Stuffed Beet Treats

What You Need:

• 8 whole beets, cooked
• 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped fine
• ½ tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp sweet pickles, minced
• 1 ½ TBSP mayonnaise
• ½ tsp. mild salsa

How to Make It:

• Begin by removing a section out of each beet with a melon baller to form a cavity to fill.
• In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, dry mustard, pickles and mayonnaise.
• Stir well to combine.
• Fold in the salsa and blend to desired consistency.
• Fill each beet with the mixture.

You can substitute pickle relish for the sweet pickles and salad dressing for the mayonnaise. If using a salad dressing hold back a little on the sweet pickles or relish or the mixture may be too sweet for some tastes.

Kristy Lee Wilson

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Vegetables in Marinade

What You Need:

• 1 C cold water
• 1 C sugar
• 1 C white vinegar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 lb. fresh mushrooms
• 2 C broccoli florets
• 2 C cauliflower florets
• 2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch strips
• 2 C carrots, cut diagonally into strips

How to Make It:

• Place the water, sugar, vinegar and salt in a large bowl.
• Mix until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Add the vegetables and stir well to coat.
• Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

The longer these set the better they taste. The sugar makes this a slightly sweet treat. Cucumbers and onions also work well in this marinade.

Teaching the Basics of Movement – The Key to Youth Fitness

Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.

In the initial phases of training with a young athlete (technically referred to as General Preparatory or GPP), the undeniable key and focus (outside of fun!) should be aptitude development. This aptitude should transcend to both movement-based skills in their basic elements (balance, jumping, throwing, linear and lateral motion progressions etc) as well as strength-based exercises. I have always firmly believed that basic squatting techniques, for example (along with squatting variations and unilateral efforts), should be introduced into the training sessions of young athletes.

That being said, how does one begin the process of teaching movement habits?

When working with truly young athletes (6 – 7 years old), you need to adopt a progression template within which to work. No template can ever be applied to 100% of your athletes 100% of the time – that is the beauty of coaching; understanding what to apply, when and for how long (i.e. knowing when to progress or regress on an individual basis). Trust me when I say that no system is foolproof and that any strength coach or trainer that claims to ‘have all the answers’ is completely full of crap. For that exact reason, one of my industry hero’s is Mike Boyle.

He is a) straight to the point with no fluff and b) bold in his assertion that he is still developing and evolving as a coach himself.

After 10 years of working with young athletes, I have reached one undeniable conclusion – the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know and the more I want to change my methodologies.

Having said that, these are the first three progressions I use in teaching a movement habit -

Skill: Lateral Deceleration

Firstly, break key points down into skill sets that are easy to remember so that kids can recite them both to you and to themselves (this makes teaching and cuing much simpler). I have four points I want my athletes to learn/know/commit to memory with respect to lateral deceleration:

1. Bend your knees and drop your hips
2. Be on a flat foot or slightly on the ball of the foot
3. The toe/foot of the decelerating leg should be square to the angle of the body (i.e. not out)
4. The foot placement should be outside the box (the ‘box’ is a reference to an invisible line drawn from the shoulder to the floor. Any placement outside of that line is good; within or too close to the line will result in a poor deceleration and potential injury).

Have the kids understand each of these items individually and then in conjunction with each other.

Progressions

These represent the first three of my progressive steps:

1. Repeat Statically – have the athletes assume an athletic position or stance. From here, they will ‘hit’ the decelerating position upon command. Be patient with this step and make sure all your athletes are comfortable and competent with the motion. Add fun to this by calling out different legs unpredictably.

2. Repeat Dynamically - when you feel your athletes are ready, have them perform one or two moderately paced side shuffles prior to ‘hitting’ the decelerating position. The side shuffles should be slow and easy. At this point, you will begin to ascertain if further teaching is necessary (it likely will be). With the additional movement prior to the deceleration, a common mistake you will see is athletes not planting their foot outside of the box far enough. This results in a poor alignment and a less than satisfactory deceleration (even at these slow speeds). My colleague, Lee Taft, calls this a shoulder sway (because the shoulders lean towards the decelerating leg rather than sitting back in a ‘braking’ type position). I love this term and reflects what the actual concern looks like.

3. Repeat Randomly – Now that the athletes are comfortable with the motion, create games and situations within which they react to a particular signal and move (unpredictably) different directions. On your ‘point’ for example, the athlete will take one or two moderately paced side shuffles and then ‘hit’ a deceleration. Have them hold the position so that both you and them can ascertain what is right and wrong with their posture.
Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com

Creamy Cheese and Asparagus Toppers

What You Need:

• 12 asparagus spears
• 1 TBSP water
• 2 (3 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 2.5 oz. (½ pkg.) Parmesan and Romano cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• Assorted crackers

How to Make It:

• Clean and trim the asparagus spears.
• Cut each spear into 1 in pieces.
• Place the asparagus in a microwave safe bowl.
• Add the water and cover.
• Microwave on high power for 4 minutes or until the asparagus is fork tender.
• Drain off any excess water.
• In a mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, shredded cheese and lemon juice.
• Mix together well.
• Spread the cheese mixture on the crackers.
• Top with the asparagus pieces.

To make this even easier use a flavored cream cheese such as chive, garden vegetable or roasted garlic and leave out the shredded cheese.

Barbeque Chicken for Even The Pickiest of Eaters

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless chicken breasts (or 6 thighs ~ thighs are cheaper!)
• 1 cup favorite barbeque sauce
• 1 green pepper sliced
• 2 carrots cut up
• 2 potatoes, cut up
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

• Pour a small amount of the barbeque sauce into bottom of large baking dish. Arrange chicken evenly spaced apart in dish. Pour remaining barbeque sauce over chicken. Distribute cut up veggies throughout.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.

*TIP: Sometimes picky kids aren’t fond of chicken and veggies just sitting on their plate.  If you shred the chicken and put it on a bun and add the veggies on the side, the dinner might be more appealing to your picky little one.

Coordination and Movement Skill Development: The Key to Long Term Athletic Success

Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.

The key ingredient to working with pre-adolescent and early adolescent athletes is providing global stimulation from a movement perspective. Younger athletes must experience and eventually perfect a variety of motor skills in order to ensure both future athletic success and injury prevention. Developing basic coordination through movement stimulus is a must, with the eventual goal of developing sport-specific coordination in the teenage years. Coordination itself, however, is a global system made up of several synergistic elements and not necessarily a singularly defined ability.

Balance, rhythm, spatial orientation and the ability to react to both auditory and visual stimulus have all been identified as elements of coordination. In fact, the development of good coordination is a multi-tiered sequence that progresses from skills performed with good spatial awareness but without speed to skills performed at increased speeds and in a constantly changing environment. As Joseph Drabik points out, coordination is best developed between the ages of 7 – 14, with the most crucial period being between 10 – 13 years of age.

As with anything else, an important issue with respect to coordination development is to provide stimulus that is specific (and therefore appropriate) for the individual. Prescribing drills that are either too easy or too difficult for the young athlete will have a less than optimal result.

An interesting note, as I have suggested in past articles, is that there appears to be a cap with respect to coordination development and ability. Younger athletes who learn to master the elements associated with good coordination (balance, rhythm, spatial awareness, reaction etc), are far better off then athletes who are not exposed to this kind of exercise stimulation until advanced ages. The ability to optimally develop coordination ends at around the age of 16. This validates the claim that global, early exposure is the key from an athletic development standpoint. Again, global coordination will serve as the basis to develop specific coordination in the teenage years.

Once again, it is important to mention that coordination development is a process that encompasses years of exposure and is based on DIVERSITY and VERSATILITY. Young athletes cannot be pigeonholed into sport specific stimulus at a young age and expected to vault into the ranks of elite athletics. As the motto of my company says, ‘You Can’t Become a Champion Until You Become An Athlete’.

Furthermore, it is important to understand that coordination-based exercises must be introduced during the preadolescent ages. Adolescence is not an appropriate time during which to begin elements of coordination training. As strength, speed, height and body mass change significantly during these years, it is much more prudent to reinforce already known movements rather than teach new ones. Herein lies the art and understanding of developing a young athlete. Coaches, trainers and parents must accept the fact that developing a healthy and successful athlete is a journey or process that encompasses several varying degrees of stimulus, all of which build on top of the other.

Coordination training, for example, is introduced during the pre-adolescent ages while nervous system plasticity is high and movement habits have not yet been ingrained as permanent. The scope of coordination training changes during the adolescent ages, during which physical growth alters the young athlete’s previously mastered movement habits. At this time, refinement of movement should take precedent over learning new movement-based skills. In post-adolescence, coordination training can once again be taken to new heights.

One point to consider about coordination is that genetic pre-disposition plays a significant role. Less coordinated children will likely never exhibit the tendencies of naturally coordinated children regardless of training. That is not to say that improvements cannot be made, however – quite the opposite.

Here are three basic principals of coordination training –

1. Start young – coordination improves as a result of learning and mastering new movements. Start young athletes off early with coordination-based exercises that challenge their abilities (within reason). The more coordination a young athlete has, the more ability he or she will display at any perspective sport.

2. Challenge young athletes on an individual and appropriate level – Some youngsters have good balance while others display good rhythm. The key to successful coaching is to undercover what elements of coordination each athlete requires and develop drills/exercises that most suitably target the weaknesses.

3. Change exercises frequently – young athletes learn quickly in most cases. Be sure to challenge them physically and intellectually with new exercises often.
The following list provides some basic exercises that you can use with your young athletes to help develop elements of coordination –

• Multi-directional forms of running, jumping and skipping
• Single leg balancing games
• Mirror games (mirroring each other’s movements)
• Known exercises starting or finishing in new positions (start sprints from belly or one knee; end with hands up or on all fours)
• Opposite arm circles (right hand circles forward, left backwards)
• Simultaneous arm and leg circles
• Jump in place with 180 or 360 turns while in flight
• Balance exercises on a low balance beam
• Cross step-over running or carioca
• Somersault to balance (somersault to standing one legged balance)
• Skipping A, B and C’s
• Obstacle running (place hurdles directly on floor and have athlete run over them)

Remember, coordination includes elements of balance, spatial orientation, rhythm and various other traits. This list reflects exercises to improve several of those elements.

Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com

Pimento Pockets

What You Need:

• 1 C green peas, cooked
• 1 C small curd cottage cheese
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 small whole pimentos, cleaned and peeled
• 1 C seasoned bread crumbs

How to Make It:

• In a bowl mix together the peas, cottage cheese, onion, salt and pepper to taste.
• Stuff each pimiento with the pea mixture.
• Spray a cookie sheet with a non stick cooking spray.
• Preheat oven to 350.
• Place the stuffed pimento on the cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with the seasoned bread crumbs.
• Bake 5 minutes or until the bread crumbs begin to brown.

Whole fresh pimentos can be hard to find in some areas. Canned pimentos work just as well and don’t need to be cleaned and peeled in most instances.

Endurance Training for Young Athletes

Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.

Endurance training and young athletes is an often-misunderstood topic. On one hand, there are strength coaches who tend to disregard developmentally sound elements of endurance training in lieu of producing stronger and faster athletes via strength and power type exercises exclusively. On the other hand, there are over-zealous coaches and trainers who equate endurance to long distance/duration activities, often with little regard for the athlete’s stage of development, ability or current level of conditioning.

Endurance can be defined quite simply as one’s ability to withstand fatigue or the ability to control the functional aptitude of movement while experiencing external stress. The latter definition lends itself well to the concept of athletic development and training young athletes. As I have stated many times in both print and lecture, when working with youngsters, the key ingredient to producing a successful training program is the ability to recognize that quality of execution is profoundly more important than quantity. Having said that, I still see coaches, trainers and parents opting for more difficult training sessions that include high volume or high intensity activities rather than concerning themselves with how correctly the exercise is being performed. Poor execution results in habitual patterns that are difficult to break and could result in injury. With respect to endurance training, proper mechanics are often compromised for higher volumes or intensities and this is very much a mistake.

One thing to consider is that the term ‘endurance’ has application to varying lengths and types of effort:

• Long slow distances – efforts of limited intensity but high distance or time

• Speed – efforts typically lasting 15 – 45 seconds with high levels of intensity but obviously limited time or distance

• Muscular – the ability to sustain a muscular contraction for a prolonged period of time

There are several factors to consider with respect to the development of endurance in a young athlete:

1. Mechanical/Coordination/Movement – Efficiency of movement is a paramount factor with respect to the endurance capabilities of a young athlete. Poor mechanics (which are only reinforced with repetitive training) lead to higher degrees of fatigue. To truly increase the ability of a young athlete (in all facets), coaches and trainers must exercise patience and teach proper movement habits rather than prescribe endless numbers of sets. A critical point here is that by perfecting technique, you can effectively improve endurance without increasing training volume.

2. Body Type – The more overweight a young athlete is, the less endurance they will likely have. Excess bodyweight (particularly in the form of body fat) will serve to decrease endurance due to an increased energy cost. Additionally, being overweight often leads to poor mechanical efficiency (as per point one). According to Joseph Drabik, “each 5% of excess weight penalizes a child approximately 89 meters in a 12-minute run test”. Conversely, “in a 10-mile run, each kilogram reduction of body mass improves performance by 30 seconds”. Drabik did not indicate how bodyweight was determined to be excessive.

3. Psychological – Many young athletes do not possess significant amounts of mental toughness (but they’re kids so why would they?). To combat this, many over anxious trainers and coaches opt to make drills and exercises purposefully difficult in order to produce some sort of perceived mental strength. Given that both the physical structure as well as mental potency of a youngster is tenuous, this often leads to little more than burnout or injury. A more prudent approach to this issue is to systematically present challenges to young athletes that respect their individuality as well as their current stage of development and offers positive feedback at the conclusion. By offering challenging yet achievable forms of exercise, you will progressively improve their endurance and develop their confidence to attempt new and more challenging things.

It is important to understand that endurance training with young athletes is critical for long-term development and not immediate results. Developing good endurance allows the young athlete to tolerate an increased amount of exercise stimulus in the future and this alone is the key point. Don’t become pre-occupied with immediate effects – like any other aspect of athletic development, endurance training is part of a continual, multi-tiered effort.

Developmentally speaking, from the ages of 3 – 7, general endurance increases due to the typical activity level of kids in this age range (which has become a crucial issue of our time – kids don’t ‘play’ as much as they used to, and this fact has a potentially damaging effect on their future athletic abilities and conditioning). For young males, endurance increases are best seen between the ages of 8 – 11 and then again between 15 – 16. For young females, increases are shown best between the ages of 8 – 10. After the age of 13, endurance capabilities of young women stagnate and actually regress. These numbers illustrate that the young female sensitive period for endurance development is shorter than it is with young males. Because of this, young females should begin their endurance training at a younger age than should young males.

There are several key points to remember when designing endurance-based training programs for young athletes. The most crucial aspect is to always start with a broad aerobic base. This will serve to raise the anaerobic threshold of the young athlete (delay needing to use anaerobic sources of energy during activity) and allow the athlete to tolerate increased loads in the future. Begin this aerobic-base phase with low to moderate volumes. Children, although physiologically more fit than the average adult, still must begin their training programs gradually, working up to longer durations and higher intensities. As typical with the entire athletic development science, it is advisable that you alter the stimulus of endurance training you do with young athletes. Think in terms of seasonal activities – In the summer, enjoy swimming; in the autumn, change to hiking or cycling; in the winter, offer stimulus such as snow-shoeing or cross country skiing. Notice how the suggestions are movement-based activities and NOT going to the gym to run on a treadmill! In our fixation for ‘the perfect body’, it seems we have forgotten how important movement and coordination-based activities are for young athletes. Don’t train kids on single function pieces of fitness equipment. Understand that there is a definitive crossover with all exercise stimulus and young athletes. Yes… snowshoeing is a perfect endurance building exercise for young athletes, but it also involves coordination and skill – IDEAL for the young, developing athlete.

Another key factor is training load increases. Coaches, parents and trainers must remember that increases in volume or duration must precede increases in intensity. In short, make things longer before you make them harder. Lastly, wonderful progress can be made by altering the surface on which the young athlete is performing their endurance training. For instance, if you are incorporating long walks or jogs into your training program, switch the training surface periodically to add variety and improve progress; sand, shallow water, forest trails, pebbles. Quick point of reference – by jogging or walking on sand, forest trails or shallow water, you will also add to lower compartment strength and stability. Ankle proprioceptors, picking up varying degrees of balance-point change, will become stronger and more efficient. KEEP KIDS OFF THOSE MACHINES AND GET THEM MOVING!

Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com