Just a quick heads-up that Joe Heiler is running my interview from the Sports Rehab to Sports Performance Teleseminar Series tonight. For some information on the interview, head HERE.
Or, just head straight to the sign-up page. There are a few more interviews in store, so you'd still be able to catch them (and access the previous ones from this year's series).
This might come across as a completely random blog post, but in light of the time of year and the fact that I have five accountants in my family, I'm going to write it anyway.
If you are a trainer who does your own taxes, you are an idiot.
Yes, you're dumber than the guy doing handstand push-ups on the stability ball. And, you're giving your money away and likely increasing your risk of being audited down the road.
People come to you to learn how to get fit, more athletic, and healthy. In your eyes, they'd be crazy to try to program or coach themselves. And, just walk into any commercial gym and from the exercises and techniques you'll see executed, and you'll want to pull out your hair. While accountants on the whole are generally very patient people, I'm sure they want to do the same when they hear about Average Joe sitting down for some quality team (read: three days) with Turbo Tax.
Imagine you're going to pay an accountant a few hundred dollars to do your taxes. That's a few extra training sessions added to your week - and you aren't giving up any time to figure out the tax code (which is constantly changing). You can read a book, have fun with your family, or do whatever else it is you enjoy.
Tony Gentilcore is one of my best friends and a business partner, so he won't mind me using him as an example. In the summer of 2007, I watched Tony slave over Turbo Tax for an entire weekend.He had a puzzled look on his face the entire time. When he was done (late Sunday night), I went over and asked him if he's deducted 7-8 different things that my accountant (my brother) taught me about that year. He had no idea what I was talking about.
Tony is a guy that buys books, attends seminars, has professional memberships (NSCA, PETA, and the Chuck 'E Cheese Pizza of the Month Club). None of these were deducted. So, by attempting to "save" some money and do it himself, Tony missed out on a bunch of key deductions and overreported net income. Say, for ease of calculation, that was $1,000 of expenses he didn't write off. That means he reported $1,000 more net income - and in a (arbitrarily assigned) tax bracket of 30%, he gave Uncle Sam a $300 bonus - which would have more than paid for the cost of an accountant and freed up Tony's weekend to listen to do the robot, drool all over his Nora Jones CD, and attack stability balls with scissors.
Now, here's an example of our business finances from our 2008 tax return that will really drive home the point. When we opened Cressey Sports Performance in the summer of 2007, we had to put up $30,000 worth of renovations: walls, doors, carpeting, a ceiling for the offices, and painting, as we were subletting from another tenant and wanted to "separate" our space. It went from this...
To this...
These renovations were placed on a 15-year depreciation schedule - so we got a $2,000 deduction from net income in year 1 (very few people would know to do this on their tax returns without an accountant).
Business grew quickly, and we decided to move (also a deduction) three miles east in May of 2008, which was the end of the lease we were under. When we went, we had to demolish renovations to the old place (which was one of the funnest hours of my life, for the record) - but we also got to write off the remaining $28,000 from that depreciation schedule against our net income for 2008. None of us would have even remembered to do that - but our accountant absolutely, positively did. In the process, he saved us a ton of money that was rightfully ours and kept out balance sheet accurate - and it was no extra effort on our part. That move alone probably saved us enough taxes to cover his accounting fees for 6-7 years - or the cost of our turf and crash wall combined.
Another example on my personal finances was the recommendation I received to maximize my contributions to a SEP IRA to lessen my net taxable income at this point in my life when I don't have any quality deductions - kids, a spouse (yet), or a mortgage (yet). I'll be taxed on it down the road, but at least it's mine in the interim to grow it as I please (and I know there are different schools of thought on this, but you get the point).
Getting an accountant is an investment, not an expense. And, the more diversified I have become in my revenue streams - from CSP, to products, to seminars - the more essential and valuable that investment has become.
You are an idiot if you are going it alone. And, we just found out that our taxes will be going up yet again, so your mistakes are going to be further magnified. I don't know why this happens so much in the fitness industry, but it absolutely does. Find a good accountant.
Have a comment or question? Post 'em below.
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I had a great weekend at a Postural Restoration Institute Myokinematic Dysfunction course, so it seems fitting that my first reading recommendation of the week would direct you to their website: Postural Restoration Institute. There are a lot of free articles that give you a good introduction to the PRI philosophy. I'd highly recommend checking out their courses, as I'm going to be going more. It was worth every penny.
Does a SLAP lesion affect shoulder muscle activity as measured by EMG activity during a rugby tackle? - This is a really interesting study that shows that in athletes with labral tears (SLAP lesions), the serratus anterior fires sooner - presumably as a compensation strategy to make up for the slower reaction time of the biceps.
It is just another example of how our body has a great system of checks and balances. When a passive structure is injured, the active restraints can pick up the slack.
For related reading, check out Active vs. Passive Restraints.
1. I thought I'd kick this post off with a little technique troubleshooting. Yesterday, one of the "guinea pigs" for my new project emailed this video to me and asked for some suggestions on bench press technique:
BP from Caleb Chiu on Vimeo.
My suggestions to him were as follows:
a. Your feet are antsy and jumping all over the place. Get them pulled up a bit more under you so that they can't move around. Then, focus on pushing them into the floor the entire set.
b. Get more air in your belly. Notice how the stomach sinks in? That's because you don't have any air in it!
c. Get a handoff. The #1 reason guys flair the elbows out is that they lose scapular stability - and you lose that the second you hand off to yourself.
2. I'm headed to a Postural Restoration Institute Myokinematic Restoration Seminar this weekend up in Portland, ME - while my fiancee and my mother work on stuff for the wedding. It is amazing what lengths guys will go to in order to escape wedding planning, huh?
Just kidding; I'm actually really excited about it. Neil Rampe of the Arizona Diamondbacks turned me on to the PRI stuff and it's really intrigued me from the get-go.
3. It's been a fun week around here with the start of the high school baseball season. I got over to help out with some warm-ups and movement training with the Lincoln-Sudbury guys during tryouts on Mon-Tue. In all, we saw 33 Lincoln-Sudbury high school baseball players - from freshman to seniors - this off-season, so it was pretty easy to pick up where we left off with them in the weight room. There was great energy, and lots of excitement about the new season.
4. Here's a great feature on Blue Jays prospect Tim Collins and his training at Cressey Performance.
5. I was interviewed last week for an article about pitch counts. It's now featured HERE.
"I was pretty excited when I received an e-mail from Eric and Mike saying that I was getting an advanced copy of their new Assess and Correct product. Mike and Eric have had a history of putting out top notch information and products and when I saw that Bill Hartman was also involved in this new product I knew that this was going to be even more special.
"Since I own a fitness facility, I'm always looking for cutting edge information that I can recommend to my trainers. After viewing the DVDs and reading through the manuals, my first thought was, 'Wow, a home run!'
"Finally, a product that I could wholeheartedly recommend to all of my trainers as an excellent go-to reference tool to enhance their abilities in assessing their clients needs; pinpointing their weakness &/or imbalances and then effectively addressing these findings to make sure their clients can achieve their goals safely."
Joe Dowdell, CSCS - Founder & Co-owner of Peak Performance, NYC
www.peakperformancenyc.com
Click here to pick up a copy of Assess and Correct.
7. Last, but certainly not least, CP athlete Danny O'Connor aims to run his professional boxing record to 11-o tonight with a bout at Twin River Casino in Rhode Island. Good luck, Danny!
A few weeks ago, I gave you a quick peek at an excerpt from one of my presentations in our new Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set. Today, I thought you might like to check out a bit from Mike Reinold, my collaborator on the project. This DVD set should be out soon, so be sure to subscribe to my FREE newsletter if you want to be among the first notified.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! I was actually going to take today off - not just in honor of my Irish heritage, but because I was hoping to work from home and catch up on work. As it turns out, I went in to the facility for our staff in-service (given by Brian St. Pierre, who is featured below), some coaching of a dozen or so of our in-season baseball guys, and a quick training session of my own. Long story short, my "day off" turned into six hours at the facility, plus almost three hours in the car thanks to Boston traffic and a bunch of detours due to flooding after all the rain we've received.
Long story short, all this means that I didn't get around to writing a blog today - but fortunately for me, a few other bright minds did:
The China Study Fallacy - This is a great piece from Brian St. Pierre on how flawed the perspectives of many "experts" is when it comes to interpreting the results of the China Study. It's an awesome read.
Measuring Humeral Retroversion - This blog from Mike Reinold will interest those in the crowd who are (like me) shoulder geeks. If you train overhead throwing athletes, you definitely better understand retroversion. It's a concept Mike and I spend considerable time on in our new Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set.
The Proactive Patient - This is definitely one of the articles that I enjoyed writing the most, as it teaches people to be advocates for themselves during the process of trying to get/stay healthy.
Disclaimer: This blog/article is not about being humble or putting your time in getting coaching experience, though those are good and necessary things. It's specifically about something else that I feel is one of many variables in the equation of success. And that very specific thing is Serving/Benefiting Others.
It goes without saying that we don't just wake up strength and conditioning experts one morning. A necessary process must play itself out first. We've all read the book Outliers, where bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell articulates the 10,000 hour rule to becoming an expert in anything.
However I'd like to discuss the particulars of those 10,000 hours. Eric Cressey would be the first to tell you that those hours have to come from several different avenues - not just "live" coaching. Personally, I think you need 10,000 hours of:
1. Training/Coaching Others
2. Training/Coaching Yourself
3. Educating Others
4. Educating Yourself
Notice what I did NOT mention. There is no mention in the list above of any kind of selfless acts of service. There also isn't any mention of doing things entirely to benefit someone else beside oneself. Yet, any strength and conditioning expert we all look up to can point to times in their lives when they either worked for someone else or occupied a role that required them to serve someone, something, or someplace higher up the priority list. This is because doing acts of service to benefit someone else is a VERY necessary process. This can come in the form of a collegiate coaching staff where the hierarchy goes from intern to graduate assistant to assistant to the head coach. Even still, the head strength and conditioning coach is accountable to the athletic director who is further accountable to the institution. The same thing goes for a private training facility. The flow of benefitting others goes from intern to staff to owner.
In some capacity, everyone in our field will perform a task at some point to serve or benefit others. It's inevitable! The important question is do you do it willingly with joy or grudgingly with hate? In reality we may be somewhere in between, but I'd urge you to daily commit to falling on the positive side of fence. If you're an intern, do you smile and gladly move to action when asked to mop the floor? Do you willingly clean up the weightroom after hours? Do you take the initiative and change the facility trash or do you wait until it's overflowing so you can be told to do it? Do you vacuum or fill the water bottle fridge up without any grief? I'm sure many of the young people reading this have similar experiences as me. As an intern, I personally have mopped and vacuumed the entire Cressey Performance facility.
Last summer I did the same at Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning and before that College of the Holy Cross. . . and on and on and on. You get my point, though.
If you are already an assistant coach in a collegiate setting do you try and usurp authority of the head coach by pushing your own training philosophies? Do you get upset when you are the one who gets asked to come in and supervise the 6AM football lift, which is supposed to be the head coach's team? Do you just do your job and go home without having a personal commitment to the institution for which you work?
If you are on staff at a private training facility do you cringe when you're asked to take on some additional forms of responsibility, like intern education or facility scheduling? Do you try and avoid interactions with the facility owner for fear of him/her asking you to do something else? Do you just do your job and go home without having any kind of personal investment in the business for which your work?
The wise person will accept this message. You don't always have to be the beneficiary of your actions. It's necessary and unavoidable to help others. It is part of the process to pursuing strength and conditioning greatness! Learn to enjoy the process!
Sam Leahey can be reached at sam.leahey@gmail.com.
Q: I run into a TON of Fathers who want their son to gain throwing velocity. What are your keys to gaining velocity?
A: To be blunt, Step 1 is getting away from your crazy overbearing father and realizing that if you're going to throw the baseball harder, it's because YOU want to do it, and are willing to put in the hard work. There are millions of American fathers who want their sons to throw 95+mph, but only about eight guys in the big leagues who consistently throw that hard.
Taking it a step further, the average fastball velocity is actually higher in A-ball than it is in professional baseball, so while throwing hard is important, it's just one piece of the puzzle. I'd love to hear more fathers talking about learning to command the fastball and master a change-up. And, most importantly, I'd like to see more fathers who are interested first and foremost in keeping their kids healthy so that they can have the continuity necessary to realize their potential.
Next, you have to consider what kind of velocity we're actually discussing. Is it what the radar gun reads: actual velocity? That's really just one of three kinds of velocity.
You also have perceived velocity - which is higher in a pitcher who gets down the mound further than his counterparts and therefore gives the hitter less time to react. Chris Young (at 6-11) gets the benefit of perceived velocity in spite of the fact that his average fastball velocity doesn't even approach 90mph.
Perceived velocity also explains the success of many pitchers with deceptive deliveries where the ball seems to just jump up on hitters. Often, these pitchers stay closed and throw across their bodies. While it may not be healthy, correcting it could take away their effectiveness.
Lastly, back in 2008, Perry Husband introduced me to the concept of effective velocity, which is a bit more complex. The effective velocity a hitter appreciates is actually impacted by:
1. pitch location (high and inside are faster, and low and away are slower)
2. previous pitch location, type, and velocity (coming up and in with a fastball makes it seem harder if it follows a low and away change-up)
3. the count (when behind in the count, the hitter must cover a larger strikezone, and therefore a larger effective velocity range)
If you need any proof of the value of effective velocity, just watch Jamie Moyer or Tom Glavine. They nibble away over and over again, and then they come back inside on a guy and he looks blown away by the velocity even though it may only be low-80s.
That said, getting down to the nuts and bolts of throwing the ball hard (actual velocity) mandates that you understand that there are tons of factors that contribute to velocity, but they aren't the same for everyone. Very simply, there isn't just one mechanical model that allows one to throw harder than others.
Some guys have congenital laxity that allows them to contort their bodies all over the place. Others "muscle up" and shotput the ball to the plate. Most pitchers are somewhere in the middle and rely on a balance of elastic energy and mobility to make things happy. With that in mind, having mechanical efficiency and thousands of perfect throwing reps in this efficient model is what every pitcher should strive to achieve - just as a golfer would practice his swing or an Olympic lifter would practice the clean and jerk or snatch.
Second, it's imperative to prepare young pitchers' bodies for the rigors of throwing a baseball. I've written extensively about the overwhelming extremes the throwing arm faces, and while it's important to improve arm strength, flexibility, and soft tissue quality, the rest of the body cannot be ignored. Improving function of the scapular stabilizers, core musculature, and lower half is essential for taking stress of the throwing arm. We encourage kids to get started with foam rolling, targeted flexibility work, and resistance training as soon as their attention span allows. As I have written previously, the "stunting growth" argument doesn't hold water.
Third (and this piggybacks on my last point about resistance training), it's important to understand how to manage a young pitcher throughout the year. Contrary to popular belief, playing year-round is not a good idea. In fact, it isn't even good enough to qualify as a "bad" idea; it is an atrocious idea.
If you want my ideal competitive season for a youth baseball player, it's to pick up a ball and start tossing around Thanksgiving, progressing to bullpen wok in early January after long-tossing distance has been progressed. Then, the athlete throws up through his competitive high school season (late March- early June) and summer ball (through early August). That's about 8-8.5 months of throwing throughout the course of the year - and it's plenty.
You'll see that this competitive year fits quite nicely with participation in a fall sport - whether it's football, soccer, or something else. And, athletes can still "get away" with playing winter sports as long as they're willing to commit to a throwing program, even if they have to start playing a bit late. If I had to give my ideal scenario, I'd say play football or soccer, and then play pick-up/intramural basketball in the winter alongside a throwing and lifting program.
Within this year, you have several crucial blocks during which to increase resistance training volume. One, there is the entire winter break, obviously. Two, there is generally a decent break between spring and summer baseball (late May-early June), and another during the month of August. Three, kids can (and should) still train in-season, regardless of the sport.
This, of course, speaks to the high school athletes who have practice/games just about every day. Managing a 10-year-old is a lot easier. His sport practice may only be 2-3 days per week - meaning that he can participate in different activities throughout the week. However, he can't do that if Dad thinks that playing on four different AAU teams at once is the secret to getting him to the big leagues. He has to play multiple sports at a young age.
So, if I had to give the synopsis of my thoughts on how to get a kid to throw hard, it would go something like this:
1. Appreciate that throwing hard is just one piece of the "being a successful pitcher" puzzle - and that there are different types of velocity (actual, perceived, and effective).
2. Clearly outline his competitive season and stick to that outline. Don't add showcases, camps, and additional teams.
3. Let him play for two teams: one spring (school) and one summer (AAU, Legion, etc.).
4. Find a skilled pitching instructor to work with him to optimize mechanical efficiency. Before you start working with this instructor, have him explain his approach to managing your son both during a typical lesson and throughout the competitive season. Then, go and observe him as he works with other pitchers. Do they just "show and go," or do they warm-up before even picking up a ball? Does he ask kids how they feel prior to each session, and does he pace them throughout the session? Or, does he just grunt and spit dip juice all over the place.
5. Get him involved in a comprehensive strength and conditioning program that incorporates resistance training, medicine ball work, flexibility training, and movement training that all take into account the unique demands of baseball. The strength and conditioning coach should provide a thorough evaluation that screens for all the mobility deficits and stability issues we commonly see in throwers.
6. Make sure that the pitching coach and strength and conditioning specialist communicate and collaborate. The CP staff is fortunate to have this kind of productive collaboration with Matt Blake all the time:
Kidding aside, very rarely will a pitching coach know about strength and conditioning, and very rarely will a strength and conditioning coach know about pitching. It's unfortunate, but true.
7. Have him play multiple sports. The younger the pitcher, the more sports he should play. Specialization shouldn't come until age 17 at the earliest.
8. Make sure he continues to take care of his resistance training and mobility work in-season.
I could go on and on about all the subtle details of what we do with pitchers on a daily basis, but the truth is that I envision this blog as something that will be most popular with the Dads in the crowd who really just want to help their kids realize their potential and remain injury-free. So, I'm keeping it more general - and referring you to the Baseball Content page for the more "geeky" stuff.
I do have one more closing thought, though. We deal with a lot of very talented young pitchers who throw the ball very hard. One anecdotal observation has been that their fathers are the ones who "get it." These are the guys who are concerned about the important things: staying healthy, enjoying baseball, finding the right college, etc. They don't boast about how many guys their sons struck out in little league. They are genuinely humble and respect the game - and this carries over to their kids, who work hard and carry themselves the right way.
Conversely, the kids who are always told that they're the best and get raved about by their fathers are the ones who invariably struggle to succeed long-term. It may be because they're overworked, over-pressured, or just overrated in the first place. It may be because coaches get frustrated with having to deal with an overbearing father, and the kid gets punished for it. It may be that the kid doesn't think he needs to work as hard because he's already the best - because Dad told him so. Or, maybe he misses out on crucial development because he spends all his time playing in baseball games when he should be practicing, training, or participating in other sports - or just having fun and being a normal kid. Worst of all, a kid may just flat-out start to dislike the game because all the fun has been taken out of it because of Dad's hype and excessive pressure.
Is velocity important? Sure. Can it sometimes be the trees that prevent us from seeing the forest? Absolutely.
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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
1.I spent about 2.5 days in Las Vegas earlier this week to present at the NSCA Personal Trainers Conference. I really enjoyed the event, as it was a chance to interact with a lot of new people (I don't speak out west very often) and hopefully help some enthusiastic, up-and-coming trainers add to their skill sets. In my last presentation, Shoulder Assessment and Corrective Exercise, (to about 50 people), when I asked who had heard of scapulohumeral rhythm, not a single hand went up. I was very surprised that this was something that hadn't been covered sufficiently in undergraduate curricula or the certification process, as it's really important, in my eyes.
The good news, however, is that Mike Reinold and I covered this topic (and many others) in great detail in our Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set. We'll be making the final revisions in the next few days, and it should be available within 2-3 weeks. If you want to be among the first notified of the awesome one-week only pre-sale price, definitely subscribe to my free newsletter HERE.
2. If you're looking to have some fun and help CP athlete Kevin Youkilis raise some money for a great cause, check out the "Facial Hair Frenzy" fundraiser at Youk's Hits for Kids. For each dollar you donate, you get one vote for which facial hair style - Goatee, Mustache, Clean Shaven, or Fu Manchu - Youk rocks on opening day.
3. All my "guinea pigs" for my new project are completing Phase 1 today/tomorrow, and will be embarking on phase 2 on Monday. The feedback has been great thus far, and I'm pretty excited for the June/July release of the comprehensive program (which, unfortunately, still remains unnamed). The beginning of each new phase means that I have to do about 45-50 exercise demonstrations, and that fun 90-minute task was yesterday.
4. In What I Learned in 2009, I alluded to the fact that we're doing more ground-to-standing transitions in our training, and mentioned that Rollover Get-up and Go Starts were one of those drills. Unfortunately, the video was accidentally omitted from the article, so I thought I'd feature it here. Thanks to Blue Jays prospect Tim Collins for the demonstration.
5. We're picking out the color schemes for all the rooms in our new house this week, and I have to be honest here. While I'm unbelievably excited about moving into a new house, I am likely going to jab a hot poker in my eyes if I have to stare at a color sample for another 20 minutes to determine the difference between "nantucket fog" and "james river gray." The humor in all of this is that my fiancee is an optometrist and has come right out and said that she believes me to be partially color blind - which means that I shouldn't even be allowed to have an opinion on the matter in the first place!
Up next, picking out a refrigerator and mailbox. And here I was thinking that I'd get a mini-vacation now that the baseball season was underway!
In my last blog post, I talked about the professionalism side of things with respect to narrowing down our applicant pool for Cressey Performance internships. Today, I want to talk about a few more things an applicant can do to separate himself/herself from the remaining pack at final cuts.
Mistake #6: Not reading - You can bet that I am probably going to ask you what the last thing you read was during your interview. Unfortunately, required school reading and Barstool Sports don't count. And, don't say in your application that you read all my stuff if you aren't subscribed to my FREE newsletter; I can quickly check up on that.
Mistake #7: Not applyingearly - Generally, applications that are received on deadline day or right before it are already playing from behind the 8-ball. Honestly, we normally have 1-2 applicants we already really like well before this final rush because they have gotten on our radar screens by applying early. So, get your application in early; it shows you are really excited and care.
Mistake #8: Not finding a go-between of significance - Most of our internship selections are individuals who have been, in one way or another, "connected" with a member of our staff, one of our previous interns, or some industry colleague of ours. When these individuals can speak directly to your personality, skills, and work ethic, it immediately gives you a leg up on the competition. Obviously, people who go out of their way to visit Cressey Performance and experience our environment and culture are putting themselves in a better position as well. However, if you're applying from afar and can't make it to Boston, go out of you way to visit one of our colleagues elsewhere - whether it's at their facility or at a seminar. These initiatives show that you care about getting better and can win people over.
Mistake #9: Not showing that you can and have coached before - We don't care about your GPA. The fact that you started an exercise science club at your college is nice, but it doesn't speak to your abilities as a coach or how successful you'd be in our model. What we want to see is that you've gotten out there and coached before - regardless of whether it's personal training, collegiate strength and conditioning, previous internships, or even just your little sister's soccer team. It means that you'll have gotten past the initial awkwardness of coaching someone when you aren't comfortable with your abilities yet. Just as importantly, it means that you are better prepared to deal with clients and athletes who may be intimidated by a new training experience.
Mistake #10: Not being energetic - For us, this is huge. We know we can teach you everything you need to know to be successful at Cressey Performance. The only things we can't teach you are professionalism (as I noted in my last post) and energy. You don't necessarily have to be an always clapping, in-your-face, "rah-rah" coach (although there is a place for folks like that), but it is important to show excitement about working with clients, learning, and becoming a part of something special. So, when you're on the phone for your interview, enunciate! Ask questions. Talk about how we fit into your career plans. Show an interest in what we do and we'll show an interest in you.
Obviously, the attitude and energy you'll need for a given position will depend on the facility in question, so go out of you way to learn about a facility's culture before you apply and, later, interview.
Hopefully, these ten tips give you some insights into what we look for when we review applications and carry out interviews. I can't say that it's the same across the board for all facilities in our industry, but I think you'll find a lot of similarities between us and our colleagues.
