A common misconception within the North American youth sporting world is the concept of ‘play’ for conditioning purposes. All too often, well intentioned youth sport coaches or trainers follow the leads established by the elite members of there respective sports and configure training programs and sessions into hard-driving or ‘endless repetitions of one exercise’ type …

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There is no real danger in kids performing machine based training under the proper supervision and appropriate guidelines. Many studies done the world over have concluded that strength based training programs done on this kind of fitness equipment is very safe for young children (again under appropriate guidelines). My issue is not whether or not …

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According to multiple sources, including MSNBC and Newsweek, more than 1 million children hire a personal trainer every year in the United States. The rate of youth obesity and the increased competitive nature of youth sports are cited as the major reasons for this relatively new phenomenon. It is critical for parents to understand that …

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“The question of whether (young athletes) should specialize in particular sports at an early age has been asked for many years. The evidence now seems to support programming activities that develop overall capacities rather than specialized functions while the young athlete is growing.” Contrary to popular belief, the BEST and MOST EFFICIENT means of developing …

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“If resistance training is to be done with children and young adolescents, exercises should involve sub-maximal loads, such as one’s own bodyweight, light dumbbells, weighted bags and/or medicine balls. Sophisticated and restrictive weight exercises, particularly on machines, are not ideal for children”. Trainers or coaches who advocate machine-based training for young athletes are simply not …

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“All sports require high degree of skill for superior performance. The major emphasis of a (youth athletic) training program should be skill excellence. For skills to be developed, learning should occur in non-fatigued states… It is advisable to schedule auxiliary training sessions either after a (sport) session or at some time that allows complete recovery …

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Look at it from the most easy possible angle… Do you know anyone from another country? What happens to family’s who move to a foreign land, but can’t speak the language? Let’s use an Italian family moving to Canada. Eventually, everyone learns to speak English, but, the young kids will learn to speak it accent-free …

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Researchers in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine have uncovered a mechanism by which stress increases food drive in rats. This new discovery, published online in the journal Neuron, could provide important insight into why stress is thought to be one of the underlying contributors to obesity.

Good luck to our H.S. Fball players who worked so hard at AR. We wish you success and good health. Be the leaders that you are not the followers some want you to be. Good luck Rob Dury, Joe Godlevske, Nick and Michael Anee, Jack Busald, Daniel Sahm, Jack Doyle, Luke Speckman, Charlie Leahy, David …

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Today I’m going to explain why having your athletes do ‘fly 40s’ during the first week of practice is a mistake (no matter which sport you coach or compete in) and what you should be doing instead. To do a workout like this so early in the season shows a frightening lack of coaching knowledge …

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