Do you remember playing sports as a kid?

Even if you didn’t play for a school team, you probably played hopscotch or kickball, rode your bike, shot some hoops, swam in a lake, and the list could go on and on.

Kids used to be more active. Unfortunately, now it is estimated that 33% of kids born in the year 2000 or later will suffer with an obesity-related health problem like diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoarthritis, or even cancer.

It is recommended that kids ages 6-17 years old participate in 60 minutes of play every day. Unfortunately, up to 43% of kids today do not meet this recommendation.

Why Are Youth Sports So Important?

Kids who participate in high school sports are:

• More likely to remain physically active and 1/10 less likely to experience obesity
• Less likely to smoke, use drugs, and carry weapons
• Tend to develop better peer-to-peer relationships, experience higher self-esteem, demonstrate better attachment to adults, enjoy a closer sense of family, and...

Anyone can be an athlete.

Think about that again.

Anyone can be an athlete.

Anyone can be fit.

According to the American Heritage Medical Dictionary, fitness is defined as “the state or condition of being fit.”

So what does that mean?

Being fit is being able to physically and mentally do what you want to do when you want to do it.

Anyone can be an athlete; the question is what level of athlete do you want to be?

Do you want to be a spectator and watch everyone else play or do you want to get in the game?

What game do you want to play?

It doesn’t have to be a sport. Being fit may have nothing to do with playing an organized sport.

Any activity that burns calories can be your sport – as long as you are physically moving!

Children should play for 60 minutes per day and adults should play for 30 minutes per day.

Find an activity that you enjoy and get moving!

Here are a few suggestions:

• Cycling
• Canoeing
• Ballroom Dancing
• Running
• Tennis
• Croquet
• Gardening
• Arm...

Every person, athlete or non-athlete, functions best with good nutrition.

Athletic performance is influenced greatly by nutrition. Getting the right amount macronutrients and micronutrients can often be the missing link in improving performance.

Macronutrients = carbs, proteins, and fats

Micronutrients = vitamins and minerals

Let’s keep it simple.

Athletes will need the following macronutrients:

• 45-70% of their diet from healthy carbs
  • Fruit
  • Vegetables
  • Whole grains
• 15-25% of their diet from lean protein
  • Low-fat dairy - cottage cheese, milk, Greek yogurt
  • Chicken, fish, beef, turkey, eggs, tofu
• 15-25% of their diet from healthy fat
  • Olive oil
  • Avocados
  • Nut butters
  • Coconut oil
  • Seeds
  • Nuts

Athletes will also benefit from the following micronutrients:

• Calcium
  • Dairy
• Vitamin D
  • Egg yolk
  • Fortified milk
  • Yogurt
  • Cereals
  • Fruit juices
• Iron
  • Meat
  • Fish
  • Eggs
  • Lentils
  • Quinoa
  • Nuts and seeds
• Vitamin C
  • Oranges
  • Strawberries
  • Broccoli
  • Spinach
  • Tomatoes
• Electrolytes
  • Mixed...

October is Physical Therapy Month, so I would be remiss if I didn’t share how amazing this profession really is. What also amazes me is that so many people don’t really know or understand what physical therapists actually do.

When people think of physical therapy, they often think of a person who had surgery going to rehabilitation or an athlete in rehabilitation trying to get back to their sport.

PHYSICAL THERAPY IS SO MUCH MORE THAN REHAB AND SPORTS!

Yes, I am shouting aloud – not in anger or hostility – but in a loving fun and kind way because I admit that my profession does a poor job of teaching people about what we do

I want to change that.

Did you know that physical therapists like myself are back and neck specialists?

• I know how to use 5 different levels of mobilizations to move the joints of the spine - this sometimes creates a “pop” and sometimes it doesn’t; although the “pop” sounds like something cool just happened,...