Athletes outperforming students during break.

Dumbell represents atheltes strive during the break, while student could strive play video games.

Robert Ramirez, Lariat

With winter break approaching, most students will be enjoying their time off, but the grind for athletes does not stop. The hard work and dedication for athletes continues during the holiday break for next season.

While most students enjoy their break by relaxing on their phone or sleeping in, most athletes have to stick to their workout plan. Their workout plan can consist of endurance and strength exercises such as cardio and weight lifting to keep their body in check for either the upcoming season or offseason.

Breaks are helpful for both athletes and students in reducing stress, preventing burnouts and overall health. However,  athletes take a different approach , by keeping their body in check with workouts or planned healthy food preparation through the break.

Athletes’ school breaks are normally scheduled with some type of workout plan for their break to keep them in shape for their upcoming season. Sometimes, their plan would have a workout schedule to gain muscle or to increase endurance to improve their skill level. Athletes keeping their body in shape is important so their body won’t give up on them next season.

“Our athletes at this level have the same schedule breaks as traditional students,” said Kerry Crabb, head coach of Saddleback College football team. “During winter break, they are given a workout plan they can do on their own. During summer break, they are off in May and come back in the third week of June to report back for a six week summer camp for training 4 days a week.”

Athletes still have scheduled training camps to attend for their break for the first month of fall semester. After their first week of their break they have optional training days to attend to, or they have the whole break off until their season starts up again with their practice Monday through Saturday.

“At the end of the season they need time for their bodies to recover,” Crabb said. “There is a light training that is optional from the end of the season till the end of the semester. After that, they are on winter break.”

The head coach of a team has the mindset to give their players a training schedule to keep them ready for their regular season. Sometimes, it’s the head coach’s responsibility  for his players to stay healthy, but after the season, it’s up to the players if they want to stay in shape and continue their workout plan.

Some players may be tempted to stay inside to sleep in, play video games or eat junk food. There’s also a possibility of friends coming back into town and wanting to hangout during hours that can affect their training. Their training will not be as effective if they are staying up late and getting up early. It is best for athletes to get the appropriate hours of sleep and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“The workout plan going into the first week of break seemed easy at first,” said Drew Wade, former football athlete. “After the first week I felt relaxed and thought I had good things going for workouts, but I started to struggle when I realized I had more time on my hands with hanging around,but I was able to finish strong towards the end of break.”

Summer and winter break are exciting times for students to lean back and relax from school. Most students take this time to catch up with friends, lay back on their phone play video games or watch a movie. Having a break allows students to wind down for their semester and let their body and mind rest for the upcoming semester.

Some of the main struggles after break are the health conditions of both students and players.  Students’ mental health is a huge topic in today’s life for college students and the time off from break can help with mental health. Athletes might be known to struggle a little bit more with their mental health since they need to focus on both school and sports.

“My struggles towards the end of the semester or during finals was the stress or anxiety of not missing assignments to turn in,”said Nathan Zelaya, freshman student at Saddleback College. “Finals were also stressful since they would determine our final grade for the semester, but I always thought the wait for the final grade was the worst, waiting to see if you pass or fail.”

BestColleges shows the percentage of each student’s health condition after each semester.  The percentage for students being diagnosed for their mental health disorder are 36% anxiety,  28% depression,  8% PTSD, 7% eating disorders, 7% OCD and  3% bipolar. Other related conditions include substance abuse.

BestColleges results for athletes’ health conditions are 45% overwhelmed, 35% mental exhaustion, 39% anxiety, 18% sadness, 12% loneliness, 8% sense of loss, 8% hopelessness, 7% depression and 7% overwhelming anger. The results show that athletes have more emotional stress, sadness and anger health conditions compared to their peers.

“I had a workout plan for soccer in the offseason, but we did not have a diet plan to keep up with,” said Ashley Nelson, former soccer player for Biola University. “We did have optional days to practice or some type of meeting that would be optional,but I was with family during that time.”

Baseball coaches have been known to give players a routine to run and play catch in order to have players be back in their rhythm during their time back in season. Diets and nutrition were recommended by coaches to keep their players in shape during the holidays or summer.

“During the winter we had to maintain our weight and not ball out during the holidays,” said Zach Nelson, former first baseman for Vanguard University. “My workout plan was to workout chest and legs, I would run during the winter, because the coach didn’t want to be cold during our preseason games. Coach would have us be prepared in many ways for the upcoming season by playing catch and running.”

With both sides struggling towards finals and workout schedules, athletes do have more on their plate during their break. Athletes have been known to use their workout schedule as a stress reliever  from school.

“I had plan workouts for soccer and some type of nutrition plan,” said Nick Daniel, goalkeeper for Biola University. “I would also use working out as a way out of being overwhelmed from school and anything that made me feel stressed.”

Both athletes and students have benefits of a structured break with a different outcome. Athletes have to keep their body in shape during the offseason, while non-athletes can be carefree on their food intake and their own exercise schedule. Being an athlete does require both discipline and responsibility for keeping their schedule organized with workouts throughout the day.

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