An Amazing Olympic Games!

Well, the Olympics are finally over and what an amazing set of games they were! Of course they were full of controversies and mishaps as usual but this was truly an impressive array of some of the best and most determined athletes on the planet.

As a track fan I was awed by the perforamances of the Jamaican sprinters (male and female) and in particular the new onslaught of world records by the youg and exuberant Usain Bolt! This young man could have absolutely obliterated the 100m world record into the stratosphere if he would have just ran through the line and kept his celebrations until after her crossed the finish line. The following link is to a spoof on how ridiculous his early celebration was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzSpPaCIG0g

However, 9.68 isn't so bad. In the 200m he did not dissapoint and actually ran the entire race with grit and determiniation; Michael Johnson's mark of 19.32 was no easy mark to beat and Usain was fortunate to run 19.30. Who knows though, fresh, Usain might have the potential to run sub 19 seconds in the 200m; the track and field world will have to wait and see. This kid is truly a freak of nature!

And then of course there was the swimming. What an unbelievable performance by Phelps! I just hope all these athletes (yeah right!) are drug-free but I'm not going to be shocked if any post-Olympics shockwaves hit the world about people being busted. It's an ugly and unfortunate part of high-level sport.

Also impressive was the seemingly ageless Dara Torres; wow! Not a bad physique. The beach volleyball wasn't hard to watch either!

Brain Rules!

I just wanted to inform anyone and everyone about a wonderful new book and website I learned about in a Podcast interview by Dr. Ginger Campbell (she interviews some great individuals about various aspects of neural/brain science):

http://brainsciencpodcast.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/37-medina/

The interview was with Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist with a passion for applying the little information we actually know about how and in what settings our brains function best. His latest book is called Brain Rules/12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School. Here's his website which contains info on how to get the book and also has short videos on each of the 12 brain rules: http://brainrules.net/

This is a fantastic example of practical and applied brain science at it's best! Spread this website to everyone you know!

Been a While!

Wow! I can't believe it's been months since I've last posted a blog. I've been burried with work, family obligations, and two on-line courses I'm taking in preparation for applying to a Physician's Assistant school here in Arizona.

The classes I'm taking are Microbiiology and Statistics; not exactly easy classes to take on-line!

My fitness and track and field training is still continuing, although not always as regularly as I'd like. Also, my son Aidan is in his first season of coach-pitch little league baseball; it's a blast!

I've got some blog ideas I'll hopefully be blogging about soon......

2008 Track & Field Schedules

For those who might be interested, here's the list of meets for Open and Masters track & field athletes in Arizona: Anyone interested in getting involved in track (especially sprints!) should try it out; I'm always looking for new recruits!

2008 Schedule

January 19 Sat Tucson Senior Games (Seniors) 8:00 A.M. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

January 19 Sat. Lumberjack Invitational (Open) 8:00 A.M. Northern AZ University, Flagstaff, AZ

January 26 Sat. Puma Indoor Invitational (Open) TBA Paradise Valley Community College

February 2 Sat Mountain T Invitational (Open) 8:00 A.M. Northern AZ University, Flagstaff, AZ

February 9 Sat Gaucho Indoor Invitational (Open) 12:00 P.M. Glendale Community College

February 16 Sat PV Indoor Invitational (Open) 10:00 A.M. Paradise Valley Community College

February 16&17Sat&Sun Arizona Senior Olympics (Seniors) 8:00 A.M. Copper Canyon High School, Glendale, AZ

February 24 Sun Arizona Indoor Classic (Youth & Adult) 8:00 A.M. Northern AZ University, Flagstaff, AZ

March 8 Sat Grand Canyon State Games (Adult only) 8:00 A.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ
(SISU Challenge)

March 8 Sat Bobcat Relays (Youth & Adult) 8:00 A.M. Horizon High School

March 15 Sat Arizona Relays (Open) TBA Central Arizona Community College

March 17-22 Fri-Sun WMA World Indoor Championship (Master only) Clermont-Ferrand, France

March 21 Fri. Glendale Invitational (Open) 4:00 P.M. Glendale Community College

March 28-30 Fri-Sun Masters Indoor Nationals (Master only) Reggie Lewis Center, Boston, MA

April 5 Sat Puma Outdoor Invitational (Open) TBA Paradise Valley Community College

April 11 Fri Mesa Classic (Open) 1:00P.M. Mesa Community College
April 12 Sat Sun Angel Classic (Open) TBA Arizona State University

April 19 Sat. Arizona Flames Invitational (Adult only) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

April 25 Fri UCSD Triton Invitational (Open) TBA UC San Diego,


May 17&18 Sat&Sun Arizona State Championships (Youth & Adult) 8:00 A.M. TBD

May 24 Sat. Masters Invitational (Adult only) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa AZ (AZTECH Invitational 5000m)

June 7 Sat USATF Weight Throw Pentathlon(Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

June 7 Sat All Comers Meet (track only) (Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

June 21 Sat Grand Canyon State Games (HS & Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

July 9 Wed All Comers Meets (HS & Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

July 16 Wed All Comers Meets (HS & Adult) 5:00 P.M. Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ

July 19-20Sat&Sun Masters West Region Championship (Adults) TBA

August 7-10Thur-Sun. Masters Outdoor Nationals (Masters only) Spokane, WA

August 28-31Thur-Sun North, Central American & Caribbean World Masters National Training Center, Clermont, FL

September 5 Fri National Masters Weight & Superweight Championship Seattle, WA

September 6 Sat National Masters Ultra-Weight Championship Seattle, WA

Entry guidelines for meets:

1. All Ages USATF track meets (Indoor Classic & AZ State Champs) will have to be entered at www.coacho.com. There is a deadline. Be on time!

2. For entries into Open & Junior Colleges use www.directathletics.com.

3. For entries into Glendale JC meets email cran@msn.com.

4. For Grand Canyon State Games go to www.gcsg.org

It's A Girl!

I just wanted to give a huge CONGRATS to my twin brother Franz and his wife Yoanna!

On Saturday, December 29, 2007, Yoanna delivered their first child together; a beautiful baby girl named Marriana! She was 7.2 lbs. and 19.5 inches long!

I'm sure my brother will be posting more photos of the entire family soon on his blog!

Congrats again!

Happy New Years everyone!

Not Your Average 58 Year-Old! (Volume 1)

I wanted to blog a little about one of my clients, Patrica (Pat). Pat is 58 years old and for about a year now , has been training under my guidance for Masters Track & Field Sprints (100 & 200m). She's been a client of mine for almost 2 years. About 7-8 weeks ago we started her off-season sprint training, though she has been strength training semi-consistently all year. She's stronger than she's ever been and all the strength training is really starting to pay off in the sprints.

Because Pat has a very sizeable back yard, we are able to do all of her off-season sprint training at her house (along with her strength work). The grass field is also on a slight incline making it ideal for the off-season goals of improving acceleration and drive mechanics. Here are some videos of her sprinting lately; a great inspiration for ladies of any age!

On this particular day, we (I often sprint with her) performed 4 x 20 yards and 3 x 40 yards with 1.5-2.5 minute recoveries respectively. Our rest times are a little less than they would be on a track since 1)this is grass, and 2) it's a slight hill. Both of these lead to slightly slower sprint times which reduce the intensity of the runs and thus, lower the recovery requirements.

In this next video series, you'll see Pat performing some contrast sprints with a weighted sled; very effective for improving acceleration mechanics and strength for the start. The first and last sprint on our sled day is always performed without resistance. The distance here is about 25 yards.

The Importance of Words

Words.....have you ever thought about the power of words? Personally, I have been very affected (both positively and negatively) by another person's words; espescially when coming from an authority figure (a coach, teacher, or parent). This post will highlight the importance of thinking carefully of the words we use when dealing with clients, friends, loved ones, etc.

As a Fitness professional and a bodyworker, I am constantly dealing with many different types of people. Some are often in great pain or in a state of dis-stress. After studying the work of Australian-based Physiotherapist, David Butler, I have again been reminded of the power of words when it comes to explantions, especially with my clients in pain. But let's face it, who doesn't have some sort of regular aches and pains? And just because you have some discomfort, does it mean that you're necessarily injured?

Often, clients of mine will come in with laundry lists of medical diagnoses that have completely demoralized them. Phrases like "degenerated," "herniated," "compressed or slipped discs," "arthritis" and "bone on bone" to name a few can conjure up terriffying images for people of their present condition. For many, these descriptions can actually set up a worsening or "awfulizing" of the condition that lead to restrictions in movement due to fear of re-injury. This leads to de-conditioning that makes the person more susceptable to further injury; not good!
I often combat this information (epsecially if it is based on imaging studies: X-Rays, MRI's, and CT Scans, etc...) by mentioning the credible research that shows that many non-symptomatic individuals have the same "horrible" and "grusome" stuff show up on imaging studies; and that "wear and tear" is a normal and inevitable part of aging, yet it doens't have to hurt that much.

While watching a Mel Siff video a while back of a talk he gave at the 2001 or 2002 SWIS conference in Canada, I was taken by a study he mentioned done by an Italian researcher. The study basically concluded that any exercise that was perceived by an individual as dangerous, makes it that much more likely that he or she will get injured or have pain when performing the exercise; sort of a self-fullfillng prophecy of sorts. The same kind of thing happens with food: people don't look at food anymore and think food; they think "trans fats" and "good carbs" and "bad carbs" along with proein, fat, fiber issues. While some of this nutritional education is needed (given the present dietary state of the Western World), some of it has probably led to more and more grief and less pleasure when eating even healthier foods.

This is why we need to be very careful with how we word our statements because they can have either very positive or very negative effects. An example of this is taking the corrective exercise stuff too far...Back in the late 90's, my brother and I were really sucked into the Paul Check stuff, which is actually great stuff minus a few parts. The few parts that really stuck out as negative were the ridiculous all day assessments that the Chekerians performed which basically showed how messed up (and therefore dysfunctional) you were. It was kind of demoralizing and made some people paralyzed (paralysis by analysis), depressed, and utterly afraid to move.

Now from this information you were then given the supposed Holy Grail of exercise to help your problem, but the results were not always so great (those who've done lots of corrective exericse know what I mean). In reality, many people do need some "corrective" actions for helping certain physical (and mental) issues/problems. These actions need to be made in a postive and supportive context however for the effects to be postive.