Don't Mess with the Heat

I try and not repeat myself.  I really do.  I've been filling this space for over 30 years now and you would think that I would run out of ideas.  Somehow, something always comes up.

I try and not write too much about the bicycle anymore, not since the late great Jim Dykes told me to "get off that (expletive deleted) bike fetish."  I get ideas from a lot of places.  Sometimes it's you.

I do keep a record of what I have written about.  Mostly I just sit down and start writing what is on my heart.  My daughter tells me that I write like I talk and I suppose that's what I do--just sit down and start talking thru the keyboard.

But some topics bear repeating.  This is one of those.

Fall sports are in full swing with preseason practice going on for football, volleyball, and soccer and offseason workouts for a lot of other sports.

Folks, it's hot outside.  I don't want to argue with you about global warming but I just got back from Glacier National Park where the glaciers are rapidly disappearing. 

Our athletes are having to deal with that heat.  And it can be brutal outside. 

We are all conditioned to air-conditioning.  It's just always there.  But then it's Friday night and the humidity is high and our football teams don't have the option of running inside and getting cooled off in an air-conditioned room.  They've got to deal with the heat.

So how do they do that?  How do they avoid those early season cramps that plague so many?  How do they perform at a high level when conditions border on oppressive?

They condition for it.  They train in the heat.  They push themselves when what they want to do is to get in a cool room and rest.

They hydrate.  Every athlete out there hears that message every day.  Water and sports drinks.  Sports drinks and water.  You need both.

Hydrations is an all day thing.  You can't just drink when you're thirsty.  You've got to drink all day long. 

How do you tell if you are sufficiently hydrated?  You look at your urine.  It should be clear and pale yellow.  Anything else could mean problems.

Dehydration is not something to be messed with.  It can turn dangerous in a hurry. 

If you or somebody you are with is excessively red-faced, having labored breathing, nauseous, or seem dizzy or disoriented (not all of those--any ONE of them) assume that they are having trouble dealing with the heat and get them cooled off.  Quickly.

Wet them down.  Find ice bags.  Get them in shade.

It's a story worth repeating.

What Doe Discipline Mean To You?

Discipline.  What does that word mean to you?

To a little kid, it means punishment.  Do something wrong and you get "disciplined."  I got spanked (not often).  Only once by my dad (I drew a snowman on the wall of my room with a crayon--I must have been 4 or 5).  Only once at school and it was more a swat on the butt by a teacher that was also my preacher's wife, Mrs. Rainwater, and it was more a hurry up and take a seat in the bleachers in the gym (don't you think I remember those pretty well?).

By my mom?  Too often to remember.  I must have misbehaved at Sunday night church a lot.  We had a willow tree behind our house.  I can remember many Sunday nights when my mom would tell me to go cut a willow switch and then would wear my backside out with that thing. 

Must have worked.  I've never been arrested.

For today's kid, it is more likely to be Time Out, or some variation thereof.

For younger teenagers, being it might be a privilege denied or a possession withdrawn.  Later, it might be loss of driving privileges.

All under the title of "discipline."

I've heard a lot of college coaches talk about discipline.  In the recruiting process, it's something that parents want to hear.  They want to know that their child is going to learn "discipline" from this coach.

To the parents, that probably means that their son or daughter is going to be held accountable, that they are not going to get in trouble.  To the coach, it probably means that their player is going to work hard and do what they are told.

Don't get me wrong.  I believe those are good things.  I just don't think that's what discipline is at all. 

Discipline, to me, is what you do when no one is watching.  Discipline is getting up at 4 AM to workout because you might not get to later in the day.  Discipline is eating what is good for you instead of what you crave, especially when no one is with you.

Discipline is doing the right thing, every time.  Especially if there would have been no consequences in doing the wrong thing.

A college coach promising to teach discipline is a bit hollow to me.  What they are teaching is reward and punishment.  Late for a workout?  You're going to be running extra.  Miss a practice?  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  What happens to you then has nothing to do with discipline.

What you learn from that is that there  are consequences to your actions.  That you meet the expectations of others or you are punished.  And again, those are good things.

But real discipline (again, in my opinion) is self-imposed.  It is living up to the expectations that you have for yourself.  It is setting the standards by which you want to live your life.

You learn discipline by repeating good acts, by doing the right thing, over and over and over until it becomes second nature. 

It's Here!!!

Here's your news flash:  The high school football season is upon us.  Really.

Wait!  What?  Football season?  It's the middle of July!

Yep.  Middle of July and it's here.  After a dead period that just ended.  Shorts and t-shirts this past week.  Add helmets this coming week.  Full pads the week after that.  Football Jamboree August 11th.   

Just like that, summer is over.  Oh, we've got plenty of hot weather to go yet.  August and September can both be real scorchers.  And that's part of what I'm going to talk about today.  Dealing with the heat.  It really isn't something that we can take lightly.

Helping your young athlete acclimatize to the heat is important.  The air conditioner set to the lowest setting isn't helping with that.  Adjust the temperature in your home and in your car up a bit.  It won't hurt you.

Fluids are essential.  If an athlete waits until they get to practice to hydrate, they are already behind.  Proper hydration is an all day thing.  Start drinking in the morning and don't quit until bedtime. 

Drink both water and sports drinks with emphasis on the latter.  All that makes you run to the bathroom too often?  Great!  That's what we want.  That means you are fully hydrated. 

You want to perform at your best?  Hydrate.  You hate cramps?  Then hydrate! 

In sports or in the real world, if you are overheated the best thing you can do is submerse in cold water.  We keep a watering trough at most of our schools that we fill with cold water and los of ice.  When your core temperature reaches critical levels, the best thing we can do for you at that point is to cool you off.

Last week I was talking to a physical therapist in another state.  He was conflicted after dealing with a young athlete with a serious concussion.  This father of four young boys asked "with all we know about concussions, how can you let someone play contact sports?"

He was asking as a father and as a physical therapist.

My answer?  First, I said, "active children become active adults."  It's true.  And anything that involves movement can mean a fall and an injury.  It doesn't have to be a contact sport.  I've seen concussions on a tennis court.

Second, "sports are life lessons."  Our playing fields are a living seminar on teamwork, effort, discipline, leadership, and on and on.  Sports may be the best place to learn those things.

Lastly, I said "our job is to enable people to pursue their passions, making sports as safe as possible because of our expertise."   Like I said last week, it's not my job to tell you what you can't do unless it negatively impacts your health.

I know that I am called on very often to make the final decision on whether or not someone that has experienced a concussion can return to their sport.  It is not a role that I take lightly.  We are talking life issues here.  You can count on me to be conservative and make a decision based on the long term, not the big game on Friday night.

It's what I do.

Be The Encourager

Do you have somebody in your life that is always supportive?   Do you have that one person that is always encouraging you?  Even when you mess up?  Maybe especially when you mess up? 

I happen to believe that everybody needs that person in their lives.  And if you are lucky enough to have more than one...well, you are truly blessed.

I'm not talking about someone who always looks at things through rose-tinted glasses.  No, the person I'm talking about is not going to lie to you but they also aren't going to tell you that you can't do something.

This is a topic that I know too well.  I was told when I was in high school that college was not really in my future.  That "people like me" didn't go to college.  I guess I proved them wrong. 

I had a patient not too long ago that took a nasty fall.  Over 100' and landed on his feet only to drive his tibia 8" into the ground.  Yeah, nasty.

In addition to multiple breaks in his leg, he had severe injuries to his spine and was unconscious for several days.  It was recommended that his foot be amputated above the ankle.

He didn't agree to that.  Later, they recommended that his ankle be fused.  He didn't go for that either. He wanted to run again.  So he looked around for someone that would do his rehab that wouldn't put limits on him.  He found me. 

When he first walked into my office, he could barely walk.  He told me the basics of his injuries and asked if I was going to tell him that his dream of running again was impossible.  I told him it wasn't my job to tell him what he couldn't do.

After a lot of physical therapy he still couldn't run but he had taken a new job and the three hour round trip drive he was making to get here every day seemed too much.  He was quite motivated and a former gymnast so we agreed that he could continue with rehab on his own.

Jump forward several months and he shows back up at my clinic one day.  He asked me to step outside, proceeded to run across the parking lot (albeit with a noticeable limp), run back to me, shake my hand, and say thank you.  He had achieved his dream.

Too many people had told him that he would never run again.  He proved them wrong. 

I listened recently to the story of a professional dancer that lost her leg in the Boston Marathon bombing.  She was a bystander and not a runner.  Her story focused on the doctor that told that she would never dance again.  That person was apparently trying to get her to deal with reality. 

This wonderful young lady used that as motivation to not only walk again but return to her career, run a marathon of her own, and prove a lot of people wrong.

So who are we to tell people that they can't pursue their dreams?  Who are we to tell somebody that they can't do something?

I can tell you of several 5'6" or so linebackers that have played on state championship team at MHS.  Isaiah Thomas led the Boston Celtics to the NBA playoffs at 5'9" in a league where the point guards can be 6'7".  Too short?  Not at all.

So if somebody tells you that your dreams are impossible, eliminate them from your life.  Seek out those people that tell you that can.  As for those other people, prove them wrong!

My Story

Can't see.  Can't hear.  Varicose veins.  Walks with a limp.  High blood pressure.  High cholesterol.  Forgets things.  Has had 7 orthopedic surgeries.

Bikes 150 miles or so a week.  Does CrossFit.  Can dance all night.  Works 60 hours a week.  Has more energy than most 20-somethings.

What if I told you those two were the same person?  It's true.

This story is about me.  In avoidance of narcissism, you're gonna hear the good and the bad. 

My story really starts about the time I was 5, when my dad had his first heart attack.  Yes, you've heard that story here before, maybe too many times, but that's what old people do--they tell the same stories over and over again.

But that heart attack is so much a part of my life up until this point that my story has to start there. 

I don't remember much else about that far back.  I remember that my dad suddenly had to assume a sedentary lifestye immediately.  A short, wiry fellow with tons of energy, he was always doing something.  Always.  Then...nothing.

Heart care back then basically consisted of Coumadin and doing nothing.  And a low fat diet.  We would travel to a Kroger's in Knoxville for their corn oil margarine because that was the only kind that my dad liked.  No eggs.  No fried food.  Skim milk.  I never knew anything else. 

Later, another heart attack forced my dad to retire and my mom to go back to work.  Part of the heart care science back then was that you couldn't hold your arms over your head.  I remember building this 2 step contraption that allowed me to hang clothes on the clothesline to dry because my dad couldn't.

We raised bees but since my dad couldn't do any physical labor, taking care of them was my responsibility.  I "robbed" the hives of their honey, with my mom's help put it in jars, and sold it in front of our house on Highway 11, back then one of the main routes south and north through Tennessee.

Beekeeping was later my very first merit badge in Boy Scouts.  Scouting introduced me to some good men who filled a gap that my dad couldn't fill because of his physical limitations.  Scouting also provided me with some incredible leadership training that I would surely have never gotten otherwise. 

When I built my own treehouse in the backyard (out of rescued materials) at about age 12, my dad sat in a lawn chair at the bottom of the tree and talked me through it.  If I ever bent a nail, instead of beating it on in, my dad insisted that I pull it out, straighten it out, and do it again.  (Nails were not something you discarded.)

My dad always wanted me to be an athlete and football became my passion.  I quit growing in the 10th grade so I was never the star I had hoped to be but to this day, nobody ever took more away from the game.

My dad couldn't attend my games.  Too much excitement wasn't good for the heart you know.  My mom later told me that my dad would sit at home and listen to all my games on the radio, crying much of the time.  I can't even write that sentence without choking up a bit.

So I decided that I was not going to become a heart patient.  I would do everything I could to stay healthy.  Exercise?  Daily.  Eat right?  Perpetually.  Live a healthy lifestyle ?  Every moment I can.

All those things at the top of this column?  Yeah, that's me.  Too many candles on the birthday cake and not the best gene pool.  But one thing you can be sure about--those things aren't going to beat me.  The second paragraph is my testimony to that.  And to my dad.