Adrenaline Junky

Does nutrition and physical activity "homework" change kids' behaviors?

2011-11-15T09:45:00.001-08:00

Check out the results here

Lakota East girls basketball pre-season training

2011-10-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

Early to bed and early to rise: Study suggests it's keeping kids leaner

2011-10-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

Early to bed and early to rise: Study suggests it's keeping kids leaner

ASF Booot Camps burn a ton of fat....here is some more proof

2011-09-08T19:01:00.000-07:00

Vigorous Exercise Burns Calories for 14 Hours After Exercise

early sport specialization 0R early athletic specialization?

2011-08-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

Great article by Max Prokopy...

1997 was a landmark year for young athletes, burgeoning internet gurus, and helicopter parents. As Tiger Woods drained the final putt of a record-setting performance at the Masters, millions of parents, coaches, and educators watched in awe. Tiger's first TV golf appearance was at age 2(!). By age 21 he was the most formidable force in the sporting world. Either conscious or sub-conscious, these well-documented facts galvanized the early specialization movement. Best-selling books such as Outliers, The Talent Code, and Bounce are wonderful accounts of the grueling ascent to expertise. However, they might create as much trouble as inspiration. The message received by parents and coaches often places early specialization into one sport above the value of diverse movement. More importantly, it's held high above "play." While there may be more Tigers-in-progress than ever before, we've also seen a rapid rise in youth sport overuse injuries. Click here for the rest....

Positive Sporting Experiences Key For Children's Development

2011-08-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Positive Sporting Experiences Key For Children's Development

unbelievable training footage from the 1970's

2011-08-01T20:00:00.001-07:00

cheesy hair, cheesy music, french narration...but I was mesmerized by the training styles and power demonstrated by one of the best throwers ever, Werner Gunthor of Switzerland. Try and watch all four parts...here is part one.

great new book by Mr. Vern Gambetta

2011-07-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Mr. Gambetta has really challenged my way of thinking, and doing things, when it comes to training athletes. He is very authentic and genuine, and highly controversial in some circles but always leave you thinking about improving your coaching, communication and athletic development. His new book can be ordered right here ---> https://payments.momentummedia.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=36&product_id=323

Fatty foods hard to resist because of endocannabinoids, the body’s natural marijuana-like chemicals

2011-07-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Fatty foods hard to resist because of endocannabinoids, the body’s natural marijuana-like chemicals

Extended sleep improves the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players

2011-07-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

Extended sleep improves the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players

new video of mma fighters Matt Hamill and Robby Malof

2011-06-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Can coaches force kids into only one sport?

2011-06-29T04:59:00.001-07:00

They tried to at an Ohio school...until a policy was put in place. Check out the story here.

more positive research about strength training and young athletes

2011-06-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Effects of Strength Training on Motor Performance Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis

Pediatric Exercise Science vol 23; 2

pp. 186 – 206

The recent literature delineates resistance training in children and adolescents to be effective and safe. However, only little is known about the transfer of achieved strength gains to athletic performance. The present meta-analysis revealed a combined mean effect size for motor skill types jumping, running, and throwing of 0.52 (95% CI: 0.33–0.71). Effect sizes for each of aforementioned skill types separately were 0.54 (95% CI: 0.34–0.74), 0.53 (95% CI: 0.23–0.83), and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.19–1.79) respectively. Furthermore, it could be shown that younger subjects and nonathletes showed higher gains in motor performance following resistance training than their counterparts and that specific resistance training regimes were not advantageous over traditional resistance training programs. Finally, a positive dose response relationship for “intensity” could be found in subgroups using traditional training regimens. These results emphasize that resistance training provides an effective way for enhancing motor performance in children and adolescents.

Authors: Michael Behringer, Andreas vom Heede, Maria Matthews, Joachim Mester

The Influence of Parachute-Resisted Sprinting on Running Mechanics in Collegiate Track Athletes

2011-06-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

The aim of this investigation was to compare the acute effects of parachute-resisted (PR) sprinting on selected kinematic variables. Twelve collegiate sprinters (mean age 19.58 ± 1.44 years, mass 69.32 ± 14.38 kg, height 1.71 ± 9.86 m) ran a 40-yd dash under 2 conditions: PR sprint and sprint without a parachute (NC) that were recorded on a video computer system (60 Hz). Sagittal plane kinematics of the right side of the body was digitized to calculate joint angles at initial ground contact (IGC) and end ground contact (EGC), ground contact (GC) time, stride rate (SR), stride length (SL), and the times of the 40-yd dashes. The NC 40-yd dash time was significantly faster than the PR trial (p < 0.05). The shoulder angle at EGC significantly increased from 34.10 to 42.10° during the PR trial (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in GC time, SR, SL, or the other joint angles between the 2 trials (p > 0.05). This study suggests that PR sprinting does not acutely affect GC time, SR, SL and upper extremity or lower extremity joint angles during weight acceptance (IGC) in collegiate sprinters. However, PR sprinting increased shoulder flexion by 23.5% at push-off and decreased speed by 4.4%. While sprinting with the parachute, the athlete's movement patterns resembled their mechanics during the unloaded condition. This indicates the external load caused by PR did not substantially overload the runner, and only caused a minor change in the shoulder during push-off. This sports-specific training apparatus may provide coaches with another method for training athletes in a sports-specific manner without causing acute changes to running mechanics.

Paulson, S and Braun, WA. The influence of parachute-resisted sprinting on running mechanics in collegiate track athletes. J Strength Cond Res 25(6): 1680-1685, 2011.

While positive results were shown for college track athletes, this should not necessarily be extrapolated to younger and/or non-track athletes....comments from Tony.

Awesome resource for coaches, parents and athletes

2011-05-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

The American College of Sports Medicine REACH web portal

More confusion on the proper warm-up protocol

2011-05-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

When it comes to warm-up, less is more

Hips help walking ; ankles help running

2011-05-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

very interesting!

Does eating give you pleasure, or make you anxious?

2011-05-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

Does eating give you pleasure, or make you anxious?

stretching and long distance running don't mix

2011-05-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

Check out the full study here

bullying: kids have it rough these days....

2011-05-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

click here for a larger view

sitting is a disease!

2011-05-10T05:19:00.001-07:00

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

more evidence that physical activity helps kids learn better

2011-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

View the study right here (pdf)

what is a "coach"? by Vern Gambetta

2011-05-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

Man, this is right on...

Hu is the human element. You won’t find it on the periodic table of elements, but if you look around you are surrounded by it. It influences and drives everything that we do. The obvious human element in sport is the athlete that is why we coach. As coaches our focus is squarely on the human element, the athlete. The athlete comes in many shapes and all sizes. Some athletes are remarkable and some are average. Each athlete is unique and special. Certainly the athlete is the focus, but let’s not forget who guides and develops the athlete. It’s the coach. A good sport development system is athlete centered, but less we forget it is coach driven. Great coaches are human, they are not automatons and they have feelings and emotions. Great coaches can’t be manufactured. Great coaches just like great athletes are made not born. You get better at coaching if you practice mindfully. Coaching is not something you do; it is something you are with every fiber of your being.

Coaches need to be grown and developed. Coaching development must parallel athlete development for a sport development system to prosper and succeed. If the athletes are to continue to grow and progress the coach must continue to grow and progress. As coaches we must challenge ourselves to lead change by being the change we want to be. Coaching is a profession, not a job that you do three or four hours a day. It is all consuming. In order to coach the best you have to be the best yourself as a coach. Technical expertise and competence are a given, scientific knowledge helps, but ultimately coaching is an art. Great coaches have a feel, they have a sense of knowing when to speak and when to remain silent, when to go and when to stop. How do they know - they have refined the humane side of the human element. They have made mistakes and learned from them. They realize that each athlete is a case study of one. They have learned that coaching is all about Hu, not technology, facilities and equipment, but human failings and frailty. They have learned that coaching is a partnership, it not something you do to the athlete, it is something you do with the athlete.

Parents want more physical activity at school

2011-05-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

A new poll finds that almost all parents of young children believe it's important for elementary school kids to get exercise during each school day. However, one-third said their children don't get enough physical activity at school.

The survey findings come at a time when U.S. schools continue to cut back on physical activity due to budget cuts. Obesity is thought to affect one out of every six kids in the United States.

The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, which asked parents of children aged 6 to 11 for their views about physical activity in schools, found that about one-third of parents think their kids' elementary schools don't devote enough time to physical education, 26% think playground equipment is lacking and 22% believe recess is too short.

"Academic and budget pressures threaten schools' ability to provide outlets and opportunities for children's physical activity. Many parents are noticing that something is missing," Sarah Clark, associate director of the poll and associate director of the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a university news release.

Parents who had extra pounds themselves were more likely to think schools need to do more, the study authors found.

"This is a new insight at the national level, indicating that parents with their own weight challenges are even more likely to see schools as a key partner in addressing the risks of obesity for their own kids," Clark said in the news release.

"School officials should note the strong support from parents for the importance of physical activity during the school day for children in the elementary grades. Parents see many reasons why physical activity is valuable for their children -- not just in preventing obesity but also in promoting healthy physical development. For parents of children in elementary school, it is critically important that children get the physical activity they need during the school day," Clark explained.

Night owls at risk for weight gain and bad diet

2011-05-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Night owls at risk for weight gain and bad diet