On Friday last week I did something that is about equivalent to asking a girl out for the first time.

It was very reminiscent  of sitting in class or the dining hall and one of my boys saying, “Hey, I bet you won’t go get that girls number over there!”

If the bet is accepted, your heart rate picks up a bit. You get a lil nervous, maybe to the point where you back down from the bet. Every negative scenario or outcome is played out in your head, none of which seem to benefit you or help your ego. As you walk over to her, really focused on the act of walking, something  that seems to all of a sudden eluded you, it becomes official that this is a suicide mission and you have definitely out punted your coverage here! You get to her, introduce yourself, chat for a bit, if you can find the words, and then you ask her out. You hold your breathe as you wait for her to answer and after what seems like an hour, she says “Yes!”.

Friday, I accepted the self imposed and peer influenced challenge to enter into the CrossFit Games Open Competition. You  may have seen it a few months ago on ESPN or the recent Reebok commercials advertising the “Sport of Fitness”. I’ve been told that it was actually on TV again last night (because football is gone and Lin is the only exciting thing about the NBA right now).

The Male & Female winner of the CrossFit Games in California in July, is deemed the “Fittest Man & Woman on Earth”. But before it is narrowed down to those 50 male and female athletes, it starts with the Open where any athlete from around the world can register to compete. Last year there where 25,000 entries. Starting on Wednesday of this week, CrossFit will post a workout that has to be done at an Official CrossFit Affiliate or a videoed and sent in by Sunday for review. This will go on for 5 weeks.

The top 60 athletes with the best times/scores in each region (multiple regions worldwide) will advance to the Regionals. The top 3 from the Regionals  advance to the Games, the big dance!

So, needless to say this girl is “smoking hot” and I feel like I have no chance in the world (all puns intended) of getting her number, let alone her to talk to me. But after talking to friends that probably believe in me more than I believe in myself, the worst that “she” can say is “No”.

There are a handful of movements that I can not yet do, there are a few lifts that I can do, just not at the weight they may require, so that doesn’t give me the best feeling going into this,but I do know this.

I have had the great opportunity to compete with some of the best athletes in this country through Jr. Olympic Track & Field winning National Championships and playing Division 1 Collegiate Football at the playoff level year after year and God has allowed me to still have that ability to have my body work at that high capacity and my mind to still drive me. So as long as he see’s fit, I’m going to give everything I have until I no longer can.

“Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
1Cor. 9:26-27

If you wondered, this is why I’m doing this. And because I like the challenge of know there are people that are out there that are better than me and there are things that I can’t yet do. So until one or all of those things cease to be the case, I will continue to do it and things like it. The worst that could happen is “she” says “no”.

Thanks to everyone that has already given great support and that pushed me to challenge myself on a new frontier. I’ll be sure to keep all of you abreast of how my training is going and how the workouts go over the next 5 weeks.

All of us have a strong woman or women in our lives. Well, I was on the world wide web this morning when I came across a blog written by a woman that trains at a facility somewhere in the continental US. I began reading it and what she says about what being strong and fit has done for her self confidence and life, made me almost want to find her and marry her (assuming she isn’t married, haha)!

Here is a snippet of what she wrote:

“…I now strive for performance. I have relinquished staring at myself in the mirror. There is no calorie counting. I eat for fueling performance and health. I compare times and achievements with other women, not jean size. I exchange accolades with other women for pushing through adversity and challenges set before us. I am mentally capable of tackling life’s challenges. There is NO easy path to ultimate ‘fitness’. Being FIT requires a healthy approach encompassing healthy ‘diet’, healthy mindsets, and work that challenges the body.

(this next part is my favorite)

I chose to be a role model for my daughter. If I could have my way for her, she will never walk by a mirror and sigh, she will smile with every PR, she will be proud of the athlete she will become. She will not take the easy way out, she will not take the short cuts, she will not chose the mirage of ‘quick fixes’ that sacrifice integrity and health. Do I still fit into a size 0? No F’ing way! Do I look good, yep. Am I strong, yep. Do I fight it out in the box (gym) every week, yep. Am I forever changed as a woman: absolutely.”

I need not to say another word!

Always improving,

Ryan

Last week I had the great privilege of speaking at the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Convention in my very own back yard, Greenville, SC (Almost literally my back yard. I could have walked to the Convention Center from the gym).  Even though we were all speaking on different topics, It was fun to be on a list of presenter such as the Clemson University, South Carolina, Furman, South Carolina State and Georgia Football Coaching staffs, Nebraska’s Head Wrestling Coach, coaches on the South Carolina and College of Charleston Soccer Coaching staff and Mike D’Antoni the Head Coach of the New York Knicks, just to name a few.

This was my first professional speaking event where I was teaching, where someone had their pen and paper out, taking notes, listening to me for knowledge and information. That means that these coaches were there to learn.

They were there to improve themselves. They were investing in themselves which in turn would improve the quality of their athletes and team.  These coaches understood what is needed for them to get better. They knew they can’t keep doing the same old thing and expect to get different results.

This should be the same approach you take with your fitness program.  A gym membership of any kind is an investment. It is an investment in your health and well being.  Some membership cost more than others and some offer more than others, but if you are paying for all of their services, why would you not take advantage of all they have to offer?

After all, you are investing in your greatest asset: you!

We spend a lot of money on things we want and don’t really need to improve our lives, like that $400 purse or dress that we’ll wear twice a year. Or buy that big TV that we place right in front of that comfortable couch in the air condition. O yeah, don’t forget to tack on the 3 year warranty, that Blue Ray player and just go ahead and give us the surround sound speakers too!

So, why is it that when we purchase our gym membership, we struggle to write the check and we cut off the trainer before they can tell us the other services they offer to help improve our lives?

Unfortunately, a lot of times we say we want something, but we are not really committed to doing what we have to do to get ourselves there.

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”

Are you one of those people?

Always improving,

Ryan

“One who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past.”

Before Aaron Rodgers, there was Brett Farve. Before Steve Young, there was Joe Montana. Before T.O., there was Jerry Rice. If you follow my pattern, you will see that of all these great players, one spent time learning from the other great player BEFORE they became great!

Out of all the Human Performance Institutes around the world and all  Coaches that keep them going, I am not the only one. There were many before me and there will be many after me.

In the human performance industry there are many methodologies, yet the principles are the same. The industry leaders have found a way to take their methodologies and apply them to the same principles to reach the desired result for each of their clients: to improve their lives!  

Having been in this industry as a Performance Coach for 8 years and at the age of 26, I still have  A LOT  to learn. When I stop learning, I stop growing. And if I stop growing, I stop living. I owe it to myself to be the best that I can be at what I do and to my clients because they are intrusting their quality of life to me!

The key thing in all of this is that I can’t do it alone and no one can! Every opportunity I get I try to listen to another coach or teacher, so that I can take a bit of their experience, knowledge and mindset then apply it to myself and my particular training methodology.

Christ, my Father and my Grandfather are giants’ shoulders I aspire to stand on everyday in  my personal and professional life.

Some coaches stop at training. However, I found that to reach my athletes (competitive and non-competitive) I must connect with them on a deeper more personal level. I mean, lets think about it, the word Performance, when referring to improving human performance, includes a heck of a lot more than running and jumping!

So my goal in this blog is to do just that, connect with athletes and coaches, with the help of other Performance Professionals, to create a “Total Athlete Connection”.

I hope you find this journey as fun,  inspiring and informative as I have!

Always improving,

Ryan