Track and field legend Carl Lewis poses for the launch of The Perfect Method in Houston on May 9 (Photo Credit: Regal Media Group, LLC).


 

The Perfect Spokesperson for The Perfect Method

 

If track and field legend Carl Lewis endorses a service or product, one can assume that it has greatness written all over it.


Lewis’ new online subscription-based track and field tutorial service, The Perfect Method (a partnership with AAU), is the perfect learning tool for those pursuing a career in track and field or those simply wanting to learn how to run more efficiently.


Nine-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time Olympian and current University of Houston track and field coach Carl Lewis recently sat down with RegalMag.com to discuss AAU track and field, The Perfect Method and what this new company will bring to the sport of track and field.



RegalMag.com: Give us some background information on The Perfect Method.  What is it and what is your involvement in it?



Carl Lewis: Well, The Perfect Method is an online, subscription-based program.  And to be simple, I just want to help everyone run better and to move better.  So it came really out of the idea that people approached me about doing some videos.  And then…as I drive through the streets, I see just the average person running and as a college coach, I see kids coming to me and I just felt like it needed to be a way for me to get the perfect way to run and to get that into everyone’s living room.  This allows us to do it, whether it’s computer, tablet, cell phone.  Interactive coaches, it’s non-stop, constantly updated.  And it can be used for any sport.  If you learn to run better, it applies to anything.



RegalMag.com: AAU basketball gets a lot of criticism because of all of the hangers-on and wannabe agents who come around the kids.  What’s the difference between AAU track and AAU basketball?  And how do you all keep the hangers-on away from the AAU track athletes?



Carl Lewis:  To be honest, the reason people are hanging on is because they want to hang on to a payday one day.  And that’s just the reality of it.  One of the challenges I have is kids are turning pro at (age) 13.  And it’s not just professional sports but it’s telling them you have to focus on one sport.  All of these things and I think we’re taking a lot of the fun out of it.  The average kid that quits a sport stops at 13.  My godson is the perfect example.  He came up playing AAU basketball.  They played 10 months a year.  It’s crazy.  He didn’t play other sports.  People told him how great he was and at 13 he was over it.  I wouldn’t say the sport chased him away.  But society is chasing these kids away.  What we’re trying to do is make it so we don’t have that problem…because what I’ve found in the 55 years I’ve been in this world is that there is no correlation between youth success and adult success.



RegalMag.com:  How young is too young to lift weights, etc.?  What do you like and dislike about the training of kids nowadays?



Carl Lewis:  What’s interesting, I think that’s another one of the hundreds of reasons we did (The Perfect Method), misinformation.  The bottom line is that studies show that kids are lifting way too young.  As your body is still developing, your muscles are still developing, your tendons.  So, we can actually get this information to them in real time and have the evidence to proof it.  We’re talking to Dr. (James) Andrews next week about this very subject, kids doing one sport all year long and there’s more stress injuries than in the past.  I think what’s happening now with the training is kind of a microcosm of society.  People want to say, we know more so we’re better.  



RegalMag.com:  Will the kids be missing something with the online subscription to The Perfect Method because a lot of times coaches are some of the biggest influences in a kid’s life?



Carl Lewis: That’s a great, great observation.  We look at the physical, psychological, diet and nutrition.  Studies show that especially the male brain develops until about 25.  And we wonder why all these kids say my coach is like my father figure.  It’s because they’re still craving that father figure even in college.  So understanding that I’m trying to craft the site in a way that can help coaches and people deal with those issues.




For more information on The Perfect Method, click here.


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