We’ve all heard it: “Eat your breakfast! It’s the most important meal of the day!” A breakfast-lover myself, I never understood why someone would skip this nutritious and delicious meal. But then I entered college and experienced the rushed mornings that make it harder (not impossible) to prepare and eat a well-balanced breakfast. Athlete nutrition is not only about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but also about fueling the body for intense training sessions, competition and proper recovery. This post is aimed at reminding athletes that one of the easiest ways to keep their mind and body healthy is to start the day with a healthy breakfast. The benefit to eating breakfast outweighs any perceived reason not to. With a little planning and mindfulness about your morning fuel source, you will be on your way to replenishing glycogen stores, improving your weight management and enhancing your concentration and cognition. If you’re already a breakfast champion, read on to find out what professional athletes are eating in the A.M. to see how you compare!

Coconut water has increased in popularity among athletes in recent years. From post workout rehydration to a quenching beverage on a warm afternoon, coconut water sales have doubled since 2011. Popular brands such as Vita Coco® and Zico® sell their water through slogans like “Natural OOMPH” and their emphasis on the drinks’ pure and natural nature. It also helps that pop culture magazines blow up celebrities like Kourtney Kardashian buying Vita Coco® at the store. Whatever the reason for this newest craze, there is no doubt that coconut water has something to offer elite athletes if mixed in their daily hydration routine.

Injuries are an inevitable part of athletics. From a mild sprained ankle to invasive shoulder surgery, recovering from these injuries quickly while minimizing fitness loss is a common goal among athletes. There are many strategies to help alleviate the detrimental effects of injury including rehabilitation exercises, rest and, what we will be discussing in this post, nutrition. This often-overlooked factor in the recovery process is important in maintaining muscle mass and overall health throughout the length of the injury and recovery processes. It’s widely known that a well maintained diet is vital to fuel an athlete and provide them with the energy for elite performance, however how does this plan change when an injury occurs? And how can altering one’s diet speed up recovery?

Throughout my collegiate swim career my coaches and trainers would often bring up the concept of “Lactate Threshold”. I would nod my head having an idea of what they were referring to, but didn’t fully understand the physiology behind this concept. After taking an Exercise Physiology class my 5th year at UC Berkeley, I finally understood this principle and learned its importance in elite level athletics. This post will explain what Lactate Threshold (LT) is and how you can use it to your advantage in training.

Bridge coaches and athletes, it is great to have you back. This week is our last episode of the Collegiate Championship Series where we highlighted swimming and diving, and basketball content. In this video we are going to focus on four exercises aimed at improving p

erformance during this vital stretch of the season.
The Cat/Dog is an excellent warmup movement when faced with increased travel, hotels, and racing. The mainset exercise is the TRX Atomic Pushup, a great unloaded, full-body, plyometric exercise. Next, we move on to the Side V-Up, a core exercise aimed to help with turns and underwaters. The Lying Figure-4 stretch will wrap up today's workout, which is great for post-travel and post-competition recovery.

March truly is a crazy month. The nation is a buzz with even the president filling out his own bracket. I am going to be highlighting areas such as post-competition recovery and best practices for travel. These areas are especially important during March Madness, where the teams that can best adapt are generally the teams that find themselves in the winner's circle. I have chosen a few exercises that can help athletes with this quick competition turnaround. The first is the Lying Abduction / Adduction, a contrasting movement warmup exercise. The main exercise for today is the body-weight band squat, excellent for developing quick hip speed. To recover from today's workout, I have chosen the Scorpion stretch, a great way to release tension in your hips.

Bridge coaches and athletes, it is truly great to have you back. March is one of my favorite months of the year, due to the excitement and passion that surrounds NCAA Swimming + Diving Championships and March Madness. In today's video, I have chosen to include a series of exercises designed to help prepare you for peak performance and to assist in battling through the taper blues. First is the TRX Balance Lunge. I have chosen this single-leg stability exercise as the warmup for today's workout. The plyometric exercise, the Dumbbell Jump Shrug, is a great loaded triple-extension exercise for all level athletes. The recovery exercise for today is the pigeon stretch. This movement will help you properly recover from the legwork and increase flexibility around the hip capsule.

Most people know that working out is a great way to stay fit, healthy and happy. Additionally, and lesser known, physical activity helps increase cognition. When you exercise your heart- you exercise your brain! Previous studies involving exercise and cognition were focused on decreasing the risk of dementia in the elderly. However, with new technological advances, there is more research showing the cognitive benefits of exercise at all ages. In this post, we will explore these new advances and how they translate to the positive influence on cognition and brainpower.

Throughout the collegiate championship series, we will highlight some key training elements that can help you perform at your best. In this episode, I have chosen to highlight three exercises. The first is the Superman Level 2 - a great scapula, shoulder and back maintenance exercise and one that also prepares you for explosive movements such as today's Incline 3-Way Clap Pushup. This is a great to add during your championship phase. The Seated Hamstring on Hamstring is the final exercise. It is a very useful recovery exercise to use post-travel and post-competition. See you back here next week, Bridge fans.