Performance Nutrition

Proper nutrition is a huge part of good health and most of what I know about nutrition is based on an overwhelming desire to stay healthy  And lest I seem self-righteous about my personal pursuit of good health, let me state for the record that it goes back to when I was 5 years old and my father had his first heart attack.

Back then, there wasn't a lot you could do if you had a heart attack.  He was told to sit mostly, and to participate only in sedentary activities.   He never saw me play high school football--the doctors were afraid he would get too excited.

They even told him he shouldn't hold his arms over his head.   We dried clothes on a clothesline and he couldn't even hang wet clothes on the line.  Hobbies were paint-by-number painting and making fishing lures.  We had honeybees and he would watch from a lawn chair while I did the work.

He started taking anti-coagulant medicine, which he took for the rest of his life. Fried food was forever banned from our table.  Instead, it was skim milk, corn oil margarine that we had to drive to Knoxville to find, lots of fruits and vegetables, and nary an egg to be found.

That's how I grew up and it stuck with me.  So all my dedication to good health and healthy eating is merely paranoia--I didn't want to end up like my dad, quite handicapped in what he could do.

So I've made a point to eat smart ever since.  Oh, I backslide from time to time but 95% of my diet has been healthy.

Nutrition is a big part of sports performance as well.  The old saying is "garbage in, garbage out."  You need good fuel in your engine to perform well.

Nutrition science seems to change all the time (although I'm still waiting for someone to declare the bacon is good for you), but the basics stay the same:  Limit fried foods, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, more fish and chicken. 

I'm also convinced that  we should eat more fresh food, prepared simply... that we should rely on what I call "real" food.   Food with a short shelf life and an even shorter ingredient list.  Food that hasn't been processed, canned, or frozen.

Do you know everything that is on the label found on your food?  Too often, you find additives, preservatives, and a whole lot of things that you need a chemistry degree to understand.  If it goes in your mouth, know what is in it. 

Have you looked at the ingredients in margarine?  It's about a molecule away from being plastic.  I prefer butter.  Pure. Simple.  Food.

What is the only thing to fail pretty much every test ever invented for determining if something was bad for us and yet got government approval?  Artificial sweetener.  So what do we use if we're trying to lose weight?  Yep--artificial sweetener.  Just doesn't seem prudent.

Carbohydrates are still the cornerstone for athletic performance.  There just isn't a better way to provide our body with the fuel it needs to perform.  But genetically engineered grains that have dramatically increased the gluten content have created a huge problem for a lot of folks.  Gluten-intolerance is a serious medical problem.  

I see more people growing their own food and our own Farmer's Market is clear evidence that people are looking for fresh food.  At my house, we're spending more time on our garden.  Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash.  We also grow blueberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, and pears. 

It takes more effort and it costs more in the short run but I'm convinced that in the long run, you'll save money  by being healthier throughout your lifetime.  

Specialization and Professionalism in Youth Sports

About a month ago, I had the good fortune to visit the Birmingham office of world-renowned orthopedic surgeon Jim Andrews.  You may have heard of him.  He's operated on a lot of professional athletes.

He's the one that reconstructed the knee of Robert Griffin III, better known as RG3.  He rebuilt the destroyed shoulder of Drew Brees.  Most said that Brees would never play again.

Tiger Woods.  Michael Jordan.  Trent Richardson.  Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady, Albert Pujols, Jack Nicklaus, Brett Favre, Bo Jackson, Reggie Bush, Hope Solo, and the list goes on and on.

So you get the idea that maybe Dr. Andrews is a big deal and you're right.  And since all these athletes whose careers depend on his work seek him out, you might assume that he's good.  You'd be right there too.

Although he does more surgery on average Joe's than all the pro's, I wasn't there seeking his professional services.  And I can claim only a minor acquaintance with the good doctor.  I was there visiting with my friend Kevin Wilk, Dr. Andrews' right-hand-man who runs the physical therapy clinic downstairs.  

Currently, Dr. Andrews is on a crusade to reduce sports injuries in young folks.  Dr. Andrews says "I started seeing a sharp increase in youth sports injuries, particularly baseball, starting around 2000."

We've seen the same thing around here and a group of our athletic trainers was talking about that topic just the other day.   We all agreed that we had never seen as many ACL injuries on pre-high school age kids. 

The same is true for Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) injuries.  That's the elbow ligament that leads to the "Tommy John Surgery."  We're seeing more of those injuries at all levels.  At last count, 17 Major League Baseball players had serious UCL injuries since spring training this year.

According to Dr. Andrews, the two main reasons for the sharp increase in youth sports injuries are specialization and professionalism.

Specialization means playing the same sport year-round.  At some point, everybody is going to focus on one sport.  I would suggest that point should not arrive until sometime after high school graduation.

Playing the same sport year round is just too much, especially for children and adolescents.  Playing the same sport leads quickly to overuse and overuse is the main ingredient to many injuries, most certainly for the UCL injuries that we're seeing.

Young athletes need diversity to properly develop the all-important athleticism.  They need core strength and balanced musculature.  They need time off from sport.  Diversity, stability, and proper rest will cause in a big drop in these injuries.  

Professionalism is training young kids the same way professional athletes train.  Think about it--some of these kids are going through the same kind of workouts that a professional athlete would do.  Parents are hiring personal trainers with the hope/promise that a college scholarship and professional career are going to be the result.

They are most often wrong.  Less than 1% of high school athletes make it to college athletics.  Less than that are on any kind of scholarship.  And about .6% of college athletes on full scholarship make it to the pro's.  

You're better off hiring an English coach, a science coach, and a math coach.  There are a lot more academic scholarships than athletic scholarships.

There are exceptions.   Good personal trainers can motivate a youngster that may not be prone to exercise regularly.  Just like good teachers everywhere, they can teach the right way to do things.

Throwing a curveball is a very complex endeavor.  Good mechanics are essential and are best taught by a professional instructor.

Dr. Andrews says that "my rule of thumb is, don't throw the curveball until you can shave, until your bone structure has matured...."  Other Andrews Rules:  Avoid the radar gun and be careful with showcases.  He calls them "show-off" cases and injuries are rampant in those.

I would add that kids should play everything they have time for, avoid those activities that cost thousands of dollars per year, and make sure it's always fun.

When it stops being fun, go do something else. 

The Early Bird Gets The Worm

I get up early. I don't want to say how early but very early. If I told you, you'd think I'm crazy, lying, or bragging (or all three). 

I enjoy sleep but there's just so much that I want to get done.  I've cut my work day back already.  I only work half a day now.  12 hours a day is enough for anybody.

Until last Sunday, we had this crazy robin that banged on our window at 6:30 every morning.  I am not around to hear it very often but I was this past weekend and if it weren't against Tennessee state law, that might have been one dead robin.

This bird would bang into our bedroom window, fly back to the railing a few feet away, then do it again.   For probably 30 minutes.   Every day.  We assumed that it saw its reflection in the window and thought it was another bird in its territory.

Talk about a headache!   I finally put some netting up across the window and it seems to have stopped the head banging.

You might ask,  what's a reasonable sane man of your age doing getting up at an obscene hour?   There are really two reasons.

One of my favorite parts of the work day is getting to the clinic before everyone else.   I have my breakfast.  I fix a cup of coffee.  I look at the patient schedule for the day.   If time permits, I work on paperwork, the bane of the existence of health care folks everywhere.

The other reason is to exercise. Let me go on the record as stating that early mornings are the absolute best time for getting in your exercise.

Yes, it works for me and it's not like I don't like to sleep in.  I can sleep till 7 AM on a weekend with the best of them.   My biologic clock never lets me go later than that though.

But exercising at the first part of your day takes away many of the excuses that crop up during the course of the day.   Work out at lunch time?  Maybe you don't get enough time and then there's the whole thing about going back to work still sweating.

After work?  Life too often gets in the way.   The kids have an event and need to get there or the yard needs mowing or something.   Just too many excuses. 

In the evening?   It might work for some but not many.  My son-in-law will often take off on his bike after the kids are bathed in bed, sometimes hitting the road at 9 PM or so.   Don't worry--he's lit up like a Christmas tree out there.   But I don't think he does it out of preference.  I think it's just that it's about the only time he has time to get his exercise in.

For most people, there are just too many family responsibilities to head to the gym in the evening.  And that often means it just doesn't get done.

My bike rides are almost always in the morning too.   If your summer exercise is outdoors, then the temperatures are much better in the morning.

It wasn't too long ago that I said here that the best exercise for you is the one that you will do...the one that you will stick with.   There is also considerable evidence that exercising at the first part of your day kicks your metabolism up for most of the day, burning more calories not just when you're exercising but for a good part of the day.

In other words, if weight loss is one of the reasons you exercise, mornings are probably your best time.

So set your clock early and let your day start with your daily exercise.  You don't need some crazy robin to get you out of bed. 

Can't Never Did Do Nothing

My dad was not an educated man.  He quit school after the 6th grade to go to work to support his family.  He never quit until his heart wouldn't let him anymore.

When he joined the Navy and headed off to war in 1942, he was the old man on the boat at 29.  His lack of formal education certainly didn't get in the way in the south Pacific.

He always worked hard.  He asked for the nastiest, most dangerous job available at the factory where he spent most of his adult life because it paid more.

My dad was a smart man.  Oh, his handwriting revealed some problems with the written word but make no mistake about it--he was smart.  I often wonder what he could have done with the opportunities that education gives us.  A laywer?  A doctor?  Who knows.

My dad left a legacy of hard work and integrity.  If he said he would do something, he did it.

I was asked recently what I thought my "legacy" would be when I'm gone.  Not that I plan on going anywhere for a long time but it is an intriguing game.

I concluded that there is nothing we can do to determine our legacy for our legacy is really who we are, not what we have done.   A legacy is more than memories and lessons. 

My dad certainly left me great memories.  Camping on Tellico River.  Road trips in the family car before there were interstates.  Gardening.  Beekeeping.  Fishing.

And lessons.   He taught me to always do things the right way.  At 10, building a treehouse in my backyard with him sitting at the base of the tree in a lawn chair, telling me how to do it right because his diseased heart wouldn't allow him to show me. 

But the thing that he used to say that taught me the most, has helped me most profoundly, and rings as loudly today as it did then was this:  "Can't never did do nothing."

That may be his ultimate legacy to me.  Terrible grammar for certain yet he really was a well spoken man.  I think I inherited my dislike of all double negatives from him. 

Can't never did do nothing.  To understand it, you must break it down.  Read it like this-"can't" never did do nothing.  In other words, saying that you can't do something doesn't accomplish anything.  Maybe that's better grammar but the message isn't as good.

Can't never did do nothing.  The message is clear.  Don't quit.  Don't give up.  Don't tell me that you can't do something.  Find a way.  Figure it out.  

Can't never did do nothing.  A quote made for the sports pages.  I think it might be the best message that we can ever give to young athletes.

At my last birthday, my daughter gave me a card that had this:  

    I said, "I can't."  You said, "try again."

    I said "it's too hard."  You said, "don't give up."

    I said "what if I fall."  You said, "I'll be there to catch you."

Don't tell me can't.