Walking Amongst The Trees

I was in a funk early this week. I had no right to be down—I had just returned from a wonderful beach vacation. I’m healthy. I’m happy. So, what was wrong with me?!?

I have no idea but it was real. I didn’t even want to go on my weekly Tuesday afternoon bike ride. My  mountain bike buddy was in Utah and another was in Charleston but their absence was just an excuse.  I didn’t want to ride.

Actually, I didn’t want to do much of anything.  Honestly, work didn’t interest me. I had mowed the day before so I didn’t have that to do—something that I find restorative.

But a friend I talked to put it best: Go ride. So I did. My mountain bike was in the truck and I had brought clothes for it so I was out of excuses.

I headed for the mountains even though my heart still wasn’t in it. And you know what? It worked. Two hours in the mountains on my mountain bike, alone, with hardly a soul on the trails, rejuvenated me, restored me.

After I got back in cell range, I called my wife and admitted my funk and then told her how miraculously the mountains had cured me. And I’ve been fine ever since.

Later that night, I read a couple of articles in Outside magazine about the value of green spaces. One article judged cities by the amount of green space available. Blount County wasn’t on the list but it seemed focused on big cities. I bet that if smaller regions were eligible, our beloved county would have made it.

After all, about a third of the county is in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And if you ever fly over it, you see mostly green. Even in the cities.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about our Greenbelt, about how valuable an asset it was to all of us. Free. Easy. Convenient. I think I called it an “oasis” in our cities.

The second magazine article talked about the health benefits of green spaces. It addressed the value of walking amongst the trees.

We know the benefits of walking and regular exercise. Goodness knows I’ve preached that sermon in this space what seems like a million times. And it makes common sense to know that we are healthier and happier if we get outdoors from time to time.

It’s also not too farfetched to understand that our mental health benefits from walking in green spaces. Maybe the fresh air and blue skies. Maybe a bubbling brook. Birds chirping. No electronic devices.

But this article talked about the physical health benefits from walking among the trees. And it quantified it!  It quoted a ton of research that concluded that our physical health is better from a walk in the park or in the forest for 120 minutes a week.

Two hours! Research clearly tells us that you will live longer. That Alzheimer’s patients live healthier for those 120 minutes a week. A lot of medical ailments are better because of it.

Well goodness gracious, we can all do that! We live in the best place in the country to do that, with miles of trails in the Smokies and a Greenbelt system that is the envy of communities everywhere.

All we’ve got to do is take advantage of what literally sits outside our door.

Return to Football

Football season is here.  Teams are practicing. Coaches are planning. Athletic trainers are working hard to keep athletes on the field. 

We’ve not yet experienced the blistering heat that August is known for but it’s early yet. We still need to stay hydrated and be smart when it’s hot.

That means hats, sunscreen, and frequent breaks. The main ingredient when you overheat is still the same—find a way to cool off. The best method is cold water immersion. That’s why you see big tubs and wading pools at high school football practices around here.

A cooler of ice is never far away and if an athlete appears to be having trouble dealing with the heat, in the tub they go. You should do the same.

I was in Moab several years ago and one of my biking buddies became seriously overheated. We got him into the bathtub and started tossing in bags of ice. It didn’t take long for him to recover.

Athletic trainers will often use an ice bath as a method of recovery. You would be surprised how fresh you feel the day after a hard workout if you have ended that practice with an ice bath. In recent years, you may have seen your favorite high school team gathered around, taking turns in the cold tubs.

Most don’t really like it but they quickly find out how much better it makes them feel, especially the next day. I first discovered this technique years ago while working with the US Olympic swimming team.

A lot of people refuse to allow their children to play football and part of me gets that. My wife has serious reservations about any of our grandsons playing football. I now have a knee replacement most likely to years of playing football and my son’s college career was ended by a serious injury.

But I truly believe that football is the best sport out there to teach teamwork and life lessons. To me, it is the ultimate team sport. If you don’t do your job on the football field—the team fails.

If you don’t make the block, your running back gets clobbered. If the quarterback throws a perfect pass, it means nothing if you drop the ball. If you don’t complete your defensive assignment, the other team scores. It takes all eleven, working together to be successful.

I’m often asked what makes the high school teams at Maryville and Alcoa so successful. In a nutshell (in my opinion), it is good players, good coaches, and teamwork.

Teenagers have few opportunities to truly prove themselves. Determination and persistence are most readily rewarded on our playing fields. That’s probably why I’m still such a fan of the game. I learned those things in spades on the football field.

Never the biggest, fastest, or most athletic, I made do with an extra helping of determination and persistence. Those same traits have served me well in over 43 years as a physical therapist. Those were lessons learned and repeatedly reinforced on the football field.

Is it a dangerous game? I wouldn’t call it dangerous. Players do get hurt. But there can be a good side to dealing with injuries. Injuries led me to a career that I truly love. Dealing with adversity gives us a whole new set of lessons.

We take risks every day. We drive on Alcoa Highway. We swim in the lake. We cross the Dragon. We fly in airplanes. We choose our risks and I happen to believe that for some, playing football is worth the risk.

And I know that both my son and I would do it again.

My Why

It really hasn’t been very long since I wrote about finding your Why.  Definitely not long enough but sometimes there is a topic that I just can’t get out of my head.

This is one of those times.  Oh, maybe it is inspiration and maybe it’s laziness although I’m rarely accused of the latter, but I’m going to talk about it again.

I pulled that old column out in an attempt to not repeat myself but I know that’s going to be hard. In it, I talked about my role as a teacher, a preacher, and a cheerleader. I talked about enjoying life and being positive.

I used that last bit at Camp Blackberry last week. If I started feeling negative vibes from one of the grandkids, I encouraged them to counter those negative vibes with positive vibes. It worked. Sometimes.

Who am I? I am a physical therapist, an athletic trainer, a husband/father/grandfather. I’m a biker and a farmer. But that still doesn’t tell you why I’m here. And after rereading that other column on this topic, I realized that those things are more who I am. My Why is more basic than that.

Now this is about to turn sappy so if you don’t want that from me today, just turn the page.

I’ve always thought that part of who I am is defined by my role as a physical therapist/athletic trainer. But I’ll retire one day, either by my choice or not, and I worry about whether or not that part of me will die. I don’t want to lose that part of me. It’s important to me.

Who I am is so wrapped up in all that. I have great fear that I will lose my identity when that day comes. And it will come. Sooner or later.

I love what I do. I’ll not say that I’m a good physical therapist—I’ll leave that up for someone else to decide. But I am a compassionate physical therapist and when you are my patient, you get someone who truly cares about you, who is truly interested in your best health.

But is that who I am? No, I think that just defines me, maybe defines my role in the workforce. It’s how I serve others. It’s how I’ve served this community for over 40 years.

So let’s get back to my Why.

I believe we are here to love each other and we do that by serving one another. In whatever manner, with whatever skillset that we have.

I believe that we are here to change the world.  That world may be inside your four walls but it may be the universe. I grew up with few having high expectations for me. That’s why I now encourage kids to aim for the moon.

I believe that everything we do should be based on love for each other.

If you’ve made it this far, you may think that I’m about to announce my retirement. Not. Gonna. Happen. Not yet, anyway.

I’m still at work, seeing patients at Total Rehabilitation-Cherokee. You won’t find me on the sidelines of MHS football anymore but that just means that my work week is more sane.

My Why will never change, but eventually, my venue will. And that’s OK too.

Camp Blackberry 2021

It’s that time of year again. Time for Camp Blackberry! We missed it last year over Covid concerns. This year is an abbreviated version for a variety of reasons.

What is Camp Blackberry, you ask? It’s a week in the summer when we have our grandchildren. We hike, swim, bike, do crafts, eat, sleep, and play. We take excursions like the Knoxville Zoo (thank you Mr. Phil) and the Chattanooga Aquarium.

It’s called Camp Blackberry because, well, our name is Black and we raise blackberries so it just seemed logical. We have a camp t-shirt and a logo. We have seven grandchildren but only six can attend. We’re not quite ready for the 18 month old.

We got the idea from Dr. Bob and Sue Ramger, who ran Camp Ramger for many years. I’ve heard from their now grown grandchildren about the memories that were built.

This is the 8^th rendition of CB and it’s a little different. We’ve been at Fall Creek Falls State Park, something we planned to do last year. With vacations limited and our family beach trip cancelled, we wanted to get away for a few days.

It’s a wonderful time and we look forward to it each summer. We are already planning for next year. But where I want to go today is about the role of the grandparent.

I didn’t know but one of my grandparents. My maternal grandmother is the only one that I knew and she died when I was seven. Despite that, I have indelible memories of this proud, statuesque woman. My own children knew all four of their grandparents but not for long enough. Grandparents are important. Not essential, but important.

Grandparents are the ones that get to be concerned only about your happiness. Parents don’t really get to do that. Parents have to worry about grades and performance and behavior and all those sorts of things.

Parents have to worry about getting to practice on time and the character of friends. Parents have to make sure that you are doing your chores, getting what you need to eat, and getting enough sleep. Most of the time, grandparents just get to do the easy stuff, the fun stuff.

I will quickly admit that when I attend the games that my grandchildren play, I’m more interested in it being a positive experience for them. I don’t worry about anything else but that. Are they happy? Are they having fun?

I don’t remember either of those being a high priority when my own kids played sports. I was more interested in hustle and performance. When GK6 was playing t-ball and was told to run for home from third base, I loved that he turned toward the dugout and began looking for his parents (I assume to go home). His parents may not have been as amused by that as I was.

And the officiating….oh my, the officiating. It’s got a lot better since my own kids played. A LOT better. As a grandparent, I worry far less that we just saw a foul or a hand ball. I don’t think twice if someone is offsides or in the lane.

I get that liberty because I have the perspective of old age and thousands of hours of experience. I’m given great latitude to simply enjoy the games because I know that in the big picture, whether one of them wins a championship at age 9 or not will have absolutely no bearing on their ultimate athletic success.

I’m not interested in their team going undefeated or winning the league championship. I’m more interested in knowing that they’re moving, getting better, learning the game. And being happy. As a grandparent, THAT gets to be my first priority.

It's not too late

Now is the time. Yeah, I know…school just got out. But if you aren’t preparing for the upcoming season, then you are already behind.

Oh, there’s time, but don’t waste it.   Every athlete should be running, jumping, lifting weights, practicing their skills. You can’t wait until the season starts.

Actually, you should have your base of fitness already. Your season will be here before you can turn around. Now is the time to fine tune things.

Work on your jump shot. Your free throws. Spend some time on quickness and agility.

Time in the weight room will help you kick harder, farther, more accurately. Especially when fatigue is a factor.

Mileage is important but speed work is too. Everyone is a mix of slow twitch and fast twitch fibers.  You need to work on both to be the best that you can be.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” He was talking about fire prevention in early Philadelphia but it readily addresses health care today. 

Let’s start with overall fitness. We know that more injuries occur when you are fatigued. Think about the last run of the day on the ski slope. The 4th quarter. A track meet and you’re in your last event.

You don’t have to run a marathon (26+ miles) already to run a marathon but you do have to put in the mileage beforehand.  You can’t run a mile and then the next day run 10. Or at least you shouldn’t.

Fatigue may not make cowards of us all but it does make us more susceptible to injuries. You can over-do anything but you almost cannot be too fit.

What does that mean? Our endurance is high. Our muscles are well trained for the task at hand. We are flexible.

I’m not going to blame every hamstring injury on flexibility issues but I there is no doubt in my mind that you can reduce the incidence and severity of a hamstring strain by being more flexibler. Same thing for the Achilles.

Hear this clearly—stretching does not mean a few toe touches and arm swings before your workout. First off, stretching should be done at the END of a workout, not at the beginning. And the flexibility work should be approached like the rest of the workout—well thought out and thorough.

Pat Summit’s Athletic Trainer Jenny Moshak had it right. The Lady Vols would meet on the floor after every practice and game and dedicate time to stretching. You should learn from that.

Two more really important components of training as you prepare for the season are jump training and work on your core. We know that jump training helps to prevent ACL injuries. There is no doubt.

How your foot hits the ground is part of that. You should have that assessed by a professional.

I can never preach too much about how important your core is. Strengthening the hip is another huge component to preventing ACL injuries. The rotators of the hip help to control action at the knee when your foot is on the ground, whether from landing or cutting.

Don’t know what to do? There are good professional trainers out there. Look for one that asks you lots of questions, does a physical assessment of you, and sees the big picture.

Then get to work. Time’s a-wasting.

Hurt or Injured?

"It’s not broken, just fractured.” I’ve heard that one many times, usually as a signal that the person believes that the injury isn’t as bad as it could be.

OK…I’m going to start with that one. Broken, fractured, they mean the same thing. It’s not like horseshoes or hand grenades—a bone is either broken or it is not. A stress fracture is still a break in the bone. Maybe it only goes through part of the bone but it is still broken. That one is easy.

“Is it hurt or injured?” That one is much more difficult to define. I have heard coaches for years tell their players that they need to decide if something is “hurt” or “injured.” The clear implication is that if something is simply “hurt,” that they can play through it. There is some truth in that. There are a lot of hurts in sports participation.

“Hurt” may be exercise soreness from overdoing it. Overtraining, going too far or too fast, lifting too much or too often, all those can result in pain.

Usually those will go away with a little time and refraining from doing whatever it is that got you there. Most people seem to know what they did and when they did it if it has created pain.

Sore feet from running a lot further than usual. Sore shoulder from throwing too many times. Sore knees from running all those steps.

“Injured” implies damage to tissues.  While usually associated with a specific injury, it doesn’t have to be. In other words, you may not know what you did but damage is done.

It’s easy when you turn your ankle and it hurts on the outside of your ankle. You probably know what you did. And maybe you know pretty much what to do (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) but you might need help in deciding when that ankle is ready to go. That’s where you might need help. More on that in a minute.

Same with knees. If you injure your knee, you usually know when and how. Remember those bits of information—they will become important in deciding how bad it is and what is damaged.

Knees that always hurt and the pain lasts for several days? Something is wrong and you need to get checked. Weightbearing hurts your knee? Get it checked. Something is wrong.

Shoulders can be really complicated. If you pitch a full game (or have a high pitch count), you can expect your shoulder to be sore. Is it injured? Probably not. But you need to take care of it. That means ice on that shoulder within minutes of your last pitch. You can’t wait until you get home and finally find the ice bag. You need to have ice in the dugout and something to hold it on. And you definitely don’t need to cover up the pain with ibuprofen.

If it hurts the next day, something may be wrong. Any pain that just won’t go away needs to be checked.

A lot of people have chronic shoulder pain (LOTS of people). Our world today puts lots of stress on our shoulders. Much of what we do is in front of us. Sitting at a computer is a huge culprit in the development of chronic shoulder problems. I spend a lot of my professional time dealing with those.

But athletes with chronic shoulder pain need to have it checked out. It doesn’t mean that they can’t continue to play their sport. It may just mean that they need to prepare for the sport differently, to do things differently.

That’s where the Athletic Trainer comes in. Athletic Trainers are trained in all this. Athletic Trainers can help decide if it is “hurt” or “injured.” And here’s the good news:  All our schools have Athletic Trainers. All of them.

My final advice—use those Athletic Trainers. They are not there to keep you out of the game but to keep you IN the game.

 

Over 45? Get Screened for Colon Cancer

Vince Lombardi. Darryl Strawberry. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Ken Stabler. Tom Lehman. All have one thing in common:  They’re all sports stars that have had colon cancer.

Dr. Ed Brown is retiring this summer. In case you don’t know Dr. Brown, he’s a gastroenterologist that has served this community long and well.

I got to know Dr. Brown almost 28 years ago, when I showed up in his office. You see, I had a grandmother and an aunt that died of colon cancer. And my mom had colon cancer.

So, at age 40, I showed up at Dr. Brown’s office to schedule my first colonoscopy.

Let me tell you about a colonoscopy (without getting too graphic). First of all, you’re asleep, so it is painless and not cringe-worthy.. Using a flexible tube with a light and a camera at the end, the gastroenterologist examines your colon.

That’s it. You wake up, go get something to eat, and go home. Any suspicious places (usually a thing called polyps) are removed and sent to pathology. A few days later you get a report from the pathologist.

I didn’t mention the hard part. The day before the procedure, you can only have clear liquids (my clear liquid of choice was hot lemon Jello) and then at the end of that day, you take medicine to…shall we say…clean you out.

And it does a good job of it. The next morning, you head in for the colonoscopy and meet some really nice folks that do this sort of thing every day. I met a really nice Nurse Anaesthetist named Bill who was thorough and personable (but Propafol keeps me from remembering his last name).

Dr. Brown is a quiet, very professional physician with enough wry sense of humor to keep the whole process in perspective. When he called me this week with the pathology report, I thanked him for his many years of excellent care.

Here’s the good news—colon cancer, found early, is 100% treatable. That’s where the colonoscopy comes in. That’s how you find it early.

Who should consider screening for colonoscopy? All men and women over 40. Period.

But beyond that, what are signs that there could be a problem?  Unexplained changes in bowel habits. Blood in their stool. Unexplained weight loss, chronic constipation, or diarrhea.

Anyone with a family history of colon cancer should get screened. The screening may be as simple as a medical exam and a laboratory test.

Should everyone get a colonoscopy?  That’s for your doctor and you to decide The American Cancer Society recommends that anyone with a family history should begin getting colonostomies at age 45. For some, at higher risk, sooner than that.

As for me, I depend on my gastroenterologist to keep me healthy and so, I will do whatever they tell me to. Dr. Brown is retiring but I have great confidence in one of his young colleagues, Dr. Isaac Cline, who I’ve known since he was nine or ten.

And I’m counting on Dr. Cline keeping me safe from colon cancer for many years to come.

Parents Say the Darndest Things

There aren’t many of you that remember the old Art Linkletter television show.  It’s so old, I think it was only done in black & white.  He had a segment on the show called “Kids Say The Darndest Things.”

It was later recreated a couple of times but the original was what I grew up on. On the show, Art Linkletter would subtly lead kids into saying what was really on their minds. And you know kids—they sometimes have no filters.

What resulted from Art Linkletter’s somewhat innocent questions was often hilarious. Parents of athletes sometimes say the darndest things too. Some are funny, some are sad.

“They just got lucky.” One team scores and the coach/parent yells, “they just got lucky.” Maybe on some level that coach/parent is being positive but I think not.

It clearly implies that the other team is not really good enough to score without the benefit of luck. That their skills mean nothing.

I’ve heard people say “I’d rather be lucky than good.” Not me. I’d rather be good. Every time. I’ve also heard it said that “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” I like that.

“Hit somebody.” That one always strikes me as funny.  Hit somebody! OK, who? Shouldn’t you be more specific? Is it OK if I hit somebody on my own team? They’re “somebody” aren’t they?

I guess “strike hard against someone on the opposing team” just wouldn’t work. By the time you get it out of your mouth, the play is over.

“Keep your eye on the ball.” I’ve been guilty of that one. I’ve probably said it a million times. The idea is to watch the ball all the way to your bat or to your racket and, in doing so, make better contact. It isn’t quite that easy.

Early on, it is important to keep your eye on the ball. Through repetition, the bat or the racket becomes an extension of your hands. That’s where you want to get to.

You can’t tell me that major league hitters see the ball all the way to the bat. MLB fastballs are just moving to fast. But thousands of repetitions establish a muscle memory to where it isn’t necessary.

“They just got their bell wrung. It’s football.” I still hear that one, even in today’s world of concussion awareness. Sure, that’s the way we used to approach things. We know better now.

And once you know better, you can never go back. You can never ignore the potential or the possibility of a concussion.

“Get in the hole!” It’s a golf thing. I’m not sure but I don’t think golf balls have ears. And from my limited experience, they don’t take orders. From anybody. Yet, I would have been yelling for Phil Mickelson’s putts to “get in the hole.”

“You hit like a girl.” Oh don’t get me started on that one. The other one in this category is that you “throw like a girl.” Those parents need to get a clue. Or a girl.

I’m as competitive as the next person but I don’t believe in cheering when somebody misses a free throw. That’s just wrong. Unless it means that your team wins the game. Then you’re cheering the win, not the miss.

I try and imagine what it is like to be the kid on the losing team or the kid that strikes out or the kid that keeps trying and trying and trying. And then I choose my words carefully.

Application for being a Good Parent of an Athlete

Glad you asked. It helps if you know what it takes. Can’t apply for a job unless you know the job description.

It’s easy if you want to be the parent of a GOOD ATHLETE.  It starts with their gene pool. You are directly responsible for that. Not there? That’s OK. You have done all you could do in that category when you birthed them. What’s done is done.

No amount of position coaching, personal training, or going to every sports camp in the country can overcome a bad gene pool. It just doesn’t happen.

But anybody can be a GOOD PARENT of an athlete. That doesn’t take nearly as much.

What does it take?  You can’t be their coach. This coming from someone that coached everything, including the first soccer game he ever saw.

Oh, you can get them started. Youth sports are dependent on parent coaches. You might teach them how to run or throw but you’ve got to realize when it’s time to turn them over to someone else. And assume it’s earlier than you think it will be.

I’ve told the story before of one day when I was sitting at home with my son after high school football practice. I was telling him what he did wrong, maybe what he did right. Keep in mind that I know something about football. I played football. I coached football. I’ve been around football almost my entire life. I felt qualified.

He stopped me and said “Dad, I only have one dad, I’ve got nine coaches.” I got the message.

If you are a Helicopter Pilot, you are automatically disqualified from this job. You can’t hover. You can’t try and control things. I guess you can try but it won’t work.

And if you think you can be a referee/umpire/judge from the stands, you’re also automatically disqualified.

Keep in mind that the younger the athlete, the less skilled the game official. At the youngest levels, they do it for the love of the game and/or for the love of the kids. At the highest levels, they still make mistakes.

Something I can tell you with absolute certainty—if you don’t have a child in the game, the officiating is much, much better.

As a grandparent, I find that the quality of the officiating just doesn’t matter. I can see their mistakes and accept them. I can see that they’re doing their best. In watching a ton of grandkid games, I can honestly say that I’ve never seen an official that favored one team or another.

Pet Peeve Alert:  If a player from the other team misses a shot, don’t cheer. Cheer success in youth sports, not failure.

The only thing that needs to be on this application is your commitment to support your child. Get them to practice on time. Cheer their successes. Console their mistakes. And never boo.

When your child gripes about the coach, don’t reinforce their gripe but help them understand the coach’s actions. Help them understand what they can do differently or better. And never ask the coach about playing time. 

What else is in the job description? Take your child out and hit, throw, kick, jump, run. Swim, paddle, bike. Spend time with them working on what the coach has been teaching them. You can’t play tennis?  Throw them balls and let them hit them. Can’t hit the broad side of a barn door on a basketball court? That’s OK…rebound for them—they get more repetitions that way. Have them pitch to spots. You don’t have to pitch—they do.

They will have more success on the courts and fields and you will live longer and be happier.

Enough of the old guy stuff!

What about the young folks in the room?” OK.  Fair enough. Same advice: Movement is everything.

Sir Isaac Newton figured it out a long time ago. A body in motion tends to stay in motion (unless acted on by outside forces). A body at rest tends to stay at rest.

This covers a whole lot of what I’ve been writing about for the past couple of months. The job is the same—being healthier. The basic concepts are the same. Move!

Active adults create active kids. That doesn’t mean to simply send your kids outside to play. Kids don’t have the same opportunities for “play” that you and I did. There is simply too much demand on their time. 

You are their role model. If your lifestyle is sedentary, theirs will be too. If you hit the couch and watch TV, they’ll hide in their room on some sort of electronic device too.

Playing everything when you’re young makes you a better athlete when you’re older. It’s all about learning to move. Run, throw, kick. Balance, coordination, understanding how your body moves.

That’s what will make your child a better athlete when it really counts. Those basic skills are the foundation for a life of sports performance.

No sport specialization until high school. Never.

Two of the most successful college football coaches in the country are Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban. A lot of people speculate about what makes these two very different coaches so successful. I happen to believe that what they have most in common is the ability to identify talent and then develop it.

And I guarantee you, they’re not looking at Little League games or AAU tournaments to identify talent. No one knows at 10 that your child is destined to stardom.

Ace pitcher at 12? Winning races at 10? Means little. Can they move their body? Can they control that movement? Means everything.

You can give your child only two things: Your gene pool and the love of a game. Yeah, that one was a couple of weeks ago. Give me a kid that is passionate about a sport and I’ll show you a kid that will be successful, at some level, in that sport.

Childhood obesity a problem?  Move! Juvenile onset Diabetes?  Move!

That has really gotten more difficult. When I was a kid, summers were filled with activity that we created on our own. I would leave the house in the morning on my bike with the only admonition being that I be home for supper.

That’s not the world we live in anymore. Play dates have to be manufactured. Sports participation is the main avenue for activity for a lot of kids. But what if sports just aren’t what works for your child? That puts it back on you, Mom and Dad.

Movement is life. Movement gives us life. Movement makes our life better.

Long in the Tooth

It wasn’t that long ago when I realized that I never looked at the comics in the newspaper any more. For my entire life, that was the first thing that I turned to when I picked up the morning paper.

It wasn’t a conscious decision and didn’t come all of a sudden. It was gradual and only when one of my grandsons wanted to always see the comics in our weekly foray to work in my barn did I realize what had happened.

I’m officially old. Forget that I’ve got a birthday coming up in a month—I quit worrying about those things a long time ago. That birthday cake would look like a bonfire.

Today, it’s more of wondering what is going to hurt the most when I get out of bed in the morning. Will it be that nasty left wrist today? One or both of my shoulders? Knees, hips, ankles?

I have to watch about taking too much Vitamin-I (ibuprofen). I keep my regular visits to my primary care physician, my gastroenterologist, and my dermatologist. When needed, I don’t hesitate to head for my orthopedist or my cardiologist. But my own medical care is part of every day life.

When my biking buddy Steve Bright mentioned in the middle of a 50 mile bike ride that we were getting “a little long in the tooth,” I reached the inevitable conclusion we were both most definitely old. (If you don’t know what that means, ask an old person.)

Mind you, I don’t really mind. I consider it better than the alternative. I want to go to heaven but I don’t want to go today. (Of course that line is in a country song.)

So I do everything that I know to do to deal with aging. I eat mostly healthy. I take my meds. I’m getting more sleep than ever. I wear compression stockings most days (there’s another story in there). I exercise every day.

I laugh often, love deeply, live without regrets, and read all the time. All those things are important. I play this game called Wordscapes every day because it might help keep my mind sharp.

Let me step back just a bit. My life and my work revolve around exercise. My college degrees all focus on exercise. It is a creature that I know well. Exercise science and movement education have been a part of my professional life for over four decades now.

I’ve never really been what you call “out of shape.” It just isn’t in me. The clinic where I see patients is half rehab, half fitness center. All day, I look out across a gym with people working hard, sweating, getting stronger, getting more fit.

It would be hard to ignore that but I don’t need much motivation anyway. It is inherent to my nature to ride, hike, paddle, lift…and move.

And there’s the magic. In movement is the Fountain of Youth. Every day. No exceptions. Ride with me on a mountain bike and you’ll never guess my age.

When you wake up in the morning and it hurts, you’ve still got to get out of bed and get moving. When you can’t decide whether to take a nap or a hike, you take that hike.

I’m an avid bike rider. Riding on a gorgeous day with a group of friends is divine. But there are some days when I just don’t feel like it. I get out there anyway.

Sometimes that first step is the hardest. Not just the big first step to start exercising but that first step to get up off the couch and do what you know you should do. Every day.

Maybe I wake up on Saturday morning and am just not feeling my regular Saturday ride. Doesn’t matter. Once I get rolling and feel the wind, the joy of the open road, I know I made the right decision.

Movement. It’s what sustains you. It’s what keeps you young.

And, by the way, I’ve gone back to looking at the comics first.

Teach them the Love of the Game

Only the most vile of parents doesn’t want better for their children than they had it. That’s especially true for sports.  Any responsible parent wants their child to be as good or better than they were.

That’s pretty much a given. I’m not talking about living vicariously through your children. That happens a lot. But that may be because you want your child to have opportunities that you didn’t have.

I’ve seen some really great athletes that never played a sport but were accomplished athletes as adults—adults that maybe didn’t have opportunities when they were growing up. Often called “late bloomers,” it really has more to do with the fact that maybe they didn’t have someone to take them to Little League practice. Or to gymnastics. There wasn’t somebody around to teach them how to shoot a free throw or run a race. Or kick a ball.

Maybe mom and dad worked all the time and didn’t have time to teach their child how to swim or ride a bike. Too busy trying to make ends meet. Maybe they couldn’t afford private coaches and personal trainers.

There are lots of reasons that aren’t excuses at all. It just is what it is.

I’ve often heard it said that if you want to be a standout athlete, that you should pick your parents well.

Don’t misunderstand me:  A young athlete can be much more athletic than their parents. They can become a much more accomplished athlete than their parents. It can be done.

It’s hard to overcome that gene pool but through early movement education (think learning how to run, throw, and kick), lots of opportunities to play sports and games, and participating in a variety of things, anyone can become better as an athlete.

I played football but I was never even remotely as good as my son was. I played a little volleyball but my daughter was way better than I ever could have been. The parent that has a problem with that is the parent that I talked about in my first sentence.

So, what is the number one way to guarantee your child’s sports success? Teach them how to love the game.

Let them learn the joy of movement. And success. That doesn’t mean that you make sure that they are on the right team, a team of all-stars that plays every weekend and wins every game. It doesn’t mean that they have the “right” pitching coach or that they focus on one sport.

Goodness knows that last one is a mistake. Up until high school, kids should play everything that interests them. No, they’re not going to become the next four sport superstar but sports specialization has been clearly demonstrated to not work.

The kid that loves a game is going to be better. And if they stay with it, they’re going to be good.

You may recall me telling about a grandchild that is learning tennis. He’s struggled to find his “thing” but he has fallen in love with tennis. I’m there to help gently guide him in these early days but he will quickly exceed my ability to teach him the game.

Maybe he’s a “natural,” maybe he’s not. But if that love persists, he will be a good one.

I’ll say it one last time—the best thing you can give your child is love. Love of a game. Love of life. Love for each other.

Local Hero

I was recently assisting with an accident that I came up on.  My training as an Athletic Trainer provides me with a skillset for handling emergency situations.  I have received additional training as a Sports Physical Therapist that does the same.

Fortunately, on our playing fields and courts, we rarely encounter medical emergencies. But we still must be prepared for them when they happen. Those same skills can be applied to other medical emergencies.

That’s where I happened to find myself recently. Most of the time, the job is clear. Check for airway and bleeding, stabilize the site and the injured, call for emergency transport.  At that point, staying calm and not moving the injured is essential, unless it is unsafe for them to remain where they are.

A few weeks ago, I talked about a local fellow, Kenny Wiggins, that is an unsung hero, a local star.  I found another such person during all this.

A quiet professional, someone that knows his job, someone that you probably don’t know. But part of the fabric of this community that makes this a great place to live.

When the ambulances arrived at the accident, I looked up and saw David Blanton, a para-medic with AMR.  This isn’t the first time that I have been attending someone injured when David arrived.

On each occasion, I remember thinking “oh good, David is here.” I know that David will provide the very best in emergency care.

Calm, steady, and highly trained, David first asks me for my assessment of the situation then immediately goes into action. Our Athletic Trainers work often with the local EMT’s and para-medics so the hand-off is seamless. 

Once those EMT’s and para-medics arrive, it is their show.  They are the ones most prepared to deal with it from that point on.

And David is the best of the best. Originally from Pell City, Alabama, David has been a Blount Countian since 1999 and a Para-Medic since 1986.

We have had outstanding emergency medical services in this county for decades. It all started with Ray Everett and his company called Maryville-Alcoa Emergency Medical Services.

Think about this for a moment—these are the people most likely to be in a position to save your life. Well trained and dedicated to service, EMT’s and para-medics may also be the most underpaid health care professionals out there.

The hours are brutal, the work conditions can be difficult. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like, if the call goes out, they are there.  It tends to be a young person’s profession. Attrition is high.

The local EMT academy has helped. People that enter into this world do it for the love of the work and with a servant’s heart.

And think about this before you criticize any of the providers—when the ambulance shows up, they don’t stop and ask if you have health insurance. They don’t stop and ask about your ability to pay for those services. They don’t care if you’re a king or a pauper. They are there to take care of you. All of you.

I happen to believe that you get their very best effort every single time.  I believe that is both the nature of their work (dealing with medical emergencies) and the people attracted to the work.

And if I’m ever in need of emergency transport, I hope that I look up and see David Blanton.

BACKPACKS

I go off on this rant about once a year. It all started when one of my student trainers walked in with a backpack that looked as big as she did.

The next day, I brought in a set of scales and weighed her backpack. It weighed 26 pounds. This high school junior (it’s been several years ago) weighed 96 pounds. So that backpack was over 25% of her body weight!

And she carried it around all day. Hunched forward, leaning into it like leaning into a fierce wind. It’s not one school or another…it’s pretty much all of them.

Since then, I’ve made it a point to be vocal about that problem. It’s partly professional and partly personal. After all, I have 7 grandchildren, all of which may be in the same predicament.

At the same time, I’ve seen too many teenagers with back and neck pain that can be attributed to that backpack.

So what’s the real problem?  For a long time I have blamed huge textbooks. That’s still part of the problem but with the move to compute-based learning, it’s less of a problem.

I asked several students to share the contents of their too heavy backpacks. What I found was surprising. Food—full meals actually, not just snacks. Gym clothes. Spare clothes. Phones. Chargers. Batteries. Tons of personal items. And on and on.

In asking around, I also found out that kids don’t use their lockers anymore. In my random survey of a dozen teenagers, only 2 used their locker.

Why? It’s not cool. I can remember when kids would decorate their locker, applying a personal touch to what they saw as a personal space. Not so anymore. Apparently backpacks are cool and lockers are not.

It’s not convenient. Schools are generally bigger these days, especially around here, so it’s hard to visit your locker between classes. You only have so much time between classes and it’s perfectly normal to prefer chatting with your friends than making the hike to your locker which may be a good distance away.

And goodness knows you don’t want to be late to class nor do you want to be running through the halls to get to your locker and back. That will get you into trouble in a hurry.

It’s just easier to carry everything with you. So lockers have become a thing of the past. Your backpack is your locker these days.

We are beginning to see the end of textbooks. That will help. I still study but haven’t owned or referred to a textbook in decades. My information is in my laptop.

What can we do to encourage locker use? I don’t know the answer to that one. The logistics of making sure everyone’s locker is close to their classes make it impossible.

Students, think about what you are doing to your neck and back by trying to carry so much stuff around all day. Plan better. Pack smarter.

Parents, take an interest in what your child is carrying every day. A little guidance there goes a long way.

Covid and Sports

You just thought that this Covid thing was gone. The most skeptical of us didn’t think that a year later we would still be fighting this thing. I heard a report yesterday that more people had died the day before than the worst day in September. I’m not sure how accurate that is but clearly, Covid is still with us.

It’s wreaking havoc on March Madness. College basketball’s crown event is not nearly the event it has always been. Teams that maybe should have made the tournament didn’t. UT’s inconsistency can, in part, be attributed to the pandemic.

Now they’re in the national championship tournament. And it is anything but business as usual. For one thing, the teams are totally isolated. Can you imagine being cooped up in a hotel room in Indianapolis and the only time you can come out is for practice and games? That’s a nightmare for a college kid.

Already one set of officials have been sent home after one tested positive. It would come as a surprise to no one if one or more teams in the tournament suffered an end to their season for the same reason.

There is no doubt that Covid has had a huge impact on the college basketball regular season as well. Baylor was dominating everyone until not one but two pauses in their season because of Covid. Sometimes it’s the lucky teams that advance.

The high school spring sports season is off to a tenuous start. No one knows what will happen. The abrupt end to last year’s spring sports season is an all too fresh memory.

One of Mark Eldridge’s best teams was denied the opportunity to contend for a state championship.  Same thing for Jeff Sherman’s Heritage softball team. It took great effort to maintain any consistency during the high school basketball seasons. You never knew who was going to be available on any given night.

Baseball and softball teams are already behind because their seasons and summer leagues were both cancelled last year. All the while, teams are working hard to stay safe and Covid-free.

Youth leagues were impacted as well. I haven’t seen any of my grandchildren play sports in quite some time. Parents and siblings could attend games but grandparents could not (until more recently).

Sports as we know them have been changed. Yet, we have this burning desire to return to some sense of normalcy in our sports. That’s why you see conflicts all around the country about Covid safeguards.

Should we open up our games and events? I struggle with that one. I believe that our kids need sports. I believe that with all my heart. But open up without restrictions or precautions? No, not at all.

Are we going to get through this pandemic only to face another? There is a very real possibility of that. So why not just go ahead and open everything up now? Certainly, there is some assumed risk with walking out your front door.

That’s all well and good until it is one of your own family members that becomes infected. Then the game is changed.

We need to do everything we can to defeat Covid today. And then dedicate ourselves to better health practices and to continued research on the best ways to treat this and any other pandemic that comes along.

That means that wear your mask, wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face, and go home if you feel sick.

It means that being physically fit, eating well, and practicing good health habits are more important than ever, because we know that the healthier you are, the more likely you are to beat this and other diseases.

It means that you should get vaccinated. As soon as the vaccination became available, I was there. You should do the same. We need a team effort to defeat this thing.

What did you learn?

When you worked at something really, really hard but didn’t make it, what did you learn? When you worked and worked and didn’t win the game, what did you take away from it?

For pretty much every sport that’s out there, your last game is most likely a loss. At the end of the football season, only one team ends the season with a win—the state champion.  Basketball, definitely the same way.

And everyone works hard. I don’t know any team that doesn’t put in the effort. Sure, some put more effort into it than others, but everybody works hard.

I can remember one time several years ago when a football coach dropped by football practice at Maryville High School.  That’s not unusual, particularly late in the season and especially when the playoffs have started.

One of my unknown jobs is to check out any visitors. Don’t get me wrong, MHS practices are generally open and visiting coaches are welcomed with open arms.

But you don’t really want a scout from this week’s opponent getting too close to practice.  So, I always introduce myself and subtly find out who they are and why they’re there. It’s a pleasant part of the job. I get to meet all kinds of new people.

On this particular occasion, the coach was from a school not too far away.  His question was a common one: “What sets Maryville apart?”

I’ve gotten that same question for years.  The answer is elusive and I’m not going to go into that right now. I get the same question about Alcoa football.

But this coach asked a question that I found a bit odd.  He asked “how many of your kids do you get in summer workouts?” Hmmmm. Uh, all of them.

His program was good but not great. I asked him the same question. “About half.” Really? Only about half? If you don’t participate in summer workouts around here, you aren’t on the team.

But that’s only about half the point. In the face of a season that will quite possibly end in a loss, what is all the effort worth? The winter workouts, the hot summers, the long preseason. Is it worth it?

Let me jump to one conclusion really quickly—ABSOLUTELY YES. 

The opportunity to compete, to test yourself against a worthy opponent.  The thrill of victory. The joy of being a part of a team. Being able to express yourself physically. 

All those things and more make sports important, even essential. But the most important part of sports participation may be the lessons learned.

As Douglas MacArthur once said, “on the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days, on other fields will bear the fruits of victory.”

So, you must ask yourself, What did I learn? What do I take away from my sports participation? What will I do with it?

I’ve heard a number of coaches make the statement “don’t let this be the best thing you ever do.” What did those lessons teach you? And what are you going to do with what you learned?

My Why

 What are you looking for when you stop at this space?  News about the sports world? Advice for injuries? Ideas for how to be healthier? Or happier?

I really don’t know exactly when I started writing this column. It was about 1986, when Gary Turner was the Sports Editor. That’s 35 years. I really never thought about much beyond the next column back then. Still don’t.

At first, it was called The Jock Doc. That was Gary’s idea. Somewhere along the way, columns quit having catchy names like that. I can’t say I was disappointed. I caught some grief for that title.

In the early days, it was almost always about injuries. Then I discovered I couldn’t write about sprained ankles, concussions, and dealing with the heat but so many times before I started repeating myself. That’s not to say I haven’t repeated myself. I’m sure I have.

At an average of about 800 words each, times 52 weeks a year, times 35 years…that’s almost a million and a half words. Every English teacher I ever had just rolled over in their grave.

Somewhere along the way, I branched out into a lot of other issues. I’ve avoided politics and religion but if you read between the lines, you’ve probably noticed something about both of those from time to time.

So, why have you made it this far?

Ok, let’s talk about my why. I’m a teacher at heart. My first college degree was in education. I believe an important part of my job as a physical therapist and athletic trainer is to teach.

I teach my patients how to deal with their orthopedic issues.  I teach them how to move. I teach them exercise and activities that they can do.

I’m probably a preacher at heart. Once upon a time, I thought I might want to be a preacher. I believe I was 12 and involved with Youth Day at my church. My Mom was thrilled at that prospect. That didn’t work out.

I’ve been accused of preaching in this space. OK. Probably. I’ve tried to preach without being preachy. My sermon is about how to be healthier. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and, maybe as a by-product, spiritually.

I probably should have been a cheerleader. Goodness knows that I’ve been accused of that by my words in this space. It’s just that I’ve never wanted to be negative about things. About life. I’ve always wanted to be a positive influence in everything I do.

That’s why I would never tell a kid what they can’t do with their life. I believe in dreaming big and then chasing those dreams.

That’s why I like to keep it real. That’s why my diet advice is tempered by the fact that food should be one of life’s delights. That a good cheeseburger with Benton’s bacon is meant to be enjoyed from time to time. Or that anything with cream cheese on it is worthy.

I will never understand smoking and I always try to offer effective tools for dealing with obesity but I will never hate based on those things.

My why?  To share what I’ve learned about sports and life and living. To inspire, encourage, and create reflection. To help you live a happier and more active life. To admit to the mistakes I’ve made and to point out the heroes among us.

That’s all.

Good People doing Good Stuff

I’m going to start a new thread to my space here.  I’m going to start throwing in a piece on local heroes.  Not every week but from time to time.

Maybe it should be called Good Folks doing Good Things. It isn’t likely to be celebrities or sports stars or that sort of thing. I just want to see where it takes me. This community has a lot of really good people that don’t get much recognition.

Yes, I know this is the sports page and I can’t get away from sports, fitness, or being healthy, and this is likely to be an underlying theme to all that. Or maybe not. Like I said, I’m just going to throw it out there and see where it takes me.

It all started with my friend, Kenny Wiggins. I was just thinking what a great guy Kenny is, what a good friend he is to many, and what his journey has been. And it came to me that he was an unsung hero in our community. 

Let me tell you about Kenny.  Not too long ago he retired as Public Services Director for the city of Alcoa. That’s maybe not a really flashy job but believe me that you would know it if Kenny didn’t do his job.

I had met Kenny through the years but really didn’t know him well. Then his son-in-law, who worked in our fitness center, suggested that I invite him to work out with an early morning crew that I led.

Kenny had no trouble with the early hour (5 AM) and such began a several year stretch of working out three days a week. Along the way, he invited a church-mate that I knew well, David Henderson. 

David, who is a Detective with the Sherriff’s Department had played football at Maryville High in my early days in serving MHS.  Throw in my original workout partner David Spence and you had a quartet of dedicated early morning exercisers. And Peggy Bratt.  Can’t forget Peggy.

I’m not sure Kenny was ever an athlete but his daughter Katie was.  She played softball in high school and later coached softball at Alcoa High.  His son-in-law Caleb was an outstanding wrestler at MHS and later brought CrossFit to east Tennessee. 

I think it was Katie that convinced her dad that he needed to exercise regularly. That was years ago. We sweated and struggled and chased this thing called fitness together without interruption for a very long time.

I stepped away from that group about three years ago to workout with my son at noon but that hasn’t stopped Kenny. Now retired, he’s just as dedicated to his fitness as he ever was. I often find him already at the gym when I arrive. He’s here just about every day.

Through these years, Kenny has become very fit and then has maintained an excellent level of fitness. His dedication and perseverance are worthy.

He hikes. He bikes. He maintains an active lifestyle. And because of his exercise habits, he is likely to do so for many, many years.

But back to who Kenny is, not what he’s done.  Kenny is simply a good man. A good friend. A doting grandfather. A man of Faith. You might call him ordinary but he is anything but.

He’s quiet, definitely never loud or flashy. He’s likely to be embarrassed by this.  But he’s just one really great guy that makes up the fabric of Blount County.  An unsung hero that helps make this a great place to be.

Do you Care?

 If you read my blog, you might know that it is usually my weekly newspaper column.  After it is in The Daily Times on Sunday, I put it onto my blog and then share it through Twitter and Facebook.  I’m not much into social media but I use those two because of the distribution.  It’s about the only way to let folks know that I’ve posted something new.

Sometimes, I am compelled to write something that might not be totally appropriate for my newspaper column. It’s not that I avoid anything controversial—I just see my newspaper column as a tool to teach, a vessel to be uplifting and positive. To talk about sports and athletes and health and fitness.

Leaving the clinic today, I just had a realization that is highly personal and probably not OK for the newspaper.  Not because it’s controversial or anything and it’s not about politics or religion, two of the topics that I faithfully avoid. I do have (strong) opinions on both of those and if we are ever together and sharing an adult beverage, ask me and I’ll tell you.

It’s just too personal and maybe someone would even see it as self-serving if it is published and distributed to roughly 120,000 people.  This way, you can choose to read it or simply turn the page (as it may be).

Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think my opinion on those things will influence anyone. Now, if I’m talking about sports and injuries and those sorts of things, folks might listen.  They might even listen if I’m pontificating on how to be healthy and happy.

Republican/Democrat, Conservative/Liberal---you really don’t want my opinion.  You might want to know what my opinion is so that you can convince me that I’m right/wrong.  Same thing with religion. What I think is unlikely to change who you vote for, what you believe, or how you live your life.

So back to the story that started this whole train of thought.  I had seen two patients at one of the ancillary clinics that we operate, this one in a drug/alcohol rehabilitation center.  Two really good guys but with really crappy insurance. 

Let me step back just a bit. I’m doing this thing called StoryWorth for my daughter.  Each week, I get a question to answer, mostly about my life. It gives you the chance to look ahead at coming questions (and create your own) so I know that in a couple of weeks, those folks are going to ask me “what is the meaning of life?”

I don’t know…to love, to serve, to live a life that is a single drop in the ocean of life’s millennium? I’m not sure how I’m going to answer that question. Maybe, like my column, when the deadline looms I’ll come up with something, although I doubt that a realization of what is truly the meaning of life will arrive quite so on demand.

But today, after seeing a pair of patients that had tons of problems of their own and which I maybe didn’t have a lot to offer to, I realized that I care.

That’s it.  It really can be that simple.

I’ve been a physical therapist for over 43 years and an athletic trainer for most of that same time. And despite 4+ decades of clinical practice, I am probably a pretty decent physical therapist.

Oh, if you don’t know what’s wrong with you, I’m probably the guy you need to see. And if you’re injured in a sporting event, I’m probably the person you want to see next.

As far as a physical therapy skillset, I’m about like everybody else. No better, no worse. But there is that one difference—I care.

Theodore Roosevelt has been quoted as saying “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I think I am the personification of that.

So, here’s the message, young PT’s:  Make sure that they know that you are committed to understanding where they are. Make sure that they know that you are an active participant in why they showed up on your doorstep. Make sure that they know that they are going to get everything that you have-your best every moment of every day. Make sure that the patient in front of you knows that you care.

If you do that…if you genuinely care for them as a person…then the rest of this stuff is easy.

And maybe that’s the meaning of life. Maybe that’s why we were put here. To care for others. To genuinely, deeply be concerned for the wellbeing of everyone that you encounter.

Good shape for the shape you're in...

Long ago, I had an older patient (probably no older than I am now) tell me “whatever you say, don’t tell me that I’m in good shape for the shape I’m in.”

He didn’t want to know that he was OK, considering where he was. He wanted to be OK, regardless of what he was going through.

His health wasn’t good. He was diabetic and a life-long smoker. He wasn’t obese—anything but.  He was maybe 5’7” and 150 pounds. I don’t remember why he was in the hospital but my job was to get him moving again.

For some reason, that has always stuck with me. And I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone “you’re in good shape…for the shape you’re in!”

I’ve learned that you have to go where the other person is. Your goals for them are meaningless. It’s their goals that matter.

So, what shape do you want to be in? Keep in mind that people come in all shapes.  Short, tall.  Round, thin. All shapes. People bring all sorts of problems to the table.

I saw a fellow this week. 33 years old, 230 pounds. Broad shoulders. Back pain. He thinks he needs to lose 50 pounds, to take him back to his weight when he was in the Army. I told him that if he weighed 180, he’d probably be in the hospital.

Maybe it’s a matter of being careful what you ask for. The short person wants to be taller. The heavy person wants to be skinny. On and on and on.

How about this—focus on the things that make you healthy. That 33 year old with back pain? He needs better core strength. He needs better stress management strategies. He needs regular cardiovascular boosting activities.

Simply losing weight will not help him at all yet he thought that weight loss would fix all his problems. Maybe he needs to lose weight, maybe he doesn’t. The bottom line is that he is a big guy…he will never be a little guy.

Six pack abs? OK, maybe that’s what you want but what does that do for you? Does that help you feel better? Does it help you not hurt? Does it help you live longer?

I tell people all the time “stay away from the scales.”  My advice is to eat better and exercise daily. Do those things and your weight will find what it needs to be.

I’m stuck at 195 pounds. As a bicycle rider, that’s not good. I know that I could climb hills better at 175. But I eat smart and exercise every single day. I enjoy food and refuse to starve myself.

So I’m stuck at the back of the pack when we get to a hill. And I’m OK with that. I’ve accepted my body for what it is and, maybe more importantly, accepted the fact that I’m not willing to do what is necessary to get down to 175 just to climb hills on my bicycle faster.

Some might say I’m in pretty good shape for a man of my age. That’s not what is important. Am I doing the things that are necessary to stay healthy and live long? I hope so.

But don’t tell me I’m in good shape for the shape I’m in.

Shoulder Plague

Shoulder problems continue to plague us.  A lot of the blame goes on the widespread usage of computers.  So many jobs these days require us to sit too long at a computer.  More on that in a minute.

The vast majority of shoulder problems that I see are impacted by posture.  One of the first things I do when I evaluate someone with shoulder problems is to look at them from the front. 

When I look at them, do I see the back of their hands?  I look at them from the side. Are their shoulders inturned? I look at them from the back. Are their shoulder blades farther away from the spine than they need to be?

That’s the postural component that I’m talking about. So much of our world is in front of us these days. It’s not just the computers but a lot of the other things that we do, the way we spend our lives.

If you have shoulder pain, you may hear the term “impingement.” That’s a fancy word for “pinching” and has to do with the rotator cuff.

A little anatomy lesson. The rotator cuff is a group of flat, small muscles that surround the head of the humerus (the upper arm bone) and are essential to normal shoulder movement and function.

That postural component that I talked about earlier allows the head of the humerus to sit in the front of the shoulder joint, impinging on the rotator cuff. That hurts. If you ignore it long enough, impingement can lead to other, bigger problems.

So, for those of you that sit at a computer all day, you’ve got to take breaks. At least every 15 minutes, step away from the computer, stretch your arms backward, relax, shake, and then go back to it. That doesn’t take but 15-20 seconds and your work will still get done.

Another thing that I see on a regular basis is a shoulder problem that is caused by improper strength training form or misguided focus in the strength training program.

Bad form needs to be corrected by a strength coach.  The best advice does not come from your friend or from the guy down the street with big muscles.  Look for experts in the field and then listen to them.

I see way too much focus on the anterior chest and the front of the shoulders. I must admit that I’m not a big fan of the bench press.  I know it has its place but it gets way too much attention.

Particularly among young lifters, what’s the first question one asks another?  “How much can you bench?” It is their measuring stick when they should be more focused on performance and on a whole body exercise like power cleans.

There is no doubt that some athletes need the bulk and power that comes from lifts like the bench press, but over four decades of experience in this field tells me clearly that it is the source of shoulder problems in far too many people—people who really have no need for a big chest.

Same thing for the biceps. “Curls for girls” has been a motto since I was young. Focus on the biceps without similar focus on the triceps does nothing for performance or injury prevention.

Don’t get me wrong—strength training is essential, not just in athletic performance but in staying healthy. Unless you are a competing athlete, strength training is more important in your 40’s, 50’s, and older than it is in your 20’s.  You lose significant amounts of muscles mass as you get older and to combat the bad sides of aging, you need regular strength training.

That doesn’t mean just to hit the gym and do what sounds good. There are tons of local people that really know how to help you to better health through the weight room. Use them.

What do you do when you don't feel like it?

Don’t feel like getting up the in morning?  Do you have the luxury of sleeping in?  Folks tell me I’ll enjoy that part of retirement (no…not yet…not for a while).  But on days when I might sleep in, I wake up anyway.

Are you one of those that hit the snooze alarm every day?  Not me. I really have no idea how the snooze alarm on my bedside clock even works. Oh, I’m sure I could figure it out, but when the alarm goes off, I’m wide awake. You’ve got to find motivation to get up and get going.

Don’t feel like going to work? I’m not guilty of that one either. I know that I was lucky, extremely lucky, to discover a job that I truly love, that I look forward to each and every day. When that alarm clock does go off, I am blessed to not lie there and say “oh woe is me—another day at the old grindstone.”

Nope. For me it’s “oh man, I get to go do this stuff again today!”  If that sounds self-righteous at all, it’s not meant that way. I know what it means. It means I won the career lottery.

When kids come to me for college advice, my core recommendation is to find something that you truly love doing and build a career around it. As the cliché goes, if you find something that you love and make it your life’s work, you’ll never really work a day in your life.

I saw a meme one time that went something like this:  8 AM plans for dinner--baked chicken, salad, and two vegetables.  5 PM actual dinner—pizza and sodas.

The real part of life is that sometimes you just don’t feel like cooking. And that healthy meal became junk food out of necessity.  I get it. I really do. My wife and I do that from time to time.

Planning your meals helps. Laying out that chicken in the morning makes it more likely that you will not stop by for fast food on the way home.

But the big ticket item on this topic is exercise.  What do you do if you just don’t feel like exercising?  I said something last week about not always enjoying biking on the hills that are everywhere around here or the strength training that I do 2-3 times per week.

A buddy and I have a saying about all that. “Are you riding or are you hiding.”  That may be all about the weather or maybe I just don’t feel like it. With few exceptions, once I get out there or get started with a ride or a workout, I’m glad I did. You know in your head that you need to exercise (or eat right or sleep enough) but your heart just isn’t in it.

What do you do? Listen to your heart and ignore your head? An Accountability Partner helps. Traveling the path to better health is easier with someone in your life to go with you. To hold you accountable.

There is no doubt that an exercise partner helps, especially on those days when you might not feel like exercising. There’s just something about knowing that someone else is counting on you being there that will make you get out of bed in the morning.

For years, I exercised with the same group of people. If somebody missed, they were likely to get a text message. “We missed you” is common. Sometimes it was more like “get your lazy butt out of bed.” In any case, it helped.

Maybe you made a New Year Resolution. To get healthier. To exercise more. Gyms are usually full in January, taper off in February, and are back to the regulars in March.

If that’s you, then let me offer you a suggestion. Establish a new mindset. Decide that this is going to be long term. Decide that this is going to be your lifestyle from now on. 

And then find an excuse to get out of bed in the morning.