Appalled by young people’s fitness

No they don’t. There are plenty of records that haven’t been approached in years or decades. And records don’t get broken because of “evolution.” That doesn’t happen right in front of our eyes, and I can’t think of a good reason why human beings would evolve for greater athleticism. Training, diet, and most importantly early identification of talent is what moves sport forward.

This is true. It is getting very expensive to play sports, and the “elite” youth often have to join travel teams, which come at a high price.

Hopefully you find or have found that middle ground for you kids sake.

Parents living vicariously through their kids, and there's a good chance few of them follow through to the top level due to burnout or other interests. If they don't quit but they want to the kids metal health may be affected because "my parents have invested so much on this".

Huh, who cares about sport that you’ve suddenly introduced in this thread?

It is indeed very much evolution in that natural selection and survival of the fittest technological and societal practices lead to future generations outperforming their ancestors on practically any conceivable metric of societal progress, so I meant precisely what I said, but you and older folks in general are entitled to their own opinions pining for the quaint old and criticizing “kids these days” I suppose.

So you suggest that Usain Bolt’s “evolution” in 2009 explains why he was faster than Carl Lewis in 1991 in the in the 100m dash? How exactly did Bolt’s organism evolve to pass Lewis?

They are too busy trying to make social media posts 8nstead of spending time outside. The young generation of today, what is it now Z are garbage and not redeemable.

The truth is as many have pointed Out that fat and lazy parents produce fat and lazy kids.

Ever head of Fall ball? It's very common. Kids can play baseball after the summer ends.

Right, but that isn't Little League. OP is talking about Little League, which is a specific youth baseball organization.

Get some glasses and some reading comprehension. I can’t care anymore.

The "kids are getting less active these days" narrative has been happening for decades now, I can at least say it started in the 80s-90s.

I appreciated OP's nod to blaming parents. In the 90s boomers would treat it like it was a kid problem, and not THEIR problem even though they were the one raising the kids. "They just sit inside and play video games!" well because you allow them to.

Once upon a time, kids could play outside from sun up to sun down. Then the 80s came and with it video games, more TV...and...America's Most Wanted.

Look I appreciate John Walsh for what he went through. But he put the fear of god into a generation of parents convincing them that their kid will be the next kidnap-murder victim, something that was truly a rare occurrence. And suddenly parents were freaked out, locking their kids inside, having to know where they were at all times, and then it was no longer, see you for dinner, it was organized sports or stay inside. And slowly, more gadgets and technology was there to entertain us, and yada yada yada, post COVID here we are.

Which brings me to the above post. I like this post because I think it's the primary problem. For too long we have relied on organized sports for kids to get exercise, instead of just regular play. But organized sports have other goals in mind: to find the next Lebron, the next Mahomes, the next generation of elite athletes. They are intense, competitive, expensive, and they weed average kids out at alarming rates. So because there is no other outlet for the regular kid who needs the exercise, they just spend their time sitting at home.

I hated organized sports as a kid. I was short and uncoordinated and I was bullied a lot by coaches and other kids. It was only when I found running that I enjoyed sports, but the idea of that being the only opportunity for exercise sucked for me, and for a while I was headed in the direction fo couch potato.

I think the answer lies in how parents choose to spend time with their kids. Don't just force them outside and sit and watch TV while they play. Do things with them, go on hikes and bike rides together, go roller blading or play basketball with them. Make it a family activity not a chore. Plan a weekend together--"we're going hiking...here." So they plan for that, so you aren't interrupting Zelda to push them outside with no plan.

Organized sports in this country need to become a lot more hospitable to the average kid. There needs to be more levels, more leagues and make things more affordable. Kids need to decide for themselves how seriously they want to take things.

There's a great book that deep dives into this concept. "The Coddling of the American Mind" by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianov. Fantastic book. They strongly encourage kids to have free, unsupervised play and list the extensive body of research backing this up. They link many of the problems we see in society today as a direct result of people not learning how to resolve conflict on their own and to be independent. Highly recommended.

Completely agree. This thread is a regurgitation of Coddling of the American Mind. Are kids spending more time inside. YES. Is it because they are more scheduled/specialized. YES. Do parents have a greater sense of fear and thus overprotect kids. YES. Is there also new incredibly entertaining but addictive technology that keeps them inside. YES.

There is no easy solution to this problem. Less competitive/specialized sports, more walkable cities, and reduced social media would all help. There ultimately needs to be a shift in peoples outlook on life. Movement and difficulty should not be something to avoid at all costs. We no longer live in an economy of scarcity. There is an abundance of leisure which is poisoning us. Plenty of people go to the gym which is great, but why can't we get some movement in our day to day lives.

You beat me to it.

Said while typing a post on letsrun.

The problem is, it is slowly getting worse, and has somewhat accelerated in a way corresponding with the extent of the distractions. I listen to a lot of podcasts on strength and conditioning, and EVERY single strength and conditioning coach working with high school athletes has said the same.

Jim Wendler, the author of 5/3/1 (well known strength training programme), noted that his average high school football prospect - i.e. the athletic kids - couldn't do a single pull up when they started. He had some who couldn't do a single press up! In contrast, I (born in the early 90s) distinctly remember my PE teacher telling us not to do press ups on our knuckles when we were 8 years old.

Closer to home, my friend's a PE teacher and he was telling me that they have the summer track and field times of kids going back 25 years, and that they've fallen off a cliff since the mid 2010s, but - mirroring what's been said a few times by others in this thread - the 'elite' are as good as they've ever been.

hmmm maybe something that could be relayed to parents insisting on homeschooling their kids, physical education would also be part of their curriculum. so some of those kids you are seeing may be a direct result of their parent's lack of knowledge on physical ed (let alone their own fitness)

This is where cities and local governments play a role. Change the environment and the people will adapt... build sidewalks, parks, green spaces, make PE mandatory EVERYDAY in schools...

I think part of the problem is kids and parents want immediate gratification. I coach middle school XC and track 5th-8th grade. I've had parents ask me how far the XC meets are because their kid isn't a distance runner, he/she has no endurance, and they aren't a very good runner. It's only when I explain that I don't expect your child to have endurance now, but we'll work on it as a group to get better. My goal has always been for these kids to enjoy the process of running and to develop a life long enjoyment of it. I explain to the parents their child will get better over time, but it's a process and they beset way they can help me is to not worry about how fast their child was in practice or a race and not to harp over small improvements. Just let them enjoy running and everything else will take care of itself. That's what we are missing today. Just the enjoyment of play.