Dance and Disabilities

Dance can be an inspiring, challenging, and rewarding activity for young people with disabilities.¹ More and more classes are being developed for dance students with disabilities. In 1980, professional dance troupes emerged with dancers with disabilities to shatter the image of who dancers are.²

Adapted dance relates to adapting dance activities as well as attitudes and behaviors surrounding dance and disabilities to promote equal participation opportunities for individuals with disabilities.² Attitudes are changing about disabilities and the benefits students may receive from participating in adapted dance classes. 

Dance ability has been defined by five abilities:²

^{(1) body awareness;}

^{(2) spatial awareness;}

^{(3) ability to follow oral instruction and music cues;}

^{(4) ability to imitate movement; and}

^{(5) visualization and recall skill}

The above abilities do not suggest that a person with a disability would not be successful in a dance class. Dance can be adapted for students with all abilities. For example, a way to incorporate a dancer in a wheel chair during a contemporary routine is to have the dancer in the chair be an intricate part of partnering or stunting. To check out a dance troupe for dancers with and without disabilities visit AXIS Dance Company. 

¹Aujla, I. J., & Redding, E. (2013). Barriers to dance training for young people with disabilities. British Journal Of Special Education, 40(2), 80-85. doi:10.1111/1467-8578.12021

²Zitomer, M. R., & Reid, G. (2011). To Be or Not to Be--Able to Dance: Integrated Dance and Children's Perceptions of Dance Ability and Disability. Research In Dance Education, 12(2), 137-156.

Should Athletes get a piece of the pie

Should Athletes get a piece of the pie?

In the realm of sports, everyone wants to get a piece of the pie. The biggest controversial debate right now is if college athletes should get paid. This seems to be building like a volcano and may be ready to erupt at any time. My answer would be no.

College athletes have a unique gift which expands all the way to the athletic programs pockets. Players can bring in millions to a program through tickets sales, jersey sales, broadcasting sales, etc. This is a big reason college athletes are demanding a piece of the revenue. The students at Northwestern University are trying to unionize for more rights of the players. Though to seem fair by numbers, let us look at this in a different view.  Athletes at D1 schools can achieve a top quality education completely paid. Some of these universities can easily cost way over $100,000.00 for a four year education. Brill, J said,” There is one major difference between the two associations, however.  NBA players get paid for the revenue they help bring in, while NCAA athletes receive no monetary compensation. Universities are using the money to help make the University look better not their pockets.

Sack, A. (2008) said, “How athletes should be giving an opportunity to continue their education after four years for free along with medical rights. They deserve the same rights and benefits as other employees, including medical benefits, workers' compensation when injured, and the right to use their God-given talents to build some financial security for their families while still in college. The denial of these rights is morally unconscionable.”

Universities are a way to achieve academically and give you an opportunity to make a career. Sports have been a big plus when being able to be a quick millionaire after college, and while doing the sport you love. The time for athletes to get paid is when they graduate or move on to the next phase of their athletes sports career. 

 

References:

Sack, A. (2008). Should college athletes be paid?. Retrieved September, 14, 2010.

Brill, J. Should College Athletes be Paid?

Seeking your Dream College Administration Job: Be Abnormal

       In order to ultimately reach a dream job as a collegiate athletic director, what exactly is the best professional route to get there? Fitzgerald, Sagaria, and Nelson researched a five-position sequence that begins with being a collegiate athlete, high school coach, college coach, assistant or associate athletic director, and culminates with collegiate athletic director.¹ The majority that enter into the profession of athletics after an education do not initially seek that level of administration. Thus, those that desire an administration job typically make that decision at some point in a coaching career. Fitzgerald, Sagaria, and Nelson noted that being a college athlete and coaching at the collegiate level were the most frequent steps in reaching the athletic director position.¹

     The careers of athletic directors have changed significantly over the past few decades due substantially to the amount of revenue being generated as well as an increase in overall popularity of collegiate athletics. Therefore, one may see this as a career opportunity to be ‘abnormal’ in pursuit of gaining an athletic director position. Many assistant and associate athletic director positions become very specific regarding job descriptions which could open a few doors for those desiring the position. Those lacking experience as a college athlete or coach could strive to master a specific skill in direct correlation with an administration position – therefore positioning themselves as an ‘abnormal’ candidate. For example, a high school coach may be able to prove excellence in budget management, staffing, and coordinating events in order to increase market value towards an assistant athletic director position. In addition, mastering complex skills associated with administration – communication, business affairs, marketing – on top of an athletic-mind may also receive attention. Figiel recorded that unpaid internship positions are highly recommended to gain valuable experience and offer the best chance in progressing towards a dream job.² The willingness to exceed expectations in an ‘abnormal’ manner will be sought after by upper level administrators.

References

¹Fitzgerald, M., Sagaria, M.A., & Nelson, B. (1994). Career Patterns of Athletic Directors: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom. Journal of Sport Management, 8:1, 14-26.

²Figiel, Joanna. (2013). Work Experience Without Qualities? A Documentary and Critical Account of an Internship. Ephemera: Theory and Politics in Organization, 13:1, 33-52.

Injury Prevention: General Conditioning

One of the best injury prevention techniques is making sure that an athlete is in top shape when their sport begins¹. This is something that does not happen just in the offseason, but is a year round continual program. This type of program focuses on the six major health components: aerobic fitness, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, nutrition, and body composition¹. If these health components are addressed, it gives the athlete a better chance of injury prevention.



Aerobic fitness is improved by exercises such as jogging, biking, and swimming. Exercises to help build muscle strength include lifting weights. Muscle Endurance is built up over a period of time and includes varying the resistance level, progressive overload, and increased training time. Flexibility is improved by stretching. Nutrition is focusing on what the athletes are putting into their body. Athletes must be informed of the types of foods they should be eating in order to better their performance and body. Even if someone’s weight is “normal” it is important to maintain a healthy body composition number.  This can prevent future health problems for athletes.

Each of the six health components are important, and making sure each athlete follows a general conditioning program is imperative to their future success. These fitness programs must be tailored for each athlete in order to make sure that they are in top physical shape¹. Each athlete is at a different performance level, which must be taken into consideration when planning their conditioning routine. If 20 athletes are in a program, the aerobic fitness levels will all be different. This will be the same for each individual athlete. Coaches must take this into consideration and make sure they take the time to individualize each program in order to get the absolute best and prevent injury in each athlete.

Photo Credit: http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1239807

 

¹Pfeiffer, R. P., & Mangus, B. C. (2012). Concepts of athletic training. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.



Do You Know Bill??

Movement for Hope and Healing

By: Rachel Cinquepalmi

      I was introduced to the Health and Wellness Lab and the benefits this lab provides, prior to visiting the “Lab” in person. As I was working at the front desk in the Kinesiology building, a man around the age of 70 by the name of Bill Bailey entered the office in a walker and introduced himself to me. A talkative man with a big personality and friendly persona, Bill informed me of his past as Tarleton State alumni and member of the Purple Poo. He spoke highly of all of his memories at Tarleton State and he proceeded to explain his reasoning for his return.

     On August 26, 2010, at eight in the morning, Bill was backing out of the driveway on his way to meet some friends for coffee. He sensed his right arm becoming completely numb as he lost control of the cigarette in his hand. Worried, he called 911 and was care-flighted from the hospital in downtown Stephenville to a hospital in Fort Worth where he remained in the Intensive Care Unit for seven days before returning to a nursing home in Stephenville. I watched Bill become somber as he remembered his time spent in a wheelchair. I was perturbed to hear the doctor’s report. Bill’s stroke had left him paralyzed, with no control over his right arm and right leg. According to the doctors, Bill would never walk again. Medicaid would stop providing financial assistance after three months and any therapy Bill received was essentially useless.

     In a seemingly hopeless situation, Bill found hope. Bill had remembered Dr. Joe Priest, and the work he had started in the “Lab”. Dr. Priest is currently a Professor in the Kinesiology Department at Tarleton State, and Director of the Health and Wellness Lab. He is working to help people like Bill each and every day by offering proper workout equipment and technology to individuals who do not have full control over their bodies, whether this is from an accident, a stroke, or other trauma.  Dr. Priest trains Tarleton State Kinesiology graduate students to assist in the lab and he requires that all of his undergraduate students in his Kinesiology class observe the work being done and record their findings.

     Bill’s goal for himself was to walk once again and gain control over his right arm. After only two and a half months of training with Dr. Priest, Bill was out of his wheelchair. He described how he works with a modified bicycle, resistance bands, balance boards, and other equipment and he explained how he progressed from walking again, to driving, to even gaining a limited amount of mobility in his right arm.

      “Dr. Priest’s lab is one of Texas’s best kept secrets,” Bill confidently stated. “I had a choice. I could have stayed home, got drunk and slept all day or I could choose to make something of myself and work.”

     And this is just what Bill has done. In the last year Bill has sold approximately 2.5 million dollars in real estate. In 2013, Bill was the Top Commercial Producer with a grand total of over $10 million dollars.

     Bill’s life is an example of the hope and healing that this lab offers. Bill’s story is the first in a series of articles that will introduce Dr. Priest’s clients and their individual stories. Year after year, the Lab works miracles and provides mental and physical hope for those people who have lost hope in themselves and have had others lose hope in them.

Personal Fitness Routine

My fitness routine consist of focusing on maintenance exercises. As an athletic trainer, I have to be stay in healthy and able to conduct my job. My fitness routine starts with a 10 minute warm up on either a bike or treadmill. I then continue into 100 squats, without breaks, then 50 front and side leg kicks, which are done in 2 sets of 25. I then continue into core exercises, 4 sets of 25 bicycle crunches, mountain climbers, or jackknifes with ball. Finishing with arm exercises consisting of 3 sets of 10 of chair dips, arm flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction.

Personal Fitness Routine

My workout routine is a five to six day regiment of weights and cardio. I utilize short rest (45 sec.) in between sets to maximize the muscle hypertrophy as I’m working out to gain weight and size. Each day is a different muscle group to make sure I hit all parts of the body. My cardio consist of 20-30 minutes on the treadmill to keep my muscles cut and tone. I workout at all different times of the days and enjoy the flexibility in my schedule. I also take protein and creatine to emphasize results.

Personal Fitness Routine:

As a personal trainer, I need to stay a step ahead of trends. I am also a constant student of new research; so many times I use myself as my own test subject. My routine consists of working Chest, Shoulders, Back, Legs and Arms all on their own day. The overall theme of my program is muscle hypertrophy, so my training volume is design with that goal in mind. My wife is in charge of the cardiovascular and flexibility aspect of our program. Typically cardiovascular exercise is performed 3 to 4 days a week for 30-45 minutes.

The Couple that Trains Together Stays Together

My husband and I share the same passion for staying fit and healthy. Together, we train 5-6 days a week. We make training a group effort and divide the duty of creating workouts in half. He is in charge the weight training, where we spend each day on particular muscle groups. I am in charge of cardio and flexibility; we do 30-45 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Being a personal trainer, my husband is always trying out new ideas and sometimes uses me as a guinea pig. We enjoy challenging each other and pushing each other, while spending quality time together.  

My Workout: Random Yet Effective

Workout routines consist of many different things depending on the person. My workout routine is really not much of a routine that I repeat. Instead, it consists of focusing on different parts of the body each day. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I focus on core muscles while Tuesdays and Thursdays I focus more on my arms and legs. I like to mix things up constantly so each week is a different workout. Sometimes I use P90X episodes while other times I use various fitness applications. My favorite fitness application is called Rip Deck simply because it is randomized fitness.

A Group Exercise Instructor's Weekly Workout Routine

Staying fit is an important part of my career. As a former collegiate runner, I love working out. I lift weights three days and run a minimum of four days a week. I teach and fully participate in three 40 minute yoga classes and attend a 30 minute power yoga class. I also teach and participate in a total body muscle-blast class, a 30 minute cycle and strength class, and an hour flexibility training class. On the weekends, I usually rest and occasionally do lighter exercise including biking and hiking. The benefit of this routine is that I work on cardiovascular endurance, strength training, balance, and flexibility. 

Personal Fitness Routine

Personal Fitness Routine

Muscular fitness is a key component of my fitness training program. Doing strength training at least three times a week helps me increase bone strength and muscular fitness. It also aids me in maintaining muscle mass while shedding weight. The weight equipment I use is bench press, free weights, resistance bands, and various resistance machines. My physical benefits are that it helps me in my career. I am also a head football coach which requires me to perform training demonstrations. This helps me maintain energy and the ability to demonstrate weight room techniques to my athletes.

Getting in a Workout During the Work Day

My personal fitness is varied, recreational, and competitive. With the opportunity to instruct activities courses for Tarleton, I’m blessed with built-in workouts and workout partners. Racquetball twice a week affords me some physically-intense competition as I interact with my students while fitness walking allows me to slow down and enjoy interactions. Fortunately, I have a large selection of students who also enjoy volleyball so we play almost weekly in the Rec Center. While my own routine may be sporadic, I’m grateful for these pre-determined time slots in which I can meet my cardiovascular needs and feed my competitive side. 

My Fitness Routine

My Fitness Routine

I focus my workout routine on maintaining rather than bulking up. I lift weights 45 minutes each day for 4 days a week by lifting heavy weight in the fall and maintain with lighter weight in the spring. For aerobic exercise I run 2-3 miles daily, 4 days a week. During the week while coaching softball, I also get a good arm and back workout in daily by doing field work and throwing each day. As a coach, I believe it is important to be in the best physical shape possible to be a role model for all my athletes.

Teacher/Coach Workout Routine

I work out five days a week, 30-45 minutes each day. Three days a week I focus on cardio (walking, biking, jogging). The other two days I focus on strength training (see example work out below).

 

 

During athletics I work with the students on my abdominal muscles by doing crunches, planks, and push-up abs. Most days I get in a good bicep and triceps workout by throwing and hitting to the softball team.

As a teacher and coach finding time to work out is difficult but crucial in order to be at my very best physically and mentally.

My O.C.D. Workout Routine

Organized, Consistent and Disciplined (O.C.D.). ‘O.C.D.’ is commonly connected to negative attributes; but simply change the acronym’s definition and it becomes an equation for success.

O+C+D=S

This equation is the base to any effective fitness routine. Organization begins with a comprehensive assessment, followed with the construction of a mesocycle involving four, four week microcycles. Any limitations discovered during the assessment are addressed and incorporated within the warm-up and strength-training workout plans.

Consistency is the ‘action’ of following the prescribed program and Discipline is acting differently than I feel. When the O.C.D. approach is applied results surface and goals are achieved.

http://tinyurl.com/km83pa4

 

My Personal Fitness Routine

     My personal routine has changed recently from high to low impact training. My workouts are dynamic and flexible due to professional and family time constraints. I pursue a 30 minute workout, 5 days per week at  high intensity - 80% spent on aerobic exercise (biking, running, swimming) and 20% anaerobic (resistance training). I enjoy the recreation center atmosphere, outdoors, and local school weight room/track. When unable to access a facility, I find myself active outdoors at a high intensity for 3-4 hours. My ultimate goal is lifetime physical fitness.

Boulder to Carolina to Prison: The Rocky Path for Rae Carruth

Few stories of criminal activity can compare to the gruesome story of former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth. In November of 1999, Carruth, a wide receiver in his third season with Carolina, was charged with the premeditated, drive-by shooting of his then-pregnant girlfriend Cherica Adams.

Sidelined by an injury a month earlier and nearing the end of his impressive first-round contract from 1997, a frantic Carruth was reportedly becoming increasingly concerned with the potential of financially supporting another child, with which Adams was almost seven months pregnant. The mother of his first son, a child he never saw, was drawing $5,500 each month from his NFL earnings via a positive paternity suit.

After a short time spent on the run from police, Carruth was arrested and stood trial in 2000. Judge Charles Lamm presided over the case in which 7 men and 5 women found the ex-NFLer guilty. Carruth was charged with  conspiracy to murder and attempted murder, among other charges, with a prison sentence no shorter than 18 years and 11 months.

Photo courtesy of ibtimes.com.

Atypical of professional football players who have previously been mentioned in this series, Carruth was said to have “thrived” during his time at the University of Colorado. He was active as a young professional athlete, volunteering and becoming involved with youth organizations. Selected no. 27 overall by general manager Bill Polian, the young draftee gave little indication of potential legal issues.

 “We had no inkling there was anything like this in his future. We did pretty extensive research on him. It was pretty shocking,” said Polian. Carruth is said to have refrained from attending parties, smoking, or drinking while in college. He kept to himself within the Panthers’ locker room.

Cherica Adams died a month after she was shot due to complications. Today, Rae Carruth sits in the medium-security institution located in Lillington, N.C. His son, Chancellor, is now a teenager and living with the effects of cerebral palsy, caused by a deprivation of oxygen resulting from one of the gunshots.

Gruesome may paint the picture, but tragic sums up the story.