Physical Education Philosophy

Introduction

Physical Education in the early childhood years can lead to positive feelings of self-worth and a lifetime of physical activity. Although there are many methods of teaching physical education, an excellent way to start is to integrate movement education with simple group games. At Athletic Republic of North Louisiana: Monroe and Shreveport (ARNLA) our program is created to provide an exciting, enriching, educational program that has a positive impact on children.

ARNLA Fundamental Movement Education Defined:

Fundamental Movement Education is a method of teaching physical education using a problem solving or question's approach. For example: "How many different ways can you move from one side of the room to the other"? At ARNLA we are presenting movement problems in a logical progression beginning with exploratory questions that encourage experimentation. These are followed with guided discovery challenges that lead to some degree of refinement. During the training sessions our coaches observes, evaluates and encourages the child or children through activities that promote the learning of a concept or concepts. As the training session progresses the coaches will attempt to challenge the child or children with a series of movement questions; for an example:

• Can you keep your feet together and jump up and down?
• While jumping up and down, can you move around the room?
• Can you jump around the room as quietly as possible?
• How lightly can you jump up and down?
• How tall can you stand while jumping up and down?

After observing the children, our coaches can further refine the questions.

Advantages of ARNLA
Fundamental Movement Education:

• It builds the foundation for more complex and specialized skills required by children throughout their lives to competently and confidently play different games, sports and recreational activities.
• Children are using another sense - their kinesthetic sense to help understand a concept.
• It's fun.
• The evaluation of what you are teaching is immediate and easily observable.
• You may discover children with special needs or talents.
• Children learn by watching each other.
• The group setting is small with ratio of 5 athletes to 1 coach.
  

Fundamental Movement Education addressed:

1.) Locomotion skills - running, jumping, dodging, skipping, hopping, bounding, sprinting
2.) Stability skills - (ABC's of athleticism) agility, balance, coordination, speed, change of direction, disassociation
3.) Manipulative/Object Control skills - ABC's of athletics) throw, kick, strike, catch, dribble, dodge
4.) Awareness - spatial awareness, kinesthetic awareness, body awareness, rules

Program Objectives:

• Make sure fundamental movement skills are mastered, skill acquisition makes up 90% of the program.
• Perform fundamental pre and post screen to monitor progress in skill development.
• Utilize games to capitalize on the first speed window by encouraging agility, quickness, and change in direction activities.
• Physical fitness should be 10% of the program and focus on body weight exercises for stability and overall mobility.
  
  Teaming up
  
  ARNLA and Jesus Good Shepherd Catholic School in Monroe, LA have partnered up to but the FUN back into P.E. Click HERE to see our "New Take On P.E".
  
  If you are a P.E. teacher or a Principal we would love to come to your school and implement our FUNdamental Challenge (video coming soon).
  
  For more info please call:

318. 869.1600 AR Shreveport

or

318.323.1613 AR Monroe

How to Get Perfect Legs

I'm writing this article to help both you men and you women alike get the nicest, most sculpted, tone legs you can imagine. If you follow the steps I include in this article, you will have sculpted, tone looking legs, male or female, in no time at all!

Instructions

1. The first step to get perfect legs is to do some form of sprinting 3 times a week. This will make a world of difference. The reason I recommend sprinting instead of plain old, easy cardio, is that it will burn even MORE fat off your legs while TONING MUSCLE at the same time. Normal steady-state cardio hardly tones muscle at all compared to sprinting.
   
   The sprinting work out I suggest you use for this step is called High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT for short). Let me tell you, people -- this work out is AMAZING! It hurts so much, but you will feel like you just injected mass loads of ecstasy when you are done. The reason why is that it releases SO many beneficial hormones and chemicals, including a bit of naturally produced dopamine! I am seriously chemically addicted to this work out and after your first time trying it, I GUARANTEE you will be too.
   
   So how do you do High Intensity Interval Training? It's simple, but it's hard.
   
   Start with a 5 minute walking warm up at a comfortable walking pace, yet a brisk one that will get your blood flowing. For me, I like walking at 5 miles per hour during my walking warm up. The speed you will want to use will vary from person to person depending on height and weight.
   
   After the 5 minute walking warm up, break into your first round. A round is composed of three minutes. The first minute you sprint as FAST as you can without slowing down for a full minute. You want this sprint to be a full blown all out sprint where you think if you were to even relent just a little, you'd be thrown off the treadmill. The treadmill has got to be fast enough you feel like your life is threatened if you slow down a bit. I know this sounds extreme, and I want you to play it safe, but this is one of the most extreme work outs out there. To give you an idea, I normally do my 1 minute sprints at just over 11 miles per hour. It's got to be tough!
   
   After the first 1 minute of the first round, go down to a light jog. You want to use this 2 minutes of time to recover as much as you can before you go into the next round and start sprinting again for another full minute. You don't want to walk here, but you don't want to run. Just a nice casual jog works.
   
   Do HIIT 2 or 3 times a week and this alone will start giving you those tone, sculpted legs you've always wanted.
   
2. Do leg work outs with weight! That's right, you too ladies. Don't think your legs will get all big and bulky like a man's would though. The female body is designed to look even more feminine with weight lifting, despite what some might think. The reason is that women don't have as much testosterone as men. Testosterone is what allows guys like myself to back on size when we lift weights. If you're a girl, you'll find your legs gain a much more feminine, sexy shape with leg work outs. Not to mention your butt while get more firm and shapely. All around, you WILL benefit from doing leg work outs whether you are a man or a woman. Plus, did I mention that working the legs increases your resting metabolic rate?
   
   Do the following routine twice a week and you'll see great improvements in the over all look of your legs.
   
   * 3 Sets of Barbell Dead Lifts (8-12 reps)
   * 3 Sets of Weighted Calf Raises (20 reps)
   * 3 Sets of Barbell Squats (8-12 reps)
   * 3 Sets of Alternating Dumbell Step Back Lunges (8-12 reps)
   * 3 Sets of Alternating Forward Dumbell Lunges (8-12 reps)
   * 2 Sets of 60 seconds of wall squats
   
   When doing the above work out, do all of them once before going through and doing the second and third steps. This will keep your muscles from adapting to the pattern. After a few weeks, mix up the order that you do them in for muscle confusion.
   
3. Do yoga once a week! I can not emphasize how important this single step is to developing strong, sexy legs. For anyone who has ever done yoga, you know how much it stretches and works on your legs. The stretching will also keep your muscle development in the legs from coming to a plateau. Yoga is a very critical part of developing sexy legs and if you really want a pair of two stunningly amazing legs that will make the jaws of members of the opposite sex drop, you have to do it!
   
   

by: Jared Bangerter

Goal Setting Tips

The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective goals:

• State each goal as a positive statement: Express your goals positively - 'Execute this technique well' is a much better goal than 'Don't make this stupid mistake.'
  
• Be precise: Set a precise goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you will know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
  
• Set priorities: When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
  
• Write goals down: This crystallizes them and gives them more force.
  
• Keep operational goals small: Keep the low-level goals you are working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
  
• Set performance goals, not outcome goals: You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can be quite dispiriting to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control! In business, these could be bad business environments or unexpected effects of government policy. In sport, these reasons could include poor judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck. If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals and draw satisfaction from them.
  
• set realistic goals: It is important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (employers, parents, media, society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions. Alternatively you may set goals that are too high, because you may not appreciate either the obstacles in the way or understand quite how much skill you need to develop to achieve a particular level of performance.
  

SMART Goals:

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants, SMART usually stands for:

• S Specific
• M Measurable
• A Attainable
• R Relevant
• T Time-bound
  

For example, instead of having "to sail around the world" as a goal, it is more powerful to say "To have completed my trip around the world by December 31, 2015." Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand!

Achieving Goals

When you have achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. Absorb the implications of the goal achievement, and observe the progress you have made towards other goals. If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately. All of this helps you build the self-confidence (build self-confidence here) you deserve!

With the experience of having achieved this goal, review the rest of your goal plans:

• If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goals harder.
• If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the next goals a little easier.
• If you learned something that would lead you to change other goals, do so.
• If you noticed a deficit in your skills despite achieving the goal, decide whether to set goals to fix this.
  
  Failing to meet goals does not matter much, just as long as you learn from this. Feed lessons learned back into your goal setting program.
  
  Remember too that your goals will change as time goes on. Adjust them regularly to reflect growth in your knowledge and experience, and, if goals do not hold any attraction any longer, then consider letting them go.
  

Key Points
Goal setting is an important method of:

• Deciding what is important for you to achieve in your life.
• Separating what is important from what is irrelevant, or a distraction.
• Motivating yourself.
• Building your self-confidence, based on successful achievement of goals.
  
  If you don't already set goals, do so, starting now. As you make this technique part of your life, you'll find your career accelerating, and you'll wonder how you did without it!
  

Increase your burning power

1. Become a Spice Girl. Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their hotness, lights a fire in your metabolism as well as on your tongue. Recent research indicates that eating one tablespoon of red or green chilies can give you a temporary metabolic spike of up to 23 percent! To increase your fat-burning potential, chop up some chilies and add them to a meal an hour before working out. Other great options include cayenne, white pepper, black pepper and jalapenos, according to Robyn L. Goldberg, a registered dietitian based in Los Angeles.

2. Always eat breakfast. According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, participants who did not eat breakfast and rev their metabolism early in the day gained two times more weight over time than those who did!

3. Skip the cosmo. A study at the University of California, Berkeley revealed that having just two alcoholic beverages could slow fat-burning by up to 73 percent! Your liver converts the alcohol into acetate and starts using that as fuel instead of your fat stores. Limit your imbibing for best fat-burning results.

4. Don't skimp on sleep. There is a direct link between metabolism and circadian rhythm - your daily pattern of activity versus rest - according to a new study from the University of California, Irvine. Findings suggest that maintaining a proper sleep pattern - between six and eight uninterrupted hours a day - and a clean, healthy diet play a key role in maintaining an elevated and healthy metabolism. Lack of rest and sleep disruption can lead to obesity-related illness and accelerated aging, so turn off the television and go to bed already!

-Lara McGlashan

Salt Shocker

Being active, you're always trying to eliminate sodium from your diet - you certainly don't want the side effects of high blood pressure, heart disease or potential weight gain that come with ingesting excess salt. To stay lean and healthy, your salt intake should be no more than one teaspoon per day (2,300 mg) - that's the upper limit advocated by various agencies, including the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
Sticking to this amount isn't too difficult if you're only eating fresh whole foods, but it's not easy to abolish processed, packaged fare from your diet. Even clean eaters can be lured in by hidden sources of salt, which account for 77 percent of the sodium in the average American's diet. While you do need some salt for basic bodily functions, you can unintentionally go over the limit if you eat too many of these sneaky sources of sodium:

SNEAKY SOURSES:
* 1 protein bar = 200mg
* 1 cup low-sodium chicken noodle soup = 140mg
* 2 slices whole weat bread = 480mg
* 1 cup cottage cheese = 918mg
* 4oz smoked salmon = 889mg
* 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce = 533mg
* 1/2 cup canned spinach = 345mg
* 5 asparagus spears from a can, drained = 258mg


Bonus tip: If you must have salt, choose sea salt, and add it to your meal after it's cooked. Its well-rounded flavor can help you use 1/3 less than table salt.

-Helen Vong

Question of the Week?

Q: I would love to be able to get up in the morning and work out, but I just don't seem to have the energy. Is there something that I could eat, some sort of vitamin I could take that would boost my energy?

A: I think the answer lies more in establishing a routine that works for you than in vitamins. Have a look at your sleep schedule. What time do you go to bed regularly? What time do you wake up every morning? Add two hours on to your wake-up time to figure out the best time for you to schedule in the gym. If that conflicts with work or family obligations, try out a new sleeping schedule, in order to get to bed early enough so that you get your eight hours of sleep.

And when your sleep schedule finally agrees with you, take your time at the gym. Fitness experts warn to start slowly in morning routines because your muscles are colder and it's easier to injure yourself this way. So make sure you warm up for at least 10 minutes, and do your exercises in order of growing intensity.

Another thing to consider is breakfast. Make sure you eat the proper kind of food. When you are preparing the first meal of the day think carbohydrates. If you don't it'll slow you down. Too much protein and fat may take too long for you to digest, so be careful. Your best bet is carbs for energy. A study from the Journal of Sports Science found that eating carbohydrates before, during and after exercise delays fatigue. Pour yourself a glass of orange juice, have a bowl of cereal and top it with some fruit. But relax and don't rush to the gym. You want your energy levels to be on an even keel. If it's fast to rise, it's fast to crash.

As for vitamins - vitamins provide nutrients, not so much energy. If you are looking for energy supplements, it's best to speak with your doctor. Some supplements aren't best for everybody and he or she would be the best person to suggest your healthiest options.

-Lisa Hannam

7 Ways For You to Be the Best That You Possibly Can Be

Are you satisfied with your life and who you are? Are you living your life to the fullest possible? In this hectic crazy world it is very easy to lose sight of what is important. Many people have lost their self esteem and self respect. With the economy creating havoc in many peoples lives is it any wonder things are the way they are. There are so many people unemployed, many have lost their homes and families as well. And after losing all they had, they may also end up losing their most precious possession - themselves.

For many it is easy to give up, after all it is tough losing everyone one cherished and 'loved'. I remember an expression I learned a long time ago, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". So I have to ask myself and you, are you tough? Do you have what it takes to tough it out? It is easy to give up and quit, but quitters never win. Do you want to be one of the quitters? I expect not, but life does throw us curves from time to time, the question really is how do we handle them? Here are seven suggestions for you to consider before you throw in the towel. Ponder these ideas and see how you can change and improve your life.

1. Do you know your purpose?

Everyone has a purpose, can you believe that, or do you see yourself as wandering through life with little or no direction. Are you hoping that things will work out, that you will find happiness, that prosperity will come knocking at your door? If you can find your life purpose you can turn around any situation ailing you at the moment. There are enough stories of people near the brink of total disaster or ruin who have found a purpose and turned it all around to become a success.

2. Do you know what your personal values are?

What is it that you value above all else? Do you know? Is it security, family, success, freedom, or just being happy? What is most important to you? If you do not know then how will you reconcile them to your purpose? Your purpose and values need to be aligned. Make a list of your values and compare it to your purpose.

3. Do you know what your needs are?

Have you been too busy taking care of everyone else that you have neglected yourself? Do you know what you need, or are you just satisfying everyone else. It is time to start taking care of yourself.

4. What are you passionate about?

Is there anything that you are passionate about. Find a bigger cause than yourself and get involved. There are many places where you can volunteer your time or services and by doing so you will get a better sense of self worth.

5. Are you living 100% on the outside instead of living from your heart?

Are you so busy looking outside that you have forgotten to go within? Perhaps you've heard the cliche, 'go within or go without'. Do you take any time to sit quietly and listen to what is going on inside? Or are you like a leaf floating in the breeze.

6. Do you honor your skills?

What is it that makes you who you are? And if you are not sure then ask those close to you, you might be surprised what you hear. By sharing what you know and are good at you will increase your sense of self worth and self confidence.

7. Have you ever put your needs on hold and served others?

We are all part of humanity, living on this planet as individuals, yet at the same time as a family. Have you ever given back to the family, or to the planet? By giving of yourself you become richer in ways you may never have thought possible. Try it and see for yourself.

So the bottom line is regardless of your circumstances, or situation there is always hope. There are countless ways you can improve yourself and those around you. You are a child of the universe, there is not another one exactly like you. Please find your purpose and light your light so we may all see.

Drink and Dieting - the Best Drinks for Dieters

When people diet they don't think carefully about what they drink - You need to! drinking and dieting go hand in hand. Eat the right foods and drink the wrong drinks and you will reduce your chances of losing weight. Let's look at the best drinks for dieters.
When people diet they don't think carefully about what they drink - You need to though.

Eating and drinking are closely linked eat the right foods and drink the wrong drinks and you will reduce your chances of losing weight.

What are the best things to drink when on a diet?

Here we will look at the best drinks to aid weight loss and the ones that can slow down, or make your diet ineffective.

Let's look at drink and dieting and start with the best drink of all first.

1. Water

Water pure and simple is the single best drink for losing weight and is the most important catalyst for weight loss in ANY diet. A dieter should drink at least eight glasses of water. Water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off.
It acts as a natural appetite suppressant by keeping your stomach full and fending off dehydration which can lead to hunger pangs.

Many times when you feel "hunger signals", they are actually "thirst signals", so before eating, drink a glass of water instead. Most importantly of all, water helps your body metabolizes stored fat by helping the kidneys flush out waste. When you don't drink enough water the liver which works to provide stored fat for energy also takes on the task of helping out the kidneys and thus becomes less effective at metabolizing fat. Drinking eight glasses of ice cold water a day burns about 62 calories because your body has to work to raise that waters temperature to body temperature - That amounts to about 430 calories per week.

2. Alcohol and soda

When dieting, don't drink to much alcohol or sodas that are high in sugar. They contain plenty of calories and also make you feel hungry. So moderation is the order of the day. Not all alcoholic drinks contain the same ingredients and have different affects on a diet. Pure spirits are one of the best type of drinks to consume while on a diet because they contain approx 100 calories and very little in way of carbohydrates.

Examples would be shots of vodka, rum, Bacardi, or gin - With no mixer added. If mixing these drinks when on a diet make sure you use diet tonic and diet cola's etc. Wine is ok in moderation and many people like a glass with their meal a typical glass of red or white is both low in carbohydrates and calories. Don't go for sweet wines though stay with dry as they are not so fattening. Beer is full of calories and really when dieting drink in moderation. Keep in mind that a pint of beer can contain a whopping 300 calories.

3. Coffee & Tea

Coffee is fat-free, but drinking it can be detrimental to diets why? - Because even though coffee in itself is fat-free, it is what can be added that hurts your diet. Low and fat free milk is fine, but avoid cream. Finally, go easy on the sugar, if you have a sweet tooth.
All you have to do is remember that without added sugar or cream, coffee does not contain any calories. Plain tea does not have any calories before you add your sweeteners and milk.

If you are looking for an option that does not contain caffeine, you may want to check out black or green tea. Many herbal teas possess a diuretic effect. When it comes to the drinking of iced tea, you need to check the label to make sure that it contains no sugar.

4. Green Tea

A favorite diet drink is green tea. The benefits of drinking green tea can be seen through the high concentration of antioxidants that can be found. Studies have also shown that the benefits of green tea for dieting are visible when drinking just one cup a day and weight loss is sped up.

5. Fruit Juices

When choosing a fruit juice while dieting, you should always look at the nutritional information found on the label. You need to make sure that the juice is made from real fruit and not the sugar-filled concentrates that are loaded with calories. Providing the juice is natural any fruit or vegetable juice can be incorporated in your diet.

6. Milk

Milk contains calories but if used correctly in a diet can help you lose weight. Make sure that you choose low or fat free varieties that contain far less calories One of the reasons that milk helps some to lose weight because it makes you feel full. It also aids in bone strength, as well as lowers blood pressure and provides a load of other nutrients our bodies need.

When dieting we all have to drink and the choices we make can have a big affect on how much weight we lose as you can from the above. By all means enjoy any drink even alcohol but do so in moderation

By Sacha Tarkovsky

What the heck are shin splints?

Shin splints is a term used to describe pain in the front of your lower leg, specifically across your tibia (or shin bone). This condition can be caused by running down hill, training in worn-out shoes, overtraining and playing sport with a lot of stop and starts such as tennis and basketball. Sometimes the pain fades away while exercising, but it usually returns the next day and can worsen when ignored. If you think you have shin splints:

• Treat them at home with RICE (Rest, ice, compression and elevation).
• Take a few weeks off from high-impact exercises such as running, jumping, kickboxing and the like.
• Invest in a pair of shock-absorbing insoles or orthotics to correct your gait if necessary.
• Stretch the lower leg both in the front (tibialis) and rear (gastrocnemius and soleus) every day.
• Engage in cross-training activities that are different than your primary form of exercise.

-Oxygen Magazine

What's for Breakfast?

If you haven't been a habitual breakfast eater, it may take some effort to make this meal a regular part of your day. Here are four tips to making your morning meal something you can swallow.

1.) Change Your Mindset


Eliminate your breakfast barriers. "People hear 'breakfast' and think that means time and planning and sitting down for a cooked meal. They don't have to do that," says Suzanne Steen, registered dietician, director of sports nutrition at the University of Washington and co-author of The Ultimate Sports Nutrition Handbook. "Get rid of all the excuses - not enough time, I'm not hungry, I'm on a diet or I'm afraid I'll feel hungrier all day. You need breakfast. Think of it as a small snack if you want, but eat something every morning."

2.) Habit Forming


While variety is a good thing, it may be easier to have the same thing to eat every morning. "Often people skip breakfast because thinking about what they're going to eat is stressful," says Susan M. Kleiner, PhD, registered dietician and author of Power Eating. By coming up with a healthy breakfast idea and eating the same thing every day, it eliminates the stress excuse. Don't feel you need to exercise your chef skills either. A simple meal of cereal, milk and fruit will meet your nutritional and energy needs with minimum fuss.

3.) Plan Ahead 

"Most people are squeezing out breakfast in the morning. They're not leaving enough time to sit down and eat," admits Suzanne Havala Hobbs, registered dietician and author of nine books including Being Vegetarian for Dummies. If that sounds like you, plan on taking something with you to work. "Even if it's a Ziploc bag with fruit and nuts, pack something to take with you to eat at the office." says Hobbs. "When you've got more control over what you're eating, you'll eat more nutritiously." Also, when you shop for groceries, remember to include healthy breakfast choices. Yogurt, prepackaged oatmeal, frozen waffles, energy bars and other simple choices should all be on your list.

4.) Retrain Your Body


If you're not used to eating breakfast, you may not feel hungry first thing in the morning. Ease into a breakfast routine and you'll start waking up with the desire for food. "Think about retraining your body and setting a breakfast clock," says Steen. "Stick to a routine as much as you can, just like you would with a workout. By training your body to know when to feel hungry, you'll end up helping yourself stick to a diet and facilitate weight loss."

On the Run?
Here are some fast and healthy breakfasts you can grab on the go:

1. Yogurt with granola
2. Sliced apple with peanut butter
3. Instant oatmeal mixed with a scoop of flavored protein powder
4. Bowl of fresh fruit salad and a slice of cheese
5. Smoothie made with soy or skim milk, a banana, ice cubes, frozen fruit, a scoop of protein powder and a tablespoon of wheat germ
6. Protein bar
7. High-fiber blueberry waffles with fresh berries on top Peanut butter and banana on whole-wheat toast -Whole-grain cereal with fruit and skim milk
8. Scrambled egg whites with cheese and veggies.

-Kelly James-Enger

Question of the Week?

Q: What can you do today to stop the cravings?

A: Try replacing sugary foods or refined-carbohydrate foods with higher-protein foods for a few days.

-Mens Health