Athletic Youth Nutrition

I am really excited about next week.

I have been invited to do a pre/post nutrition competition segment
for youths for a CBC show called Living Halifax.

This is a little snippet of what I will be covering.

It has been long believed that "Carb Loading" was what you had to
do to get energy before a big game.

So the big plate of pasta became a staple.

Turns out it is not entirely accurate.

Grazing is better. Sipping a Carbohydrate/electrolyte mix after a
standard sized meal will boost energy.

So depending on the time of day your meals will be standard sized.
No gigantic meal before a game.

Graze, sip your drink and avoid foods that are heavy in fats.

And take advantage of the breaks to sip more carb/electrolyte drink
during timeouts and at halftime.

If you have any more questions please let me know. I love to help
young athletes perform at their highest level!

Chewing. Good for what ails ya.

It has been noted that eating slowly aids in digestion. Goes
without saying that it aids in energy replenishment as well.

Taking the time to sit with family and friends and relax during
meal times will help increase your energy.

This gives lots of time for the body to recognize the fullness of
the stomach at mealtime as well.

No cramming food in on a break.

No snarfing down donuts during a meeting.

No noshing on burgers in the car.

Here is a BBC article about a Japanese study on Obesity and the
speed of eating.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7681458.stm

You've heard the old adage, chew 20 times before you swallow? Well
it looks like it has some scientific props now.

Should have listened to Mom!

So how rushed are you? Eating fast indicates a few things at
least.

1. You are rushing, not taking time for yourself.

2. Food is not getting the attention it needs for proper breakdown
and absorption because it is lost in the volume of an over-eating
session.

3. You are probably not sitting down with friends and being social
(that one usually hurts the most, oddly enough)

So grab the family, sit them down for breakfast and talk and eat.
Take your time. With a little bit of planning it can happen.
Remember, put yourself first so everyone can benefit.

I'm personally going to be focusing on this over the next week.

Please try it out. What can it possibly hurt. You may even taste
your food for the first time in a while.

Please tell me your trainer doesn't do this!

Any idiot can make you vomit or feel pain.

I have heard of trainers doing this 3 times in the last four months.

Does this make any sense to anyone?

I have no idea why a personal trainer would do such a thing. It is
irresponsible!

What a horrific way to introduce a young athlete to health and fitness.

It takes a skilled fitness professional to make you feel your first
workout but not immobilize you, and have it be the first step in a
progressive activity plan.

We, as trainers, have been given your trust and bodies to take care
of. This goes against everything we are supposed to be working for.

Trainers who do this need to get a reality check.

I don't care if that is the way they were trained. That is a cop out.
Plain and simple. You have the burden of care. Show some responsibility.

If you have a trainer, if they think this is good for you, please,
question them. Make them think, explain themselves, or fire them
and get a better trainer.

I could go on but I think I should nip this while it is still civil.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Get out, stretch those legs and have some fun!

Group Fitness is Full! More on the Way!

Hello everyone.

I am just writing to say that the response has been overwhelming.

The first group is full!

The class filled in 5 days.

If you had intended to join this group it is already too late!

Couples joined, moms and daughters, brothers in law. It is quite a mix and already knowing over half these people it’s easy to see that we are going to have a lot of fun.

They are serious about their health but they always have a good time.


THE BEST PART

Due to the overwhelming response I have gotten more time and space for a second group. I have acquired the space at Studio 1 on Waverly Rd. It is two buildings past the MicMac Tavern. And no, we are not going there for supper!

I am looking to you to help me get members. People you would like to see get into better shape or who have been asking if you know of someone to help them get fit

If you know anyone who has one hour a week and is looking to get into great shape, please pass this on. They just might thank you for it. Often.

Not only that, I have a Referral Reward System. Get one person signed up and you get a free session. Two and it is two. Three and your free for the whole 3 months!!!

Really! Get three friends signed up and you are free. The four of you will get into great shape together, have fun and save 25%. Unless you don’t want to tell them! Don’t worry, I wont either!

It’s only $66 for the two months! Looking the best for Christmas or getting a huge jump on New Year’s resolutions, now is the time to start.

So if you've put it off and missed the first group here is your chance at the second.

Call me at 219-0072 or e-mail me at todd@altiusfitness.com

Thank you again for helping spread the word about this wonderful opportunity.

Have a great day!

In health,

Todd

Complete Athletic Development for Youths

Hi,

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Neuro-Scientist & Motor Skill Development Expert

and


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World Class Speed Coach


And here is an mp3 audio testimonial from Richie Whall,Young Athlete Coach from Cheshire, England.

Complete Athlete Development Home

You can see why I back it up as well. I've been following Brian's work for over a year now and I can say I have never been led astray. The information and his motivation is fantastic.

If you want to take your athletics to the next level, this is the program for you!




Click here to get your copy right now.

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Who's looking out for you?


In health,

Todd

Complete Athlete Development Home

Knock their socks off!

What can I say. You learn something new everyday. Sometimes it is the things that you thought you already knew.

I've been reading and researching what makes a successful weight loss plan for all these years.

Guess what I "found out".

Eat less, do more.

Yup. That's it.

Careful, what I mean by eat less is to reduce carbohydrates and make your meals smaller. Oh, you know what I mean by that.

I've bee there myself. Big heaping plate for supper. It feels good when you haven't had a lot to eat all day.

But if you eat more during the day, and more often, the less likely we will gorge at the end of the day.

Makes sense doesn't it?

Something weight loss guru Alwyn Cosgrove said stuck with me. Weight loss is simple, not easy!

We know what we have to do. It's all in black and white above. But why can't we do it. That's the hard part.

You are going to have to figure out what is stopping you from succeeding. That is something no personal trainer in the world can do: go inside your head.

We can quote statistics until we are blue in the face. But if a client isn't ready to make "the change", well, nothing is going to happen.

For instance: reduce carbohydrate intake.

Seems simple enough.

How many people do it? Take a look around at our collective girth. Not many, I'd say.

Simple, not easy.

Another: 1 hour of activity a day

Any takers?

And I mean any activity. Sure some are better than others depending on what your goals are but lets get the cart out in front of the horse shall we. Start by doing anything. Enjoy your activity.

Fine tune later.

So what are you going to do today?

What are you going to do this week?

There is a hint at what will make any plan successful. Looking ahead. Seems like an oversimplification. But I encourage you to look around.

See anyone else doing it?

Now go. Get out there. Knock their socks off and surprise yourself. You are capable of so much.

In health,

Todd

Check out the Complete Athletic Development for young athletes. The best system in the world for preparing your young athletes for competition and reducing injuries.

Go HERE!

Have a wonderful day!

My mom is fitter than you!

Middle aged people are more likely to be active and enrolled in
extracurricular sports than youths are!

Really? Why is that?

Kids today are not encouraged to go outside. In fact we go to great
lengths to make sure they are not.

Video games. Drives everywhere. Computer time. No gym at school, my
personal fave.

As a result the parents of the kids I work with are often in better
shape than their kids.

Parents had complete athletic development by going outside and
pushing, pulling, jumping, climbing, skipping.

All those things go a long way to creating a very complete athletic
body that is capable of adapting and playing sports. Almost any
sport at that. And that is fun.

So if our kids are uncoordinated and winded, how much fun do you
think they are having?

The answer is NOT putting them on a treadmill, for too many reasons
to lay out here.

The answer is NOT joining a gym. Resistance is only one tiny aspect
of overall health.

That is why I train for complete athletic development. It doesn't
mean Olympic style. Just looking at the whole picture. Balance,
coordination, stamina, strength, health.

Look at all of it before we start trying to figure out what to do.

The difference in kids that I work with who get outside and play
and those who don't are staggering.

But don't just take it from me.

Check out what the experts have to say. Here is a blog I posted a
little while back.

http://mysportspeed.blogspot.com/2008/04/complete-athletic-development-for.html

It is still relevant now and I have a bad feeling that it will be
for a while.

Please read it. Check it out.

Obesity Recognition Doesn't Happen?

Parents don't recognize obesity in their own children.

Believe it.

Here is an article referencing research into this area.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6451015.stm

So it has to be asked how active are our children? Are we over
protective?

It's a difficult place to be but it is necessary to look at what is
really happening.

Take a look at how much time our kids spend being active every day.

That doesn't mean playing sport. It doesn't mean winning
competitions.

Just being active.

We joke about being kicked out of the house until the street lights
came on. It shouldn't be. It might have been the best thing that
could have happened to us.

All that climbing, pushing, pulling, crawling and jumping we did as
children is extremely important. It was during some of our critical
development periods. That means we take those skills through life
and can use them in all of our activities.

That makes everything that much more fun.

That means we are more likely to do something active and stay
healthy.

So I ask again: How active are our children?

Functional v. Impressive

As a developing athlete function is more important than impressive.

Trust me, I have the ankles, unfortunately, to prove it.

At least physically. Mentally, well, we all would like to look
impressive.

I am more concerned with the ability to take what an athlete has
learned and apply it to the field of play. And young athletes need
the basics established first. The impressive will then be that much
easier, and therefore more impressive. Because you made it look easy.

I've run into this with my athletes who have been run four hours
during their practice. Impressive? Maybe.

But could they stop on a dime? No. If you want to be impressive on
the field, track, court, then you need "change of direction" speed.

What do you think the most important first component of that is?
Stopping.

Seems like a no brainer. Yet, have you been taught how to stop
properly?
Parents: How about your kids?

When stopping is coached and the athlete is able to change
directions faster than anyone else, then you have an incredible
advantage over the competition.

I recently enjoyed watching a local basketball tournament. Know
what impressed me? There was one athlete who, despite their
considerable size, was quicker than anyone else on the court, at
any size.

Now that was impressive!

But (I can hear it now) standing on a swiss ball looks impressive
in the gym.

So what?

Does it translate to the court? That should be gauge for the
training program.

Especially for developing athletes!

And that is what I want for my athletes. To have the skills to be
the best possible athlete they can be now and for the rest of their
athletic journey.

Why am I here?

I'm guessing you didn't sign up for something quite so esoteric as the title might suggest but a little background never hurts.

I come from an athletic background. I've experienced good and bad coaching.

Not just bad as in yell-at-em, but also bad through omission. Omitting the coaching (which is not yelling) or positive reinforcement. Assuming that kids "get it".

Kids want to hear good things, just like anyone else.

Young athletes are still developing physically and mentally. Yelling at them or running them "until they puke" is not going to foster an athletic lifestyle.

I'm sure that bad coaching is not what they set out to do. It's possible they think that whatever was done to them will work just fine.

Being negative works for a little while but soon performance becomes something about avoiding mistakes than taking it to the next level.

That's what hurts the most.

I've had good, bad and everything in between. But my first coach (hockey) was not at all helpful.

Here is the sum of my memories from playing hockey when I was 6 years old.

Getting yelled at for icing. I was 6. I do believe I quit hockey shortly thereafter and I haven't played a game since.

Nice.

Fortunately I moved on to basketball a few years later and had a pretty decent coach. Better yet, he was a good person. I learned to respect that and it made me want to play hard. And guess what, it was fun to.

This is a major factor in my involvement in coaching youth athletes now. Because I still see the bad. Believe it or not, some misguided coaches in my daughter's U6 soccer league won't even play our team, or the 2 other teams for that matter, because they are not "ready".

Ready? They are four, five, and six years old. They are ready to play and have fun at the drop of a hat. That's all the "ready" that any coach should be worried about at that age.

So why am I here?

I want to change the way kids are coached for the better. Take into account how mature they are, mentally and physically, and make it positive experience that will influence them and their success in life. 

It's why I joined the IYCA and became a Youth Fitness Specialist.

It's a lot of fun and working with kids who want to be there. I want them to have a good time, and learn to become healthy active successful adults.

Is that too much to ask?

Enough about me. Some more fun stuff is coming your way soon. We'll chat later. 

Have a good one.