Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2007 19:13:53 GMT -6
Don't want to get in trouble with HPPA disclosures, etc. but anyone have to deal with health concerns that kind of don't jive with coaching football?
I had a skin cancer on my face removed 3 years ago and now have hypertension and got the lecture and prescription about that from the doctor. It shocked me, I'm in the best shape I've been in since the college days. . .shocked.
Are we really in that risky of a profession?
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Post by brophy on Nov 28, 2007 19:37:41 GMT -6
Don't want to get in trouble with HPPA disclosures, etc. but anyone have to deal with health concerns that kind of don't jive with coaching football? I had a skin cancer on my face removed 3 years ago and now have hypertension and got the lecture and prescription about that from the doctor. It shocked me, I'm in the best shape I've been in since the college days. . .shocked. Are we really in that risky of a profession? when we age faster and harder than the average joe, is it because of the 'responsibility' or is that just a by-product of how we treat our bodies (out of convenience)? How much can we blame on strictly "coaching" and how much on bad diet (or the abundance of processed garbage), lack of exercise, smoking/drinking, etc.....?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2007 19:55:43 GMT -6
Funny that you mention it that way because all the doctors I've had to see want to attribute everything to football. I told the guy today that it wouldn't matter what I do, there'd be stress--I'm about as intense about duck hunting as I am at coaching.
I've done everything I can to take care of myself--guess some things just happen.
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mike13
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Post by mike13 on Nov 29, 2007 7:54:51 GMT -6
I nearly allowed coaching to kill me a couple of years ago. I was having chest pain, irregular heart beat, couldn't sleep and couldn't eat. I was only 39 at the time. I went through the entire cardio work up to find my heart and cardio system were in good shape. It was simply stress. I learned from that to scale back a little on the intensity. Haven't had a problem since. My wife tells me I don't bring the game home as much as I used too.
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neil
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Post by neil on Nov 29, 2007 9:01:00 GMT -6
Every coach at LSU this season has had more heart problems than Dick Cheney!
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Post by senatorblutarsky on Nov 29, 2007 9:21:54 GMT -6
I nearly allowed coaching to kill me a couple of years ago. I was having chest pain, irregular heart beat, couldn't sleep and couldn't eat. I was only 39 at the time. I went through the entire cardio work up to find my heart and cardio system were in good shape. It was simply stress. I learned from that to scale back a little on the intensity
Same exact thing happened to me last year (38 at the time). This year I came down with diverticulitis. Just getting over that now. I also had 2 broken ribs (more from stupidity than football... but happened during ath. period), plus a black eye from practice (football related- trying to get our TE to zone step properly).
Every year, I am a mess in late Nov. right after the state championships... I never get sick during the season, but the aftermath of late nights, early mornings, poor eating takes its toll.
I do think Brophy has a good observation- during football coaching is my tunnel vision... after the season I pay for ignoring the rest of my life.
I have been better than I was in the past... but as I get older, better isn't good enough... I always seem to slip off of my in season diet plan a few weeks before playoffs.
Hopefully this past season taught me a lesson I won't as easily forget.
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Post by tribepride on Nov 29, 2007 9:30:41 GMT -6
What the heck is diverticulitis???
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Post by senatorblutarsky on Nov 29, 2007 9:36:41 GMT -6
What the heck is diverticulitis???
Hopefully you will never know... it is an infection in the (large) intestine... can spread to colon, bladder, etc...
I didn't eat for 6 days. Pretty painful. In extreme cases, requires surgery. It can cause a lot of problems and even death if not treated reasonably quickly/properly.
Usually initially caused by poor diet.
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Post by olinecoach61 on Nov 29, 2007 9:49:10 GMT -6
Its amazing the stress and pressure that the job creates. Now that the season has been over for a few days, I feel totally different physically and mentally. I have tried eating better this year, but still put on weight and did not hit the gym enough, long scouting trips = fatness.
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Post by kylem56 on Nov 29, 2007 10:15:27 GMT -6
exhaustion definently, im only 21 and between full time school and coaching i beat myself down and ended up spending 5 days in the hosppital with menegitas and exhaustion
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cre44
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Post by cre44 on Nov 29, 2007 10:26:02 GMT -6
I think I age in dog years with coaching...1 year coaching = 7 years normal person.
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Post by brophy on Nov 29, 2007 10:41:03 GMT -6
Houston Nutt 2003 Houston Nutt 2007 while the pressures of winning and managing a high-profile (not necessarily high-pay) spot are demanding....I think we need to measure the "health" of the average joe, who, in this day and age, isn't all that healthy to begin with. Saying that you have health problems is valid, due to the pressures of coaching. However, I believe it would be responsible to temper those "findings" with the general overall health of the American population.....which, the average American (processed) diet and easy lifestyles (sedentary) do not do the human body any favors. You'll notice the rise of cancer, medications, and a host of "unnatural" maladies affecting the average person (as compared to when our parents were growing up).
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Post by thunder17 on Nov 29, 2007 12:37:18 GMT -6
Staying up until 2 in the morning drinking beer trying to figure out why Johnny went here instead of there doesn't do the body any favors. I don't know about the rest of you but for me the stress is not a direct result of winning or losing, but rather in the preperation for opponents. During the season I am constantly thinking about the upcoming game and when your not very good that can cause alot of stress.
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Post by Coach Huey on Nov 29, 2007 12:42:30 GMT -6
have had a twitch in my left eye -- a bad twitch -- for 3 weeks now ...
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Post by brophy on Nov 29, 2007 12:48:07 GMT -6
have had a twitch in my left eye -- a bad twitch -- for 3 weeks now ... take two shots downfield, and call me in the morning....
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Post by aztec on Nov 29, 2007 13:00:32 GMT -6
Coaching can cause a lot of stress which will age you fast. I suffer from migraines. This year was the best in 5 years where I only had one migraine during the season. Last year I was getting on a week and had headache for 35 straight days. I had some job responsibility changes this year at school which has made a huge difference. Just like many above the poor diet and lack of exercise pay the toll on my body. I started working out again this week, but tell myself every year I will workout more but by the time league starts I stop doing it.
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Post by coach79 on Nov 29, 2007 13:05:54 GMT -6
My knee hurts...
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Post by coachbdud on Nov 29, 2007 13:13:30 GMT -6
my first year coaching football i was coaching a drill and looking one way, when a WR on the other side ran the wrong way in the drill i hear him turn around and get enough toime to stick my arm out to slow him up, WHAM. his helmet hits me right in the mouth, look down and blood is rushing out of my mouth, my front 2 teeth are knocked back pointing to my throat. luckily i was only 18 and still had braces, the braces actually saved my front 4 teeth from neing knocked out completely. ortho straightened my front ones back up in about a day or two then had to do some srious wire tweaking to fix them for good. mouth hurt like a bitch for a few weeks and had a giant swollen lip for close to a month
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Post by superpower on Nov 29, 2007 13:14:41 GMT -6
Brophy's post about Houston Nutt reminded me of before and after pictures of American Presidents. The aging process is amazing in high stress situations. However, I don't think that coaching football brings the same stress as running the country. My wife reminds me frequently that football stress is really self-induced. If I didn't care so much, I wouldn't have so much stress. Anyhow, it would be interesting to do a study of before/after photos of NFL coaches, major college coaches, and high school coaches.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2007 13:58:37 GMT -6
My doctor told me to take a day off and relieve stress so I went goose hunting this morning. Don't know if it did my stress any good, but it didn't hurt!
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Post by thunder17 on Nov 29, 2007 14:16:35 GMT -6
Don't think it helped Bobby Knight! How bad do you think he wanted to shoot that guy?
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Post by cmow5 on Dec 2, 2007 14:34:46 GMT -6
Looking at it from strictly physical aspect not stress related I found that I was in better shape during the season. I am a typical couch potato, but when I am at practice or a game I am running from one drill to the next with the kids, drinking more water, and running up and down the sideline. During the off season I find it hard to leave the couch for a beer.
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Post by coachcb on Dec 2, 2007 14:53:31 GMT -6
My biggest struggle during the football season is finding a balance between football and everything else (i.e LIFE). I always try and maintain a steady exercise routine along with a good diet during the season; but I tend to over do it. I tend to over train during the workout and not eat enough: I really only come down with illnesses during the football season.
This year, I came down with a nasty case of strep throat; dragged me out like you wouldn't believe. Couldn't hit the gym and my throat hurt too bad to eat; but I wasn't about to miss practice or games. Finally got sent home by the HC for a few days.
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Post by fbdoc on Dec 2, 2007 15:54:45 GMT -6
Found that the "stress" of football beats the stress of working in an office (real life!). During the season I'm definitely a Type A person but in the past several years I've also tried to coach smarter, as opposed to longer. Right now I'm enjoying the time off - no playoffs - but I can't wait to get back to it this Spring (great bunch of kids coming back!). It's easier for me to put on a couple of pounds in the off season since I'm not running around out on the field but I also run almost every day and workout 3 days a week (vanity or health?). I've had this routine for a long time now (I'm 50) so for me, coaching and health go hand in hand. Having said that, I'm heading home (I was in the office making senior hi-lite tapes) to catch the Steelers - whose up for a couple of beers?
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Post by coachjoe3 on Dec 2, 2007 17:59:01 GMT -6
For me it's migraines, etc . . . one time got pneumonia so bad I was hospitalized three weeks into the season because I wasn't resting it out. Saw the score of our first game on the news from the hospital bed. We lost by one point, so that didn't help my health any at all.
I'd take the stress of coaching over about any other stress too. I don't know if my health problems have been a direct result of coaching though, but balance is a problem. Like some of the other coaches have said, once the season starts, there's not much else. I still struggle with the fact that if I don't take care of myself, there won't be a whole lot of coaching getting done. In-season, it's all "Yeah, yeah, we got stuff to do though, it's football season!" and most everything else gets shoved to the side. Then when it's over, I make all sorts of promises to take better care of myself next season. It's kind of my New Years resolution a couple months early. One of these years I'll get the balance right.
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Post by brophy on Dec 4, 2007 9:25:53 GMT -6
now, there are two sides of this coin (IMO)
#1 (and probably most important) whether or not you are a coach or not, we ALL have to make efforts to treat our bodies right. I am sure we are all conditioned to "play through pain" and for a large part ignore our bodies and its needs. Ignore sleep, nutritional, or fitness needs because we are driven to succeed.
#2 Old habits die hard. How many of us 'chew' / 'dip' because that is the norm in football (I think a requirement to be a GA is a log of Coppenhagen)? How many of us drink to either bury the pain of defeat or celebrate the joys of victory? Football is an emotional game, and there are a lot of things we do to carry that wave of emotion through physio-psychological self-medicating (drinking,smoking,eating,etc), because it is not natural to go from 120 mph to a dead stop (leaving the 'game' on the field).
#3 The stress of football (to win) is self-imposed. The compulsion to "win" isn't because of football. Football just offers us a fairly healthy outlet for this need to control and create. If football wasn't there, we'd be putting just as much effort into gardening, motorcycles, hunting, fishing, whatever.....it is just how we are wired. To give the most effort possible, for a satisfaction of doing a job well. Cutting corners or not taking it seriously, isn't an option.
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Post by fbdoc on Dec 4, 2007 9:55:58 GMT -6
Brophy - that's a 3 sided coin you're using.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2007 23:28:23 GMT -6
One week later than when I went to the doctor and started the thread. The blood pressure is down a bit, I've lost 6 pounds, and doing better.
And the geese are still falling. . .
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Post by phantom on Dec 6, 2007 15:58:10 GMT -6
Do any of you guys get through the season OK but get sick almost as soon as the season ends? I get run down once or twice during the season and have to take a sick day but after that day of rest I'm fine (of course, I'm not resting. I'm working at football at home but I don't have to get up at 5:45 either). It seems that frequently as soon as the season ends I get sick.
This week I've felt run down all week and have had a serious case of the trots. That seems to happen almost every year. It's like my body feels like it has permission to get sick after hanging on through the season.
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Post by coachorr on Dec 8, 2007 1:34:31 GMT -6
When I started this thing ten years ago, I remember that I was about 280 and I could run faster than the most of the JV team and all of the linemen on the varsity team. I used to run with the team after every practice.
Well now I weigh 325 and am in the worst shape of my life. This summer, I used to ride my bike and I dropped down to 312 obs, but that has been long lost since the beginning of the season and starting in a new school teaching two new subjects. It seems like I am too tired all of the time.
Since I started ten years ago, I have gone through four jobs in the private industry, started and completed a masters, did my student teaching taught at three different schools and and moved twice.
I just wish that I would have the discipline to take off a few pounds and get into better shape. The good news is I have cut way back on the alcohol consumption and I eat very healthy. The key is eat less and exercise more, but in a high stress world with high expectations, the little things just seem to get left out. To be honest, when I have free time, I just want to spend it with my family. I wish it were easy, but it has not been.
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