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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...
What I've Been Watching The Super Bowl! Here are a few takeaways...
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
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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!
Crazy thing is, a few days prior, I had a conversation with a dad foreshadowing what I would be experiencing. He mentioned that his son is healing well from a nasty leg injury but that the ankle on the injured leg is incredibly stiff even though he did not have an injury to that joint. We then discussed the idea of muscle guarding which 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. Getting back to 100% will take some time but here is my plan of action...
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...
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 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 deterioration. 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!
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...
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 This week I took on a new role: Phys Ed Teacher! Heading into my first session, I have to tell you, I was feeling a bit anxious about starting.
As I was preparing for the classes, I realized I can only control so much. I created a plan, I took the equipment necessary to carry out the plan, and then did my best to execute the plan. After each class, I asked myself four questions to help evaluate how things went and areas to improve in the future. These four questions are listed below!
It is crazy how things work out...
After thinking about emailing our daughters school for literally a year, I finally sent them a message letting them know what I do for a living and if there is ever a need for help with anything fitness related, to keep me in mind as I would love to lend a hand. This email, as it turns out, was received at a time where they were looking to create some sort of health and wellness room at the school. This discussion began before Christmas and we decided to meet in the New Year to discuss this idea. One week prior to our meeting, Emi came home and told us that their gym teacher left and one of their administrators was running physical education. I thought this was interesting and checked their website to see if they were hiring. No job was posted but Marisa wanted me to reach out and offer some help and/or ask if they were hiring but I decided to wait until the meeting. Well, as it turns out, they had the same thing in mind and offered me the job before I had an opportunity to even bring it up! So, with that being said, starting on Wednesday I will be working as the physical education teacher at my daughters school. Fitness Tip of the Week Here is a fun challenge that does not require too much equipment. First, you need to choose two exercises that you can perform for up to 20 reps. This week, I chose a Goblet Squat and a Pushup. I chose these two as they are two movements that I can do in my living room whenever time presented itself and it involves very little setup. Here is how the challenge works: Set One: 1 squat and 20 pushups. Set Two: 2 squats and 19 pushups. Set Three: 3 squats and 18 pushups. As you can see, for the squat you start at 1 and with each set, you add a rep until you get to 20. For the pushup, you start at 20 and countdown to 1. At the end of all this you perform 210 reps of each which is quite remarkable... and a lot. If you can do this in a day, you're a machine! For the record, I am no machine. I started this one day and worked on it for about 10-12 minutes. It is a ton of reps so I decided to spread it out over the course of 2-3 sessions. Another option would be to only do it from 1-10 and 10-1. If you do this, you end up doing 55 reps and this would be a great starting place for those concerned about the total rep number. What I've Been Thinking About... The world of youth sports is reliant upon volunteer coaches. The great football coach Chuck Noll once said, “The mercenaries will beat the draftees but the volunteers will crush them both”. Coaching sports and going to war are two different things but the idea behind volunteerism remains the same: The volunteers choose to do it! They aren't paid to show up (mercenaries) and they are not forced to do it (draftees). Anyone who volunteers is an asset and in the world of youth sports, more of this is needed. A few other observations that may apply on and off the field... If you run an organization, SUPPORT YOUR COACHES! Don't have cliques, try to educate everyone on the ins and outs of sport, work on effective ways to communicate, and lastly, try to ensure a positive experience for all involved. If you are someone contemplating getting involved in coaching, here are a few qualities that kids say they want in their coach: Be respectful, not act a fool, communicate appropriately, have a little knowledge in the sport and listen when they speak, then you have the tools to work with others! If you want more on this, click here: Volunteers are the Backbone of Youth Sports What I've Been Reading... Every Moment Matters: How the World's Best Coaches Inspire Their Athletes and Build Championship Teams by John O' Sullivan When I first started coaching junior high football, I thought I knew a lot about the game. I played my entire life and watched countless games each week and attended conferences. Then, when the season began, I realized I didn't know as much as I thought I did. This same realization occurred many times in my coaching career and now, after being involved in athletics for over 12 years, I pick up a book like this and realize there is still so much left to learn! In this book, John O'Sullivan has collected hundreds of interviews with top coaches, sport scientists, psychologists, and athletes and distilled them into a blueprint for becoming a more effective and inspiring leader. Great coaches realize something that others do not: every moment matters! Quote of the Week "Great effects often result from small beginnings. Your resolution will influence that of your friend and neighbors- each of them will, in like manner, influence their friends and neighbors- the example will spread from house to house, -from city to city,- till, among those who have any claim to humanity, there will be but one heart, and one mind,- one resolution,- one uniform practice" -- Elizabeth Heyrick, 1824 on the abolition of Slavery I hope you all have an awesome week! Chris Fluck The world of youth sports is reliant upon volunteer coaches. The great football coach Chuck Noll once said, “The mercenaries will beat the draftees but the volunteers will crush them both”. Coaching sports and going to war are two different things but the idea behind volunteering remains the same: The volunteers choose to do it! They aren't paid to show up (mercenaries) and they are not forced to do it (draftees). Anyone who volunteers is an asset and in the world of youth sports, more of this is needed. If you run an organization, SUPPORT YOUR COACHES! Don't have cliques, try to educate everyone on the ins and outs of sport, work on effective ways to communicate, and lastly, try to ensure a positive sport experience for all involved! If you are contemplating getting involved in coaching, here are a few qualities that kids say they want in their coach... If you can be respectful, not act a fool, communicate appropriately, have a little knowledge in the sport and listen when they speak, then you have the tools to work with kids in a sport setting! In this episode, I sit down with my friend, former coach and current owner of Grit Mat Club Ben Chunko. In this episode, we touch on a variety of topics including coaching wrestling, being a parent, what the word Grit means, creating a culture for his club, and so much more. Over the years, Ben has always been a great example of always learning, always willing to help, and most importantly, always coaching to help kids reach their full potential. He is an asset to the local community and the sport of wrestling and I am grateful that there are guys like him out there. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! |
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