Basketball subjects its players to extreme high-energy movements such as breakneck sprints, jumps, accelerations, decelerations, and sudden shifts in direction during competition and training which may lead to chronic, constant fatigue. While feeling worn-out and exhausted after a game is completely normal, chronic fatigue is more incapacitating due to its long-term effects.
The Consequences of Chronic Fatigue
Chronic fatigue adversely affects performance and prevents basketball athletes from playing at full optimum level, which may derail potentially promising careers.
Here are a few devastating consequences of constant fatigue:
- Constant joint and muscle pain
- Mood swings and personality changes
- Elevated resting heart rate
- Diminished appetite and weight loss
- Frequently short on shots
- Late game performance decline
- Reduced vertical leap height
- Sub-par defensive skills due to lack of concentration
- Struggling to run up and down the court
- Lessened enthusiasm for practices and workouts
- Susceptibility to minor injuries, illnesses, or infections
- Disorganized coordination with teammates to execute plays
- Substantial drop in free throw percentage
- Noticeable loss in core strength
- Inability to perform under pressure
- Considerably slower reaction times
It’s vital to rule out medical illness as the underlying cause of a basketball athlete’s chronic fatigue. Constant exhaustion and tiredness are typical symptoms of illnesses like heart disease, kidney disease, lung ailments, diabetes, anemia and clinical depression. Less severe conditions such as nutritional deficiencies, allergies and sleep disorders may also cause chronic fatigue.
The Usual Causes of Chronic Fatigue in Basketball
The most common non-medical causes of chronic fatigue for basketball athletes are overtraining, long seasons and continuous travel. Because of the year-round calendar of games and the increasingly physical nature of the sport, hoopsters are specifically vulnerable to chronic fatigue.
With recent innovations in training and training equipment, basketball players are presented with a wide range of training options. Advances in training methods have definitely helped produce stronger, faster, and extremely conditioned basketball athletes that have elevated the sport to greater heights.
However, the same advances have prompted some players to over-exert and over-reach well beyond their bodies’ capabilities. When the energy and power required to perform an intense physical activity are disproportionate to an athlete’s capacity, muscle fatigue takes place, which may lead to chronic fatigue when combined with other factors.
How to Recover from Constant Fatigue or Avoid it Completely
To overcome chronic fatigue or to prevent it from ever happening, there are a few basic guidelines that should be strictly followed:
- Drink water before, during and after every game, practice, and workout. Dehydration is the number one cause of fatigue for athletes in any sport.
- Make sure to get eight hours of sleep every night. A restful sleep reinvigorates the mind and body. Additionally, according to specialists at Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic, the quality of sleep a basketball athlete gets each night produces a crucial impact on sprint time and shooting accuracy.
- Eat healthy. Verify that calorie intake is balanced with the body’s need for energy for ideal training and muscle repair. Avoid nutritional deficiencies which can increase the body’s vulnerability to infections. Always consume sufficient food to fuel the body for competition.
- Defeat stress by learning yoga, breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, music relaxation, and by keeping a positive attitude.
- Lengthen cardiorespiratory workouts during the offseason.
Defeat Fatigue with Athletic Greens
Athletic Greens Ultimate Daily augments the body’s nutritional requirements. It supplies all the essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that food intake alone cannot completely provide. It’s gluten-free and dairy-free as well as paleo-friendly, keto-friendly, and vegan-friendly to suit any lifestyle. Athletic Greens’ all-natural formula doesn’t contain any preservatives, GMOs, artificial colors, or artificial sweeteners.
Here is a breakdown of Athletic Greens Ultimate Daily’s ingredients that target exhaustion and fatigue:
- Biotin or vitamin B7 plays a key role in the conversion of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into energy.
- Vitamin B12, like most of the B vitamins, assists in the metabolization of food for energy. It also aids in the formation of red blood cells and ensures that the brain and the muscles are working in synergy to promote muscle growth and coordination.
- Vitamin C helps process carbohydrates into energy and safeguards the body from oxidative tension brought about by intense exercise or activity. It bolsters the body’s ability to absorb iron and prevents infection and inflammation. It also allows the body to allocate energy more efficiently.
- Calcium is not only indispensable for strong bones and teeth, it’s also integral for energy metabolism and muscle contraction.
- Copper is the third most prevalent trace mineral in the human body. It’s essential to maintain a robust cardiovascular, skeletal, and nervous system. Plus, it’s one of the components needed to strengthen muscles, ligaments and tendons.
- Iron forms part of hemoglobin, a red protein responsible for transporting oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the muscles. It’s also integral for sustaining high energy levels and helps keep the immune system healthy.
- Magnesium is found in the muscles, soft tissues, and body fluids. It performs an active part in the muscle contraction process. It also prevents cramps and muscle strain.
- Selenium is a fundamental trace mineral that boosts the immune system, wards off cancer, and prevents heart disease. It also heightens mood and restricts damage from free radicals during training.
- Zinc facilitates the production of muscle-building testosterone. It hastens recovery from exercise while increasing the amount of infection-fighting T-cells. It toughens bones by boosting its mineral density.