Hopefully you were able to attend the recent Second Annual IYCA International Summit in Louisville, Kentucky in person.  If not, then perhaps you were able to catch the live streaming video or the soon-to-be-released DVDs.  At any rate, just prior to my presentation, IYCA founder and CEO Brian Grasso introduced me to the attendees.  Now Brian is certainly a wordsmith, but something he mentioned really resonated with me and got me thinking.  It was the simple power of the offer.

Brian briefly told the audience about our chance encounter in May of 2006.  At the time, I was working as an athletic trainer and developing plans to launch an athletic development business near my hometown.  As an athletic trainer and strength & conditioning specialist, I had been well versed in injury prevention, orthopedic assessment, and strength training.  What I lacked was any type of business training.  I registered to attend the event because it was equal parts programming and business/finance topics.  Reading through the materials, I noticed that Brian Grasso, founder of the International Youth Conditioning Association, would be presenting on youth conditioning programs.  Having never heard of the IYCA, I did a bit of research.  And I liked what I found.

The IYCA was quite literally in its formative steps at that point. After hearing Brian’s presentation, I felt compelled to introduce myself. I was also relatively certain of two things. First, the IYCA mission and goals were on point and completely congruent with where I tended to fall philosophically. Second, as a new organization, the IYCA could probably use all the help it could get. In introducing myself, I told Brian that I would love the opportunity to become involved. Having been a member of other professional organizations, serving on committees, and regularly availing myself to such service activities, my perception was that the formative stage of the IYCA’s development would afford me a unique opportunity to get involved “ground floor” with an organization committed to making a difference in the world. And man, was I right.

Brian didn’t call me the next day. He didn’t even call me the next week. However, eventually, he did call. Over time, I have gradually been able to increase my involvement with the organization, and I can honestly point to that chance encounter and a simple offer to help as the one moment that precipitated it all.

Thankfully, the IYCA has grown tremendously during that time. We now enjoy membership from individuals from remarkably varied experience levels, skill sets, and geographic locales. What is more, becoming involved in the IYCA doesn’t require contact with just one person. While Brian maintains a level of contact with members that, for my money, is unprecedented for an organization of this size and importance, there are countless other ways to get involved as well.

In life, there are watchers and there are doers. The IYCA provides a unique opportunity to become actively involved in the youth conditioning and fitness movement, and it all starts with your simple offer to lend a hand.

Dr. Toby J. Brooks, PhD, ATC, CSCS, YCS-2, PES

Toby Brooks is Director of Research & Development for the IYCA. He is also currently an Assistant Professor in the Master of Athletic Training Program at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Lubbock, TX and is Co-Founder and Creative Director of NiTROhype Creative.

I have been searching for information about training kids for some time and, thankfully, I came across your group via StrengthCoach.com. I am not a trainer, but I coach a lot of team sports ages 5-11, coinciding with the ages of my own 4 kids.

I do find a lot of parental interest in training kids more effectively for general athleticism and fitness.  I have even thought of putting together some small classes, as I have a built-in clientele.  Would your Level 1 certification be enough for me to work with a few kids on a basic level.  Or, would I need more training or a general certification before starting with IYCA sponsored training.

I am very passionate about this topic, and I am thankful I have found someone who has blazed a trail in the direction I have been seeking.

Thank you,

Mike from Colorado

Hi Mike,

The Youth Fitness Specialist – Level 1 course material is most certainly for you.

General-based training certification do not cover pediatric specifics at all.  And if they do, it tends to be very limited information at best.

With the Level 1 material, you will be taken through a very comprehensive and detailed look at the science AND practicality of working with young people in sports and non-sport settings (ages 6 – 18).

We do not require educational pre-requisites of any kind because we have made every effort to ensure that the material covers as much information as is necessary for anyone to be comfortable working with young people safely and effectively.

Our current graduates include Physicians, Therapists, Professional Trainers, Parents and Youth Sport Coaches.

Thanks for the email… I hope this helps!

April 10, 2008 – According to multiple sources, including MSNBC and Newsweek, more than 1 million children hire a personal trainer every year in the United States.

The rate of youth obesity and the increased competitive nature of youth sports are cited as the major reasons for this relatively new phenomenon.

It is very critical for parents to understand that when hiring a Personal Trainer for their child’s physical fitness needs, they pay very close attention to the Trainers qualifications and experience related to working with this specific demographic.

The following is a checklist for parents to use when hiring a Personal Trainer for their child:

1. Ask about the Trainers schooling and continuing education
   A degree in Exercise Science or related allied health field is preferable.  Also, a certification as a Youth Fitness Specialist should be considered a primary requirement.  Many nationally-accredited certification organizations offer professional Trainers education and credentials in fitness or sport training, but only the Youth Fitness Specialist certification from the International Youth Conditioning Association offers a specialized education for Personal Trainers in the aspects of working with children and adolescents.
   

    

2. Ask about the Trainers experience working with children
   Most Personal Trainers have experience working with adult clients, but only Youth Fitness Specialists have vast experience and exposure working with children and adolescents for weight loss and sports performance needs.
   

    

3. Ask to watch the Trainer in action working with children
   Personal Trainers should be happy to have prospective parents view a training session in order to ascertain how well the Trainer relates to children and adolescents.

If you have questions about hiring a Personal Trainer for your child, contact John Smith – certified Youth Fitness Specialist – at 555.555.5555

May 4, 2008 – More than 20,000 high school female athletes suffer a serious sports related knee injury each year in the United States.

Female athletes are up to six times more likely to experience a knee injury than male athletes of the same age.

Long considered a contact-based injury in which colliding athletes undergo a knee trauma due to the impact, recent research has shown that has many as 70% of ACL injuries are actually non-contact related.

This means that the vast majority of ACL injuries in young athletes are due to strength deficiencies or improper jumping and landing mechanics.

Well-designed strength and conditioning programs have shown to be the number one preventative agent in reducing the incidents of ACL injuries in young athletes.

The International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA) is a sport training facility that works specifically with young athletes on strength and conditioning programs intended to reduce the risk of injuries incurred in sport as well as dramatically enhance the performance of on-field or on-court play.

The IYCA, which is housed in the Prairie Stone Sports and Wellness Center in Hoffman Estates, currently trains more than 200 local young athletes ranging from high school basketball and football players to young figure skaters and recreational athletes.

Serving Chicago young athletes for 5 years, IYCA trained athletes have experienced no ACL or other related knee injuries.  Injury rates among IYCA trained athletes are significantly lower than other young athletes in the greater Chicago area.
More than 50% of sport related injuries have been prevented by IYCA training programs.

For more information on the IYCA training center or its training programs for young athletes, please call visit www.IYCA.org

I have a question about the Youth Speed and Agility Cert. Before I start I just want to introduce myself- my name is Bill and I am a High School Physical Education Teacher and an NSCA Strength Coach. I train at a gym after school (ages 8- college level). I have been following the IYCA for about a year now and I’m very impressed with everything you’ve done. I’ve also just sent in my exam for YFS1.

Brian I am torn between getting Lee Taft’s Ground Breaking 2 DVD and the IYCA Youth Speed and Agility Specialist Certification. I’m not sure which one will best suit what I do. I really want to learn everything I possible can about speed and agility training. I also run camps in my community and need good advice on how to market my camp which I know your DVD offers. So really my question is will the Youth Speed and Agility cert give me all the information that Lee offers in his Ground Breaking 2 DVD. Thank you for your time. I hope to hear from you soon.

Thank You,
Bill

Hi Bill,

Great question and thank you for the email.

Lee Taft put a great deal of his work from ‘Groundbreaking’ into the Youth Speed & Agility Certification with the IYCA.  You will find a certain degree of overlapped material and content.

The true benefits of the IYCA certification are:

1) You earn a credential.  Since you already run speed camps in your area, this credential would mean a great deal in terms of credibility to your prospective customers.  Additionally, Lee and I also added a great deal of content to the certification on how we run speed camps ourselves.  Lee and I have a great knack from hosting very successful camps which tend to prove both profitable and even newsworthy in our respective communities.

2) Lee also added new content to our certification – information that does not appear in ‘Groundbreaking’.  That, combined with the fact that our certification also contains my techniques for teaching lateral and linear deceleration.

I hope I have helped in some way.

Thanks again for the email and be well!

My name is Brett and I’m a PTA, ATC, CSCS.  I recently purchased the Youth Fitness Specialist – Level 1 and currently going over it.  I work in a busy outpatient orthopedic physical therapy clinic and we will be moving to bigger space in June.  aprrox 10,000 square feet.  We are looking to develop a youth fitness program at our clinic and I had a few questions to see if you could help out.

1.  Do you have different levels within each age range? For example, do you stay with the same program with a 8 year old who is way ahead of the other 8 year olds or do you have to create another level for those kids that are mastering the activities?  Or does that age range always stay together regardless of skill mastery?  What do you use for a objective measurement to progress these kids to the next level?

2.  Do you have a business model on how much to charge for group sessions, i.e., do you charge more for  older kids vs the younger ones?  Do you give discounts if they pay up front for multiple training sessions?  Anything that you have will help in this area.

3.  Marketing strategies?  Talking to schools, parents or flyers?

4.  Would you have any interest in doing a seminar in California after our new clinic is set up in June?  If so, what  would we need to do to make this happen?

Thanks for you help

Brett

Hi Brett,

Thanks for the email.  My answers are numbered below:

1) Chronological age is one way of categorizing kids into a training system – and likely the easiest method.  But training age (how much experience the child has in formal training) as well as biological age (maturity level) or also key factors.  My suggestion is that if you see an advanced young athlete in a group, follow this criteria in order:

a) Provide them with progressions to the exercises you are offering that group
b) Advance them into an older group

2) The IYCA Business System is built upon a long-term, inclusive model.  In that, we advise that you create programs that are a minimal of 3-months in duration and charge a flat fee per month, allowing for ‘x’ number of sessions for that fee.  A varied time schedule per age group is helpful so that parents/families don’t have to be restricted to one specific time each day.  Our fees don’t change based on age – a flat fee, that applies to everyone.  For more information on the specifics of our system, I suggest that you become a Member of the IYCA and gain access to our entire Business System — www.IYCAMembers.com

3) Your best source of marketing is through an active network.  Referrals are incredibly powerful and 100% free.  In fact, in the several facilities I have run over the years, I have never spent one penny on marketing.  Our Athletic Revolution franchise is built upon the same principles.  Talk to the parents of your current young athletes and provide incentives for them to refer you new customersneighborsrs, teammates, etc).  Again, www.IYCAMembers.com would serve you well and provide an incredible insight on how we run our ‘250 List’ Network System.

My travel schedule will likely preclude me from doing a seminar with you in 2010.  Thank you so much for the inquiry, though!

Be well!

Quick, make ‘em sweat it all off!

by Dr. Kwame M. Brown

Brian and Pat asked me to review and write something on this article

Premature death is more likely in obese children
USAToday.com
2/11/10

To begin, I am sure that kids that spend their lives being obese from a young age will shorten their lifespan overall, and more importantly will decrease quality of life.  I am also sure that most people think that. 

However, I have some real problems with this study.  Sensational title, then when you read further….uhhh…

“Scientists could not determine how many years obesity may shorten lives because most of the participants were still alive, so the average life span of the group wasn’t known yet, he says.”

So, you are making the conclusion that people die early, when none of them have died!  This is the problem with some of our research and how prematurely we now report data. We are now predicting death before it happens. 

There are other reservation specific factors ranging from higher rates of alcoholism to greater unemployment that complicate matters when discussing obesity. 

Now we have a very fear based headline.  Why does this matter?  Because when humans let fear be the impetus for solving a problem, the thought process becomes immediately superficial and reactionary.  Promoting and fostering desire to play among kids is so obviously the answer, but this view requires a focus on enjoyment and a positive outlook.  Fear does not provide for this.  What happens from the fear perspective? 

-Programs that have kids running on treadmills until they drop
-Restrictive diets
-Programs targeting (and therefore isolating) obese children. 
-Diet pills for kids

Please don’t think that I am completely condemning this research, there is some valuable information especially in the write up article.  It’s just that we have to start thinking about implications, and being more careful about sensationalized headlines that belie what’s underneath. 

Much like with Reefer Madness (look it up), people are in such a hurry to get the truth out, they end up lying.  Instead of just acknowledging this huge health risk, and spending energy to do something about it, many just continue to name and rename a problem, hoping someone else will solve it.  

I would submit that it’s because most have no idea how to solve it.  Part of this is because we have literally set up our whole society to sit, and then watch the elite play.  Because we routinely eradicate spaces and opportunities for free play in childhood.   

Read the article.  What’s your take? 

My question is your certification is it more for training young athletes or can it also be used to help with Overweight/obese kids, or teens? I am currently a personal trainer and I really want to specialize in overweight youth because I see so much of it everyday at my job. I hope you can answer my question. – Michael

Hi Michael,

Great question!

The Youth Fitness Specialist – Level 1 certification is perfect for both athletic and non-athletic (overweight) populations.

We discuss, in great deal, the role of CNS development as it relates to exercise as well as our Developmental Fitness Model which chronicles how effective training programs are created AND coached (communicated) for young people through three separate age spectrums:

1) 6 – 9
2) 10 – 13
3) 14+

The IYCA Level 1 credentials teach professionals how to developmentally train the organism, not the ‘athlete’. Children, youths and teens require certain physical stimulus based on human growth and development, not performance markers.

In short…. Yes!! The Youth Fitness Specialist – Level 1 material is exactly what you are looking for.

Please feel free to visit this site for more information – http://iyca.org/fitspecialist1

Thanks for the email!

- Brian

Pardon the pun, but all my work with this vision training specialist has really served to open my eyes!

The eye itself has a primary goal of shaping incoming stimulus into something that can be used by the brain. Simple visual patterns can be detected and converted to useable neural signals more quickly than complex visual patterns, the difference in processing time being between 80 milliseconds for simple images versus 260 milliseconds for complex images.

Quite obviously, the difference in processing time affects reaction time, which in turn can drastically affect sport performance.

An example of this would be the relatively simple visual nature of a fastball versus the more complex visual image of a curve ball.

Many baseball players, including major leaguers, can hit a fastball better than a curve ball – and this reality is directly proportionate to the visual complexity difference between those two pitches.

Within the context of sport, vision can be defined as reactive (the eyes will tell the athlete what they see), or inhibitory (the athlete tells the eyes what to look for). Vision is also thought of as learned.

The later point is a significant issue with regards to this article – while of course much of visual ability has a hereditary component, a great deal of research has shown that their exists a strong learning component to vision as well.

In fact, vision training is not unlike strength training in many ways. While playing football will certainly increase your strength, adjunct and specific strength training will increase your strength even more and contribute to you becoming a better football player.

Vision training can be looked at in the same way – specified visual skills can be improved through isolating and training them separately.

This is especially rewarding when an athlete has reached a limiting developmental threshold – the point at which playing the sport will no longer lead to specified visual improvements.

Visual sport skills:

Acuity – defined as the sharpness of a visual image. Static acuity refers to the ability to see while stationary (as in golf).

Dynamic acuity refers to the ability to see while the athlete, or the perceived object, is moving. Tracking ability (i.e. ‘locating’ a fly ball) and reaction time (i.e. committing to swinging at a pitch) are both aided by good acuity.

Accommodation – defined as the ability to change focus rapidly from one point to another. This is crucial in ‘quick’ sports such as basketball, in which the athlete must be able to focus on the ball, teammates, opponents and the basket at the same time.

Central Field Awareness – defined as the ability see what is directly in front. This can also be likened to ‘fixation’ – a tennis player, for example, will shift focus from near to far within the central field and concurrently be able to fixate on the ball and subsequently, where they hit the ball.

Eye Tracking – defined as the ability to follow the path of the moving object. While tracking particularly fast objects (such as tennis serves and baseball pitches) the eye goes through an involuntary, jerky movement known as a saccade.

Eye-Hand-Foot Coordination – defined as the ability of the visual system to guide the motor system efficiently.

What was the Summit like for you?

The atmosphere?

The Speakers?

The content?

The fellowship with other IYCA Family Members worldwide?

What was it like for you?

Is the Summit different or the same as other fitness conferences you’ve been to?

Please… Take a moment to tell me below.

- Brian