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Happy Thanksgiving!
I forgot I was a parent for a second this past week. As I was sorting out my work schedule, I realized I may have to work on Black Friday. This is nothing out of the ordinary for those that work in gyms but this year we planned on heading to Long Island to spend time with family. This side of that family is quite large and prior to being a parent, we would sometimes make a day trip to the Island if we had to get back home to tend to the animals or work. So this year I thought, we've done it before, lets do it again. I soon learned this would not be a great idea! Our daughter loves her cousins. She has a bunch of them that she doesn't get to see often so this holiday is one of those rare moments during the year that she can see all five of her college aged cousins, and two others who she absolutely adores that are 6 and 8 years old. As I watched her joy spending time with them, I decided I would be doing her an injustice to rob her of those moments and memories that leaving would create. So we stayed an additional night and Friday was packed with activities and fun. She got to hang with her grandparents, play with her cousins, do crafts with them, go out to eat, go bowling, and all around just have a great time. She was so happy! Lesson learned on my end. Don't schedule appointments on Friday (unless you want to break your daughters heart)... or at least get someone to cover the gym while you are away. And to those I cancelled on, thank you for understanding! I hope you all had some time off and had some good moments among the stressors commonly associated with holidays. Speaking of stress... Fitness Tip of the Week Holidays can be a very stressful time. It is during these moments that we often forget about ourselves. We put others ahead of our own well-being and the result is usually never pretty. So this year, here is what I am proposing for us all: 30 Days of Fitmas to get in great shape before Santa comes down the chimney! What we are going to do here is not wait for the New Year to make some sort of resolution that, statistically speaking, doesn't usually pan out. We are going to detach from our current situation and take inventory. Take a look at your health as if you are a doctor meeting with a patient. Don't judge yourself, just state the facts. If you are struggling with how to take control of your health, here are a few things I propose that you can start today that won't be a total overhaul to your schedule:
Last week I sat down and read what appeared to be a letter written from Albert Einstein to his daughter. In it, he discussed a universal force that could change the world for the better. He told his daughter that this force is inside all of us. This force that he wrote of was love. I thought the letter was beautiful and wanted to share it. I read the entire thing for a podcast and prior to posting the video, I decided to double check the accuracy of it to see if, indeed, Einstein wrote it. As it turns out, it was a complete fabrication! I was duped by the internet. Who would have thought that you had to fact check what you read on the internet? (sarcasm) That being said, there were still some great lessons in it so I decided to share some of the takeaways from the letter Fake Einstein wrote to someone. The big one for me was to not put activity or work ahead of your loved ones. Don't wait until it is too late to spend time with them, to them that you love them, and support them. For more on the topic, check out episode 166 of my podcast: I've Been Duped! We Went to the Movies! Last weekend Marisa and I went to go watch a lighthearted movie but ended up having a change of plans at the last minute. We watched the trailer for She Said and decided this would be our movie for the day. This movie is about the creep Harvey Weinstein and his decades long reign of terror as a sexual predator in the movie industry. It tells the tale of two investigative reporters who set out on a journey to highlight the dark side of Hollywood in the hopes of shattering decades of silence around sexual assault, harassment and the power struggles that occur in the workplace. This reporting led to the Me Too movement which changed the landscape for women in not only that industry but in all walks of life. This power dynamic is concerning. A lot of these women who were victims felt that they had no voice. When they spoke out, either nobody cared or nobody cared to listen. This behavior went on for decades and it was as if their experiences didn't matter. Their lives were greatly effected by one decision to work for an evil man who used his position to manipulate. Quote of the Week “Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.” -- Steven Pressfield
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What I've Been Thinking About...
I hear stories weekly of how cruel kids can be to one another. A local newspaper just wrote that 10% of teens studied attempted suicide, and on top of that, an emergency room physician once told me that the pediatric ER is filled with suicidal teens. It is sad and it is scary. These past few weeks I have been thinking, maybe our approach to things like bullying has been flawed. Maybe instead of casting blame on the other child's parents or the schools lack of intervention, we can look at improving our own child's resiliency. But first, a story about siblings... I think at some point in our lives, we have all witnessed siblings not being kind to one another. It usually comes in the form of big brother or sister finding something that really annoys their younger sibling. If the afflicted one shows signs of annoyance or frustration, big sibling continues to poke and prod. If the younger sibling shows no change in demeanor, even if their blood is boiling, often times the harassing ends and the older child moves on to something else. In school, if a bully finds something that irks you, and you physically show them how angry, annoyed or upset it makes you, they will not relent. They will continue to aggravate you with whatever nonsense they are spewing until they no longer get the desired result. What I am proposing is that if we can give each child the tools to diffuse hostility, they will learn to rise above whatever is thrown their way. This is done by remaining calm in the face of danger. This is done by breathing through those anxiety riddled moments. This is done when we can teach kids that they aren't helpless, vulnerable and most importantly, that they are not a victim. In the face of Nazi guards and life in concentration camps, Viktor Frankl came to the conclusion that “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” Every one of us has the ability to choose their response to situations. This takes practice, maybe years of it, but if we can teach kids that they are in control of their emotions, this skill can go a very long way in life. Lets be real, nastiness and verbal insults aren't going anywhere. They will always be present. How we respond to them matters. Fitness Tip of the Week I talk to people occasionally who make the claim that walking is lame. I am not of this mindset and think that if you intend on maintaining or improving your fitness and/or body composition, then a short (or long) walk each and every day makes a huge impact. Now, if you find yourself getting bored with these walks, there is a way we can spice it up. The 10 minute walk test is a great challenge that gameifys the walking process. Here is how you do it: Find a good trail or route and mark a starting point. You will begin your walk every day at this exact spot. Set your timer for 10 minutes and see how far you can go. As the timer ends, take note of how far you went and each day, you try and beat that distance. There is no complex training plan needed for this. All you have to do is go a little bit further every day. After a few attempts, this will get pretty challenging. Around days 8-10, you will be hustling for about 10 minutes straight. When you get to this point, there is one very important rule that you must follow: NO RUNNING! When you feel you may have reached your limit, start all over again but this time breathe only through your nose while walking. Sorry mouth breathers but it is time to get a little nasal breathing in to challenge your cardiovascular system in a unique way! Building Physically Resilient Children While training some kids last week, I realized we were missing something. It seemed that performing exercises like jumping rope and hitting somersaults appear to be a lost art in our youth. With that in mind, I decided to break down how I would build a strong, resilient, injury proof child through the use of physical fitness. There are four areas I would address and would focus on them in this order...
What I've Been Reading Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell This book is shaping up to be one of my favorites of his. In the 1930's, as Fascism is starting to grow worldwide and thrive in places like Italy and Germany, a not-so-well known author (real name Eric Blair) decides to go to Spain during their Civil War to write about what is going on in that countries fight against the Fascists. As he gets there, he decides, well, lets put off the reporting for a second and let me get in on this action. He signs up to join the militia and eventually makes his way to the front lines. This book gives a great account of this war and the craziness that surrounds it. To say Orwell walks the walk would be a huge understatement. During one firefight, he gets shot through his neck, nearly puncturing his windpipe. Instead of heading home to finish his writing he went back to the front lines to continue to fight the good fight against the opposition. Everyone seems to be familiar with his books Animal Farm and 1984 but it is his non-fiction books that I am really starting to enjoy. It is in these books that you come to learn how he came to develop the ideas that are in those great works of fiction. His experiences, working in the coal mines, being homeless, fighting fascism in a civil war, all show up one way or another in his writing. Quote of the Week “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” -- Nelson Mandela I hope you all have an awesome week! Chris Fluck What I've Been Thinking About...
Last weekend we had a fundraiser for our daughters school. The day began with a 5K Run and a 2.5K walk. As we were getting prepared to start, I took a look around and saw some pretty special things. There were mothers lacing up their shoes alongside their daughters, fathers were warming up with their sons, and entire families were out there getting ready to create a memory with one another. At one point in the race, Emi and one of her buddies were running alongside the head of their school and I thought this is a very interesting commingling of families and staff across a diverse population. As we were walking/running, I thought an event like this has the power to change a kids life and encourage them to live a physically active lifestyle. When you see your parents, teachers, or other role models taking part in physically challenging things, it could be the spark that lights the fire inside youl to do the same. If you surround yourself with positive influences they can, and will, wear off on you. (Side note: I am super proud of Emi and her friend for deciding they wanted to run/walk the loop. It made me happy watching them go, not because they were exercising but because they chose to try something hard and kept at it all the way to the finish line. These tough little girls weren't afraid of a little challenge and that put a smile on my face). Fitness Tip of the Week I had a moment this week where a few mothers who pump iron at the gym mentioned their newfound interest in pickle ball. I haven't seen this sport since high school P.E. and was surprised to hear about its rise in popularity. As I thought about what skills the sport requires, I decided it may be time to switch up our training a bit. Pickleball demands a lot of starting and stopping, quick change of directions and tons of rotating as they make contact with the ball. In addition, the cardiovascular system is stressed with quick bursts of energy, done repeatedly over the course of a game. It is not like going out for a simple jog. Its short bursts of effort over and over again! So what did we do? Well, since these ladies plan on doing athletic things, we must begin training like athletes. We did some box jumps, got the agility ladder out to work on some change of direction skills, built some strength in the lower body to help injury proof the legs and pushed the sled like there was no tomorrow. As we were doing this, I came to realize that this was fun for everyone involved. Training with purpose and intent and having fun while doing so are not mutually exclusive things. They can exist together and if you can find some joy in your training, you will be much better off! Are there "Rules" for Coaching? The world of youth sports is crazy. You can go to a sport field on any given weekend and see great examples of coaching and you will also see poor examples of coaching. If I had to break down three areas of improvement that come up often with coaches and parents it would be the following...
What I've Been Reading Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell This year I went on a quest to tackle all of George Orwell's books. At the moment, I believe this is book number five or six of his and I have to tell you, George Orwell is the man! His writing is creative, comical, and interesting. I often sit back and wonder how people can do such incredible things with their writing! This book was first published in 1936 and it is critical of society at the time. In it, the main character George Comstock is a spiteful and bitter man. The cause of his bitterness is money, or better yet, the lack thereof. As Gordon moves through life, he ruins friendships, quits jobs, never gets the girl and doesn't finish any of his writing. He tells everyone it is because of a lack of money and if he had some, his life would be completely different. If you are wondering what an aspidistra is, you are not alone! I had to look this up prior to reading the book. It is a hard to kill house plant commonly associated with the upper middle class during this period. Gordon Comstock despised this class of people! Quote of the Week "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way" -- John Maxwell I hope you all have an awesome week! Chris Fluck What I've Been Thinking About...
This week I spoke with a few nurses and these conversations shed lights on the state of our countries health, the hospitals ability to handle a never ending supply of patients, and a profession that is seeing people leave in droves. One hospital, for example, was short staffed 8 nurses for a shift. The job by itself is a tough one. Nurses have to deal with lack of sleep, stress, death, illness, conflict and a bunch of other things associated with that kind of work. When work is fully staffed, it is a very demanding job. When short staffed, the demands grow exponentially and eventually you get to the point where nurses are burnt out. I remember seeing a headline at the height of the pandemic that read "90% of nurses contemplated leaving their jobs". This workforce is the backbone of every hospital, one in which we should be mindful to take care of! As fitness professionals, it is our job to get people healthy. It is our job to keep people out of the hospital and do everything in our power to help aid whoever we work with live a long, disease free life. But, to put this simply, we are failing big time! We are living in a country where 88% of the population is either diabetic, pre-diabetic, or has high blood pressure. This same country has a population of people where over 70% of adults are overweight or obese. 4 out of 5 adults, and 3 out of 5 kids, don't get enough daily physical activity, and even when people get excited about their health, it often doesn't last. Take in note what you see every January in gyms where over 80% of new enrollees quit within five months of signing up. If we can decrease the burden that hospitals are facing, quality of care will increase and an important workforce (nurses, family doctors, etc.) will not be feeling overburdened, day in and day out. Fitness Tip of the Week After decades of research and hundreds of years of human evolution, sleep scientists have discovered that between 7-9 hours of sleep for adults is the mandatory minimum for optimal development. When you don't get the required amount, and end up fighting biology, disease and/or sickness tend to be not far behind. This hits close to home once or twice a year for me. During these times of impaired sleep, my brain doesn't seem to function properly, I catch a cold or virus, and often times lose motivation to get things done. I also find myself eating a lot more junk food. All of these things are no good! When I am having trouble sleeping, I try to remember how important it is to have a consistent routine and maintain a somewhat rigid sleep and wake time. Whatever time your alarm is set for, start preparing for sleep 9-10 hours before that. During this time preparing the body, I try to take a hot shower, drink some sleepy tea, avoid exercise and eating, and generally like to read a bit before passing out. All of these things help me wind down but it was through experimentation that I found what worked and what didn't. Try out a variety of things to develop what works for you! Sleep is vital to our health and should be placed high on our priority list. Without it, we aren't being the person we are capable of being. In addition, we might die sooner as one study points out that those who sleep less than 7 hours have a 12% increase in all-cause mortality. Don't be the person who claims they only need 4 or 5 hours of sleep. This is 1-3% of the population and if you are one of them, kudos to you. If you are not, which is highly likely, then shift your mindset and sleep more. This line of thought appears to be more of an example of hubris than self awareness! Are there "Rules" for Parenting? I am reading a book that outlines 12 rules for life and this led me to think: Are there rules for parenting? I started writing some ideas down and after jotting down an entire page worth, I thought I would share some things that I have learned along the way...
What I've Been Reading 3 More Reps: The Golden Age of Bodybuilding by George Snyder & Rick Wayne I grew up in a house where my father was a former bodybuilder and we always had a gym in the basement (I didn't always use it growing up but it was there!). Names like Arnold, Frank Zane, and Franco Columbo were on my radar at a very young age and I always wondered how these guys can train themselves to those incredible physiques. That wonderment is still there which led me down the path of reading this book to get an idea on their training programs. This book is a compilation of seminars given by some of the best bodybuilders of the 70's and 80's at the authors gym which happened to be located in Pennsylvania. One interesting note, at the time of some of these seminars, anabolic steroids were not illegal. Some the guys were very candid about what they took. During the era that they competed, their bodies are noticeably smaller than today's competitors. It makes me wonder what the heck the current guys are doing to get so damn huge. Unfortunately for them, I do not believe that much mass leads to a long, healthy life which seems to be apparent with the rash of young deaths in that field. Quote of the Week "The great tragedy of science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." -- Thomas Huxley I hope you all have an awesome week! Chris Fluck I was talking to a Lehigh student recently and she mentioned a project that she was working on. Intrigued, I asked what the topic was and she said she was researching why college students (aka her friends) are stressed, have anxiety, and can't seem to handle life as an adult. It seems that they do not have the confidence or ability to make a decision without a grown up interjecting. Intrigued, I decided to look into this topic and was slightly surprised at what I found.
Over a decade ago, The Atlantic published an article titled: All Work and No Play: Why Your Kids are More Anxious and Depressed. In it, they discussed the role of play and how it has been on the decline going all the way back to 1955. Think back to your childhood for a moment and then compare that to your own child's. Where are the differences? In my estimation, it is in the area of structured activities versus unstructured activities. I remember games of football at the park, basketball anywhere there was a hoop, or street hockey outside of my parents house. What I do not remember is year-round training for sport, club/AAU tournaments, standardized test prep, "college showcases" or anything of the like. As achievement becomes the primary focus for youth endeavors, low stress activities like free play get ignored. This has some long term detrimental effects. The unstructured environment associated with play offers children the opportunity to have a little say in their life. It gives them the power to control their own actions without a parent, coach or teacher telling them what they can and can't do. They pick the rules, they pick the teams, they keep score and they play. If a problem arises, they work through it and find a resolution. If a kid isn't playing fair, they handle it. If someone decides to not treat others well, they won't be asked back to play. If they lose or fail, they learn from it. They don't dwell, they move on. These are the lessons that cannot be taught in a classroom or in a textbook. They must be lived and they must be felt. Play provides a child endless opportunities to learn. Allowing kids a little autonomy to handle stressful situations as a youth provides an opportunity for a perfect stress-free dress rehearsal. The result of all this will be a strong, resilient child prepared to handle what the world has thrown their way! Chris P.S. If you want more information on this, check out the article linked about from The Atlantic or read the full report from The American Journal of Play: The Decline of Play and the Rise of Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents by Peter Gray, Psychology Researcher and Scholar I Did Something I Never Thought I'd Do...
In Cape Cod last week we found this restaurant with great reviews called Hangar B Eatery so we check it out. As we pull up, we arrive at a small airport and wonder where the heck the restaurant is (Side note: I now understand how people feel when they come to my gym and see nothing but an old barn and horses!). As it turns out, the restaurant was located inside the chained link fence and the seats were available in Hangar B. On my way walking back to the car to get everyone I noticed a sign that said you can take a tour of the area in one of their planes. For some reason I mention this out loud to everyone and my daughters eyes lit up! As I am making my way through 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson he brought up an idea that came full circle on this day. He writes, "Our anxiety systems are very practical. They assume that anything you run away from is dangerous." Growing up, I never flew. I don't think I consciously ran away from the idea of getting on a plane but I also wasn't that interested. I was fine staying on the ground and didn't end up flying until my late twenties. The idea of flying in an object through the air at such great heights baffles my mind every time I am on a plane. Often times I cannot shake that thought and even when I do, it usually revisits a few times each trip. It is safe to say I am not the most comfortable person on a plane. Now back to the story... After dodging Emilia's question of, "Can we go on one of those planes?" multiple times, I finally consented and said yes (For the record, Marisa was much more willing to do this than I). So we board a four seat airplane with a pilot that is barely out of flight school and begin the process. I am riding shotgun and can't believe we are actually doing this. He starts going through his checklist and there is no turning back. While in the air, my anxiety system was in full swing. After a few minutes in air I began feeling a twinge in my hamstring. I thought, this is a terrible time for a hamstring cramp but quickly realized this cramp is coming on because my body was TENSE! I tried to breathe and relax but it didn't work too well. I decided to look behind me and this is when I was able to breathe a short sigh of relief. Emilia was gazing out the window and when we made eye contact, I gave her a thumbs up and a huge smile broke out over her face as she returned the gesture. I thought, if she is good, I should be good. What doesn't kill you makes your stronger, right? Fitness Tip of the Week There is an idea out there that eradicates soreness that is a little counter-intuitive that I would like to share. But first, lets set the scene... Imagine you just performed a bunch of squats in the gym and you hit those legs and glutes very hard. You feel good about yourself but then, when you wake up the next day your legs feel absolutely destroyed. Getting out of bed is a struggle, walking down the stairs is unpleasant, and getting up and down from a chair (or toilet) is a chore. This soreness is going to stick around for a few days so you have a choice to make: do I sit idle and wait for it to disappear or do I get my body moving and try to work some of this feeling out? The rational mind may be telling you to take some time off so the legs and glutes can recover but as it turns out, that advice will prolong the issue. If your legs are sore from squats, the best way you can eradicate some of that discomfort is by performing squats the following day. This is known as the repeated bout effect. Science tells us that "a single bout of exercise confers protective effect against muscle damage from a subsequent bout of similar activity". Soreness is muscle damage. If you have muscle damage from a specific exercise, the quickest way to reduce that damage and address the soreness would be to perform that same exercise with little to no weight. As the body begins to repair damaged muscles, getting blood flow to the sore areas through exercise can help speed up the recovery process. Physical Activity & Play... Earlier in the week I came across a post from The Global Matrix 4.0 which represents the largest compilation of information related to physical activity in children in adolescents. Their report states that there is "a global pandemic of youth physical activity" as only 27%-33% of youth meet physical activity guidelines. This is an alarming trend and what makes this even potentially more dangerous is that those who do participate in physical activity, usually do so in a structured setting lacking variety. Last week I spoke on why play is important for socio-emotional reasons. If you need a reminder, here is a summary of why physical play is important: The unstructured environment associated with play offers children the opportunity to control their own actions, to solve problems, to work with others, to laugh, to deal with emotions and ultimately, the feeling that they have control of their own lives and fate. When kids don't feel like they can control their environment and how they respond to it, anxiety and depression are soon to follow. On the physical side of things, some of my favorite memories growing up are playing sports or doing physical activities with friends. We picked the teams, made the rules, handled disputes, and in the end, everyone had fun. We played so often that we got tons of practice running, jumping, cutting, defending, and passing in all types of different environments. Because of this, we developed basic athletic skills that carried over into any sport that we decided to play. This concept gets lost when most activity is highly structured and in a single sport setting. Also, incidence of injury and burnout increase when kids focus solely on one sport or activity. They may be better at that given sport in the short term but will suffer in the long term. Variety is the spice of life for all ages! On the Road Again On our way home from Cape Cod, which is roughly a 6 hour trip, we listened to an episode of Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History. I am a huge fan of this guy and this episode in particular was incredibly entertaining (Malcolm Gladwell's 12 Rules for Life). In it, he discusses when a hockey team should pull their goalie, how similar logic can be used when deciding what to do if someone broke into your home (you will never guess what he and his guest recommend) and lastly, the personality trait agreeableness is discussed and its role in decision making. The closing sentence of this episode description reads, "We think the unthinkable, so you don’t have to" which fits this episode perfectly. If you have a 45 minute drive coming up, I would recommend giving it a listen! Quote of the Week "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right." -- Jane Goodall I hope you all have an awesome week! Chris Fluck |
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