Yamal’s Wonder Goal: Inspiring Fitness and Wonder Workouts

Remember when Adrian Rabbiot said, “He (Lamine Yamal) would have to do a lot more to reach the finals (Euro 2024)"? That comment didn’t particularly age like fine wine, did it? Yamal sat Rabbiot down with an elite body feint and kissed the ball with the inside of his left boot. WHAT. A. GOAL.

“Cancelled, again?” yelled Asif, his reverie violated yet again by reality. “Exams are coming up, you need to concentrate on what’s important,” his parents reiterated. Asif stormed up to his room and sat on the bed, thinking furiously. As he looked out of the window, he went into a deep spiral of thoughts. He imagined himself at the Allianz Arena, sitting an opponent down and scoring a left-footer’s special. He had it all, a wand-like left foot, the flexibility of a rubber band, the vision. But could he evade a rough tackle?

“Yamal’s doing it! Musiala’s doing it! Neymar was the best before he was strong!” Asif kept telling himself. He knew his coach was overlooking him because of his lack of strength. He was grossly underweight, according to his doctor. He started looking for health and fitness tips for athletes. He wondered, “They are also young! Then how are they doing it?” Here’s how you can be a strong athlete without compromising your mobility and flexibility.

Also called resistance training, strength training helps you build muscles and strength, using kettlebells, free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, and a person’s body weight. For teens, strength training is great, because it improves sports performance and prevents injuries - making you a better athlete.

“Hmm….tell me something new”, Asif thought to himself, as he went through the weight section while searching for fitness tips.

What can you use for strength training?

Free weights:

Portable and inexpensive, picking up and mastering techniques might take time.

Weight machines:

Ensure proper form but you have to visit a gym for this. Unless you have one in your basement.

Resistance bands and bodyweight training:

Can be done anywhere. Just look at those fitness influencers hanging from random trees!

At 16, testosterone levels are hitting the roof, and teens can take advantage of this. If you take advantage of the growth phase and build and condition your muscles, you’ll have a long career in athletics, provided you tick the other boxes.

Improve fitness:

When you train, you get fitter. As simple as that. Strength training makes our body stronger so the ceiling of what your body can do goes higher. That’s one of the most crucial things for a budding athlete.

Increase lean body mass:

There’s a big difference between packing on muscle and getting fat like you were born in McDonalds. All the elite athletes have more than 80% lean body mass. The fact that no ordinary person can even think of what elite athletes can do with their bodies is specifically due to their lean body mass. So it is important that you increase your lean body mass from a very young age. You will have to give up on your soda and chips but that should not stop you from being an athlete.

Burn more calories:

Strength training helps you burn calories consistently. Because you are constantly exercising and moving, calories are burnt constantly. Burning calories helps you lose added weight, a prerequisite for athletic performance.

Make bones stronger:

You don’t want your ankles to be like wet spaghetti every time you put some pressure on it, right? As you are growing and your bones are developing, strength training can improve your bone strength.

Improve Mental Health:

Teenage is a trying time. Weight training helps in boosting endorphins, the feel-good hormone, in your body.

“Okay. But where do I start (again)”, pondered Asif, all too familiar with what a dumbbell curl was. Because he struggled to do even one. Knowing what a curl is was not enough, hell everyone knows what a dumbbell curl is. Asif just struggled with doing them because he didn’t feel strong enough.

Proper form and technique:

This is important. Improper form not only negates the positive effects of the exercise it could also lead to injury if you aren’t careful enough. Before you’ve mastered the technique of the exercises, it is prudent to do them without weights first to get familiar with the form.

Pick what suits you best:

Weight training regimes are plentiful - do your research and pick something tailor-made for your age. Whether it is the sample workout given here or something else, make sure you read the logic behind it before you start exercising.

Strength training programs are inherently safe. When done properly, strength training won’t have any harmful effects. However, if you have any medical conditions such as uncontrolled high blood pressure, seizures, or heart problems — you will need to be cleared by your doctors before starting a strength-training program.

Get a Spotter

Please don’t work out alone. Ensure that someone is there to supervise. Whether you are using free weights or a machine, having a spotter is incredibly useful. Sometimes even the most ripped dudes can’t do that last rep. Also, if you’re in the middle of a bench press and the rod settles down on your chest, it’s rather inconvenient - not to mention that you can also get hurt.

Stay away from performance-enhancing drugs:

No matter what anyone tells you to sell you a performance-enhancing drug, stay away from it at all costs. Anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs are risky and can cause problems like mood swings, acne, balding, and high blood pressure. They also increase your risk for cancer, heart disease, and sterility.

Warm-up!

Before you start with the bicep curls, warm up with dynamic exercises for 5-10 minutes before each session. Not only is static and dynamic stretching incredibly important but you can get injured if you don’t stretch sufficiently. And as a young athlete, your goal is to remain fit no matter what.

Try freehand first:

Before you get all Hulk Smash with barbell squats, try doing some freehand squats first. That’ll teach you technique and you’ll learn how to perfect your form. For any exercise, do them without weights first to get a feel of what it’s all about. It reduces the chances of injuries. Also, your muscles get used to the motion, so you can focus on the performance, rather than the form.

Reps and Sets: First of all, reps mean repetitions. So, When you do a certain exercise for several reps it means you’re repeating that moment a certain number of times. A set is a fixed number of repetitions. Learn some basic gym terminology - it ain’t all that bad. Repeating an action several times increases the muscles that are engaged in that action, thus increasing the strength and flexibility of that muscle or muscle group.

Cardio for the win:

Cardio strengthens your heart and lungs. Walking, running and swimming are the way to go. So basically, cardio is the base of every exercise. The more you focus on cardio, the better it is for your endurance. The better endurance you have, the longer you’ll last in your game. Marathons, triathlons, and the like are endurance-focused sports. Football, if you are playing against Pep Guardiola, is effectively an endurance sport as you’d not have the ball, but you’d have to run all the time chasing it.

Stay hydrated and well-fed:

Drink a lot of fluids and stick to a healthy diet so your muscles recover better and perform better. Stay away from junk food - it’s unhealthy and just bad for you. End off.

Always ensure you keep time out for recovery:

Recovery is a huge part of working out. Your muscles grow during recovery so ensure you get enough rest, before and after the gym. Relax, do something you love - essentially be calm and allow your muscles to grow. Don’t be impatient in your recovery. Just look at Jaspreet Bumrah! Took enough time to recover from his surgery but when he did come back, he didn’t even take a full match to get back in form and among wickets.

Sleep sufficiently:

We cannot stress enough how important sleep is for proper muscle recovery and growth. Please sleep enough so your body grows. If that means logging off Instagram a couple of hours earlier, so be it.

As Asif read on, he was transfixed. Yes, these were tips to start working out which he had just tried once before. He had always learned that the best give it their all in training but every time he tried it, he ended up burning out. He kept reading.

Listen to your body:

As a young athlete, it is easy to discount the signs your body gives you like signals of fatigue, pain, or discomfort. Minor injuries you can deal with yourself. More serious ones require medical advice. Remember Wayne Rooney? The golden boy of the golden generation of English football? He started playing at 16 but by the time the 30s rolled around, his body couldn't keep up anymore.

Mental health:

Set attainable goals and enjoy the process without focusing on outcomes. Ensure you are connected with friends and family for emotional support. As Simone Biles put it, "We have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do."

Education:

Read up on injury prevention techniques and learn about proper biomechanics from coaches and trainers. Keep your knowledge updated so you stay informed about the best practices in your sport. Most athletes who come from economically troubled backgrounds struggle to maintain their education with sports. This is why they fail to understand many aspects of life, including contracts, expenses, and injuries. They fail to read up on how to treat injuries better and how to approach rehabilitation regimes. Give your education equal importance as your athletic career will end by the time you turn a certain age but your education will always keep you ahead of the curve. Just ask Shaq!