Sports Performance Edge

I just finished reading the article Fit to Serve: Reshaping Youth Fitness for the 21st Century by Dr. Ed Thomas. Read it! And then take a look at the Iowa Team Fitness page. That is where the above video came from so you can also just watch that. But if you are a parent, a coach, a trainer, an educator, grandparent, working person, athlete, human being you should care about this.

If you check out the Edge on Facebook you have probably seen some posts by other like-minded individuals and groups where we talk about “rejecting the awful normal”. What is that? It is a state of mind, a choice, actions, beliefs, and a philosophy that we follow. It is about deciding to do something, about taking action and responsibility for one’s own actions. It is about not lowering the bar so everyone can simply walk over it at the same height and receive rewards for merely participating in the form of ribbons, t-shirts and water bottles. We have enough t-shirts but not enough people who are mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually fit. The article by Dr. Thomas highlights the depressingly low standards that have been set for the youth, the future of our country, for far too many years and the realized consequences of those abysmal standards already. And things are only getting worse.

I hate being pessimistic or synical but this is something where the “norm” of today’s fitness standards for our youth – your son’s and daughters, brothers and sisters, current and future employees, future and current parents, must be changed! Not everyone has to be an athlete or have 6-pack abs. That is not the point here. The point is that we cannot maintain our military and first responder professions when 75% of young adults (in Iowa, aged 18-24) cannot meet the minimum standards for military service because the are not fit enough. The point is that health care is not a right but a responsibility. The point is what Rudyard Kipling said so many years ago that we are sadly still not understanding or seeming to care about enough to take significant action against:

Nations have passed away and left no trace, and history gives the naked cause of it–one single, simple reason in all cases; they fell because their people were not fit.

I strongly encourage you to read Dr. Thomas’ article and watch the video above if you haven’t already. We love fads. You’ll see some ‘new fads’ in the video that are being implemented into some schools here in Iowa. These ‘fads’: kettlebells, Indian clubs, movement, have been around for a long time. We’re just finally realizing that they still actually work when you use them and can be some of the tools in our toolbox for trying to fix the sad shape of our nation.

It can start in the school systems with bringing back proper physical education and empowering our youth to live active, healthy lifestyles that goes beyond simply physical fitness. Look at the research in the video, physical fitness and mental fitness are strongly linked! The mind and body work together. Once we start a movement in the school system it can spread to parents helping to teach and reinforce proper eating habits at home for themselves and their kids. Now that is a great genetic trait to pass on! The movement can then extend to the work place, encouraging employees to be healthy, active and then more productive…

The possibilities are staggering. But we have to start with a simple act of making a decision and being disciplined to follow the path it leads to each and every day. Are we willing to make the choice, take the action or are we going to merely continue to settle for lowering the bar rather than lifting one another up?

Today’s fitness industry is saturated with garbage. Do we really need so many diets, reality fitness shows, circus tricks posing as exercises,”fitness” DVD’s and game systems, gimmicky home gym equipment and programs?! Really?! If variety is the spice of life then right now we are suffering from fitness that has been grossly over seasoned.

From some of my previous posts you have probably gathered that I am big on basics. This video is another great reason why…

Now, I don’t work with Madonna or any celebrities. I work with real people: athletes, parents, students and working professionals. I have been very fortunate and blessed to work with some individuals who are now pro athletes or compete at the top levels of their respective sports and skills. There is one constant for all these individuals… they learned how to do the basics. They started and stuck with the fundamentals and built their performance successes on that foundation.

It comes down to cutting out the excess – nutritionally, in exercise and in life. Nutritionally, less junk food like processed, refined and sugary “foods” is more room for nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and lean proteins. It is just as easy to put fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables in your cart at the grocery store as it is to put Little Debbie and Chef Boyardee. Less junk means more fuel your body can actually use for energy, tissue repair and growth, development, focus, immunity, and battling stress. And take out the nutritional garbage, stop dieting and start eating. Start with the basics of eating every 2-3 hours, eat natural/non-man-made foods, and don’t use a plate the size of those 18” rims you saw on that Escalade going down the road.

We don’t need 50 variations of one exercise, especially when most people can’t even perform the basic movement pattern properly. Squatting on a BOSU while doing a single-arm DB curl might look like serious fitness but it is a serious disservice to the individual, especially when it is probably someone who can’t even properly stand up out of a chair with only their own body weight to lift. We want fancy “functional” “core” lifts that magazines and infomercials tell us are the “secret” to fitness. Less is more. Learn how to move properly first. Learn proper posture, body awareness, form, technique, breathing, balance and coordination for each movement. Start with basic fundamental movements patterns - pushing, pulling, reaching, squatting, lunging, stepping and twisting in all planes of motion. Learn how to do them PROPERLY. Perfect and master each movement pattern. Less is more people. Cut out the garbage. It might not look flashy or fancy to work at mastering a movement but when you do the type of health, fitness and performance ability that you can build on that foundation will be amazing.

As you get stronger and your body is able to handle greater stresses, then you can progress. But you don’t need fancy equipment to do it with. You don’t need TV’s, magazines or 3 hour long high marathon workout sessions every day of the week. Work hard when you are working out and relax hard when you are relaxing. Less is more is also about taking time to recover and regenerate from the stresses of training and life. Incorporate things like regular massage therapy, Yoga, stretching and other relaxation, regenerative and recovery practices into your routine and lifestyle.  Less fancy equipment and watching TV while working out and fewer “celebrity” trainer “secrets” is more of what we need for realizing true fitness and increased performance.

As the saying goes,” all work and no play” leads to you paying for it later. Less stress and more recovery. Yoga and Massage Therapy are great for recovery and regeneration from exercise-induced stress and work-bills-leaky faucet-kids soccer games-what’s for dinner-back to school-holidays-birthdays-life-induced stress as well. When all we do is focus on work and other non-essentials in life and keep bumping our health down the priority list no wonder our health is as poor as it is in the country. If you have time to watch your favorite prime-time soap opera or reality show, you can find time to get in a workout, make a family dinner (not from a box, can or bag!), go for a family walk, have a game night, get a massage, do some stretching, read, get to bed a little earlier (sleep is great for recovery and regeneration!)… Less is more for not putting too much on your to-do list, setting realistic goals and expectations with work and honey-do’s at home. Pick something, get it done, and move on. Many of us (myself included) don’t do well if we try and do 50 things at once. Tackle one at a time, do it well and do it right the first time and move on. Whether it is life, exercise or nutrition, fewer excuses means more successes.