Nimeet K 00:11
It's time to be well with your health! I'm Nimeet

Shanna M 00:13
i'm Shanna,

Shanna M 00:14
I'm interested in this topic because I have a nine year old, he plays baseball, he loves baseball, and we want to keep him enjoying it and not get injured. I'm interested in what we're doing in this space, and excited to welcome our guest.

Nimeet K 00:14
Welcome to the Adventist HealthCare & You podcast. Today we have an awesome expert to talk to us about Adventist HealthCare's Sports Performance Institute, and the importance of training as an athlete, no matter what your performance level is. You know, we're talking about this because we learned that athletes who participate in sports performance training programs are 50% less likely to experience injuries compared to those who don't.

Nimeet K 00:53
Well, great. We have Robert Kambies, who's the Sports Performance Institute Manager with Adventist HealthCare Sports Performance Institute.

Shanna M 01:00
The Sports Performance Institute is new. So tell us a little bit about yourselves, Robert, and the Institute.

Robert Kambies 01:08
So my name is Robert Kambies. I've been with Adventist now for about nine years. And this has been something that we've been working to open since before COVID started. So it's been six, seven years in the making.

Shanna M 01:19
Okay.

Robert Kambies 01:20
We are a sports performance site, so we work with athletes primarily to get them bigger, stronger, faster in whatever facet that they choose to play or choose to do. I have been part of this since the ground up. So I was actually part of the site tours, part of building the equipment, every little piece and decision of getting this thing off the ground. So it's been a fun experience.

Nimeet K 01:39
That's great. So you were there from start to end? And given your input and feedback and creating the perfect aspect of it?

Shanna M 01:45
Why is this something that's important? And, you know, what's your background?

Robert Kambies 01:51
So my background, I have an undergraduate in athletic training. So that's sports medicine, the way I describe it is usually the person that you see running out on the field and somebody gets injured. So we do a lot of sports rehab, I have a master’s in performance enhancement injury prevention, so a lot of biomechanics, exercise physiology, and then a master’s in business administration, which is somewhat relevant for the manager side, but not so much the sport performance side.

Shanna M 02:14
Well, and this is interesting, because I'm like, Well, what does sports performance have to do with what we do here at Adventist HealthCare, which is provide the community with excellent high quality world class health care. But sports is part of everybody's lives, whether you like it or not, it's on TV, it's, it's just part of our everyday lives. And so staying healthy is really important for that.

Robert Kambies 02:39
We're trying to fill a gap in the need for the community. So a lot of health care is kind of reactive. So we're trying to be preventative, specifically in, like, grabbing athletes when they're younger. But we also like firmly believe that everybody's an athlete, regardless of age, experience. So we're just trying to make sure people live happy, healthy, long, injury free lives.

Shanna M 03:01
Gotcha. So if you're someone like me, who loves golf, but isn't very good at it, and hurts themselves when they play, I could benefit from something like this if I wanted to.

Robert Kambies 03:12
Yeah, of course.

Nimeet K 03:14
So what are some of the approaches that the Sports Performance Institute take and that are not being offered or are different from the traditional gym setting?

Robert Kambies 03:21
One of the things that we highlight is our education level, and the fact that we're in conjunction with health care. So we have the resources of Adventist HealthCare behind us, three of us are athletic trainers by trade, two of us are exercise physiologists on site. So all of us have different backgrounds of working with athletes and have at least an undergraduate degree with many of us holding graduate degrees, not to put down the professional, personal training in traditional gym settings. A lot of them are perfectly smart, educated, hard working. It's just that it's a higher level of entry.

Shanna M 03:51
Yeah, and it's specific to a sport, or versus you know, just wanting to lift weights or something like that, this is very specific to a sport, or specific to the athletes needs.

Robert Kambies 04:06
Yeah. So we tried to be as science based in our approach as possible. So using research and what we've learned through our education, and we do that in a way that's individualized to each person that walks through the doors in regards to their needs and their goals.

Shanna M 04:20
Okay. Are there particular sports you focus on? Or is this open to everyone?

Robert Kambies 04:25
So it's open to everyone. But the way that we tried to hire was strategic in that, to try to kind of broad stroke as many different sports as possible.

Shanna M 04:34
Okay.

Robert Kambies 04:35
So my background is typically in baseball, football and rock climbing. But we have other people that where somebody that emphasizes training for basketball and other and volleyball. We actually have somebody that grew up playing rugby. Yeah, we try to cover a little bit of everything.

Shanna M 04:52
Nice.

Nimeet K 04:52
So can you walk us through a typical program at the Sport Performance Institute? What does a typical program look like there?

Robert Kambies 04:59
So we offer are a free 60 minute initial session for everybody. So we do that purposefully. So that way we can give people a tour of the site, but to talk about individual goals, so that way we can build programs in alignment with what they need. Part of that, like initial session is also screening. So we do different, like movement screens in regards to what sport and what goals they have. But from that, then we talk about like pricing and all that stuff, and then try to develop the program for him and set schedules in accordance with what they need.

Shanna M 05:31
So it's very, it's a very personalized approach.

Robert Kambies 05:34
Oh, most definitely.

Shanna M 05:36
What are some common misconceptions about a sports performance institute, or the type of training that that would be done there?

Robert Kambies 05:45
One of the misconceptions we get is the idea of what an athlete is. So a lot of people think that they need to be like currently performing at the highest level to, like, come in and train with us. But we try to tailor to like every single level, whether that be elementary, middle, high school, college, weekend warrior, someone just trying to get in general physical shape. Another one of the misconceptions that we have our that training has to be complicated. So nowadays, with social media, there's a lot of like, Instagram, Tik Tok people that follow these trends and make exercises look flashy and fun, which is fine. But a lot of people forget that, it doesn't always have to be that way. The fundamentals of like learning how your body functions, and just squatting, dead lifting all the simple stuff is just as important.

Shanna M 06:36
Has a place and the basics work.

Robert Kambies 06:39
Yeah.

Shanna M 06:39
The basics can work.

Nimeet K 06:40
I think there's a lot of information out there and trying to figure out which is the right information, right for you, can be challenging. And I think having that 60 minute assessment with you, and knowing their needs is highly valuable, because then you can see exactly what that individual needs with individual basis and then create a program based on that person.

Robert Kambies 06:57
Yeah. And a huge part of it is education as well. So some people come in expecting to get all the flashy looking stuff, but you have to say like, hey, this is where you are right now. These are the things that I see that you need to improve to get to your goals. And it may not be in alignment with what you thought, but this is.

Nimeet K 07:14
I also like the fact that i'm one of those athletes category now too. So I appreciate you sharing that.

Shanna M 07:19
Oh that's true, i've never considered myself that, that's true.

Nimeet K 07:22
So i'm glad he said people are just want to get better and be more in shape. I'm one of those people, so were athletes Shanna.

Shanna M 07:27
Oh, Nimeet, we learned something today.

Nimeet K 07:31
So what are some of the injuries that either people are coming in with or people trying to avoid while working with your team?

Robert Kambies 07:38
If people come in with injuries, we'd find that out during the initial 60 minute session. If it's something that's like lingering or small, that can be dealt with from us, then we're okay with moving forward with the program. But that's also one of the benefits of being part of Adventist HealthCare, is we can refer within network and send them to get that fixed before they even start with us.

Nimeet K 07:58
That's great.

Robert Kambies 08:00
But as far as injuries, in regards to different sports, every sport kind of has something that they're more or less like likely to get, you're not really going to avoid injuries 100%, if you're participating in sports.

Shanna M 08:13
Let's do some of the, let's do some of our top, like soccer, for example.

Robert Kambies 08:17
Sure. So I actually with the background of athletic training, have worked tons and tons of different events. Soccer, a lot of times you see hamstring strains. We move into different sports, like basketball, there's a lot of like ankle rolls. A lot of college athletes have like really poor hip mobility across the board. It's just not addressed as something.

Shanna M 08:41
Okay.

Nimeet K 08:42
Yeah, I used to play soccer in high school, and I had a lot of hamstring issues.

Shanna M 08:47
Speaking of injuries, why is it important to focus on sports performance? So they'll they'll come to you not injured? How does sports performance help them? Not only, they'll get better in their chosen sport, but what else does it do?

Robert Kambies 09:02
That would create durability in them, we train full ranges of motion and put them in situations that would be relevant to their sport, but also relevant to like everyday life. So a lot of athletes, if all they do is play one particular sport, they're so used to those movement patterns.

Nimeet K 09:20
Yeah

Robert Kambies 09:20
But as soon as they get put outside of what they're used to, they're not as durable. So that's where a lot of injuries come from.

Shanna M 09:27
Okay.

Robert Kambies 09:27
So we try to train everything and make sure that they're functional in full range of motion.

Nimeet K 09:31
So what are some of the common pressures athletes are facing, you know, nowadays when they come to you.

Shanna M 09:36
Especially young, you know.

Robert Kambies 09:38
So many parents nowadays will, like try to force their athletes so that their children into the next level, and that's coming from like coaches, parents, other kids, they always want to perform better, be stronger, be faster. So high school kids want to play in college, college kids want to play in the pros. So they just keep pushing and pushing and kind of ignore a lot of things and end up getting hurt.

Shanna M 10:01
Yeah, and end up getting hurt.

Nimeet K 10:02
Yeah. So beyond the physical health, you know, how do you support in terms of mental health being and well being in general, because i'm sure there's a lot of pressure for them right, from their parents, from their coaches, school and just being better and their sport they're playing?

Robert Kambies 10:17
So I think one of the big things that we do is create the accountability. So from a young age, if the kids are like youth athletes, and they want to try to get better, creating the accountability of showing up and putting in the effort to try to get to that next level, prepares them for the next level, essentially.

Nimeet K 10:35
Yeah.

Shanna M 10:36
So there's a lot of youth sports out there. A lot of and, you know, in this area, it's competitive. So what can parents do to help their young athletes and navigating that sort of world and avoiding injury?

Robert Kambies 10:51
Try to give them as many resources as possible, in a way that doesn't seem like they're forcing their children to go down an avenue that they don't want to. That could look like signing up for sessions with us.

Shanna M 11:02
Yeah.

Robert Kambies 11:04
Like enrolling them in different sports, different activities, all sorts of different avenues of like, physical activity.

Nimeet K 11:11
Yeah.

Robert Kambies 11:12
So for the, what the parents can do to help their their young athletes is to help them with like sleep, nutrition, provide them with, like setting an example essentially.

Nimeet K 11:22
Being a role model.

Shanna M 11:23
Yeah.

Robert Kambies 11:23
Yeah. Lots of parents you'll see on the sideline are, like ex-athletes, and they're not taking care of themselves, whether that be like physically, mentally, whatever.

Nimeet K 11:31
Yeah.

Robert Kambies 11:32
And the kids see that. So if they, if you're eating the same meals with your kids, and it's healthy meals, or if you're like setting a bedtime, going to sleep, like creating routines, and like showing them that you can do it, too.

Nimeet K 11:42
Yeah.

Robert Kambies 11:43
It's a key piece.

Nimeet K 11:45
Absolutely.

Shanna M 11:46
Yeah. Do you address any of that during the sports performance about nutrition? Or, you know, just daily habits at all? Do you help in any of those areas?

Robert Kambies 11:55
So we're not like nutritionist or dietitian, so we can't write full on diets for them.

Shanna M 12:00
Yes.

Robert Kambies 12:01
But we do answer questions to the best of our ability of like, all the different aspects of what they need to do to get the best out of what we're giving them.

Shanna M 12:08
Oh okay.

Robert Kambies 12:09
So I always liken it to learning a language. If you're like going to class once a week, learning spanish, french, whatever it may be, like, you can learn the language. But if you're going to a place that speaks the language, and you're surrounded by it all the time, you're going to learn it much faster. So if you come to us once a week and train for an hour, you'll see benefits, but you also have to, like.

Shanna M 12:30
Do the work at home, got to do the work at home. And that may, that's not just doing maybe like the exercises, it's getting enough sleep, getting good nutrition. You know, anything else that can just help them perform better.

Nimeet K 12:45
Yeah, and i'm glad that you said sleep and nutrition, because I think, you know, those go kind of on the back burner, especially sleep, people, you know compromise sleep in terms of maybe, they wake up early to work out or go for a late night run. But I think having that seven to nine hours of sleep is crucial for your body to recover, even after, every day, let alone on workout days.

Robert Kambies 13:04
Exactly.

Shanna M 13:05
What would you say to any of our listeners that are parents, that's a coach, that's or an athlete themselves? You know, and they might be hesitant about investing in it or wondering more, maybe I should, what can we, what can you say here to encourage that it's worth the time and the investment.

Robert Kambies 13:27
From a competitive standpoint, if you're going to get to the next level, unfortunately, a lot of times, other parents, other kids are investing in things like this. And if you're out there working, there's somebody working just as hard. From a health standpoint, which we like to emphasize more is taking care of your body, even if it's to try to get to the next level in sports. Like you're still creating those habits for longevity, and you're like setting yourself up for success in old age.

Shanna M 13:58
Gotcha. That's good.

Nimeet K 13:59
I think it's great, because I think there's resources out there for people to use, and you know, at times parents may be confused or not sure what to do with their child or maybe wondering where other kids are performing better and your competition is so high, i'm sure, athletes are just, you know, overwhelmed to from their side. So giving any support or resources in terms of physical, mental, you know, I think it'd be it's amazing that you provide that.

Shanna M 14:24
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Rob, for coming, sir. Anything else you want to add about the Sports Performance Institute?

Robert Kambies 14:30
We have a great team. Yeah, love to see you out there.

Shanna M 14:33
Wonderful. Thank you. We're excited that we have this new member to the Adventist HealthCare family.

Nimeet K 14:39
I just want to thank Robert for coming here and speaking about this great topic. To learn more about the Adventist HealthCare Sports Performance Institute services, please visit AdventistSPI.com. We'd also love to hear from you. You can let us know if you like our podcast, by leaving a rating or review or you can also email us at Podcast@AdventistHealthCare.com and let us know what healthcare topics you would like to know more about. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast so you get all new episodes. Thank you and be well!