What's your workout?

[18IsTheMan]

Far too many parents, fathers especially, try and relive their youth sports through their kids. The parents I've seen who pushed the hardest and went deepest into kids sports were frustrated former athletes who weren't as good as they wanted to be and are trying to make up for their shortcoming in sports through their kids.

As small of a percentage of kids end up going pro (much less than 1% of kids who play youth baseball), there's an even smaller percentage of adults who had pro talent but only didn't make b/c their parents didn't put them in travel ball or whatever.

I'm a firm believer in the truth that if you have the talent, you have the talent. Again, if kids playing baseball with cardboard gloves and no shoes in the DR can make it, any regular kid from America can do it without all the extras.

 

[JohnnySolo]

Told my son 1 in 200 make MLB. That is 1 kid in all of the HS programs in the midlands. Actually I remember asking alexa in the kitchen and she said 1 in 200.
No coach or program is selling all dads on the hopes and dreams of lil Johnny. And not all dads are living vicariously through lil Johnny. But I agree there are some dads that fit that description. Especially the parents that "red shirt" their kid by holding them back in grammar school. Their word not mine.
I am going to provide all the hitting and pitching lessons my son wants or needs to be the best that he can regardless of his future. Those things weren't available when I was younger except for the batting cages at Celebration Station.

 

[Viennacock]

I would consider travel / tournaments on the weekends if my kids wanted this, but they don't. I know a lot of boys that either play baseball or tennis every weekend. Traveling several hours minimum. Most of them hate it. It's for the parents, not them.


Some of these tennis players want to play high school tennis. Their pros, academies, or parents won't allow them. The academies dictate when they play and where. Let kids be kids. Let kids take the lead on what they want to do. We have never told our kids no, because it's not what they wanted. We would have certainly said no to academies but would have been open to local travel / tournaments. My boys have always embraced rec ball, high school ball and legion. Fortunately, not much travel or $$.

I want t

Sure its insane when you compare it to sports of the 80's and 90's, but it is the norm now. I don't have to like it, but it is what it is. I just bought another bat for my son that plays HS baseball. Bats are anywhere from $350 - $450. Try telling your son who's been playing varsity baseball since 10th grade that you got his bat from Walmart. I'm sure I dumped loads of money at both my kids playing travel baseball for all those years, but we did enjoy some parts of it. We had good parents with us some of those years and some years we had terrible parents. That's life now. I wish my parents would have supported my sports journey as much as I support my kids.

We bought a used bat from a senior for my son. Some of those boys need to have a new one every year. They are just getting broken in. I did splurge and bought last years model for my son. It was $250 vs $400.

I agree that travel could be rewarding but when you have 3 kids playing multiple sports, it's nearly impossible without neglecting one or several. If you have one, maybe two kids playing, you can make it work. If all my boys played travel, I would rarely see them on the weekend.

 

[Viennacock]

Far too many parents, fathers especially, try and relive their youth sports through their kids. The parents I've seen who pushed the hardest and went deepest into kids sports were frustrated former athletes who weren't as good as they wanted to be and are trying to make up for their shortcoming in sports through their kids.

From my experience (and I have lots), the mother's are as bad or worse than the father's.

 

[Viennacock]

D1 isn't the end all be all. Juco and all other divisions give kids a chance to play baseball and get a degree. I'd say most kids that play 5A baseball in this state has the opportunity to play after HS.

There are several stories of MLB players that didn't hit their stride until after HS. I'll support my kids athletically until they decide it's time to stop.

I never want to look back and realize I didn't help my kids as much as I should or could have in their childhood dreams. Lord knows I wish my parents would have pushed a little more.

100%. JUCO is huge in baseball. D1 are not going the high school route as often. They are pulling from smaller D1 schools, JUCO's and division II. Why go after a high school kid when you can take a JUCO that has proven himself AND has four years left to play? The transfer portal and JUCO rules have been a game changer.

 

[Piscis]

Told my son 1 in 200 make MLB. That is 1 kid in all of the HS programs in the midlands. Actually I remember asking alexa in the kitchen and she said 1 in 200.
No coach or program is selling all dads on the hopes and dreams of lil Johnny. And not all dads are living vicariously through lil Johnny. But I agree there are some dads that fit that description. Especially the parents that "red shirt" their kid by holding them back in grammar school. Their word not mine.
I am going to provide all the hitting and pitching lessons my son wants or needs to be the best that he can regardless of his future. Those things weren't available when I was younger except for the batting cages at Celebration Station.

Definitely not all dads, but more than enough to keep the youth sports industry thriving. I've seen plenty of dads that held their kid back a year from starting kindergarten so they would have an advantage in sports. That is sick in my mind. Those kids think they are so much better than they are in sports when the reason they are better simply because they are a year older than the other kids. Sadly for those kids, that extra year fades away once puberty hits everyone else. Being a year older as a HS sophomore doesn't really grant any benefits in sports.

 

[Viennacock]

Definitely not all dads, but more than enough to keep the youth sports industry thriving. I've seen plenty of dads that held their kid back a year from starting kindergarten so they would have an advantage in sports. That is sick in my mind. Those kids think they are so much better than they are in sports when the reason they are better simply because they are a year older than the other kids. Sadly for those kids, that extra year fades away once puberty hits everyone else. Being a year older as a HS sophomore doesn't really grant any benefits in sports.

I held mine back. He was tiny and emotionally not ready for school. In addition, if he was born several days later, he would have naturally started school.a year later. Best move we ever made from an academic, maturity and athletic standpoint. If he wasn't held back, there is no way he would have received a baseball scholarship. He didn't start for his high school team until his junior year (which would have been his senior year). He had a very good year but didn't have interest from any schools. He blew up his senior year and buffed up. Lot's of smaller offers and several DI offers.

My wife and I wouldn't have done it for athletic reasons only but it was 100% the right move for our son. We didn't hold back our 2nd son. We didn't even consider holding him back. He was ready.

I hear what you are saying but there is benefit to holding a child back for specific kids. I have seen it backfire also. I have a friend that has a son that plays D1 baseball. He held him back in high school because the school in which he committed had another commit that was a grade older that played the same position. His father wanted to create another year gap. He held him back and the transfer portal kicked. Now he's third on the depth chart after spending a year (and a bunch of money) at a private school to be held back. Didn't work out as planned.

 

[Go Gamecocks]

I used to have a routine of doing 200 pushups a day and that's easy enough to do anywhere, but I fell out of that.

Not at one time...I presume!

 

[Go Gamecocks]

I'M 69 and a retired teacher/coach. I walk 5-7 miles a day and do100 pushups a day. I'd rather be running but some lower back issues won't allow it anymore. I want to add swimming this summer but I think the real issue for me is diet.

Can you ride a bike? That can be a fun addition.

 

[Uscg1984]

I’m tired and out of breath just reading this! Kudos to you! And I envy your elk hunting. . . packing out the meat can be brutal, especially in “walk-in only” areas.

Yeah, I don't have an ATV and can't compete with those who do, so it's all "walk-in only" for me.

 

[Legal_fowl]

• get up
• make coffee
• eat breakfast
• type snarky comments on message boards
• throw a frisbee for my dog
• eat lunch
• take a nap
• write more snarky comments
• watch TV
• eat dinner
• write more snarky comments
• take a shower
• go to bed

 

[Uscg1984]

• get up
• make coffee
• eat breakfast
• type snarky comments on message boards
• throw a frisbee for my dog
• eat lunch
• take a nap
• write more snarky comments
• watch TV
• eat dinner
• write more snarky comments
• take a shower
• go to bed

Finally, an honest Gamecock! lol. You know we can't see on the internet, right? Just go ahead and lie like the rest of us.

 

[Uscg1984]

I know this thread has drifted quite a ways from talking about our workouts, but I have enjoyed reading the comments about youth sports. I'm not going to tell somebody how to spend their money and I'm sure not going to tell them how to support their kids' dreams and activities, but when I think about youth sports, I always think about Michael Phelps.

By that, I mean, what if Michael Phelps had never been exposed to competitive swimming? I suspect for the vast majority of us, if we were one of the most naturally gifted swimmers in the world, we likely would have never known it. For most of us, swimming is something we do in the backyard pool, at the beach, or in the lake, where we likely would have never discovered we can swim faster than everyone else we know. By the third grade, we generally know who the fastest runners in school are and who is already excelling at basketball, football, soccer, etc. If Phelps had grown up like most kids, he might have dreamt of being a basketball player. And with his 6'4" frame and athleticism, there's a good chance he might have been pretty good at it. But he wasn't going to be the best that ever lived in that sport. Fortunately for him, he happened to grow up with particular circumstances that allowed him to discover the thing in the world he was better at than everyone else. Same for people like Eric Heiden, Lance Armstrong, Jack Nicklaus, etc. It's easy for a kid to grow up with no access to any of those sports. Or, what if Yo Yo Ma had grown up without access to musical instruments?

I don't have the answers for how to expose kids to every activity under the sun until you find the one they are great at, nor would I try to do that. But when you think about all the incredible talents out there, I do wonder if our focus on the sports we see on TV regularly creates an awfully narrow spectrum of aspirations for our kids. As for the advice to not let anyone talk you out of achieving your dreams, I would offer that if Michael Jordan had rigidly adhered to his childhood dreams, he would have ended up being . . . a minor league baseball player. Fortunately for him, circumstances or people persuaded him to focus on the sport at which he was best.

 

[Traildust57]

Define your goals first. Then figure your workout to achieve those goals.
Most overestimate what they can achieve in a month and underestimate what is achievable in a year.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Define your goals first. Then figure your workout to achieve those goals.
Most overestimate what they can achieve in a month and underestimate what is achievable in a year.

Not necessarily a fitness goal, but I am working to getting back to being able to bench 225.

And I mean like being able to do 1-2 reps at 225, lol.

 

[JohnnySolo]

Not necessarily a fitness goal, but I am working to getting back to being able to bench 225.

And I mean like being able to do 1-2 reps at 225, lol.

I’m 6’0 and weigh 170. I’ve been able to do 235 or so in my 30’s. My goal was to get back to that but my body won’t allow. That’s why at 49 I’m 1-3 times a week in gym and I do whatever doesn’t hurt.

 

[JohnnySolo]

Nm

 

[18IsTheMan]

I’m 6’0 and weigh 170. I’ve been able to do 235 or so in my 30’s. My goal was to get back to that but my body won’t allow. That’s why at 49 I’m 1-3 times a week in gym and I do whatever doesn’t hurt.

Yep, I'm about in the same boat. I'm 6"2' and 200ish and 47.. I could hit 235 for a few reps back when I was 35 or so. But there was an inverse relationship between the number of kids we had and the amount I could press, lol.

I don't know if I can get there, but if I can eke out a rep at 235 this year, I'll be happy. I know 235 will never be the routine weight.

 

[Traildust57]

In my opinion only, the bench press does not really carry over to a quality of life movement. A pushup is more suitable for that as it engages core and and more full body.

 

[JohnnySolo]

My goal was to get back to 225. I got to 205 and had another bout of pain. Realized I’d rather lift lighter and be relaxed. Arm and neck pain sucks. Thought working out my entire life was supposed to be good.

 

[Sandchigger]

With a full-time job 90 minutes from hom, a wife who works full time and 3 kids at home, my available time to work out has taken a nosedive in recent years. Where I used to be able to go 5 days a week for 90 minutes or more/day (easily 2 hours as a newlywed with no kids), it's become a struggle to make it just 3 days a week. Part of the issue is trying to hit every single muscle group plus do core and cardio. It's just not possible. When I try to do everything, it takes too long and I burn out b/c of the grind on the schedule and end up not going at all.

I've settled into a pretty decent routine of doing 3 miles on the treadmill, bench press, some type of curl, something for triceps and then some quick ab work. I'm able to knock this out in about an hour, which is about the max time I can get in with our family schedule and have been fairly consistent at getting there 3 days a week, sometimes 4. I'll probably mix it up at some point and substitute a back and shoulder lift for the biceps/triceps. The main thing is that the current regimen is sustainable. I can get the workout in after work without destroying the schedule for the rest of the evening.

I know it's not perfect, but I'm getting the legs some with cardio, upper body and arms and some core work. Will I ever be a physical specimen again? No. Long gone are the days of having a dedicated leg day, arm day, chest and back, shoulders etc. Just not close to feasible.

Curious what others on here do to get a workout in with a busy family/life schedule.

Just think about the extra time you would have to workout instead of posting 100 times per day