Once the accountability stimulus ceases, we are left to our own discipline (or lack of it).
“Having played sports in younger years doesn’t guarantee you will remain active/healthy in older years.
In fact, just the opposite often happens.
Once the accountability stimulus (sport) ceases, you’re left with intrinsic discipline (or lack of it).
Teach them young.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
Sports are an amazing thing. I will advocate for our youth to participate in some sort of sport related activity until the cows come home.
Backyard, Rec, Travel, I don’t care. PLAY.
The benefits range from physical health benefits to mental health benefits and literally everywhere in between.
But here is what I also know:
As our kids get older and organized sports exit their lives, the health benefits that accompany sport also tend to leave.
This happens at every single level.
You’d think <insert Professional Athlete> would be guaranteed health for life because in his prime he was an amazing athlete and looked to be etched from stone.
But often, even at this level, this isn’t the case.
Once the organized workouts, practices, games, recovery, nutritionists, and etc. go by the way side and former athletes are left to their own vices, they have two things working against them.
Age & Money.
“Huh?”
As they get older that fat that used to naturally peel off of them regardless of what they ate or did tends to stick around. And now, they’ve got money and nobody is telling them how to eat, what to do, or how to use it? Lavish lifestyles, eating and drinking all the goodies on the menu, here we come.
Now funnel this down to your average kid playing sports in high school and then stopping as he heads to college to major in Kegerators 101.
You can clearly see why we have a painfully massive self-induced, controllable obesity epidmenic in America.
This is why I advocate so hard for teaching young children to positively associate with strength, health, and fitness from a very young age.
Obviously, it’s going to help them in softball and lacrosse right now.
But think of the bigger picture.
Think about them when they hang the bats and sticks up for good.
What are they going to?
Accidentally self-induce the discipline that was mandatory of them when they played sports?
Of course not. They’re going to be thankful they don’t have to do all that extra stuff anymore.
This is why it absolutely critical to tie the concept of voluntary struggle via training to their identities.
Sports only take care of it for a VERY short time.
Then it is on them.
