Red Zone Baby Sitting??
Did that statement get your attention, because it kind of got mine when I was told that was the response on of our parents got when they told someone their kids trained at Red Zone Training.. I think my initial reaction was irritation but then I just had to laugh about it.
I really can't be upset by that comment because it is derived from a lack of knowledge one way or the other. Either the person who said Red Zone was “kind of like babysitting” had never watched a class before (therefore no real knowledge of what we do) or they had been in here and have no idea about how to work with children, let alone teach/train them.
I find it comical that people still believe that if kids are not pushing sleds (most of the time improperly), lifting dumbbells (usually with poor form) or jumping up and down on boxes (with no regards to what or why they are actually having them do it), that a program is inferior in their approach. In actuality our program is inferior to theirs because their program is a fast track to injury so in essence, if that is the outcome our program will never come close to exceeding that type of training.
They have them trying to hold themselves up on pull up bars to gain the upper body strength they need to eventually do a pull up, we swing on rings which actually increases the gravitational forces pulling on the body making it harder but is way more fun at the same time. All that tells me is that they are not very creative and their program is boring.
Their programs focus on speed and power which may make a child faster and more explosive in the short term. However, they fail to teach them control and form so in essence, you just gave the kids the ability to hurt themselves faster and to a higher degree. The best part is that if you take an untrained child and run them through any program they will improve since they were untrained to begin with. The problem is whether the program is optimal, efficient, repeatable, or even appropriate. Ever wonder why your child shows good improvement in the first 6 weeks but the next 6 weeks nothing? It's because the program is inefficient and not repeatable – in other words its a bad program.
We focus on long term development which decreases the likelihood of injury while at the same time positioning our kids to peak later in life without the burn out effects caused by poor and overly intense programming as well as sport specific programming. The best athletes today played more than one sport growing up and most are very adept at two sports now. Sports specific training is a one way ticket to injury and burnout.
All this tells me that their program is more about flash and show and has nothing to do with the child's best interest and that they really do not know what they are doing by applying adult principles on kids. They don't stay up to date with the latest training education or scientific research. They took a plan they learned from someone else and that's all they've got.
Then we have our 2 hr camps. We don't do arts and crafts, we don't do movies or TV and we don't feed them garbage, so it is safe to say we are not babysitting in camps either. By the way, when was the last time your babysitter returned your kids red faced, sweaty and smiling?
So Red Zone Babysitters - funny, yes; accurate, not even close. But hey, if they are talking about us they know who we are so we must be doing something right.
If you get a chance, go to our main page and click on "Read or Leave Us A Testimonial" to tell people what Red Zone Training is really all about.
As always if you have any questions about anything we do, don't hesitate to ask.