All's Well that Ends Well?

I'm going to tell you a story today.  This is a true story.  No exaggeration...no embellishment.  

Not too long ago, my wife and I were riding bicycles on a gorgeous fall afternoon.  She's new to the game but seems to really be enjoying the bicycle.  Sunday afternoon seems to be our time to do this together.

Although most of my riding is still going to be with a decidedly faster crowd, I have enjoyed these nice little rides, (although that's not really what my wife thinks of them:  30 miles to her is half-way across the country).

On this particular day, we were slowly climbing up a long not-too-steep hill near where we live, when along came a motorized vehicle whose driver really didn't think we should be riding bikes on that particular stretch of road (or any road, for that matter).

To say that he violated the Jeff Roth 3 foot law (an excellent piece of legislation passed by Senator Doug Overbey that requires drivers of motorized vehicles to give bicycles at least 3 feet in clearance as they pass) is an understatement.  

I motioned for him to come back, not for a fight but to show him that I am a human being whose life he had just put in jeopardy.  

I got my wish.   Let's just say that the rest of this encounter was rather ugly.  I stayed calm because I feared for my safety and that of my wife.  In an attempt to personalize the encounter, I told him my name (big mistake), but he knew who I was anyway.  

When he sped off, I wrote down his license tag number.   By the next morning, I knew who he was.  

For the next couple of days, I agonized over what to do.   Press charges?  Have law enforcement officers pay him a visit?  My biking buddies wanted to form a posse and pay him a visit.  None of that appealed to my wife.

All I could think of was retaliation.  But fear and anxiety compelled me to do nothing.  I was angry, frustrated...in a word-victimized.

Then on the third day, I came to realize that retaliation was not the way to go.  That I didn't need revenge but that I needed to reach out to this guy with kindness.  Answered prayer?  Probably, but I didn't think of it in those terms at that moment.

Still, I had reason to believe, based on our only encounter, that I might not be received well at his house.  So I did nothing.

So the next day, I'm at work and our receptionist came to me and told me that there was a guy on the phone that really wanted to talk to me.   She gave his first name and I remember thinking,  could it be the same guy?  So I took the call.

It turns out it was him.   He had called to apologize.   He was genuinely remorseful.   He asked for forgiveness and I gave it to him. 

The absolute best case scenario for this whole event was for this fellow to realize that he made a mistake, apologize, and then change the way he treats bicycle riders.  I think that's what has happened.

Despite the fact that our initial encounter was really, really bad, I truly believe that this guy is deep down a good guy.   I also believe that the roads are safer because of this episode.

And maybe both he and I are better people because of it. 

Childhood Obesity Rates Improve!

OK, so maybe we've turned the corner.  Maybe the epidemic is over and better days are ahead.

I picked up USA Today while on a trip recently and one of the inside headlines read "School Meals Combat Obesity."  This is a topic that I've had some rather heated discussions about recently. 

You probably know that I spend a pretty good amount of time these days around high school athletes and their coaches.  Along about the start of the school year, new cafeteria restrictions were being blamed for hungry football players.

It seems the portions were perceived as being inadequate to supply the nutritional needs of young men most of whom were trying to get bigger for their sport.

Let me take you back a lot of years.  During my early school days, my mom worked part-time in the high school cafeteria.   Before I got to the high school, she had taken a full-time job at the local grammar school.

But she left a lot of friends in that high school cafeteria.  Friends who knew well who Jretta Black's son was.  And they took real good care of Jretta's boy.

You want a little more chicken?  How about an extra roll?  Want more dessert?  At one time, they even kept a pack of hot dogs in the refrigerator for me.

You see, I was a 185 pound offensive lineman/linebacker who couldn't gain weight no matter how much I ate.  It probably didn't help that I was always doing something outside of school and football.  Bagging groceries at the White Store (#32, by the way, for those of you remember that venerable local chain), "hauling" hay, mowing yards.  

That I was treated differently by my mother's friends is undeniable.  That it might have been unfair to other kids who needed extra food because they were hungry is likely.  

I can appreciate what football players are going through who are subjected to healthy eating initiatives that were put into place to help curb our obesity epidemic.  Let me state for the record that portion sizes for a 270 pound football lineman should be drastically different from the 120 pound chess club member.

But when I read that childhood obesity rates had ebbed in several areas around the country that had been dealing proactively with the issue, it helped me understand. 

Said Dr. James Marks, a pediatrician and senior vice president for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (an immensely respected organization dedicated to improving our world):  "We've had 30 years of increasing rates of obesity, but we might be seeing the turning point for this epidemic."

In Mississippi, obesity in children in grades K-5 dropped from 43% in 2007 to 37.3% in 2011.  That's huge in our most obese state. 

I preach the sermon all the time about how our kids need to be more active.  That's an essential part of the culture change that is necessary to see real improvement.    But kids have also got to learn to eat smarter, making better food choices. 

And if they're not going to get it at home, I think it's OK that they get that portion of their education at school as well.

 

Pitch count is everything

I may have seen more problems this past summer with the shoulder and elbow among young softball and baseball players than ever in my career.  "Little League Shoulder" and "Little League Elbow" are catch-all terms used to describe pain and dysfunction that is far more complex than simple names might imply.

Baseball and softball seasons have been over for a while for almost everybody.   Even the World Series has been played, short as it was.

Yes, I know about "fall ball" and it does seem like preparations for spring seasons are just around the corner but my point is about to be that now is the most crucial time to do what is necessary to protect young arms during the lull between games and serious training.

One of the many journals that I take is Sports Health.   An article entitled "Prevention of Elbow Injuries in Youth Baseball Pitchers" in the most recent edition confirmed that now is the time to address this topic.

The authors of this piece described the problems leading to shoulder and elbow problems among baseball players (but really, among all throwing athletes).  The biggest risk factor is pitch quantity.  A function of that is pitches per game, innings pitched, rest between outings,  and pitching on multiple teams.   Pitchers that also play catcher must also count those throws against their pitch count.

We know that throwing mechanics are huge.  Bad mechanics mean excess stress on the shoulder and elbow and sooner later something is going to get hurt. 

So I asked Josh Pitts, pitching instructor at Dr. K's Baseball & Softball Academy located next door to the clinic where I spend most of my time in the Cherokee Athletic Facility, what he sees as the biggest problems in throwing mechanics.

#1:  Throwing with a "short arm," which mainly means leading with the elbow during the throwing motion.   Following close behind are bad habits in their throwing motion, throwing with their arm instead of using their whole body, lack of leg strength or failure to use the strength that they have, and balance issues.  All those are correctible with proper instruction.

We've known for a long time that throwing athletes need to have strong supportive musculature to be able to throw without injury.  We also know that it is most important to have good strength in those muscles that decelerate the arm.  But most people don't realize how important leg and core strength are both to performance and to injury prevention.

I have long railed against teaching too young kids how to throw a curve ball but Josh and the authors of the article cited above don't see that as a huge problem.   Sure, if a youngster is going to be taught how to throw a curve, they need to learn proper technique, but it may be more simply pitch count, innings pitched, and rest between outings that determines injury rates than exactly what pitches are being thrown.

I am still dismayed when a 12 year old comes into my office and claims to be able to throw five different pitches.  I will go on the record here as saying that no 12 year old pitcher in the world needs to be trying to throw  that many different pitches.   That kid was also in my office for a reason.

What's Next?

It's been ten years and it is still hard to talk about.

On October 3, 2002, my son Nick Black ended his football career on the field at Florida State University's Doak Campbell Stadium.  In the middle of his redshirt junior season as a Clemson Tiger offensive lineman, a defensive end was blocked into the side of his right lower leg, shattering everything between his knee brace and his ankle brace.

When the anniversary of my son's injury arrived, I didn't realize it had been ten years.   But my son did.  It was a horrific injury that required over a year of rehabilitation and two surgeries.

When Marcus Lattimore was injured in South Carolina's game with UT last weekend, we were all forced to re-live those moments.

When Lattimore went down, I really didn't want to see it.  It is my responsibility to take care of injured athletes when those things happen and I know that I can do my job when the time comes.   But I sure don't like to watch it on TV. 

When Nick was injured, the Clemson Athletic Trainer beckoned me on to the field to assist.  One memorable photo shows me lifting my 300 pound son onto the cart to remove him from the field.  Standing next to me was Joey Batson, the Head Strength Coach at Clemson.   Batson could pick up the corner of my house but I was the one who picked up my son.

 As Nick approached the exit at the end of the stadium, the crowd erupted in applause as Nick, his head down in agony, raised his arm in encouragement.  It was the exact same spot where Lattimore's mother stood waiting on her son to get there.

It is genuinely heartbreaking.   As a Clemson fan, South Carolina is the enemy.   You want them to lose every game.   But this was different.   This hurts all of us.

I felt the pain that his family was experiencing.  I still get emotional just telling the story of Nick's last game and the tears were close watching the players from both sidelines pour onto the field to support the injured Lattimore.

What's next for this young man?  He's surely had surgery by now and he is going to get better acquainted with my professions than he ever did with his ACL injury.   Those things that made him one of the country's best running backs will help him with his rehabilitation.  

But sometimes injuries are just too much to overcome.   I hope that he plays again someday.  He deserves the chance.  But if he can't, I hope that he takes the lessons that he has already learned about what it takes to become so good and the lessons still to come about overcoming adversity and makes his life count for something outside football.

It has been reported that just before taking the field last week, Lattimore told his teammates that they should "play like you may never get to play again."  How poignant is that?

Some pretty good coaches that I know are always telling their players they shouldn't let a win or a championship be the greatest thing that they ever do...that it's what you do next that counts most.   I'm betting on Marcus Lattimore to do something pretty spectacular next.

No place for...

In the pursuit of health and fitness, there is no place for...

Eliminating all fat from your diet.    If you eliminate all fat, you deprive your body of much needed nutrients.   What you really need to do is avoid saturated fat and trans fat.  That means read labels.

Polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats are the "good" fats and provide important nutrients and nutrition for your body.   Those are found mainly in nuts, vegetable oils, and fish.

No pain. No gain. Not really.  The reality of it is that if you hurt during your workout, you are probably doing something wrong.   Sure, it's OK for it to be difficult for you, just not painful.

One thing we all need to learn is the difference between post-exercise soreness that comes from either pushing our limits or trying something new and pain after exercising that might be an indication that you have injured something.   That's where a relationship with a physical therapist could be handy.

I would like to see a world in which everyone has a physical therapist.   You might talk about "my attorney" or "my accountant" but do you ever think about "my" physical therapist?  It's National Physical Therapy Month so I can get that plug in there.

But physical therapists have a great deal of expertise in musculoskeletal dysfunction and can offer techniques, exercises, and treatments that get at the cause of your problem.

Not having a primary care physician.  No excuse.  You need someone that knows you and knows your medical history.   Who greets you by name when they walk in the door because they know who you are. 

Not having colonoscopies and/or mammograms, if you are in any at-risk category.  I was asked recently if I thought we would ever  "cure" cancer.   I said, for a large part, we already had.

Statistics reveal that about 65% of Americans diagnosed with cancer survive past the crucial 5 year mark.  And for those that dismiss the quality of American medicine, that is significantly higher than the best to be found in the rest of the world. 

Take leukemia for example.   When I was a child, leukemia was  a death sentence.   There was no cure and hardly any treatment.   While it is still a horrible disease, over 50% of the people diagnosed with leukemia survive to 5 years.

With early detection and treatment, female breast cancer  has an 88.7% survival rate.  As for colon cancer, with early detection the survival rate is almost 100%. 

Stretch before exercise to prevent injury.   Nope.  After.   When your connective tissue is warmed up and more effectively stretched.

Focusing on one body part in a workout.  Oh, my, how many times have I heard that one.  Today is "my arm day."  Or "leg day."  The most effective workouts engage multiple body parts.  Every time.  Only if you want to make it bigger do you ever isolate your workout on one muscle.

Single rep max.  If you lift weights, you know what I'm talking about.   If you are preparing for a competition that will require you to perform a single repetition of a particular weight, it might be OK.  But it is generally a formula for injury.  And to what end?

You owe it to your body to investigate everything you do in the name of good health.  There are too many fads, bad ideas, and misinformation out there to do anything less. 

No Excuses!

I think I just got a new nickname.  I've never had many, other than always being called "joeblack" as though it were one word.  Growing up, other kids got to be Suzie and Ronnie and Jimmy but I was always joeblack. 

Such is the curse of those named single syllable first names and single syllable last names.  My son tried to fix it by always insisting on being called by his full first name, which is the multi-syllable Nicholas.   That seemed to work until sports, when coaches reduced his name to one word-nickblack.

The new nickname for me seems to be "Excuse Remover."  OK, maybe I should back up. 

I work in a fitness center.  Well, more specifically, I spend most of my work day at a physical therapy clinic (Total Rehabilitation-Cherokee) that is adjacent to a fitness center (BMH Wellness Center at Cherokee).  The two are under the same roof and are separated by only a counter and half wall.

In fact, my "desk" is a stool and a laptop computer that straddles the two.   So someone working out at Cherokee can simply step up to my "desk" and get a consult about their injury or their workout.   Happens all the time.

And since most folks know that health and fitness are very important to me (not to mention my day job), I get stopped regularly for advice on both.  I really don't mind.  I'm actually flattered when folks seek my opinion.  

The usual script is this: "I know you really don't want to be bothered with this, but can I ask you about my knee (or shoulder or exercise program)?"  But really, I don't mind at all.  

So today I was in a conversation just like that about a fellow that felt that he needed to lose 50 pounds.   He didn't really like to diet, his knees kept him from jogging, and his lifestyle might need some tweaks.

So I started removing his excuses.  I think I'm pretty good at it.

Dieting doesn't work for you?  Start by just eliminating fried foods from your diet.   Then maybe look at nothing to eat after dinner.   Reduce size portion and frequency of desserts.   That doesn't sound too hard, does it?

You don't have to make wholesale changes, just changes that you can stick with.   And do them consistently.   No excuses.   And start today.  Unless you've got a special meal scheduled, there's no reason to wait until tomorrow.

Can't run?  Bike, swim, or row.  Don't own a bike, a pool, or a boat?  The bike shop can help, several fitness centers have indoor pools, and rowing machines work great.   Then, you've always got my personal favorite-CrossFit workouts.   You can do those with little or no equipment.  The secret is to find something that you can stick with.

Can't find the time to exercise?   Do you really need a sit-down lunch every day?   Brown bag and exercise through lunch.  If you went to bed on time, you could  get up early enough to exercise before work/school/your normal day.   Don't wait until the end of the day--it's too easy to find...yep, you guessed it...EXCUSES!

Don't know what exercise would work for you or don't know the equipment?  Every gym in town has personal trainers that can help you with that.  Don't want to go to a gym?  Google up workout advice. 

I know a lot of people who are very healthy, that have found the formula that works for them.   Somewhere along the way, they stopped looking for excuses and started doing the right things.  Things that would lead them to better health and help them achieve their personal goals.

No excuses.

You Know You're a Grandparent if...

It doesn't seem possible, but I am firmly entrenched in grandad-dom.  Grandchild #6 is on the way.  My wife and I are convinced that being a grandparent is about the best gig going.

You heard about Camp Blackberry a couple of months and those that know me know that I've fully recovered from the nervous breakdowns that happened on Days 5 and 7 (just kidding).  

So last week I was putting away the dishes and just stopped and thought...we are really, honestly 100% full-fledged grandparents.   The evidence was in front of me (and constitutes the first line in the rest of the column).

You know you're a grandparent if...

Your "sippy" cups outnumber your wine glasses.

Your dining room has a high chair.  Probably recycled from your own children.  We actually have 2--one for indoors and a plastic one for outdoors.

You've tried to recycle Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony.   Barbie is still out there but I'm too much of a feminist to embrace that whole arena.

You know how to change a diaper but wonder where the pins go.   When I talk about cloth diapers, I get looks that let me know with absolute certainty that I'm a dinosaur.

Your vacation plans just might include something that begins with Disney.  Oh, and you know what the "Hot Dog Dance" is.

You're pretty sure that swimming means they don't need a bath but your own kids would still have been scrubbed to their last layer of epidermis.

Pizza now fulfills four major  food groups (but it sure didn't used to). I mean, think about it.  Grains (the crust), fruits (tomato paste--remember, tomatoes are fruits), meat (pepperoni), and vegetables (other toppings).  See?

You know you're a grandparent if it is now OK if they eat too much candy and stay up too late.  You're just going to send them home anyway.

You find cereal in the couch instead of change.  And your meals involve 2 menus, one for the adults and one for the children.  Ham and plum baby food?  I ain't goin' there!

You think James Dobson's The Strong Willed Child is funny.

You put plastic sheets back on your beds and get excited about a phone update on potty training.

You have no idea how to put in the car seat or fold up the stroller.  Your own kids probably just used an adult seatbelt and you yourself might have stood on the front bench seat between your parents, unrestrained.   Yeah, it is a lot better now.  A LOT better.

And finally, you know you're a grandparent when you realize that even though you thought you had all the answers when you were raising your own kids you now understand that parenting is mostly about not messing them up--more like gently re-arranging clouds--than it is about grand design.