No matter how you slice it, kids are not getting the same opportunities in the outdoors as they once did.  Game Cube, Wii, cell phones, and various other electronic gadgets occupy kids time more these days than ever in history.

My grandfather did not have any of these temptations.  To have fun, his entire world was outside unless he wanted to read, draw or write stories.  My Dad didn’t have many indoor opportunities at fun either.  His youth was spent riding bicycles, and wandering around in the woods near his house. 

Today, I have to literally regulate television time down to the minute with my kids and insist that the kids go outside and play.  I understand the importance of digging worms, catching snappers, sea cucumbers, making bird calls, building forts, playing tag, hide and seek and camping out in the back yard, but how many parents today realize the importance of an aimless romp through the local woods or the front yard football game?

When I look around, I see a TON of overweight kids with no sun tan.  I can only assume that these kids are not getting outside. 

I know that my kids are lucky to have the ability to go fishing any time they want or to have a father who can teach them these things.  Many or most kids do not have anyone to take them to learn about hunting or fishing.

In this rant, I am not suggesting that every kid have a mentor to teach them about hunting and fishing, I understand that that is a luxury for those who have it and it would be impossible (but nice) to give everyone a hunting or fishing experience. Rather, I would just like to see kids  (AND parents) make a distinct effort to urge kids to get outside.  I dont care if they hunt and fish, just get them outside to chase butterflies, catch bugs or look at cloud shapes.

Kids need to be outdoors not indoors.  Turn off the TV and insist that they head outside even if they have no plan or purpose while they are out there.  Inventing games, and even simply sitting bored outside is better, in my opinion, than playing Halo3.

 I would like to also PRAISE Bass Pro for the following event:

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:39 pm    Post subject: Great Idea Bass Pro is sponsoring a “Go Outdoors” event where they will take old life jackets on trade and even have a video game trade in for kids! Maybe they will have a Blackberry trade in for adults! This type of event is what we need MUCH more of in the outdoor industry. I am proud of Bass Pro and feel like this is an excellent project. The people on this board probably do not need to attend, but maybe you could urge someone else who doesn’t get outdoors as much as you to attend. News Release Sportsman’s Park Center 2500 East Kearney – Springfield, MO 65898 www.basspro.com ———————————————————————————————————— For Immediate Release Contact: Larry Whiteley (417) 873-5022 Katie Mitchell (417) 873-5618 KIDS (AND ADULTS) URGED TO ‘GO OUTDOORS’ IF THEY KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR THEM Springfield, Missouri—Many of us can remember a time when we actually went outdoors to play, or attended summer camp. We got bumped, scraped and bruised, stung, bit and sunburned. But, we learned about the outdoors—how to fish, pitch a tent, make a campfire, identify which plants (and snakes) are poisonous and count the stars at night. It was the real world. In today’s world, adults and kids of all ages spend countless hours in front of hand-held monitors or TV screens playing video games. They get caught in the artificial worlds of watching television shows, chatting on the Internet and text messaging. Bottom line, kids and adults are not getting enough time outdoors. During the National Go Outdoors Event going on at 46 Bass Pro Shops store locations from May 17th through May 26th, the company is offering kids and adults all kinds of ways to get off their couches and go enjoy the great outdoors. Events include a video game trade-in, outdoor skill demonstrations, and interactive booths and displays. “One of the most exciting and invigorating places to go this summer is just beyond your front door,” said Larry Whiteley, Bass Pro Shops Manager of Communications. “Bass Pro Shops is committed to helping adults and children across the nation put away their laptops, video games, PDAs and cell phones this summer and head outdoors. Whether it’s fishing, hiking through a local park, or simply laying on your lawn watching the stars at night, there are so many great things to do outdoors this summer.” Why is this important? Bass Pro Shops’ National Go Outdoors event is a way to give kids (and adults) the chance to learn about the outdoors and the reason why is simple. Kids need this chance to re-connect with the outdoors to learn valuable lessons —how to swim, how to camp, first aid, survival techniques, orienteering, conservation—but more importantly, to become good stewards of the land and its natural resources, to feel good about themselves and to improve their general health and well-being. Listed below are some supporting facts and figures: • Long-term health concerns among children are increasing. According to information from the US Fish and Wildlife Web site (www.fws.gov), Americans, kids especially, spend less time playing outdoors than any preceding generation. • Kids spend an average of 6.5 hours a day with television, computers and video games and are six times more likely to play a video game than ride a bike. • In fact, of all the major recreational activities in 2006, bicycling suffered the worst in declining participant numbers (down 13.3% from last year) according to an annual report by the National Sporting Goods Association. (“Sports Participation Series I and II”) • Stress, depression, obesity, and low self-esteem among children are on the rise. Why is going outside good? • According to information from the US Fish and Wildlife site, nature is good for your health. New research shows that children who feel connected to nature have better physical, mental, and emotional health. • Other various studies have shown that kids that engage in outdoor classrooms have improved grades and test scores. • These same studies show that kids involved in the outdoors are more motivated to learn and achieve. • Studies suggest that families that interact together outdoors create lasting bonds by making life-long memories. One incentive to get more kids to turn off computers and go outdoors is the Video Game Trade-In. For each video game kids and adults bring in Wednesday through Monday, May 21st through 26th, they will receive a 15% discount off the regular price of Bass Pro Shops branded items in fishing, water sports, tents, sleeping bags and footwear. These ‘gently-used’ video games will, in turn, be donated to local children’s hospitals via Get Well Gamers, a nonprofit organization. Those videos with a more mature theme will be donated to our military serving overseas. Videos turned in that are unusable due to condition will be recycled by an appropriate e-waste facility. Other exciting events being offered to entice kids and adults to go outdoors include canoe and kayak demonstrations, casting contests, rock climbing walls, GPS classes, outdoor skills workshops on boating safety, Dutch oven cooking, outdoor survival training and much, much more. (Events will vary per store. Please visit www.basspro.com/gooutdoors and select individual store location for events listing.) The Coast Guard Auxiliary and Stearns Safety Team will be on hand at most Bass Pro Shops store locations offering water safety courses and advice on how to properly fit life vests. You can even bring any old or non-fitting life jackets into your local Bass Pro Shops on Saturday and Sunday, May 17th and 18th, for recycling and receive an instant discount of $5 to $50 off the purchase of a new Stearns life jacket or SOSPENDERS® inflatable PFD. This year, commit to taking your kids outdoors. Bring in the old video games to Bass Pro Shops during the National Go Outdoors event, interact with your family in the great outdoors and make some memories to last a lifetime. You might even get the urge to go back to summer camp! About Bass Pro Shops A major catalog and Internet retailer, Bass Pro Shops, headquartered in Springfield, MO, currently has 49 retail locations across the United States and Canada. The stores attract some 100 million visitors a year. In addition, Bass Pro Shops also provides products and services for thousands of independent dealers world wide through its subsidiary company, American Rod & Gun. For more information regarding Bass Pro Shops store locations, products or special events, please visit www.basspro.com. Those interested in applying for positions at Bass Pro Shops can go online and click on Career Opportunities for more information.

Workout of the Day

Deck of Cards

Red Burpees

Black Pushups

Joker 10 pull ups

Finisher: 1 mile run as fast as you can

If you are planning on battling big tarpon or better yet, you are a guide who will hold them at the boat and get the hook out, physical condition is very important.  Poling a skiff all day into the wind is demanding but so is standing on a skiff all day.  Strengthen legs through squats, burpees and other exercises as well as maintaining flexibility in the hamstrings.  This will help you to make it through a day of tarpon fishing in the hot times of the year.

Here is my WOD. (Workout of the day)

“Hayden”Sledge Swings on tireBurpees

Tire Flip (5 foot tractor tire)

Sandbag shoulder  50 poundsDB Swings 35’sRope Climb  15 footX 5     1 min roundsStrive for maximum density or reps on each exercise.  Set the timer or Gymboss for 1 min rounds and go through the circuit 5 times.  This is a puker.

I picked up a book recently that made me really stop and think about many, many things in life.  The book is called “No Excuses” and it is written by Kyle Maynard, wrestling champion and champion of life. 

When someone looks at his picture, they see the all American boy.  Good looking and determined.  Anyone that walks onto a wrestling mat has to be determined, however the story of Kyle’s success is far more than simply working hard to achieve success.

Wrestling is a tough sport for everyone who tries it.  Dan Gable’s famous quote pretty much sums up the whole experience “Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy.”

I agree with Gable on this one from my own life as a wrestler, wrestling coach and wrestler’s father.  It is a tough sport that a few make look easy but don’t be fooled.  No successful wrestler ever does it with ease.  Wrestling is a sport where every ounce of hard work you put in is magnified under the microscope of competition.  However, it is not always the strongest, best technician, or most experienced who wins.  Wrestling success is built on all of those and something else that is a little more difficult to identify or define.  This unknown material is crucial for wrestling success and it is a mix of hard work, determination, never surrendering, and an unbelievable level of commitment to make yourself your best.

Kyle Maynard embodies all of these things at a level higher than most athletes who ever walk onto a wrestling mat.  You see, Kyle was born a congenital amputee who only had stumps for legs and did not even have the luxury of having elbows on his arms.  Yet, Kyle overcame his defects and learned how to make them his strengths.  His story is not one of a kid that the coach let roll around on the mat because he felt sorry for him, this is a kid who truly deserved everything he did.  He earned his spot on the team and he earned every victory.  Kyle never asked for anything or any sympathy from anyone and his story is one that will make you or whoever picks up this book rethink many, many things in your life.  I recommend it to everyone, especially athletes, parents, expecting parents, and entrepreneurs.

Read this book!

I have heard the term, “Urban Food Desert” but it was difficult to  imagine.

When I grew up in Tennessee, it was the country or rural areas that ate from the land, grew their own crops, killed a chicken before dinner or ate one of their own cattle.  We called these guys, “corn fed country boys” when we happened to meet one on the wrestling mat or on the football field.  It was tough to figure out, but they were simply stronger and bigger than we were.  A look back focuses in on the reason in crystal clarity.

These guys were, without knowing it, living a purely organic lifestyle, likely feeding themselves in 40/30/30 ratio or Zone friendly ratio of Protein/Carbs/Fat.  These guys also awoke before the sun and got in more lifting and exercise than most did all day.  No wonder they were stronger than we were!

Things sure have changed in many areas.

Now, the city dwellers are demanding organic foods more and more every day.  Free range meats and wild fish are not only the catch phrases in the stores, but also the right choice for people who want to take care of their body and get the proper nutrition.  It seems that some people of the cities have come full circle and are returning to or attempting to return to a diet and lifestyle of the “country farm boy”.

People now pay top dollar for organic foods and free range meats as well as employ trainers to teach them how to lift odd objects like sandbags in place of the shiny gym equipment that was once so popular.

Seems like the old “farm boy” had it right all along.

 Things aren’t so rosy back in the rural areas.

On a recent trip I discovered that the phenomenon of rural areas subsiding off the land is not exactly the case.  Of course, there are farmers who grow and eat their own organic meals and still there are real farm boys who will do more work in a morning before school than most will do at a weeks worth of $150 sessions.  But there are also those rural folks who do not work on the farm, but rather at a store, prison or other somewhat sedentary job. 

One would think that the availability of fresh vegetables, good home cookin’ and local meats would be at almost every corner, but something has changed in rural America.  The fruit and vegetable stands have been replaced with something else; fast food.

The further that we moved away from the big city, the worse the quality of fast food became.  Passing a Cracker Barrel in search of something more healthy proved to be a mistake as we did not find the local “meat and three” (one meat and 3 vegetables for $3.99) but watched as the restaurants turned into Hardees, Long John Silvers, and the ever present McDonalds.

Searching out a jar of peanut butter proved to be a difficult task and something with color was even harder.  Finally I did find a grocery and stocked up on things that were recently alive, like carrots, apples, green beans, broccoli, bananas, water, nuts, and berries.  I felt better right away.

I am not complaining…really I am not.  I know that someone with a particular diet may always find situations that the food they want may not be available.  This is when a choice is made…eat McDonalds or go hungry.  I went hungry. That was my choice, no complaints here.

I came away from the trip with a feeling that most people would not have gone to the trouble to find vegetables or fruit.  Most people, including the people who live in these Rural Food Deserts simply go for the easy meal most of the time. 

Hey, it is cheap, easy and fills you up.

I thought about how the dietary world has changed on the way home and found it interesting that it sure does seem that it has turned completely around.  The rural areas (once full of hard working farm boys) are getting fatter and the city folk (once considered fat, lazy and soft) are getting wise to the nutrition and demanding the simple food of the country boy.

 No complaints, just interesting. 

Sometimes I like to take a run to clear the pipes and clear the head.  Other types of exercise like HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), weight lifting, sprint training or just doing 220 burpees can certainly clear the head but a long or semi long run has other restorative qualities that I sometimes opt for.

Anytime that I can workout outdoors rather than indoors, I usually try to do it.  If it is too hot or too cold indoor workouts will suffice, however, an outdoor option is never far from my mind.

Indoor or gym workouts seem sterile to me.  The same tread mill, the same people, the same music…on and on.  No wonder 90% of gym memberships go unused.  I like to throw in a 5 mile or longer run to put myself in touch with my surroundings.  Sometimes that means that I want to run through the woods and not see anyone, listening only to the sounds of the area.  Other times, I want to run a familiar route and listen to music, real loud.  Other times, like today, I want to run through a metropolitan area to get a feel of what is going on.  I ran down to Duval Street in Key West with no music.  I could hear small parts of conversations and the language that people were speaking.  I heard almost no English…

I got a feel of the overall attitude, how tight the purse strings were, the amount of people in town and how many of these people were doing outdoor activities while they were here (like fishing),  I could tell that most of the tourists in town were European and not doing much fishing because their lilly white skin was not peeling like a Gumbo Limbo tree (aka Tourist Tree).

The run was restorative and made me think of how nice it is to be able to run anytime I want.  I have drastically cut down on the distance running but still keep myself in good enough condition that I could run a half marathon, 10K or simply knock out a 5 miler anytime I want. 

This has been an outstanding outlet for me and many of my fishing strategies and best thoughts on my life have come from a long run.  I have also found some of the best restaurants, activities and sights in a new area by running.

I have now run in almost every State in the US, even Alaska and Hawaii.  I take my shoes everywhere and have also logged miles in Cayman, Bahamas, Christmas Island, and many areas of Australia.  Running has shown me the sights from Downtown New York to the oppressive heat of a Las Vegas 112 degree summer day to The San Francisco Bay all the way across to the South Carolina Beaches. I  have shared life memories with my family as I ran through Disney World and met my Dad who rode the monorail with my little boys to meet me in multiple locations and support me on my way to a 3:13:00 marathon (that is what I remember, kids only recall the Dumbo ride and all the characters).  Running also almost got me in a HEAP of trouble in Honduras when I was confronted by a group of armed gunmen (still don’t know what that was all about).

While I write this I think of all the poor runners who spend their lives staring at a TV in some neon lit gym logging the miles and staying in shape only to segregate themselves from what is important in the World. 

Get out and enjoy the world, the people, the weather (good and bad), and see how many places you can log some miles.  Who knows, you may even find some fish!

Today, we poled into a well known basin and began poling.  My friend declared that he would make one cast and catch one tarpon.  Big talk.

 Well, as I poled through the basin, I found a small school of 100+ pound fish.  Sure enough, one 50 foot fly cast resulted in an eat right next to his foot.  You see, he knows what he is doing and he could not see the fish in the early light and he continued to strip until he could strip no more.  Good idea, because the fish devoured the fly at his feet. 

The fish took off and did not jump for 15 minutes.  Never have I poled so far after a fish that did not jump.  The fish took us past some old friends in another boat and it was fun to say hello.

So the good luck came to an end about the moment the fish ate the fly because, while it may seem cool to those who have never caught a tarpon, when a fish of 100 pounds decides to run 2 miles and only jump once is a tough fish to land.

The bad luck went even further when we caught up to the fish.  About the time we got within sight of the fly line, the fish wrapped us around a rock and broke the backing.

Crazy…

Todays workout:

12 burpees

24 pushups

36 squats

run 400 meters as fast as possible

repeat 4 times

When the wind blows like it is right now, 20-25 steady, guides go through so much in order to prepare for the next day.  After beating themselves up for days and weeks at a time, it is easy to loose a little of the excitement for fishing.  One thing that really tends to bring you down is a couple of weeks of steady, hard wind and the effect it has on your body.

Fishing everyday can be tough on a body but combine windy conditions and it can lay you up in bed with a bad back.  There are things that you can do to help to stay healthy.

1. Drink Loads of water.  Don’t drown yourself, but make sure that you are properly hydrated.  Research has proven that individuals that are properly hydrated are at less risk of back pain.

2. Loose the gut.  Cant do this one overnight, but having extra weight around the middle puts huge stress on the lower back.

3. Stop smoking.  One spinal surgeon that I fish with will not operate on a smoker.  Enough said.

4.  Strengthen the core.  Incorporate 10-12 minutes of core exercise into your routine daily.  You can exercise the core daily but you will want to vary the exercise.  I like Lying Hip Swings, Stability Ball crunches, weighted side bends, static leg lifts, wheel rollouts, planks, L sits, Russian twists and band resistance to exercise my core daily.

5. Barefoot is out.  Don’t fish barefoot.  You desperately need cushion under your feet to go 100 days in a row or more.  In fact, wear running shoes and get a Seashocks mat.  You cant get enough cushion when the wind blows hard.

Good luck in all this wind. 

Stay strong.

TR

I have been away from the computer for a week.  It has been pretty nice.

My kids were on spring break so we went to the Mountains of NC for a big change of pace.  I promised all my kids that we would see snow so I had plans of driving north until we found it.

We settled in the Maggie Valley area and visited the Cataloochee Ski area.

Both boys love the skateboard and are good athletes and my little girl is an aspiring gymnast with great balance.  Snow skiing or snowboarding was perfect for them.

Each one of them picked it up within one trip down the mountain and were each off to learn new tricks and become proficient by the end of the day.

Could I stay off a snowboard?  NO.

It goes with my personality to fore-go the lesson and head straight to the top so I figured I would maintain consistency.

Snowboarding was easier than I thought and by the end of the day, I could manage to not only stay out of other people’s way, but make it down the hill like I had been doing this for at least a day and a half.

Day two was much better for all of us and my wife put on the skis and went down the hill with the boys.

The whole experience was great.  I was able to watch the spark in my kids eyes as they learned something new and experienced something different than they ever had.

I also was extremely happy that I could keep up with them on such an important day.  This is something that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Fitness is important to me for so many reasons, but when you boil it right down, I remain fit, flexible and strong for these exact situations.  Real life opportunities to either participate or watch from the sidelines.  The hard work that I put in daily was paid back to me exponentially when I could snowboard with my boys or ski with my daughter for as long as they wanted. 

Fitness created lifetime memories for all of us by allowing me, a 39 year old man, to keep up with a bunch of kids with tireless energy all day and into the night.

Family memories are one thing, but what about a survival situation?  Can you lift your body weight up and over a bar, or the side of a boat?  How about in wet clothes?  How about running a full speed 100 yard dash?  Could you do it?  What if a bear was chasing you?

 Call me crazy, but I think about these things.  I train daily to be able to react in real world situation that either mean a beautiful family memory or a life or death situation.  To me, that is the importance of fitness.

So here is what I did today to stay fit:

Standing wheel rollouts

See saw press

Supermans

Knee Raises

do each for 1 minute, repeat entire sequence 3 times

Medicine ball slams X 10

Power Overs X 20

Lateral jumps X 30

Sledge Swings X 40

Heavy bag punches X 50

Repeat 5 times for time

Have an outstanding day!

This was sent to me and I thought I would share:

Anyway

People are unreasonable,

illogical, self centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you

of selfish, ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you’ll win

false friends and make true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

Honesty and kindness may

make you vulnerable.

Be honest and king anyway.

The good you do today

may well be forgotten tomorrow.

But do good anyway.

The biggest people with the

biggest ideas can get shot down

by the smallest people

with the smallest minds.

Think BIG anyway.

Give the world the best you got.

You may very well get kicked

in the teeth for it.

But give the World the best you got…anyway.

So here is how I gave my best today:

Murph

1 mile run

100 pull ups

200 pushups

300 squats

1 mile run

25:44 at 5:45 am.

Go give the world the best you have!

Anglers throughout the northern states are seeing the first green sprouts of grass coming through the snow, a flower here or there, or at least watching an icicle drip as the afternoon sun warms the air enough to turn solid into liquid.

These are all signs that you need to either get on an airplane and go catch a tarpon or at least get out your fly rod or spinning rod and practice up for the next opportunity.

 I find practicing my casting to be very relaxing and also alot of fun.  If I am in an area with a pond or a canal, I will anchor a hula hoop to the bottom and practice throwing to the target with different lures, or flies. 

One of my favorite ways to spend time with the kids is to practice my spin fishing.  I will set up a rod for each of us with a similar lure.  One person will go first and the others try to hit the ring made by the first persons lure.  It becomes a fun way to spend some time as we then compete to see who can land in the ring first. 

This can be a fun way to spend time with the kids or a blast when a few buddies get together after the barbecue.  Competition gets intense as casts get longer.

The end result is that everyone improves and becomes more comfortable with the rod in their hands. 

Give it a try.