Today’s Young Athlete is Tomorrow’s Hall of Famer
I gotta give IYCA founder Brian Grasso a lot of credit. Brian and a growing number of fitness trainers around the world not only recognize the business potential the youth fitness market offers, but they actually enjoy working with a room/field/court/gym full of kids.
Some would say I’m missing the boat, but I know exactly where my strengths are. I have no problem admitting I don’t have much interest (or patience) needed to work with large groups of kids. It’s challenging enough working with some adult’s limited attention spans (thanks for ruining a generation, MTV. Now would you please bring back Headbanger’s Ball, already?)
Trickle-Down Effect
As far as I’m concerned – especially when it comes to kids and weight issues – I’d rather work directly with the parents. They will (or at least they should) leave a much deeper impression on their own children than I ever can. More often than not, overweight kids have parents who are inactive. By guiding parents to become better role-models through their own actions, the whole family reaps the benefit.
Planting the Seed for Athletic Success
One of my gym buddies from the mid-’90s when I trained at the legendary Quads Gym recently wrote a book (inspired by her own children) to help parents create the MINDSET of a champion at an early age. Having dreams. Setting goals. Tracking achievements. It’s a great bed-time read. If you’re looking for a holiday gift idea for the future hall-of-famer in your life, grab your credit card and hurry yourself over to order Athlete’s Dreams by Brenda Clevidence (tell her Big Joe sent ya’ and she may even sign your copy)
I always wanted to be mentioned in the liner-notes of an Iron Maiden album, but if you read the fine print at the beginning of this book, you’ll see my name in the “special thanks goes to” section. Bruce Dickinson. Brenda Clevidence. What’s the difference? My name is in print. Big things are going to happen to me now.
Eureka! New Unit of Energy Described
If you’re anything like me, you respect and admire the science geeks who brought us the Watt, Joule, BTU and Calorie, but as far as units of energy go, those are all like, so 1860s – ya’ know?
Funny how I was just thinking the other day, “Joe” (as I said to myself) “it’s high time we have a new way to describe energy.”
And whaddya know, as I was working out in my near freezing garage this afternoon, I discovered it.
Being the humble kind of guy that I am, I’m naming it the Jcal (that’s short for ‘Joe calorie’ in case you’re wondering. Capital J should go without saying)
I certainly don’t want to make you feel insignificant by tossing around any hard-to-understand scientific mumbo-jumbo or mathematical formulas, so the simple explanation of a Jcal is that it is the amount of squatting it takes to raise the temperature of my garage gym from 34 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Take that, James Prescott Joule!
How do you measure the intensity of YOUR workouts?
Weight Loss Magic
Losing weight isn’t rocket science – it just takes a half-way decent plan and some sustained effort – but people still go to great lengths to find a short cut; and I’ve heard some real doozies.
Here are some of my favorite ‘quick fixes’ to guarantee you WON’T lose a pound.
- Sitting on your butt complaining that you can’t lose weight
- Rabbit’s foot keychains
- Magic crystals (one of my early clients really had a pocketful of “weight loss crystals” spill on the floor during a workout. It takes a lot to shock me these days.)
- Denying the existence of certain food groups
- Voodoo dolls
- Amulets, talismans and lucky coins
- Ojibwa nation dreamcatchers
- Praying the rosary
- Chicken foot charms
- Talking about losing weight
- Thinking about losing weight
Before I Was Famous…
Many years before I lived in Grand Rapids, MI – or Delaware – or even England…
A lifetime before I began blogging at “the cup”
Before I laid the groundwork for This Workout Doesn’t Suck
Before writing the Ultimate Home Gym Guide
Before I was a member of the advisory board for Men’s Fitness magazine
Before I became a contributing author to “The Power of Champions”
Before I was “the official fitness trainer for Miss Delaware USA” (2003-04)
Long before anyone ever uttered the words “fitness expert” before my name…
I was a powerlifter
…and life was good
(even if I did finish second)
"Mighty" Joe Stankowski
