First of all, playing sports gives your kids something to do and a group that your kids can belong to. I’m not making any promises, but I think if a child has a sport to play, he or she would have less chances to bring up the phrase no parent wants to hear: “I’m bored.” Also, playing sports can help kids meet new friends because they will be in a group with fellow peers who have the same interests.

While it is well known that sports can have tremendous effects on kids physically, many people don’t know that sports can help kids develop mentally as well.  From researches done by Family.com, kids who played sports, especially girls, are more likely to have confidence and very high self-esteem. Plus, physical activities can help kids to relieve stress and reduce depression. These same kids are also found to have excellent discipline. They learn to set goals and then work to achieve those goals. They learn that by working hard they can accomplish the things that they want to in their lives. Sports can also help many kids understand that you have to work as a team and help develop good leadership skills, which are important attributes for the future. Kids who play sports will also quickly learn that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. They learn to be good sports in both situations.

Additionally, playing sports can help kids perform better academically, believe it or not. Students who play sports in high school will be more likely to achieve academic success in high school and in the future. They will also develop math, motor, and strategic skills that will sure to help them with their future. Kids involved in sports are less likely to take drugs or smoke because they realize the impact that these destructive activities can have upon their performance. Girls who play sports are also less likely to become pregnant. What parent doesn’t want that?

With so many benefits to gain, encouraging your kid to get into sports might be a good decision.

Lifting programs are critical for many sports. I can see that my former middle school doesn’t want to “fall behind” the other teams who are providing weight rooms for their students. Many high schools care tremendously about their sports teams, and if grabbing the state title involves getting kids into weight rooms before the 9th grade, then so be it. Perhaps, with vigilant supervision, this could be a good idea. However, from personal experience I know that even high school students don’t always want, or even know how, to respect a weight room. I’ve seen kids bench without safety clamps and leave weights lying all over the floor, both extremely dangerous habits.

I’m sure that a great deal of thought went into creating the weight room for my former middle school, but I wonder if all of the right questions were raised and that the right answers were given. When is it safe for children to start lifting weights? I’ve heard that weight training has been proven to be safe for kids; when exercises are performed correctly, kids are no more likely to get injured than adults. However, the fact of the matter is that kids don’t always follow rules or proper technique, even when both have been clearly outlined.  Well, how much supervision should there be? Is having one adult in the room, as is often the case, enough to ensure that every child is properly performing each exercise? Kids often see large weights as challenges, and will try to have unsafe lifting competitions with their friends. When all is said and done will lifting actually benefit the athletics programs and will these benefits outweigh the risks?

The question of what age a child can start lifting does not have a clear-cut answer, and maybe that’s why my former school went ahead and created the new weight room. After all, the “right” age is probably unique to every child, right? But I’m curious, are elementary schools next?

Traditionally, the flying disc is tossed between two or more people standing a distance apart. Occasionally, a throw will go astray and the catcher will have to run to retrieve it, but the activity level remains fairly low. To garner more aerobic benefit from your flying disc, try one of the sport versions of play.

Flying disc golf involves establishing markers instead of holes, and keeping track of how many tosses it takes to hit each marker. As in standard golf, the player whose tosses are furthest under par wins. There is also a version of football using the plastic plaything. The rules are similar to flag football, but only passing is allowed. A team cannot advance down the field unless the disc is thrown and caught. A touchdown offers the only scoring point. In flying disc baseball, bases are set up in a diamond pattern and there are fielders and batters, but no pitcher. The player at bat tosses the disc out to the field and runs for first base. If the disc is caught in the air, it is an out. As in baseball, after three outs, teams switch sides and the games continues for nine innings.

There is even a solitary game which can be played in-city. In the game of Seven, as you are walking down a sidewalk, toss the disc ahead of you and count the number of pavement squares that it travels with each toss. Each square is good for one point, unless it lands exactly seven squares away, in which case no points are awarded. However you choose to use it, since people of almost any age can toss and catch one, a flying disc can offer fun and fitness for the whole family.

Well, I did not realize this, but apparently, hula hooping is making a comeback. I used to think that it was just a thing that little kids did, but that is not the case anymore. Even Michelle Obama is into hula hooping! Last October she hooped for health and was able to get 142 swivels in! She definitely kept up with the best of them!

Why the hula hooping craze? Well, it is a really good source of exercise! The hula hoops used during exercising are not your standard little kid hoops. The exercising hoops are a little bigger and are weighted. This weight, about 2 pounds, will help a lot because you will not really have to worry about the lack of rhythm or being clumsy. Hula hoops are used in exercises to firm, tone and burn body fat.

Using a hoop has a lot of benefits. For instance, they massages your intestines and organs as it circles your waist. Hula hooping can help you have some meditative times, allow your heart rate to go up so you can lose weight, it increases the flow of blood to your brain, increases your energy level, enhances spinal flexibility, and more.

Hula hooping, according to the American Council on Exercise, burns about 200 calories every 30 minutes. That is not too shabby for a childhood “sport!” A lot of people prefer hooping because other sports put too much stress on the body. Another thing about hooping that people enjoy is that it puts a lot of emphasis on strengthening the abdominal area and torso. These are two areas that most people strive to trim down.

Hooping will bring back the old memories while getting fit!

• First of all, before you do anything else, make sure you are in shape to begin running.  If you have any type of medical condition that could endanger you while running, ask your doctor if it is okay to run.
• Next, if you are serious about starting running you should look into buying a pair of quality running shoes.  Go to a running store like Runner’s Alley, where they will look at the way you walk and run and fit you in a shoe or two that will work best with your body and running style.
• If you are worried that you will buy a pair of quality running shoes and then decide you dislike running, you should buy a pair of cheaper cross trainers to start out.  If you stay with running, you should by a pair of quality shoes to reduce the risk of injury.
• When you begin running, don’t push yourself immediately. Begin with simple routines consisting of alternating running and walking, like walk for 6 minutes, then jog at an easy pace for 1 minute.  As you get  better, work the running time up and the walking time down.
• Over time, you will develop more stamina and run faster and more smoothly.  Once you get into running shape, your workouts should stop being measured in time but rather in distance. Find an area the is a set distance (preferably one or two miles) and run there.
• If you really enjoy running,  you should look into running races.  There are 5k (3.1 miles) happening all over the area you live.  To find out about them, visit Cool Running.  They also have longer distances, like half and full marathons and everything in between.
• Whatever you do, HYDRATE!!!  If you don’t hydrate, you will get hurt.  Drink water before and after runs and also during long distance runs.

Running is a convenient way to get into shape, and it is fun, too.  Please try to keep my tips in mind and have fun!

However, during the college application process, one of my coaches, a recent graduate from college, started telling me that college sports were a gold mine and that I should contact the coaches. I would hear the statement and chuckle to myself a bit. Me? Good enough for colleges to want me to play at their school? Fat chance. My coach threw javelin, and when she was in high school she held state titles. I don’t even hold a school record. She went to UMass Amherst on a full ride. Her story was too perfect. I’m a reasonably good track runner, but not that good. Nevertheless, I followed her advice and contacted the coaches at the colleges I was interested in. It turns out, I was ”good enough.”

Though D2 and D3 colleges do not officially offer scholarships for athletics, it doesn’t mean that the coaches can’t give you an edge in the admission process or give a slight nudge in the department of financial aid. The amount of money that is available for college athletes is larger than it seems. There are thousands of colleges, each with a dozen or more sports, each with a coach looking for new recruits. The D3 and D2 coaches want good athletes just as much as those in D1; they are willing and able to help you out in the admission process. If you have a child that seems to have a talent in a certain sport (though he/she might not be shattering records), it may be worth encouraging this activity and contacting college coaches when the time rolls around.

Of course, contacting coaches can’t offer any guarantees, and the number of positions available from college to college and sport to sport will vary. However, I’m sitting here with an acceptance to an excellent university, the possibility of running track in college, and a hankering feeling that I should be sending the coach I contacted a few dozen thank you cards. It’s worth considering.

Obesity is a very dangerous disease, so I am adding my thoughts on how teens should fight obesity.  Also, parents, feel free to use these tips with your kids!

1. Try to get outside for at least one hour every day.  Play a sport, walk around the neighborhood, whatever…  just get off your bottom and start moving around.  Walking around is an exercise in itself.
2. Go running for a mile, maybe two.  All you have to do is walk out the door and put one foot in front of the other. No need for pools, courts, or fields.  You can go with a friend, chat, and have fun during it.  Also, it is a cheap sport.  Buy quality running shoes, but everything else can be cheap (shorts, t-shirts, and sweat or wind pants).   Find a way to figure out how far you’re running, though, because distances are hard to guess.
3. Play a school sport.  At my school, anyone can join the cross-country teen.  At practice, you run two miles.  If you can’t run two full miles, you run as much as you can.  You also get to compete in every home meet there is and the championships.  Additionally, you can challenge yourself to try out for other sports.
4. Start working out.  I am going to weightlifting sessions with my high school’s football team.  I plan to play next year and am on the wrestling team, so it helps a lot.  Plus, it’s an awesome time to chat with friends

Don’t let the concept of working out scare you or be embarrassed to play sports.  Doing these will help you live longer and are fun.  So, get out there and get fit!

Well, once the snow comes along, ski season will be in full blast.

Teaching someone how to ski is an interesting experience. It is not too hard to learn, in opposition to first starting snowboarding, but it can be challenging. For those of you who are looking to bring your children out into the amazing world of skiing or to teach a friend how this sport works, here are a few hints.

First and foremost, figure out if they can handle the cold temperatures, the uncomfortable boots, and the rest of the equipment. Speaking of equipment, do not get the cheap stuff. Buying or renting good quality equipment will not only aid your “student’s” overall experience, but it also will make your life easier. Figure out how they learn best–by watching, example, doing, trying, etc?

Start them off on the bunny slopes with the carrot lift. It should be extremely flat and boring for you, but trust me, your child or friend will think that they are going too fast to handle at the beginning on even this slope, so make sure that they are comfortable on these slopes first. Once you can get them to make big turns, how to use the pizza wedge technique, and how to stop, you can test them out on the lift. Take a lift up and take a long green circle trail down. They will learn so much on that one trail and may even find it easier going down on a slope because they’ll have more momentum.

However, I will admit that the best thing to do would be to enroll them in a one hour class. A lot of times you can get a package for beginners for free which would include rentals, a lesson, and a lower mountain pass. Other times you can get some great deal that includes all three items.

The warm-up stands out in my mind to this day.  On certain days (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday) I was to run for distance at an easy pace.  Nothing groundbreaking there.  Then came the other days.  These days I focused movements using every single muscle in my body.  They were the Poomse days.

Poomse is a Korean word, meaning form or pattern.  These forms are imaginary fights that often tell a story about a particular fight.  Anyway, Poomse days required me to do all of my forms at an easy pace and then again at a fast pace, ignoring technique.  Since I knew and practiced sixteen forms with anywhere from 20-100 moves each, it became an intense warm-up.

Don’t know any forms?  No problem, just go to YouTube and search “Poomse” or “martial arts forms.”  There are many videos that you will discover to walk you through some.  You only need to know one or two to get the worthwhile benefits.  Find one that looks like something you can do and spend a workout session trying to learn it.  Technique isn’t imperative unless you are actually training in the art.  Worry more about getting a feel for the movements.

Once you learn one, get into motion.  The first time, do the form as if you are very lazy.  Just go through the moves to warm-up your joints and your mind.  Then do it again with a little more purpose, focusing on what you are doing.  This time pay attention to your legs.  Really, stress the stances and try to keep your weight on them.  Finally, breeze through the last time.  Do the form very quickly and with force.  This time focus on getting your heart rate up and a earning a light sweat.

You’re now warmed up the Poomse way.

First, what are martial arts?  The definitions vary from person to person.  Some say meditative art forms while others say hand-to-hand combat education.  There is no one true way to sum them up.  Martial arts are fighting systems derived from many years of experience and practice that allow you to strengthen your mind and body.  Depending on your reason and which art you choose will determine your definition.

The many reasons that are given for taking martial arts are: learn self-defense; learn respect; develop coordination; gain confidence; enhance strength; make athletes even better; improve focus; learn goal setting; and improve social skills.  Some answers, such as enhancing strength, learning self-defense and coordination, are self-explanatory.  One that is not is improving focus.

The improving focus area encompasses many of today’s issues, especially in children.  Many children today are diagnosed with ADHD, temper control problems and many simply need better study habits.  Through the discipline that is taught, the individual learns to redirect anger through healthy channels.  The focus that is required to hit the targets and heavy bags becomes a part of every action.  The same thought process they use to hit a target now becomes the way in which they attack math problems, for example.

There are even great benefits for those without children.  Having more focus will certainly help us in the workplace and at home.  Being able to concentrate on the task at hand will help us to meet our deadlines and soar past those who can’t.

Martial arts simply will improve every aspect of your life.  They will allow you to become stronger and gain more confidence.  No other sport can give you the full benefits that a quality martial arts instructor is able to deliver.  Whether you want to improve your child’s focus or learn self-defense for yourself, martial arts are the key.