{"id":545,"date":"2021-03-22T12:56:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T11:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viaro.org\/research\/athletics-in-adolescence\/"},"modified":"2021-03-26T11:53:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T10:53:04","slug":"athletics-in-adolescence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viaro.org\/research\/en\/athletics-in-adolescence\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletics in adolescence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eliud Kipchoge is the first person in history to run a marathon in under two hours. This means running 42km and 195m with a pace of 2\u201950\u201d each kilometer, which is the same as running this colossal distance at 21,1km\/h. His goal in running is to affirm that No Human Is Limited<\/em><\/a>: \u201cto show to the world that when you focus on your goal, when you work hard and when you believe in yourself, anything is possible<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

My intention is to relate this quote to the benefits of athletics<\/strong> in every single person and in this case specifically I\u00b4ll be focusing on the period of adolescence<\/strong>. Kipchoge\u2019s record is the result of lots of hours of training and sacrifice, it\u2019s not a feat that you can achieve one day to another. In fact, he has achieved this at 34 years old and with countless marathons in his legs. \u201cNo one is born a perfect runner. And none of us will become one. But through incremental steps, we can become better runners. And that’s the beauty of our sport: There are no shortcuts, nothing is given to us; we earn every mile, and we earn every result\u201d (Peter Magill).<\/p>\n\n

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A teenager that decides to join and start running is showing a high level of compromise and commitment<\/strong>. Our trainings start at 8 in the morning before class and believe me: on a cold day in winter these are hours nobody particularly looks forward to. It\u2019s incredible to see how they\u2019re constantly capable of fighting that inner voice that tells you to slow down because you\u2019re tired, because it\u2019s cold and because you don\u2019t feel like doing it. They row upstream with all its might, they suffer, they fight with themselves and they win, as Kipchoge says. The truth is that as a coach I\u2019m so lucky to experience their tireless spirit of fight and sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n

Adolescence is often a complicated period, it\u2019s when teenagers define their personality. Lots of times they feel misunderstood and out of place. They need to be sure within themselves. Athletics can help this, a lot. They set personal objectives, achieve them and prove to themselves that they are capable of doing things which they often never imagined they could. The feeling of satisfaction which comes with such achievements is so great that it helps their self-esteem grow<\/strong>, which has a large psychological and emotional benefit.<\/p>\n\n

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One could think of running as an individual sport, however it allows students to share trainings and experiences with other friends outside the classroom. Teamwork during trainings is essential<\/strong>. Interval running on the track, running technique, strength sessions, trail running days\u2026 everything is teamwork. It\u2019s an extreme example but Kipchoge himself is based from Monday to Saturday in a camp in Kenya with all his team mates, which for him are the key to success. He always remembers: “100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the entire team”.<\/p>\n\n

Furthermore, in the discipline of athletics you burn a large amount of calories, which is why it\u2019s an ideal sport for losing and controlling weight. You strengthen your bones, your muscles and improve your circulation and lung capacity. It\u2019s a very complete way of being fit and can be a good focus point for all their never-ending energy. One consequence of all this is that they are calmer and they sleep better<\/strong>. Being exhausted and having burned all the tension and stress makes it much easier to get to sleep at night. I could continue analyzing all the good that sport does but I would never end.<\/p>\n\n

At Viar\u00f3 we are lucky enough to be a federated club and we can participate in competitions at all levels: we are able to produce officially recognized stats which enable the progress of our students to regional and state championships which students from Viar\u00f3 have done in the past. A dream can come true for any athlete.<\/p>\n

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This is essential because this increase in confidence helps in other aspects of their lives, for instance academically<\/strong>. In fact, according to a stud<\/a>y by The Journal of Pediatrics<\/em>, a high cardiorespiratory capacity and motor ability due to sport, may have a beneficial influence on academic performance in youth.<\/p>\n\n