Jimbo Pernetti

Parents, caffeine isn't the enemy for your athlete. The dose and the mystery around it are. The top 100 pre-workouts average about 254mg of caffeine per scoop and 18 ingredients each. Over half hide at least some of those doses inside a proprietary blend, so you don't even know what your kid is putting in their body. For a 15-year-old, one scoop is about 2.5x the daily caffeine ceiling pediatricians recommend. A little caffeine can help performance. A loaded scoop of unknown ingredients in a developing athlete is a different story.

Parents, this is why your athlete's sleep is of the utmost importance. A movement they practice can improve around 20% overnight, with ZERO extra reps. The brain keeps working on it while they sleep, cementing the pattern and cleaning it up. The swings they practiced at 6pm get finished at 2am. Cut their sleep short and you cut part of that gain.

The average teen picks up their phone 51 times a day and spends about 4.5 hours on it. That time comes from somewhere. It cuts into their sleep, distracts them from schoolwork and training, and keeps their brain in a constant state of distraction. And it doesn't all need to go to training. But imagine some of those hours going toward real development instead. Better sleep, sharper focus, actual recovery, growing as a person. All of that feeds their athleticism in the long run. A distracted, under-rested kid won't develop the way they could, no matter how talented they are.

How much protein your athlete actually needs to build and recover: Not the bare minimum, and not the crazy numbers you see online. The research lands in a clear range: about 0.7 to 1g per pound of bodyweight a day. That's enough to repair the muscle they break down in training, build new muscle, and recover for the next session. Spread it across the day, hit it consistently, and lean on whole food sources.

Driven athletes won't judge your kid for going to bed early. Dedicated athletes won't judge them for turning down the junk food. Disciplined athletes won't judge them for skipping the party to train. It's the ones going nowhere who have the most to say, because they've got nothing to work toward. Never let unmotivated people judge your athlete's work ethic.

Parents, teach your athlete to nap between games of a doubleheader. A quick 20 to 30 minute nap clears out adenosine, the chemical that builds up in your brain and makes you feel foggy and slow. It also gives the nervous system a reset without dropping into deep sleep, so your athlete wakes up sharp instead of sluggish. The result is better reaction time, focus, and energy walking into game two. Have them use that window instead of scrolling through it.

Why young athletes should lift, and when to start: Strength training makes young athletes more durable and less likely to get hurt. Stronger bones, better joints, better movement that carries into their sport. And it DOES NOT always mean weights. Bands, bodyweight, and med balls all count. What matters is progressing them appropriately. Kids can safely start supervised work around 7 to 8. Early on it's about establishing proper movement patterns and controlling their bodyweight.

It takes about 66 days to build a habit. So have your athlete commit to these for 66 days straight and watch how much better they get. - Sleep 8+ hours EVERY night - Hit protein at every meal - Train WITH INTENT 3 to 4 times a week - Hydrate BEFORE they're thirsty - Get 10 minutes of sunlight in their eyes after waking - Take at least one true REST day each week These aren’t difficult tasks. Creating the habit in the first place is.

5:30am wake up. 6:30am weights. 7:30am school. 3:30pm practice. 6pm lessons. 8pm homework. In bed too late. Up at 5:30 to do it again. Then we wonder why youth and high school athletes are getting hurt at the rate they are. Look at that schedule and find the recovery. There isn't any. The body only adapts and repairs when it gets a break, and these kids never get one.

If sleep came in a bottle, every athlete on the planet would buy it. It repairs and builds muscle through growth hormone. It resets your nervous system for speed and power. It sharpens your focus and locks in skills you practiced. Nothing else does all of that at once. No supplement, no shortcut. And it's free.

Parents, maybe the single most important thing you can do to help your athlete reach the college or pro level is instill confidence in them. Confidence is what separates elite athletes from the rest. Talent gets them noticed. Belief is what lets them perform when it counts. And it’s a skill, not something you’re born with. It gets built two ways. By you, in how you talk to them and how you respond when they fail. And by them, through the work they put in.

Your athlete doesn’t need a wearable. But it can be a useful tool. It’s not about the data being perfect. It’s about building habits. A watch that nudges them to get to bed on time, move more during the day, and roughly ballpark how much they’re burning can make those things feel real. Numbers on a screen hold young athletes accountable in a way that reminders don’t.

Parents, Here’s a simple rule backed by research: a young athlete shouldn’t play more hours of sport per week than their age in years. Kids who cross that line just about double the odds of a serious overuse injury. So a 12 year old playing 15+ hours a week is quietly increasing the risk. More isn’t always better. Rest is part of development

Parents, you need to have a conversation about peptides with your athlete. Soon. High school athletes ask me about peptides on a routine basis. Many are already taking them. A lot are ordering them from sketchy, unverified sources online with zero idea what’s actually in the vial. These are kids injecting unregulated substances into their bodies while they’re still developing, looking for a shortcut they don’t need. Your athlete is almost certainly aware of this stuff, even if you aren’t.

63% of what teens eat comes from ultra-processed food. That's almost 2/3 of their diet. The issue isn't just the junk going in. It's everything that gets left out. Quality protein, fiber, and the micronutrients a growing athlete needs to build, recover, and perform. You can hit your calories and still come up short on what actually matters.

Parents, don’t panic if your kid is a late bloomer. It’s often an advantage in disguise. The smaller, later-maturing kids can’t win on size, so they’re forced to win on skill. They have to out-work, out-think, and out-coordinate the bigger kids just to compete. Then puberty hits. They catch up physically, but now they’ve got the skill to go with it. Meanwhile a lot of early bloomers coasted on size and never built that foundation. When everyone catches up, they get passed.