It is a strange health irony that we face.

The costs of obesity are staggering. In order to decrease both the short-term and long-term costs, we need to get people moving. But as we get more people moving, how many get injured along the way?

In a health care system that has tremendous levels of over-utilization, are we truly saving any money if people end up injured in the process?

I am not saying that we need to live in fear of injury and stay obese. What I am saying is that simply “getting active” can be a significant risk factor – and if you do get injured, the health care “system” will probably over-treat you. If we can prevent injuries while losing weight, we end up with huge cost savings. If we have an increase in injuries while attempting to lose weight, the long-term costs may actually rise.

Let’s take a look at how the process typically works. If you are overweight, which represents a significant percentage of the US population, you might decide that you need to lose some weight. You might decide that you need to change your lifestyle. You might even decide to understand the reasons why you eat and address them accordingly. Great stuff!

The hard part is over … or is it?

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Winning ugly.

It’s true that no matter how you cut it, a win is a win. The score could be 1 – 0 or 50 – 0. Either way, it’s a win.

The Longhorns have somehow managed to find a way to go 6 – 0 this season. Yesterday, they managed to find a way to struggle past the Sooners 16 - 13. Once again, they didn’t arrive to really play until the second half. Maybe they got stuck at the fried butter booth. Or perhaps it was too many pre-game funnel cakes? Or maybe they were just a little awestruck to be in the presence of Big Tex?

Mack Brown and Colt McCoy both made post-game comments to the effect of “we’ve not played our best game yet”. The problem is, one of these days, the ”not-showing-up-until-the-second-half” syndrome is going to bite them in the butt. And then, it won’t matter if they still haven’t played their best game because the season will, for all intents and purposes, be over. Thirty minutes of football isn’t going to get it done, more often than not.

Why would a one loss team be out of the equation, especially with the current season being as unpredictable as it’s been?

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Every athlete wants to improve. That is a simple fact. Most athletes will opt for the “more is better” approach. But if you move poorly in space and have lousy mechanics, then “more” just reinforces the bad.

As a coach, I will always opt for the “more better is better” approach. Good quality training involves working on technique. My goal is to make each and every athlete move better in space - which always involves working on the technical aspects of their sport training.

All motor programs for sport activities are under volitional control. Motor programs can thus be improved with training! But to do so, we have to keep in mind that the primary limiter when learning a new sport activity (or component of it) is neuromuscular fatigue. For example, when doing swim drills, there is a point of diminishing returns in which “doing more” will only reinforce bad movement patterns. From a neurological (central nervous system) perspective, the goal must always be one of quality, maintaining the goal movement pattern, and then stopping when neuromuscular fatigue sets in.

Oftentimes a key word or mental cue can be a starting point to improving an athlete’s sport biomechanics. Here are a list of 17 mental cues that can be used to improve your sport technique for each of the three triathlon disciplines.

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It’s been a while since I posted anything about the Horns. Why? I have been waiting to assess the fall-out after the Wyoming game. We’re now 5 – 0 and are heading to Dallas for the showdown with Oklahoma. Everyone thought that this weekend’s match-up would be a battle of top 5 teams, and, well, only one top 5 team is heading to the State Fair this weekend. Sorry, Sooners.

After Wyoming, we faced Texas Tech. 2008. Enough said. This time around, the game shouldn’t have been close – but it was. Quarterback Taylor Potts was simply - amazing. Another diamond that has been mined by coach Mike Leach. What is even more amazing is that since then, Potts sustained a concussion and Leach brought in third string QB Steven Sheffield – who threw for 490 yards in his first start. It’s time to start investigating “quarterback performance enhancement” out in Lubbock, because somehow Leach is a genius when it comes to finding quarterbacks that can throw the ball. Wow. But nonetheless, the Tech game wasn’t a game the Longhorns were going to lose. Reason? Once again – 2008. It might have been close, but there were too many people that couldn’t forget the sting of 2008 and had to exorcise it from memory.

Mission accomplished.

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