248/365 Football Player Syndrome

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

I am only saying this because I care; I don't mean to offend anyone. There's a woman whom I've just started training. She played basketball in college; her husband played football. She's decided to get her life back and start working out again. During our session, we started chatting about her husband and how he's got Football Player Syndrome and now the Triple Threat (Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol). This Triple Threat makes anyone at a much greater risk for having coronary artery disease or a stroke.

Football Player Syndrome is a term she and I came up with. It's something that tends to happen to former athletes: they stop working out at their former intensity but still eat like they are playing 4 hours a day. They have always listened to their coaches to work hard and eat hard. Unfortunately, once that's over, they have no way to burn off the calories they are so accustomed to eating (have you been watching The Biggest Loser? Rulon is a gold medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling).

I'm writing this in case there are any former athletes reading this or if any readers know friends like this. Gaining weight has effects other than clothes fitting tighter and feeling sluggish, these other effects can be fatal. Know your numbers now so that 20 years down the road, you won't be asking yourself, "How did I let this happen?" The numbers I'm referring to are your tri-glycerides, cholesterol, blood pressure, and resting glucose. I'll get into these in the coming days.

In conclusion, you former athletes, you don't have to train like you did in high school or college; just stay active and control your diet. You're not a kid anymore; aging changes your metabolism and unless you do something to keep it running well, you could be diagnosed with this Football Player Syndrome. There are still trainers out there to help you but, ultimately you must decide to want this for yourself.

In health,

Lauren

PS: I love working with former athletes because that drive to work hard and be disciplined never goes away once it gets turned on  :)