Partene Mihai- Denis , ANUL I , SPM IFR

A day in the life of a professional

athlete

Being a professional athlete is a rewarding , yet exhausting job .

Yes , they do travel from place to place , explore the world , meet new
people and create connections , while getting paid as well , although ,
not everything comes down to it . There is years of physical and mental
training , be it through calm or extreme weather conditions , there are
sacrifices to be made and obstacles to overcome.
Each day of the week , an athlete does the same thing over and over
again , there is a routine he must go over on a daily basis. It all starts
from the amount of sleep he gets , most of the professionals sleep around
8-9 hours a day , some of them even have the chance of getting an
afternoon nap , which is very beneficial if they have additional training
sessions throughout the day.

As a football player , a regular day of mine goes off like this : waking up
early , around 7 – 7:30 am , having breakfast and preparing for the first
training of the day , at 9 am , usually an exhausting , running- based
training , which ends with a long session of stretching . Then I head back
home where I have dinner and if possible , sleep for an hour or two ,
helping my body recover faster from the intense effort in the morning .
The second half of the day begins just like the first half , with another
training session , less intense but focusing on playing with the ball and
tactical positions . When the training ends , I head back home for
lunch , keeping myself well hydrated and make sure I do not overeat .

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Partene Mihai- Denis , ANUL I , SPM IFR

For the rest of the day I am not left with too much time for myself , so I
end up watching a football match and calling it a day.
We athletes really can not afford spending the nights out , because
having a consistent schedule is the key of being efficient . One night
out , or even just staying up late , can lead to poor performance during
practice or even during the game days .

Even though what I stated above seems difficult already , this is not
everything that a sportsman has to deal with everyday . At some points
in our lives there will be some rough periods , such as the times where
we injure ourselves and we sit aside for a while , falling behind with our
training or teammates , or even worse , being put out from the main team
. Other than injuries , living up with the fear of having to pack your bags
and leave , or even criticism from the fans or teammates can be pretty
intimidating on a player .
In the end , athletes have an interesting occupation that comes with
positives and negatives , being satisfied when winning a game , or
putting your postion at risk when losing one , that comes along with
deep thoughts that make you rethink the decisions you have made so
far .

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