Personality

I think I am blessed to have the ability to be able to talk to people and have them feel as though they can sure most anything with me. It is really great when someone opens up to you about something that is difficult to talk or something troubling. Usually it leads to some sort of resolution and growth for both parties. Unfortunately, this can lead to some issues. People recognize this and ask for your opinions on sensitive issues, or ask loaded questions. I guess the point of this all comes back to be aware of what you are saying and the company around. I don think there is anything wrong with honesty, in fact, I think it's the way to go 99.999% of the time, but not saying anything isn't dishonest can sometimes be the right way to go.

On The Fly

Well I need to get to sleep now because someone asked me to cover a class for them which means I will be coaching a group of college athletes through the program. I think the biggest thing I learned today was to jump on opportunities when they are presented. Sometimes it goes against what you have planned, but big picture it is definitely better.

New Place, Same Actions

Well today was the first day of week two, I am working with five different groups as well as two others that I enjoy working with. It’s a lot of work, and the groups I’m working with are different than last week’s. I definitely grew fond of the groups last week, and it was a bit of a shock being with new kids who didn’t share the same mannerisms or enthusiasm. Either way, I knew I had to come into the new situation with lots of energy and enthusiasm or else I would be setting the tone for a crappy week. It’s crazy how many of these kids take your energy and mirror it back, and I think that that’s true in most situations, not just with kids. Taking the time to smile, compliment, or just be peppy can really go a long way towards changing your situation, even if you have little direct control over it.  I knew that I could control my actions and my words, which were more than enough to change the situation from an unsure one into a positively awesome place to be.

Steal the Bacon

Today was pretty funny. I got up after a night out way before everyone else. I cooked a mean breakfast of some curry chicken eggs, vegetables, and some bacon. Unfortunately, there were only three slices of bacon left, and I know how much the guy who I share food with loves bacon, so I had a tough decision to make. Should I kill the bacon or should I leave the bacon? In the end I decided to take one slice and leave two for him, because unless the world ends before tomorrow morning there will always be more bacon. I think most people understand this with material possessions that sharing will get you more places and more friends than doing otherwise, but when you stop and think about it, wouldn’t it be just as good to be sharing with out time, energy, and emotions? This might be the youth in me, but I know have a lot more minutes, and even more seconds to spare, so why shouldn’t I share them with other people who need them.

            I know some people might think that the connections between bacon and time are tenuous at best, but the way I think about it is, if you don’t do anything with either they will spoil. 

Everything Can Be Solved With a Drink

I absolutely need to write this as it’s fresh in my mind. So we all went out earlier this evening in the Cambridge area and ended up at a pretty fancy bar in Back Bay. As all of us are sitting at a table talking and drinking some beers, whom do I see but an athlete from one of my groups! His jaw dropped, and I swear that brick in his stomach dropped at about a million miles an hour. I saw the excuses run through his mind for being out and about, but I bought him a drink instead. This just seemed like the right thing to do. He obviously didn’t go out to feel uncomfortable, so I did what I could to make him feel comfortable.  Obviously a bit of the onus is on him to feel comfortable around a coach, but I really couldn’t imagine that being too hard after I bought him a drink. It was pretty funny and all of us interns were having a blast laughing at the whole situation and after the drink he was starting to loosen up a bit too. I highly encourage everyone to run into coworkers and friends while out and about; you won’t regret it.

Not a Bad Day

Today is my kind of day. As is becoming a theme, we cooked a mouth-watering breakfast that filled the whole house with the smell of bacon. Then we trained Olympic lifts for two hours, working on some great technique, and after that, we worked on Turkish get ups and some other skill movements. The best about the training session was an Arena Football guy who is rehabbing a quad injury asked me to get in a quick arm session with him on the Kaiser machines. It was a ton of fun, but more importantly, it showed him that I was able to walk the walk by keeping up with him. I’m not saying I can run as quickly as he can or lift as much weights as other guys, well I might be able to, but, regardless of my ability, I will work my ass off to keep up with anyone who wants me to work in. I think too many times coaches get complacent in their own training or overreach with what they program for their athletes, so doing a workout with an athlete shows them that it can be done. I think this athlete was impressed that I kept up with him and even got him on the last set, but we both joked that the only way I could break his ankles on a juke was if his ankles were actually broken.

One Down,

Well the first week is done. It was a hell of a time, and I don’t think I’ve ever put in so many productive hours in a week. Strangely enough, the week blew by, and I just think I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do what I want to do. I think that the world would be a better place if people just did what they wanted to do and a lot of superflouous excesses would be no more. Now I need to eat my face off and sleep. Good night and do what you love.

A Bit Moist

So the weather today was pretty damn uncomfortable. It was well over 100 degrees and nearly 100% humidity. I swear, by the end of the day my brain was fried. Fortunately for me, I spent the morning slamming water and eating a big breakfast with lots of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. Much to my surprise, the AC was on at MBSC, and I felt much better today than I had during any other day. Rather than talking about how awesome staying hydrated is and eating fruits, vegetables, and a great breakfast, which are all great things by the way, I think this really speaks to the benefits of foresight and preparation. I woke up feeling great, living in the moment, and wanted to stay that way, so I knew I had to take certain steps in order to make that happen. I think living a great life is all about feeling how you want to feel, and taking steps to ensure you keep that feeling going. Today I woke up feeling energetic and well rested, and I knew I wanted to keep feel that way throughout my busy day. Thankfully, I had the tools and the wherewithal to make it happen.

Everyone Under the Sun

So I have a feeling the trend for the weeks will be very concise posts. Fifteen hours shifts will do that to you. So, today I trained two cancer survivors, a pro athlete, watched an MMA fighter train, and coached kids ranging in age from 11 to 22, and the biggest thing I learned from today is everyone can and should exercise. Besides the obvious looking good naked benefits, exercise has been shown to lower stress, increase life span, and improve all sorts of esoteric markers of health. But more importantly and less measureable, it makes you feel better about yourself. I see all this kids come in with such terrible motor control who I can only imagine have been heckled by coaches, teammates, peers, and maybe even their own families, that being able to complete a few sets of exercises really helps them out with their own self images. Obviously, little kids aren’t going to get jack3d lifting at such a young age, but the mental pump they get is going to build on itself so that when the time is right, they really will take off.

Ballin' Beginnin'

So today was the first day we were officially allowed to coach, even though a few of us have been coaching for the past few days. It was really cool, because I wasn’t allowed to pick and choose which groups I worked with. I worked mostly with younger kids, but I also had college classes. Unfortunately, my beard is too scruffy for the boss man’s liking so I need to get rid of it. Other than that, my day went great. I learned a lot actually coaching, and all of the coaches who were supervising me let me be in charge of most situations. It was pretty fun. One of the best parts of the day, albeit the most tiring, was doing a five mile Airdyne sprint with Mike Boyle . I nailed it in 13:28.;e did it in 12:31. The man can still go.

            As many of you may know, I hate running and really any other cardiovascular workout. Outside of my brief foray into CrossFit, it has never really been my thing. But I knew as soon as I walked into the room to hit the Airdyne, I needed to sit close to Boyle and show him I can work hard. Even if he looked at me for a total of .2 seconds, I biked the whole thing like he was counting my seconds. Even if no one is there to watch, I always assume dogging it or giving a crappy effort gets back to the people who matter. Giving it your best when someone is looking is pretty easy, but doing it on your own is a completely different matter.

            But seriously, f*ck Airdynes.

And After

Well here I am hungover and feeling generally pretty terrible. I need to make this short, because the screen is bright. If I learned one thing today, it is that if you are going to indulge in anything that could negatively affect your health and well being, make sure you have the steps in place to help rectify those negative affects. It doesn't matter if it's alcohol, heroin, food, or excerise. I don’t, and it sucks.

Before...

Well tonight we are all going out as a house to see what Boston has to offer and see what we can give to Boston. I don’t really have too much to say because it’s pretty early in the day, but I am very much looking forward to tonight. This is, because if anything can bring a bunch of guys together, it’s getting pretty drunk and causing trouble in a new town.

Relax, Take it Easy

I feel like the past couple of days have really flown by. Days that were only supposed to be three hours or less have actually been no less than eight hours. Today two other interns and I were coaching an arena football leaguer player, a BU hockey recruit, and two of the best high school football players in Massachusetts, with only the coach watching over us. It’s been a complete ball, and I’ve been doing what I want to do but tiring nonetheless. That’s why, as I’m typing this, I’m having a beer, eating some pizza, and finishing up a hilarious Canadian mockumentary called “FUBAR.” It’s been a complete guys night in, and it’s exactly what I need to help me recharge after a ridiculously busy week. I think it’s great  be mindful and follow your passions, but it’s easy to forget that it’s very draining on both your physical and mental faculties doing the things you love. It’s not exactly the worst problem to have, but all that work can catch up with you if you don’t do anything to alleviate it.

While I think suggesting ways to unwind would be a bit presumptuous of me, I think a general format should revolve around good food and good people. I know that after tonight and a lounge about day tomorrow, I will be able to kill it tomorrow when the gym turns into what ahs been unanimously described as a “shit show.” I feel like we are always told to go go go and that taking time off isn’t supposed to be productive. However, I think that to be productive in the long-term and keep the fire burning for your passions, you should relax and just watch the world go by every once in a while.

            

Just Do It

It’s a wonderful thing there hasn’t been any time to write these little blog posts until about 11:30 or midnight, because it means my days have been jam packed; each day has been better than the last. We got there early, and I got to coach the same collegiate athletes I coached yesterday. They are some damn cool kids. Rugby, professional hockey, the list goes on. After that, we got a pretty strong and quick lift in, can’t wait to see how my Olympic lifting jives with all of this functional stuff. After that the really fun activities happened. I was just sitting around with two of my housemates and another intern, and Casey, a full-time coach at MBSC, approached us and asked if we’d be interested in helping with his football group at 4. Now it was 2:40, and we were all spent, but we said yes anyway. It was the best decision of the day. These kids are apparently the best football players in the state of Massachusetts and some of the best in New England. All I have to say is great athletes are fun to coach. After that, while we were cleaning up, some of the coaches asked the four of us who stayed to coach if we wanted to grab dinner. Of course, we jumped on it. We talked for two and a half hours about everything from bachelor parties to strength and conditioning philosophies. It was a damn good way to end our first official week.

            The interesting thing was, though, if we had just been so-so on the idea of practicing ladders or staying late to help another group, none of this would have ever happened. The key to this great day was jumping on opportunities. I mean head-first, deep-end, can-only-kinda-sort-of-swim jump in. We asked about ten other interns, including some who live in the house, if they liked to stay, and they declined. There is nothing wrong with that, but they missed out on a great opportunity to learn, teach, and have fun. There are so many people in the world, especially in the strength and conditioning community, who want to teach you all they know, and sometimes all it takes is staying around and making yourself known to them. While this day is certainly exceptional in what rewards I have reaped from saying yes to all of my opportunities, I truly believe that we are our own biggest enemies when it comes to success. Saying yes is one of the easiest things you will ever do.

Keep Faith in Yourself

So today was cool because I got to coach a group of collegiate athletes. While I wasn’t totally in charge of the group, I was in charge of every section I was in, and the athletes were asking me questions and having me show them what to do. The reason this surprised me so much was because so few other interns were doing any coaching this early, and we really aren’t very indoctrinated in the MBSC system. While some of this paragraph has been a bit of humble-bragging, I stopped and thought about the common traits between those who coached and those who didn’t. The one trait that I thought was the biggest predictor of who coached and who didn’t was confidence in one’s actions.  I have coached before and knew I could coach these kids, so I did. I had a presence without being over-bearing, and coached the cues that have already been taught to me by the staff at MBSC. Especially in service oriented industries, having confidence in your abilities, even if they are weak, shows your client that you are giving them the best you have to offer, which goes an awfully long way towards creating success. Even if you don’t know something, projecting confidence in trying to find an answer let’s someone know that you are working hard for them all the time. I wish I had more time to expand on this topic and maybe it will be in something later, but the bedroom beckons. I will leave it at this though, confidence is a powerful outward indicator of how comfortable someone is with their abilities.

Should Have Reminded Myself Earlier

As will probably be the case for most days, today was great. Our staff meeting was much shorter than yesterday’s and Boyle was no where to be seen, which is to be expected considering the guy has four or five jobs. As we got into the movement reviews, my sports history, or lack thereof reared its ugly head. For those of you that know my sports history, you know I don’t like to move; for those of you who don’t know my sports history, I’m a shot putter and weightlifter. Unfortunately for me, today was a lateral movement day, something neither of my two chosen sports helped me to prepare for. I looked goofy doing a lot of the lateral movement agility drills, but lots of staff was around and provided me with a boat load of cues to improve. There were close to fifty or so tips about how to do different things better, and I was able to “remember” them all by having my notebook near me or on my body at all times. Even after this experience is over I will carry a notebook, because it takes to much pressure off of your mind. What did he say? Check the notebook. Who is that staff member? Check the notebook? What do I need to buy at the store? Check the notebook. As I’m sure everyone who reads this blog knows, we constantly ask ourselves questions. Instead of having to worry about that, the answer is in the notebook and you can keep your mind in the present. While so much of strength and conditioning is in how well the coach can prepare for the future, I think that it is impossible to be successful without mindfulness because you can’t see what is happening around you. Interestingly enough, even if you do get better at a movement, the staff will still remember you as the person who messed it up.

Call Me Maybe?

This will be much short post than yesterday’s since work was an absolute drainer. We met Mike Boyle, more about that and what follows tomorrow, talked with tons of other trainers, talked through the lifts and actually did the lifts. After that one other guy and I stayed later to talk to the trainers, observe, and get a better feel for the layout of the facility. But afterwards, I talked to my brother and a very good friend of mine, and it was amazing how mentally restored I felt after such an intense day. Talking with people about shop is great, but to do that all the time is a sure fire way to burn out or become a tiresomely boring person; neither sound very appealing to me. So even though everyone eventually becomes busy pursuing their dreams or slogging along the rat race, the grind can seem much less of a grind when you talk and share with someone whom you care about and enjoy talking with. Especially in this service oriented industry, it is important not to forget that you are a person too, and nothing is more personal than a good conversation.

Get Me a Sammich

Day Two has been my kind of day. I spent $170 at Costco on meat, fruits and vegtables only. I wish I had a picture of the fridge, but another roommate, who spent about the same amount as me on nearly exactly the same food item, and I pretty much filled the fridge before the five other people could put there stuff in it. Good times. Fortunately for them, we managed to fill and empty three full gas grills with meat and vegetables in order to clear out some room in the fridge. I grilled four sirloins, ten sausages, two pork tenderloins, and about a pound of vegetables. Another intern Eric did about the same.

While today was spent casually grilling in an effort to get to know all of the new interns that arrived today, I know during the week when we are all busy filling our shifts at MBSC, Eric and I will be able to quickly prepare healthy meals. This will provide us more energy to perform and the time spent cooking can now be used to read, write, talk, and generally get better. More generally, it’s important to take care of these things that you know will come up daily so that you can take care of those things that matter more to you. In other words, while I find cooking pleasurable, I find reading about functional training, talking about anything, or writing about anything more enjoyable than cooking. So what I am doing is maximizing the amount of time interacting with the things I am passionate about. What’s not to like about that?

So what can you take away from this. Cook your food at the beginning of the week for the whole week; listen to audio books or podcasts on walks and car rides; pack your lunch the night before. It’s amazing how much more time you have when you condense some activities you used to do daily into one weekly slot. Take that lesson and run with it.

The First Step

So after a pretty painless day of travelling, I have arrived in Boston at the Intern House for the Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning Summer Internship. While part of this is to keep people up to date on my doings, I’d much rather this contribute helpful information to people like me who are just starting out in this industry. So what was the take away from today’s lesson: surround yourself with intelligent people who share the same passion as you.

            I have never been at a dinner table where the conversation switched so smoothly from Gray Cook to Mike Boyle to the FMS to DNS to weightlifting to hockey to all sorts of other things. Not only was it a great way to get to know the other interns, but I discovered four new resources that are open on my browser right now. Having people who share the same passion as you is a great way to keep you fire stoked and get excited to learn more, and, in this industry that is rapidly expanding, learning is key. Also, it is just plain fun to have a conversation where people are on the same page. Whenever I try to explain movement pattern dysfunctions to people who aren’t involved in the fitness industry, I generally get pretty blank stares or lack of interest. This certainly wasn’t the case tonight and it was wonderful to be involved in a conversation with 5 people discussing the best ways to diagnose and treat dysfunctions of movement and joints.

             I’m really excited to learn as much as I can this summer, so keep your eyes peeled for these updates because you just might learn something. Some parting words of late night wisdom: always be eager to learn, but never forget there is always someone smarter than you.