Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wassup Strong Beach? I hope you are finding a way to make the best of this rainy season! I would like to wish you all Season Greetings, Happy Holidays, and a Merry Christmas--this is the last column before Christmas! I’d like to thank everyone that came out to my first book signing at Borders Bookstore this weekend to make it a huge success! Thanks for the love—they said I had a greater turn out than any signing they have hosted. This impressed them because I was considered to be “unknown” and self published!
There have been some technical difficulties with our video blog but stay tuned--we have a fun one coming soon featuring one of Long Beach’s finest, Samie Parker.
Today I want to focus on a single question. It comes from a father that has the same question/concern that I hear from many parents. I hope you find this entry a worthwhile read.
Hello Doc,
I have a 13-year-old son who really wants to start lifting weights. I am concerned about [this] stunting his growth. He is about 120 lbs and 5’8”, and wears a size 13 sneaker. Is this a legitimate concern? Am I being overprotective? Many of his friends are already working out. What should I do?
David D.
Thanks for your question David D! I am planning to do a video blog on it. This is a loaded question because it could go either way. I will not make the decision for you, but I will give you some information that will make it easier for you to decide . . . or maybe it will complicate things more for you, who knows?
Typically, we jump into lifting weights for the wrong reasons. Our intent is what can get us in trouble. It isn’t about injury prevention or even simply getting stronger. Most kids start early to gain an advantage on their opponent. We want our kid to get a head start on the others or to keep from falling behind those who have already begun lifting. We try to “keep up with the Joneses.”
This is NOT the recommended motivation. I have been in this industry long enough now to see a child athlete move from high school onto professional athletics. I can tell you with clear certainty that there is really no true trend. I see no pattern that would favor either decision. I have successful professionals in my office as we speak, who never touched a weight until they got to college! Torri Edwards and Carmelita Jeter, both patients of mine, are in the record books as two of the fastest women of all time. Torri did not touch a weight until getting to USC. Carmelita, who is literally the fastest woman alive right now, just told me that she started lifting at the age of 15.
Maybe there’s a more consistent pattern with boys? I was blown away to hear that one of my Olympic sprinters, Leroy Dixon, didn’t lift weights until after college. He said he started at 24, as soon as he moved to LA to train professionally! On the other hand, NFL football players Marcedes Lewis and Samie Parker both started lifting at the age of 14.
Here are a few other clients that participated in this survey and the ages they began weight lifting:
Natasha Hastings - 13
Shana Woods - 15
Jazmine Rhodes - 17
Brianna Glenn - 18
Mikele Barber - 18
Me’Lisa Barber - 18
Andrea Bliss (Jamaica) - 15
Rhonda Watkins (Trinidad) - 15
Crystal Irving - 14
Donovan Warren - 13
Nicole Leach - 18
Isaiah Green - 16
April Phillips - 14
Teddy Venel (France) - 18
Shawn Crawford - 15
Taja Edwards - 12
Akawkaw Ndipagbor - 16
Felix Sanchez (Dominican Repub.) - 18
Tyrone Edgar (Great Britain) - 17
Davon Jefferson - 16
Raphael Asafo-Agyei – 11 . . . he is 6’4”
DeSean Jackson - 14
Google them! They all have interesting stories and are a pretty big deal in their prospective sports. It might blow your mind when you look them up!
One of my athletes, Akawkaw Ndipagbor, won the California State Championship in the girls 400m as a freshman. Do you know she didn’t start lifting weights until two seasons later? Another one of my athletes, Turquoise Thompson, won the California State title from Akawkaw the very next year. Do you know that she didn’t lift weights until the following year as a freshman at UCLA? That year she became the PAC-10 Champion in the women’s 400m hurdles! Trust me, it was way too early for weight training to have paid off at that point.
I look at the patterns and conclude that weights are not necessarily part of the equation for success in youth athletics. The other patterns observed are that the majority of athletes either start weight lifting during their freshman year in high school or freshman year in college. I haven’t discovered any trends in my office as far as injuries to those that have lifted and those that have not. I really find it to be a preference. I see kids that start early because they want to start early. I see kids who are forced to start early because their parents are “pushing them to excellence and athletic scholarships.”
If you want my personal opinion, I say don’t force them to lift if they do not want to. When forced, they are less likely to take pride in their technique and posture. When this happens, they risk a greater chance of injury in the weight room.
If they do, in fact want to lift, let them lift. Let them ease into it slowly. Maybe start out with simple calisthenics. Let them get used to handling their own body weight first. Then get them a trainer. For best results, make sure you choose a trainer that works with the youth population regularly, just as you would choose a specialist for medical treatment. If you needed knee surgery, you wouldn’t just go to any orthopedic surgeon. You would go with the guy that spends 85% of his time working on knees (rather than elbows).
I have two guys that I recommend for youth personal training who I work with:
Preston Rawlings (ParPerformance.com) and Gregg Washington (FitnessImpactOnline.com). Give them a call. Tell them Doc Dossman sent you!
I think lifting will be a good confidence booster for your son. Going into high school at 120 pounds isn’t easy these days. Even if he doesn’t see great results, he will feel big and strong. He will look in the mirror and flex his muscles and feel proud. This is not a bad thing.
As far as your concern about its effect on his growth (epiphyseal) plates, there isn’t much to worry about unless he is doing super–heavy, weight-bearing stuff like squats and dead lifts. At 120 pounds, he will be limited by his own ability to do bodily harm. In other words, he can lift only so much weight at this point, so I wouldn’t worry about it stunting his growth.
In closing, if you take nothing away from this, or if you skimmed all the way down to the bottom because my answer was way too long, know this: I have seen no proof that starting weight training at an early age gives any long-term advantages to the student-athlete nor have I seen any proof that waiting until college puts them at a disadvantage. I know of no disaster stories of premature weight lifting either! The truth is, David, some kids are just more talented than other kids! Some coaches and parents push their student-athletes harder than others. Some kids want to do what their friends are doing!
I think intentions need to be checked and balanced when making this decision. When you do this, you will make the right decision. I hope this was helpful to you as well as many others that have had this question. I wanted to give it full attention and consideration in today’s column. Thanks again!
To visit Doc’s website, click here, and buy his book, What I’ve Learned From Your Kids. Email questions to Doc ataskdoc@docdossman.com.
What’s up Strong Beach? I just wanted to thank you for all the kind words and positive feedback. I really appreciate it! I would also like to invite you out to my book signing this weekend (December 18th; 5:30pm) at Borders Bookstore at the Pike in downtown Long Beach! I’d like to meet you, shake your hand, put some faces to the names I have given advice too, and kiss a few babies! Keep your eyes peeled for this week’s video blog. I promise it will be entertaining! Now, lets get to work!
Hello Dr. Dossman
I’m writing to you concerning my son. He plays JV basketball as a freshman. He is very talented! He complains about lower back pain all the time. I took him to visit a doctor of chiropractic who then told us that my son really needed to work on his flexibility. He mentioned something about his hamstrings and gluts locking up his back.
Well he stretches and stretches but he is always stiff as a board! I figure we need to do something more drastic. I was wondering if I should put him in yoga classes? Do you think that would be all right for a 15-year-old child?
Cindy
Hello Cindy,
Hamstring and glute tightness are very common problems with athletes complaining of lower back pain. Stretching is a good step in the right direction, but flexibility doesn’t come overnight. He might need six weeks of consistency to see any result. Stick with it! Also, make sure he is drinking about 32 ounces of water for every 50 pounds of his body weight. For even more information, be sure to check out my video blog on “Static Stretching” to make sure he is covering all bases.
What are my thoughts on Yoga for the youth? Why not? I encourage all athletes to give yoga a shot. It’ll not only help with is flexibility, it will help balance, coordination, and core development. Every athlete could use enhancement in those areas! So go ahead. Why not? Keep me posted on his progress!
Hi Doc!
I learn something new every time I read your column. Keep up the good work! I hope my question isn’t silly. I wanted to know if I could get muscle cramping from drinking too much Gatorade? Okay that is all. Congrats on your book signing this weekend! I know it will be awesome!
Raquel F.
Hi Raquel!
Thanks for the love and support! I hope to meet you in person at the book signing! Your question is not silly. Yes, I do believe that there are silly questions but this is not one of them. I hear this quite often.
The answer to your question is YES! Muscle cramping isn’t necessarily a result of electrolyte “depletion”. It is the result of an electrolyte “imbalance”. Therefore, you can have too much as well as too little. I give a rule of thumb to only drink the sports drink when you have visible evidence of electrolyte loss. This is evidenced by the appearance of sweat. If you are sweating, you are losing electrolytes. Replace them. If you are watching television or on the computer, drink water! Hope that’s simple enough. See you this weekend!
Hey Doc,
I noticed everyone’s mother is writing you. I hope its okay for me to ask you my question directly (athlete to doc). I’m just kidding. So anyways, I am 6’5”, 315 pounds. My left knee has been bothering me for over a year now. All that doctors do is tell me that I need to lose weight to take pressure off of my knees if I don’t want to end up in surgery. I am not getting any other help. I’ve tried ultrasound and cold laser and electrical stimulation and everything else without much success. Is losing weight really my best option? I am really not a bad looking 315. I don’t consider myself to be overweight. I’m a pretty solid dude. Any suggestions?
Devon H.
Wassup D!
That’s pretty funny! I do get a ton of mothers asking questions. I guess they care the most! Maybe they care more than the athlete? So YES, you are indeed a big guy. I’d like to think that if you are not obese or have some outrageously high body fat percentage, you should have large knees to accommodate such a large frame.
I encourage weight loss when the patient is overweight. If you are a solid 315, you might not be considered overweight at 6’5”. Make no mistake; if you lost weight, your body would notice the difference. All of your joints might appreciate a lighter load. I just don’t think it’s necessarily the answer in your case. My concern is the fact that you only complain of a single knee (and not both). Both knees carry 315 pounds everyday. Why pain in one knee? This tells me that you might have some sort of hip imbalance causing you to place more weight on a particular side of the body than the other.
I get runners coming in the office complaining about how their one knee hurts after a 10-mile jog. I ask them if the other knee went along for the run! Once I balance their hips, they seem to do so much better. I am willing to bet that you just need some pelvic balancing. I wonder if your lower back tightens up on the opposite side of your knee pain? I guess that’s all I can say with the information provided. Hope this helps!
---
Well that was pretty fun! I love this stuff! Of course I always wish I had more information. My perception of things is limited to the information you give me, so be careful when taking my recommendations over your own physician who actually examines you regularly. The more information you give me, the more I can help. It helps me to give you the best recommendations when you provide information like age, sex, date of injury, past injuries, and things of that nature. Well that is all we have time for today folks! Until next week, stay STRONG BEACH!!!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Posted: Monday, December 6, 2010 7:15 pm
Welcome to Ask Doc Dossman, a weekly column where you can ask Long Beach’s pre-eminent sports therapist…whatever you want! If you already forgot who Doc is, click here to read our introduction. To visit Doc’s website, click here, and buy his book, What I’ve Learned From Your Kids. Email questions to Doc ataskdoc@docdossman.com.
Editor’s Note: Doc is doing a book signing at the Borders at the Pike on Saturday December 18th at 5:30pm!
Hello Strong Beach! I hope your week has gotten off to a great start! I had a great time with family at the Belmont Shore Christmas parade this weekend. This year has gone by so fast! Let’s get started on a few questions before it’s 2011…
The second part of the “Pre Game Meal” nutrition video blog will be available on Thursday. This one will focus the cultural phenomenon, “Carb Loading!!!” Stay tuned. On with the business…
Hello Doc Dossman,
I was wondering if you had any suggestions for an herbal remedy that I could take in place of muscle relaxants? I hate the way they make me feel. This can’t be good. It’s effective in numbing the pain but I don’t like the feeling I get. Thanks in advance!
- Kathryn T.
Hi Kathryn!
I think you should alert your physician about your concerns before making any changes. As a natural supplement, I recommend a potato root extract called Valerian Root Extract. It works great! If you get a high quality product, you might find that it is just as strong and effective as prescription medication! It has an unpleasant odor but that is just about the only side effect you will find. It is pretty strong, so like your other medications, it is best that you don’t operate heavy machinery after taking it. Good luck!
Hi Doc!
I was hoping you could give me a few suggestions on how to get my son to drink the Gatorade that I bring home. He is always complaining about muscle cramps, yet he hates drinking it. He drinks plenty of water. I think he even tries to compensate by drinking even more water to replace the Gatorade. I don’t think it is working. Please help!
- Danica G.
Hello Danica,
I get this question quite a bit. I hear it at the office every day as well. I addressed an almost identical query in last week’s column. Rather than ignoring this very important question, I will instead refer you and all other interested readers to the WEEK NINE column. You will find your answer here. In addition, stay tuned for the upcoming video blog based on this very common question! It will be released in two weeks—hope this helps!
What’s Up Doc?
I wanted to congratulate you on the work you have been doing here! You have accomplished quite a bit in just a small time frame. Keep up the good work! I have a quick question. I read your piece on your trip to Philadelphia when you took care of Desean Jackson after the concussion. Good work, by the way! I just wonder how you are qualified as a sports therapist to help Mr. Jackson with a concussion?
- Jon K.
Good question Jon!
I am in no way qualified to treat a concussion. I was flown out to treat Mr. Jackson for the collateral and concurrent bodily effects of that big hit! You see, I also have a doctorate in Chiropractic. As a sports therapist I am qualified to employ my degrees and skill like tools in a tool belt which I use on an “as needed” basis. The hit Desean took was comparable to a car accident. As a Doctor of Chiropractic, I am best qualified to handle a case of whiplash. To answer your question: I wore my Chiropractor hat to Philly, so he was most definitely in well-qualified hands! Thanks for your question!
-----
Well that was pretty fun! I love this stuff! Of course I always wish I had more information. My perception of things is limited to the information you give me, so be careful when taking my recommendations over your own physician who actually examines you regularly. The more information you give me, the more I can help. It helps me to give you the best recommendations when you provide information like age, sex, date of injury, past injuries, and things of that nature. Well that is all we have time for today folks! Until next week, stay STRONG BEACH!!!
To visit Doc’s website, click here, and buy his book, What I’ve Learned From Your Kids. Email questions to Doc ataskdoc@docdossman.com.
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