It’s a safe bet to say that every athlete would like to be a little faster, a little stronger, or a little more balanced.

There are lots of ways to achieve these goals, and most of them are well-known.

Traditional training and exercise are of course the most common and are absolutely essential for any serious athlete.

Performance-enhancing drugs are also more common than we might want to believe, but due to their illegality, immorality, and danger — they’re certainly not the best option.

Photo by LYFE Fuel on Unsplash

Advances in medical science, athletic training, and physical materials have been producing new and exciting ways that athletes can gain an edge on the competition, without doing anything illegal or dangerous.

Here are a few of the most popular methods.

1. Speed Suits

When it comes to going fast, materials science has you covered.

Speed suits are highly engineered to make you so aerodynamic you can cut through the wind resistance before it even sees you coming.

They even use special flat-lock stitches, so not even the seam threads can catch the air as you fly down the track.

2. Enhanced Nutrition

Dietary requirements for athletes have changed a lot over the years, and for good reason.

If your body is a well-tuned machine, your diet is the fuel it runs on.

Nutritionists have been hard at work creating optimized diets that provide you with the right type of fuel, at the right time, to boost your performance legally.

Photo by LYFE Fuel on Unsplash

3. Touch-Based Neuroscience

These innovative socks and patches use drug-free Neuro-Haptic technology to send specialized signals to your brain stem.

They’ve been credited with improving balance, mobility, and strength, as well as being commonly used for pain management.

4. Parasympathetic Activation

While techniques that use parasympathetic activation have been shown to slow your heart rate, lower your blood pressure, and induce a state of relaxation — many athletes find it helps them to perform at their best.

These techniques can help with pain management and make it easier for athletes to explode into action when the starting gun goes off.

5. Mental Training

Often underrated, mental training has been in the spotlight again recently as more and more athletes add it to their training regimen.

There is no set routine that’s proven to be most effective, but the overall effect of conditioning the mind as well as the body seems to be undeniable.

There are lots of ways that you can gain an edge over the competition, without having to resort to performance-enhancing drugs.

Regular training should always be part of your routine, but for an extra boost, many top athletes are turning to highly scientific diets and neuroscience-based haptic technology.

Who would’ve thought the latest and greatest scientific breakthroughs for athletes would have been a better diet and special socks?

Not me — but I’m still going to try them!