How exercising every day positively effects my work...

When I think about the many benefits that I receive by exercising everyday, I mostly think in terms of improved health and fitness.  And while doing research about daily exercise and the physical benefits, I realized that there are many great reasons to exercise, that are specifically related to improving my work performance.

Exercise has many positive mental benefits: reducing stress and anxiety, improved focus, better mood, increased energy, and better sleep quality!

Every one of these mental benefits translates to better performance at work.  When exercise reduces my stress and anxiety, I go to work more relaxed and calm, and enjoy my interactions with co-workers and clients even more than usual!  When exercise improves my focus, I'm better able to efficiently complete the tasks at hand and helps me to innovate effectively!  And when exercise improves my sleep quality, I arrive at work more alert and feel rested throughout the day!

I exercise everyday, and I have since I turned 40, over 8 years ago.  It has had a positive effect on my work and my family life.  Consider pushing yourself to break a sweat every day!  It is amazing what you might accomplish!

Here is a video showing off what I have accomplished over the last 3000 days of exercising everyday.

Even the US Government has done research to prove the benefits of exercise in the workplace.  Read more about it here.

Thanks for watching!

Find more at www.earlyworkingretirement.com
My youtube channel is /footbagenlightener
Follow me on Twitter: @enlightener1
Friend me on Facebook: /enlightener

Footbag Summer Camp Programs - Summer 2014 - Chicago Area

Footbag Summer Camp Programs 

Now Available for Summer of 2014

Footbag is a fun and addictive form of exercise.  A simple, inexpensive footbag is just one of the tools we can use to help in the fight against the epidemics of Childhood Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes!  

Footbag provides constant challenges for individuals and groups, and a fun activity that gets them off their video games and into their driveways and living rooms to practice and get better. The first challenge is learning the basic kicks and aiming for ever increasing consecutive kick goals of 5, 10 or 50 in a row... and there is something about it that makes people want to keep trying.  If consecutive kicking isn't challenging enough, doing tricks with a footbag is the next set of challenges, and there is no end to it!   

Scott Davidson, Education Director for International Footbag Players Association, Certified Instructor and Footbag Freestyle World Champion, has been practicing and competing for 30 years and continues to improve and innovate new tricks.  Additionally, he has also been exercising with footbag freestyle for the past 2675+ days in a row.  

Scott is now offering summer camp demonstrations and instruction on a limited availability basis for the summer of 2014!  While we are very flexible in our presentation, our typical workshop format includes a dynamic demonstration and introduction footbag, followed by an instructional opportunity for the summer camp participants.  We recommend that you opt to include one of our affordable starter footbags for every participant to take home with them, which can be included in the cost of the program.  Please contact me immediately, as I am only available on Mondays this summer, unless I have at least 4 weeks notice.

Playing everyday is something everyone can do!

Whatever your favorite sports are, it is important to exercise every day.  There is a public awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic in America.  We are all responsible for our own health, yet so many are eating unhealthy diets with sedentary habits like TV and video games.

The CDC says: "Childhood Obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years."  They go on to say that Obese youth are more likely to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, at greater risk to bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, low self esteem and as adults are more at risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis.  They conclude with, "Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases."

Maybe playing 'everyday' is overkill, but it has worked for me.  Please watch and comment on my new video, "No Excuses" on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/footbagenlightener#p/u/1/glzd8shVkJo.  It is about my past 4 years (1500 days) of playing footbag freestyle every day in an effort to improve my skills in my 40's, which turns out to be a pretty healthy habit.

Thanks for all your support so far, the movie has had great reviews.  Please share the link on you facebook page if you like it.

-enlightener

Shred notes: 2/4/2011
This week I worked on longer strings, alternating with frontside moves.  Then on strings that contain frontside midstring.  Also tons of Atomic stuff.  Gotta get atom smasher to the point where I don't 'rake' it out, but freeze it in a toe delay which will make it easier to get to legbeater, which is necessary for my long term goal of rubberman.  I think I hit 'Inspinning Swivel' yesterday... haven't seen the tape yet.  I love this sport!  Never a dull session.

NYJ 2010 Thank You's!

Freestyle Footbag enthusiasts from around the world gathered from December 18-20 at the Hyatt McCormick Place to jam until their legs couldn't take it anymore!  We played all day and night for 3 days, and I met many new faces, and got to catch up with some old friends in the process.

This event could not have happened without the support of many people.  I wanted to put out thank you's to everyone and I hope I didn't leave anyone out...

Thanks to the players that showed up at 10am at the site so we could start teaching and make the site look alive.

Thanks to Chicago's Mayors Office of Special Events for providing the site, fencing, electricity, tables and chairs... and for the whole assemblage of excellent mini-events that make up this amazing event!  AWESOME!

Thanks to Kevin Cronk for coming down from Petosky Michigan with his family to join us, just like old times when I met Kevin back in 1990.  Two old skoolers, still playing.  Time flies when you're having fun.

Thanks to our new friends John and Sarah from Dragonfly Footbags who sponsored our event not only with enough footbags to give out to passersby who tried to play footbag, and for the great prizes... but also contributed cash prizes of $450 to make our players really go for it to win the cash!

We only handed out about 75 footbags this year to kids who took the time to try our sport.  Compared to 450 two years ago.  But the footbags were MUCH higher quality then the cheapo chinese footbags we were giving away, so that should be a better experience for all these kids who received a footbag from us.

Thanks to our players who jumped in and helped teach kids who wandered by, when I was busy doing other stuff.  Even when played casually, our sport offers a great opportunity for kids to socialize with their friends while they get their 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day.

Thanks to our past sponsors such as World Footbag Association and Freedom Footbags who would have sponsored us if I had asked.  Sorry I was lazy this year and didn't even ask for their support.

Thanks to Steve (Brat) Goldberg for hosting the Hospitality Suite again!  He sacrificed his room so we would all have a place to hang out together and enjoy the times between our shreds.  Brat also sponsored the Shred Room, and made that possible!  I apologize for leaving on Sunday without specifically thanking Steve for coming out again!  I had a great time getting to spend time around the Brat.  Always a pleasure, and Thanks again!

Thanks to CIC for drumming up interest, for housing our players from out of town, for raising money to have the extra room the extra Monday to continue to play at the Hyatt Site for a third day!  Specifically Tom Kotsakos, job well done.

Thanks to Modern Music of Lisle for providing affordable rental of sound systems.  I wish Cory Current would have been at the event, he is the one who told us about Modern Music.

Some missing faces: Scot Hansen, Eric Cokee, Ted Martin, Steve Smith, Jay Claffey, PJ Lareau, Hacky Sack Jack, Larry Doyle (well, he died, but we still miss him terribly)...

Thanks to Valeria and Alex who put up with my obsessive behavior when it comes to the sport of footbag.

Thanks to all the players who took their valuable vacation time and spent it with us in Chicago.  You are the reason these events are worth hosting year after year.  It is a treat for me to have all these shredders in-town, as it is extremely difficult for me to travel to events these days.  I hope I got to shred with everyone who was there, but I doubt it.  I had a blast and thanks for coming to Chicago for the 2010 New Years Jam.

We are planning to make it an even bigger event next year, so start planning now!

See ya next year!
-enlightener
Scott Davidson

We need more Footbag tournaments and events!

For our sport to properly develop to it's potential, we need more structured events AND we need to do more youth outreach to promote Footbag to kids and parents for it's great health and social benefits. 

This means YOU!

I sit here, saddened, outside the home of the directors of the Funtastik Summer Classic, where I can't escape the reality that this family tradition is about to see it's last repetition.  Tournaments like this, with now 25 years running have a cult following which draws out all the top players and enthusiasts to a single location, for a weekend of friendly competition and general Footbag mania. So many thanks to Brenda and Joe Solonoski for hosting this event year after year, for opening their home to us, and for bringing together so many of our friends into a single location.            It breaks my heart that this is the last Funtastik Summer Classic!

Every self-respecting club needs to run at least one event each year, and do some youth outreach for the good of mankind. 

Check www.kickforhealth.org for info about the 'Footbag Challenge' and how this can be a great vehicle to promote the health aspects of Footbag. 

If you want to run a tournament, it doesn't have to be a mammoth 3-day event, but I have been running Footbag events for 25 years in the Chicago area and I promise to help coach any aspiring tournament directors who want to have an event in your area. 

It all starts right here, right now!   We need more tournaments. Period. Contact me now!
Www.kickforhealth.org

-enlightener
Scott Davidson
1999 Freestyle World Champion

What keeps me going?

As 2010 rolls through (1108 days in a row as we start the new year), I think about the question... 'What motivates me? What keeps me playing everyday?'
There is no single element of footbag that keeps this childish exuberance alive. It is a combination of things, among them:
-The near-infinite variety of possible individual tricks and combinations
-The personal challenge of always pushing myself to do better, more difficult tricks and combos
-The friends I have made, the new people I meet, and the future players I might influence
-The knowledge that a very small percentage of people on the planet can do what I do, and I can and do innovate new tricks and combos that no other person on the planet has ever done before. Or at least 'very' few people.
-The meditative value of footbag cannot be overlooked. On a daily basis, I go from the distractions of daily life, into a deep somewhat-meditative state of challenge and possibility in just a matter of minutes as I get through my warmups. And for some reason, if I visualize footbag freestyle strings while I am laying down, I tend to fall asleep.
-To dip into my personal 'fountain of youth' on a daily basis
-To still be playing solidly when someone finally offers a Masters category for freestyle
-To be able to boast that I am 'the oldest shredder' and know that my game backs it up!
-To be able to pull out a footbag at any moment and show off for a camera, knowing that I am still at the top of my game.
-Because I know that while I can't 'give back' to the world from my pocketbook, but I can use kickforhealth.org as a way to position footbag as a healthy activity for kids, and to teach them to play.
-The way my family pulls together to play together, and for all the travel time we get when we go to tournaments
-All the great excuses to travel, when I would otherwise probably come up with excuses.
-For the weight I have taken off, and kept off because of the constant physical challenge footbag offers.
I play everyday because I love the way it makes me feel!

Have a great year!

-enlightener

Footbag may not be the cure, but it is at least good preventative medicine!

Cases of childhood obesity and adult onset diabetes (Type 2 Diabetes) are symptoms of an epidemic that causes a myriad of health and emotional problems in our youth and young adult populations. People are trending towards poor food choices and sedentary 'activities' in place of balanced home cooked meals and being physically active. The US Surgeon General says on their website: "To ensure a healthy future for America's children, we must—
Help Kids Stay Active, Encourage Healthy Eating Habits, Promote Healthy Choices." REF: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/obesityprevention/index.html

As there is no magic pill to solving these problems, then certainly footbag would be a great option of the 'Help Kids Stay Active' part of the Surgeon General's initiative. Playing Footbag requires moving your legs, which are the largest muscle mass in the body. Burning calories requires jumpstarting the metabolism, and a simple, low-cost item like a Footbag is all you need to get started.

Learning the basics is the initial challenge, which quickly becomes addictive. Give a kid a set of barbells and they cringe thinking about all the 'work'-outs in their future. Give a kid a Footbag and they will play with their friends, and practice alone to get better! With a Footbag, they are getting their exercise, and they don't even realize it.

As proof of this concept, look at the top Footbag athletes. They are fit and in shape. In my case, I've been playing for over 25 years, and for the past 1070 days in a row (since I turned 40). I am not at risk for being overweight, and no sign of diabetes. Of course, I've been a vegetarian making good food choices for over 15 years which helps too (thanks to Valeria for all the great meals).

www.kickforhealth.org is committed to presenting Footbags to young audiences, to encourage it as a fun activity that provides exercise without realizing it is exercise. It is great to play with everyone in the family, truly quality time.

Meanwhile, tell everyone you know about footbag. But you already know that!

***********************************

Shred Notes 11/24/09;
I think that because I rely so heavily on cross body tricks, that I always feel a form of guilt when I spend time on them, which takes away from my time
Skooling new tricks and working on my flipside. Today, I skooled blurry whirls and many other whirls. It was overdue. No guilt, literally And just when I got totally warm, I ran out of time.

- enlightener