Mental Training for Olympic Swimmers
For high level sports stars, the mind must be as prepared as the body, as not only will you be in a packed venue, but you will have the whole world tuned in on TV. Olympians also carry the extra pressure of travel, interviews, the press, and expectations of their fellow countrymen. The best competitors have found ways to block external distractions completely. The right focus can be achieved in a number of ways, from pre-comp rituals to the weird and wonderful.

Olympian Weight Training

Strength and endurance are the most important factors in your weight training. Too much bulk and you’ll harm your mobility – you need the right level of strength to cut through the water, whilst retaining a good level of flexibility. For swimmers, muscle stamina in the legs and arms is an absolute necessity too. Swimmers find it best to seek out exercises which encourage increased range of motion, especially in the arms, using medium and heavy weight. Functional core strength is also vital.

Lots of Swimming!

Though it’s probably obvious to the majority, swimming pools are going to take up a large part of your Olympic training schedule. You should be prepared for some in depth analysis of your stroke form, starts and turns, before advice is given on where to improve. Some of this training can be done at specialist centres, where video technology can be used to find out where you can improve. There’s also plenty of time spent purely swimming, up to 12 miles a day.

The All Important Recovery

If you want to get back in the pool and training more regularly, recovery is crucial, with various techniques available to speed this up. Massages using a strong touch can be fantastic, really relaxing and aiding recovery of muscle tissue. Muscle soreness and swelling can be quickly reduced by using ice baths, and warm soaks in hot tubs are great for general wellbeing at the end of a tough week training. With all methods you use to recover, it can be best to vary things from session to session, or certain methods may cease to be as effective.

Eating for the Olympics

The perfect eating regime is very important for every athlete, but particularly for swimmers. 500 calories an hour can be burnt whilst swimming at a reasonable pace, so the right nutrition is vital for athletes covering many miles a week in the pool. Food intake should be balanced, with consideration to both strength and stamina – you can expect a lot of protein, carbs and supplements. The average calorie consumption for a male is 2-3,000 – male Olympic swimmers can consume as many as 12,000.

Olympic coaches are exquisitely aware of overtraining and know exactly how to hit the mark. Not long ago, the best of athletic wisdom out there felt that it was the sheer hours of training you put into your sport that helped you improve. Now coaches understand that there is a point beyond which a lot of training doesn’t really help you that much, and only puts you in danger of overtraining. When it occurs, the signs are there for all to see – when an athlete seems to gain very little for crazy hours of training he puts in, that’s a sign. This can be taken definitely as a running tip for all of us. An athlete who isn’t pumping his fist and beaming with self-confidence after a training session is another sign. If an athlete is just exhausted all the time, it’s time to stop. It’s just that athletes completely give themselves over to the sport and never know when to stop.

Sports medicine specialists would be a great idea when you suspect a problem. Sometimes they’ll give you blood tests to test for certain kinds of chemicals known as Ferritins that appear at very low levels in people who overtrain.

Whistler Blackcomb is one of the best ski destinations in North America. The Whistler area is chosen as the site of the alpine and Nordic skiing for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Located in the Coastal Mountains of BC, Whistler is approximately 115 kilometers (72 miles) from Vancouver. From Vancouver you easily can get there by car, bus or charter plane. Surrounded by two incredible mountains Whistler and Blackcomb, Whistler ski town offers its guest 8000 acres of fantastic skiable terrain, five star hospitality and vibrant après ski scene. While most ski resorts close down by mid-April, Whistler Mountain remains open for spring skiing until the end of April. And Blackcomb Mountain remains open even until June. Whistler Blackcom is also only resort in North America where you can ski or ride on a glacier.

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The Olympic Games first took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The Olympics took place to bring athletes together from all over the world in an effort to promote world peace. Today the Olympics still hold those standards. The goal is to educate youth through sports and teach friendship and sportsmanship. The Olympic Games include a variety of individual and team sports.

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Although they are a long way off the 2012 Olympic Games will be upon us before we know it. Those that are planning on making the trip to the London 2012 Olympic Games know all to well, from past Olympic Games, that many people leave it to the last minute and end up having to stay in Hotels out of the city because everything is fully booked. When that happens, you can be sure that you will end up with nothing but problems; a long traveling distance to get to the daily events; and you will also fail to experience the buzz that will be present around London at the time when the event is on.

There are different techniques used in the sport and many different events, such as sprint, relay and pursuit. Races take place over various distances, including long distance cross country skiing known as Ski Marathons. The longest distance of these events, at 160 km, is the Canadian Ski Marathon. There are international competitions and a World Cup. The sport has been included in the Winter Olympics since 1924 for men and since 1952 for women. The Biathlon, a combination of Nordic skiing and rifle shooting, has featured in the Olympics since 1960. Norway leads the table of most medals that have been won in the Nordic category. Armies such as the Finnish Army train their soldiers to ski and many champions in the sport belong to the military.

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Currently, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Vancouver 2010 are yet to hold their games.
Until 1992, the Olympics also often featured demonstration sports. The objective was for these sports to reach a larger audience; the winners of these events are not official Olympic champions. These sports were sometimes sports popular only in the host nation, but internationally known sports have also been demonstrated. Some demonstration sports eventually were included as full-medal events. In the 2008 Olympic Games, there is actually going to be a BMX event as part of the Cycling events.