The Athlete Toolkit: A Step-by-Step Game Plan for Athletes and Parents

Most of what decides how an athlete feels and performs happens off the field. Our free Athlete Toolkit is a 13-step checklist for athletes and parents: sleep, real-food fueling, Texas heat, recovery, injury prevention, concussion safety, and coming back from injury.

MK Wellness InsightsFounded by Danielle Cordova, Cypress, TX

Young athletes today train harder, earlier, and more often than ever. And most of what decides how they feel and perform happens off the field: sleep, food, hydration, rest, and how they handle pressure.

The Athlete Toolkit is the game plan we share with our athletes and their parents. It's built on sports medicine guidance, the experts we trust, and what we see every week in our recovery studio, and it works for adult athletes too.

Open the interactive toolkit, or download the free PDF to print and keep with your gear.

How to Use It

• Choose where you are in your season: in season, off season, or coming back from an injury. The toolkit shows the first six steps to take.
• Tick each box as you go. Checkmarks save on your phone or computer, so athletes and parents can come back anytime.
• Bring your questions to your coach, athletic trainer, or doctor. One tap prints them or emails them to you.

In Season? Start Here

1. Sleep 8 to 10 hours a night (teens), on a steady schedule.
2. Build every plate the same way: protein first, then vegetables, then fruit.
3. Drink water with minerals on hot or long training days.
4. Plan recovery after games: gentle movement, compression, protein, water, and sleep.
5. Take 1 to 2 days off each week from organized sports.
6. Know the signs of a concussion, and when in doubt, sit it out.

The 13 Steps at a Glance

1. Set up the basics. A yearly sports physical, your athletic trainer's number, the team's emergency plan, medical info, and gear that fits.
2. Sleep and breathe like a pro. In one study, athletes who slept less than 8 hours were 1.7 times more likely to be injured. Plus nasal breathing and an airway evaluation before braces or tonsil removal.
3. Fuel with real food. Protein, vegetables, and fruit, with sweet potatoes, rice, and potatoes for energy. Read athlete nutrition, the MK Way.
4. Hydrate for Texas heat. Minerals, not neon drinks; the first 14 days of preseason; and the emergency signs of heat stroke.
5. Recover on purpose. Rest days, real breaks from your main sport during the year, soaking, breathing, and LifeWave patches.
6. Prevent injuries. Neuromuscular warm-ups like FIFA 11+, which cut soccer injuries by 39% in randomized trials, strength work, ACL prevention for girls, and playing more than one sport while young.
7. Be concussion smart. The signs, the ER red flags, and what Texas law requires before return to play.
8. Mind, pressure, and joy. Check-ins, burnout warning signs, a pre-game routine, and getting help early.
9. Supplements and safety. Food first, third-party tested products only, and no energy drinks for kids and teens.
10. When an injury happens. Get it checked, protect it, move gently, and follow a step-by-step return to play. Read why we've moved past RICE.
11. Your MK athlete protocol. What to do the day before, right before, and after games, and during injury recovery.
12. Free help and resources. CDC HEADS UP, Stop Sports Injuries, Pitch Smart, the Korey Stringer Institute, NSF Certified for Sport, UIL, and 988.
13. Voices we learn from. Dr. Stacy Sims, Dr. Kelly Starrett, Dr. Andy Galpin, Dr. Peter Attia, and James Nestor.

Safety First: Two Things Every Parent Should Know

Concussions. Under Texas's Natasha's Law, a player must be removed from practice or a game if a concussion is suspected and can't return that day. Return to play requires a doctor's written clearance and the school's step-by-step protocol. Read our concussion awareness guide.

Heat. Confusion, collapse, or acting strange in the heat is an emergency. Call 911 and cool first, ideally in cold water, then transport. Ask your coach whether there's a cold-water tub at practices and games.

Our view: talent shows up on game day, but recovery decides whether it keeps showing up. Real food, real sleep, real rest, and smart recovery build athletes who last, and who still love their sport.

Where MK Wellness Fits

MK Wellness is a recovery studio built around the game calendar: compression, red light, PEMF, cold, sauna, and more. Our Elite Athlete Protocol lays out season-by-season and game-week recovery, and the Student Recovery membership offers unlimited recovery visits for athletes 18 and under. Adult athletes can see every plan on Pricing.

When you need something we don't offer, we connect you with people we trust. For adults exploring regenerative care for an injury, we refer our clients to Dr. Tina Hills, D.O., and her practice, PHMX, in Katy.

Questions? Call or text us at (346) 805-8928.

Go Deeper

• The Athlete Toolkit (interactive) and the PDF
• The Elite Athlete Protocol and the X39 + X49 Athlete Protocol
• The Recovery Window: What to Eat After Competition
• Breathing as a Performance Tool
• CDC HEADS UP and Stop Sports Injuries

MK Wellness services are non-medical and not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any injury, concussion, or condition. This guide and the toolkit are for general education and deliberately include no supplement doses or protocols. They don't replace advice from your doctor, athletic trainer, or coach. MK Wellness and PHMX are two separate, independent businesses.

The Athlete Recovery Protocol at MK Wellness

We build this goal around modalities that work better together. The core of the protocol:

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