One Of A Kind Seminar
By · CommentsHey Everyone,
I choose to be a strength coach because I love coaching, lifting, and helping others get the most out of their experience with training. But just like athletes who need to be inspired by their strength coaches, I also appreciate being inspired by those who have perservered through amazingly difficult trials and suffering.
This past Friday and Saturday, I attended a seminar held by Zach Even Esh who promised that this event would be a life changing experience due to the powerful presentations that were planned. And POWERFUL they were. In fact there is so much to talk about that I am going to have to describe this experience over the course of several posts.
In today’s post, chech out a powerful message from “The Ultimate Warrior” – yes the former Pro wrestler – was simple. “ To be successful, you must be original and not FOLLOW the crowd.” He reminded us that people who act on their ”gut instincts” are often thought of as crazy. Warrior went on and said, although thought of as crazy, innovators like Henry Ford and Thomas Edison who acted on their dreams and instincts became legendary heroes to our nation - simply because they were not afraid to act on their ”gut”.
One of the many takeaways from listening to the Warrior was that although we may not all become as famous as these guys – we should become more aware of our instincts – That is – take on a warrior-like attitude in our own lives however small a scale it may be. ACT ON YOUR INSTINCTS AND FEAR NOTHING. Then let this attitude become YOU always and in every aspect of your life!!!!! Thats POWERFUL STUFF!!!
In Faith and Strength Always,
Coach Messler
Press On!
By · CommentsDear Readers,
One of the most difficult things to do in life is to “press on” when there may be no apparent reason to. When watching someone train, it is easy to identify those who put forth the extra effort and those who do not. Those who do more than likely have established a clear set of goals and objectives which allow them to focus on their “purpose” for training.
And then there are those who simply go through everyday life with dread and a lack of enthusiasm with no thought of pressing on. When observing these folks I used to wonder what caused someone to become so toxic in their thinking. – Then I realized the answer was quite simple.
The reality is these people have no vision, focus – nor do they have a value system to attach their attitude to. In other words a lack of identity results in not being able to choose the proper way to live, train or even think. You see this is the recipe for failure and the remedy is simple. That is – you need to take some time and soul search so that you establish your values first, – then build your goals and behaviors around these, then STAY AWAY FROM TOXIC THINKERS who will drain you of your energy!!
The bottom line for all of of us is that we will all need to “press on” – especially when we strive toward the achievement of big accomplisments. In fact, the bigger the goal, the MORE we need to find it within ourselves to press on. Remember, the process of “pressing on” is much easier when there is meaning and purpose attached to your thinking!
Are you pressing on ? I hope so! – There will be more to come on this! Stay tuned!
Peace to All!
Coach Messler
Should You Be Under The Bar?
By · CommentsRecently, I spoke to a young soccer player who was entering his senior in high school. I of course asked him about his training for this upcoming season. I got the response back from him that I get from most athletes at this level – “We do some sprints, some lifting, and that’s about it.”
Now before anyone thinks I am about to pick on this poor young man, let me tell you straight up that I was once in his shoes. But more on that in another post.
He looked very lean, somewhat muscular and appeared to be in decent physical condition, - that is until I asked him to perform a deep squat by sinking his hips down as far as possible while holding his arms out in front of his body. As he began his decent and continued toward reaching parallel, he suddenly lost his balance and fell forward -almost flat onto his face. I actually felt a little embarassed for him, but then proceeded to remind him about the importance of developing proper movement mechanics through the implementation of flexibility training and by regular participation in a well planned dynamic warm up.
While his father was standing by, I asked him if he had any injuries in particular those that were of the nagging sort. Sure enough, he talked about several hip ”problems” that he incurred throughout the last few years which dealt with ligament and tendon soreness. He wasn’t able to specifically identify the injury and I am not a doctor – although I would not be surprised if his inability to bend had something to do with it.
You see, this kid represents hundreds of thousands of young athletes who are simply not being coached – and yes, I along with many other strength coaches believe that a properly designed strength and conditioning program CAN make the difference in an athlete’s ability to become a D – 1 athlete – and at the very least reduce the likelihood of being injured and missing out on the greatest part of their life – competing in high school sports.
Stay tuned MUCH MORE TO COME!
Coach Messler
Dealing with “The Heat”
By · CommentsI just received an email that summarized the deaths of 2 individuals this summer. One was a young high school freshman football player from South Carolina and the other was an older gentlemen from Texas.
This past Saturday, the temperature where the young player was practicing reached 101 degrees. After the first session of a scheduled double session, he passed out and was immdeiately taken to the hospital where here later died that evening. Reports are that the practice that morning lasted only an hour and the players received a 5 minute water break every 20 minutes.
This past Friday evening, a 55 year old assitant coach collapsed and died after the team’s very first practice of the year. While the official cause of death may not be known until a complete autopsy is performed, this was the second death to come during or immediately after high school practices held in extreme heat in the span of three days.
I know there is a lot of excitement about getting ready for the upcoming football season and many coaches still believe that double sessions are the only way to prepare for a 48 minute contest, but to me – I don’t buy in to this philosophy especially for the younger players for 3 main reasons.
First, no one has been able to rationalize the need for practicing 3 – 4 hours a day for up to 6 days straight and sometimes longer, to prepare for a game that lasts 48 minutes. This makes no physiological sense from a strength and conditioning standpoint.
Second, to endure long periods of physical contact and training with all of that equipment, the amount of heat cannot be released from the body and remains trapped inside resulting in higher body temperatures, increased heart rate, and so on. This can eventually lead to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and possibly death.
The third and perhaps most overlooked element on all of this is that most kids do not hydrate themselves properly before or after practice at their own discretion. In addition, they don’t eat the best diet and get enough sleep.
For anyone interested, click the link below to learn more about how to stay hydrated. It is filled with valuable information and great tips.
Until next time- Be smart and stay hydrated!
Coach Messler