You can’t ignore a critical component of the puzzle and expect to complete it.
“‘ We don’t have time for Strength & Conditioning.’
Huh? How?
S&C is what holds the keys to your work capacity, physical resilience, & ceiling.
It’s the pre-requisite to your potential.
Without it, you’re physically not capable of becoming the best you can be.
Make time.”
-Ray Zingler on X
On one end of the spectrum, I get it.
With this generation of parents, strength & conditioning was still in it’s infancy “back in their day”.
Of course, fitness and training or what have you was around, but the art and science of strength & conditioning related to athletic performance enhancement was still having its surface (barely) scratched.
So I get (yet heavily disagree) why one wouldn’t take the time to get up with the times and start prioritizing the ever so important construct of athletic and really overall “life” performance.
In the coming years as the next generation of parents get to the helm there will be an increase in S&C strictly from an awareness/understanding of importance perspective. Negligence will still exist, obviously, but there won’t be any lack of information or not knowing any better.
On the other side of spectrum here is what I don’t get.
Back in the current parents day, we were riding bikes, having fun outside, playing multiple sports, having off-seasons, ya know, “being a kid”.
This makes it a bit troubling for me to wrap my head around why we would be so resistant to S&C and building quality, lifelong fitness/health related habits, but so quick to adopt the pressurizing and politicizing of youth sports.
“Take the time to generally prepare for the specific demands of sports to improve output potential and resistance to injury. Have fun, build confidence, and sustainable life altering habits in the process!” “No! We don’t have time!”
“Sell out to the overspecialization of a single sport because some guy being paid to steer you that way says so and everybody else is doing it. Apply unnecessary pressure and then manipulate the environments with politics (leading towards a mass exodus of youth sport by age 13).” “Uhh, yeah, that sounds like a fine idea!”
I wish I was wrong. I wish it was my misguided “opinion”. But you can’t argue data.
The fact of the matter is that not only do our kids need S&C right now, they will need it for MULTIPLE DECADES post the short cleat and jersey sports phase.
Start prioritizing the critical concept that has profound positive implications on sport right now, but more importantly on their lives for the remainder of their days.
