Both the scientific community and the sports behavioural psychologists at UK Athletics agrees that humans are creatures of habits. Following this line of thought, it's our duty as coaches to train our young athletes or the kids to develop good habits in sports (on the track & field).
Ok, let's rewind for a bit. Can you imagine when we blab out the word "behavioural change" or "habit modification" to the parents or the kids, we are met with some pretty awesome facial expressions. (I've include some pics for your pleasure).
These expressions can range from a blank look to doubtful raise eye-brow....
...a fully charged "WTF" look.
I have to admit that it doesn't sound all too Frankenstein like at all... after repeating it to yourself for the fifth or sixth time.
So, here is a list of things we try to impose
1) Stay hydrated at all times - bring a water bottle when they come training
2) Replenish sugar level after an exercise - via drink or small amount of food
3) Train faster recovery time by accessing stored carbohydrates - limit food intake to organic fruits like an orange or banana to assist initial recovery only
4) Retain body heat - cover up head and body to maintain core body temperature
5) Stay focus but relaxed - chatting with other athletes are healthy and especially during team sports
Can you add to this list?
For an established sports club, I would expect that their athletes are doing everything on this list already. However, for schools and the community youth clubs, where vending machines are readily accessible and available will find this a bit of a challenge. I'm also finding that parents will regularly use positive enforcement behaviour (giving sweet treats) to train their kids at home, which conflicts with our coaching programmes on healthy diet/ eating. So, when they come on our training programme, their bodies are conditioned to crave for the sugary energy bars, cokes, cakes and the rest.
Somewhere in Germany, a kid did a great science project to chart the amount of sugar in the our drinks. Here is a photo, and you can follow their FB page. I use this photo to give a visual cue to the kids. This is not a scare tactic, but it is easier to explain to kids and adults when they can see the amount of sugar in a packaged energy drink. Actually, this gave me a scared as well.
P.S I have a birthday dinner tomorrow with my sister's in-laws, so I will have to miss my coaching session. Please don't forget to ADD me to your Google+ :)
Love stories, Love MyStorio
www.mystorio.com (website still in progress)
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