Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Worth the Wait? You Betcha!

I have some exciting news.

I made it into Brian Grasso's "First 500"!!!

Only 500 (on the planet) made it in for the Level one Youth Conditioning Specialist certification.

This thrills me to no end. If there is one thing that bothers me the most is the poor state of youth conditioning. I want to be able to help kids perform better and have more fun doing it.

I learned many valuable lessons growing up and participating at provincial level athletically. And I got injured several times. So the old hindsight is definitely 20-20. I don't want that to happen to other young athletes.

Here is the program I am enrolled in.

Check out the videos! They say more than words on a page.

http://www.iyca.org/fitspecialist1.html

Coming soon: Youth Conditioning Bootcamps

Friday, May 9, 2008

Bone Density

As the bone density studies have indicated, training when younger stimulates growth that will last a lifetime.

Force Production
This is not a "no brainer". When most think of force production the first thought is muscle mass. But what if the bones are thin or frail. The mind reads this imbalance and never allows full force production to protect the bones. So stronger bones also aides in athletic performance.

How to stimulate density growth is a touchy subject when it comes to our youth. Worries over stunting growth is the big one. Well to this I point out climbing trees, jumping off of swings, bicycling for hours, jump rope and many other activities that we've all done. Did we stunt our growth? Nope.

Research shows that stimulation, when done properly, encourages growth at the joint and tissue connection. That combined with the effect of activity on the release of growth hormones. It sounds like a good thing for a growing athlete.

Injury prevention
The training that encourages stronger bones naturally encourages stronger muscles and coordination. Being athletic, strong and coordinated, training to encourage balance and strength reduces the likelihood that the athlete will be injured.

If you are an athlete, you can relate how an injury slows you down, keeps you from playing and generally takes the fun out of the event for you.

Longevity
Get it done now and it is one less thing to think about later! When training is encouraged sooner in an athletes career, healthy activity encourages longer athletic careers, personal or otherwise, and make life in general more fun. Think of all the great people you meet through sports and athletic endeavors.

Not to mention networking. If you don't know how this influences life, trust me, it's a good thing.

So train safe, be strong and enjoy yourself.

In health,

Todd