http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFBIPZkRidE

View PART 1 of his ring strength here

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Most coaches must be a jack of all trades, but a master on none. We are responsible for not only skill training, routine composition, safety, education, and mental health of their gymnasts, but also their conditioning.  I get frustrated  when I feel our conditioning has gotten into a rut or when I feel that our lack of strength is preventing us from accomplishing our skill goals.

There are Four basic principles that will help coaches to evaluate strength training. Each conditioning program should be:

• -Consistent, special strength training is necessary for maximum performance in gymnastics;
• -Training to increase muscle size and strength is important, but maximum strength from minimum size is the most important training goal;
• -Rest and recuperation are important aspects of strength training, also in gymnastics;
• -Strength training must be integrated with the skill training in gymnastics.

What are the exercises?
Gymnastics conditioning can be distilled to a group of only seven fundamental movements. Coaches should be aware that gymnasts train movements – not muscles. Bodybuilders train muscles and muscle groups. Patients recovering from surgery or immobilization train muscles and muscle groups. Gymnasts and virtually all other athletes train movements. While this may seem to be a trivial distinction, the difference is absolutely fundamental to athlete conditioning. With only a few exceptions, most gymnastics movements are multi-joint, multi-planar, and multi-directional. Simple uniplanar movements rarely mimic sport movements and result in a somewhat misplaced priority for training and conditioning.

Training for gymnastics conditioning consists of the following fundamental movements:

• Shoulder flexion – casting, press handstands, planche
• Shoulder extension – kipping, uprise, downswing phases of in-bar work
• Upper extremity pushing – handstand, handstand push up, rebounding during hand contact phases
• Upper extremity pulling – pull up, pullover, withstand the bottom of swinging skills
• Jumping and landing – tumbling, vaulting, mounts, dismounts, dance movements
• Torso and hip flexion – piking, tucking, leg lifts, forward somersault take offs, hollow body positions
• Torso and hip extension – arching, back bends, walkovers, flic flacs, most backward take offs

Any complete conditioning program for gymnastics should include these movements. Therefore, a circuit program should have at least seven stations. While more exercises are certainly possible, and in some cases desirable, these seven movements are the “core” exercises.

I view conditioning in stages. Looking at what I want at the END. If my goal is for an athlete to do sets of cast handstands by nationals next year. Once you strengthen a shape and have a basic action you move through the shape. Then do gymnastics skills in sequence.

Just a very basic Example-
Step 1- Hold Hollow and Rope climb
2. Hollow hold to V up Slow
3. Hollow hold to V up Fast
4. Kip Pull with Bungee
5. Cast pull with bungee
6. Mean 18 with medium weight
7. mean 18 with heavier weight.  By this point they should be doing rope climb with No legs and good form
8. Spotted Cast handstands in a row (for Body shape)
9. Spotted hanging uprises
10. Planche leans/ Bounce handstands
11. Cast Handstands alone in a row
12. Spotted Kip Cast handstands in a row
13. Sets of 5 Kip cast handstands in a row.

Share your ideas on conditioning and strength here! Keep the Momentum going.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_C5GZ8gLxg

View Part of of Mary Lee’s Beam Core Strength here

Share your drills and ideas at Gym Momentum. Keep the Momentum going!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl78ZYwjg30

Share Your drills and Ideas with Gym Momentum! Keep The momentum going!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GH5mAjdlzo

Share your drills and exercises at Gym Momentum.

Why is this important to the coach? 

Healthy athletes = more reps in the gym.
I have always felt that the key to high level gymnastics is getting enough reps in of skills. A gymnast who is missing reps because of injury will not be as successful as the gymnast who is getting in more reps.

Healthy athletes = better competitor
A healthy athlete who is NOT worried about landings or take offs that hurt will be a better competitor because it allows them to focus on other things like straight legs, straight arms etc.

Healthy athletes = consistent workouts
When you look at workouts it is not really what happened on Monday, what matters is what happens in a month of Mondays.

Healthy athletes = easier motivation in the gym
Let’s face it, the kids with injuries in the gym is not going to be all that motivated to take a lot of turns (that hurt).

Why is this important to the club owner

Healthy athletes = Less lost revenue
You hardly make any money on team anyway. If kids are then working out less hours because they are hurt and then pay less in tuition you are losing money.

Healthy athletes = make team more marketable
If you have a healthy looking team at competitions and practices, kids will want to be part of that and parents will want their kids to be part of it.

Healthy athletes = Outside growth
I have had many parents from other gyms call me and want their daughter to try out because they were tired of her being hurt at her current gym.

Healthy athletes = Bragging rights over other sports
I love it when coaches from other sports encourage their athletes to do gymnastics in the off season to keep them strong AND healthy.

Healthy athletes = Less problem parents

How it works in my gym

PT comes in two or three times per week (only because they are a parent of an athlete). One time per week is what we were doing before.

On the days when I know they will be there I leave a list of gymnasts to see/ evaluate.

The PT consults with conditioning and rehab exercises by GROUP. Our PT noticed that our Level 5s had a lot of asymmetrical core strength. So we were able to change some of the conditioning exercises to deal with it. They also consult with conditioning and rehab exercises for individuals.

Triage- Every once and a while there is a gymnasts who crashes while the PT is in the gym. You never want that to happen but it is always good to have a more qualified person there to handle it.

Nuts and bolts

Each event has specific exercises related to that event.

On Vault we have exercises for ankle, knees and wrists.

On Bars we have exercises for wrists, elbows and shoulder.

On Beam we have exercises flexibility and ankles.

On Floor we have exercises for core strength and back.

Exercises are posted and changed about every 3-4 weeks. ATTITUDE towards the exercises is as important as the exercises themselves. We explain WHY and the WHAT of each exercise.

These stations are part of their warm up or part of a circuit. This gives them something to do instead of hanging out talking!

Some of you may even know My Mom. I see you post stuff on her Face Book Page! I largely am who I am today because of the lesson my Mom taught me. She was a single mom for most of my youth. We didn’t have a lot, but we never went with out. Now I want to share them with you. By the Way- If you haven’t called your mom today, you should.

To DRINK from the Fountain of youth: I really believe that getting OLD is a mind set. I learned that you are as young as you want to be.

To SWEAR to do my best at what ever I set out to do. She always told my brother and I, “If you have a job flipping burgers, be the best damn burger flipper. It’s the only way you will move up.”

To STEAL time away to be with friends and family. Mom was always busy, but she always made time for friends.

Read on:

1. Be generous with others. Anyone who knows my mom knows she’s one of the most generous people in the world. She’s always happy to lend a hand or help someone out if she can. It’s from her that I’ve learned to be (or tried to be) a giving person.
2. Live in the moment. Throughout my life, my mom has always shown me how to embrace the present moment. She never seems to dwell on the past or stress overly about the future. She is one of the few people I know who really knows how to live in the now.
3. Strive to be patient. Between dealing with me, my brothers, and my step-dad, my mom has developed an amazing ability to be patient. This is something I truly admire since I’m not the most patient person in the world. I hope someday I can be as patient as my mom is.
4. Open yourself to new ideas. I’ve gone through some pretty wacky phases in my life, but through them all, my mom has always been open-minded and willing to embrace whatever I happen to be into at the moment, which is a very inspiring quality!
5. Support those you love. Through ups and downs, good and bad, my mom has always remained supportive of her loved ones. I’m sure at times it was hard to be supportive of my choices, but she has always been my #1 encourager.
6. Look for the positive. Honestly, my mom is the most positive person I know (it makes me sick). I strive to be positive, but she is positive. No matter what the situation is, she always looks for the good in it and, more often than not, helps me see the good too.
7. Show interest in others’ lives. My mom really takes interest in others’ lives. Whether it’s her best friend or the woman ringing up her groceries at the store, my mom is deeply interested in the lives of others. This is something I really admire and need to explore more in my own life. Perhaps it is because my mom may be a little lonely and crazy.
8. Spend time with your friends. Not only is my mom interested in the lives of others, but she really makes an effort to spend time with them. She has tons of friends and devotes lots of time to them, making her life rich with friendship and love.
9. See the good in people. No matter what kind of terrible side I’ve shown my mom, she always remembers the good parts of me. Maybe it’s because I’m her eldest son, but I really believe that she seeks to see the good in people, which makes her world much more positive.
10. Don’t take things personally. My mom knows when to let things go and she recognizes when something I’ve said or done really isn’t about her, but instead is about something going on with me. Not taking things personally is one of the best ways to live a happy life.
11. Give more than you get. As I said in point #1, my mom is extremely generous. She’s always willing to help out her friends in times of need. Even though she doesn’t always get the same thing in return, she’s always willing to give and give and give.
12. Take a break once and awhile. My mom’s a hard worker (and player!), but she knows when it’s time for a break. She schedules time for herself and makes sure to take frequent trips to get away for a little while. Life is hard and a break is something we all need every once and awhile!
13. Don’t overreact. I have a tendency to overreact, but my mom is not that way. She usually has a very calm demeanor and, when presented with a situation that could result in panic, she takes a step back and reminds everyone to calm down.
14. Enjoy your moments. It can be really hard to enjoy the moment, especially if a moment is mundane, but my mom always manages to make the most of her moments. Even if she’s doing something that’s not so fun, she finds a way to make it enjoyable.
15. Remember what’s important. My mom has a lot going on in her life (who doesn’t?!), but she always manages to prioritize what’s important to her. Her friends and family really matter to her and she makes time for them and puts them first.
16. Celebrate beauty. My mom is a beautiful person — inside and out — and she is one of the people in my life who has taught me to celebrate and appreciate beauty. She notices the beauty in things and, in turn, I’ve learned to do that as well.
17. Notice the little things. In general, moms are good at this. They notice when something isn’t quite right and they strive to make it better. Or, they pick up on something small but wonderful and make note of it. My mom’s great at paying attention and noticing life’s details.
18. Make the most of mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes in life, but my mom has taught me to make the most of them. I can remember a time when I was coloring and I make a mistake. Instead of starting over, she suggested we turn my little error into a heart. Brilliant!
19. Know who you are (and who you want to be). My mom has always been supportive of my personal development and she’s always encouraged me to think about who I am and who I want to be in the future. She’s inspired me to work on becoming the best me I can possibly be. She made sure I studied something other than JUST GYMNASTICS in college.
20. Never give up. One of the greatest things about my mom is her persistence. If she wants to get something done, she will find a way — no matter what. As she always says, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I wouldn’t believe this if I hadn’t seen it come to life in her so many times.
21. Do everything with enthusiasm. Being upbeat and positive can be hard, but my mom never fails to greet each day with an enthusiastic attitude. No matter what’s going on in her life, she does her best to accomplish her daily goals with enthusiasm.
22. Stay true to your beliefs. My mom knows what she believes in and she stays true to those beliefs. It’s important to recognize what’s important to you and what matters most to you, and my mom has manage to do that — and to stay loyal to those things that matter most.
23. Give yourself choices. Looking for options is definitely one of my mom’s strengths. Whenever I find myself in a tough spot, I know my mom will be able to figure out another alternative. She’s able to look at life and see choices where others see obstacles.
24. Be yourself. Staying true to herself is another one of my mom’s great qualities. She knows who she is and she is herself in any situation. It’s not easy to be consistent in this way, but my mom is always who she wants to be, no matter what.
25. Trust your intuition. As with so many mothers, my mom has an amazing intuition. She knows when something is up. She knows when something has gone down. And, most importantly, she listens to these instincts. My mom has made me see just how important intuition is.
26. Speak your mind. Much like me, my mom is no wallflower. If she has an option about something, she’ll tell you about it. I love her ability to say what’s on her mind and I find it inspiring to watch her speak up for what she believes in.
27. Surround yourself with what you love. Like so many people, my mom has made the choice to surround herself with people and things that she loves. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized just how important it is to make the things around you the thing s you love most.
28. Practice kindness daily. My mom is, by far, one of the kindest people I know. She’s one of those people who does all of the little things to make others’ days better, and for that I really admire her. I must remind myself daily to be kind and I hope someday I can be just like my mom.
29. Adapt when faced with change. Life is full of changes and unexpected circumstances, but my mom is one of the best adapters. When faced with change, she does what she can to make the most of it. As someone who doesn’t love change, I find this quality immensely important.
30. Pursue your dreams. No matter what I’ve been doing, my mom has always, always encouraged me to do what I love. She has always believed in me and she’s always helped me to believe in myself. It is because of her that I am writing right now — because she believed in my ability.
31. Accept what you cannot change. One of the reasons I think my mom is so great at adapting to change is because she recognizes when she cannot change a situation and she accepts that. As I said before, she will do her best to get what she wants, but she also knows how to accept what is.
32. Give energy to get energy. “Energetic” and “full of life” are two things I would definitely use to describe my mom. She is always full of energy and, for that reason, she gets a lot of energy coming back at her. I’ve noticed when I give out energy, I always get it back (just like my mom!).
33. Do what you can with what you have. My mom knows how to make the most of whatever she’s working with. Whether it’s supplies for a school project or life in general, my mom knows how to take the things she’s given and make them work for her. She is the QUEEN OF DUCT TAPE.
34. Be a good listener. My mom is an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G listener (maybe this is why she has so many friends!), and I think it’s such a wonderful quality to have. It can be really hard to listen to people sometimes, but my mom has turned listening into an art. (So much so that even random strangers will confess their life stories to her!)
35. Don’t dwell on negative emotions. With all of our lives comes the good and the bad. My mom is open to experiencing both the positive and the negative, but she doesn’t dwell on the negative. As someone who used to dwell so much in negativity, I can really appreciate people who focus on the positive.
36. Share your experiences. I think part of the reason my mom is such a great listener is because she’s also a great talker. She’s open to sharing her experiences with others, which is great. So many people (myself included!) hold back so much, and it’s wonderful to see people like my mom sharing themselves with others.
37. Say “Yes!” to new things. My mom’s a “Yes!” woman. She is open to experiencing new things and trying new things and I love that about her. Many people as they get older become settled in their ways, but not my mom. She’s always ready to try something new!
38. See the humor in life. Life can be really, really funny — but only if you’re paying attention. My mom is one of those people who, when faced with hard times, knows how to look for the humor in it. And I can remember quite a few times when I was so down and only she could make me laugh.
39. Don’t be afraid to be silly. My mom is a silly lady, and she’s not afraid of her silliness. There are so many aspects of life that require the utmost seriousness, so why not take some time to be silly every now and then? My mom knows how to embrace her silly side — and helps me embrace mine too! It is also what makes her an amazing grandmother to my children.
40. Work hard for what you want. Nothing good comes without a lot of hard work, and no one knows this better than my mom. If you really want something, you have to go after it. You have to make it happen. My mom is so inspiring in this way because she has taught me to really go after what I want in life.
41. Be adventurous. I’ll admit it: my mom is much more adventurous than I’ll probably ever be. There were so many times we would just jump in the car and go explore.
42. Love with all of your heart. Loving can be scary. It can be risky. But my mom has taught me that it can be so rewarding if you put your whole heart into it. My mom is a hopeless romantic and she really does believe in the beauty of love, which, lucky for me, is a belief she’s passed onto me.
43. Create memories and traditions. Because of my mom, I’m a huge holiday person. I love to get into the act of making memories and creating traditions — and I owe that part of me completely to my mom. Because of her, I cannot imagine a life without wonderful memories to look back on.
44. Encourage others to be their best. Throughout my life, my mom has always been encouraging me to be the best I could be, and often her ideas of what I could be were so much better than my own. It’s because of her that I believe in myself and believe that I have the ability to be the best possible me.
45. Know which battles are worth fighting. My mom knows how to pick her battles. She knows which things are worth fighting for (or about) and which are worth letting go. I’m still learning this myself, but I’m lucky to have a role model to look up to so that I know that not everything is worth a battle.
46. Laugh at yourself. My mom sees the humor in life, but she also sees the humor in herself too. She knows when it’s okay to just look at yourself and laugh. Some people have a really hard time seeing themselves as funny, but I really believe it’s important not to take yourself too seriously.
47. Go the extra mile. Going the extra mile is something my mom is an expert at. She knows how to go above and beyond in almost every situation. It’s inspiring to see someone who really does the best she can when it comes to other people, when it can be so tempting to just do the bare minimum.
48. Think highly of yourself. Because of my mom, I’ve learned that it’s okay to think you’re pretty great. My mom isn’t cocky or over-the-top in love with herself, but she is confident. She knows she’s pretty awesome and she’s taught me that it’s okay — no, great — to think highly of yourself.
49. Choose your friends wisely. This seems like simple advice, but it’s actually very important. Who you surround yourself with says a lot about you, and I’ve learned from my mom that it’s so important to choose friends carefully. Because of her choosiness, she has a great group of friends (Although some are pretty loud)!
50. Know when it’s time to let go. It can be really hard to let go, but I’ve seen my mom let go of even the hardest things with grace. I’ve seen her send me off to college; I’ve seen her deal with death. Letting go is very, very hard, but my mom has provided a great example of someone who knows when it’s time to let go.
51. Forgive others’ mistakes. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but my mom is always the first to forgive me. I’ve seen her forgive others too, and it’s truly amazing to watch her forgiveness in action. Forgiving can be a very hard thing, but my mom has taught me its value.
52. Highlight strengths, not weaknesses. Many people aren’t even aware of their strengths or weaknesses, but my mom is one of the few that knows what her strengths are and makes the most of them. She knows what she’s good at and she highlights those points. (She also does that for other people as well!)
53. Treat others the way they want to be treated. It’s tempting to treat others how you want to be treated, but my mom’s selflessness has taught me that it’s even better to treat others how they want to be treated. I’ve learned from her to pay attention and to treat others in a way that makes them feel great.

As you can see, my mom is a pretty amazing person. She has inspired me in so many ways and she is constantly teaching me new things. She’s taught me all of the lessons listed here and so many more and, for that, I will always, always be thankful. Not many people are lucky enough to come in contact with people as great as my mom, let alone have her for a mother so, though I’m trying my best to resist bragging, I must say that I am extremely lucky to have her in my life. Mom, I hope you have the best MOTHERS DAY you have ever had and I hope that every year to come is even greater — and filled with even more wonderful lessons — than the last. You know this already, but I’ll tell you again: you are always in my heart. I love you to the sky and back.

I do believe in willpower, determination and perseverance. Athletes who  are mentally strong achieve that because they work to strengthen their willpower muscles with consistent steady effort. They use failures as stepping-stones to success. (see Failure, a prerequisite to success) They will take risks, but above they are consistent and steady in their approach. All the best athletes that I have been around have those qualities.

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan

I don’t believe you can teach mental toughness by doing mindless workouts that make the athletes tired.

The willpower and determination that builds mental strength comes from consistent mindfull effort day in and day out, exercise-to-exercise, set-to-set throughout the workout each day. There are no magic workouts to develop this. It is a mindset; it is a willingness to put yourself in positions that test your concentration, your determination and your ability to execute in stressful situations. You are what you train to be, if you go through the motions and just do the work you are not building the mental strength necessary to excel in the competitive cauldron. Bring your mind to the workout, be fully engaged and build mental strength to parallel the physical strength, speed and endurance necessary to give yourself a chance to succeed.

* $190 billion a year in excess medical spending

* Many costs borne by non-obese, as in higher insurance premiums

Here is an article I recently read that has some pretty useful information. Get information out to your customers about how you are the FIRST LINE of defense in helping prevent Obesity in their children.

Tony

As America’s Waistline Expands, Costs Soar

By Sharon Begley

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) – U.S. hospitals are ripping out wall-mounted toilets and replacing them with floor models to better support obese patients. The Federal Transit Administration wants buses to be tested for the impact of heavier riders on steering and braking. Cars are burning nearly a billion gallons of gasoline more a year than if passengers weighed what they did in 1960.

The nation’s rising rate of obesity has been well-chronicled. But businesses, governments and individuals are only now coming to grips with the costs of those extra pounds, many of which are even greater than believed only a few years ago: The additional medical spending due to obesity is double previous estimates and exceeds even those of smoking, a new study shows.

Many of those costs have dollar signs in front of them, such as the higher health insurance premiums everyone pays to cover those extra medical costs. Other changes, often cost-neutral, are coming to the built environment in the form of wider seats in public places from sports stadiums to bus stops.

The startling economic costs of obesity, often borne by the non-obese, could become the epidemic’s second-hand smoke. Only when scientists discovered that nonsmokers were developing lung cancer and other diseases from breathing smoke-filled air did policymakers get serious about fighting the habit, in particular by establishing nonsmoking zones. The costs that smoking added to Medicaid also spurred action. Now, as economists put a price tag on sky-high body mass indexes (BMIs), policymakers as well as the private sector are mobilizing to find solutions to the obesity epidemic.

“As committee chairmen, Cabinet secretaries, the head of Medicare and health officials see these really high costs, they are more interested in knowing, ‘what policy knob can I turn to stop this hemorrhage?’” said Michael O’Grady of the National Opinion Research Center, co-author of a new report for the Campaign to End Obesity, which brings together representatives from business, academia and the public health community to work with policymakers on the issue.

The U.S. health care reform law of 2010 allows employers to charge obese workers 30 percent to 50 percent more for health insurance if they decline to participate in a qualified wellness program. The law also includes carrots and celery sticks, so to speak, to persuade Medicare and Medicaid enrollees to see a primary care physician about losing weight, and funds community demonstration programs for weight loss.

Such measures do not sit well with all obese Americans. Advocacy groups formed to “end size discrimination” argue that it is possible to be healthy “at every size,” taking issue with the findings that obesity necessarily comes with added medical costs.

The reason for denominating the costs of obesity in dollars is not to stigmatize plus-size Americans even further. Rather, the goal is to allow public health officials as well as employers to break out their calculators and see whether programs to prevent or reverse obesity are worth it.

LOST PRODUCTIVITY

The percentage of Americans who are obese (with a BMI of 30 or higher) has tripled since 1960, to 34 percent, while the incidence of extreme or “morbid” obesity (BMI above 40) has risen sixfold, to 6 percent. The percentage of overweight Americans (BMI of 25 to 29.9) has held steady: It was 34 percent in 2008 and 32 percent in 1961. What seems to have happened is that for every healthy-weight person who “graduated” into overweight, an overweight person graduated into obesity.

Because obesity raises the risk of a host of medical conditions, from heart disease to chronic pain, the obese are absent from work more often than people of healthy weight. The most obese men take 5.9 more sick days a year; the most obese women, 9.4 days more. Obesity-related absenteeism costs employers as m u ch as $6.4 billion a year, health economists led by Eric Finkelstein of Duke University calculated.

Even when poor health doesn’t keep obese workers home, it can cut into productivity, as they grapple with pain or shortness of breath or other obstacles to working all-out. Such obesity-related “presenteeism,” said Finkelstein, is also expensive. The very obese lose one month of productive work per year, costing employers an average of $3,792 per very obese male worker and $3,037 per female. Total annual cost of presenteeism due to obesity: $30 billion.

Decreased productivity can reduce wages, as employers penalize less productive workers. Obesity hits workers’ pocketbooks indirectly, too: Numerous studies have shown that the obese are less likely to be hired and promoted than their svelte peers are. Women in particular bear the brunt of that, earning about 11 percent less than women of healthy weight, health economist John Cawley of Cornell University found. At the average weekly U.S. wage of $669 in 2010, that’s a $76 weekly obesity tax.

MORE DOCTORS, MORE PILLS

The medical costs of obesity have long been the focus of health economists. A just-published analysis finds that it raises those costs more than thought.

Obese men rack up an additional $1,152 a year in medical spending, especially for hospitalizations and prescription drugs, Cawley and Chad Meyerhoefer of Lehigh University reported in January in the Journal of Health Economics. Obese women account for an extra $3,613 a year. Using data from 9,852 men (average BMI: 28) and 13,837 women (average BMI: 27) ages 20 to 64, among whom 28 percent were obese, the researchers found even higher costs among the uninsured: annual medical spending for an obese person was $3,271 compared with $512 for the non-obese.

Nationally, that comes to $190 billion a year in additional medical spending as a result of obesity, calculated Cawley, or 20.6 percent of U.S. health care expenditures.

That is double recent estimates, reflecting more precise methodology. The new analysis corrected for people’s tendency to low-ball their weight, for instance, and compared obesity with non-obesity (healthy weight and overweight) rather than just to healthy weight. Because the merely overweight do not incur many additional medical costs, grouping the overweight with the obese underestimates the costs of obesity.

Contrary to the media’s idealization of slimness, medical spending for men is about the same for BMIs of 26 to 35. For women, the uptick starts at a BMI of 25. In men more than women, high BMIs can reflect extra muscle as well as fat, so it is possible to be healthy even with an overweight BMI. “A man with a BMI of 28 might be very fit,” said Cawley. “Where healthcare costs really take off is in the morbidly obese.”

Those extra medical costs are partly born by the non-obese, in the form of higher taxes to support Medicaid and higher health insurance premiums. Obese women raise such “third party” expenditures $3,220 a year each; obese men, $967 a year, Cawley and Meyerhoefer found.

One recent surprise is the discovery that the costs of obesity exceed those of smoking. In a paper published in March, scientists at the Mayo Clinic toted up the exact medical costs of 30,529 Mayo employees, adult dependents, and retirees over several years.

“Smoking added about 20 percent a year to medical costs,” said Mayo’s James Naessens. “Obesity was similar, but morbid obesity increased those costs by 50 percent a year. There really is an economic justification for employers to offer programs to help the very obese lose weight.”

LIVING LARGE, BUT NOT DYING YOUNG

For years researchers suspected that the higher medical costs of obesity might be offset by the possibility that the obese would die young, and thus never rack up spending for nursing homes, Alzheimer’s care, and other pricey items.

That’s what happens to smokers. While they do incur higher medical costs than nonsmokers in any given year, their lifetime drain on public and private dollars is less because they die sooner. “Smokers die early enough that they save Social Security, private pensions, and Medicare” trillions of dollars, said Duke’s Finkelstein. “But mortality isn’t that much higher among the obese.”

Beta blockers for heart disease, diabetes drugs, and other treatments are keeping the obese alive longer, with the result that they incur astronomically high medical expenses in old age just like their slimmer peers.

Some costs of obesity reflect basic physics. It requires twice as much energy to move 250 pounds than 125 pounds. As a result, a vehicle burns more gasoline carrying heavier passengers than lighter ones.

“Growing obesity rates increase fuel consumption,” said engineer Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois. How much? An additional 938 million gallons of gasoline each year due to overweight and obesity in the United States, or 0.8 percent, he calculated. That’s $4 billion extra.

Not all the changes spurred by the prevalence of obesity come with a price tag. Train cars New Jersey Transit ordered from Bombardier have seats 2.2 inches wider than current cars, at 19.75 inches, said spokesman John Durso, giving everyone a more comfortable commute. (There will also be more seats per car because the new ones are double-deckers.)

The built environment generally is changing to accommodate larger Americans. New York’s commuter trains are considering new cars with seats able to hold 400 pounds. Blue Bird is widening the front doors on its school buses so wider kids can fit. And at both the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, seats are wider than their predecessors by 1 to 2 inches.

The new performance testing proposed by transit officials for buses, assuming an average passenger weight of 175 instead of 150 pounds, arise from concerns that heavier passengers might pose a safety threat. If too much weight is behind the rear axle, a bus can lose steering. And every additional pound increases a moving vehicle’s momentum, requiring more force to stop and thereby putting greater demands on brakes. Manufacturers have told the FTA the proposal will require them to upgrade several components.

Hospitals, too, are adapting to larger patients. The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s hospital, the nation’s fourth largest, has widened doors, replaced wall-mounted toilets with floor models able to hold 250 pounds or more, and bought plus-size wheelchairs (twice the price of regulars) as well as mini-cranes to hoist obese patients out of bed.

The additional spending due to obesity doesn’t fall into a black hole, of course. It contributes to overall economic activity and thus to gross domestic product. But not all spending is created equal.

“Yes, a heart attack will generate economic activity, since the surgeon and hospital get paid, but not in a good way,” said Murray Ross, vice president of Kaiser Permanente’s Institute for Health Policy. “If we avoided that heart attack we could have put the money to better use, such as in education or investments in clean energy.”

The books on obesity remain open. The latest entry: An obese man is 64 percent less likely to be arrested for a crime than a healthy man. Researchers have yet to run the numbers on what that might save.

It is a given that a coach should be as knowledgeable as possible.

What are you doing to today to learn and to get better? As coaches we should be constantly learning. No doubt we should question the specialists and experts, read and research, observe other coaches and other sports – that is all fine and well but don’t miss the forest for the trees. Every training session, each interaction with an athlete is an opportunity to learn.

I can only speak for myself but in my early days of coaching (when I knew everything) I missed out on many learning opportunities because I was too busy talking to listen and see. Don’t repeat my mistakes, listen, carefully observe, step back and think before you speak. Each day look at the world with new eyes, seek out the learning opportunities your athletes can teach you, it is as much as any book or expert.

Listen to what they say, watch what they do, see how they solve movement problems, they are a wealth of information and they are there everyday for us to learn from.

I am not fond of people calling coaching an industry, coaching is a profession. Because it is a profession there are certain characteristics of being professional that I feel are very important These are some of my thoughts on what it takes to be a professional in today’s fast paced world of instant information.

Passion – A genuine enthusiasm for what you do. Not just when there are crowds and on game day but everyday.

Belief – Believe in what you do and live your beliefs.

Grunt Work – 90% of coaching is grunt work. It is doing the mundane tasks that are essential. .

Experience – Train for several sports, coach several sports. There is no substitute for having to put your butt on the line on game day as player or a coach. This is essential. This does not mean you have to be a star, but at least participate.

Study and observe – Get around great coaches. See how they work. See how they praise and how they correct. Learn everything they do. Observe their body language. Listen and see how they communicate.

Learn & Research – Read scientific journals, coaching journals, technical journals. Get away from the Internet and go for straight facts. Study video.

Practice – Get proficient at the skills you must teach. Be able to capably demonstrate the movements. Know skill progressions and how to teach them.

Develop a coaching eye – Train yourself to observe without a visual bias.

Be Organized – Plan and have a contingency plan. Be on time and stay late.

Look the Part – Get fit, dress the part and dress appropriately.

Communication Skills – Sharpen them. Realize all the dimensions’ of communication. Remember communication is not sending it is also receiving.

Have a life – Take care of your family and reserve some time for yourself.

As a last thought remember:  it takes at least twenty years to be an overnight success so don’t be in a hurry, take your time.