A Philosophy of Strength and Health

The last 72 hours have been truly wonderful. Yes, it is cold and my feet ache. But I don't care. Every American should have the opportunity to visit DC. Take pride in and ownership of our history. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Location: Washington DC

C3PO gets his push press on. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

This is one of the most beautiful and inspiring things I have ever seen. It gives me hope and cleanses my palate after the drama of my week. We could learn so much from the people and the process of the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra Project. We have it all wrong here in the US when it comes to youth and sport. We don't nurture and mentor. We don't teach and inspire discipline, character and hard work. We don't value the precious gifts of play and love of the game. We aren't patient with those who may need a little extra time to develop. We don't value the process of deliberate practice and mastery of fundamentals. We provide "exposure" and sponsorship. We exploit physical attributes and early maturation of young people for the financial benefit and notoriety of the adult-run organizations that trot them around the country. We value game skill specialization, early competition, pushing young bodies to their limit, rather than build general physical ...

Ah, today's youth. Not all of them. But this type of attitude is common.

Those Aussies. Ahead of just about everyone in the application and integration of sport science into coaching. They seem to get it. I cannot help but see speech therapist Lionel Logue as one of these progressive Aussie coaches. Mr. Logue was the speech therapist to King George VI. His relationship with George is the subject of the movie The King's Speech . If you haven't seen this movie, go see it. It is a beautiful story of the ultimate clinician/coach in action--the combining of practical experience with a keen insight into human physiology and psychology. It is a story of someone who has the will and perseverance to do what the other "experts" of his time will not and cannot do. Lionel knows there are no short-cuts, no magical cures; just hard work and trust in the process. And that failure really isn't an option.

Thanks to Mark Canella of Columbus Weightlifting for posting the link to this on GoHeavy ! And I really like the Bodytribe appreciation for the history of physical culture and their celebration of strength athletics. Good stuff.

I relish the opportunity to mentor others, whether they are athletes or coaches. You cannot learn everything in school. And you certainly cannot learn it all in weekend seminars. It takes time. It takes independent study, along with dialogue and guidance from someone who has experience and a coaching eye. It is not just about parroting verbal cues and putting up random sets and reps up on the board. It is about knowing what at you are doing and why. Right now I am formally mentoring two individuals. I really enjoy this type of work and interaction. I have to reflect on my processes and methods and this ultimately makes me better at what I do.