”If you don’t achieve and let people keep you down, you will stay down. Not me… I choose to get back up. I choose to look the unwanted in the face. I choose to go after the unwanted with a smile. I choose to suffer. And from suffering I grow.” David Goggins
Get Back Up by David Goggins-Considered by many as the toughest athlete in the world, David Goggins, is not only a Navy Seal, but an ultra marathon runner as well. I’m going to link a video, Wikipedia on his story, and a link to his old blog so all of you can get the full picture. He is the epitome of a human being truly in search of limits, constantly reminding us all that we don’t have them. The only ones we have are the ones we place on ourselves. While I would not condone his training for those competing in a specific sport, his toughness capacity and his pain threshold are something to be admired by anyone looking to push through obstacles that life throws our way.
Do You Believe In Lindy? By Adam Borstein-Why do I train so hard? Because I can. Let those words echo in your head. Those of us who are lucky enough to be physically capable of pushing our body through anything should see training in a different light after reading this article by Adam. When I read this awhile back, a new outlook was born. I always train hard, but I didn’t truly appreciate the opportunity to train hard each and everyday. When I see people taking it easy in their training, holding back in pursuit of goals, or being soft and whiny, it strikes something deep inside that really pisses me off. I think of Lindy sometimes or others who would give everything they had to be capable of training their asses off. Sometimes it even brings tears of anger and sadness that people take their health and strength for granted. Please read this article and share it so that you never become someone like that. The pain and suffering of working hard and training hard is a gift….remember that
Writing Your Life’s Script: How Great People Plan Their Life By Chad Howse- If you’re ok with being mediocre at everything in your life, don’t read this article, don’t read our blog, and carry on. IF, however, you are in pursuit of something greater, something meaningful, and something legendary, this is the place for you. Chad lays it out for you short and sweet. Everything amazing that was ever created, designed, written, invented, or achieved have come from great people with great plans. Rich people rarely get rich by accident, successful people never become awesome by chance. It takes intense commitment, unwavering self belief, and diligent planning. This fantastic post by Chad should help get the wheels turning.
Now is the time of the year where people begin to fade from their New Year’s’ Resolutions, if they haven’t slipped already. I heard someone at the crowded gym in the first week of January say, “I can’t wait until all of these people fall off of their resolutions so I can get my gym space back.” Sadly, it’s pretty true but hopefully, all of you faithful Show Me Strength readers have been able to draw inspiration from our posts thus far and have stayed true to yourselves and new goals for the year. In case you feel yourself slipping, or need a kick in the butt as a reminder that it’s never to late to get back in gear, we are sure these reads and video will pick you up and keep you going strong!
“He’s in bed no earlier than midnight most nights. Don’t bother re-reading to check your math: It really does add up to only three hours of sleep a night. When people ask if he uses supplements to help him train, he says that he takes a giant suck-it-up pill every morning and washes it down with a refreshing can of hard. This isn’t boasting. It’s military-speak for the hardest part of Goggins’ daily regimen: getting out of bed.”
This is honestly one of the most badass articles that either Chad and I have ever read. If this doesn’t get you fired up for greatness, you should check your pulse! This guy is the real deal, as I’ve heard from a couple of my friends, one who had him as his Navy Seal instructor during an Olympic Rowing training day, and another Air Force Para-rescue friend who heard him speak. And if that is not enough to convince you, the author of one of the most inspiring books we’ve ever read, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 tweeted this just last week:
Congrats to a teammate of mine David Goggins who broke the Guinness book record for pull ups in 24 hours. He did… fb.me/1UUcDMGVB
On the topic of New Year’s Resolutions, this article could not be more on point with a little, or maybe a lot, of tough love some people need to hear. I’m proud to say that my girlfriend found this article, loved it, and passed it on to me. It’s now my gift to you. Disclaimer: There is some colorful, yet necessary, language.
“Breaking news, friend: you are not the boss. If truth be told, you are the exact opposite of the boss. You are the servant. You serve the needs of your body. You don’t tell your body to be hardcore. Your body tells you what it needs in order to be hardcore. It needs workouts. Long, hard, painful workouts—for weeks, and months, and years. Purposeful, planned, powerful workouts, that are structured to place your body under the proper amounts of stress in order to achieve the desired adaptations.”
And finally, here is a good reminder we all need that has been floating around the web recently. The language is quite different that the previous two articles, but the message still remains! Great message to get up, get moving, and get better!
“This is life people. You got air coming through your nose. You got heartbeat. That means it’s time to do something!”
“What if Michael Jordan had quit when he didn’t make the team? There would be no SpaceJam! And I love SpaceJam. What will be your SpaceJam? What will you create to make the world awesome? Nothing if you keep sitting there that’s why I’m talking to you today!”
“Don’t Stop Believin’, unless your dream is stupid. And then you need a better dream.”
“What if there really were two paths? I want to be on the one that leads to awesome!”
“Give the world a reason to dance! Get to it!”
Show us some of your strength this week! Post your feats of strength on our Facebook page or tweet @ShowMeStrength! SHOW US STRENGTH!
These reads of the week come from a selection of the gurus from whom we consider ourselves very lucky to be able to personally learn from. Their continued contributions to their respective areas is no accident and inspirational to us; they continually challenge themselves to learn more and evolve as scientific progress dictates, even though they already practice on the edge of discovery. Please take a minute to catch up on some of their contributions!
1) Developing Young Athletes by Mike Robertson- Once again, Mike frames this tremendous discussion through his life experiences as a young athlete himself, a father to a young daughter, and a strength coach of many young athletes.
2) Shoulder Adaptations Over the Course of a Baseball Season by Chris Beardsley and posted by Mike Reinold- In this detailed research review, Chris thoroughly covers the whole host of issues which manifest in the throwers arm over the course of a season. These are the major reasons why we care so much about proper training and preventative care! Mike, the Boston Red Sox Head Physical Therapist for years, also shares his insights on the review.
3) Should Baseball Players Bench Press? by Tony Gentilcore- This is an article we are so thankful was written in such detail! Just this week, I was asked by one of the athletes I coach, why we don’t do bench press for 45 minutes like his football playing high school friends. Well, this post by Tony could not have come at a better time and I know I will be referring people directly to this article often!
4) Invincible Immunity by Eric Cressey- A post from 2009 that we were recently reminded of and is very fitting considering the high impact that the flu is expected to have this season (as long as the world doesn’t end first!). A well researched and presented reminder of things you can do to get healthy and stay healthy!
Babe Ruth often seen swinging 3 of his 36 inch, 40-47 oz bats!
A major event in any youth baseball players career is that moment when he or she takes that first practice swing using a coveted bat weight/donut/or other heavily marketed weighted bat contraption.
At that moment, one feels like a Greek god, Hercules on Mt. Scopus, as one joins the ranks of those professional baseball players one places up on that pedestal. If they swing them, and blast mammoth home runs, then I should do the same, right?
Well, contrary to almost universal baseball wisdom, bat weights might not actually carry any weight at all when it comes to preparation, and in fact, you might actually be doing more harm than good!
SWING AND A MISS!
We want you to be aware of the actual science behind the training to limit those rather unfortunate swings and misses. Below we review two research papers which demonstrates the effect of swinging a bat weight on subsequent swing velocity.
EFFECT OF WARM-UP WITH DIFFERENT WEIGHTED BATS ON NORMAL BASEBALL BAT VELOCITY Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23(5): 1566-1569, 2009.
BRIAN S. MONTOYA, LEE E. BROWN, JARED W. COBURN, AND STEVEN M. ZINDER
Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Fullerton, California
Methods
19 male recreational baseball players, with high school or junior college experience minimum, were asked to complete a general warm up routine and then placed into 3 test conditions: a light bat (LB) group (33in/ 9.6oz), a normal bat (NB) group (33in/ 31.5 oz) or a heavy bat (HB) group (33in/ 55.2 oz). Participants were asked to take 5 warm up swings, each of which was recorded for bat velocity, and then following a 30 second break, completed 5 maximal swings with the normal bat.
Results
The authors found that warming up with the light bat was significantly faster than that of the normal bat or the heavy bat. However, they found that when testing the post warm up velocity when participants returned to the normal bat, the light bat warm up group and the normal bat warm up group had statistically significantly higher swing velocity.
Authors Conclusions
The authors conclude that during a warm up in which a player is trying to increase subsequent bat velocity, they should warm up with either a lighter or normal bat. Using a heavy bat is discouraged because it appears to reduce swing speed upon returning to a normal weighted bat.
Limitations
This study is limited for one by the fact that only recreational players were used. A subsequent study of professional caliber hitters should be undertaken. Also, the study does not account for the phycological or biomechanical advantage that swinging with a heavier bat may subsequently provide to a batter. It is also possible, and has been seen in other such studies, that the bat speed returns to normal after the first post warm up swing; however, because they averaged the post swing velocities, this is not evident.
AFTER-EFFECTS OF USING A WEIGHTED BAT ON SUBSEQUENT SWING VELOCITY AND BATTERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SWING VELOCITY AND HEAVINESS. Percept Mot Skills. 2002 Feb;94(1):119-26.
Otsuji T, Abe M, Kinoshita H.
Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Japan.
Methods
8 varsity university male baseball or softball players participated in this study. In each case, the participant swung an unweighted bat 5 times (control), followed by 5 swings the bat weighted with a 800 gram bat ring weight (weighted condition), and 5 more again without the weight (post-weighted condition). Participants were given 15 seconds rest between each swing. They conducted 3 sets of these 15 swings, with a 10 minute rest between sets.
Additionally, after the 5th swing of the weighted condition and the 1st, 3rd, and 5th post-weighted swing the participants were asked to subjectively rate both the heaviness of the bat and the relative speed compared to the control condition. They rated heaviness on a scale of apparently lighter (5) to apparently heavier (1) and relative speed on a scale of apparently faster (5) to apparently slower (1) with (3) being equal in both cases.
Results
The authors found that the average post-weighted swing velocity did not significantly change from the normal control bat swings; however, there was a significant decrease in the swing velocity of the first attempted post-weighted swing.
As far as perception of heaviness and relative speed, the participants felt that the first post-weighted swing, the bat felt both lighter and speed velocity faster than the control condition.
Authors Conclusions
The authors conclude that using a weighted bat does not, contrary to popular belief, elicit an increase in bat speed. As with the previous study, they conclude that it should not be used to increase bat speed, but may only provide a psychological benefit to the batter. They postulated about neuromuscular cause of the decreased bat velocity. They noticed that other studies had demonstrated that using a weighted bat may increase activation of both agonist and antagonist musculature associated with the swing pattern.
Limitations
There are still limitations to this study as noted by the authors themselves and further study is needed to clarify the neuromuscular mechanisms of bat speed inhibition following a weighted swing. Additionally, they do not go into the biomechanical changes which may occur along with the weighted bat swing.
OVERALL MESSAGE: Baseball is generally very slow to adapt to research and scientific inquiry. While more study is necessary, these and other studies seem to conclusively demonstrate that swinging a weighted bat does not increase bat speed, at least immediately following weighted swings. There still may be beneficial training mechanisms using a weighted bat; however, swinging 6 bats in the on-deck circle will not help you mash Ruthian home runs. In fact, I’d like to personally slap myself in the face for doing so for some many years of my career. I am still not fully convinced that there may be some important biomechanical advantages that swinging a bat may provide a batter, but further study is necessary. Happy smart swinging!
Let’s get this week started off right. Here are a few reads from some very bright and successful people that we here @showmestrength have a tremendous appreciation for.
Martin Rooney -Join The Resistance- Martin runs an amazing program called Training For Warriors (TWF) in which he reaches out and challenges everyone from athletes to weekend warriors to adopt a lifestyle of physical and mental training conducive to achieving one’s potential. Here is an article on his blog about consistently making the right choices in a society that presents us with so many unhealthy obstacles that often get in the way of our goals and aspirations. Martin challenges us to Join the healthy and more rewarding side of the fight. The Resistance.
Jim “SmittyDiesel” Smith-50 Ways to Achieve Greatness in Your Life- Even though he was in our most recent motivational post , Smitty continues to put out stuff that gets us fired up, so we had to share his most recent article that gives us 50 ways to better our day-to-day life with tips both big and small. Master just one of these and you’re making a significant and positive difference in your life.
TC Louma- The 7 Cowboy Values- This is an older T-Nation article from 2009, but it’s an awesome read from a really good writer. TC writes on a wide variety of topics, but this one really hits home for us guys out there.
Hope you enjoy! Have a kick ass week! Here is our training tune of the week!
A big part of helping you out will also be sharing books, videos, and articles from others that make sense to us, motivate us, and direct our training in a positive way. That leads us into today’s post..
Sometimes Mondays can seem a little overwhelming. Many times we have so much in front of us that it can seem intimidating. Well, the best way to conquer these obstacles is to face them head on.
Here are some great reads to get your week started off right!
Chad Howse- The Art of Being Actively Motivated- Chad has one of the best blogs in the world on becoming more awesome. He is constantly putting out great content that can help anyone cut out the bull**** and get the most out of themselves. Here is just one of his many uplifting articles.
Nate Green- Wake up Heroic- The 20 Minute Morning Fix- I’m a firm believer that if you get some great food, some stretching, and some awesome coffee or tea, you’ve already set your day up for success. Nate just lives and breathes awesomeness so just look what at what he has to say about having a great morning routine.
Jim “SmittyDiesel” Smith- Climbing the Hill- Smitty always puts out great, quick reads that can really get you fired up. I like this one that he wrote right before his grueling Sealfit challenge which he trained extensively for.
Click on the name to read more about the author at their blog, or the article title to read these posts.
“Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”
Bruce Lee
Here @Showmestrength, we dedicate a bunch of our time to sharing information about our training, the training of others, and the proper ways to approach training, mostly when it deals with the sport of baseball. An area we feel may get ignored and often under trained however, is an athlete’s approach to the training of his or her mind.
Everyone knows the athlete who has a boatload of talent but seems mentally soft or weak when it comes time to attack goals, perform under pressure, or pick themselves up when times are tough.
Everyone knows the athlete who gives up when they aren’t feeling their best, when they are tired, beat down, and things aren’t going their way.
Everyone knows the athlete who talks “tough,” but doesn’t day in and day out display the “mental fortitude” to achieve the “very best” that they so often talk about.
What do I believe mental toughness is? I’ve heard many people describe their idea of what it means, but rarely am I sold on their take. Being a mentally tough son of a b**** is very appealing to people, including myself. It’s sexy, macho, and downright cool to see people who seem to lock in with extreme focus under extreme pressure or circumstances. Why are we so drawn to these people? Because. If it were easy, everyone would be like that. Simple. That leads me to my definition, part of which I took from Richard Mackowicz who is a former Navy Seal, author/speaker, founder of NDCQ, and ultimate badass.
” What makes a person mentally tough is how they show up when the chips are down, when they are fatigued and when the odds aren’t in their favor. If that person is consistently focused on the goal or target, giving every ounce of energy to achieve that goal, and showing up with the same intensity when the odds are against them and when people depend on him or her the most, then that individual is mentally tough”
Richard “Mack” Mackowicz talks to the Oakland Raiders at length on the topic here -
As an athlete, its easy to see why videos like this fire me up. Matt Kramer sent me this video earlier this summer right after I was released by the Atlanta Braves. It got my juices flowing for sure. I wanted to prove people wrong, get back to Cressey Performance and bust my ass in the gym, and get back to throwing like I know how.
These though, were just emotions. What I needed was ACTION. I knew that I would train hard. I love to train hard. The question though was if I was willing to give more mentally. Was I willing to do things that would push my mind to my self-imposed limits? Was I willing to practice having the chips not in my favor and the conditions against me? I knew that physically I would be training with the best strength coach in the world, Eric Cressey. It was going to be up to me, though, if I wanted to train my mind as hard as my body.
I decided, along with close friend and Stanford baseball player, Sahil Bloom, that I would dedicate myself to exercising my mental strength as much as I would my physical strength. Here are a few of the ways we trained and continue to train.
Ice Baths-
The idea to try ice baths came from the 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. It was described in the book as a way to supercharge your metabolism leading to an increase in fat loss. I found the book absolutely fascinating, and recommend it to people looking to recompose their body, but Sahil and I thought it would be a good way to challenge ourselves mentally. We decided that we would each take cold baths, working up to 15 bags of ice, every weeknight of the summer.
Seems reasonable right? Ha. I remember the first minute of my first ice bath very clearly. It was a minute that I learned a ton from because in that moment I let my negative thoughts get the best of me. I thought of ways I could make it easier, ways I could convince Sahil to cut it short and find a less cold way to complete the drill. The Navy Seals talk about this sort of reaction as a panic button that gets switched on in the brain. If left untrained, in their case, you’re dead. The Seals train extensively to suppress the “panic button” in their brain to keep laser like focus in the presence of chaos. (Learn more on how the seals train the brain’s reaction to fear here). From that minute of panic, I learned #1) I had a long way to go if I wanted to suppress my “panic button.” #2) This was something I could train. #3) Being freezing cold for an extended period of time would force me to focus on something simple, yet so difficult to master, my breath.
By the end of the summer, Sahil and I had worked up to 15 bags of ice filled alongside cold water in a normal sized tub. One of us would go in for a 2 minute interval while the other cheered and encouraged from the side or re-focused for the next rotation. This lasted upwards of 18 minutes some nights. 15 bags and 18 minutes would have been hard to fathom when just starting out, but we learned that just like our body, we could exercise and train our minds to overcome the most challenging of circumstances.
4 A.M. Mountain Runs-
Carrying each other on our shoulders, battling the fatigue of early morning, and enduring through the times when our bodies were telling us to quit were some of the ways Sahil and I decided we would use the mountain next to his house for mental training. Once I learned that this awesome hill existed, he and I both knew that it would become a staple for both our physical and mental training over the course of the summer.
Another lesson learned from Richard Mackowicz made alot of sense to me. It cut through to a very basic principle that I could apply to all areas of my life.
“A man can only be beaten in 2 ways. If he gives up or he dies.”
I vowed that I would keep this in the back of head when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles such as carrying Sahil on my back up the mountain or waking up at 4 a.m. when I was tired and cold. Giving up simply wasn’t an option anymore. Once that was clear in my skull, it freed up so much more room to grow in regards to mental strength.
Here is a cool video from Will Smith that will help reinforce the concept :
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My favorite comment from Will is:
“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different from me and everyone else is that I am willing to die on a treadmill. You may have more talent that me. You may be smarter or stronger than me, but either you’re getting off first, or I’m gonna die.”
By no means are we in favor of treadmills till death here at Showmestrength, but that statement just shows the level of commitment toward success one can have, and therefore train.
Cheat Days-
This was another idea pulled from the 4-hour body. As part of the slow-carb diet, which essentially is 6 days a week eating meats, veggies, legumes, beans, and nuts followed by one day of an all out splurge on as much and whatever food your heart desires, Tim Ferriss goes into further detail on how if scheduled correctly, cheat days can actually be beneficial for those people looking to redesign their physique in a positive way. After reading this book, I knew that I really didn’t even need to change my eating habits too much. I tweaked a bit here and there, but scheduling this day of insane eating ended up teaching me a couple of things.
1.)Scheduling rewards for a job well done plays a huge role in remaining on the track of consistency. It’s easy to drift astray of goals sometimes, but I found that whether you’re trying to lose a few pounds, move around more weight in the gym, or become better at your craft, rewarding yourself on a scheduled basis can keep you locked into what you’re trying to achieve. Cheat days happen to be my scheduled weekly reward for eating amazingly all week.
2.) When planned correctly, cheat days have no negative affect on performance or physique. I learned this through two reliable professionals in the field of human performance, one of them being Tim Ferriss. The other is John Romaniello. Roman is well read in various areas of fitness and health, and is one of the most successful strength coaches in the world. Click on their names above to read about them further. You’d be doing yourself a favor!
The biggest item that I wanted to share here is the importance of training your mind. I think all of us are guilty in some degree to taking the power of our minds for granted. If you truly are looking for an edge in performance, dedicated to ACTING on your goals, and willing to do whatever it takes to become better at what you do, you owe it to your body AND your noggin to train accordingly…Now, one last quote from the dragon himself, Bruce Lee.
“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.”
As a kid, my summers always consisted of traveling the states with some of my best buddies playing baseball, the game we loved. I can remember my dad throwing me batting practice until my hands started to bleed or his shoulder started to hurt, the latter being the more frequent reason for quitting. I loved it though. I could never get enough. Many of my friends were the same way, and that passion carried them all the way to the collegiate ranks or even to the professional level, which I so fortunately have climbed to. Undoubtedly physical size, strength, and ability played a part, but more than that, I truly believe the environment for learning and growing as a player played an even bigger role in keeping me interested and passionate for the game. In the book Talent is Overrated, Geoff Colvin talks at length about how “deliberate practice” for many years in succession, is the way top performers in their respective fields ascend to the very peak of their profession. I can’t agree more that focused practice for a long period of time has helped me accomplish all that I have in baseball. I’ve been on little league teams that nearly reached the World Series, high school teams that won state championships, and professional teams that had some of today’s greatest players. It’s a fact that extremely hard work on my craft played a huge part getting me into those incredible positions. In my opinion, however, it was staying interested, staying on course, staying hungry for success, and having some incredible family, coaches, and mentors that meant more in achieving my dreams than any natural talent that I possessed.
Here are a couple more detailed lessons I’ve learned throughout my life as a baseball player, and how you can use them to better your chances for improving beyond what you think you are capable of.
1.) Don’t fall for the products or people who promise overnight success. Instead, seek out the places and groups that inspire camaraderie and enjoyable hard work.
I was lucky on this front that my parents had a keen eye for what was truly best for me. My fondest memories as a kid playing baseball were traveling the countless miles to the best hitting and pitching facilities, and learning from instructors that were willing to stay past closing time to throw me extra batting practice or watch more video with me on my mechanics. It’s the people who were truly looking after my best interests and always willing to go that extra mile to see me succeed that made me realize my potential. No matter what ability level a kid may be, it’s these people and places that will get the best out of them. Have a sharp eye for these places and people because they are special, and will mold and develop talent that even you didn’t realize you had.
It’s not irony that as a kid, and now as an adult, these are the places I’ve thrived in. In fact, the winter after my 3rd professional season in 2008, my dad and I traveled from Akron, Ohio to Boston, Massachusetts in search of the best training facility out there to develop my baseball ability. I planned to stay for a weekend at Cressey Performance, but the people there were too interested in my health and my success for me to leave. I’ve been here every offseason since, and will continue to go back because it’s a healthy environment that inspires success.
2.) Don’t take the easiest, most comfortable, or most traveled route. Instead, surround yourself with friends and mentors who share the same drive, and are equally committed to their dreams as you are to yours.
Whether it was in school, on the basketball court, on the golf course, or on the baseball field, I was always drawn to the people who were the most successful. I knew that if I wanted to bring the best out of myself, I was gonna need to hang out with these people. So I did. I competed, studied, and trained with them, and as a result I became better than I thought I could be. As a youngster, I was lucky enough to goto the best schools, play on the best teams, and therefore, I became friends with some very successful people with whom I competed and admired. My parents weren’t wealthy by any means, but they constantly put me in situations where I would surely interact with the brightest minds, best athletes, and most driven people.
A more recent example of this came at a point in my life where it would have been easy to take a more comfortable route. This summer, after spending almost 7 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, I was released. After working so hard to come back from elbow surgery, the day I was supposed to come off the disabled list for the first time in over a year, I was sent to my truck with my bags packed for home, and not a team. The easy way out would have been to take the rest of the summer off, hang out on the beaches of sunny Florida thinking about what to do next, and maybe workout or throw a little bit. That’s not me though. No one who becomes great at what they do can settle that easy.
Instead, I decided to take action and go back to Cressey Performance in Boston to surround myself with likeminded people who would push me, inspire me, teach me, and help me back up on my feet. Even though it might not have been what was comfortable at the time, it’s what I needed to do. It’s what competitors and successful people do when they are knocked down. They dust themselves off, put themselves back together with the help of other strong individuals, and keep pushing forward. With the help of some amazing friends, mentors, and family, I turned a potentially career ending setback into a positive by spending the rest of my summer busting my ass in the gym, carrying out excruciating mental tests with one of my best and most driven friends, Sahil Bloom, to re-examine our self-imposed boundaries. I also accepted various coaching opportunities to teach kids some of the things I’ve learned along the way, which turned out to be my most rewarding therapy by far.
There are so many different reasons young baseball players and young people don’t live up to their abilities. There are many things that we just can’t control, and many obstacles that we just can’t move. I do, however, believe young athletes can put themselves into some awesome situations by taking it upon themselves to seek out the best in every aspect of their life. If it’s your goal to be the best baseball player you can be, make sure the people around you are the best for nurturing your talent. Make sure you continue learning from those people, competing with those people, and then become friends with those people. If you do this, your dream of becoming that player that you want to be is so much more likely to come true.
As you can tell if you follow the twitter feed @showmestrength (and if you aren’t, follow along here!)- I’m a big fan of the motivational quotes and tweets. I like to keep an ever-growing list of quotes on my phone that I can refer to whenever I need that pick-me up or just for that important daily reminder.
“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” -US General George S. Patton
I actually started keeping a list of quotes during my rookie season while with the Rome Braves (Low-A) team. I had just received a call up (after two catchers were injured in the same inning, forcing me to take a 6 am flight the next morning from Orlando to Rome, GA, via Atlanta to start that night) and noticed that the tunnel walls going from the locker room to the dugout were covered in quotes. I wrote all of them down and since then that list has grown considerably. (more…)
The New Year always brings new years resolutions and goals- that time of the year where many attempt to change their habits but more often than not, revert back to their own previous ways. The first step to seeing a resolution or goal through is to put it in writing and get it out there to friends and family who can help guide you and hold you accountable if need be. Here are a couple great New Years articles to inspire you and your business for 2012:
Instead of doing more of the same (although I do have goals written down) I’d like to do more of a reflection of 2011 and what I’m thankful for in my baseball career.
2011 was a tremendously exciting year for me as I made the transition from a released catcher/first baseman into a pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization. My winding journey (more…)
tweeted this just last week:
