of the summer as a time to gain a competitive advantage. If you put the work in now, you’ll head into the fall on another level!

So with that in mind, I want to focus on things that you can do on your own this summer to get you mentally and physically prepared for the fall.

Routines

Starting with a good daily routine is important, because all of the other things will be built off of how you structure your day. In the summertime it’s easy to lose focus and spend your time aimlessly. Spending a half hour browsing videos is no problem at all, but doing it for five hours a day is a waste of time. If you don’t put structure in your day, you risk wasting large chunks of time on unproductive activities. 

So what should you do then? Develop a quick framework of activities that you can do throughout the day to better yourself. You don’t have to overload yourself, but enough to know that you’re winning every single day. Here is an example:

9 AM - Wake up, brush teeth, shower (if that’s what you do)

9:10 AM - Mindset work (meditation, breathwork, visualization)

9:30 AM - Breakfast of Champions

10 AM - Physical training (jog, weights, stretching, yoga, active recovery, etc)

10:30 AM - Shower, rest, screen time/inputs if you’d like

12 PM - Lunch

12:30 PM - Free time (hang out with friends or family, TV, video games, hobbies, etc)

3:30 PM - Sport specific training (ex. 100 swings off a tee, fielding off a wall, etc)

5 PM - Shower, dinner

530 PM - Free time (try to spend at least 2 hours working on something productive like learning an instrument, cooking, studying to get ahead on school subjects, etc)

9:30 PM - Screens off (reading time, breathing exercise, visualization, meditation)

10:30pm - Lights out. Do your best to be in bed at least 10 hours. Out sleep the competition!!

The above is only an example, but notice how if you use your time wisely, you can get *lots* of productive work in, while still having plenty of time to relax, play video games, etc. By building a framework for your day, you’ll be able to accomplish all of your goals while at the same time maintaining a “summer” lifestyle. Of course, feel free to change and upgrade this as needed, but this example was used as something that *anyone* could follow without too much difficulty. Try it out and modify as you need to!

Good nutrition

How easy is it to dip into the kitchen for a bag of chips or ice cream? Do I even need to ask that question? Summer is also the time where it can feel easy to slip into bad eating habits, as the immediacy of the sports season doesn’t kick in until much later. Getting fit for the season is *much* easier when you are already starting from a good base though. 

Making little changes here can make a big difference. It’s ok to indulge yourself a little more in the off season, but if you go too far you’re going to have a tough time working it off in time for the season. Keep that in mind when you’re considering your food/drink choices for the summer. For instance, it’s better to allow yourself more leeway during the beginning of the summer than towards the end. You should be thinking about getting your “diet” back to “in season mode” by August at the latest in order to prepare yourself. 

So what are some easy things that you can do during the summer?

First, make sure that you’re hydrating. It’s so important that I devoted an entire blog post to this, and it’s something that is easy to work on during the summer, and will help throughout the entire year. Hydration will make sure that you’re performing at your peak during all of your activities. You can even kill two birds with one stone and get lots of water from healthy fruits and vegetables. Check out the cool hydration charts in the blog to learn more!

Second, use this time to experiment. You’ve probably been asked to go to the grocery store more than a few times, but how often do you actually take the time to go? I’d highly suggest taking the time to do some shopping for yourself, and test out healthy options from the store to figure out what you actually enjoy. Part of building a routine is finding things that you know you’ll be able to do in a repeatable way, and your diet is no exception. If you want to eat healthy, you’re going to need to find healthy options that you actually *want* to eat, as opposed to downing them solely for their nutritional value. This may take time, but if you use the summer to experiment, you should have a much better idea heading into the season of what types of healthy foods you like to eat to feel refueled and satisfied. Also, if you have the desire, I would suggest trying out some simple cooking strategies as well. While many healthy meals can be made with minimal skill and effort, with a bit of knowledge you can level up your healthy meals to make them something you look forward to.

Last, feel free to indulge a bit. I don’t suggest chips and dip before bed every night, but giving yourself a cheat meal every now and then isn’t going to ruin your diet and will keep you motivated to stick to your schedule.

Sleep

My favorite topic! You can check out the blog post that I devoted entirely to the power of sleep here.

I won’t spend too much time on this topic here since you can check out the deep dive in the previous blog, but the key point here is to put yourself on a consistent sleep schedule to make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Perhaps you’re a natural night owl and you’d prefer to stay up later during the summer time. That’s totally fine! Just make sure whatever time you’re getting to sleep that you’re giving yourself enough time in order to get to full benefits of healthy sleep. 

Here are a few quick tips:

• Make sure that you’re off screens at least one hour before going to bed.

• Give yourself some time to rest *in* bed when you’re counting your sleep hours. You should aim for at least 8 hours of sleeping, so you might need to be in bed for an hour or so before you’re actually able to fall asleep.

• Try your best to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Your body craves consistency.

• Experiment with the amount of sleep you need. Shoot for a minimum of 8, but you might find that you function better with 10 for example.

• Make your room a sleep-inducing environment: Dark, cool (60-67 degrees), white noise to reduce sounds that could wake you up, etc.

So there you have it. I hope everyone reading the blog has an enjoyable and memorable summer, but also be sure to use this time to get out ahead of the new season. With these tips, you’ll be putting yourself in position to be above the competition when the school year rolls around!