JV's blog
Emrah Klimenta of the Oakland Roots Sports Club recently spoke up about mental health in a postgame interview and in a written piece.
I want to share Emrah’s words and my reaction with you…
In professions where we serve the mental health of humans, it’s often the case that we provide support and then are never really sure of the kind of impact that we make.
We believe that it’s positive, valuable, and healing. And that belief is all we need.
As icing on the cake, it’s sometimes nice to hear directly from that human what they gain from our time together.
Thank you Emrah, for your words, the icing.
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Emrah’s words:
“I’m a big believer in the work that Lisa does. Not only for the mental side of your health or performance but it is always good to speak to someone who is a professional about certain problems you may have on or off the field.
Sometimes we don’t see certain things or think about certain situations in the same light the way Lisa might. Having her on the team I think can be very useful and beneficial for everyone.
You don’t even have to necessarily have any “problems” to speak to her. She’s great to just talk to and help you elevate your game on the mental side of things, which I believe will help you produce on the field.
She has definitely unlocked a different mental side of my game that I believe has helped me through situations that occur on the field. More so it has helped me off the field and how I approach life problems as well.”
Emrah Klimenta
Oakland Roots SC
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Here’s a video of the postgame interview with Emrah Klimenta
Give it a listen (2:20)
Bottom line:
I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but you do make an impact!!
What you do matters!!
Who you are matters!!
Keep up the good work!
We’re all in this together and I appreciate you!
Most importantly take care of yourself as you take care of others.
Written by: Lisa Bonta Sumii
Original Published date: Oct 18, 2022
Antonio Brown has a history of concussions which can lead to CTE. One symptom
of CTE is “erratic behavior.” Calling a “tantrum,” an “incident,” a meltdown shows a
lack of understanding and knowledge. Brown and other @NFLplayers are playing
undiagnosed. Living life with chronic headaches, changes in mood- including
depression and agitation, and not realizing these are all symptoms of CTE.
Junior Seau died of suicide after coping with CTE symptoms for most of his life. Some say Seau chose to shoot himself in the chest instead of his head so his brain could be studied. They did, he had CTE. Lived his whole life not knowing, but knew “something was wrong.”
Get educated before you judge
Regular screening, diagnosis, and growing awareness of CTE is essential! When brains are injured and it causes mental health challenges.
Written by: Lisa Bonta Sumii
Publish date: Jan 3, 2022
The Milwaukie Bucks just won the NBA championship because Giannis Antetokounmpo is committed to training with weights consistently. He is the most physically dominant player in the world because he has added 50lbs of muscle since being drafted into the NBA by the Bucks 8 years ago. This should serve as notice to all young athletes – TRAINING WILL HELP YOU REACH YOUR POTENTIAL.
There are many examples of athletes taking their skills to the next level after working with a professional strength coach or getting onto a team that prioritizes strength and conditioning. The biggest benefit to enhancing overall explosive strength, speed, conditioning and mobility is that it speeds up the athletic development process and limits chance at serious injury, regardless of age. The younger an athlete develops physically, the more chance they have to dominate their sport from then on. Logically this makes sense. Practically it is difficult for most athletes to focus on weight training during the early years. Why is this?
Most young athletes play multiple sports throughout a year. This is what most refer to as sufficient ‘cross training’ and majority of coaches and parents believe this to be a sufficient way to stay ‘injury free.’ Reality is that athletes who do not spend enough time recovering and training in the weight room will be more prone to injury regardless of how busy they are playing different sports. The body is weak when the body is weak, no matter how busy it is.
Young athletes, parents and coaches need to spend less time and money on travel teams, tournaments and gear and more time and money on TRAINING. Plain and simple, it is the most beneficial allotment of resources athletes between ages 12-18 years old can make. This is an investment which will pay back dividends in college scholarships and possibly even the athlete making it professionally. But most importantly, athletes learning to eat right and train consistently are assets to them for the rest of their lives.
Sure AAU basketball is fun, 7 on 7 football gets you exposure and club team travel tournaments for softball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, etc are a great way to get your name out there. It is certainly important to compete in sports and skills practice sessions. But what matters most is how athletes’ bodies perform and hold up in the long run. Regardless of where an athlete goes to high school, if they are strong and dominant they will be noticed and on the radar of college scouts.
College scouts and coaches are paid a nice salary to find athletes with elite potential no matter how small their school or town, state or country. Some of the best athletes in the world come from the smallest towns in the United States and Overseas and they all have one thing in common, they all TRAIN EXPLOSIVE CONSISTENTLY AND NEVER GIVE UP because they understand it will be worth it when they win.
Here is a simple full body routine straight from our training app that can be done by any athlete any day anywhere at anytime:
4 Rounds
(10-20% body weight each hand)
20 Squat Jumps
*2-3 minute active rest after each round (roll out)
Date: 07.24.2021
Back and shoulder pain can mean a lot of things. However, one of the most common culprits is overuse or strain of the rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff is a ring of muscles surrounding each shoulder joint. They’re responsible for giving the shoulders their impressive multi-directional range-of-motion. However, they are also very delicate.
Many people who have overuse injuries of the rotator cuff are athletes who often make arm motions above their heads, like pitchers and quarterbacks. However, people with physically demanding jobs like stockers and construction workers can also have these problems. Further, acute issues like sprains and strains can also impact these muscles.
A recurring theme throughout this article - and our website - is that overuse and damage can be prevented through careful strengthening and toning of the muscle groups. The muscles of the rotator cuff are no different, and strengthening your shoulders can help reduce pain.
The bad news is that they can be difficult to target effectively. The good news is that the muscles of the chest and back do most of the heavy lifting. As a result, familiarizing yourself with exercises to develop the back and chest can help to make these injuries less likely.
Written by Leo Ochoa
Date: January 14, 2021
There are many misconceptions in youth sports and society when it comes to training. One of the most detrimental is that “female athletes shouldn’t lift heavy weights because it will make them ‘bulky’”. This is far from the truth. Female athletes need to lift light, moderate and heavy weights. They should begin as early as 12 years old to help speed up athletic performance development. This will also keep them from experiencing a career-altering injury. According to studies, between 2010 and 2020 ACL tears were at an all-time high for ages 12-15, especially amongst female athletes. Most of these ACL tears happen during non-contact, athletic movement. This means a lack of stability and strength in the ankles, knees, hips, trunk and shoulders are to blame.
We have a solution for this – by improving stability through training the bio-mechanical efficiency needed for slow and explosive movement. The SFX Athletes training philosophy is: as soon as athletes are able to play sports, they need to start performance training. Effective performance training begins with developing a foundation of ankle, knee, hip, trunk and shoulder stability. We teach athletes how to crawl, walk and run efficiently and in a safe manner. We love to do this from day one.
The first step in development is incorporating stability in the warm ups and cool downs every single day. Step two, build strength from the ground up and the inside out. This means we add in weight training that compliments the stability work. Step three is adding in plyometric exercises to compliment the strength development. This means we begin speeding things up and increase the ability of producing and absorbing force – the main factors in keeping the athlete healthy and strong while competing.
Female athletes at the professional and collegiate level have access to elite strength and conditioning coaching. At the high school level and below, this kind of training is rare. High school athletes need strength and conditioning more than college-age athletes, because they spend the majority of these years growing and developing. Injuries can impact their growth and development. There is a possibility that it can even be stunted. This may prevent them from reaching that next level. SFX Athletes is designed to provide younger athletes a training system comparable to what college and professional athletes receive. We hope that athletes, especially female athletes, will train explosive with us using the SFX Athletes mobile app. Together we can help reduce incidences of injury nationwide!
Date: 02.03.2021
“Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou
Consistent actions and practices have many benefits. We will discuss consistency as it pertains to training for improved athletic performance. One of the best ways to separate from others is to do what they are not willing to do and most are not willing to put in even the smallest amount of extra work whether it be during lifting, sprinting, practicing the sport or working on yoga, mobility and mindfulness. The greatest athletes understand this concept – the 1% rule. There are less than 1% of athletes that become professionals because there are less than 1% of athletes willing to go the extra 1% every single day in every single way.
The 1% rule applies to all athletes. There is a saying about showing up being the hardest part, that’s not necessarily true. Showing up is bare minimum. If athletes have a hard time finding the motivation to simply show up, they should consider the idea that they may not be cut out for competitive sports and find another hobby. For athletes that show up consistently, they have proven they’re interested, which is good. Athletes that want to be good will show up and do the work, typically take shortcuts whenever possible, and enjoy the experience of competing and time with friends. This will work well for most and may even lead to some marginal success.
We’re interested in the ‘extra 1% every day type of athlete’ mindset, which is rare. Tapping into this mindset is not easy and most would say “it’s too HARD.” To build a hard mindset requires doing what’s hard – constantly reminding yourself of why the effort will pay off. Doing what it takes to go the extra 1% on everything no matter what is the 1% rule.
Date: 05.26.2021
“What I’ve learned is you just got to stay focused and believe in yourself and trust you own ability and judgement.” – Mark Cuban.
To place an image in our minds of what focus is we should think of a race horse with blinders on during the Kentucky Derby. They’re really only able to see what’s ahead. Not able to see the other horses next to them, their jockey that’s on their back, or what time it is. Only on the road ahead. During training, the jockey usually rewards the horse for moving in the right direction at the correct speed.
As athletes we are the race horse. Of course there are others next to us competing with us and we usually have people in our corner or behind us pushing us in the ‘right’ directions. The only thing that matters is our level of focus on what we need to do to run our own race. Only we control our effort and our attention to what we need to work on to get better.
Date: 06.15.2021
These days, middle school and high school athletes sound busier then professional athletes. Practices, skill sessions, specialty training camps, trainers, coaches, games, travel teams, club teams, school teams, playing multiple sports at a time, all while trying to go to school… Then there are the pressures that come along with maintaining their instwittergrambookchats… In 2021, young athletes are at risk of overtraining and exhaustion more than ever before. Why? It mostly has to do with the youth sports culture of ‘more being better’. The reality is, more is not better, better is better.
How do we help high school athletes become the best athletes they can be? By remembering that they’re young humans in need of balance, support rather than excessive pressure to perform, and time off.
We support them while providing a consistent routine with built-in rest. It’s as simple as that. We do not overtrain them (going from practice to training session back to practice, then school and another training session after that). We do not have them competing all week and then all weekend – with no days off.
Kids need a life outside of sports. Parents and coaches need to understand this. As a coach, I have met many parents who have a solid understanding of what their child needs (days off, healthy food, support and balance). I have also met some that think the more their child is competing, the more exposure they’ll get and the more scholarship offers they’ll receive.
Reality is, to receive a college scholarship young athletes need to have a college-ready body and mind. Where does that begin? School work, physical training, nutrition, and skills. Focusing on these four pillars of performance will do wonders for figuring out a solid routine.
Professional athletes take months off from their sport’s competitive season to recover, recharge, and train.
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Date: 03.03.2021
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