Welcome Back!

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year and RHS Conditioning! The weight room is now open after school from 2:35-3:20 Monday-Thursday. Stop in to condition for your sport, your health, and your life!

I look forward to seeing you!

Coach Katinas

Summer Conditioning is under way!

After a hectic end to the school year (National Board exam, the passing of my father, and preparing for a 2 week international vacation in Greece), summer conditioning is now in full swing. Football started workouts on June 29th, and open weight room began Monday, July 6th. Do take advantage of these opportunities to prepare yourself for your upcoming season, reduce the likelihood of injury, and/or maintain your current level of fitness!

Summer Conditioning takes place on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Football Conditioning
9:00 - 11:00 am

Open Weight Room
11:00 - 12:30 pm

I look forward to seeing you!

Yours in strength,

Coach Katinas

Season Confusion?

With the way the weather has been lately it's hard to tell whether it's Spring, Winter, or Fall. Our Spring vacation was more like winter, last Monday and Tuesday were like Spring, and these past few days have seemed like fall. Considering the season confusion I figured it afforded the opportunity to bring clarity to where you should be in regards to your fitness and sports conditioning.

Classes (aerobics/conditioning and weight training/conditioning)
There are 8 weeks before our post fitness test and 9 weeks before the Green Lake run. You should be asking yourself if the cardio work we are doing in class will be enough to help you meet standards. Look for opportunities outside of school to do more. Also, extra work on curl-ups, push-up holds, and push-ups at home is a simple way to maintain and/or increase your muscle strength and endurance.

Spring Sports
Even though you are in season, don't abandon the weight room. Short intense sessions 1-2 times per week will help you maintain your off-season gains and give you the strength and confidence to finish your season strong.


It's nice to see the track and tennis teams keeping up their efforts.

Fall Sports
If you haven't started off-season conditioning yet, you need to! There are 18 weeks before the first Fall practices. While that may seem like a lot of time, think about what your compatition is doing right now. If you haven't started yet, you can bet they have. And if by chance they haven't, then you can be the one to get the edge by starting now.


Winter Sports
Ideally, it's time to start off-season conditioning now! Between now and the end of the school year (10 weeks) training can help you rehab any injuries, improve your joint mobility, develop your core strength and stability, and develop your muscular and cardiovascular endurance (re-conditioning). Also, if you need or want to get your body composition to an "ideal" weight, now is the time to make the changes! For example, if you are planning to wrestle at a certain body weight, get there over the next 25 weeks instead of starving yourself and depriving yourself valuable nutrients (energy) to make weigh-in before a match!

Remember, the weather may be confused on what it should be doing now, but you shouldn't!

Happy training and hope to see you after school soon!

Yours in strength,



Coach Katinas

New Year New Hopes

Like many people I use the end of the year to reflect back on the year that was, and the start of the new year to look ahead at the year to come. Also, like many people I take time to think about what I hope to accomplish in the coming year. Many people refer to this as "new years resolutions." I like to think of it as goal setting. I just find setting goals more concrete, tangible if you will. Goal setting is taking a resolution one step closer to becoming reality. For example, many people resolve to make changes in their diet and exercise habits. Students might resolve to improving their grades, or spending less time on the computer. The problem that I see with resolutions is that people are often excited and motivated at first, but then, for a variety of reasons, loose interest or focus as the year moves further and further away from January 1st. Goal setting on the other hand is not limited to the beginning of the year, nor should it be. Goals need to be set in the mind first (the resolution part), then written down on paper, and finally put into action. Once in action, they need to be evaluated and modified as you progress toward the end result. What worked? What didn't work? What did I like or dislike? What can I do differently? Also, goals help you take the resolution you make and break it down into smaller more attainable parts. Seeing little improvements can help serve as your motivator to keep to your goal.

Let's look at some tips to consider when setting goals:

• Be specific. For example, saying I want to do better in class, eat better, or improve my mile run time is not enough. Specific goals would be improving my grade in class from a "B" to an "A," limiting myself to one soft drink a day, and improving my mile time from 8:30 to a 7:30 minute mile.
  
• Be realistic. The goals you set should be challenging, but must be within your reach as well. Take the same examples, if you hope to improve your grade from a "B" to an "A", don't expect it to happen in the last week of the semester. It's going to take time. You need to be aware of your grades on a regular basis and communicate with your teacher on what assignments you might be able to turn in late, redo, or what extra credit opportunities are available. When it comes to diet, setting a goal of eliminating all sugar might be too difficult. Likewise, a goal of improving your mile from an 8:30 to a sub 6:00 minute mile might be unrealistic considering your genetics.


• Be measurable. If your goal is specific it's more likely to be measurable. The time frame in which you seek to accomplish the goal must also be considered as I described in the example above. Maybe the "A" or sub 6 minute mile is obtainable by the end of the school year.

It's also important to consider the following different types of goals:

1. Process goals. These are the little goals or the steps along the way that will lead you to your ultimate goal. For example, some steps to improve your grade might include not missing any more class, paying attention in class, understanding the expectations for assignments, and completing the assignment on time.
   
2. Short term goals cover 1-2 months. They help you achieve mid to long-term goals by checking in on your process goals.
   
3. Mid term goals cover 3 months – a year. Focusing on your semester grades, perfect attendance, no referrals, fitness scores, and sports season achievements are examples of what would fit into mid term goals.


4. Long term goals cover 1-4 years. With long term goals you should be thinking about what kind of legacy you want to leave at RHS or how do you want your RHS career to be remembered? (Examples: graduate with honors, four year letter in the sport(s) you play, earn entrance to the college of your choice).

Some final thoughts. The idea behind setting goals is to think of the end result first, then put behaviors into action to accomplish them! What a great feeling it is to set your sights on something and make the sacrifices to achieve it! Remember, the best things in life come with a price!

Have an accomplished 2009!

Yours in Strength,

Coach Katinas

Catching up!

It's amazing how time passes, three months and a few days to be exact. Let me catch up a bit. The ACL clinic in October was a start for what I hope to be an annual event of bringing in experts to discuss topics related to injury reduction and sports performance. Participants learned about the structure and function of the knee and exercises they can and should be doing to reduce the likelihood of injury. Athletes that play volleyball, basketball and soccer are at higher risk for this injury due to the landing force from a jump if force is not absorbed properly and the twisting action at the knee if not changing directions properly. I am pleased to say that jumping, landing, and change of direction technique are cornerstones of the RHS conditioning program. These skills are instructed in all of my conditioning classes as well as to student athletes that visit the weight room with their team or as individuals.

The time warp that I've been in the past three months is called being a candidate for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. I won't fully emerge from this until March 31, 2009, when all my entries and documentation are submitted for review. In short, the process involves extensive description, analysis, and reflexion on what I do as a teacher and how it impacts student learning. There are four separate entries, each with a different focus. Entry one focuses on instruction of motor skill development. Entry two is about assessment strategies and how I use assessment to guide my teaching and student learning. In entry three I need to demonstrate how I establish a safe and positive learning environment for all students. And for entry four, I need to show how I impact student learning beyond the classroom setting, for example, working with students in the weight room after school or over the summer. Lessons are video taped and assessments are collected then I go through the process of describing, analyzing, and reflecting on what I did and why. The process is time consuming, challenging, but highly rewarding! I've learned so much about myself as a teacher already and I feel that going through this process will bring the best out of me as a teacher!

I'd like to just take a moment to reflect on the accomplishment of the football team this past fall, finishing with a winning record of 5-4! I have the pleasure of working closely with the team as their conditioning coach throughout the year. The time, energy, and commitment put in by the players throughout the Spring and Summer payed off! There is plenty more to accomplish though as we get ready to start the process all over again this January!

Finally, enjoy the rest of winter break and good luck to the winter sports teams! We look forward to cheering you on after the break!

yours in strength,

Coach Katinas

ACL Injury Reduction Clinic

The date and time have been set! The ACL Injury Reduction Clinic will take place on Wednesday, October 15th from 7:00 - 8:15pm in the RHS Commons.

Please join Penny Coppersmith, PT of Coppersmith physical therapy, Roosevelt athletic trainer Andrew Little, and me for an up close look and hands on clinic learning about the structure of the knee and exercises to reduce the likelihood of injury.

Welcome Back RIDERS!

Welcome back RIDERS! Now that the school year is more than two weeks old, I wanted to share with you some happenings in my classes and with RHS Conditioning.

The start of this school year has been met with added excitement as the RHS physical education staff is piloting a new curriculum for Seattle Public Schools. The program curriculum is titled “Five for Life” and emphasizes the five components of health related fitness (cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition). All students in my fitness and conditioning classes have already completed pre-fitness testing. Post fitness test results will be mailed out to parents at the end of the semester. At RHS, we like to think of our department as being ahead of the curve in high school PE, and because we are the only high school in the district to take the lead in this endeavor, it gives us reason to believe we are! The other Seattle high schools will get on board next year.

In the weight room, after school hours have been under way for the past two weeks. The weight room is open to all students Monday - Thursday from 2:25-3:25. Also, boy’s basketball has started their pre-season conditioning program. They are working out Monday - Friday beginning at 2:30pm. Monday consists of track running, Tuesday and Thursday consists of strength training and short shuttle agility work, Wednesday is long shuttles, and Friday combines strength training and running on the track.

This October RHS Conditioning will be hosting an ACL Injury Reduction Clinic. Non contact ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries are one of the most common injuries in sports like basketball, volleyball, and soccer, and are 4 to 5 times more likely to occur in females. Come join Coppersmith Physical Therapy, RHS athletic trainer Andrew Little, and me for an informational and hands on clinic to learn about the structure of the knee and exercises to reduce the likelihood of injuries. Check back next week for the exact date and time.

That’s all for now RIDERS! Stay strong!

Yours in strength,

Coach Katinas