Home Posts tagged "Cory Gearrin"

CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Cory Gearrin

We welcome retired MLB pitcher Cory Gearrin to this week’s podcast. Cory's a very articulate guy who had a non-traditional path to becoming a big leaguer, and this combination makes for some great stories on college recruiting and physical and skill development. He reflects on how he had to adapt in the big leagues, and how both his delivery and pitch selection evolved over the course of his career. Finally, Cory speaks to overcoming injuries, being a great teammate, and developing the next generation of baseball players.

A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you'll receive a free 10-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.

 

You can follow Cory on Twitter at @CoryGearrin and on Instagram at @CoryGearrin.

Sponsor Reminder

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s a NSF-certified all-in-one superfood supplement with 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s nutrition needs across 5 critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today - 10 FREE travel packs - with your first purchase. I use this product daily myself and highly recommend it to our athletes as well. I'd encourage you to give it a shot, too - especially with this great offer.

Podcast Feedback

If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.

And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support!

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Four Years of Cressey Performance: Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

When I woke up this morning, it seemed just like any other Wednesday morning. I didn't even realize that it had been four years since July 13, 2007: the day we opened the doors at Cressey Performance.  I would have blown right through today if my business partner, Pete, hadn't reminded me of July 13's significance when I came in to the office today.

On our first anniversary in 2008, I was absolutely swamped, as we'd just moved into a larger facility.  I was 100% aware of the significance of the day, but literally didn't have time to enjoy it. On the second anniversary, things had settled down a bit, and I wrote up a blog to celebrate the day: The Two Year Mark. Last year, on the third anniversary, I went "all in" and wrote up this bad boy: Three Years of Cressey Performance: The Right Reasons and the Right Way. This year, I celebrating by simply forgetting. Is this my first "over 30" moment, or is there something to be said for the fact that I forgot? This has been, unarguably, our best year on a variety of fronts.  Some highlights: Tim Collins - one of our first pro guys and longest tenured clients - went to the big leagues this year.  The same goes for guys like Cory Gearrin, Steve Cishek, and Trystan Magnuson.  We also saw more professional athletes (and clients overall) than any other year before. Tyler Beede - also a long-time Cressey Performer - was drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft...and we celebrated in my living room.

Tyler was one of 12 players with CP ties taken in this year's draft.

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School won the Division 1 State Championship, and they epitomize everything that effective strength and conditioning can do to help keep a high school team healthy and performing at high levels.

Over 30 CP athletes in the Class of 2011 signed letters of intent to play Division 1 baseball.

We expanded our staff to include some great people who complemented our existing skill sets and program offerings nicely.

We added about 1,000 square feet more office space and polished up our look with some new paint and more framed/autographed jerseys on the walls.  I even got my own office - which is shared with our new mascot, Tank, of course:

Most importantly, though, we continued to have an absolute blast each and every day we came to "work" - and that, to me, is what it's all about.  We made new friends and further developed already-existing friendships.  The CP family grew, and we offered a service to people that helped them get to where they wanted to be.

You'll notice I didn't mention financial gain - and the reason is pretty simple; I view it as secondary.  It's the destination, and I'm a lot more concerned about the process.  Cultivate relationships, deliver a quality service, and genuinely care, and the money will take care of itself.  Before the business gurus out there start crapping on me, I'll add that our business has grown by more than 30% over the past year in spite of the fact that I usually forget that I'm supposed to receive a paycheck at month's end.  Pete just surprises me with it.

Don't get me wrong; you need effective business systems to make things work.  If you're an organizational disaster and can't make your rent, it's going to be pretty hard to put on a happy face and make someone's day with your smile.  However, the overwhelming majority of "savvy business decisions" are actually a combination of common sense, courtesy, and a genuine desire to help someone.

Most of the people that ask us business questions want to know how much we charge, how much our rent is, how we schedule, what our hours are, who painted Tony's t-shirt on him, what our start-up costs were, and why we don't use electronic funds transfer (EFT).  What they should be asking us:

1. How do you remember so many people's names?

2. How can you possibly know everyone's health history who walks through your door?

3. How do you write individual strength and conditioning programs for everyone?

4. What do you do to build relationships?

5. How do you find time to get to so many baseball games?

6. How do you do to educate and retain staff?

7. How is it that all of your clients seem to be friends with each other? (As a little aside to this point, Tim Collins was at the facility the past two days while home for the all-star break, and he greeted every person who walked through the office door.  He even answered the phone for us twice.  That's big-league customer service.)

There are some brilliant business consultants out there.  Pat Rigsby and Alwyn Cosgrove, for instance, are super bright guys and great friends who have helped loads of fitness professionals increase their incomes and improve their quality of life.  They are also the first guys to tell you that if you don't know how to cultivate relationships and treat people right, then you're studying for the wrong test by looking for the perfect business plan.

Spend more time focusing on the process, and worry less about the destination.  Four years from now, you'll probably enjoy your "job" a lot more - both psychologically and monetarily - and have a lot more friends and experiences that make you smile each time you think of them.  You'll probably even forget it's your business' anniversary!

Thank you, as always, to everyone for all your support.

As a mini-celebration of this day, I'll do a little promo: if you purchase a CP hat HERE before Friday (July 15) at midnight, I'll send along a video of a 37-minute staff in-service I did on shoulder assessment that's uploaded to the 'web.

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Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Get Strong, and Laugh a Little – Installment 4

Here's a little dose of randomness that will, I guarantee, brighten your day in some way - whether it's by making you laugh or teaching you something. 1. First, I'll be the proud baseball strength coach for a minute and say I'm pumped to announce that Cressey Performance athlete and Atlanta Braves prospect Cory Gearrin got the call-up to the big leagues yesterday.  Cory is a great guy, hard worker, and couldn't be more deserving.  He'll be joining the Braves for their series with the San Francisco Giants this weekend, so keep an eye out for his debut.  For the record, he will NOT be rocking the mullet wig he donned for the Cressey Performance Elite Baseball Development video (9:22 mark) - although I do think that the world is ready for a reincarnation of Mitch Williams circa 1992:

2. My wife is out of town for the next few days, so I'm trying to be ultra-productive in her absence - so I'll be directing you to some content from different people that I enjoyed reading this week.  First, though, one thing I that I'd been meaning to do for quite some time but just got around to doing was updating my Resources Page.  Whether you're a general fitness enthusiast, fitness professional, or fitness business owner, I have reading/viewing recommendations for you that are specific to your needs.  Check it out. 3. I just came across this study demonstrating a valuable role for physical activity in the management of ADHD.  It's not really surprising, but it's the kind of thing to which we should draw attention now that many schools have canned physical education (PE) classes.  It makes me wonder if the reduction in PE has a lot to do with the fact that ADHD is off the charts nowadays.  We might be saving money on not paying PE teachers, but are we just diverting those funds to other areas to deal with kids with learning disabilities, ADHD, etc?  Food for thought.  I have a hunch that if parents and kids just exercised more and ate right, this wouldn't be as much of a problem as it has become. 4. Here's an interesting study on how body mass index (BMI) relates to injury patterns in high school athletes.  I can understand that BMI is an easier way to stratify people into your groups (as compared to measuring body composition), but do we really want to tell people that "BMI-targeted preventive interventions should be developed to help decrease sports injury rates."  I mean, it might not scientific, but wouldn't it be better to say that "We should build stronger, leaner athletes because they are less likely to get hurt."  I just don't love the idea of giving body mass index any love whatsoever...but maybe it's just me being sensitive because I'm technically "obese" by their calculations.

5. John Romaniello wrote a great three-part blog about Macronutrient Breakdowns in your nutrition program.  And, as only John can, he made a seemingly dull subject seem wildly entertaining.  Check them out: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. 6. Here's a good article from Mike Geary on why eggs yolks aren't so bad.  I like this because it's the kind of writing you can just print out for or email to a friend who doesn't believe you when you tell him/her that eggs are not only not dangerous, but actually quite healthy. Okay, that's all.  Have a great weekend, everyone! Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a deadlift technique tutorial!
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Cressey Performance Pro Guys’ Locations

I just wanted to put out this quick note for my readers out there who may be baseball fans located near a professional baseball park. It's a listing of where the participants in this season's off-season program will begin the year.  Please comment if you're located near one of these teams and plan on heading out to support our guys, as it's awesome to know when our players have a good audience cheering them on. This list progresses from East to West, American to National League (by organizational affiliation): Chad Jenkins – Dunedin, FL (Blue Jays High A) Matt Abraham – Dunedin, FL (GCL Blue Jays) Kevin Youkilis – Boston, MA (Boston Red Sox) Jeremy Hazelbaker – Salem, VA (Red Sox High A) Jeremiah Bayer – Salem, VA (Red Sox High A) Matt Kramer – Ft. Myers, FL (GCL Red Sox) Craig Albernaz – Montgomery, AL (Rays AA) Kevin Moran – Kannapolis, NC (White Sox Low A) Phil Negus – Kannapolis, NC (White Sox Low A) Corey Kluber – Columbus, OH (Indians AAA) Tim Collins – Kansas City, MO (Kansas City Royals) Anthony Seratelli – Northwest Arkansas (Royals AA) Kevin Pucetas – Omaha, NE (Royals AAA) Crawford Simmons – Kane County, IL (Royals Low A) Matt Perry – Lakeland, FL (GCL Tigers) Ryan O’Rourke – Beloit, WI (Twins Low A) Tim Kiely – Little Rock, AK (Angels AA) Trystan Magnuson – Sacramento, CA (A’s AAA) Shawn Haviland – Midland, TX (A’s AA) Jeff Bercume – Phoenix, AZ (AZL Athletics) Nick McBride – Hickory, NC (Rangers Low A) Ryan Rodebaugh – Hickory, NC (Rangers Low A) Chad Rodgers – Lynchburg, VA (Braves High A) Cory Gearrin – Gwinnett (Braves AAA) Tim Gustafson – Pearl, MS (Braves AA) Steve Cishek – New Orleans, LA (Marlins AAA) Matt Bouchard – St. Lucie, FL (Mets High A) Chris McKenzie – Hagerstown, MD (Nationals Low A) Bryan LaHair – Des Moines, IA (Cubs AAA) Steffan Wilson – Huntsville, AL (Brewers AA) Cory Riordan – Tulsa, OK (Rockies AA) Dan Houston – Modesto, CA (Rockies High A) Will Inman – Tuscon, AZ (Padres AAA) Kyle Vazquez – Scottsdale, AZ (AZL Giants) Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a deadlift technique tutorial!
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Off-Season Baseball Training at Cressey Performance

It's been a few months in the making, but we just finished up a promo video about how we attack off-season baseball training at Cressey Performance for our professional, collegiate, and high school baseball players.

We'd love to hear what you think - and hopefully you'll like it enough to help spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks! A big shoutout goes out to Jamie and Matt at Lasting Memories Videotaping; these guys do an awesome job, and we can't recommend them highly enough! Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
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