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My Youth Sports Weekend
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“You guys are the best in the industry - the one’s we all look up
to. What did you do early in your careers that allowed you to
become the industry leaders?”
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The question was being asked by a young Personal Trainer during
the round table ‘Q & A’ at this past weekends Perform Better
conference in Chicago.
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Perform Better is the #1 fitness and sport training conference in
our industry.
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They only have the best of the best present seminars and attract
hundreds of Fitness and Sport Professionals from all over the
world.
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I have been honored to be a Perform Better presenter for two
years now.
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In fact, I was part of the on stage panel of ‘experts’ answering
questions during that ‘Q & A’ round table…
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… And quietly smiled to myself when I heard that particular
question being asked.
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I had no idea how to answer it myself, so was happy
to just sit back and listen as my fellow colleagues took turns
sharing their stories -
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:: Gray Cook - Considered to be the very best Physical Therapist
in the world and inventor of the famous Functional Movement
Screen.
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:: Juan Carlos Santana - An industry icon who has been around for
over 25 years and thought of us the most innovative strength
coach in our industry’s history.
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:: Alwyn Cosgrove - Best selling author and the number one fat
loss expert in the world.
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:: Dr. Greg Rose - Co-founder of the Titlest Performance
Institute… the place that Tiger Woods, John Daley and other
world class golfers go for training advice.
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I sat very humbled listening to these industry legends tell their
stories.
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How early in their careers, they made decisions and created
opportunities for themselves that eventually vaulted them into
the status of ‘industry leader’.
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I was smiling to myself because I realized that I was being
included in that group.
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That sitting beside me on stage were Gray Cook, Juan Carlos
Santana, Alwyn Cosgrove and Dr. Greg Rose.
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I was part of this upper echelon of professionals considered
‘the one’s everyone looks up to’.
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I admit that it was a surreal moment in my career.
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A few hours later, the Perform Better conference was done and
I heading back to my suburban Chicago home.
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It was a beautiful day and I remembered that some of the athletes
I train were participating in a volleyball tournament not more
than 10 minutes from my house.
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I decided to head over to the tournament site and enjoy watching
some of the games.
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I always like watching my athletes play sports.
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I get to see them perform and can create blueprints in my
head as to what they need to be doing better next time we
train.
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In my opinion, watching your young athletes actually play their
sports is a far greater assessment tool for seeing how well your
training programs are working than actually ‘testing’ them.
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How well are they moving?
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Are they producing and absorbing force well?
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Is their first step quickness to the ball effective?
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These are the questions I sit and ascertain.
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It is the best way I have ever found to figure out what sorts of
training needs to be added to my programs in the days and weeks
to come.
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I ended up sitting, watching and taking notes for over 3 hours
and created a new training agenda on the spot based on what I
was seeing.
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It was Sunday afternoon and the Perform Better conference had
ended only 5 hours ago.
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And for some reason, that question the young Personal Trainer
asked came flooding back into my head.
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But this time, I could actually answer it…
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… THIS is why I have become an industry leader:
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