This newsletter comes to you on Super Bowl Sunday. Today the best of the best will be playing each other. There will be player profiles, stories of courage, stories of fate, and stories about players that had no place being in the NFL. I could only stop and think about the young athletes we work with and their hopes and dreams. It is amazing the path the pro athlete travels to arrive in the pros. Everybody playing on the professional level deserves to be there. Most were born with abilities that are heads above their peers. Some are above average atletes with work and study habits that push them just far enough up the ladder to be professional. Average and below don’t make the big show. In youth sports there are three types of athletes, the one that does it because it’s what you do at that stage in life, the one that likes to play sports and tries everything, and the one that was born an athlete and it’s their calling. Sports teach teamwork, discipline, and life lessons about winning and losing, what to do when you win, and what to do when you lose. It breaks my heart to hear a child say they are playing sports only so they can get a scholarship. There is nothing wrong with playing sports, competition is healthy. The point of playing a sport is to dedicate yourself to learning the sport, make the sacrifices in time and sweat to become better, and finally reap the successes of your efforts. This formula works for everything. Don’t forget to have your young athlete study, there are more scholarships available for academics than athletics. Very few athletes make it to the Superbowl.

    With that all said, what we offer athletes is part of the equation of success, sacrifice in time and sweat to sharpen the tool of their body to perform at it’s best. Our weekend workouts have been attended heavily by  softball players, baseball players, tennis players, football players, and track athletes since the start of the year. Come check us out. There’s no time like the present to get started in raising your game.

Enjoy the Superbowl and have a good week.

    We are happy to have 18 participants signed up for our weightloss challenge. Many have gotten off to a good start. Sometimes it takes the support of others to help you achieve your goals. If you have tried in the past to lose weight on your own, but were unsuccessful, you might benefit from participating in the challenge. We’re here to help you achieve your goals. There is still plenty of time to get started. Contact us if you want to participate, or if  you just have questions.

    We like to acknowledge the achievements of our athletes and this week we would like to recognize Hunter Hermes. Hunter has worked with us over the past three years. He is a freshman at Central High School in Wisconsin. Hunter ran ross country in the fall and is getting ready for the tennis season this spring. We’re happy to say Hunter placed first in all stations for speed and agility testing for the tennis team. It’s nice to see the hard work in the offseason pay off. Congratulations Hunter!

Have a good week.

    Winter workouts are in full swing. We have some new faces in our weekend speed and agility sessions. It is nice to see new athletes starting out in  our speed and agility along side of those who have been coming. If you see the same people week in and week out, they don’t appear to be improving that well. But, when you  put our seasoned athletes next to the first timers you can see how advanced the veterans really are. We also realize how intimidating it might be for somebody just starting out. Please don’t be intimidated. Improvement comes with repetition. Good habits are reinforced with repetition and time and bad habits are broken over time. The only thing we can’t accelerate is time. The key is repetition over time. If you give us the time committment we will provide the repetition in a way that you will eliminate bad habits and replace them with good habits. Over time, the good habits become second nature. It is amazing to see this basic formula work over and over again. You can’t cheat the formula. If you don’t put in the time, you don’t get the results. Spend your time wisely, come workout with us. You will be amazed.

Have a good week. Hope to see you soon.

    It finally looks like winter in the Chicagoland area. We had a great kickoff to our weight losing program. 15 people have weieghed in and are starting their journey toward losing 7% of their bodyweight by May 16th. Good luck everybody! We’re here to help you if you want it. We are glad to announce we have been talking with Chef Jody Emer, Wellness Coach, to add her to our staff. Jody specializes in cooking specialty meals to meet health and performance goals. She is also a wellness coach and can assist you in meeting your health needs. You can contact her at thyme2shine.com, or call us and we can pass on her information. In March we will be providing a seminar for coaches of all sport on speed and agility and injury prevention. Stay tuned in for further information. It’s not too late to sign-up for the weightlosing program. Hope to be of service to you in the New Year.

The Staff at Kinetic Connections

    Happy New Year!

    It’s good to be back. We are in full motion for 2012. It was good to see all of our athletes this weekend. Our speed and conditioning session at Grass Lake School was packed this weekend.  Our young athletes are starting to understand the benefits of getting ahead of the game. We have been discussing choosing the best exercise program for yourself in 2012. We hope the information over the past month has been helpful. We will be starting a biggest loser style contest on January 11th. You can participate either as a team, or as an individual. The goal is to create a lifestyle change. It costs $50/person. The goal is to lose 7% your or your team’s total weight by May 16th. If you as an individual, or your team collectively loses 7% your weight, you get your entrance fee back. If you lose your weight and other individuals, or team members don’t, the gross total of the entrance fees will be divided up between the individuals and teams that achieved their goal. It costs $50/person to enter. Weigh in is at Colletti Physical Therapy and it starts 1/11/12. The final weigh-in is on 5/16/12. All participants have to weigh in on 5/16. You can start any time with your weigh-in on 1/11 or later. If you have any questions,call Larry Stone, 847-395-6100