At the moment, 7 out of 10 kids quit participating in athletics by the age of 13. There are not too many industries that would survive with a 70% fail rate but the youth sport model in America is in no real threat of collapse. On any given week, you can find a tournament to compete in, a team to try out for, or receive specialized instruction at a camp or clinic. Gone are the days of riding bikes with friends, shooting hoops in the park, or playing street hockey with kids in the neighborhood. Rather, it seems these youngsters are in a never ending loop of structured activities which prevents kids from being just that: KIDS!

In the moment, I do not foresee much changing nationally in regards to the youth sport model but it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make the experience better for the kids in our lives. When you ask kids why they stop playing sports, the number one reason given is that they just aren't fun anymore. Below I have outlined six areas that frustrate kids when they are playing and things we can avoid as parents/coaches/teachers to ensure that we are not the cause of their dissatisfaction!

1. Stop coaching your child from the sidelines. There is not a coach in the world that wants every parent in the crowd shouting instructions. It is hard enough to get the messaging across when it comes from one or two voices, let alone a sideline full of self-appointed coaches. Find coaches that you trust and then get out of the way and let them do their job!
2. Stop yelling instructions while the play is on. All coaches want their athletes to think and react on the fly. It is unconscious thought, the “thinking without thinking” that differentiates high level skill acquisition from the beginner. While you yell direction while play is going on, the athlete may shift their focus from the task and look to you for guidance. This distraction will hinder performance, not enhance it. One more thing, there is a good chance they don't hear you anyway! 
3. Stop disrespecting officials (This includes you Eagles fan!) Not only is this impolite and poor behavior, it shifts the focus from the internal to the external. If you are saying things like, "The ref cost you the game" then the child thinks whatever they did was acceptable that day. It wasn't the three turnovers or errors, it was the ref who led to the defeat. This is a poor lesson for a kid to learn!
4. Stop questioning the coach. During these moments of criticism, your child will begin to devalue their coaches thoughts and opinions because there mommy and daddy do. If you want your child to have a good attitude and show great effort in everything they do, disrespecting the coach will not help aid in that department. If there is an issue with the coach, speak to them privately and not in front of your child. 
5. Stop commenting on teammates' play or comparing your child to others. You and your child will have a much better sports experience if you stop comparing your child to their fellow athletes. 
6. Stop using the ride home as a “teaching moment”. After competition, emotions can be quite high. If you or your child is emotionally charged, it is not wise to try to discuss certain matters associated with whatever caused the emotion. Give the kid some time to process things and if they want to talk, then talk. If they don't give them space. Remember, you are there to support your child so do what best serves them!

My Back!
On Wednesday night I woke up around 11:40 and could not move. My back was incredibly stiff and my legs felt a little tingly. I tried to sit up and failed. I was stuck in bed for a moment and after taking some time to ask myself, "what the heck is going on here?" I finally rolled off the bed and luckily was able to land on my feet. I had my fingers crossed that this was a dream of some sort and that if I went back to bed, I would wake up feeling like a champ. As it turns out, this was not the case!

So what happened? I am not really sure. As I think back to that day, no specific injury or tweak occurred. I swam in the morning and everything felt fine. I coached PE for a few hours and felt great. I then worked in the gym in the evening and went to bed with no signs of discomfort. Some things don't have explanations and this may be an example of one of them.

What I've Been Thinking About...
Early in the week I was talking to a father about his son who is recovering from a nasty leg injury. He mentioned that his sons ankle on the injured leg is incredibly stiff even though he did not have an injury at that site. I then shared the idea of muscle guarding. This is your body’s protective response when an injury occurs as it causes the muscles around the injured area to tighten up as a means of protecting the injured site.

A few days after that conversation, muscle guarding entered my world as the muscles in my lower back, hamstring, quadriceps, and calves got incredibly stiff post-back injury. The body has innate protective mechanisms designed to help you recover and function optimally and this concept of muscle guarding is one of the finer ones. One thing to keep in mind if you are experiencing stiffness somewhere is that the cause of it may not be right at the pain site, but rather above or below it. The stiffness may be the body's way of guarding itself from further injury, pain or discomfort!

Sticking with the Bad Back Theme...
This weeks fitness tip will involve how to handle and/or come back from an injury. To put this simply, pain sucks! It will put a hamper on your quality of life and can potentially be the cause of a downward spiral in regards to your over fitness if you let it. After waking up with my back feeling like garbage, I started to think about how I can make it feel better and here is what I came up with...

1. The first decision I made was that I was going to give my body 24-72 hours to rest and let the inflammatory process take its course. During this time I took a supplement we have called Renew which uses turmeric extract as its pain relief ingredient. I wanted to avoid NSAIDs and this ingredient has been shown to be just as effective against pain relief and function when compared to placebo and NSAIDs (click here to check out that research). 
2. Once I was able to bend down without my back seizing up, I added in some gentle stretches and in a day or two, will start taking some light exercise. I am taking this injury as a cue to go on walks more, enjoy the sights and sounds of country life, and not push so hard when lifting weights. 
3. Lastly, my goal is to keep mental stress minimal. During this time I think back to what I previously wrote about in regards to mental stress manifesting itself physically. Every little thing matters so I am planning on keeping stress to a minimum so the body can heal ASAP! 

​What I've Been Watching
The Super Bowl! Here are a few takeaways...

• What a great game! I grew up an Eagles fan and my daughter loves team (thanks to being brain washed by my parents) so I was hoping they would win for her sake. Funny thing is, she missed the entire game as she fell asleep at 5 pm in the car and after putting her in bed, stayed asleep until 6 am the next day! 
• The quarterback play and coaching was impressive as both teams lit up the scoreboard. The play design the Chiefs used to score in the second half was genius in its simplicity. It reminded me of coaching football where we would run a play and if it works, you kept running it until they show they can stop it! 
• The Mahomes injury and his miraculous healing. Pain relief measures have been a part of the NFL for as long as it existed so I don't think we should be naive to that fact. It is a sport that is physically demanding and at the end of the day, everyone's livelihood depends on whether or not they can play and do it well. I have no clue what the Chiefs did but Mahomes went from nearly being in tears with sad, mopey body language, to running for first downs and leading his team to victory. Performance enhancing measures are in every sport. Football is not excluded! 
• Andy Reid is one of the all-time great coaches. He was great in Philly and seems to be even better in the Chiefs organization. The most impressive thing to me watching the post-game celebration is that his team really seems to love him which says a lot about his character and his ability to connect.
• Eagles fans, beware how you discuss the loss if your children are around. If you blame the loss on external factors (refs, poor field condition, Mahomes "healing") then your child may see that as acceptable behavior and do the same. The next time things don't go there way in sport or life, they will look to blame others rather than take personal responsibility.

Quote of the Week
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right." --Ezra T. Benson

I hope you all have an awesome week!
Chris Fluck

What I've Been Thinking About...
When working with middle school and high school kids, sometimes the conversations in the gym are all over the place. This week we had one such conversation where I was telling a few of them about the mysterious healing abilities the mind has. 

There is a variation of the placebo effect known as a "sham surgery". This is a surgical intervention where the surgeons pretend to do the operation by making an incision, go through all the motions but not actually do anything structurally. During the "procedure", they communicate to each other as if they are performing the surgery and even hand surgical equipment back and forth. After all this, they sew you back up and send you off to recover. On the surface, this doesn't really make sense but it has been studied and reviewed multiple and the results stay the same: sham surgery was beneficial in 74 percent of trials, and in half of them, it was beneficial to the same degree as the actual procedure. In some cases, it was found to be more beneficial than the actual procedure. (Here is a link to an article on it from Psychology Today: Sham Surgery)

In a country where medical interventions and surgical procedures continue to rise, it would be wonderful to figure out a way to tap into that placebo power and prevent some of these from occurring. It could cut back on the amount of medications one may take and potentially help preserve the body from undergoing a procedure that may not be 100% necessary. 

Fitness Tip of the Week
Want some help getting to your first chinup? Here is how I would approach making that happen...

• Step One: Hang from the bar with your arms straight for 30 seconds without falling. If you are not able to do that in this moment, use multiple sets to get there. 2 sets of 15 seconds, 3 sets of 10 seconds, or 5 sets of 6 seconds are all options. 
• Step Two: Remember the flexed arm hang from back in the day? Using a step or bench, jump your body up and hold your chin above the bar for 30 seconds. Again, you can break this up over multiple sets until you can reach 30 seconds in one attempt. 
• Step Three: Perform five, 5 second eccentrics or negatives. Jump your way to the top and hold your chin above the bar for a one count, then slowly lower your body until your arms are fully extended. This lowering should take you five seconds. Fatigue kicks in quickly here so I would recommend not trying to do them all in a row. Put them in a superset with a lower body exercise or spread them out over the course of the workout by doing one set every 4-8 minutes.  
• Step Four: Jumping Chinups. Stand on the ground or a low box and then jump and pull yourself up. The goal would be to use as little leg help as possible. From here, after the initial rep, perform a few half reps or three quarter reps where you come down a little and then pull yourself right back up. Over time, try to come down further and further. 
• Step Five: Chinups. Start in a hang position with arms fully extended and pull yourself all the way up!

​Rule of One Moments
A few years ago I did an interview with a former professional runner and friend and she shared a sad story. She was a high level runner in high school and earned her way to get a Division I scholarship. While there, she had a coach who was constantly on her about dropping a few pounds in an effort to get faster. These conversations began to weigh on the young college student and eventually, these words paved the way toward a lifetime struggle with disordered eating. This "coach" used his position to harm a young athletes life in an effort to support their own selfish needs: a better team. He never took into account what is best for the athlete and in the end, almost cost this person their life. 

In the end, our words have power. Choose them wisely. They can be power for good or power for bad. It is our choice each and every day how we are going to use them. One person, making one comment, just one time can change the trajectory of someone's life. Lets use our words to uplift rather than to break down!

What I've Been Reading...
1984 by George Orwell

A little over 70 years ago George Orwell released his final book, 1984, to pretty immediate success. Orwell, a democratic socialist, wrote this book to highlight the problems associated with authoritarian governments like that in Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. This book seems to highlight the role of truth and fact within societies and the ways in which those so called truths can be manipulated by those in power. As the book states, "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past". (Side Note: I first learned this line from the Rage Against the Machine song Testify back in 1999. When you can lump Orwell and Rage in the same category, it is a win-win for me!) 

Quote of the Week
"I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -- Maya Angelou

I hope you all have an awesome week!
Chris Fluck

My Brain Is Malfunctioning...
I don't know what is going on this week but my mind is struggling. I typically start this newsletter at the beginning of the week and get all the potential topics typed out. I then let each topic marinate in my mind for a few days before putting the finishing touches on it. But this week was a different story. Motivation was low and I didn't even open up the computer to work on it until Friday. I am going to chalk this up as part of the ebbs and flows of life where sometimes we are fired up to do things and other times, we really struggle. So as we begin this newsletter, I will start with something that I am grateful for... 

First thing first, I want to thank all the well wishers who congratulated me on the new position working as a physical education teacher. At the moment, I am only over there one day a week but as things progress, we hope to offer more which is something I am really excited about! They have an administrator that really values fitness and between the two of us, have dozens of ideas that would benefit the students in more ways than one. 

What I've Been Thinking About...
My favorite author Steven Pressfield often talks about the muse, which, according to mythology, is the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. He says that if you show up everyday to write, the muse will reward you with ideas. I showed up today and I think the muse threw me a bone and a topic to write about...

In back to back days I heard or read from two totally unrelated sources that discuss the importance of finding common ground. The first came from the Quaker book I have been reading (and finally finished!) which said, "Ground common to both parties is the highest ground upon which an understanding and friendship may be built". The second was listening to an interview with ecologist and conservationist Merlin Tuttle on his work with bats. He shared stories about how he addressed his naysayers and potential enemies by not going toe-to-toe with them and arguing but rather finding commonalities with them and then building a relationship from there. I think both are great examples and offer healthy solutions to many of life's potential conflicts. Find something that you have in common and then go to work on building that relationship.

Fitness Tip of the Week
Last week I came across a headline that read, "about 36 million falls are reported among older adults each year—resulting in more than 32,000 deaths." This headline put a shocked look on my face as it quite scary. As I thought on this, I came to the realization that maybe it is time we check in on our ABC'S: Agility, Balance, Coordination, Speed & Strength.

In working with kids, there is a phrase often used to describe one's developmental pathway and that is physical literacy. Just like you learn letters before you embark on reading a novel, you must first learn the fundamentals of movement in an effort to advance towards more advanced training modalities. In time, as we age, these skills and attributes deteriorate which leads to the headline written above. Here are a few ways to fight father time and implement the ABC'S into your training...

• Agility: Grab an agility ladder and move through some of the more basic footwork drills as part of your warmup. These short quick bursts of change of direction might save you when you trip and stumble over an object. Having the ability to react quickly may prevent you from hitting the ground!
• Balance: Performance exercises while standing on one leg or pull out the balance beam and get to work! Being able to stand on one leg for 10 seconds is a great starting place. 
• Coordination: Perform an exercise that involves the upper body and lower body working as one. This could be skipping, jumping rope, or learning a complex exercise in the gym. This mind-body connection is important in the fight against mental detioration.
• Speed: Find a small hill and run up it as fast as you can. You never know when you might have to tap into that speed and run away from trouble! I am not talking about the police here, I am talking about a loose dog at the park!
• Strength: Pick a few exercises (squat, bench, chinups) and aim to get stronger in each. Building strength in these lifts has a tendency to last. Being stronger now will mean you will be stronger later!

Get creative and have some fun with this stuff. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask!

What I've Been Reading...
Win or Lose: A Guide to Sport Parenting by Dan Saferstein

The link above is a 29 page document that outlines ways to create and foster a positive sport experience for your child. The lessons go beyond the athletic field and it provides value for anyone who chooses to read it. Here is a small excerpt from the opening pages...

Most of us have an easier time being math parents than we do being sports parents. We don’t stand over our children as they’re doing there homework, hollering at them to round to the highest decimal or carry their zero. We trust that they’ll be able to figure things out on their own, and if they can’t, they’ll get the help they need from their teachers or by asking us.

What a lot of sports parents seem to forget is that young athletes also need the same space to figure things out on their own. They need to learn how to think and make decisions during game situations, which isn’t easy to do when your parent (or someone else’s parent) is shouting out directions.

Quote of the Week
"If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn." --Ole Ivar Lovaas