Coaches—Use The Summer To Get Healthy

By its very nature, the coaching profession is filled with stress and anxiety. It often taxes our minds, our bodies and our various bodily systems. Our profession is also one that frequently places a great deal of undue physical stress on our bodies as well. That makes it all the more important to make sure we are taking care of ourselves—our minds, our bodies and our overall health in general. For too many of us, we go too long without seeing a regular doctor.

With the summer upon us, which means for most of us, a chance finally to get a little rest, now is the perfect time to get yourself squared-away with your doctor. Go in for your annual physical, to get your heart-health check-up and to pay more attention to yourself and to your health before the craziness of the pre-season and the chaos of the regular season. There are a lot of people counting on you to be healthy—your team, your staff, your family and your friends.

Getting A Physical

This summer, take the time to get an annual check-up. See the doctor, get a physical exam and do a self-assessment of the things you need to do to get healthier for the year ahead.

You and I both know that if you put something like this off until the fall, then you're going to end up being so busy during August through November…then with the holidays in December…then with recruiting and a spring sport later on in the year…and before you know it, another 12 months have passed and you haven’t seen your doctor. Don’t let another year go by without getting a quick check-up on your health. Otherwise, you could be letting a problem sneak up on you.

You don’t have get every single test known to man but at least get a physical.

It’s a whole lot easier to be preventative then it is to beat a disease once it’s too late.

Just like we teach our players: it’s better to be safe than sorry.

It’s better to be pro-active and not re-active.

Promote Healthy Lifestyle Choices Among Your Coaching Staff

Remind your coaches about getting their annual physical, using sunscreen and taking care of their skin, getting enough cardio-vascular exercise and a yearly heart-check-up, and being smart when it comes to heat and hydration safety. As a coach, you have a responsibility not only to your players but also to your fellow coaches as well. You have an obligation to do right by them, to do what’s best for them and to take care of them and their own personal health.

Being Heart Healthy

We talk about the importance of “heart” all the time with our players. As coaches, we need to realize just how important the “heart” really is. Keep in mind, you can’t be a great coach if you don’t have heart…and you can’t be an effective coach if you don’t have heart–health.

With all the stress we have to deal with as coaches, as teachers, as parents, and as husbands—we could all use a good heart check-up or even a quick stress test—just to be on the safe side.

We ask our teams to make a worthwhile commitment each year. As coaches, we need to do the same.

For more information from Frank DiCocco, visit his Amazon page.