Being healthy is definitely a great way to live your life. It takes a large amount of commitment, but it pays off in the long run. Keeping good watch of what you eat, and what you do with your body are key parts of living a longer, more prosperous life.

This applies to athletes as well, but in the sense of keeping up a high level of play. Living a healthy lifestyle will give you an advantage over any athlete who doesn’t take good care of his or her body. Being healthy will benefit you not only as the season goes on, but also as you get deeper into your career. As the number of games and seasons rack up, it is essential that your body is able to achieve its full capabilities.

Austin Young, a former member of the Piedmont men’s basketball team, works as a trainer in his off time and says that keeping a healthy lifestyle is something he preaches to his clients.

“I’m not going to judge anyone that I work with over what they eat, but I do express to them how crucial it is for them to make a change.” Said Young. “Those are the clients who don’t show anywhere near as much production than the clients who take living healthy seriously.”

Young explains that one of the first steps to being healthy comes from the amount of water athletes drink a day.

“The cliché phrase of 8 glasses a day is perfect because having that much cleans out your systems and helps you when you play, due to all the sweat that you create when playing.”

Young knows that the lifestyle switch is a process, and wants to let anyone thinking about it to understand how much it takes to fully commit.

“Any athlete who wants to make the full jump has to understand that it does take time. You aren’t one day going to wake up and be completely healthy,” says Young. “With that being said, the quicker you commit to being healthy, the better off you will be in the long run.”