TrueSport Lessons

Hi, I’m Kara Winger, Olympic javelin thrower, and TrueSport Athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about body image, and I have three things I’d like you to know. First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. Second, there are varying body types and no one’s body is exactly like another. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. As a multi-time Olympian, I’ve experienced a lot of variation and progression in my training. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin. I’m talking to you about body image today because sometimes even with the best of intentions and a common goal in mind, the changes you make to your training habits can prove to be detrimental if made for the wrong reasons. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.

So, I changed my diet. I went along with what I was being told to do, even though I’d had great success at a slightly heavier weight and higher body fat percentage and became much leaner than ever before. It seemed like a successful change at first, but I didn’t have nearly the results I’d had before. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the 2012 London games. The takeaway for me, and hopefully for you, is that it’s important to know what works for you and your body and to not compare yourself to others. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like. Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day.

I’ve learned what a properly balanced meal for my body looks like and I recognize food as the fuel that keeps me throwing. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. In the end, you are in control of how you see, treat, and respond to your body. We only get one and it’s amazing to discover how many things our bodies can do. Be a true sport athlete. Love who you are in this moment and get excited for all the places your body will take you.

Hi, I’m Richard Torrez, Jr., Team USA boxer and TrueSport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about Clean Sport, and there are three things I’d like you to know. First, athletes who cheat by taking illegal supplements, energy drinks, and performance-enhancing drugs rob themselves and others have an authentic victory. Second, supplements are loosely regulated by U.S. government’s Food and Drug Administration, meaning they sometimes contain harmful ingredients. It’s important to do your research before using any supplement. And third, energy drinks have high doses of caffeine and sugar that can harm the body and hinder athletic performance.

I’m constantly being approached by supplement companies who want me to endorse their products. As an athlete, I know I’m responsible for what I choose to put in my body, and it’s important that I do my due diligence to learn more about the product before choosing to take it. When a supplement company offers me their product, I always talk with my nutritionist about the product first so I’m as knowledgeable as possible about the risks and benefits associated with it. From there it’s up to me to decide what is best in my body, best for clean competition, and best for my long-term success.

Knowing the risks often outweigh the benefits, I have chosen not to take supplements and instead use a food-first approach to my training. In the end, the results that come from competing clean are the only ones that matter. Anything else robs the athlete, their teammates, opponents, and coaches from a true victory and spoils the sport for everyone involved. Be a true sport athlete, compete clean and fair, and I’ll see you out there.

Hi, I’m Aaron Schiedies, Paralympic triathlete and TrueSport Ambassador. And today I want to talk to you about mental wellness. Mental wellness can be a complicated subject, but I think what’s most important is thinking about how we define it first, in order to learn how to put it into practice. Just like the body, the mind needs caring and training in order to stay mentally well. Day to day activities like learning and decision making all play a role in our mental wellness. What’s cool about sport, though, is it offers an environment that challenges and nurtures mental wellness. When I was in middle school, I was a really good soccer player, and I really had this dream of becoming a professional soccer player. I kind of really thought that that was the direction that I was going, and it was my path. But that all changed as I started losing my vision.

When I was nine, I started losing my vision progressively from a genetic eye condition. And as I lost more and more vision, it became more and more difficult for me to see the ball, see my teammates. And at first I really just thought, “Well, I’ll just work harder than everyone else and I can still kind of keep up with everyone else.” But when you can’t see the ball and can’t see who’s your teammate or who’s the opponent, it’s just not realistic. So I really struggled in those years, my teenage years, because those are the years also that everyone’s really trying to be normal and seek normalcy. And so, I was struggling with that because, you know, the reality was that I wasn’t necessarily normal like everyone else. And I really needed to learn that what I was and the vision or lack thereof that I had was normal for me. And that just was who I was. So, my teenage years were really riddled with kind of a mental health struggle. I was diagnosed with OCD, an eating disorder and depression, going into high school. And that was really where, thankfully, I was able to really lean on my support network.

My brother saw that I was struggling, and he encouraged me to join the swim team and at that time I was really in a deep hole of not really having any sort of motivation for anything. But thankfully I did get enough energy to take him up on it and, you know, go into swimming and join the swim team. And swimming really changed my perspective. It changed my life because it gave me that outlet. Being in the water was kind of like that freedom from all the pressures of society and from there I really started looking for new challenges and developing more confidence. I really learned to be resilient. It just gave me confidence that I could still be involved in sport.

And it also made me realize that there’s another door and, you know, maybe soccer at one point was the direction I thought I was going, but there was another door that I could still kind of persevere and move towards and succeed in sports. I just had this energy and motivation to continue challenging myself. And so, I did my first triathlon when I was going into my senior year of high school, and it became my passion at Michigan State to develop a team of triathletes as part of my college experience. And they really became like my family and another part of my support network along my journey in triathlon. In 2002, I won my first world championship in triathlon as an athlete with a disability. And that really just jumpstarted my career and gave me more and more opportunities and it really gave me something that I never thought I would have when I was in those difficult times.

But you never really know where you’ll go if you keep your kind of mindset only in one area, you need to have that open mind of other doors that might come up. And so, for me, just having that opportunity to start swimming and going to endurance sports really changed my life. As my personal journey has taught me, working on mental wellness is not as linear as I thought it would be. There are bumps along the way and we need to seek out support during challenging times. Developing healthy coping mechanisms like learning to breathe and asking for help takes time. By simply changing your attitude, you can change how you see the world, and only then can you see your greatest potential.

Hi, I’m Chris Mazdzer, Olympic silver medalist in the sport of luge and a TrueSport Athlete Ambassador. Today I want to talk with you about energy drinks because it’s important to first know that energy drinks and sports drinks are not the same thing. Energy drinks have high doses of caffeine and sugar that can negatively impact your body and athletic performance.

Whereas sports drinks contain water, electrolytes, carbohydrates, and they help you replenish your body after long practices or competitions. It’s not surprising that energy drinks appeal to young athletes. Given that energy drink companies often target young people with their advertising. Being a smart consumer is essential if you’re going to make the right decision for your long-term health. Did you know that an energy drink can contain upwards of 2 to 3 times the amount of caffeine as a single soda?

When I was younger and earlier in my career, when I wasn’t feeling very good before a workout, I would take energy drinks to try to boost up my energy levels. But the problem was that created an artificial high with a spike in glucose that I couldn’t sustain. And I learned that instead of taking an energy drink, I needed to focus on my sleep, my nutrition, my hydration, because those were the root causes of my problems.

All of us will eventually have to make the best decisions we can for ourselves. When it comes to energy drinks, more times than not, making the decision to avoid them is actually the best way to go. So, the next time you’re feeling bogged down and tired, I encourage you to take a step back and reflect on how you’re training, how you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, because proper recovery can go a long way in increasing your overall energy levels and your ability to perform at your best.

Hi, I’m Tyler Carter, two-time Paralympic Alpine skier and TrueSport Athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about hydration and there are three things I’d like you to know. One, you should hydrate with water during moderate activity of 60 minutes or less. Two, with more than 60 minutes of moderate activity, consider adding sports drinks to replace carbohydrates and electrolytes. Three, drinking water with food helps with hydration and absorption during recovery. With long days on the slopes, it is important that I pay attention to how much water I consume. I try to drink water before I feel thirsty and for more intense practice and competition days, I consume sports drinks to help replace the electrolytes and carbohydrates I used. It is easy to forget to drink enough water before a long practice or competition day especially when you’re having fun and not paying attention to your thirst so I highly recommend getting used to carrying a water bottle with you and keeping your bottle in a location you will visit often throughout the day. I try to bring mine with me everywhere I can.

Water makes up to 60% of your body weight, and every system in your body relies on water to function. Hydration is critical to optimal performance, and successful athletes understand the importance of hydrating before, during and after exercise. Water provides the easiest and most affordable means for hydration. While sports drinks can also help replace electrolytes and carbohydrates. Not hydrating enough often leads to dehydration. Dehydration is scientifically defined as a water deficit and in excess of two to 3% of your body weight and occurs when the body is deprived of fluids resulting from sweating, illness, medication use and neglecting to drink water. Dehydration can compromise performance and impair brain functions. Food provides nearly 20% of your total water intake. So getting in different fruits and vegetables like watermelons and tomatoes can help keep your body hydrated. TRUE Sport athletes take hydration very seriously and choose to drink the right fluids at the right time to hydrate for peak performance. See you on the slopes.

Hi, I’m Tyler Carter, two-time Paralympic Alpine skier and TrueSport Athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about hydration and there are three things I’d like you to know. One, you should hydrate with water during moderate activity of 60 minutes or less. Two, with more than 60 minutes of moderate activity, consider adding sports drinks to replace carbohydrates and electrolytes. Three, drinking water with food helps with hydration and absorption during recovery. With long days on the slopes, it is important that I pay attention to how much water I consume. I try to drink water before I feel thirsty and for more intense practice and competition days, I consume sports drinks to help replace the electrolytes and carbohydrates I used. It is easy to forget to drink enough water before a long practice or competition day especially when you’re having fun and not paying attention to your thirst so I highly recommend getting used to carrying a water bottle with you and keeping your bottle in a location you will visit often throughout the day. I try to bring mine with me everywhere I can.

Water makes up to 60% of your body weight, and every system in your body relies on water to function. Hydration is critical to optimal performance, and successful athletes understand the importance of hydrating before, during and after exercise. Water provides the easiest and most affordable means for hydration. While sports drinks can also help replace electrolytes and carbohydrates. Not hydrating enough often leads to dehydration. Dehydration is scientifically defined as a water deficit and in excess of two to 3% of your body weight and occurs when the body is deprived of fluids resulting from sweating, illness, medication use and neglecting to drink water. Dehydration can compromise performance and impair brain functions. Food provides nearly 20% of your total water intake. So getting in different fruits and vegetables like watermelons and tomatoes can help keep your body hydrated. TRUE Sport athletes take hydration very seriously and choose to drink the right fluids at the right time to hydrate for peak performance. See you on the slopes.

Hi, I’m Chris Mazdzer, Olympic silver medalist in the sport of luge and TrueSport Athlete Ambassador. As an elite level athlete competing at the highest level in sport, it is easy to find yourself wishing for a quick-fix solution to becoming stronger and faster or even recovering quicker. For some athletes, this means tweaking their training plans or even adjusting their nutrition plan. For others, this might mean they consider more severe solutions such as performance-enhancing drugs.

When it comes to performance-enhancing drugs, athletes often have a misconception that the benefits will outweigh the negative effects. Athletes are often misinformed about the physical side effects of using performance-enhancing drugs, as well as the irreversible damage that can be done to their personal reputation and legacy once they are caught for cheating. In the sport of luge, I’m not only working on my body, but I’m also working on my sled. And we have a term called mechanical doping if an athlete is caught for cheating with their sled. Once this happens, there’s an asterisk on their name forever. And we can never fully believe that they had an authentic win.

So regardless of your feelings on clean sport, what I know to be true is that athletes who cheat rob themselves and others of an authentic victory. It comes down to the individual to have the courage to choose to compete without performance-enhancing drugs and to know that performance-enhancing drugs are proven to have serious side effects. Taking a shortcut can be appealing, and fast tracking your way to victory might seem like the simplest solution. But, putting in the time, the dedication, and hard work, that’s where real success can be found.

Hi, I’m Chellsie Memmel, gymnastics coach, True Sport athlete and retired Team USA gymnast. Today, I want to talk to you about preparation and recovery, and there are three things I’d like you to know. First, a pre-game routine increases opportunities for success and helps build confidence. Second, a plan for post-competition recovery is more than just stretching. It should include rest, nutrition and hydration too. And third, a positive mindset and self-talk will often guarantee good results. As an athlete with a demanding schedule, I learned the importance of taking time to recover. Throughout my career, my recovery plan changed as I changed training locations, and as I learned more about my body. Eventually, I learned what my body needed to feel its best every week. It was things like walking to wind down and recover my body after a hard week of training or reading a book to allow my mind to rest. I could always tell if I hadn’t taken proper time to recover come Monday.

Sleep was also a huge part of my recovery plan. I needed enough sleep to be productive in training. And to get enough Z’s that meant I needed to go to bed at a decent time. When I started practicing a recovery plan that included getting enough sleep, I discovered the equal importance of recovering your body and recovering your mind. Recovery habits and routines I developed over time allowed my body to recover and replenish itself, which in turn helped me to maximize my performance and feel more prepared in practice and competition. Preparation and recovery are both crucial elements of athlete success. They take time to develop, but the benefits of practicing both are absolutely worth the investment. Prepare for competition, recover your mind, listen to your body, and I’ll see you out on the floor.