Youth Fitness Priorities

Posted on: November 29th, 2009 by IYCA 5 Comments

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Youth Fitness Stepping Stones

by Toby J. Brooks, PhD, ATC, CSCS, YCS-2, PES
Director of Research & Education – IYCA
Owner – www.nitrohype.com

Youth Fitness moving

I am in the midst of a huge move. My family and I are in the process of boxing up everything in our modest home, loading up a truck, and moving over 1000 miles west to Lubbock, Texas. I am excited by the possibilities and opportunities that await us there, but the whole process got me to thinking…

And when I get to thinking, like my wife says, watch out.

I am an expert packer. Eleven moves, six of them 400 miles or more, in 12 years will do that to you. I am also pretty tight fisted with money. That means I’d rather pay less for the smaller U-Haul. Not only is it cheaper, it gets better gas mileage- both of which save me cash.

I am known across my family as a master of using every square inch of rental truck space to cram all our stuff in the smallest cargo area possible. The secret to my technique is simple. Priorities.

I figure out where to put the big stuff first. Couch? Big. Table and chairs? Big. Refrigerator? Big. If you get that stuff loaded and secured, then you take the small boxes and fill in the space left all the way to the roof. Not only does everything fit, it is tight and won’t shift during transit. That makes for a better effort all the way around.

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Young Athletes: Flexibility versus Mobility

Posted on: October 29th, 2009 by IYCA 10 Comments

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Young Athletes Priorities

by Mike Robertson

What is the difference between Flexibility and Mobility?

I’ve always used the Bill Hartman definitions; they go something like this:

Mobility – Range of motion under specific circumstances (specific)

Flexibility – Range of motion about a joint (non-specific)

So mobility is specific to a certain movement – i.e. you need a certain amount of hip mobility to squat, lunge, etc.

In contrast, flexibility is non-specific – i.e. you lay someone on their back and stretch their hamstrings. This gives you an idea of their flexibility, but it’s not specific. Just because they have great hamstring length doesn’t mean they’ll be able to perform functional movements properly or without compensation.

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