Last week many of us had a laugh and some fun with this post from my good friend Michael Anderson, who you should all be following to have a laugh and cut through some BS. Where was I? Right, boot camping teams into the ground. Before I go further, I am not disrespecting the military, any other their instructors or the like nor have I served so Iâm not writing this from that perspective. Iâm writing this from a thoughtful coachâs perspective that both works with his team in the off-season and coaches them through their season. Also, letâs all agree that comparing any athletics to battle and/or serving is just plain foolish.
The problem with this idea, is the coach is trying to put on a show for the public with their team and doing so at the detriment of said team and their S&C staff. The result that some well-intended coaches may hope for, when bringing in such a person, is likely some sort of team building or team bonding.
There are a few ways Iâd prefer my team to bond than running them into the ground and having them screamed at (neither of which makes someone tough so if youâre in that school of thought, you know where the door is). Have competition of sorts within the team- When I say this, I donât mean play another game of the sport your coaching, I mean other things, like capture the flag or dodgeball. Thereâs plenty of more creative things like that, use your imagination. Have a reward for the winning team something like food or maybe a day off? Use those brain cells, itâll be more productive. Problem solving activities- Iâm a fan of doing this for the entire team together and then splitting it up into groups. The simplest thing that comes to mind for me is some sort of scavenger hunt, anything that makes them think through the problem together, then act. I've seen things like human knot have a good result too. OK, letâs address the idea of âmental toughnessâ that some coaches could be after when they do this stunt, for lack of a better term. There is no amount of screaming, there is no high intensity workout that is going to prepare an athlete for the pressure situations coaches likely desire this âmental toughnessâ in. Mimicking it in some practice scenarios is possible, itâll never do it justice though. The only way to get them use to it, is to get them in it, in a game, and prepare them for it the best you can otherwise. In conclusion, the boot camp thing is over done and probably yields something positive maybe once out of 10000. Does that make it worth, the time, effort, pain and suffering it takes to do this? Not even a snowball's chance. There's many ways to achieve the desired results, use that cranium and watch what happens. Thanks for reading today friends, have a good one.
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This is one of those fun times of the year where we all want to be social, but also are looking to squeeze in training while we can. All this while trying not to run ourselves down and stay as healthy as possible. Building and Maintaining Strength- Yes, even in busy times of your life, you can build some strength. Even if you’re not quite getting the training in that builds your strength, you’ve likely taken a lot of time and care to build your strength, you don’t want to go back to square one if you can help it, right? Just 1 training session a week, though I’d recommend 2, can help you at the very least maintain what you’ve built. Stress Management- When you’re in a busy period of your life, you will undoubtedly be stressed out. Unless you are perfect when it comes to managing your stress on the, then you are going to need take time to relieve it to some degree before you have some sort of break down. Strength training might not be the cure all, but it does the job well for most. You exert yourself, you get back some of your confidence, release some of those endorphins, pretty good stuff if you ask me. Keep the Sick Bug Away- Not unlike above, when you train during a busy block of life, assuming you don’t train to absolute train-wreck-failure, you can keep that little sick bug away that tends to pop up when we overdo it and our body breaks down. Adjust the weights and your intensity of your training to match your energy, and you’ll keep your immune system in good shape, let alone your body.
Hope you find these little bits helpful for you as we get into the New Year as well. Have yourself a week and great end of the year fam! To me the biggest focus on the fitness industry should not be on little ins and outs of nutrient timing or posting about how much time you should be off social media before you lift (seriously I saw this one and wanted to throw my phone). It should be about how can we get more people moving. Especially when you consider our healthcare system in the U.S. has so many issues, the focus should be on trying to get movement in, so we don’t need to lean on it so much. I know for some that is hard because of certain conditions, still let’s do our best to get moving so we can let those that have issues that nutrition and exercise can’t fix, have the room they need. Won’t go further into this part because there’s tons of layers to peel back, I think you understand what I’m driving at here.
Of course, I’m biased to picking up heavy stuff and putting it back down, not only because I enjoy it but because of the loads of benefits it provides, I’m not against other things. Hell, if walking is what is going to get someone consistent movement, get after it and good on them. The way I see it, is if we can get more of the population up and moving, more of them will eventually find themselves with weights in hand. One of the reasons I very much enjoy working with my young athletes is because I know I can set these kids up to do this for life, so they do not end up like those that are working on just getting off their butts. I get to teach them that just because their sports go away does not mean there is benefit in getting to the gym and getting a bar in their hands. Does the reason change? Yes, it does. Do the benefits change? Not a chance. I’m especially proud of the female athletes that move on from me but continue to get in the gym and pick up some heavy stuff, that is another positive way to move fitness forward. The question remains if you were not taught this at a younger age, how do you start now? Just do the thing. Ready for a walk? Off for a stroll you go. Feeling like some yoga? Get your stretch on and enjoy. Body weight circuit? Cool go for it (and hit me up if you need ideas). If nothing else, ask someone you feel like has some (even if limited) knowledge about exercise and go from there. Those are the things in my brain for today folks, happy Thursday and enjoy your weekend! |
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AuthorJarrod Dyke, CSCS Archives
April 2024
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