Three Sport Athlete?

Before I begin today's post I must start off with a few definitions that will help to make the following entry more easily understood.

Periodization an approach to conditioning that brings about peak performance while reducing injuries and overtraining in the athlete through a training and conditioning program that is followed throughout the various seasons.

These seasons then are broken up into Macrocycles referred to as off-season, pre-season, and in-season.

The Macrocycles are then broken up into Mesocycles divided into the Transition, Preparatory, and Competition Periods. 

Transition Period - Ranges from the last Competition through the early off-season. A time to physically and mentally decompress.

Preparatory Period - Ranges from the off-season through the preseason. This is where your training for competition begins. Preparation for the actual competitions through hypertrophy, endurance, strength, and power training.

Competition Period - When you compete in games/events and take part in Skill Training.

Cross Training - Training for a specific sport by substituting other activities that have similar values of the original sport.

Where I live, in Rockland County NY, you always see people pushing for the Three Sport Athlete. In high school all I could remember was hearing, you should be a Three Sport Athlete. I was looked down on by my coaches for not partaking in three sports. And I always asked, why? Why aren't two sports enough? Why can't I just specialize at one sport? What makes participating in three sports so great?

Simply answered, our society encourages people to be "well-rounded." So we push our children to be well-rounded athletes. Playing three different sports leads an individual to be constantly active and doing new things. In theory it keeps the athlete mentally refreshed, leading them to not focus on just one thing all of the time.

I agree with the concept of the Three Sport Athlete. You want to push children to be good at everything and to try new things. However, I don't believe in the Three Sport Athlete. If an athlete excels at one sport in particular, then why force them to partake in two other sports. This especially holds true if the athlete in question is ineffective at the other two sports. I find that pressuring an individual to partake in three sports is overbearing, especially if the only purpose is to "keep them active." There are many ways to stay active, yet not participate in multiple sports, with multiple coaches, leading to multiple stresses. 

This leads to my idea of the Two Sport Athlete. A true athlete should only be partaking in two sports, the one they excel in, and another that they love or enjoy playing. This thought process follows along with the concept of Periodization. The athlete is using the second sport, their off-season, as a mental break from their true sport.  However, they are still cross training, just not performing workouts specific to their sport. Therefore, this second sport should take place in the season following their number one sport. 

Most educated coaches will prefer the effects of a Cross-Training effort and push their athletes to compete in another sport following their season. By following periodization, training in a different sport will be beneficial during the transitional and early preparatory periods. The added variety to the training regimes will lead to a happier, more refreshed athlete. Diversifying himself or herself will lead an athlete to have fun with their off-season "training."

To compete in another sport during the focal sport's preseason, the athlete will have defeated the purpose of having a preseason. The preparatory period for the upcoming sport will have been disrupted by the rigors of the current season they are participating in. This type of setback will limit them and in turn disrupt the competition period, where they should be peaking physically.

In conclusion, don't force upon the athletes competition in three sports. Two sports is perfectly enough, and in my opinion ideal. Feel free to disagree.

Speed, Greasy Fast Lightening Speed

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We can't all be like the Italian Stallion. Then again, there really is no need to be in the average person's life. Hard work and dedication are the two reasons for Rocky's success in the movies. The same holds true for those of us not headlining a major motion picture. Putting in a maximum effort, physically and mentally, towards a goal is only going to help you to obtain it.  

Rocky needed to add speed to his repertoire in order to defeat his opponent, Apollo Creed. It wasn't that he needed to be a fast sprinter, but that he needed to increase his agility and quickness. For an athlete at any level it is necessary to train your speed, quickness, and agility. Doing so will only help individuals bring themselves to the next level of competition.

Now I would not suggest going out and chasing a chicken around unless it looks like fun. I never tried this method, but always have wanted to since I was a little boy. Now it is common knowledge that training for speed and explosion is important if you plan on competing in athletics at an optimal level. To do so is much easier than one realizes.

Self Pity

Self Pity

D.H. Lawrence
I never saw a wild thing

sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

I have been thinking about this quote for about a week now, so I've decided to use it as motivation for today's post.  

One of the biggest problems of our society is people feeling sorry for themselves. This may be the hardest thing for an individual to conquer. There is one simple solution to this problem though, 

STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF,

because when it comes down to it, no one else does.

Self Pity is capable of ruining our lives. Look all around, everyone feels sorry for his or her self at one time or another. It is how you deal with it that matters. There are many people who use it as an excuse to not do something. This type of sentiment leads to people giving up on things that are too hard. This is exactly what living healthy lifestyle is to some, HARD. To be honest, living a clean and healthy life should not be hard. In fact, it should be a lot easier than most make it out to be.

Eating healthy is not hard; quite simply just eat foods that can be considered clean. Clean foods are non-processed foods, something that you could walk through nature and find. If you walk through the woods, you can find fruits, vegetables, water, and all types of different meats. The likelihood of you stumbling upon a pint of ice cream is about as likely as you stumbling upon a pasta bush. While it is much easier to purchase all of the processed foods, in the long run you know that they are not good for you. The other argument people make is, "I don't have the time to cook myself dinner." This is a horrible excuse. There are plenty of healthier choices than the fast food hamburger made of Grade D meat, slathered in lard, you had for lunch. If you want a burger so badly, cook one up yourself, it only takes about 10 minutes. The laziness you are exuding is partially Self Pity.

This laziness then translates to exercise. People who say, "I don't have the time to exercise," are completely full of bologna (another processed food). Walking is exercise, so start supplementing the elevator with the stairs. Walk that block from the office to the deli, don't drive or take a taxicab. Also, no one works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On your day off, instead of lying on the couch, do something physical. BE ACTIVE! It is not hard to get in a half hour of exercise everyday. Once again, if you start feeling sorry for yourself, you are not going to get up and starting doing things!

If you still feel bad for yourself I have only one thing to say to you, GET OVER IT. There, I said it because clearly someone had to tell you. You can't let things sit with you, stay with you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, wallowing in a self-loathing manner. Channel your anguish into something. Unlike humans, you will never see a bird, feeling sorry for itself.

Everybody Gets Bored, Without a Little Change

Everyone gets to the point where they become bored with their workout. It can be due to many factors, including but not limited to:

• Weight Training Becomes Monotonous
• Lack of Gains
• Lack of Motivation
• Lack of Energy

Well whatever the case may be, it is clear that it is time for a change. With the summer months coming up, that is exactly what should occur. Change your workout, everything about it:

• When you go
• Where you go
• What you do
• How you do it
• Why you do it

When and where you exercise can be related. The time of day you exercise and where, dictates what people are at your favorite exercise facility.  If you start to dislike where you are going, try changing when you go first. The fresh faces may encourage you to continue to use the same facility. If not, change where you exercise. You don't owe the people at the facility anything other than your monthly dues. Don't always work out at the gym, for a day go to an old fashioned playground. Those monkey bars are a great workout, remember in Rocky II? He worked out on the monkey bars and defeated Apollo Creed. But in all seriousness, mix it up, Change is Good!

What and how you exercise may be what is holding you back. If you're constantly lifting to make your chest bigger, change it up. First and foremost, this is a horrible style of exercise. You will  create muscle imbalances and create a forward shoulder deformity due to your tight pectoralis muscles. CHANGE your work out, everything about it. Work out your entire body, try doing plyometrics one day. Do some speed and agility training as oppose to weight training. Both your body and mind will benefit from this.

Change is what keeps us motivated. If you must sit down with yourself and figure out why you still exercise. If you can't think of the reason, create a goal to reach. When we work towards goals, we find purpose in what we are doing. Your goals can be small, I'm going to be able to run a mile in under x amount of time. Or you can set a higher goal, compete in a triathlon. Whatever you decide will help motivate you. Try to avoid an unavoidable goal, or set one that is too broad like, "I want to get in good shape." Be specific with what you want. Once you have your goal decide how you are going to achieve it and set a date to achieve it by.

All of this can only help you remain motivated and maintain your physical activity level. Who knows, you might remember why you originally began your journey to becoming a healthy person.

Slip Up

So over the past few weeks I have been eating very healthy. I have been trying to increase my intake of non-processed food. It was going great, until this weekend. It isn't an excuse but the holidays are very tough to keep healthy in an Italian family. The anti-pasta, salads, pastas, starches, meats, and desserts make for a long day of eating. 

Now when I am helping to prepare for the meals, I am able to keep some of the dishes more health conscious. In my household we have some more healthy choices available, plus I have been trying to change the dietary habits of my parents and I. Easter Sunday was not at my house, it was at my Nana and Papa's home. My Nana, well the woman loves to cook for her family. She always makes a specific dish for each of her children and grandchildren, needless to say there is a lot of food available. Problem with this is what I used to eat, does not directly correlate with what I have been eating. 

I have been trying to keep a modified version of the Primal and Paleo diets. I consider it a more modern hybrid where I don't disregard all Dairy and Grains, just most. As they say in these diets, the Dairies and Grains don't really leave you full; therefore you will continue to eat more and more. Let me tell you, this is quite accurate, the amount of dairy I took in this weekend met my quota for probably an entire week. Between the mozzarella, swiss, & cheddar cheeses, the whipped potatoes, cheesecake, and Italian dressing, my body is crying for detoxification.

With this minor setback I am currently feeling the aftermath: bloating, lethargic, and an overall feeling of dissatisfaction. Do I feel guilty about my weekend, No. Why should I feel guilty about any of this? I am feeling the results of my actions and quite frankly not enjoying them. Now it is Monday, a new week. Time to get back on track, which is until my next obstacle, Memorial Day Weekend.