Exercise and Adolescents, 5 Reasons Why It’s So Important
Most of us would agree that exercise is important, whether we put theory into practice or not is another story entirely. Physical activity has special importance and benefits for adolescents, not just for their physical well-being, but for their emotional state as well. Here are five scientific reasons why: 1. Exercise helps to release endorphins, aka the “happy chemicals” that the body produces naturally. While you may feel worn out after an exercise session, there is also a sense of accomplishment and a natural high that you get when you exert yourself
Field and Court Athlete Agility
Knee Injury Prevention So why am I getting hurt? Welcome back, nerds. This blog will focus on the agility field/court athletes with lateral movements that include (but are not limited to) soccer, football, rugby, field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse. These sports are specifically called out because they often have non-contact knee ligament tears that can occur due to either muscular imbalance, muscle fatigue leading to joint instability, or improper/lack of prehab. Muscle imbalance just means to strengthen all the muscles around a joint. SO don’t just focus on your quads - do
Pacific Ridge School Athletes Develop Community and Character
Developing Healthy Student-Athletes at Pacific Ridge School by Macaroni Kid Carlsbad According to non-profit Common Sense Media, teens consume an average of nine hours of entertainment media per day, with tweens averaging six hours. With that kind of online connectivity, it’s important for adolescents and teenagers to develop healthy physical, mental, social and emotional skills. School athletics can help build all of these, and the best environments are those in which students are supported by athletic and academic mentors, along with their peers. The athletic program at Carlsbad’s Pacific Ridge School is
The Phases of ACL Injury Recovery
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears are one of the most common knee injuries among the young athletic population, with the highest incidence affecting males and females ages 14-25. ACL injuries occur most in physically demanding sports, such as soccer, football, basketball, and lacrosse. The ACL has an important role in keeping the tibia (shin bone) from moving anterior or forward in relation to the femur (thigh bone). In other words, the ACL is an extremely important ligament that keeps the knee stabilized while doing anything athletic such as running, jumping,
X Games Preparation at NAKOA: A Look inside
Some of NAKOA’s top action sports athletes just wrapped up a bountiful trip to Minnesota, bringing back some serious hardware from another successful run at the Summer X Games. We wanted to give you a little glimpse into how our team prepares these athletes for one of the biggest events of the year. Our BMX SPARTANS @chadkerley Both Dennis Enarson and Chad Kerley are home-grown San Diego products and absolute LEGENDS in the BMX world. That status has only grown since they began training at NAKOA with Coach John Welch. Based on their
Importance of Proper Youth Training Protocols
Training the youth athlete effectively takes thought, adherence to science-based modalities, patience and always a bit of fun! With the proper type of programming, training youth athletes can produce measurable results rather quickly, while still maintaining a safe environment that leads to building a foundation of efficient movement skills for the future. Many of us have heard the theory that strength training for younger children can lead to stunted growth and ultimately hinder their sports performance capabilities in the future. While there are definitely some exercises and training protocols that have
NAKOA has innovative approach to train Pacific Ridge athletes
NAKOA coaches are working with Pacific Ridge athletes to incorporate strength, conditioning, speed and agility into the school's PE classes. CARLSBAD – In December, Carlsbad resident and Pacific Ridge School sophomore Kai Kelly was playing for his club lacrosse team when his hip suddenly tightened up during a game. "I could tell right away something wasn't right," he said. Kelly and his family turned to Carlsbad's NAKOA Fitness and Physical Therapy for help and he soon started an extensive rehab program for what turned out to be a labral tear in his hip. After 12 weeks of
Science + Perspective When Training Action Sports Athletes
I'm not a huge fan of terms like "skate specific work out" or "strength and conditioning for surfers." At the end of the day, action sports athletes require improvement of the same physical qualities that conventional athletes require. Qualities such as strength, power, flexibility, and energy system development. For example, a skateboarder may not need a 400-pound deadlift, but he can absolutely benefit from improvements in strength. It's not just his or her muscles that get stronger. The integrity of ligaments, tendons, and bone density improve. This means when high impact landings occur,
Common Kettlebell Workout Mistakes
The Kettlebell can be one of the best exercise tools available when done correctly and when done incorrectly the Kettlebell could be one the most hated exercise tools available. Like any exercise worth its weight or worth doing, doing Kettlebell exercises is a skill that needs to be practiced and honed in. Something that requires skill is not always something people like doing because of the “I feel like a fool” or “I just don’t understand this” effect on the ego. Regardless, the Kettlebell has been used for over 300 years for a reason, it
Top 4 Go-To Medicine Ball Exercises
Medicine Balls, the go-to tool for developing power for centuries!! If it was good enough for gladiators, why aren’t you using it; they are simple to use, great for getting out that stress and aggression, and your power development will be greatly improved! Safe for all ages and ability levels, this tool is a must-have in your training arsenal! At NAKOA we love to utilize numerous medicine ball exercises in our programs, whether it is for our youth camps, regular group classes, personal training clients or for our elite athletes. As
Beginner Keto Recipes
By now you’ve probably heard of the Keto Diet, a low carb diet that helps the body produce ketones in the liver to be used as energy. Ultimately, if this diet is properly maintained it should bring your body into a state of ketosis — where the body’s cells use fat for its energy source instead of sugars. Try out a few of these beginner Keto recipes and see if you notice the difference not just in your energy levels, but in your physical and mental health as well. Sautéed
The NAKOA Experience: FMS
Would we be allowed to jump in a car and drive along the freeway at 80 miles an hour without having obtained a driver’s license and/or understand the rules of the road? How about deciding to just start your Ph.D. with no Masters or bachelor’s degree? Dream on… So, how about loading a new client with a 200 lbs barbell compound exercise with no understanding of their current movement literacy? This type of coaching is not only unrealistic, it is dangerous. Insert -> NAKOA Experience <- here! Our NAKOA Experience is an hour-long introductory session