TrueSport: May 2021 - Performance Anxiety

Many athletes believe they need dietary supplements to perform at their best, but what do you think? Is this trust deserved? While it’s true that some supplements can be helpful in some circumstances, often, the benefits and safety of supplements are overestimated.

If a supplement product is on a store shelf, then it must be safe, right? Don’t be fooled! Dietary supplements are regulated in a post-market manner, meaning the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not evaluate the contents or effects of supplements before they are sold. A harmful or illegal dietary supplement can stay on store shelves for a long time, sometimes even years, before the FDA can remove it. Because of this, it’s important for you to be an informed consumer and understand the risks before deciding to use any dietary supplement.

This five-part series on supplements will give you an overview of the dietary supplement industry so that you can decide if the potential benefits of dietary supplements outweigh those risks. And, if you find you do need to use supplements, how you can better choose a low-risk product.

What is a dietary supplement?

First step? Understanding what a dietary supplement is and isn’t.

The dietary ingredients found in supplements can also be found in foods. In fact, by law, dietary supplements can only contain ingredients that are already in the food supply. It’s important to realize, however, that dietary supplements are highly processed and there is always a chance of contamination during the manufacturing process. Since the FDA doesn’t investigate the contents of dietary supplements before they are sold, supplement labels indicate what the company intends to include in the supplement, not necessarily what’s in the product. Whether by accident or on purpose, it’s possible that supplements can be contaminated with ingredients that aren’t shown on the label, including prohibited steroids, stimulants and prescription drugs.

According to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, a dietary supplement is defined by law as a product taken by mouth that contains a “dietary ingredient” and is intended to supplement the diet. The intended use can only be to supplement, or add to, the diet. A supplement product cannot advertise to treat or cure a disease or ailment of any type. With this definition, a patch or a cream is not legally considered a supplement.

So, what is a dietary ingredient?

The dietary ingredients contained in supplements may include vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances, such as enzymes, organ tissues, glands and metabolites. Dietary supplements may also contain extracts or concentrates of dietary ingredients, and may be found in many forms, including:

• Tablets
• Capsules
• Softgels
• Gelcaps
• Liquids
• Powers
• Bars - if the label does not represent the product as a conventional food or as a replacement for a full meal or diet.
• Liquid - if the information on the label makes it clear that it’s not a standard beverage or drink for the sole purpose of rehydration.

Regardless of the form, the DSHEA places dietary supplements in a special category under the general umbrella of “foods,” not drugs, and requires that every supplement be labeled a dietary supplement.

What are natural supplements?

When companies label food or supplements as “all natural,” they may be hoping that you will assume their products are safer and better than other products. However, when it comes to foods or supplements, it’s very hard to know what “all-natural” truly means. Even the FDA recognizes the difficulty in defining this term, and it has not associated the term “natural” with any nutritional benefit or other health advantage.

Takeaway

There’s a lot to know about supplements, starting with what they actually are. The rest of the Supplement Series will outline the health risks and possible need for supplements, as well as which supplements you should always avoid, and which may be safer.

Resource: https://truesport.org/dietary-supplements/what-is-a-supplement/

As the parent of a young athlete, you're probably used to seeing a whole range of emotions, from wild joy to intense anger to devastating sadness. While it's tempting to try to help your athlete ditch the anger and sadness, it's actually more important that you let your athlete experience, understand, and move through their range of emotions.

Here, TrueSport Expert Kevin Chapman, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, explains exactly how you can support your emotional athlete so that you're setting them up for success on the field and in the real world. And remember: When we talk about emotions, it's not just about negative emotions. Being able to understand and regulate positive emotions is important as well.

Don't avoid emotions

You may have had a coach who told you to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity, or maybe you're uncomfortable with big shows of emotion. But letting your athlete show their emotions in a nonjudgmental space is critical for their development.

"What I always try to reiterate to athletes, their parents, their families, and their coaches, is that all emotions serve an adaptive purpose," Chapman says. "Anger, frustration, excitement, disgust, sadness, grief in the event of a loss...all of those emotions are important. They're all trying to tell us to pay attention to what's going on internally and externally, and then to motivate us to engage in a specific action." In other words, emotions are trying to help us navigate our world successfully by helping us evolve our understanding of ourselves and how we relate to the world around us.

Understand the vocabulary

The crux of awareness training is recognizing that all emotions are complex, but Chapman explains that most people assume emotions are simply 'feelings.' "Athletes often say things like, 'I feel like I shouldn't have made that mistake,' or 'I feel like you shouldn't have said that to me,' but those aren't really feelings," Chapman points out.

It’s important to understand what makes up an emotion:

• Thoughts - What I say to myself. Example: "I'm so mad at my teammate."
• Feelings - Physical sensations. Example: A higher heart rate or clenched fists.
• Behavior - What I do about it. Example: The angry athlete may confront his teammate and yell at him.

Separate feelings from emotions

"If an athlete says, 'I feel anxious,' then a parent could ask them to explain the feelings of anxiety. And the kid might say, 'Well, my heart's beating fast.' Now that's an actual feeling," Chapman says.

From that point, you can work on changing the feeling. Start with those physical cues -- in this case, a rapid heartbeat -- by countering it with a physical stimulus, like pausing and taking a few deep breaths with the athlete's eyes closed. That's a start to control the feeling, so you can then shift focus to dealing with the thought that’s causing the feeling.

Get out of emotional spirals by focusing on the present

Any emotion that your athlete is feeling has been triggered by a situation that happens before it. "It's important to teach athletes to become aware that how they respond with that emotion will lead to short and long-term consequences," Chapman says. Coming back to the present and focusing on the controllable elements of the situation, rather than giving in to an emotional reaction, is often easier said than done, but it's a critical skill to learn. "Can your athlete get focused on this pitch, this swing, this moment in time, as opposed to being concerned about what might happen in three days or what happened two hours ago?" Chapman asks.

Regulating emotion is important for positive emotion too

Emotional regulation is true for positive and negative emotional experiences, and successful athletes are good at regulating all strong emotion. Get too excited, and you could get ahead of yourself. Get too negative, and that could lead to a very poor performance. It's a balancing act and regulation will make it easier to find success.

"The classic example of too much positive emotion is anytime you watch a team performance, and they celebrate too early. One minute, you're celebrating your certain victory, the next minute, the other team gets the touchdown, you've lost, and you're crying," Chapman says.

Teach flexibility

Being flexible means being able to envision possible outcomes that are based on evidence. That's the key to emotional regulation: It’s being able to say, "It could be __. But then again, it could be __." Or more specifically, "It could be that I'll never learn this skill. But then again, it could be that with practice, I’ll get it eventually.” Notice that the negative thought is still there, but the goal is to understand that there are also other possible outcomes.

Takeaway

Learning how to manage emotions, both the positive and negative, is key to success in sport and life beyond the field of play. These steps will help your athlete begin the journey to better understanding and controlling their emotions.

Resource: https://truesport.org/performance-anxiety/regular-manage-all-emotions/

As a coach for young athletes, whether they're in elementary school or high school, you're going to deal with the emotional rollercoasters that young people experience. A fight with a friend over the weekend can translate to feelings of despair on game day, and stress over a championship game can leave an athlete feeling paralyzed. But as a coach, you can teach your athletes how to examine their feelings and move on from negative moments.

"Coaches care about athletes, which means we tend to give them reassurance when they have a negative thought," says TrueSport Expert Kevin Chapman, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. "That works for maybe 30 minutes, but it's ultimately going to backfire because now you have to keep reassuring them. The way to get out of that is to teach an athlete to think flexibly by asking the right questions."

According to Chapman, "The whole point of these questions is to get the athlete to look objectively at situations and not rely on emotional experiences. As the coach, you know the answers to the questions that you're asking, but it's going to be much better for the athlete if they work it out for themselves rather than you spoon-feeding them the answer.”

Here, Chapman offers some of the best questions to ask when your athlete is having a tough time or a negative moment on or off the field. And remember, these are also questions that you can teach athletes to ask themselves so that they learn how to question their behaviors and solve problems for themselves.

QUESTION: What's the evidence that this thought is true?

"This is one of my favorite questions to start with," says Chapman. "If a kid were to say, 'I know we're going to get blown out at the next game,' I would ask, 'Well, what's the evidence that this thought is true?'”

“He might answer something like, 'They beat us by about 20 in the last game.' Now we're starting to think evidence, not emotion."

QUESTION: What's happened in the past? Could there be another explanation?

"To change an athlete’s thought process, we’re asking evidence-based questions, not emotion-based questions," Chapman says. Your job here is to take the emotion out of the equation and force your athlete to come at a question logically, looking at only objective facts. Often, athletes will realize that their emotional argument isn't based in logic, which allows them to change their conclusion.

QUESTION: Does blank have to mean blank?

Being flexible is being able to generate other possible outcomes that are based on evidence, which means being able to say, "It could be __. But then again, it could be __." For example, getting beat in the last game sounds like a pretty good argument for getting beat this time. But follow that up with these questions: 'Does them beating us by 20 mean that they will automatically beat us by 20 again?'

Are you 100 percent sure that this outcome will occur? Are you certain that this thought is true?

In math class, students are told that they need to show their work on a test to get full credit. Make them do the same as athletes: What is the incontrovertible evidence that this is going to be the outcome?

QUESTION: What's the worst that can happen? Can you cope with that?

It sounds counter-intuitive to force an athlete to go even deeper into a negative thought. But leading the athlete through the worst-case scenario often helps them understand that the 'worst case' really isn't so bad. "This one is what I call the catastrophizing question," Chapman says. "Because catastrophizing is thinking the worst. It's actually great to make an athlete think through the worst thing that can happen. Once they decide what that is, ask: ‘Can you cope with that?’ The answer is almost always yes."

The easiest example is a playoff game. The worst thing that could happen is the team could lose because of a fumble made by the athlete. But can the athlete survive that? Of course. He won't be kicked off the team, his teammates will understand, and his coach will support him.

Takeaway

Many coaches wonder how to help their athletes overcome negative thoughts that impact performance and enjoyment of the sport. Use these questions to help your athletes change a negative thought process in their sport and beyond.

Resource: https://truesport.org/performance-anxiety/4-questions-change-negative-thoughts/

Chicken is a meal-prep staple for a reason. It's easy to prepare in bulk and it's basically a blank slate when it comes to how you want to prepare or season it. You can shift from Taco Tuesday to an Italian-style dish to a curry with the same batch of chicken breasts, so you skip food boredom while making life in the kitchen a lot simpler. And chicken is perfect for young athletes: A serving (3.5 ounces) of chicken provides 19 grams of protein in 165 calories. That means it is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your athlete is getting the protein they need to keep muscles building and recovering even during tough practice and game weeks. For the frazzled parent running between practices and game day, it's a no-brainer.

Here, TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, shares a few of her favorite ways to stretch a simple chicken meal prep into five fun meals that even picky eaters will love.

Day 1: Cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker or Instant Pot

Why it's great: "The whole chicken is great because it’s iron-rich and protein-balanced, and by adding carbs from potatoes and veggies, this is an easy one-pot meal. Bonus: only one dish to clean!"

How to make it:

• Put whole chicken into slow cooker or Instant Pot with chopped potatoes, broccoli, carrots and onion and a small amount of water (about an inch of water around it). Use the 'poultry' setting on an Instant Pot, or set your slow cooker for eight hours on low. Feel free to swap out the vegetables you're using to account for your young athlete's favorites: String beans, sweet potatoes, beets, and cauliflower can all be great options. You can add whatever spices you prefer; poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and oregano are all easy options to add flavor.
• Serve with your athlete's choice of sauce, like salsa, guacamole, ketchup, honey-mustard, etc.
• During cleanup, strip the chicken of extra meat and store in the fridge. Decant the remaining broth at the bottom of the slow cooker into a glass container and store that in the fridge as well -- or freeze for later use.

Day 2: Chicken fajitas

Why it's great: "It’s an easy, balanced meal that the whole family can get involved with," Ziesmer says. "The chicken fajitas can also be subbed for chicken tacos and honestly, who doesn’t love those?"

Have your athletes help with this meal, whether it’s by shredding cheese and lettuce or chopping veggies. Always rushed at mealtime? Buy pre-chopped peppers and onions from the frozen vegetables section at the grocery store, as well as pre-chopped lettuce and pre-shredded cheese.

How to make it:

• Using leftover chicken from the night prior, sauté with pepper and onion strips and fajita seasoning (cumin, chili, salt and pepper to taste).
• Chop lettuce, shred cheese.
• Roughly chop tomatoes, red onions and cilantro, then toss them together with lime juice and salt to taste for a simple pico de gallo.
• Serve as a build-your-own fajita spread with guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo, salsa, cheese and corn tortillas. (Pro tip: Warm up corn tortillas for a few seconds in the microwave or in a skillet for more pliability and less breakage.)

Day 3: Chicken Soup

Why it's great: "Chicken soup is great because it’s another one pot meal and so easy to clean up!" Ziesmer says. "It's great for cold nights."

A soup is the perfect way to use up the rest of your chicken, as well as any random vegetables languishing in the fridge. It's also a simple set-and-forget meal that you can prep in minutes in the morning and have an amazingly easy dinner prep later.

How to make it:

• In the slow cooker or Instant Pot, combine the leftover broth, add canned diced tomatoes, frozen spinach, a vegetable bouillon cube and a bag of frozen stew vegetables. It's your choice of veggie blend from the dozens of great options out there -- pick the one that has the most vegetables that your kids like. This is also a great time to grab any vegetables in the fridge that are going limp.
• You can add chunks of chicken if you have any leftover as well, or even cube some extra firm tofu and add that for bonus protein.
• Feel free to spice things up with additional spices like oregano or chili, or even a squirt of lemon juice.
• Slow cook for 6-8 hours, or use the Stew setting on the Instant Pot.
• Either add rice directly into the pot if everyone wants the same hearty stew or cook rice separately so that everyone can take what they prefer. You could also opt for a fresh loaf of sourdough bread for some tasty dipping!

Day 4: Healthy fried chicken

Why it's great: "Fried chicken is one of those tasty comfort foods that everyone loves," Ziesmer says. "This meal is sure to please even the pickiest eaters. If you want to make it into a dinner meal, pair with a baked potato and steamed green beans, or your athlete's veggie of choice."

How to make it:

• Mix a half-cup of flour and a cup of crushed Corn Flakes together. Break an egg into a bowl and lightly scramble with a fork.
• Dredge chicken breasts in egg, then coat with the corn flake and flour mixture and place on lightly oiled pan or on parchment paper-lined pan.
• Add vegetables to your pan: Chunk up potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, beets and carrots: Aim for a rainbow of colors surrounding your chicken!
• Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for around 45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
• Serve with a honey-mustard dipping sauce. (You can make this at home mixing a couple teaspoons of honey and a splash of apple cider vinegar into a half-cup of Dijon mustard.)

Day 5: Fried chicken wraps

Why it's great: This easy lunch staple is a great way to use leftover fried chicken from the night before to make the perfect lunch to fuel after-school practice. It's also an easy way to clean out the fridge of any extra veggies from the week, since fried chicken will convince even picky eaters to chomp on tomatoes and spinach!

How to make it:

• Slice the leftover fried chicken into bite-size chunks.
• Slice veggies from the fridge, or use leftover fajita toppings. (sliced peppers, romaine lettuce, spinach, pickled onions, tomatoes, etc.)
• This is a great chance to sneak in some less-loved veggies. Use a cheese grater to shred beets, carrots or cabbage for some added crunch, or slip in a handful of sprouts or another leafy green that often gets left on your athlete's plate.

In a whole-wheat flour wrap, place the chicken and toppings, and add your child's preferred sauce. Guacamole is one great option that adds healthy fat.

Takeaway

Cook smarter not harder using these healthy and easy chicken recipes.

Resource: https://truesport.org/nutrition/5-easy-healthy-chicken-meals/