Here is why it’s more important to make the investment.
“Athletics have a ceiling.
The need for physical prowess doesn’t.
Assuming that S&C is only for sport performance is crazy.
S&C is critically important for the decades of (quality of) life beyond sport.
Make the investment for your kids.
It’s a gift that compounds forever.”
-Ray Zingler on X
If you’ve followed any of my work for any length of time, you might could guess that improving athletic performance intrigues me.
I read it, study it, implement it, and coach the principles of improving performance every day of my life.
While I most certainly don’t have all the answers, here is what I can tell you.
You CAN improve sports performance.
You can get stronger, you can get faster, you can become more agile, and you most definitely can improve sport skills.
But, I’ll also tell you, every individual has a ceiling because of their software, hardware, and their environment.
Again, we can raise that ceiling, not by trying to push it up, like most people in today’s world try to do, but by raising our floor.
The key to getting the most out of an athlete’s potential is to help them raise their floor as high as possible.
But recognize, Jimmy’s highest floor still may not be able to compete with Joe’s ceiling.
I think most understand this. Maybe not as in-depth as sports performance coaches, but it’s understood that 100 push-ups per night isn’t going to do for most of us, what it did for Bo Jackson.
As somebody who sells and fulfills strength & conditioning programs for athletes in-person and online, a common theme I hear from folks who don’t purchase our service is, “My kid doesn’t want to play in college, so we just can’t justify the cost.”
And while fundamentally, I understand what they are saying, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you look at the behavior and health of our people.
I’d argue that “not playing in college” is an even GREATER reason to invest in the concept of health and fitness.
Of course, it would help the kids to maximize and increase the safety of their youth sports careers, but dramatically more importantly, it would help lay the foundation and solidify habits that are critical to quality of life.
A life that will likely exceed the length of sports careers by 60+ years.
Ask yourself, what’s more important? A 5th sports lesson? Or investing in someone who will have direct positive implications on my child’s life 25 years from now?
It’s a no brainer.
