The Training Zone DSM

Easy post-training options: 🥛 Chocolate milk (seriously — the research supports it) 🍗 Grilled chicken with rice 🥚 Greek yogurt with berries 🧃 Protein shake with fruit.

This doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to happen consistently. What does your athlete eat after training? Drop it below. 👇

The gap between good and great isn't talent. It's what athletes do when no one's watching.

Off-season isn't a break from becoming great — it's where becoming great actually happens. The extra reps. The film study. The recovery work. The mindset sessions.

You have a window right now. A chance to come back to next season as a different athlete. The question is: are you using it?

Tag an athlete who's putting in the work this off-season. 💪

Heat + humidity = a different athlete.

Summer tournament season is here — and a lot of athletes are about to make a mistake that tanks their performance and puts them at real risk. Training and competing in heat isn't just uncomfortable. It fundamentally changes what your body can do.

Here's what heat does to athletic performance: 🌡️ Increases heart rate at the same effort level — your athlete is working harder without moving faster 🌡️ Accelerates dehydration, which impairs muscle contraction and decision-making 🌡️ Slows recovery between games — what took 24 hours now takes 36-48 🌡️ Increases injury risk as fatigue sets in faster than the athlete realizes.

What to adjust: ✅ Add 12-16 extra oz of water the morning of a hot-weather game ✅ Cut back training intensity in the 48 hours before a summer tournament ✅ Prioritize shade and active cooling between games — not just water ✅ Watch for irritability and headache — early signs of heat stress, not attitude Your athlete isn't weak if they struggle in heat. Their body is doing exactly what it's designed to do. You just have to train smarter around it.

Questions about summer performance prep? My DMs are open. 👇

RUNNERS: if you're pushing through Achilles pain, shin splints, or a cranky SI joint — that's not toughness. That's a stress fracture waiting to happen.

I know because I'm a runner too. And I know how hard it is to back off when you've got a race on the calendar.

Low-level laser therapy is how we get runners back to full training faster — without just telling you to "take two weeks off."

It works by reducing inflammation and accelerating tissue repair at the cellular level. No needles. No downtime. Most people feel a difference within the first few sessions.

We treat symptoms of:
→ Achilles tendonitis
→ Shin splints
→ Sacroiliac pain
→ Patellofemoral pain
→ Ankle sprains & strains
→ General recovery between hard training weeks

New: Laser Therapy Series — 6 sessions for $225.

If you're a runner who's been training through something that won't go away, let's talk.

📞 515-251-2681 | carlson-chiropractic.com

rule of thumb: 💧 16-20 oz of water 2 hours before activity 💧 6-8 oz every 20 minutes during activity 💧 16-24 oz for every pound lost after activity And no — sports drinks don't replace water for everyday hydration. They have a role in longer bouts of intense activity, but water is the foundation. Is your athlete a good hydrator? Or are you fighting the 'I'm not thirsty' battle? Tell me below. 😄

We live in a culture that celebrates the grind. More reps. More miles. More time in the gym. But here's the truth: your body doesn't get stronger during training. It gets stronger during recovery. Sleep. Nutrition. Mobility work. A day off. These aren't signs of weakness they're signs of an athlete who understands how performance actually works. This week, give yourself permission to recover with intention. Your next performance depends on it. How do you prioritize recovery? Share your go-to below. 💤

Your soccer player wants to play at the next level. Collegiate coaches are watching for two things: a sub-5:45 mile and a 17+ on the Beep Test.
Most kids have no idea where they stand. Most coaches aren't training them to get there.
That's exactly what we built Speed Arcade for.
This summer at The Training Zone, we're running dedicated Beep Test training inside Speed Arcade — because there's a science and a rhythm to hitting those numbers, and we're going to teach it.
Tuesday & Thursday sessions at 10am, 6pm, or 7pm.
Drop a ⚡ in the comments if your athlete plays soccer and wants to know more.

1 in 3 athletes will experience an overuse injury this year. Most of them were preventable.

Let that number sink in for a moment.

1 in 3 competitive youth athletes will deal with an overuse injury this season.

Not a freak accident.
Not a collision.
An overuse injury — meaning the body broke down from repetitive stress it wasn't equipped to handle.

Here's what drives that statistic:
📊 Early sports specialization before the body is structurally ready
📊 Year-round single-sport training without adequate recovery
📊 Rapid growth spurts that outpace muscle and tendon strength
📊 No baseline movement screening to catch vulnerability before it becomes injury, I've seen this play out hundreds of times in my practice.

And the hardest conversations I have are with parents whose athlete is sitting out a tournament they trained all year for — for something we could have caught in a 20-minute screen. The Functional Movement Screen takes 20 minutes. It tells us exactly where your athlete's weak links are before they become a diagnosis. Is your athlete screened? If not, let's change that before fall season.

Comment below and we will get you booked!

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