A Leadership Secret

Written by Ryan Walter

eaders like you, often deliver public and private messages to large groups (this is what I do for a living.) There is a key structural concept or understanding to master as you leaders look to cement your message into the Minds and Hearts of your people, customers and clients.

Here is the secret; Logic creates THINKING... but Emotion creates ACTION.

These two outcomes (Thinking and Action) need to be understood and proactively shaped when connecting with stakeholders. Many coaches and leaders in my NHL past were good at loading what they communicated with facts, figures, statistics and information but were light on generating the team`s emotional feelings that helped people receive this information. Other leaders in my past focused on the "Raw, Raw" (trying to force feelings) and were often light on the important logical content that teams need to win.

Balancing the Logic/Emotion connection is the key to delivering a message that sticks in both the Mind and Heart of your audience. As you may have noticed in my e-newsletter format (and during every session that I deliver for Corporations around the World) I believe that the best way to create the emotional side atmosphere is through metaphors or stories.

People like stories. To highlight this concept, feel how the following metaphor (story) sets your personal atmosphere to receive the principle, the message, the content.

"At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped, comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes, in the way other people treat that child." Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they`ll let me play?"

Shay`s father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. Shay`s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play, not expecting much. The boy looked around for guidance and a few boys nodded approval, why not? So he took matters into his own hands and said, "We`re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we`ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning." Shay struggled over to the team`s bench put on a team shirt with a broad smile and his Father had a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father`s joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay`s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay`s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.

Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible `cause Shay didn`t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing the other team putting winning aside for this moment in Shay`s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over, but the pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the head of the first baseman, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever ran that far but made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to second base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball, the smallest guy on their team, who had a chance to be the hero for his team for the first time. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions and he too intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay" Shay reached third base, the opposing shortstop ran to help him and turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams and those watching were on their feet were screaming, "Shay, run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the "grand slam" and won the game for his team. That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world." Shay didn`t make it to another summer and died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his Father so happy."

Now what if I would have given you the information that "humans should look out for each other and find ways to help others be a hero." You would say to me "OK Ryan, we have heard that before"... and perhaps like most delivered advice in life, it would sit un-used.

But after this story hits our very heartstrings we are ready to be reminded of these core ideas again. With this understanding it is important to connect the metaphor with the desired principle. The key principle connected to this story is that life is not only about becoming a hero, but also focusing our lives on helping others, helping teammates become heroes.

Leave your people with a story that illustrates or illuminates your most important message. Connecting these two; Instructing peoples` mind with logic and inspiring their heart emotionally can be a determining factor for what differentiates leaders in the market-place and accelerates your leadership INFLUENCE.
Years after your presentation people may not remember the impressive logic or statistics that you left them... but they will remember your stories.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Friends, Leaders, promise yourself that you will take action today.
 

Easton Stealth RS – “The Art of Scoring”

By Hockey Gear Review N, Hockey Gear Review
Monday September 26th 2011

As the big companies get ready to launch their latest and greatest sticks, Easton has produced a new video to pump up the new Stealth RS. The video features Mike Cammalleri and Zach Parise talking with Easton people about the stick. The video provides interesting insight into what a NHL goal scorer wants out of their stick. The Easton Stealth RS launches on October 1st.

Warrior Hockey Helmet Review

By Hockey Gear Review N, Hockey Gear Review
Sunday September 25th 2011


I am not sure if you know but it looks like Warrior is working very hard to increase its brand in hockey. They have already positioned themselves as a top stick manufacture and glove maker. In the last few years, they have also increased the brand by creating player equipment, with hockey pants being the most recognizable. They have also ventured into goalie gear and now their stable of NHLers have grown considerably.

This season Warrior will be introducing their new hockey helmet to NHL players. My feeling is that you will see a few players wearing the helmet and that it will be a while till you see it on the shelves in stores. I do not know much about the specs of the helmet as they do not have it even listed on their website. But I am sure that people will see it on TV and be curious about it (that’s what Warrior is hoping anyways).

If you take a look at the photo below, you will notice that it is a traditional two piece helmet that appears to adjust front and back. It also appears to be well vented for air flow to help keep you cool. It looks very similar to an Easton helmet with its ridges and shape. That being said, I couldn’t tell you if the photo is a prototype but I am assuming that it is pretty close to the finished product. Brooks Laich is not a  Warrior guy (maybe just sticks?), so my thought is that they are letting any NHL test drive the new lid regardless if they are a Warrior branded player or not.

As we learn more about this new entry into the helmet market, Hockey Gear Review will be the first to let you know! Also feel free to let us know what you think of the look and design of Warrior’s helmet!

Mental Preperation Article

By GREGG DRINNAN
Great Blog - Top info on the deals with the WHL!

Cam Lanigan is a goaltender, which means he has had to develop the ability to forget a bad goal, and forget it in a hurry.
Over the summer, he had to learn how to forget an entire season.
“It was frustrating,” Lanigan, 19, said Wednesday after the Kamloops Blazers finished another practice at Interior Savings Centre. “That was probably the worst season I've had in hockey.”
How bad was it?
Well, considering that Lanigan began last season in the camp of the NHL's Calgary Flames, it was kind of ugly.
“That was probably the highlight of my career,” said Lanigan, who is from Calgary. “I was going to my hometown team's camp. Basically, I was almost starstruck just realizing I was there.”
Unfortunately, it was all downhill after he left Calgary.
After his stint with the Flames, Lanigan headed for Edmonton and what would be his third season with the Oil Kings. He had been a sixth-round selection by the Oil Kings in the 2007 bantam draft and, by 2008-09, he was backing up veteran Torrie Jung.
In 2009-10, Lanigan got into 38 games with the Oil Kings, who went through a coaching change following the season, with Derek Laxdal taking over from the departed Steve Pleau.
And when Lanigan, his taste of the NHL not yet faded, began last season 4-8-0, with a 3.73 GAA and a .866 save percentage, he found himself en route to Kamloops, swapped for fellow goaltender Jon Groenheyde, who had fallen out of favour with the Blazers' braintrust.
“Once I came back to Edmonton, I didn't have the start I wanted to and I kind of let things build up there,” Lanigan recalled. “After the trade, I looked at it as a new opportunity. I had a few good games but, then when it started not going well, I didn't know how to deal with it and I let that again build up on me.”
The Blazers had hoped Lanigan would push Jeff Bosch, 20, who had been acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors six weeks earlier, for the starter's job. However, that didn't happen.
Lanigan, it seemed, had lost his game. He may have left it in Edmonton, or perhaps it was in a ditch somewhere around Jasper. Whatever. It definitely didn't make it to Kamloops. He got into 16 games with the Blazers, going 3-9-0, 5.59, .843 - all numbers he would like to forget.
“It's tough,” he said of sitting behind a goaltender who at one point started 23 straight games. “They did tell me 'It's yours if you want it and you have to work hard.' I obviously didn't.
“I feel I let Bosch take advantage of that role. I didn't push him . . . not like I would have wanted to. Not like when I backed up Jung when I was 17.”
Now, having had a long, long offseason to analyze what transpired, Lanigan said he simply “fell into a funk.”
“It isn't even something I can really explain,” he said. “I just let things build up in me and it got to a point where it was overwhelming. I kind of almost gave up.”
With the Blazers not making the playoffs, it meant their offseason would be a lot longer than most other teams. Lanigan, instead of moping around, chose to use the extra time to his benefit.
“I went home and realized the grave I had put myself in just by not working . . . by almost not even wanting to play,” he said, adding that rather than take a holiday over his extended summer, he chose “to use it as time the other guys wouldn't have to develop and get better. And to work on the head game, as well.”
Ahh, yes, the mental side of the game of hockey. Lanigan, at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, has good size for his position. And he obviously has shown some skill or he wouldn't have progressed this far. But what of the thinking part?
He realizes now, he said, that he never really came back to earth after being in the Flames' camp and that perhaps he went back to Edmonton with “too big of an ego.”
So over the summer he realized that he had to change. Now, he said, he takes things one at a time . . . each day . . . each practice . . . each game.
“I came in with a whole new mindset,” he said, explaining that he arrived at training camp in late August having decided to “come in and keep my head down and keep working no matter what kind of adversity I get faced with.”
Lanigan's first test of his new attitude came Saturday, on opening night, when he fanned on a short-side shot by Prince George centre Charles Inglis in the last second of the second period. That turned out to be the game's only goal as the Cougars won, 1-0.
“That was frustrating,” said Lanigan, who played quite well other than that one miscue. “One mistake costs us the game. It would have been nice to at least get the boys a point.”
But he is adamant that he won't let it drag him down.
“You put it behind you,” he stated. “Luckily, I've had a good week of practice and good sessions with (goaltending coach Dan De Palma). I'm excited to get at it again this weekend.”

Should We Switch Hockey Associations?

Posted by Kelly Anton
By Grow The Game


Every year you see—and can’t help but hear—parents who think their player is not being treated fairly. He’s not getting a fair look at tryouts. She’s not getting enough ice time. The association is too political. You know the drill. Whatever the issues, many families start to think about switching hockey associations. And some even switch associations in the middle of tryouts, deposits be darned. But is the grass always greener once you make the switch? We asked an experienced hockey director for his take on the situation.

This question comes up every spring when it’s time to make the deposit for the next year. Unfortunately, there is no 100 percent correct answer. However, I have seen, over time, that about 90 percent of families realize they were in a pretty good organization after they make a change. I believe in loyalty to associations. Kids should have loyalty to the program they started with and give that program the benefit of the doubt. With that being said, it is also the association’s responsibility to be accountable to its members and ensure they offer good coaches, a solid skill-development program and a well-organized schedule.

Over my years as a director, I’ve had coaches who weren’t up to the standards I hoped for. Does each program have a hard time finding quality coaches? Yes! My guess is that over a youth hockey “career”—let’s say 12 to 13 years—each player is likely to experience a season (or two) that does not meet the expectations the program strives to obtain. Does that mean you transfer to another program? My answer would be no.

Are there exceptions? Absolutely, there will be some. I do believe that sometimes a change is good. There are always cases where it might be best for the player, family and program to part ways. However, I would say that 90 percent of players should (and usually do) remain with their club.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Angelo Ricci for sharing his 15 years of expertise as a hockey director in this article. Ricci is founder, head instructor and consultant for Ricci Hockey Consulting. With 20+ years experience as a skills and stickhandling coach, he conducts/oversees more than 40 programs year-round that develop over 1,000 players each year.

Basic Neutral Zone Regroup Options

From Hockeyshare.com - great resource site for coaches and players

The ability for a team to properly execute a neutral zone regroup can mean the difference between generating a scoring opportunity and giving up a scoring opportunity.  In this video, we cover four basic neutral zone regroup tactics to help your team transition from the neutral zone to the offensive zone.

Option #1: Post Up -- Wings post up just inside the blue line along the wall for quick outlet options. Center curls strong-side for a secondary pass.  This is a good option for less experienced teams, or teams with defensemen who don’t have strong puck-movement skills and ice vision.

Option #2: Double Curl -- The strong-side wing curls to the middle of the ice while the center curls toward the strong-side wall. The weak-side winger can post up for a tertiary outlet option.  This option creates more offensive movement through the neutral zone, so defensemen need to have solid passing abilities, as they’re attempting to hit a cutting player instead of one at a stand-still.

Option #3: Weak-Side Stretch -- The strong-side wing posts-up, center curls strong-side. The weak-side wing starts up ice, then cuts back across the far blue line looking for a stretch pass outlet.  This option requires defensemen with strong ice vision and passing abilities.

Option #4: Strong-Side Stretch -- The weak-side wing posts-up, center curls strong-side.  The strong-side wing starts up ice, then cuts back across the far blue line looking for a stretch pass outlet.  This option requires defensemen with strong ice vision and passing abilities.

The PERFECT Diagram for Success!

Parental expectations of coaches

Parental expectations of coaches: Closing the communication gap

Ms. Candace Barton* and Professor Craig Stewart^, *MS, Montana State University, ^Dept. of Health and Human Development, Bozeman, Montana.   

Fantastic articles on a variety of topics at PositiveSports.net!

Introduction

Ask a group of coaches what the most challenging part of their job is, and they will probably state, “parents”. Many young coaches are shocked at how much time they spend dealing with parents. The relationships coaches have with the parents of their athletes can be either helpful and supportive, or stressful and frustrating. Hooper and Jefferies (1990) described a healthy parent/coach relationship in terms of an “athletic triangle” involving the coach, the athlete, and the parents. By appropriately including parents in the triangle, and thus involving them in the sports program in a positive manner, coaches can improve not only the relationship with parents, but also improve the experience of the athletes.
The purpose of this study was to determine parental preferences of coaches of their children, and additionally, have parents articulate how they measured those characteristics. The research was a continuation of Stewart’s (1994) survey of parents of high school athletes where he hypothesized that if coaches were better aware of the characteristics parents valued, then that understanding could foster a stronger parent/coach relationship. A second goal was an informal comparison of parent values from previous work. If indeed parents prioritized coaching characteristics differently than ten years ago, coaches could use this information to improve an ever-evolving parent/coach relationship. Finally, these results could aid coach educators in their efforts to prepare future coaches to better communicate and maintain healthy relationships with parents.

Review of Related Literature

Csikszentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K., & Whalen, S. (1993) presented a strong conceptualization of the relationship between family and the development of talented children. In their work, they described the ‘complex’ family as one who provides an integrated environment, one that is stable and consistently supportive, combined with a differentiated surrounding, that is, one that encourages family members to develop their own individuality through attempting new challenges and opportunities. The authors further recognized that while there were other important factors that influenced talent development, a family setting that provided the child with enough security that he/she was both cheerful and energetic, but concurrently offered enough meaningful challenges to develop goal directed behaviors, increased the chances of refining talent.

Côté and Hay (2002) applied the work of Csikszentmihalyi, et al (1993) by observing that the complex family is the most effective family environment for young athletes. Furthermore, the complex family is compatible with the authoritative (not authoritarian) parenting style that establishes clear objectives for responsible behavior. An authoritative parent uses reason, power, and reinforcement to assist children in achieving objectives. In addition, Côté and Hay (2002) cited the work of Hellstedt (1987) who surmised that parental involvement in their child’s sport ranges from under-involved, to moderately (appropriately) involved, to over-involved. The level of parental involvement heavily influences the type of relationship that exist between coach, parent, and athlete. The under-involved parents isolate themselves away from the sport. In doing so, that behavior often increases the burden on the coach-athlete relationship. Players, who do not have parental support by even limited involvement, rarely are totally committed to a program.

Conversely, the moderately, thus appropriately, involved parent constructs a positive triangular relationship with the coach and young athlete. On the other extreme, the over-involved parent creates a negative situation in one of two ways. They either isolate the coach from the triangle by placing too much pressure on the athlete, or they cause conflict with the coach by overstepping program boundaries. This in turn can cause either isolation or conflict between coach and player. This knowledge can assist coaches in understanding what type of relation they can expect to have with certain types of parents.

Unfortunately, few theoretical models exist in the area of parent/coach relationships. However, some researchers (Martin, Dale, & Jackson, 2001; Stewart, 1997; Stewart, 1994) have examined the coaching characteristics most preferred by parents and players. Understanding parental expectations is the first step to successful parent-coach communication. Stewart (1994) based his original work on the premise that coaches must first understand what parents expect in a coach. Once coaches know that, they can plan and prepare for a positive season. In that earlier work, Stewart (1994) surveyed the parents of high school athletes and found that they most desired coaches who were:

• fair and honest in dealing with athletes
• committed to having players enjoy their sport
• and dedicated to the development of sportsmanship

In fact, high school parents ranked these more traditional characteristics last:

• commitment to winning
• personal experience as a player
• and improving players’ chances of playing at a higher level

Stewart (1997) later hypothesized that as athletes began playing at a higher level, their parents’ expectations would probably change. With that premise, parents of Olympic Development soccer players at both the State and Regional levels were given the same survey from the 1994 study. The three most important characteristics picked by parents of Olympic Development players varied only slightly from the parents of high school athletes. Olympic Development parents preferred coaches who:

• were able to teach well
• had knowledge of skills
• and were fair and honest

They too, ranked commitment to winning low. Stewart (1997) also found a slight discrepancy between parents’ reported preferences and what coaches thought parents would prefer. Parents valued sportsmanship more and playing at a higher level less than coaches thought they would (Stewart, 1997). Similarly, Martin, Dale, and Jackson (2001) completed a study of parents of young players aged ten to eighteen years. In the study, they used a modified Participation Motivation Questionnaire to compare the preferences of parents to their young athletes’. Adolescent athletes preferred a coach who:

• implemented effective instructional practices
• could perform the skills required of the sport
• and provided opportunities for the athletes to compete and achieve their goals

In comparing Stewart’s (1994 & 1997) and Martin’s (2001) studies, it appeared that parents’ preferences were changing. However, it is pertinent to consider not only the various levels of play of the athletes, but also the demographics of communities in which the studies were performed. Levels of play ranged from summer youth sports programs to Olympic Development teams, and Martin’s (2001) study was performed in a large urban area in Texas, while Stewart’s (1994) study was performed in a smaller rural community in Montana.
Similarly, Rich (1998) provided suggestions for teachers in their interactions with parents:

• making expectations for learning clear to parents and children
• clarifying classroom expectations
• and sharing learning goals with parents

By comparison, it has been established that coaches should:

• make their training and team expectations clear to parents and athletes
• create team goals with the athletes
• and share them with the parents

This, too, emphasizes the importance of the teacher/coach and parent having the same understanding of goals and expectations. Likewise, Giannetti and Sagarese (1998) gave similar advice to middle school teachers dealing with critical parents. They stated that by conveying shared values with parents, a teacher would foster greater acceptance and communication. Reassuring parents that the adults in the athletic program value similar coaching characteristics can put them at ease and turn a potential challenger into a supportive ally.
There is no doubt that coaching is an inherently stressful job and much of the stress comes from parents. However, taking time to understand parental expectations of coaches and then working towards open communication can relieve much of that tension.

To Read the rest of this article, please go Here!

Getting back to basics with Sid “The Kid”

By Aaron Wilbur of The Coaches Site

At one time or another every coach has referenced the old cliche, “practice makes perfect.”

It makes sense.

The logic in practicing individual skills to improve ones overall game is not lost on players.

However getting players to put in the time and make the commitment to work on the finer details in their game can sometimes be a challenge.

Whether players feel they are above simplistic drills or would just rather take part in flow drills which may require little execution, finding the right motivation to get players focused on the fundamentals can be challenging.

It’s easy for kids to witness a highlight real goal made by a world class player on t.v and overlook the amount of time that was put into achieving a skill level which enabled them to make such a play look so easy. Young players especially are more focused on the finished product rather then on the process and patience required to become an elite player.

So if you find yourself looking for way to motivate your players to get back to basics and work on the fundamentals, the following videos may help get their attention.

This first video features Sidney Crosby at a Penguins practice working on a very basic stick handling drill involving the use of his edges and body to protect the puck. The drill only requires an extra stick, a puck and NO additional players. It looks simple enough but even accomplished players will find it challenging.

This second video shows Crosby protecting the puck down low in the offensive zone. Using the same skills required to protect the puck in the previous drill. He fights off Ottawa’s Jason Spezza, cutting back several times before finding defenseman Kris Letang open at the point. The result is a 2-1 lead for the Penguins  in a Stanley Cup playoff game.

So next time you have a player who seems uninterested in working on the finer  details of their game, remind them that even the best in world continue to get back to basics.

Quote

"Wealth comes from knowing
what others do not know."


— Aristotle Onassis

$$$$ - Parents Need to Set the Pace On Costs

MiHockeykid.com 

I read every day how the Canadians are sick of youth hockey costs - and their rinks are subsidized! There's not much we in Michigan can do to fees except the time worn - "send your kids back to house," which for many of us in not an option. But there is something we DO have control over. Be smarter on equipment purchases.

I walked into a locker room of my youngest son's Pee Wee team and noticed that there was a noticable surge in the purchase of  a certain type of hockey stick with a $200+ price tag. Now, never mind that the kids were 11. Hey it's their choice and their money, but they have no idea the damage they do. My son pointed this out and said, "Dad the only thing that separates that stick from mine (which was much closer to $100) is the weight." Well, three cheers to my kid for being frugal. I'm very fortunate. But has anyone thought about the message that sends to the other kids in the locker room? Add that to the $600 skates and $250 helmets I've seen on some of these "future NHLers" and there's enough peer pressure to go around. My son wears his older brother's hand me down stuff and we always buy skates on close-out from the previous year's model. I know many of you do the same. And it's not because we can't afford new. I just refuse. Why? I told him as soon as stick manufacturers give me a "50 goal guarantee" he could have one. I know kids who are the best players on their teams and their stick is made with WOOD!

Expensive equipment doesn't make for better hockey players. It does, however, cause massive peer pressure on kids and eventually their parents, in the locker room. Some of whom which would be lucky to do needed home repairs on their income, never mind buy new unnecessary hockey equipment. There's always a parent on a team that has expendable income to get their child the best and newest. All I'm asking is they feel for those in the locker room whose parents can't. Peer pressure is at school as well with shoes, clothes, etc. We can't control that. We can control what goes on in our locker room. The best way to cut costs in equipment (which is the one cost we still can control) is to be smarter in how we buy it - or borrow it in some cases. Every rink has a used equipment sale. We do it for skiing, why not hockey? Kids until their upper years in HS are constantly on a growth trend. Be smarter. Take the pressure off the other kids in the locker room (who ALL notice when Johnny has a new stick, helmet, etc.) and decide as team parents to start a new course on purchases. It might just save a kid from jumping to a "cheaper" sport.

Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction

By: Sarah Klein, Health.com

 

Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods may be addictive.

A new study in rats suggests that high-fat, high-calorie foods affect the brain in much the same way as cocaine and heroin. When rats consume these foods in great enough quantities, it leads to compulsive eating habits that resemble drug addiction, the study found.
Doing drugs such as cocaine and eating too much junk food both gradually overload the so-called pleasure centers in the brain, according to Paul J. Kenny, Ph.D., an associate professor of molecular therapeutics at the Scripps Research Institute, in Jupiter, Florida. Eventually the pleasure centers "crash," and achieving the same pleasure--or even just feeling normal--requires increasing amounts of the drug or food, says Kenny, the lead author of the study.

"People know intuitively that there's more to [overeating] than just willpower," he says. "There's a system in the brain that's been turned on or over-activated, and that's driving [overeating] at some subconscious level."
In the study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Kenny and his co-author studied three groups of lab rats for 40 days. One of the groups was fed regular rat food. A second was fed bacon, sausage, cheesecake, frosting, and other fattening, high-calorie foods--but only for one hour each day. The third group was allowed to pig out on the unhealthy foods for up to 23 hours a day.
Not surprisingly, the rats that gorged themselves on the human food quickly became obese. But their brains also changed. By monitoring implanted brain electrodes, the researchers found that the rats in the third group gradually developed a tolerance to the pleasure the food gave them and had to eat more to experience a high.

They began to eat compulsively, to the point where they continued to do so in the face of pain. When the researchers applied an electric shock to the rats' feet in the presence of the food, the rats in the first two groups were frightened away from eating. But the obese rats were not. "Their attention was solely focused on consuming food," says Kenny.

In previous studies, rats have exhibited similar brain changes when given unlimited access to cocaine or heroin. And rats have similarly ignored punishment to continue consuming cocaine, the researchers note.
The fact that junk food could provoke this response isn't entirely surprising, says Dr.Gene-Jack Wang, M.D., the chair of the medical department at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in Upton, New York.

"We make our food very similar to cocaine now," he says.

Coca leaves have been used since ancient times, he points out, but people learned to purify or alter cocaine to deliver it more efficiently to their brains (by injecting or smoking it, for instance). This made the drug more addictive.

According to Wang, food has evolved in a similar way. "We purify our food," he says. "Our ancestors ate whole grains, but we're eating white bread. American Indians ate corn; we eat corn syrup."
The ingredients in purified modern food cause people to "eat unconsciously and unnecessarily," and will also prompt an animal to "eat like a drug abuser [uses drugs]," says Wang.

The neurotransmitter dopamine appears to be responsible for the behavior of the overeating rats, according to the study. Dopamine is involved in the brain's pleasure (or reward) centers, and it also plays a role in reinforcing behavior. "It tells the brain something has happened and you should learn from what just happened," says Kenny.

Overeating caused the levels of a certain dopamine receptor in the brains of the obese rats to drop, the study found. In humans, low levels of the same receptors have been associated with drug addiction and obesity, and may be genetic, Kenny says.

However, that doesn't mean that everyone born with lower dopamine receptor levels is destined to become an addict or to overeat. As Wang points out, environmental factors, and not just genes, are involved in both behaviors.

Wang also cautions that applying the results of animal studies to humans can be tricky. For instance, he says, in studies of weight-loss drugs, rats have lost as much as 30 percent of their weight, but humans on the same drug have lost less than 5 percent of their weight. "You can't mimic completely human behavior, but [animal studies] can give you a clue about what can happen in humans," Wang says.
Although he acknowledges that his research may not directly translate to humans, Kenny says the findings shed light on the brain mechanisms that drive overeating and could even lead to new treatments for obesity.
"If we could develop therapeutics for drug addiction, those same drugs may be good for obesity as well," he says.

 

Off Ice Goalie Training: Forearm Strengthening

By Maria Mountain of HockeyTrainingPro.com

How great is this – it is early Spring and the thermometer is going to reach 26C degrees here today! Now that is awesome! I am starting to think about beach season…rain and 8C over the weekend will get rid of those ideas. Hope things are great where you are!

If you are looking for some ways to improve your stick handling or if you are like one of my subscribers who gets elbow pain in his stick hand, you want to check out this video on forearm strengthing for hockey goalies.