Belinda Cox (she/her), CSCS

"As adults, only 3 percent of Americans stay in shape by playing team sports, which means our reliance on structured, heavily coached scenarios hardly prepares kids for a future of physical activity that will demand that they be self motivating and workout alone." (Bill Sands) I have started to let many of my older high school athletes write their own strength training programs...I think it's time empower kids by teaching them how take care of their own fitness for the rest of their lives rather than to rely on someone else. If their capable of learning geometry, reading Shakespeare or go off to war they should be able to comprehend pushing vs pulling, squatting vs hinge, Aerobic vs Anaerobic, grinds vs ballistics, basic idea behind volume/intensity sets and reps like 5x5 8x3 20x1 etc. I know this doesn't go over well with many strength coaches' spreadsheets, but the reality is in the very near future, most of the kids i train are going to become ex-athletes. I would very much like them to walk away from sports training with the knowledge to keep their bodies strong and resilient for the rest of their lives... #LTAD