Over a year ago, we started our first 6-9 year old program at Adrenaline Sports and Fitness.  Our program is called P.L.A.Y., which stands for Playful Lessons Aimed at Youth, and I am honored to be the coach for these wonderful children.  In our program we focus on coordination, object manipulation, body awareness, and balance through game based activities.  There are so many parents these days that want their children to start training at a young age.  I believe that our program is a great way for these young children to learn athletic movement patterns while still having fun.  Children at this age are just starting to figure out how to move their bodies and what works and what doesn’t work.  This is a time for them to move their bodies in ways they haven’t before.  They are having such a great time playing games and having fun that they don’t even realize they are sweating until the class is over.  This is one of my favorite classes to work with because they have the most energy and are so eager to learn new things.

Not only is it an amazing thing watching them grow each week, it has also greatly improved my coaching.  There is a huge difference in coaching high school athletes and 6-9 year old athletes.  When coaching such young athletes, one has to be able to change the program design on a dime.  They have such a short attention span, so if something is not going the way one planned, one has to be able to change it quickly and effectively.  It has made me such a versatile coach and has helped me with coaching all of our athletes.  For me the best part of coaching is that they are also teaching me new things each and every day!

This was a photo taken from last years extreme bootcamp group. Truly an experience and built great relationships with these guys.

I am still very new to the strength and conditioning field, but was lucky enough to have been brought on to the Adrenaline staff.  Compared to day one, I have grown and developed more than I could have ever imagined.  Lucky enough to have someone who facilitates such an amazing learning environment like Tony, my knowledge has vastly improved with training and coaching young athletes.  This knowledge is important to have, however he also taught me that training is not what it is all about here at Adrenaline.  In dealing with younger athletes, there needs to be a positive EXPERIENCE paired with the training.  This experience includes building relationships with each and every athlete.  When an athlete starts at Adrenaline, they become part of our family. In one day, I might play the role of brother, father, best friend, etc. This, along with making the training itself fun and constructive, all goes into the experience we create. It is this experience that separates us from other facilities, and why we have such a tight knit, tribe-like, relationship with the people we work with. For me, it’s about the relationships I build, the experience I create and, above all else, that we have fun. A positive experience means positive results! Stay active!