WE MOVE THIS TOWN: OXFORD, NS

    This Christmas Eve was unlike no other Christmas Eve for both myself and the Town of Oxford, NS. The first of its kind outside of Antigonish, WE MOVE THIS TOWN was a successful event for our town of Oxford.

     A total of eighty-four people came out at 12 noon during the busy day before Christmas, to invest in the movement of the community, each other and more importantly, themselves. WE MOVE THIS TOWN promotes free, organized, social, inclusive physical activity for everyone regardless of experience or athletic ability. Whether you wheel, bike, run, walk or jog it is a time set aside for the community to MOVE together. There is no better time to do this than this time of year when families are often together and we have some extra down time to do some extra activities.  

    The Oxford MOVEMENT started with Town Mayor Tricia Stewart providing us with an awesome dance warm up to “I’ve Got A Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas. She brought the energy to a whole new level! Following the warm-up, we ventured outside to brave the cold for a group photo and our walk/jog movement. Led by Oxford runner Alexa Thompson, the running group of around 12 people detached and set off to run the 5K town loop.

    The remaining participants, which included puppies, young children, older adults, family and friends of all ages set off on the walk. The walking route was about 3.5 KM combined with numerous smiles, high fives, socializing and conversation surrounding the event and discussion about both the reason and motivation behind attending this event.

    Following the MOVEMENT, we all assembled back at the Oxford Lions Center for some hot beverages generously provided by the Oxford Tim Hortons. In addition to all the participants who came out to our WE MOVE THIS TOWN EVENT, we would also like to thank the Oxford Tim Hortons for the beverages and for donating a gift basket, and to thank Ross Screenprint of Antigonish for donating water bottles for prizes! 

    It was a huge success to see people moving, smiling and enjoying their time together actively committing themselves to MOVEMENT within this community. People traveled from as far away as Montreal, Halifax, and northern New Brunswick to see what all the buzz was about WE MOVE THIS TOWN.  A huge thank you goes out to the numerous volunteers who helped make this event possible AND a success! 

WE MOVE THIS TOWN: OXFORD will definitely be a stopping spot again as we approach the New Year with new MOVEMENT opportunities in the works! In the meantime, make sure to MOVE daily, encourage others to MOVE, and keep informed by joining, liking and sharing the WE MOVE THIS TOWN Facebook page, and visiting www.wemovethistown.com for up-to-date MOVEMENT activities and MOVEMENT information!

Ryan Fahey

B.A Human Kinetics

CPTN Canada

Canfitpro FIS, PTS

NCCP

Ubersense

         Who knew 10 years ago that badminton and other sports would have a virtual coach. A coach who could see what the human eye could not and exhibit human movement and mechanics on a new level with interactive critiquing figures all at ones finger tips. If someone had told me this was a real possibility I would have laughed. As a matter of fact, maybe Steve Jobs would have as well.

It is here and here to stay. I have seen Video and technology transform and strengthen the sport of badminton; allowing its athletes to reach a whole new level.

A few of the many strengths of the use of video and technology within the sport of badminton is its practical usage in critiquing player posture. Proper on court posture is essential in athletic development and competition. Being able to view posture as a coach is easy. However, viewing posture during a high speed match in a thirty shot rally between four players in a doubles game is nearly impossible. For years we coached based on obvious observations of player performance, posture and skill. However, there were two loop holes.

1. Players cannot see this evaluative feedback. Players nod their head as if they understand your observations and feedback, but do they actually? Having a visual breakdown on file for them to see frame by frame how they performed eliminates this doubt in learning.
2. Coaches are not perfect. This seems obvious, but technology reiterates this point. We cannot always see performance, posture and player movement at a micro level during intense gameplay. Having a video which can be replayed over and over again increases the validity and reliability of proper coaching. 

Another benefit to video and technology is its usage among peers. For example, I can show five badminton players to video other players during practice on their iPhones, iPads’ etc and have the players evaluative and give feedback to each other in discussion around the videos captured. This way, you can break through to those players who would rather listen to their best friend than a wise coach of many years. This allows your players to foster their own learning and evaluation without you essentially even being there.

One last point I want to raise is how efficient apps like Ubersense and video/technology are. Personally, I have seen coaches spend ten minutes critiquing three different players on three different shots. Having assisted technologies can make use of your coaching time much more effectively and efficiently. 

Ryan Fahey
B.A Human Kinetics
CPTN Canada
Canfitpro FIS, PTS
NCCP

WE MOVE THIS TOWN

        

          Last weekend I was able to take part in something extraordinary. The second annual Christmas Santa Shuffle as a part of the campaign “WE MOVE THIS TOWN,” founded by Matt MacDonald. It was the perfect way to get outside, get some exercise, and meet new people. 

If you have not heard of “WE MOVE THIS TOWN” yet, consider yourself out of the loop. This is a campaign rooted by Matt MacDonald of Antigonish, NS,  whereby individuals of the community come out once per week to celebrate movement by moving together. It is a simple concept; an innate desire to move in a social setting. The movement has grown from its original numbers of about eight participants to last weekend having over fifty individuals walking/jogging/running at St. Francis Xavier University on the outside track. 

During the Santa Shuffle last Sunday afternoon, I was able to chat with fellow students about their fitness goals, academic goals and get to know more about them as individuals. I met one new gentleman from Calgary, AB. We chatted and talked about jobs, careers, funny stories, etc., and before we knew it, ten laps were on the board and 4km was in the bank both physically and emotionally. In total, all the participants MOVED over 218 KMS!

Now, it is obvious why I am writing this blog about “WE MOVE THIS TOWN”. It is a phrase which when condensed means “Wellness”. Social, emotional, spiritual (arguable.), physical and intellectual dimensions of wellness were all things I was investing in by taking part in this MOVEMENT. I honestly cannot think of anything else one could do this time of year which celebrates all of these dimensions of wellness with such simple movement. Just maybe this campaign could stretch all across the world as well with the correct resources and individuals involved. It takes a four year human kinetics degree and condenses it into one hour of your life each week. It reminds you of the active friendships within your local Community which you can invest emotional and social cash into each week. I encourage you all to take a look at the website www.wemovethistown.com to discover more about this movement and how you can get a t-shirt and be actively involved in your local community! Also be sure to join and like the Facebook page and finally...like the back of the T-shirt says, “tell two people, who tell two more people.” 

Ryan Fahey

B.A Human Kinetics

CPTN Canada

Canfitpro FIS, PTS

NCCP

Concussions Part II

      The other day I had the unique opportunity to provide some input on an info graphic regarding concussions. As some of you already know, I wrote a blog a few months ago in relation to concussions occurring in both the sport of NASCAR and Hockey. Building on that blog post, this info graphic and the information on concussions which can be found at www.mastersinhealthcare.com/blog/2012/concussed/ gives us a clear description of the who, how,why and when concussions occur as well as looking at each one individually. This research in the field of concussions is staggering as many individuals do not fully understand concussions.
       Information on concussions is essential to both understand and prevent future concussions and the adverse effects which can follow from prolonged multiple exposure to head trauma. This education is extremely important if you, your family members or your friends who may be heavily involved in competitive and/or recreational sports. For those of you in less concussive breeding environments, it is still up to you to understand and educate others to avoid negligence and a lack of clarity surrounding concussions.
       If you or someone you know has suffered from a concussion or multiple concussions, you can attest to the fact that each concussion is subjective to individuals. Some people recover in two weeks, others take months, or even years. Patience and understanding are your best tools when assessing this form of head trauma.
      Thanks again to the medical professionals at www.mastersinhealthcare.com for sharing this information and info graphic with all of us. Be sure to set their website in your bookmarks as a great way to educate yourself with health and wellness related topics such as concussions.


Ryan Fahey
B.A Human Kinetics
CPTN Canada
Canfitpro FIS, PTS
NCCP



 

All of the Above

Here is a song that has been recently consuming my iPod. It is a motivating song which I find allows me to focus more during my cardio workouts. I listened to it on repeat for an hour on a spin bike last night and I was so into my workout! Click play and feel free to drop a comment below and discuss some other good music you listen to while you workout. I always look forward to changing up my playlist!

Ryan Fahey
B.A Human Kinetics
CPTN Canada
Canfitpro FIS, PTS
NCCP