Is Your Kid Playing Too Many Video Games?

As some of you may know I am not just a coach but also a psychologist. I guess it is really pretty much the same thing as long as you focus on the future, which that is what I tend to do when I try to help people. I work with kids in schools and have my own kids as well. I just wanted to write briefly about what I feel is probably the biggest threat to your children and it is staring you in the face everyday. It's the computer and how much time they spend on it. Lately most kids have been online due to COVID-19 which is unavoidable. Their time on the internet is likely to increase even more post COVID because I believe schools will be quick to implement a hybrid style classroom once they realize they can save money, improve test scores, and reduce class sizes. This is coming in my opinion and really isn't a bad thing. But I digress,,,,the computer is a tool that can be used in many ways. However, if your son or daughter (usually son) is plaing video games excessively they are missing out on life. We all know this but I don't think it has been identified as the real threat that it is. Developmentally speaking, children have a window of opportunity to interact in-person, in real-time, and in varying environments in order to develop social skills and identify their strengths and weaknesses. When they spend the majority of their free time on a computer playing games they are missing that opportunity. They are not developing normally. You don't hear much about this because parents are busy usually and don't mind that their kids are occupied. However, once it becomes apparent that there is an entire generation that missed the boat on this area of development it will become a very big deal....but it will be too late. Monitoring your child's computer time is highly important. Get them involved in sports, music, art, something that is going to serve them later on in life. Just my 2 cents.

It's Been A While....

Almost eight years ago I stopped triathlon racing and coaching. I have to say I don't regret it. The coaching business has changed a lot since then from what I can tell. The smaller independent coaching businesses couldn't survive. It was kind of like the Walmartization of coaching triathlon. The bigger companies swallowed up most of the clients and a lot of the smaller guys died on the vine. However, I was ready for a change. I had grown tired of the constant training and hustling. I needed a break. Something had to give. So I decided to simplify my life. I had felt really like I was physically falling apart anyway due to the nature of the training I put myself through. Much like this article is geared towards...my article "Divorce by Triathlon" had touched on some of the downsides to the competitive triathlon lifestyle. I felt as though my efforts were not really getting me results and I was not using my time as wisely as I could have been when it came to training and family responsibilities. What I was putting in was not equalling what I was getting out...My heart wasn't in it any longer and I decided to let go of it all. I had always been athletic my entire life and I really felt burned out mentally and physically from the endurance sports world so I decided to slowly return to my roots. I didn't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, but I sure felt like doing it. I had difficulty getting motivated to do any athletic workouts. I had let go of weight training for years and focused pretty much totally on endurance sports. I felt like a ship lost at sea when it came to picking up some sort of training routine. I ultiimately decided that the only rule I would follow would be to have fun and enjoy doing whatever activity it was I decided to do. I also had less time due to my growing family so I needed to find activities I could complete in an hour or two at most. The days of the 6 hour long rides and brick workouts were over for me, and to tell you the truth I didn't miss them. I still enjoyed biking, swimming, running, weight training, and mountain biking, but not as a competitive sport. I decided to buy a fat bike because I simply wanted to mountain bike in the sand along the beach in Mexico. I started weight training again because I wanted to look good physically but only had an hour or two a day to do it. If I wanted to run I would run....If I wanted to swim one day I would do that. There was really no schedule, no pace goals, no power goals, no distance goals. The only rule was to enjoy whatever I was doing and to try to do it as often as possible without it getting in the way of my other daily life activities. Fastforward to today and I don't regret my change in behaviors. I have gained back pretty much most of the muscle mass I lost due to the excessive endurance training. I feel strong again. I look better, feel better, and feel stronger. I don't feel run down or exhausted. It wasn't easy making the change. I was really into the endurance sports and at first I struggled to find fun in my activities. I knew not doing anything really wasn't an option for me since I use training as an anxiety reducer and not just a healthy physical behavior. I see it as important mentally to exercise as it is physically. However, it gets tough when life gets in the way. If you are having fun doing triathlon, crossfit, or competitive cycling and it is working for you keep it up. I am all for that as well. I have been there and had a great amount of fun doing these sports and seeing how far I could push myself. However, if you feel you need a change or that your training isn't getting you the physical results you want then I wanted to let others know that quiting shouldn't be an option. Just change your activies to something you find more enjoyable and let go of the competitive side of it if you feel it is getting to be too much. You might find you can get the same or better results in a fraction of the time.