What makes a player have a long career at the top level?

There are many ways an athlete can maintain a long career in sport one of them being strength and conditioning, strength and conditioning is playing a big part in an athlete’s career as many people know due to the fact that an athlete will need to continue to improve performance or maintain a balanced strength and conditioning program so they stay at peak performance and aren’t at risk of getting injuries or dropping off in sport they are doing and not being able to compete at their highest potential as this statement shows ‘Strategies of how to correctly stabilize the core, distribute bodyweight and resist force are all areas which can lower the risk of injury’ (Mudlo, 2015). Another important factor to have a long career at the top level is rest and recovery, there are two different types of recovery ‘Immediate or short-term recovery – This is the most common form of recovery and occurs within hours after an exercise session or event. Short-term recovery includes low intensity exercise after working out and during the cool down phase. Long-term recovery – This refers to recovery periods that are built into a seasonal training schedule and may include days or weeks incorporated into an annual athletic program.’ (Swartzendrube, 2015) these two types of recovery are very important to ensure that an athlete is preventing injury and ensuring that they are having the correct amount of recovery and taking their time to recover as this will help reduce the risk of injury and will also play a factor in your performances if the correct amount of recovery is not applied. Kevin Sinfield Leeds rhinos, England international and GB player for rugby league is an example of a player who has achieved every honor he can as a player and every competition he has to part in and continue to compete at the highest level throughout his long 18 year career this further backing up my previous points.