A quick thought on “but”
My 3rd grade teacher told us to never start a sentence with the word “but.” She followed it up by saying, “There are situations where you can, but you’re not ready for that yet.”
I have no idea why this memory has stayed with me, but for the next 15 years I religiously avoided starting a sentence with the word “but.”
No one ever taught us the situations where we could use it to start a sentence. So, I just avoided it at all cost.
It turns out, the main reason why people say you shouldn’t start a sentence with “but” is to avoid incomplete sentences or repetitively starting sentences with but. Like this example:
“In July we went to Six Flags. But it rained that day. But my mom said we could go again later. But by August, we didn’t have time. But I really wanted to go.”
It was a dumb blanket rule that was given without sufficient context. I blindly followed it for my entire academic career. But, sentences often flow more seamlessly when using the conjunction to start a sentence. I don’t organically say “therefore” or “however” in a regular conversation.
I think this applies to a lot of things in life. Society has a norm or an authority figure tells us something and we just roll with it.
I wish people would question things more often. I love when our athletes ask the rationale behind why we do something or what’s on their program. If I’m a true professional, I should always be able to give a reason for including something. Nothing should be purposeless.
If I ever say “because that’s the way we’ve always done it,” then fire me on the spot.
A deep dive on malleability
Athletic development isn’t just about creating D1 superstars.
I played D1 football. I had a good career. And, you know what? It didn’t make my life any better.
Was it cool? Yep. But, like anything else in life, the novelty wears off and reaching that goal isn’t going to make your kid eternally happy and satisfied with who they are.
The real reason I’m passionate about developing youth athletes isn’t just because I want them to play professional sports someday. Sure, I will 100% give them the best training in the world in order to make that dream come true if they want it.
But, the real reason why I care so dang much and lose so much sleep over the problems your athlete goes through is because these years are so important in shaping the way that the rest of their life plays out. It creates who they are physically and mentally.
The foundation that is laid during adolescence and pre-adolescence can serve as a cornerstone for a healthy happy life. Or it can set them behind if gone about the wrong way.
The malleability of a youthful human body is a cheat code that is not nearly appreciated enough or utilized optimally. When your athlete is young, they can shape their body more easily than they’ll ever be able to do in the future.
This applies to both the body’s software (nervous system) and hardware (muscles and bones).
- Software updates are easier
When your athlete is still growing and developing, their nervous system is still growing and developing.
Their neurons are able to reorganize, make new connections, make pathways more efficient, and constantly adapt.
The plasticity of the nervous system is through the roof. Their software can update easily and often.
As we age, that’s not so much the case. Can you learn new skills when you’re older? Yes, absolutely!
It just takes significantly more time, energy, and effort to instill those changes.
Our software doesn’t update as easily at it used to. Our motor programs are heavily entrenched and it takes some work to reorganize.
The motor programs that we download when we’re young can stick with us through life. They might get rusty and need refinement, but re-learning to do something is undoubtedly easier than learning to do something for the first time ever.
The more exposure your athlete has to a wide variety of skills, coordination patterns, and unique tasks, the more movement options they’ll have when they’re older.
Why does this matter?
The more coordinated and skillful a person is as they age, the less restricted they are.
Finding ways to stay active after their main sport is over can be challenging. If someone played football their whole life, they’re not going to be able to continue that recreationally. But, if they also have the basic skills required to play tennis, basketball, pickleball, or something else, they’re going to stay healthy and active more easily.
Furthermore, they’ll be able to play with their kids and grandkids as they age. They won’t have to say “Daddy can’t do that, you’ll have to play by yourself.”
2. Muscle memory is real
Humans don’t (normally) add muscle fibers when they grow muscle (hyperplasia). Instead, the muscle fibers that already exist get bigger (hypertrophy).
When those muscle fibers get bigger, they add more nuclei. Nuclei are the control center for the muscle. The nuclei decide how much muscle protein is generated.
When people stop lifting and detrain, those same muscle fibers get smaller (atrophy). Importantly, though, all of the nuclei remain.
That means when they start training again, there are way more nuclei present to trigger more muscle protein synthesis. More muscle protein being made results in muscles getting bigger, faster.
Regaining muscle is infinitely easier than it is to grow it in the first place.
Why does this matter?
Having more muscle mass as you’re older is independently correlated with living longer. This applies even you control for other metabolic factors, like cardiovascular disease risk factors and glucose dysregulation.
Having more muscle mass also means that you’re stronger and able to move more easily. It increases both your lifespan and your healthspan.
There is, without a doubt, going to be a point in your child’s life that their health is going to take a back seat.
When you’re in your late 20s through early 40s, you’re so busy building a career and a family that it is almost impossible to prioritize health.
If, however, you set them up with a base of great training and development when they’re younger, they’re able to regain that muscle much easier later on.
3. Bone density
After about 25-30 years old, your body stops increasing bone density.
After that age, all you can do is slow the rate of bone loss.
Bone responds to loading. If you stress a bone, it will remodel itself i that are to become stronger and resist that stressed area.
Strategic strength training is the ultimate method to increase bone density in your athlete’s youth.
Is all hope lost if you missed this window? Not exactly. You can still do a lot to slow the rate of bone loss. You’re just starting with a smaller deposit than you otherwise would. You’re essentially operating with a smaller budget and have to steward it wisely. The best way to slow the rate of bone loss? Strategic strength training.
Why does this matter?
Hip fractures are deadly when you’re older. It’s estimated that between 14% and 58% of elders who fracture their hip die within 1-year.
It’s not that the hip fracture directly kills them, but the second order effects that come along with it. When you fracture a hip, your physical activity drops to essentially zero. When you become sedentary, you lose your muscle mass, your metabolic profile worsens, your cardiovascular system weakens, and your respiratory system suffers.
Weak bones break. Strong bones (meaning bones with higher density) break less.
If you have family members who have had osteoporosis, this becomes even more important.
To not mince words, if your family has a history of osteoporosis and you are not getting your kid involved in strength training, you are placing their future at risk unnecessarily.
More from me…
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Thanks so much for your help in spreading the word about long-term athlete development!
Be >,
Zach
Dr. Zach Guiser, PT, DPT, CSCS