Today's guest post comes from my business partner, Pete Dupuis.

I’m pleased to say that tomorrow marks the 6-year anniversary of Cressey Performance being in business.  This also happens to be the 5^th consecutive year that I have brought the upcoming date to Eric’s attention, only to learn that he was completely unaware of the occasion. I guess time flies when you're having fun!

In years past, Eric has been thankful for the reminder and eager to pull together his annual “lessons learned” blog post.  This time around, he told me that our 6^th anniversary is “just about as cool as turning 22”, and that I was welcome to take the annual write-up off his hands.  I’ve decided to run with it, but will be taking a different approach. 

Instead of presenting a collection of lessons learned, I’d like to highlight the six moments and/or accomplishments I am most proud of during CP’s brief history.  Please note that this list is absolutely not prioritized in any specific order.  I’d be perfectly fine with each and every one of these six topics being #1 on this list.  Here goes!

1. 2,320 in 2,190

CP has worked with 2,320 different athletes during the 2,190 days we’ve been in business.  This means that I’ve had the pleasure of outlining our price points and training model so many times that I can effectively give the pitch on auto-pilot. I have also spent a considerable amount of time fine-tuning the answer to the question “so what do you do?” that pops up every time I sit down next to a stranger at a wedding.  You’d be surprised how difficult it can be to articulate what we do without just taking the easy way out and saying “I own a gym”.

Most importantly to me, this statistic means that we have managed to generate more than one lead a day over a 6-year span without ever spending a dollar on conventional advertising.  Instead, we focus on results, and never say no when someone asks if they can get their hands on a CP t-shirt to wear around their baseball clubhouse.  I couldn’t tell you what the industry standard is supposed to be for successful lead generation, but I am proud of this number.

2. Our Dream Facility

As we’ve mentioned before, our first facility was smaller than the footprint of our current offices.  Upon opening our doors during the summer of 2007, we were in a space that could be best described as “bare-bones”.  The windows were broken, the space was dusty, and the bathrooms were questionable at best.  With this being said, I was every bit as proud of that first unit as I am of our current facility.

On August 26, 2012, we opened the doors to a training space that fits our needs perfectly.  I spent the majority of the three months leading up to this event preparing the layout for the space, installing carpet tiles for the warm-up area with our resident handy-man Pickles, and painting accent walls in the office.   During that same time, Eric, Tony, Chris, Greg and Michelle were keeping CP cranking at a record-setting pace so that the bank account was getting replenished while I spent aggressively at Home Depot and Perform Better!

I think I speak for our entire team when I say that we are thrilled with our new-look gym. 

3. Productive Internship Program

At last count, CP had had the pleasure of working with over 70 different interns.  These 70 individuals not only worked hard to become better coaches during their time with us, but they also helped to create a training experience for our clients that kept them excited about training, and eager to be part of the CP community.

It seems that all of our former interns have gone on to be great professionals within our field, and many have successfully transitioned to being influential contributors to the world of health and fitness.  I am pleased every single day to see them doing big things throughout this constantly evolving industry.

In six years, I have reviewed more than 500 internship applications, executed roughly 200 telephone interviews, and sent out over 400 emails notifying applicants that they have not been accepted (least favorite part of my job).  When all was said and done, the 70 accepted applicants rose to the top of the list, and we’ve been very fortunate to have their help in cultivating the CP Family.  Which leads me to…

4. CP Family

A couple of years back, we had an intern who was truly flustered when I told him that my biggest piece of advice for making the most of his experience with us was to focus on creating relationships with our clients.  He had just completed an internship at a strength & conditioning facility where he’d been specifically told, “you’re not here to make friends…you’re here to coach."

This couldn’t possibly be further from the mentality we have when it comes to creating a family atmosphere within the walls of CP. I am fortunate enough to wake up excited to go to work every single day, and it is because I’m going to a place where my job is to make friends and facilitate an environment that people are excited to visit.  We take this component of our business very seriously, and there are many CP clients who I consider to be part of my inner circle of friends.

Most importantly, this type of environment is one that can’t exist without employing a staff that truly cares about its clients.  While I haven’t gone ahead and given the CP team it’s own spot on this list of achievements, I can say with confidence that you will not find a staff in this industry that cares more about being great at what they do. 

5. Seeing the System Come Full Circle

Following the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Eric wrote a fantastic post about the accomplishments and work ethic of current Chicago Cubs prospect, Kevin Brown.  Kevin has been a regular at CP since the end of his sophomore year of high school.  In the time since we’ve been working with him, we’ve watched Kevin transition from scrappy middle infielder on his high school varsity baseball team, to a division one baseball player who set multiple school records at Bryant University, to a 22^nd round draft pick who has since signed his first professional contract.

Kevin is, in fact, one of just a few athletes we have seen make this progression in their baseball careers (Travis Dean being another), and it has been rewarding to be able to observe the process first-hand.  I am proud of the fact that both of these athletes have been with us since the very first few months we were in business, and I’m proud of the fact that they both made it a priority to get a training session in at CP on the day that they each left to report to their first day as professional athletes. As you can see, they did not hesitate to sign the Pro Athlete Autograph Wall at CP.

6. The Fact that We're Just Hitting Our Stride

In a way, I’m more excited about what we’re going to accomplish, than what we have so far.  I’m excited about the career prospects of the 40 CP athletes who have been taken in the last three MLB First-Year Player Drafts.  I’m excited about the coming 2014 Draft.  I’m excited about our relationship with the good people at New Balance Baseball.  I’m excited for our college ballplayers to return to fall-ball ready to reap the benefits of a summer of hard work.  I’m excited to chat with the next person who calls to inquire about our services.

When finally stopped to think about it, I realized that I’m just plain excited about what we’re doing here.  And that’s pretty exciting.

To learn more about Cressey Performance, check out our website, or watch this video to learn more about our Elite Baseball Development Program.

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The AJC followed it up with a feature on Tim where my business partner, Pete Dupuis, was interviewed: Pitcher in Escobar Trade is 5-7 Fireballer.

Landers Rehabbing Repaired Shoulder

(yes, Keith is really almost as tall as I am, even though he's kneeling)

And, last, but certainly not least, the Daily New Tribue published this feature on CP athlete Travis Dean, who was drafted in the 14th round by the New York Yankees this year: Newton's Travis Dean Weighs Options as Yankees' Pitching Draftee.

Finally, here's a blog post from ESPN.com's Brendan Hall that features a boatload of CP studs who have had great summer showings: Tyler Beede, Adam Ravenelle, Carl Anderson, Barrett O'Neill, John Gorman, Jordan Cote, Ben Smith, Matt Luppi, AJ Zarozny, and David St. Lawrence.

Click here for more information on Cressey Performance's Elite Baseball Development Program.

Once we have taught our guys the technique for the drill, it's about getting after it.  If you aren't training rotation aggressively, you might as well not do it at all. 3. I got a lot of great comments from readers on my A Few Days in Arizona on Monday; I'd encourage you to check it out. 4. One of the key points I made was that respiratory function was essential for ideal performance and posture, and I recognize that the concept might be completely foreign for a lot of my readers.  To that end, I'd encourage you check out The Anatomy of Breathing.

It's a pretty quick read that gives you good insights into the anatomy of the respiratory system and common dysfunctions that occur.  Once you start getting an appreciation for the muscles involved, you can start to see how poor diaphragmatic function can easily lead to overactivity of sternocleidomastoid, scalene, pec minor, intercostals - basically, a lot of muscles commonly implicated in upper extremity dysfunction.  You can just stretch and massage those areas, but it's just like putting a bucket on the floor when the roof is leaking; it's better to just fix the roof (aberrant breathing patterns).

5. I also touched on breathing patterns a bit in my seminar this past weekend.  Check out a few great reviews of the event:

Review #1: Bill White

Review #2: Joe Schafer

Review #3:

Yes, it was so exciting that it startled people.

6. Some interesting findings HERE that shows that there may be a strong link between childhood obesity and the development of multiple sclerosis later on in life.  One hypothesis is that it may be linked to the low levels of Vitamin D that one sees in overweight kids, and another that it could be related to the fatty tissue itself.   One more reason to take Vitamin D!

7. We're all headed to Providence tonight to watch CP client and pro boxer Danny O'Connor try to run his professional record to 10-0.  I think we'll be setting a world record for the number of professional baseball players in attendance at a boxing match.  Let's go, Danny!