Potato Pitch: How's Your Shouldah?

Baseball season is here.

Before moving to the Boston area, I thought that Massachusetts was a big ice hockey state. Well, it is, which is great, considering that hockey is just the best sport. However, MA is a baseball state. Baseball is very popular, and more than I ever thought. So, since this throwing sport is in-season, prompting the public to participate in leisure throwing on warm and sunny days, let's get throwers on the right path. Pain free. Full of distance. Full of good form. Also, if you are female, then you throw like a female because you are a female. If you are a male, then you throw like a male...because you are male. The old cliche of "you throw like a girl" has been nipped in the bud...thrown away!

Just a few rules before throwing your balls and Frisbees:
1) Warm up the arm and shoulder.
2) Throw to someone.
3) If no one is available, then throw at a wall. Some parks have a ball-wall...for wall-ball.
4) Adopt some strength and flexibility:
5) Lastly, you do not have to be Tom Brady, Robert Griffin III, or Mariano Rivera when throwing or when warming up to throw. You only have to be [insert your name]:

With heart,

Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS       www.teempt.com       TEEM Performance Training

Front Plank Full Arm Extension

Medicine Ball Overhead/Soccer/Futbol Throw Extension Form

Medicine Ball Overhead/Soccer/Futbol Throw Flexed Form (Begin)

Medicine Ball Underhand Throw Extension Phase

Medicine Ball Underhand Throw Squat Phase (Begin)

Modified Jumping Jack Flexion Phase

Modified Jumping Jack Extension Phase

Power Walk - it's a good warm up

Sit-to-Stand Roaming 1

Sit-to-Stand Roaming 2

Sit-to-Stand Roaming 3

1/2 Kneeling Tubing Horizontal Fly

1/2 Kneeling Tubing Throw Form (Flexed/Cocked)

1/2 Kneeling Tubing Throw Form (Extension/Follow Through)

Standing Tubing Single Arm Throw Form (QB Warm-up)

Standing Tubing Single Arm Throw Form Press (QB Warm-up)

Winter's Bone



Snowed In

Is it over? Seriously. Is. It. Over? The cold. The chill. The snow. Snow was embraced this winter (OK, maybe it's a personal feeling). It started at the right time of the season and ended late. The winter was harsh with cold and too much snow. No one wanted a blizzard of 27 inches? Just me, huh? Fine. Until next winter, equip yourself with some tips:

1) Exercise - look at the forecast ahead of time and prepare to get outdoors before the snow falls. Bundle up in case it is cold. But, don't let the weather determine your level of fitness

2) Buy a dog.

3) Move to a warmer climate...even if it is temporary. Florida probably sees in influx of migration during the winter months. The Caribbean is a popular winter vacation spot as well. You may not want to move as much in these locations since the weather makes you chill. But...just but.

4) Just snowshoe it - it goes hand-in-hand with cross country skiing. Hey, just embrace the opportunity to not see the cement or asphalt. Plus, it is a favorite cold weather activity.

5) Enjoy the summer - ahhhh, it's hot! It gets hot every year. We know it is going to be hot this summer as well. Get outdoors to love the summer, and your warm experience may help you enjoy the harsh cold of the winter. OK, maybe that is true. There is something, however, to be said about freezing temps. But, you can always do all of the above.

Until next winter...

With heart,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS        www.teempt.com        TEEM Performance Training

Shedding the "Personal Trainer" Only Name

Whether you use it as a noun with an "er" or verb, it has more meaning as an action verb. Personal training and personal trainers serve as motivators, enthusiasts, psychologist (though not clinically), coaches, teachers, and more. It is more than simply physical education. Physical education, though regarded lowly by many school districts and school curricula, is needed by everyone. Physical education, like personal trainers, has received a tainted name over the years. Of course, there are magnificent trainers and physical education programs around the world; but then there are the fly-bys and the get-bys.

Personally, I prefer the following terms: Exercise Specialist. Physical Trainer. Human Movement Specialist. Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Personal Trainer is not terrible, but it sounds redundant at times. All of the above do personal training, and they feel more in depth. There are great personal trainers training. But, remember there are many terms, some more preferred than others, to describe the position. Every position and approach to the same profession is different. It is one reason why many individuals have success with certain specialists.

What do you think?

With heart,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS         www.teempt.com         TEEM Performance Training

Plush Salad Average - No Fly Zone

How much do you spend on a whole foods salad on average with salads being $8.99/lb - spend too much?

Sure Whole Foods is known as "whole paycheck". The employees will tell you that. But, there is something more to Whole Foods. You buy what you need that is not in bulk. You also buy for the moment and not for the week or for the month. Well, most people resemble these shopping attributes. Going back to topics on purchasing salads at Whole Foods (See: Salad Bar Trickery and Spring 2013 Food Challenge), the above question is now a part of social media (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn). So, what is your average? Let me tell you why Whole Foods is my favorite place to get a salad:

I used to have a go-to salad place. But, on my last trip to this particular grocery store, I witnessed two fruit flies - small in stature but robust in movement. I saw fruit flies hovering over the salad items on recent trips, but it did not mean anything. Just two of them. On this trip, however, I happened to look under the glass that hung over the salad bar and poof!...Or, proof! There, the fruit fly family and its cousins were having a salad BBQ that day. I put my salad container down, walked out of the store, and happily with mere disgruntlement walked to Whole Foods. I knew the Whole Foods salad bar would be more expensive - I left a $4.99/lb salad bar to travel a few blocks longer to, what was then a $7.99/lb salad bar, but is now an $8.99/lb salad bar...I. Have. Never. Looked. Back. Since. The Whole Foods salad bar greeted me with pristine light sans genus musca as angel trumpets surrounded the plush greenery.

So, there you have it. My salad choice has increased by $4.00/lb. I can finally say, I do not care, but it is caring to a different level. So, in a secondary question, if you are going to a salad bar that is less than $8.99/lb, and you spend more than $7.00 to $9.00 on average on a salad...soft why? (See: The Soft Why: Part I - Appetizer Intro) View this message as assistance. Also, from the following:

1) Do not be scared off by high-priced salad bars, especially if they are at Whole Foods level.
2) Do not go overboard with low-priced salad bars - you do not have to pile everything on your salad, which makes a $4.99/lb salad bar result in purchasing a $10.00 salad.

3) Most people either lack green food items, or they dislike them. So, one trick is to put a lot of green leafy veggies in your salad. In this manner, your salad is still light; and you have room to get other juicy or light weight salad items.

4) Pay attention to what is heavy. If you do not really need the food item on your salad, then do not get it. Of course, 99% to 100% of the salad items are pure food and health-awesomeness!


With heart,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS       www.teempt.com         TEEM Performance Training

Athletes: Per Game Students

Athletes, how many hours per week on average do you spend being a student of your game?

Do you do any of the following:  

1) Follow a favorite player within your sport and view how he or she prepares for the game? 

2) Follow a player-to-coach relationship? How does the player respond to instruction?  

3) Do you follow any old time players in your sport? 

4) Have you noticed how your sport has evolved in to the game it is today?  

5) Do you notice what your favorite player(s) do in warm-ups? And, why they do it?  

6) Learn new ins and outs of your sport? What can you bring new to your sport?

It is great to become a faster runner, skater, rower, etc. It is great to work on your physical weaknesses and strengths. But, you can be a physical prodigy and still have major flaws in your on field, on ice, on court, or even on sand performance if you have no idea what is going on. For example, there have been plenty of extremely athletic NFL players who have failed in the NFL. Then, there have been players who excelled in the NFL that do not look like physical specimens. I'll name a few of them now: Darrell Green, Jerry Rice, Troy Brown, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, London Fletcher, all of the long term and successful place kickers and punters (basically), more recently, DeSean Jackson, and many more.

I am willing to bet that at some point all of these athletes can answer "yes" to the above questions. Can you as a solid athlete?

1) Watch someone like Sidney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk, LeBron James, or Joakim Noah prepare for games. All of these athletes will be starting playoff games soon.

2) Look at the way Gregg Popovich talks to Tony Parker and to Tim Duncan.

3) Old-timers like Jerry Rice had a renowned off-season workout regimen. Even fans knew about it. The hill.

4) Baseball has changed so much as a sport that guys are bigger not including the PED-talk.

5) Every team has their general warm-up. Some players do subtle things in warm-up preparation because they know they perform well. It works. Does something different work for you? Is it physical? Is it mental?

6) As an athlete, do you bring a speed component to your sport that has rarely or never been seen? For example, is your first step the best ever? Is your slapshot the best ever? Is your pump fake the best ever? Is endurance great?

With heart,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS       www.teempt.com        TEEM Performance Training

Air

Honestly, I have no idea what is the best way to link the Malaysian Airlines debacle with health and fitness. It is horrible to think about what the families are going through and what the passengers have or are going through.

It's sad. It is.

It feels worse that there are so many leads in such a sophisticated world, yet no one can confidentially say that the plane has been found (kind of like playing 'Carmen San Diego'). Then, there is also the question of "why and how did the incident happen?" Blogs have been posted in the past on being fit in case of an emergency (See: Earthquake). But, in this case, that would fall in to the lap of the pilots and passengers. There are too many question marks on that end. The only other connection with health and fitness for this type of event  is the case of emergency on the searchers and investigators part: diligence. More appropriately, due-diligence is the term.

Diligence simply states that there is persistence in actions. We are diligent in waking up in the morning and in exercising. Due-diligence states that it must be done. It is due in this case. We do not have to wake up or exercise, but we do because things to get done and are due! We do not have to fix our injuries, but we do because we will, otherwise, be in more pain and lose movement where it is necessary.

Do it. Then, due it.

Really, that is it on this topic.

With heart,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS        www.teempt.com        TEEM Performance Training

The "Tudes"

Yes, there are the 'Beatitudes'. There are also the "tudes".

Stellartude. Train-atude. Forget-a-tude/Please-a-tude. What-a-tude.

1. Stellartude (See: Stellartude) is a good attitude with a plus. You go above and beyond the good attitude. It is the 'wow-factor'.

2. Train-a-tude (See: March Madness) is your attitude towards training your body in the many "lly's" such as physically or mentally.

3. Forget-a-tude/Please-a-tude fall under the same categories. Forget- is when you tell yourself, "forget it...I will not...I cannot do it." Or, in its simpler form, "pleeeaaassse!" It is the difference between doing a routine squat or accomplishing an athletic achievement versus choosing not to pursue it.

4. What-a-tude holds promise. It occurs when someone says, "What!?" Or, "you want me to do what!?" Either the individual does not do it. The "it" is too difficult or crazy. Or, the person does it. What is "it"? Well, you can take your pick among a plethora of things, including the following: taking on adequate nutrition, walking a mile daily, stretching twice daily, biking daily, practicing a skill until you're a pro at it, and more.

What "tude" do you fall under? What "tude" drives you to success? In a transitional season from winter to spring, many "tudes" will be adopted. No matter what "tude" you choose make sure the "tude" carries you through the next season.

With heart,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS        www.teempt.com       TEEM Performance Training