#351 – It’s Gotta Be The Exercise

Today’s guest is Ernest Quiocho, a former Dixie State University football player. Currently a personal trainer at the Intermountain LiVe Well Center. He graduated form Dixie State University with a degree in kinesiology. He has two kids and loves to apply the lessons he learned playing sports to his training techniques. Ernest shares some insights into ho wexercise can make a difference in chronic illnesses.

Kyle and Lil give an overview of the largest sport at the Games, Softball.

Transcript

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Kyle Case  0:05  
Hello and welcome to the Huntsman World Senior Games Active Life. My name is Kyle Case and I'll be your host on this amazing journey as we attempt to help you get the most out of your life. Joining me in our studio today is my co pilot Lil Baron. 

Lil Barron  0:20  
Well howdy, howdy.

Kyle Case  0:32  
I thought we would highlight another sport today is that okay with you. we've made our way through a bunch of related summer sports, we've talked about archery and badminton and cycling, we talked about track and field and mountain biking and basketball and a bunch of others. Today, I thought we would talk about the biggest one is so softball. Horseshoes is great one proton, softball, sport games. It's one of the, oh SS, I'm starting to call them the O Ss, the original sports. The original course, and it hasn't received against we offered men softball in 1987 The very first year and the games existed, and it has grown since then, it's. We started with just a handful of teams there wasn't really any age groups or skill levels or anything like that it's just a bunch of guys who wanted to play slowpitch softball. And so we had that we offered it. Today, it's different. Yes, it looks a little bit different we have registered this year, 388, registered teams, teams, I'm not talking about players I'm talking about teams that's 270 Men's jeans 118 women's team. Right now, we have over 5000 athletes who have registered for softball softball so pretty incredible. It's grown that big in fact it's got so big that we have two management teams to direct the tournament. So Josh Olmstead is the director of the men's tournament and Connie Stewart and helps run the women's tournament, for us, and their management teams are made up of a couple of dozen people who help take care of all the details are amazing crew they help keep score they recruit other scorekeepers, they keep the diamonds out some of them nice and pristine they run results, they help with the brackets and the various divisions. Speaking of bracketing and undertaking. You know we have a different age group. So starting with the 50 plus 54 plus 59 plus a different age groups, and within each of these age groups, there are multiple skill levels within the age groups, it boggles my mind like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of games have to be scheduled. On top of that, each dugout is delivered fresh fruit, so the players can keep their energy up as well as coolers and water every single day, every single game we've delivered little mini loaves of sweet bread, you know all about it. Because he's the one who has picked it up at the grocery store. A little caveat this year with COVID and some of the restrictions and some of the precautions going on that might look a little bit different but we're hoping to get right back to the high level of service that everybody is expecting and that they have expected them and received in the past, outstanding it's going to feel this because it's going to be, everything is going to be a little bit. Everything's going to be just a little bit different, but we're hoping that you'll still recognize it as the great tournament, and they have a ton of fun with it. Let me tell you something that I think is really cool about senior softball. Okay, and that is that it's accommodating. So, in this way most of us are familiar with baseball have nine defensive players you have three people in the outfield, I can see by your face that you do that, You would have answered that correctly on Jeopardy. There's other streaming algorithms for the ability to capture your picture, there's your nine players, most of us live most of us recognize that slowpitch softball has 10 players they have an extra player that they call a rover, you know that, oh well I'm glad I'm glad I can share this with you. This is good for you know for sport.

So the rover kind of moves around in the health field and can switch sides, it's going to help cover the field back there for the 50s 50 flags and 60s those age groups play with 10 players but here's the cool thing the 65 and above age groups, they get to play with 11 defensive layers, so it's just, I mean it's just a reality there's an extra defensive layer on the field. As we age, it's just a little bit harder to cover that much ground is what it is. But I'll tell you what's really happened as a result of that, and that is that the batters are so much better at placing the ball. So if you're interested if you want to talk about ball placement you want to grab a 71 year old slowpitch softball player because they know how to put the ball where they want it right in right in the hole. Hopefully, that's their plan, so they get up nice. Anyway, Pretty amazing stuff. Let me just share another thing that I think is really cool. Many of our 65 Plus, women's players 65 years old and above. They're out there having a ball they're playing a sport they love, but for many of them, it was available to them that's true as kids, they didn't have the leagues for girls, and it just wasn't available. Unfortunately, it just wasn't. And so these women now that are out there, especially in the 65 plus those that are younger, have really been able to benefit a lot from Title Nine, but those that are above that they're pioneers, right now they really are, and now here we are with almost 120 women's softball teams playing in the single largest senior softball tournament on planet Earth. That's a beautiful thing. So

Lil Barron  5:51  
here's a little trivia. So, when I was volunteering for the game of softball. And I saw LCS socials. I don't know about. I was here for the first women's team.

Kyle Case  6:09  
That was the first year for the women's so it's really really cool as much as great history. So my fun stories that we don't have time for. But, just so everybody knows softball takes place on every competition day of the games right, if there's competition there's sample from October 4 through the 16th of this year, we have different age groups on different days, all the schedules are available at Senior Games dotnet for those who want to watch, it's free to head over to the softball venues and check it out. And speaking of venues, let me just touch very lightly on the venues. Wow, holy cow, red sandstone backdrops goober fields in the canyons complex, the backdrop of Pine Valley mountain not a little valley, like, I don't think you can play softball in a more deals to place than St George you time that's been one of our hallmarks of success, kind of excited about Safwan right out of the gate. Speaking of exciting. Today's guests I know, we want to welcome back to the show, Ernest Kyoko who is a former Dixie State University football player. He's currently a personal trainer at the Intermountain liberal Center. He graduated from Dixie State University with a degree in kinesiology he has a couple of kids and loves to apply the lessons that he learned as an athlete to his training techniques, Ernest Welcome back to the show.

Ernest Quiocho  7:32  
Yes, thank you yeah I apreciate the warm welcome and I forgot to update that I've had a third kid.

Kyle Case  7:39  
Oh my goodness. Third Now that now that you mentioned that I remember that you were expecting the last time you were on the show, aren't you, okay. That's fantastic. So three kids that's actually busy for sure. For those who can't see doesn't have time to they're officially outnumbered. What are you gonna do, that's that's awesome so earnest, like I mentioned in your bio there we know that you played football at Dixie State University I'm curious, I always ask this of our guests if you, when we do our intro if you ever played cell phones and stuff that you've ever done just church ball community league anything like that.

Ernest Quiocho  8:28  
Yeah, I actually have a funny story about that. Okay, funny stories. St George has the, I think it's called like midnight heat or some thing like that. 

Kyle Case  8:39  
Heat Stroker

Ernest Quiocho  8:40  
Heat Stroker, because they were low on numbers, one night and it was the last night actually, they called me in and my sister played softball BYU so I think they assumed that I was

Kyle Case  8:53  
bringing the ringer for the last day

Ernest Quiocho  8:54  
or so they bring me in. And I was in left field, and for some reason the guys were just getting them out there I think their batting lineup for me because they just kept hitting them out there and I missed. Almost every single ball so I have played softball and it's my last performance

Kyle Case  9:13  
on the cheerleaders at two o'clock in the morning their champion we want Ernest. We want to earn us out. It's a great game. I would have the same experience when I was in high school I used to play a little church ball and I had a lot of fun but I was never a contender by any means but it is a fun sport. Okay guys, heatstroke rolls around.

So hey Ernest, we want to get into some health and wellness stuff here, this is kind of serious we, we spend a lot of our time talking with inspiring athletes about all the amazing things that they do and we cover a ton of other health and wellness topics as well. We live in a society in a world where, you know, many people are taking full advantage of the, the ability and the opportunity to to exercise and workout and live a healthy life and, and yet some of us also don't take full advantage of it or struggle with chronic situations and diseases. Let's talk a little bit about some of these things specifically, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension. So these, These ones that you know can can be a problem for individuals as well as for society, and then a little bit about how exercise plays a role in some of those let's, let's kind of break it out take it one at a time. Let's start with diabetes, that's one that we hear a lot about especially as a population ages, what do we know about it and then, what, how, where does exercise fit into that one.

Ernest Quiocho  10:53  
Yeah, sure. So, diabetes, this one is pretty close to home because I have family members in my own life that have type one diabetes type two so my. I have a cousin that's type one diabetes was, was diagnosed at a really young age he was really, you know, it's been pretty sad. I mean she lives a great life but just, just to hear such a young girl, you know, get that diagnosis. And just know what's ahead of her for the majority of her life. Right. And then my father he's type two diabetes or type two diabetic. And, you know, I see what what he has to go through as well. And so I see both sides of it that even though they're two, two different types. You know, they're still going through similar situations and where things need to be managed. So type one diabetes. That's where your, your body is no longer producing the insulin that it needs to manage the glucose that's being produced in the body type two diabetes is where your, your body is producing the slime but it's not receptive to the glucose that it's also in the body so that they are different in what they're doing to the body. But in the end, you know, they're, they have some of the same type of similar factors and things that that affect them and so yeah so it's it's just basically the insulin or insulin that we're gonna use producing not being very effective. I like to liken it to kind of like a, scenario. It's like a cell that needs to run the market shelves on our glucose to attach, basically there's no key doesn't fit in. That's That's my analogy with the type two diabetes. 

Kyle Case  12:51  
Makes sense. 

Ernest Quiocho  12:52  
Yeah, so it's just the body not probably just properly in those, those aspects of what it needs to do. Yeah, it can it can. I've seen like I've seen my family members become. And then that from there I see leads and the others that we talked about, or that he brought up which is either hypertension or obesity or, you know, other factors like that so it can start there, for sure. 

Kyle Case  13:24  
We know, you know, just from high school biology class and things like that we know our body needs insulin, that's how we, you know, process the energy that allows us to move and to run and to talk and all the things that we do. And then we also know that sometimes that just doesn't assist it just doesn't work very well right and then that's the diabetes that we're talking about. Oftentimes, I think, for me, maybe other people feel the same way, when we think about diabetes, the first thing that we think about is we got to control our diet. We got to cut back on the carbs. My sister was also diagnosed when she was like six or seven with type one diabetes so she has had insulin injections her whole entire life I never, never, just know a seven year old little boy watching her stomach and inner arms and her legs, you know, it's just the way it was, it's just not how she did. So I'm very familiar with, with that aspect of it as well. So those are the things that I think of, I don't always think of exercise though so how does exercise and work towards helping to be more efficient or control that, you know that consumption of energy that Insulin helps us do.

Ernest Quiocho  14:38  
Yeah, great question. So, She had a great conversation. Also with one of my colleagues here about that is that when we exercise because what the insulin shots are doing like what your sister would do is, because they're not producing the insulin, you know that glucose has nowhere to go. So, by, by injecting her body with the insulin. Therefore, then that glucose now has something to attach itself to, to kind of manage the glucose levels in the body. So, with exercise because exercise uses that those sugars and glucose stubborness energy when you're exercising. Because I asked him about, you know, is there a way to completely get off the shots or is there just a way to minimize the amount that you're using. He said, Yeah, there's definitely a way to minimize the amount of insulin that you're using, because that's. Let's say you're, you're doing a certain amount, you can cut that in half. If you're also exercising because by exercising losing burning that energy current energy through your workout now you don't have to use as much insulin into your body. You already kind of naturally burned it through your exercises

Kyle Case  15:50  
that make sense. And so the correct me if I'm wrong, it's just like, generally speaking, those that have a type one are tend to be more insulin dependent. And those are type two could potentially be so independent or they may be taking shots or maybe a pill. But oftentimes, it's, it's, it's not treated in the same way as type one Is that Is that correct or am I wrong,

Ernest Quiocho  16:20  
yeah. That is correct that. Yeah. They just treated differently because in type one there, There's the body's just not just know. He's just not producing insulin, whereas it type in type two. Yeah, like my father takes pills for this, but what it yeah it's just basically not being able to manage the glucose in the body insolence there, but it's just kind of resistant but there's also insulin resistant type, type diabetes as well so it's a little similar. It's kind of like if you're, if you're insulin resistant, that's also kind of like a precursor to becoming diabetic so it's like a pre diabetic indicator. But type two doesn't work in that way where it's just not as efficient in moving, managing that glucose levels,

Kyle Case  17:11  
and middle and they both cases exercise is going to be good. Pain exercise is good, no matter what right across the board, there's, there's all these amazing benefits and we all know that, knowing it, and applying it. But, but we do know that, is there any research on which kind of exercise is better is resistance training better than cardio is cardio the way to go or is all exercise good in these cases.

Ernest Quiocho  17:39  
Yeah, all exercise is great. I would say also just to see if there's any other factors that go into it as far as, you know precautions of what someone can do but yeah, straight training for aerobic training so when you're looking at walking, jogging, swimming and biking, which I think specifically in St George in southern Utah, it's a huge community of the elderly that do those things, pickleball, you know, any, any sports like that too. But yeah, in general, for for for general, the general population. Yeah, you walk, swim by, like I said it, high intensity, also intertwined with low intensity exercises so doing something for doing something intense for, let's say, five minutes, and then the next five minutes doing it at a lower intensity, those who didn't work well too. So yeah combination of everything, a training, high to high low intensity workouts, kind of like, kind of like a CrossFit we have, you know we have, we have a lot of gyms and around St George that where it's, it's, it's a good class, led by an instructor where everyone's kind of doing the same thing, either with weights, or just body weights. And so yeah, so there's a lot of different, different types of workouts out there and they're all great. Yeah, it just, just make sure you can do it based on your abilities and any precautions.

Kyle Case  19:16  
Right, right.

Is there an extension in the right way and get some professional injury in your back. If you hurt yourself and that's not the goal, either. So we talked about diabetes, and exercise I know that the other ones that I mentioned but high blood pressure, or hypertension are also very much affected by the amount of exercise that we do, whether we're doing enough, and we're doing okay in those areas or we're not doing the right amount and we're struggling there. Let's just listen, we're gonna have time even both of them, but let's just test for just a second on high blood pressure, would you say the same thing again is it resistance training is it cardio is that all of the above or is it one area that works yeah, when you're trying to lower that high blood pressure.

Ernest Quiocho  20:10  
Yeah, I would. I mean, I think that both are great. Whether you do strength training, and then incorporates cardio as well. But I would actually just say either one, because when you're doing strength training you're also increasing your heart rate, and that's the key is do something that's increasing your heart rate. So, when you're doing your strength training you want to make sure that you are increasing the heart rate, right, if it's something that you're doing that. It's kind of keeping your blood, your heart rate at bay. It's not really moving it, we want to get into it, there's, there's heartbreak zones that based on age where, you know, as a good target area to be. So, if you can see on an uncertain chart, what your heart rate is based on your age and where it needs to be for those training levels, then you want to do your best to get them into that, into that area now, where we could come into some, some problems is, if with high blood pressure, you're taking, you know medications or medications that don't allow your heart rate to get to a certain level because it's, you know, it's either beta blockers or inhibitors that, you know, keep your blood pressure low. So we have, we have worked with people that you know they're, they're sweaty, you can see they're putting in our exertion and yet the heart rate is moving to where they're trying to get it to. So then you just got to switch it up, you got to do something different. We only did that, we found that our heart rate did talk a little bit but if there are some inhibitors or things that are keeping your blood pressure where they supposed to be, then it's going to fire but you can still get the intensity of. So, the intensity can still be there. Yeah, so a shorter answer both are really great just

Kyle Case  22:02  
Make sense. So it also sounds to me like to me the the key takeaway that I'm getting here, two things one is the obvious and that is exercises get for us, no matter what. That's an obvious I'm gonna leave that there, but also it's important to check in with your health care professionals to check in with professionals from a training standpoint is to make sure that you're doing a safe that you're in the right zone as you say and accomplishing the things that you're trying to accomplish without, you know, creating additional problems or injuries or, you know, setting yourself up for failure. And I think that just sounds like good advice, no matter what too Right.

Ernest Quiocho  22:37  
Absolutely. Yeah, definitely. We definitely encourage everyone to, you know, check with providers, if there's any precautions that you want to check on, definitely make sure you check with someone in the healthcare, healthcare and healthcare professional that can guide you as to what you can and can't do, provides, definitely, definitely look to exercise I mean, there's a lot of great, you know, medication out there and medicines that that can definitely help but I would also lean, strongly towards exercise as a way to combat these chronic diseases like diabetes, going back to diabetes, you might not be able to completely erase diabetes, but you can definitely manage it and also lower that blood glucose, blood glucose levels, with, with exercise returning

Kyle Case  23:25  
Honest, good solid advice I like. Thank you so much as time goes by so fast but that's that's the time that we have to visit with you but great advice, and best of luck with the new baby. Thank you and hopefully we'll have you back some time. Alright, sounds good. Thanks. Okay. Instead of ships that just comes and stuff. That's groundbreaking which is how good things. Here's something that is groundbreaking registration for the husband most of your games just closed. So, you know, the time has to come, it hasn't happened initially it has happened, If he missed it but if you want to see what all the fuss is about. You can check out all the schedules, all the information you need to watch the event so we encourage people come on out and watch for those who have registered we're getting some questions about COVID-19, understandably, you can find our updated COVID-19 plan at SR games dotnet, and we encourage you to take a look at that and get familiar with it. For those of you who didn't register as well as also did. It's also worth mentioning that you can now register to volunteer at the games, and we have a lot of volunteers, it takes about 3000 volunteers to pull this whole thing together. So you can now, once again, check out the website Senior Games net worth noting again this year, that when you register to volunteer, you'll be entered in a drawing for a brand new E bike from charge bikes so take advantage of that. We want to remind you to tune in live next and every Thursday at 5:30pm Mountain Time on a 1450, we're going to 3.1 for the Hudson World Senior Games act like we do take this live show, turn it into a podcast and you can subscribe, pretty much anywhere else your podcasts are found. If you are listening by Podcast Take a moment, give us a rating or write a quick review, you could do that on your iPhone by just scrolling down to the bottom of your apple podcast app and shoot us a few stars. You can also find this and previous shows right on our website. Again, seniorgames.net, so don't miss that today's inspirational vibe comes from the great poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I like this he says, Don't be crushed by the problems you've led by your dreams. Until next Thursday, stay active.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai