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Learning how to become a better athlete is a lifelong pursuit. There are a number of ways you can improve, and the methods at your disposal are changing all the time!

This list covers the fundamental techniques and strategies you can use to become a great athlete and find more success during competition. Take this to heart, and watch your performance improve!

1. Write Down Your Goals

Setting long-term goals is a great way to stay motivated and become a better athlete. Not only can you identify what it is you’re trying to achieve, but you can figure out how you’re going to make it happen.

Think about what you want to accomplish on a grander scale.

Many athletes tend to focus on the short-term. While that’s great for experiencing incremental successes, thinking only about what you need to get done today could ultimately hold you back.

When you think about your long-term goals, it’s much easier to make the right decisions to help you get there. Suddenly, skipping out on a training day or binging on that unhealthy meal doesn’t seem so appealing.

Jot down your goals on a piece of paper and display them somewhere where you can them. Use that note as a reminder of what you’re trying to achieve. Later on, you can use it to check on your progress and figure out what changes you need to make to push yourself even further.

2. Have a Good Diet

You can’t expect to see improvements in your performance if you’re not fueling your body right! While you might be working out more than the average person, a poor diet is going to have ill effects on your body just the same.

Fatty foods, junk snacks, and sugary drinks will hamper your progress. Unhealthy foods put unnecessary stress on your body and affect the recovery process.

It’s not easy making dietary changes, but the effort is well worth it. Start by cutting back on the unhealthy stuff. Then, try introducing some more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein into your diet.

Avoid extreme diets and convoluted diet plans. The goal here is to make a lifestyle change that will support your endeavors in the long-run.

If you need some extra help, consider going to a dietician or nutritionist. They can help you get on the right track by making meaningful changes that stick!

3. Master the Fundamentals

Athletes are notorious for wanting to dive head-first into an intense training regime. The effort is admirable, but it often leads to injuries!

You need to have a good grasp of the fundamentals. Even if you’re a seasoned athlete, you could benefit from exercises that are designed to improve your foundation.

Focus on those building blocks before you jump into the intense stuff. This means doing aerobic exercise, general strength building, mobility drills, and body conditioning. All of these fundamentals can make a drastic difference in how your body responds to heavier workouts.

For one, it prepares the body for intense training later. Mastering the fundamentals reduces your chances of injury and gives you the tools to go harder.

Secondly, fundamentals build your stamina. With proper preparation, you can work out longer and harder without getting fatigued quickly.

4. Be Consistent and Don’t Expect Results to Come Immediately

Consistency is key when you want to be a better athlete. No great athlete got to where they are today by skipping workouts and slacking off.

There are going to be days when you don’t want to train. But, you need to get motivated and do it anyway!

Dedicate a set amount of time each day to train. Even if it’s just 30 minutes a day, that consistency will make all the difference. Your body will improve the longer you stick to it.

Furthermore, it helps build discipline. Staying consistent will make you stay on track and put you that much closer to your goals.

It can be hard to go months without seeing the results you want. But be patient! Experiencing results take time!

The last thing you want to do is over-exert yourself in an attempt to improve faster. That will only backfire on your by slowing down your body’s recovery.

Be consistent in your workout routine and practice self-discipline. You’ll get there soon enough!

5. Improve Core Strength

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a cross-country runner or a football player, core strength is essential.

Most don’t realize it, but your core is easily one of the most important muscle groups in your body. It affects all other muscle groups and keeps your entire body in balance.

A weak core can make you vulnerable to injuries. So, make core training a part of your workout routine. Do some ab workouts, burpees, planks, and more. Mix things up to ensure that every single muscle in your core is getting the workout it needs.

6. Push Your Limits

The longer you train, the easier your workouts are going to seem. While it might be satisfying to see that tangible progress, it’s not a good thing!

You should always aim to push your limits.

When athletes get comfortable, they stop getting better and plateau. The body isn’t having to work as hard to complete those exercises, so people get complacent. Ultimately, this will prevent you from seeing any more results.

The only way that you’re going to improve is by pushing harder and trying to go beyond your “best.”

Consider testing your performance every once in a while. Do some timed drills or test your strength. Keep track of what you’re capable of and use those benchmarks as a baseline.

7. Improve Your Sports-Specific Strength

Fundamentals and overall body conditioning are important. However, you also need to focus on skills that are specific to your sport.

If you’re a quarterback, you might focus on sprinting and agility. If you’re a cyclist, you may want to train your legs harder and build up endurance.

Whatever the case may be, formulate a workout that complements what you’re going to be doing on the field. This will build strength in areas that matter and stabilize your muscles.

It also familiarizes your body with the mechanics you need to succeed. Perform drills that replicate what you do in your sport and continually push your body further. You can do this as part of your core workout or in your warmups.

Building strength in those key areas will improve your overall performance and decrease your chances of injury.

8. Train Your Brain

It’s not just your body that you have to train to become a better athlete. No matter what sport you play, your cognitive abilities have a big impact on how you perform.

When you’re on the field, you have to identify opportunities, make split decisions, and tell your body to react. All of this happens within a fraction of a second.

And even a minor delay can ruin the play.

Brain training combines physical movements with physical responses. There are many different forms of cognitive training, but they all can provide you with serious benefits.

Depending on the particular exercise you perform, you can improve peripheral vision, reaction times, hand-eye coordination, and more (Reflexion covers everything by the way).

Implementing some neuro-training exercises into your routine might not seem like much. But like physical training, you can see incremental improvements over time. When the time comes to test your performance, you’ll have improved cognitive abilities.

9. Warm Up Properly

This should go without saying, but warming up your body before training is a must! You need to prepare your body for the rigorous workout ahead.

Warming up loosens the muscles and mobilizes your joints. This can help you perform better and prevent injuries.

You’re not doing your body any favors by skipping a warmup. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the first 10 minutes of your routine is your warmup.

When you start training with tight muscles, you’re depriving them of oxygen. As a result, you’ll just end up feeling tired more quickly.

10. Cross-Train

Cross-training is the act of training in activities that are not part of your main sport. Say, for example, that you’re a runner. You probably focus on endurance training and performing unilateral movements.

To cross-train, you could practice lateral movements to strengthen your hips. You might also work on building muscle strength.

The point of cross-training is to improve your overall fitness levels and encourage the fast recovery of your entire body. Cross-training can also help you prevent injuries by targeting parts of the body that you don’t necessarily use in the sport.

Start by focusing on core fitness components that you normally don’t prioritize. This could be anything from agility to balance.

Over time, the benefits that you experience from cross-training can help you see improvements in your sport.

11. Develop a Training Schedule

Finding time throughout the week to train is not always easy. Athletes with full-time jobs or families often have to carve out time in their day in order to train and get better. While squeezing in a few minutes here and there is better than not training at all, that inconsistency is not helping you reach your goal.

Create a schedule that works for your lifestyle. Designate some time during the day where you can focus on nothing but training. This is important.

If you’re thinking about everything else that you need to get done, you’re not going to concentrate on the exercises at hand. Your form and overall performance could suffer.

When you have an established schedule, it’s easier to prioritize your workout routine when it’s appropriate. Not only that, but it’s much easier to stay consistent.

12. Get Enough Sleep

If you’re not getting a full eight to nine hours of sleep, you need to make some changes to your lifestyle and schedule.

Sleep is an important recovery tool that will help prepare your body for your next training session. As you sleep, your muscle tissue is healing and your nervous system is relaxing. When you don’t get enough sleep, you’re putting your body at risk for injury and damaging your overall health.

It’s not just about how many hours you snooze. You also need to ensure that you’re getting quality sleep. This means getting several hours of uninterrupted deep sleep.

Consider trying out a sleep tracking app. They can give you more insight into your sleep patterns. Use that information to make changes that can help you sleep better every single night.

13. Stretch

Do you experience a ton of muscle pain after an intense workout? Chances are, you’re not doing enough to cool your body down afterward.

Before you move on with your day, take a few minutes to perform some low-intensity movements. Basic stretches will help speed up the recovery process by promoting blood flow through your muscles.

Stretching also promotes the clearing of lactic acid in your muscles. Lactic acid builds up as you exercise. If it has a chance to pool, you’re going to suffer later.

You don’t have to spend a ton of time stretching to see benefits. As little as ten minutes can help you. Use those minutes to reflect on your workout and take a mental breather! All the great athletes do it, and there’s a reason why!

14. Become Mentally Strong

Mental and emotional strength can go a long way. Training is difficult. The time and work that you put into improving can take a toll on your mental health. Pile on external factors that are out of your control and you can easily lose the motivation you need to continue your journey.

No matter what’s going on in your personal life, focus on being the best version of you that you can. Don’t dwell on the bad stuff. It’ll only pull focus from your goals and put you in a bad place.

Tons of athletes use their training as a form of therapy. Think of it as meditation. It’s a time that you have all to yourself. Use it to become mentally strong.

15. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Fear should never be a part of the equation. Many athletes are hesitant to try new things or push themselves outside of their comfort zone. So, they stick to what they know.

That fear of failing is holding you back! No one is perfect when they try a new sport for the first time. Not everyone can win either. While no one wants to experience defeat, it’s a crucial part of the process.

To truly enjoy success, you need to know what defeat feels like. The goal is to use those bad experiences as motivation to do better.

It’s normal to mess up. This is especially true in sports. How you respond to those failures and move forward is what’s going to help you improve and see real results.

16. Visualize

Visualizing your success before it happens can help you get one step closer to your goal. Think long and hard about how it will feel when you finally cross that finish line or barrel past your goal.

Think about all of those little details. How do you feel? What does the environment look like? What do you see?

The more detailed your visualizations are, the better.

Visualization creates a strong emotional connection to your goals. It can keep you motivated and mentally prepare you for the steps it will take to get there.

17. Be Open to Trying New Techniques

The worst thing you can do when trying to improve your athletic performance is to put yourself in a box. Once you’ve mastered a technique, look for other approaches!

Sticking to the same techniques is the quickest way to reach a plateau. There are so many methods to try out! Think outside of the box and try to do some workouts you’ve never attempted before.

You’ll find new ways to challenge your muscles and see improvements.

Open yourself up to the possibilities. Speak with fellow trainees or talk to a coach. Get some feedback on how you’re performing your workout and listen to the tips you receive. You might end up improving your sessions or find new ways to do things.

18. Hire a Trainer or Coach

One of the best ways to become a better athlete is by having the help of a trainer or coach. A coach will be able to analyze your training techniques and identify areas where you need to improve.

They offer a different perspective that could ultimately prove to be very valuable. When you’re working out, you’re focusing so much on technique that you’re unable to see if what you’re doing is actually effective. A trainer can do all of that for you.

A trainer can then create a custom plan to help you meet your goals. They can give you a more structured routine that’s catered to your specific needs.

On top of all of that, coaches are there to support you every step of the way! There’s no better motivator than someone who wants to see you succeed!

19. Experiment with Different Recovery Methods

Stretching is one of the easiest methods to promote muscle recovery. But, it’s not your only option! There are plenty of things you can do to keep your body in good shape.

Experiment to see what works best for you. You don’t have to stick to just one method. Mix things up and combine recovery methods to get the best results.

After stretching, you could spend a few minutes in the sauna. The heat will increase blood circulation and deliver some much-needed oxygen to your muscles. It’ll also relieve muscle tension and give you some time to relax your mind.

Every few weeks, you could also try getting a massage. Deep tissue massages reduce inflammation, promote better circulation, and work out knots.

Give these methods a shot and see how your body responds.

20. Don’t Overdo It

When you’re motivated to meet your athletic goals, it’s easy to overdo things. However, training hard every single day will do more harm than good (thus limiting your success).

It’s better to do interval training. Mix high and low-intensity training into your fitness regime. This will help you train more without overloading your body and slowing recovery times.

Ideally, you should have several days of recovery between intense training sessions. Keep those recovery days light to avoid injury.

21. Mix Up Training Methods to Prevent Burnout

When you’re constantly doing the same routine over and over again, burnout is just around the corner. When that time comes, you’ll end up feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

To avoid burnout, mix up your training methods. Try new techniques and create a schedule that has you doing different things each day.

New techniques will target different muscle groups, giving your other muscles time to rest. Not only that, but it keeps your muscles on edge. They’ll constantly be challenged, helping you avoid that dreaded plateau effect.

Most importantly, mixing up your training methods can keep you excited and motivated. It’s hard to get pumped for a workout when you already know what to expect. Keep things fresh! It’ll make a huge difference in the long run.

Conclusion

Finding out how to become a better athlete is both simple and complex. A lot of the fundamentals are rather straightforward in principle, but tricky to implement in practice.

Use these techniques to guide you through training as you work to get better each and every day. Maintain the progress, stay consistent, and you’ll certainly be successful.

FitLight Trainer is a unique tool that’s aimed to improve your mind/body connection. While many athletes focus on building muscle and endurance, the FitLight system is all about strengthening your brain.

It’s a neurocognitive training tool that’s designed to improve a range of performance parameters. The company advertises the system as quite flexible, since they want it to be a training option for any sport.

At its core, the FitLight Trainer is simple. The main components are lighted discs that can be placed anywhere. While they look simple at face value, these discs are hiding some interesting technology.

Each disc has two rings of LED lights. They act as a visual stimulant. Proximity sensors and impact sensors are built into the lights as well. These sensors measure response times and physical feedback.

One of the benefits of FitLight is that it’s fairly customizable.

The lights alone are versatile enough to place anywhere. With a couple of accessories, you can mount them vertically on walls, stick them to the ceiling, or even tack them on poles.

Alternatively, you can simply place them on the ground. The waterproof design gives you some additional flexibility for your training location as well.

On top of placement flexibility, the lights are adjustable to provide the feedback you’re after.

For example, you can set the lights to record a response when you provide physical feedback. When you want to up the ante and make things harder, you can set the system to pick up responses on the inner ring or outer ring of lights only.

Visual and audible feedback is possible, too. Adjust light brightness levels to work for your environment. You can also set the lights to beep whenever a response is recorded.

The Tablet

While the lights of the FitLight Trainer will play an important role in your training routine, a separate tablet will act as the brains of the operation. The lights communicate wirelessly with tablets. Whether you’re training alone or working with a coach, you can complete training programs up to 50 meters away from the control tablet.

The tablet is how you’ll have control over how the FitLight Trainer operates. You can control light modes, create custom programs, and other functions. It’s also where you can see your results after you complete your training program.

The data provided is fairly detailed (but could be better). The tablet app provides high-level information to show you areas where you can improve. Both you and your coach can use this data to modify training regimes to make sure you’re getting more out of your workout.

What Benefits Is This Product Supposed To Provide?

The concept behind FitLight Trainer is simple. At the start of a program, the lights flash in a random pattern. Your job is to respond to those visual stimulations with an action.

What you have to do to trigger a response depends entirely on how you choose to set the system up. You can use touch-based triggers to tap the lights. Or, you can use the built-in proximity sensors to wave your hand or run past the lights.

Either way, the FitLight system is easy enough for athletes of any age to adopt. So, what kinds of benefits can you take from this unique form of training?

According to the developers of FitLight Trainer, the system can help enhance your cognitive response.

No matter what sport you play, your brain is working overtime to help you succeed. Say, for example, that you’re on a football field. You’re constantly keeping your eye on the ball while also staying aware of what other players around you are doing.

In a split second, you must identify openings, figure out what you’re going to do, and tell your body to move! It might seem simple enough, but that chain of events takes time.

Your body and brain have to process a lot of information in a fraction of a second. First, you must use your senses to figure out a course of action. Let’s say that you see the football flying in your direction.

Your eyes are picking up that visual stimulant, which then sends signals to your brain. After figuring out your next course of action, your brain has to send electrical impulses to your legs and arms to take action. This happens very quickly, but it’s possible to make the process occur even faster.

Improving your response time can help you see drastic improvements in your sports performance.

Neurocognitive training is said to make that happen. Even simple training programs with FitLight may help to speed up that synaptic response. You can use the system as a simple mind game to strengthen your response times.

For a simple training routine, you can place the lights on a wall in front of you. Tap each light as it flashes. With each flash of light, you’re training your brain to react as quickly as possible.

It sounds like a cakewalk, right? Chances are, your response times will be much slower than you think. Responding to these kinds of stimuli is brand-new. Thus, your brain has to work a bit harder to make your response happen.

Over time, you can build up those neural pathways. This is said to help those electrical impulses from your brain move faster. The more you train, the better your response times will be.

After you have mastered that training program, you can apply your skills to a real-world setting. For example, your coach can set up drills using the FitLight Trainer system to simulate movements on the field. This could be simple drills to improve your footwork or complex maneuvers that span the entire field.

Whatever the case may be, the FitLight system may be an option to help you see improvements in various aspects of your performance. The main benefit that you might see is better visual cognitive processing functions.

This means your mind would identify those openings faster and help you make important game-changing decisions on the fly. This might improve your overall response times and make you a more effective athlete overall.

In addition to better cognitive functions, you may experience better coordination.

Again, it all comes down to those neural pathways between your brain and your body. When people stumble on the field, it’s usually because those brain signals were not prepared for the action they needed to take.

By establishing those pathways, you can quickly respond to events on the field confidently. Your body will be more primed for action, helping you perform moves without second-guessing yourself.

Finally, this type of training might help you see improvements in speed, agility, and stamina. Thanks to the versatility of the FitLight Trainer system, you can create custom programs that address your personal athletic shortcomings. Improving your cognitive functions can work wonders on your overall athletic performance while also giving you the mental strength to make smart and quick decisions on the field.

Is There A Better Alternative?

In general, the FitLight Trainer is a pretty solid option. It offers a handful of features and will likely prove useful for a lot of athletes.

But is there something better?

One of the main areas where there’s room for improvement is in the hardware itself. While the lights can be set up in a variety of ways, they are fairly limited when you think about the entire range of peripheral vision.

This means there are some large gaps for the athlete using it, preventing them from fully challenging themselves when it comes to cognitive function. These weak spots will end up showing when you compete.

The limited number of lights also puts a cap on how complex and challenging each drill will be. Not only will this impact performance, but will also prevent the athlete from staying engaged over time (something that’s often overlooked).

The nature of the lights also makes it much harder to emulate moving targets. Athletes are stuck reacting to a very fixed and simple track.

All in all, the portability you get from the FitLight Trainer comes at a cost. While you can set it up anywhere, there is a ceiling to the level of complexity you can program in.

If you’re looking for something a bit more robust that will seriously challenge your athletes, Reflexion is a better choice. Reach out to us here to learn more!

Improving peripheral vision is something that many athletes want to do. It’s an element of vision that is often neglected, but extremely useful.

But here’s the problem:

There aren’t many great resources that show you exercises and techniques that will take your peripheral vision to the next level.

That’s where this guide comes in. In it, you’ll learn how to improve your peripheral vision quickly and effectively.

Let’s get started.

Why Peripheral Vision Is Important For Athletes

It’s a popular misconception that the key to success in sports is having the ability to focus on one core target at a time. Many believe that developing strong “tunnel vision” is the best way to concentrate on the events unfolding on the field.

While tunnel vision focus is certainly important in some aspects of the game, sports are far more complicated than that. No matter what sport you play, there are probably several things going on at once. Somehow, you need to focus on every single thing at the same time. So, how is that possible?

Well, it all comes down to your peripheral vision. The best athletes can take advantage of their peripheral vision to stay aware of everything that’s happening on the field. Even if you are focusing on a single task, your peripheral vision needs to work overtime so that you never miss any of the action.

Let’s take basketball as an example. Say that you’re tasked with guarding a specific player. You must focus your central vision on that player. However, your peripheral vision will be what helps you spot screen or pass attempts.

The same goes for other fast-paced sports, such as football. If you get your hands on the ball, you might be focused on making it to the goal unscathed. So, how do you avoid tackle attempts by the opposing team’s defensive line? Your peripheral vision is helping you spot those moves before they happen!

Needless to say, your peripheral vision is incredibly important in sports. That information picked up in your mid and far peripherals actually travels to your brain up to 25 percent faster than the information picked up in your central vision.

Because those targets in your peripheral vision aren’t in your main focus line, your brain needs to react to stimulants much quicker. Luckily, our brains are already hardwired for that act. That’s because you use your peripheral vision all the time!

It plays an important role in your balance. Up to 20 percent of those peripheral nerves help you stay upright, which is crucial in sports. However, it doesn’t stop there.

Seasoned athletes will tell you that taking advantage of your peripherals can also help you focus. When you tap into that side-view, the game appears to slow down. Because that information is being sent to your brain faster, objects become more visible. You’re able to track events more efficiently without moving them to your central line of vision.

This is a stark contrast to tunnel vision. With tunnel vision, you’re ignoring your peripherals and focusing solely on the events in your direct line of sight. In many instances, that tunnel vision can hinder your performance by limiting what you see and how you react to events.

Improving your peripheral vision offers tons of benefits. Not only can you reach your full potential on the playing field, but you can also experience noticeable improvements in your everyday life.

The Toothpick And Straw Method

There’s no shortage of techniques to improve your peripheral vision. Humans have been doing this for centuries!

One of the easiest and most accessible techniques out there utilizes nothing more than a simple straw and two toothpicks. This exercise is designed to make you more aware of what’s going on in your side vision.

Your central vision, also known as foveal vision, is incredibly sharp and focused. That’s because there are more rods and cones in the center of your retina. Plus, those ocular rods and cones are far more sensitive to light.

As you start moving to your near, mid, and far peripheral vision, things start to get a bit hazier. Thus, you’re typically not able to make precise movements or make out finer details. The straw and toothpick exercise aims to change that.

Start by drawing a black line on the center of the straw with a marker. This line should go around the circumference of the straw. When you set the straw horizontally on a flat surface, the mark should appear as a vertical line that runs around the entire straw. Think of it like a crosshair.

Now, have a friend hold that straw horizontally in their hands in front of you. Take a step back so that you’re one to two feet away from the straw.

With a straw in each hand, focus your central vision on that black line. Now, try to place the toothpicks into each end of the straw. While you’re doing this, keep your central vision focused on that line!

As you continue to perform this exercise, you should train your mind to have a sharper focus on your peripherals. Eventually, you’ll be able to place those toothpicks into the straw without any issues.

Use Cognitive Training Gear

Cognitive training tools offer a more modern alternative to the old toothpick trick. These are highly advanced tools that are becoming more and more widespread in the sports community.

Several big-name athletes implement cognitive training into their workout routine. As you know, sports isn’t just about having your physical capabilities in check. Your mind has to be stimulated and fine-tuned as well.

With cognitive training tools, you’re able to implement a wide range of exercises to enhance your peripheral vision. While there are several high-tech tools out there, one of the best for vision is a light board.

These boards are electronically powered and flash a series of lights. Many have touch receptors built into them, adding another layer of interactivity that could challenge your mind.

To improve peripheral training, you would stand in front of the board and focus on a fixed point. Then, lights would flash in your side view. You would be tasked with touching those lights quickly and efficiently.

The cool thing about cognitive training tools is that you have a wide range of opportunities to train. Rather than using a predictable technique, these tools keep you on your toes. This prevents you from completing tasks based on pure muscle memory.

Of course, cognitive training tools aren’t just about your peripherals. While your main goal may be harnessing the power of your peripheral vision, you’re also going to experience a myriad of other benefits.

Seeing those lights can improve your response time and decision making skills. Meanwhile, the act of touching the lights can help you see vast improvements in your hand-eye coordination. Pair all of those gains with enhanced peripheral vision and you’ll be a force to be reckoned with on the field.

Try Recording Things That Are Outside Your Central Field Of View

Here’s a simple, yet effective, training technique that’s often used by seniors. As we age, our ability to see outside of our central field of view declines dramatically. It’s estimated that natural aging causes the eyes to lose between 20 and 30 degrees of peripheral vision!

This exercise is one that’s commonly recommended by doctors for folks as they get older. However, it can be done by anyone regardless of age or lifestyle. It’s said to increase the amount of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, that’s getting produced by the brain.

Performing this exercise is very easy. All you need is a nice place to sit, a small notebook, and a pen. Find a nice comfortable spot to sit outside of your home. Choose a park bench or outdoor public space. The goal is to pick a spot that’s brand new to you, so avoid doing the exercise in your home.

Now, look straight ahead of you. You can pick a spot to focus on, but you will need to pay attention to everything you can see in your peripherals. Without moving your eyes, make note of everything in your field of view. This includes things in your central and peripheral vision.

Jot down those things you could make out. Then, repeat the exercise and try to find new things that you might have missed the first go-around.

The goal is to stretch your vision further and enhance your ability to focus on things in your side view. It’s an easy exercise that anyone can do. Yet, it can lead to a noticeable improvement in your peripheral vision.

Do Sports Drills That Challenge Your Peripheral Vision

There’s no better way to see improvement with your peripheral vision than by doing some sports drills! Vision-based drills allow you to enhance your peripheral vision in a familiar setting doing familiar movements. You can test your limits and train by doing activities that are similar to what you’d be doing in a real game.

There are a few different drills that you can try out. The first can be done alone.

With this exercise, you’ll need a ball. You can use a bouncy rubber ball or a basketball. A sturdy wall is required, too.

Stand about two feet away from the wall. Then, focus your central vision on a fixed point on the wall. Choose a spot that’s just above eye level.

Now, throw the ball with one hand against the wall. After it bounces off the wall, use your other hand to catch it. Repeat the process by simply bouncing the ball from one hand to the other.

If you have a friend or teammate on hand, you can move onto a more challenging exercise. With this training method, you will stand in one spot and focus on an object that’s directly in front of you. This could be a tree, a goalpost, or anything else that you see.

Once you’re focused and ready, have your friend toss the ball from your side view. Try to catch the ball without moving your eyes at all. This is a challenging exercise that you can do in various stages.

Start at your near peripheral vision. This isn’t too difficult because it’s not that far away from your central focus. Then, move onto your mid and far peripherals.

Continue this exercise until you reach the current limit of your peripheral vision. Once you get to that limit, you can really start pushing your eyes and brain. This exercise can work wonders for your peripheral vision. Plus, it’ll improve reaction times.

Aim For A Good Diet And Lifestyle

Simple exercises alone can help you see some improvement with your peripheral vision. However, if you want to see the best results possible, you’re going to need to make some changes in your diet and lifestyle as well.

Good overall health can dramatically improve your peripheral vision (and vision as a whole). Several studies have shown that dietary and lifestyle changes can reduce your chances of suffering from glaucoma. This condition causes significant damage to optic nerves. Not only does it lead to a decrease in peripheral vision, but it can also lead to blindness.

Making some simple changes can reduce those risks and keep your eyes in good shape. Drink plenty of water and implement some healthy foods into your diet. Foods that are high in beta-carotene are a big plus. Leafy greens are also known to high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin, which can help filter out harmful light and prevent damage to light-sensing cells in your eyes.

Avoid eating too many saturated fats. Saturated fats have been shown to make glaucoma problems worse.

Furthermore, obesity has been linked to a wide range of vision problems. In addition to poor peripheral vision, dramatic weight gain increases your chances of suffering from diabetic retinal problems, macular degeneration, and more.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle can make a big difference in your peripheral vision. Your eyes can’t reach their full potential if you’re not treating your entire body well, so do all that you can to stay healthy. With a good diet, positive lifestyle choices, and exercise geared toward your peripheral vision, you’ll see improvements in no time.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see, improving your peripheral vision is essential if you want to improve as an athlete.

And with so many different techniques and exercises to try, there’s no reason you can’t get started today. The progress will be gradual, but over time you’ll notice a huge impact on your performance.

If you’re serious about improving peripheral vision for yourself or athletes you coach, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us here to kick things off!

Improving your reaction time is one of the best investments you can make in your physical fitness and functionality.

There are so many situations where being able to act just a little bit quicker can make all the difference. This could be in athletics or in your daily life.

In this post, we cover all the best ways you can increase your reaction time. Give them a try and you’ll be happy with the results!

Understanding Reaction Time

Reaction time is one of the most misunderstood elements of human performance. While most people think they know what it is, their definition of it is technically incorrect.

Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or someone who sits at an office all day, reaction time plays a crucial role in every single thing that you do. Essentially, reaction time is how fast you respond to external stimuli.

Your brain and nervous system govern your entire body. Every action you take first has to go through your brain before your body can ever start moving.

Think of it as a computer. Whenever your body experiences a stimulus, electrical signals are sent to the brain to be processed.

This external stimulus doesn’t have to be anything major. It could be bright light hitting or your eyes or someone tapping you on the shoulder. Whatever the case may be, your senses are stimulated immediately.

Those sensory receptors then send out electrical impulses to your brain so that it can decide how you need to respond. Then, the brain sends those signals to the central and peripheral nervous systems so that they can travel to the parts of the body that need to move.

The final result is a physical response to the stimulus. It sounds simple enough, but it’s a complex process that happens in only fractions of a second.

Why Improving It Is So Important

As we mentioned earlier, your reaction time is incredibly important for your everyday life. It keeps you safe and ensures that your body is primed to move whenever it needs to.

Think about all of the activities you do that rely on quick reaction times to perform successfully. Driving is a big one. When a car suddenly pulls out in front of you, quick reaction time can mean the difference between staying safe and getting into an accident.

The same goes for simple falls. When you trip, your brain must respond quickly to the visual stimulation so that it can tell your hands to catch yourself. Even being exposed to blinding light relies on fast reaction times to prevent any long-term damage to your vision!

Don’t mistake reaction time with reflexes. While reflexes and reaction times both work to keep you safe, there is one key difference. Reflexes are involuntary movements to stimuli. Meanwhile, reaction time deals with voluntary movements that you have to consciously make.

Reflexes aren’t affected too much by lifestyle choices or mental prowess. They’re always there working behind the scenes to avoid harm whether you’re paying attention to your surroundings or not.

That’s not the case with reaction times. Unfortunately, your ability to react quickly can wane over time. Your brain naturally gets slower as you age due to impairment and degeneration. Poor health and lifestyle choices can exacerbate the problem as well.

Different Ways To Improve Reaction Time

The good news is that it’s completely possible to improve reaction times. Strengthening that connection between your body and brain can make a noticeable difference in your ability to react to the world around you.

Physical responses will seem quicker than ever before and that brief moment of “buffering” can be eliminated over time.

There are various techniques you can use to do this. While some are easier to do than others, they’re all worth trying.

Train A Specific Movement Or Action

Have you ever wondered why athletes always perform the same drills over and over again? Well, a large part of that is geared towards improving reaction time on the field.

There’s no better way to speed up reaction times than to physically train your body to perform the response you want to happen. When you do those exercises, you’re firing up the central nervous system just like you would if you were naturally responding to a stimulus.

This creates neural connections between your brain and your body. The more you train those movements, the stronger the connection will be. That’s why mimicking movements is such a huge part of athletic training.

Having those neural connections established and reinforced ensures that the electrical signals can quickly get through to your body.

There are several ways that you can train. It all depends on the sport you play. Sprinters often work to improve reaction times by simulating the explosive starting sound of a gunshot or bell.

When every second counts (like it does in sprinting competitions), getting your body comfortable with that response can make all the difference.

Those who play contact sports like football or rugby often perform plyometric exercises. These are explosive workout moves that require you to use as much muscle force as possible in a split second. Jump squats and lateral hops are both good examples.

Athletes can also participate in over-speed training. Essentially, over-speed training is forcing your brain to adapt to stimuli that are much faster than what you’d normally be encountering in a real-world setting. The idea is that getting more comfortable with extremely fast stimulation will make your average reaction times much faster.

You’ll see many athletes doing over-speed training. Baseball players often practice batting with machines that throw the ball well over 100 miles an hour. Meanwhile, football players are often paired with faster teammates to perform drills so that they’re better prepared for the opposing team.

Ultimately, the best workout to increase reaction time will mimic the movement you’re aiming to speed up.

Keep Yourself Calm

On the opposite side of the spectrum, you can work to enhance your reaction times by simply learning to stay calm. Oftentimes, distractions are a big reaction time killer.

Athletes faced with screaming fans and a ton of moving players on the field have to hone in on their target to ensure that they’re responding quickly to the events of the game.

To use another example, drivers need to stay calm and distraction-free on the road so that they can respond to every unexpected hazard that comes up.

There’s a strong link between meditation and reaction times. Several studies have shown that having the ability to calm the mind strengthens your brain’s response to sudden stimuli.

When you think about how meditation is performed, it starts to make more sense. Meditation is all about staying calm and being mindful of your own body. Practitioners work hard to pay attention to their breathing and increase their awareness of what their body is doing.

Contrary to popular belief, meditation isn’t focused on “emptying” the brain and thinking about nothing. Instead, it’s about learning how to stay calm and alert no matter how crazy the world around you is.

Give meditation a shot and see how it can improve your reaction time. Take up guided meditation or yoga. Alternatively, you can develop your own calming techniques to utilize whenever things get crazy.

Either way, learning how to stay calm can make a noticeable difference in your body reactions to audible and visual stimulation.

Stay Hydrated

Did you know that the brain can shrink a bit whenever you’re dehydrated? The brain is predominantly made of water, so a lack of hydration can have a huge effect on your reaction time.

How is your brain supposed to fire off signals when it’s struggling to stay healthy?

Proper hydration is key to improving your overall health, and your brain is no exception. Countless studies have established a link between poor cognitive performance and dehydration.

The tricky thing about keeping your brain hydrated is that you might not even know you’ve reached a critical point. By the time you feel the urge to take a sip of water, your brain might already be a little sluggish.

To avoid these issues and keep your brain in tip-top shape, consume water constantly throughout the day. Keep a bottle on hand. Many experts say that you should drink at least 2 liters of water every day.

However, that’s just a minimum. The more water your body gets the better. Not only will you experience improvements in your reaction time, but you’ll also see a boost in your overall health and performance.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting at least 8 hours of sleep a day is required to stay healthy. Unfortunately, busy schedules can make this difficult for many people.

Have you ever stayed up all night to cram for a test or prepare for a big presentation at work? Chances are your reaction time was incredibly poor the following day.

There’s a reason why they tell you not to get behind the wheel when you’re tired. Your brain needs those precious hours of sleep to function properly.

Think of your brain as a computer. Like any other smart computer, it runs on a 24-hour internal clock cycle. Called the circadian rhythm, this cycle puts your brain into different states of operation.

When you’re awake, your brain acts like a temporary hard drive. All of the events of the day are stored in your short-term memory. When you call it a night and go to sleep, all of that information is then backed up to your long-term memory.

But what happens when the short-term memory doesn’t have time to get backed up? Much like a filled hard drive, you’re going to experience some extreme data buffering and major performance issues!

You can dramatically increase your reaction times by just getting a good night of rest. It’s simple, but you’d be surprised by how quick your reaction times can be when you wake up feeling refreshed.

Properly Fuel Your Body

It might come as a surprise, but your diet can affect reaction times, too. The food you’re consuming is fuel for your body, and all of the nutrients you put into your body are used up by the organs to stay healthy.

This includes your brain.

Tons of foods can have a noticeable effect on your reaction times. One of the most common is coffee or soda. Heavily caffeinated drinks improve your energy levels and can stimulate your brain in so many different ways.

Generally, health professionals will tell you to steer clear of energy drinks, excessive coffee drinking, and sugary sodas. It’s true that these caffeinated goods aren’t that great for your overall health in the long term. However, caffeine is not the primary issue.

Caffeine is perfectly fine in moderation. If you can get it from a natural source like tea, you can reap the benefits without the unwanted risks from other sugary treats

When you consume caffeine, your body releases adrenaline hormones. This gets your blood pumping and directly affects the amount of oxygen your brain is getting. As a result, you’ll feel more alert. Your reaction times will see a boost as well. Though, this boost will only be temporary.

If you want to feed your brain over the long-term, you can improve your diet and introduce several nutrients. Antioxidants are known to protect the brain. They have polyphenols, which may help to keep the brain safe from stress.

Antioxidants, as a whole, are capable of fighting off the signs of aging. This includes brain degeneration. The nutrient works to fight off free radicals and prevent cell oxidation.

Another good nutrient to add to your diet is Vitamin K. Vitamin-rich foods like broccoli, kale, and spinach are said to improve overall brain function.

These small changes to your diet can have a profound effect on your reaction times. When your brain is able to reach peak performance levels, it’s able to send off signals at incredibly fast speeds.

Perform Cognitive Training Exercises

One of the most effective ways to improve your reaction time is to do cognitive training exercises. These exercises are specifically targeting your brain rather than other muscles in your body.

Cognitive training is a relatively new concept that has made waves in the sports world in recent years. Some of the biggest athletes in the world have cognitive training included in their workout regime.

There are many forms of cognitive training. However, they all serve the same purpose and work the same way. Essentially, you are exposed to visual and audible stimulants and must respond as quickly as you can.

It’s like a game. In fact, most training routines are pretty addicting!.

The impact this form of training can have is astounding. It’s all about establishing and strengthening those neural pathways we mentioned earlier.

By forcing your brain to respond to visual stimulants on a playing screen, you’re creating new neural paths that your brain can use to communicate with your central nervous system.

The more you train, the shorter and stronger those paths will become. Your brain will get more comfortable shooting signals through the most effective path possible, which translates into faster reaction times.

If you’re a serious athlete looking to improve your reaction time, we’d love to help you out. Get in touch with us here.

Closing Thoughts

Increasing your reaction time is incredibly beneficial whether you’re an athlete or not. It brings a number of benefits to your daily life that can’t be undervalued.

We highly recommend trying all of the methods on our list. When you combine them the results will blow you away.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to use cognitive training to supercharge your brain for maximum performance you can click here to learn more.

You know better than anyone that athletes are always looking to gain a competitive edge.

And just about every gym and trainer understands the fundamentals.

They know plenty about speed and agility exercises. They understand the finer points of weight and strength training too.

Even better, these days most are making a point to improve the nutrition and quality of rest that their athletes are getting as well.

But times have changed.

While offering these elements of performance training was considered innovative five years ago, you need to do more if you want to differentiate yourself.

That’s where vision and cognitive training comes in.

This form of training is spreading like wildfire, and many see them as the final frontier of sports performance.

With so many athletes looking to improve their cognitive function, this presents a great opportunity for you to set yourself apart from the competition.

You see, a lot of your competitors haven’t caught on yet. But they will eventually.

This means that acting fast comes with a serious first-mover advantage, but dragging your feet means you’ll be playing catch-up.

Here’s why:

You can become the leader in your area simply by being one of the only facilities to offer neuro-fitness training. It instantly positions you as someone on the cutting edge who serious athletes want to work with.

Over the last few years, the number of athletes that have shown interest in this kind of training has grown rapidly.

And even better, they’re willing to pay a premium for access. It’s good for them, and good for you.

But here’s the thing:

If you let your competitors beat you to the punch it’ll be hard to catch back up. Sure it’s possible, but it’s a lot easier to just be first.

How It Works

 

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

Reflexion is a sleek, fun to play, and effective form of training that results in significant boosts in performance for athletes.

Using it in a gym setting is easy. Each athlete has their own profile where they can track and train in a personalized way.

This allows you to add neuro-fitness training to your existing offers, and charge additional fees for its use. This can obviously be tweaked to fit your gym’s existing membership mode. Raise it by $10/mo per person. Pay per class? Offer it as one of your classes.

You’ve got options.

Not only that, but you can easily start using Reflexion to improve your marketing. We’ll provide powerful co-branded marketing materials that explain the principles of neuro-fitness, why it’s important, and why athletes should pay for it.

But won’t members run for the exits if you raise prices?

We’ve actually seen the opposite. Most members and athletes tend to be fine with a price increase for this service because of the additional value they’re getting. Reflexion is a sleek, fun to play, and (most importantly) a highly effective form of performance training.

Simply put, athletes get hooked on seeing progress while using the service, as well as on the field.

You don’t need to be a neuro-fitness expert to offer it either. We’ll provide you with recommended circuits that we’ve created with experts in the space. This means you don’t have to be a neuroscientist to provide value to your members.

And things look good when it comes to ROI as well.

We’ve seen customers drawing in over $1,000/month in new revenue by having Reflexion, so it will pay for itself in no time. Positively impacting the performance of your athletes and your bottom line at the same time is a win-win for everyone!

If you’re interested in learning more about offering Reflexion to your members and athletes, reach out to us here.