PowerSport Strength & Conditioning

On March 4th I have the immense pleasure to speak at Gainsville (Texas) High School Clinic that my mentor and friend Dan Burk is putting on with an unbelievable list of speakers.  

I will be speaking on Strength / Power Development for Basketball and sharing things that I have incorporated in my coaching throughout my many years training basketball players (and more sports than I could possibly list).  I started training basketball players in 1988 when then San Antonio Spurs player David Greenwood asked me to work with him and a few other Spurs players. Since most of you are not old enough to know who David was I share a little information on him. He was the 2nd overall pick of the 1979 NBA Draft coming out of UCLA where he played under legendary coach John Wooden but more interesting to me was when I learned that Coach Wooden didn’t allow his players to lift weights fearing that it was ‘mess up their shot!!’  I later learned that he and several other Spurs players had been watching me train both in the gym and out on the field while I was training during my off season before they approached me to work with them. I will add that I learned as much from them as they learned from me. 

Now if you think that what I’ll be covering is only specific to basketball then you’d be sadly mistaken AND remember someone is always watching you!! 

Click here to learn more about David Greenwood.

Quick footnote: Magic Johnson was the first pick which was decided on a coin flip between the Lakers and the Bulls

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES 

Several years ago I was at Sorinex’s Summer Strong and met a guy battling through some nasty infections from surgery.  He was obviously a strength athlete but I didn’t know who he was but as I watched him interact with people you could tell that he was upset and a little depressed at his current dilemma and that's understandable with the athletes and coaches that are at Summer Strong every year. Since I'd just recently battled through from my own multiple surgeries from infections of my Achilles and ankle and another more intense battle that unless you;ve been through it most just wouldn't understand and then there's the deep personal battle with your psyche while you're watching all of your hard work for strength and muscle just vanishing AND if you're any kind of strength athlete you want to jump in and lift with everyone!!  I decided to go over and introduce myself and share my story of perseverance. He thanked me and told me the story on what he’d been going through and that talking with me was helpful and he appreciated it. I reached out to Sally about the infections he had and got some good guidance and questions for him to ask his doctors when he went to his next appointment. I messaged him a few times through the year giving him some motivation and just checking on him then a few years later while I was sitting in the audience as he shared his story and thanked people for the help given on his recovery and and as I listened to him rattle off names of those sitting around me I was absolutely floored when my contribution to this journey was completely left out… well damn I thought and just got up and walked outside… I sat there wondering why since I was the first to talk to him about it was I left out of his 'talk'.  I think about what he told a friend of mine when she asked him why he didn’t acknowledge my contribution to his journey considering and he told her that I had helped quite a bit but for some reason he couldn’t admit to the help I gave and he never would… my question is WHY!?  What had I done wrong to deserve to be left out but seeing the life he created for himself by playing a character that is not really him while people that has fought through hell and back and kicked a piece of the devil's ass sit by and don't get the same respect or opportunities. What I really believe is that it’s because I’m not famous or important enough within the inner circle of ‘brotherhood’ that he so badly wanted to be part of. Myself and others have watched you over the years use your sad story of self inflicted damage to compare your life to many of those that served in the Military and have their own stories of overcoming and battling demons and have fallen for your charades. 

Why am I sharing this story now since I’ve only shared it with a few people?  Well, I've had about enough of him and others on social media and on stage portraying their fake ass shit and people buying it when there are genuine fucking people that have truely battled some fucking demons. I'm one of them that has and wants an opportunity to speak because when I do I'm hit with so many messages from people around the world that tell me how I've inspired them to keep driving forward or as it's said "Stay Forward".                                                                                                                                                                                   

Funny, as I sit here and write this I think back to when you called me asking to use my gym in Houston to hold a seminar on a Saturday because some other fake ass charlatan bitch had canceled you using her place in San Antonio … sure I said but then no one showed because you didn’t do any work advertising and when you came I had a buddy that came to attend the clinic and when it was apparent no one was showing up you didn’t say a word to me but left with my so-called buddy and went to eat lunch, guess I wasn’t invited, in fact I had walked off for a few minutes and when I came back y’all were gone without so much as a thank you or even a fuck you!!  I only learned days later that y’all had gone to eat when I was talking to my buddy and he was gushing over all he learned at lunch with you.  Sally called that shit perfectly the moment she met you… and as usual she was spot on and I was to say the least, well I was humiliated and lost some serious cash since I closed my private gym for the day. 

Guess its just a case of being too nice and some people thinking it’s a weakness and that my boy would be a wrong thought to have about me.

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES 

I have endured 

I have been broken 

I have known hardship 

But, here I stand. 

Still I move forward each day. 

I will never forget the harsh lessons in my life-

For they have made me stronger. 

Just a little reflection on the battles thriough injury over the past 10 years 

2012 Ruptured Achilles and Ankle - doctor fucked up and it got infected multiple times and had to have 3 additional surgeries and it was still infected so I I got a new doctor and he saved my life (from septic shock) and my leg but had to perform 4 more surgeries but the damage from highly effective antibiotics going through a PICC Line straight to your heart (combined with the side effects of untreated Sleep Apnea - got a CPAP in 2006 - you can’t undo the damage to the heart) lead to 2014 Triple Bypass Surgery (had cardiac stress test/scan in 2012 prior to my 4 additional surgeries at Texas Orthopedic) then in 2018 the other Achilles ruptured (had an amazing doctor). 

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES 

One day I was eating lunch with a couple San Antonio Spurs players that I was close to when they started asking questions about what I saw as my future in coaching. Since we were sitting at the bar eating there were plenty of people around us when they asked me but I wasn't bashful when I told them that wanted to be a Strength and Conditioning Coach in the NBA but hired as an Assistant Coach for Player Physical Development so that I would be vested in the NBA coach’s retirement AND receive a matched (but the team) playoff share. 

They were very supportive telling me that I would be great at that position given how I design each players program after talking with the player and coaches and the relationships that I seem to develop with each and every player no matter where they're from and I have knack for getting guys to do shit they never imagined they would be doing but that they don't even realize it!! 

WOW… I didn’t really think they realized or even paid attention that that’s what I did. 

I had certain players that I was responsible for but then other players would ask me to design a program for them and they’d skip out on doing Brungy’s shit training and instead they’d do my program. They use to seek me out knowing where I'd be training my private coaching athletes in the summer and want to jump in or on road trips they'd invite me to lunch or dinner to ask me to design their off season workouts and even from time to time fly me into town to work with them for a week or two. 

Anyways, one of my favorite NBA players (and very good friend) grabs me but he shirt and pulls me in close and tells me that my boss wasn’t doing me any favors and was actually stealing my ideas and claiming to Pop that they were all his ideas.  Well that was the gist of what he said… his exact words would make most of y’all blush!!

Even worse (or sad from where I'm sitting) is when I heard this exact same thing from a friend who happened to be a big time salesman at an equipment company.  He said that listening to Brungy was like an uneducated version of my training methods in that he could parrot it but did not understand it.

Until the next installment of "Stories from Coaching"  remember to:

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES 

Fact: the Spurs DID NOT even have one squat rack when I joined the team in 1999.  We did have a decent selection of DBs a couple of machines and not one but TWO Smith Machines!!  WHY!!?? 

I laugh now but I was the squat rack for the players that wanted to squat. I’d actually clean the weight up and put it on their traps and let’s be honest here we all know I might be all of 5’10” and my short arms ain’t helping me hand that bar up that high…. I’d stand on a 24” box and hang clean the bar and hand it to them!!  

After that season the equipment that was to go in the new training facility was ordered and just before the 1999-2000 season started we got in a beautiful set up complete with platform for our little closet of a weight room at the Alamodome where we played and practiced most days. 

During the season when players who were with us for the Championship Season of 1999 that were now with other teams would come to town and my boss would bring them through to show them the new stuff… one day he brings a player in and he’s bragging and showing off the stuff and the guys sees me in there working with someone prior to the game (yes some guys lifted prior to or right after playing - but I’ll get to that another time) anyways he sees me and yells…. 

“I see you Big Ed…now motherfucker this is your shit here doing what you always said we should be doing”!!!  

YEP… as year two starts I’m already in the dog house with the boss!!! Hahaha!!!

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES 

End of the year meetings with the Head Coach are always a little stressful as you walk in and sit down wondering if you're coming back nest season or looking for another team or worse a job!!! 

One year as the Off Season was set to begin and I was heading home to Texas I walked into my end of year evaluation with my coach and before he could say anything I asked him what I needed to work on to become a better player for the team and to see more playing time?  

He leaned back in his chair sipping his espresso from the tiny cup in his large hands staring at me... all the sudden he lerched forward slamming his chest into the desk and looked me dead in the eyes and says

"Are you prepared to make the necessary adjustments"

I asked "What adjustments are those?" 

He replied "Whatever adjustments are necessary!!!" 

I went home and had one of the best off seasons of my life and one that would become the template not just for that off season but for my life... YES I made the adjustments that were necessary and to this very day I continue with the thought of making the necessary adjustments 

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES

When I was in Ranger School in the Army I learned a very valuable lesson that I have always held close...  

"Assumtion is the mother of all fuck ups!!!"  

Heard the announcers of the Scotland v England rugby game at 6 Nations describe a player who is 6' and 19 stone (266 pounds for us here in the USA and 120kg for everyone else not in Scotland) asking

 "How can a player look like T-Rex but move like a Belly Dancer??!!" 

Big Boys you better be training to be exactly this..... no excuses to not be able to move like an athlete 

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES 

Yeah Baby!! I do love me some High Pulls and here’s a small bit of my ‘why’ 

Throwing in the Highland Games is a different beast and my goal is producing as much power as possible to turn a big caber, get a 56 or 42 pound weight over the bar or the 16 pound sheaf over the bar. 

Yes I do cleans and at 60 years old I still snatch and that's with my sternum glued and wired together after heart surgery and get this with 3 achilles injuries I still jump and anyone that knows me knows I love me some medball throws. Add to all of it I also do hundreds of drills per month training working on the technical aspects of 9 events that are contested. 

My sport is The Highland Games also known as Scottish Heavy Athletics and I do what is necessary to become a Champion…. It’s as simple as that. 

I’m looking forward to going into my Off Season Training and maybe even stepping back on the field for a few local games after having to take a break from competitions.  I really miss the training for the Games.

Last year I jumped back into competition too quick and the injury to my hamstring and hip have taken a bit longer than I thought or expected it to heal.  Of course combine that with our move back to Texas and the mental and emotional beating I took from the absolute toxic shitshow that I was coaching with the New Orleans Gold…. It’s taken it’s toll on me but as the old Dick’s Last Resort logo said…. ‘You can’t kill a man born to hang’

I’m going to be videoing and writing about my training as a 60+ year old strength/power athlete a little more often so if you’d like to see more check back here and follow the links to my YouTube channel 

This was written in response to a strength and conditioning coach over on Strength Coach Twitter hating on the high pull which just shows that the person doesn’t know what they’re talking about and probably thinks you can only power clean or power snatch with the barbell too…. but in future posts I’ll continue giving the high pull some love and bring some focus to other strength and conditioning coaches who use it like Al Vermeil… 

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES

#powersportstrengthconditioning #oldstrongguysrule

In continuing along with my 'people who have influenced or helped on my journey..'

Today it’s Steve Waterson who I met when the Houston Oilers were practicing at Southwest Texas State University and  Yes  I’m aware its called Texas State now but it wasn't back then and the Houston Oilers became the Tennessee Titans!!  But back to my story,  I was sitting on a picnic table as the team was heading out to the practice fields when Jerry Glanville comes walking by with his assistants and he smiles and says; “Damn son I was looking for some extra linebackers so lets get your big ass some gear and get you on the field!!”  He asked if I was there to watch practice and I told him that I wanted to be a Strength and Conditioning Coach so he yells out and Steve came over and introduces himself and then not 2 minutes later I’m invited out onto the field to watch up close.  After warm ups were completed Steve takes me aside and talks to me for a while inviting me to follow him for both practices (this was back when they had 2 hard practices a day in training camp).  At lunch the equipment manager comes up with a bag of gear and just drops it on the table and walks off…Steve looks at me and says ‘that’s for you’.  After the second practice and another meal with the coaches and players Steve told me that he would love for me to intern for him at next year’s training camp and handed me his business card then Coach Glanville comes up to me and hands me his business card and invited me to attend a game as a guest of the team and stand on the sideline with Coach Watterson.  

I just there sat in my Jeep looking at the big ass bag of gear thinking about what just happened. What an experience!!!  I went to 3 games that season and stood on the sidelines each game and I'd called Steve several times in the months up to the next year’s training camp.  I was waiting tables at Dick’s Last Resort so Steve use to tell me that if he came into his office and the message said ‘received at 3am’ he knew it was me!!!  I use to just call so he didn’t forget me but I didn’t want to bother him while he was coaching so he’d call me when he could and if I wasn’t home he’d leave me a message of a good time to call AND he’d always remind me to get my ass to school so I could become a Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach. 

The next season there was a change with Jeff Fisher becoming the new Head Coach and training camp was moved to San Antonio at Trinity University and true to his word Steve had my credentials and another big ass bag of gear!!!  I worked and learned AND filled my notebook that I always carry to this very day you will NEVER see me without a notebook and mechanical pencil (0.5 Pentel to be exact) if you see me go ahead and ask to see my notebook and I'll show you...Yeah I'll show you the cover of it because no one sees inside.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was to always make yourself valuable to the players and to the organization. If you know me and my approach to coaching then you know that I took this lesson to heart!!  

When I was with the Spurs I had the pleasure of bringing Steve to a game and while him, me and Brungy (my boss with the Spurs) were visiting after the game I learned from both of them that Steve had told Brungy he was crazy if he didn’t hire me as an assistant after I left Baylor University…. and that is another story and a damn good story at that and it deserves it's own blog.  I've also got some great stories from training camp that I'll be sharing as well 

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES 

 #powersportstrengthconditioning #oldstrongguysrule

This picture isn’t about weight on the bar (ain’t that much anyways ?) it’s about the sweatshirt and more importantly the team name. 

Does anyone know or even remember the World League of American Football? 

The San Antonio Riders  were owned by Larry Benson (brother of Tom Benson RIP who was the owner of the New Orleans Saints) and the GM was none other than Tom Landry (maybe you’ve heard of him?) and Head Coach Mike Riley.  Here’s a nice footnote Jason Garrett was one of the 3 QBs on the roster!! 

A few of the players trained at the same gym as me and I would join in on their training. I learned a lot those 2 years about training athletes by listening to the players and coaches. 

In 1992 I helped out at the league’s combine and Coach Riley told me I could come out and learn any days I wanted and I took him up on that offer damn near every day.  I learned so muc'h from several of the coaches but mainly the Offensive Line Coach (there were no strength and conditioning coaches in that league). 

Great memories and I can’t believe I still have the sweatshirt and really can’t believe it still fits… just a little tight!! Hahaha!! 

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES

#powersportstrengthconditioning #oldstrongguysrule

Early in my coaching career, 1995 at the NSCA Conference in Phoenix AZ to be exact, I heard a well respected strength and conditioning coach and researcher say, “You’re either a powerlifting guy or a weightlifting guy” when referring to training ideology and I sat there in the audience just thinking… here I wasn’t even certified yet and hadn’t completed my bachelors degree as my own professional sporting career had just ended and my coaching career was just beginning and here was someone that everyone seem to respect saying that you had to be one or the other.  

Now I know you’re thinking to yourself, why did this matter so much?  Welp, even though my coaching career was just beginning didn’t mean I hadn’t coached anyone because I damn sure had in fact I worked with David Greenwood for 2 years first when he was with the San Antonio Spurs then when he was member of 1989-90 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons and a couple guys from the San Antonio Missions (Dodgers AA Club) who’d go on to have Hall of Fame careers in the MLB, as well as volunteering with the Houston Oilers (for summer training camp in San Antonio) and the San Antonio Riders and if that wasn’t enough I had just begun to develop the Strength and Conditioning program at UTSA (they didn’t have one, I was the first Strength and Conditioning Coach in school history) in conjunction with the new Basketball Coach, Softball Coach and Volleyball Coach eventually taking on all 16 NCAA D1 Sports … so yeah you can say that I had a little invested here…. 

I sat there thinking in the audience thinking  ‘What the hell… I’m screwed if I have to choose between JUST those 2  because I have always been taught to use every available tool possible while training for my sporting career and in my coaching career. 

I’m thinking about this because with the creation of well I’ll just call it what it is ‘Strength Coach Twitter’ there’s always someone on there yammering about their own beliefs with ‘absolute statements’ on training methodology… well here’s a NEWSFLASH for y’all … I’m training athletes to become better ATHLETES I’m not training them to become weightlifters or powerlifters or strongman or bodybuilders ... no matter how much I love each of these sports.

Next Blog I’ll continue with this rant…. but until then 

PLAY HARD… TRAIN HARDER… NO EXCUSES 

Here’s a reminder that not everyone who tells you that “they’ve got your back to just reach out if you need anything really mean it”  

A heartfelt Thank You to those of you who were there for me over this past year or so as I worked to heal from an unbelievably toxic environment that tired to kick my ass BUT that toxic environment LOST when it tried to claim THIS GUY. 

Donnie Maib hit the proverbial nail on the head with this slide!!

I'll be sharing much of the fight that I had with that toxic environment that I battled with the hope that if anyone is going though some tough shit that you can find strength to keep fighting. 

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES

Here are 2 Examples of what I'm talking about 

When the scrum laws changed in rugby New Zealand All Blacks props Ben & Owen Franks asked me to find a way to train his fingers to have a stronger grasp the opposing props jersey.  We trained the fingers, wrists, forearms AND biceps because all of that is necessary for them when they scrimmage and lift in the line out. 

Once the coaches noticed the improvements that were made (because improvements made in training must show up in the sport) those “grip games” as I called them became required by Scrum Coach/Guru Mike ‘Crono’ Cron. Many of those grip workouts are still going strong with the New Zealand All Blacks Forward Pack. 

Back in the late 80’s very early 90’s   Mike Piazza and Alex Karros came to workout at the gym where I was training, before they were with the Dodgers they were with the San Antonio Missions MiLB.  Anyways they saw me doing grip/forearm work and came over to talk to me asking a million questions and writing stuff down, they  invited me out to a game which I of course accepted. 

They wanted me to come early so I could watch batting practice and had given me seats by the on deck circle. They and others kept coming by the screen to tell me how they were loving the work I talked to them about.  Next thing the manager comes over to talk to me then the general manager comes over to talk to me and a month later and I’m being flown out to Los Angeles to speak to the Dodgers players and training staff at the invitation of Tommy Lasorda!! 

There was a guy sitting next me and he’d been listening in and he started talking to me and was extremely interested in the grip/forearm training ideas I had.  He says, well if Tommy wants to talk to you then I damn sure I want you to come out and talk to our boys and he hands me his card, he was the Minor League Scouting Director for the San Francisco Giants!!

Those are just 2 of the many personal examples I can share…. I’ve got many, many more from my athletic and coaching career in Scottish Heavy Athletics, Football, Aussie Rules, Basketball, Wrestling, Softball, Volleyball, Hockey, Judo, Lacrosse, Bobsled (driver), Fencing, and even Badminton. By the way these are sports that I have worked in at all levels including professional and the Olympics.

PLAY HARD... TRAIN HARDER... NO EXCUSES

Like many ‘Old Strong Guys’ I got Terry Todd’s book Inside Powerlifting in 1978. 

In 1983 I travel 8 hours from Ft Polk Louisiana to Austin Texas where the USA Powerlifting National Championships were being held. I went hopeful to get a chance to ask Terry about getting into the sport of powerlifting and for him to sign my copy of Inside Powerlifting. I got a chance to talk to him for a few minutes and he told me about his cousin Rick Gaugler who lived in Corpus Christi Texas and suggested that I travel there to learn from Rick.  Maybe he thought I was from the Austin area but then I told him that I traveled some 8+ hours from Ft Polk LA that I was currently Active Duty Army … but hell I drove all the way to Austin JUST to watch the lifting and meet Terry so why the fuck not drive to Corpus Christi so a couple of weeks later armed with what Terry had told me I jumped on my motorcycle and headed the 8 hours or so to Corpus Christi Texas.   

Now, I had absolutely no idea how I was gonna find this Rick guy or even where I was gonna stay but I had earned a 5 day pass from passing an IG Inspection so why not spend it near the beach and find a gym and this Rick Gaugler guy!!!  Now remember this is in 1983 so there ain’t no ‘Google Search’ so you actually gotta work for the information you’re seeking.  I found a great gym called America Health owned by Rex Kelly and his brother Tom and asked them if they knew Rick and of course they did and told me to go to Bradshaw’s Gym and asked Phil Bradshaw about how to find Rick and to tell Phil that they had sent me over there. Phil was awesome and said of course he knew Rick and would introduce me to him.  I spent the next few days lifting and hanging out at the beach wondering when i was gonna meet Rick. 

Since I was getting close to getting out of the Army so I was assigned to CQ Duty which had me working Monday 6am - 6pm; off on Tuesday; then Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 6am so I decided that every other Friday I’d drive the 8+ hours to train at Bradshaw’s and hope that ‘this would be the weekend’ that I’d meet Rick.  I’d return return to base just in time to clean up and report for duty riding my Honda 750 all night long through the swampland otherwise known as Louisiana!! 

Finally I met a couple guys, Rodney and Dan that were powerlifters being trained by Rick and they agreed to introduced me to Rick at the club they all bounced at!!!  This happened at a good time because 3 weeks late I got out of the Army. I decided that I wanted to move to Corpus Christi instead of going home to Detroit, yeah honestly it was not a hard decision!!

Now I really didn’t know anyone nor did I have a job I just had the money in my pocket tht I’d been saving.  Hell I didn’t even have a place to live or any idea how to get an apartment so for a couple of months I slept in a park on Ocean Drive. I joined Bradshaw’s and landed the typical meathead job…. Bouncer!!  I started training with Rodney and Dan, so one Saturday they invited me to ‘the garage’ to spot Rick on heavy squat day but first I had to meet all of them at Luby’s Cafeteria where Rick ate every day but we all ate there together at 11 on Saturday then Rodney, Dan and myself went to Bradshaw’s to squat and after we were finished we headed to the garage where Rick trained.  

The impact of that the invitation to the garage gym had on me was HUGE and although I’d been lifting and competing in weightlifting and throwing since I was 14, it was in the Army where I had gotten bitten by the STRENGTH bug and being around and spotting Rick who weighed all of 175 pounds was squatting well over 600 pounds for reps that day that really started me on this journey, this absolutely wonderful journey in the Iron Game.

Play Hard... Train Harder... NO EXCUSES

Really thought that I wanted to make a comeback in the Highland Games but …. Nope!!! 

Now let me explain myself because I had such an amazing career since first competing at the Salado Highland Games in 1997 before an injury forced me into ‘retirement’… well the asshole doctor that screwed up my surgery and caused the infections but that’s a story for another day. 

I do have so many wonderful memories of the men that I was blessed to share the competition field and meals with and even a beer or two around not just the USA but all over the World and with that I even managed to win some championships and even set some records.  

It always make me laugh when I look back over my athletic career and think that I seemed to have had a much more competitive career as a Master than I ever did as an Open competitor and I damn sure have had a hell of a lot more fun as a Master!!!  

I am very proud of my career and hope that I always carried myself with honor and respect for the history of the Scottish Highland Games and all those who competed with me and those that came before me. It is the history that’s intrigued me so much and partially what drew me to the Highland Games but after competing this past November I just didn’t have the same concentration and focus with the training or even while competing and I doubt that I ever will again.  I will not of course leave Scottish Heavy Athletics nor will I ever forget it even if I wanted to but I doubt that I will ever again return to it as I once had nor will it ever possess me as it once did.  The sport provided me some of the happiest times of my life.  I’m always asked how and why push myself in a sport where there was no monetary gain and very little publicity but I’m telling you that those were the happiest times for me throwing the weights and stones, picking a a monstrous caber and giving it a little nudge with my shoulder and taking off running then the elation after turning it.  

Even more personally gratifying was the training; explosively lifting heavy weights , throwing medicine balls and jumping then you can add in hundreds and hundreds of drills that not only had to be done but had to be done correctly….each and every rep done to perfection.  Let’s not forget the hours spent alone in a field throwing or the long early morning drives to different games and of course stopping for breakfast at Cracker Barrel to fuel up!!  

So with all of this in mind (and a little more that I haven’t shared yet) I have concluded that it’s time to move onto something different in “The Wide World of (Masters) Strength Sports” and this next challenge is something that I have talked about and dreamt about since the early 90’s when I got a book from IronMind called “Of Stones and Strength” by Peter Martin. 

There’s a feeling inside of me that I just can’t describe (trust me I’ve tried) when I look at a stone laying there in the tall grass thinking about the men that came before me and knowing that it’s telling me to move on, I’m not here for you to lift but if you want to try you better be prepared for the challenge.   

There’s a short writing that I read many years ago from Steve Jeck that sums up my feels closer than I can so I’ll share that writing with you so maybe you can understand that feeling when passing by a stone and wondering how far you can throw it or if you can lift it!!!

                                                   The Choice by Steve Jeck 

“There’s something about a stone; something intrinsically alluring.  I’ve never been able to walk past a stone without trying to lift it or see how far I could throw it (our at least silently ponder such efforts if actually attempting them would seriously jeopardize others’ perception of my stability).  I do, by the way, realize that the more sound members of society have little difficulty driving past or transversing such challenges. . . . pity. 

I see the stone as a challenge, obvious enough, yet I view it in a different light than even the barbell.  The barbell is designed to be lifted.  The diameter of the bar, the knurled grip, the aerodynamic design of the plates - all of these features lend themselves to one ultimate purpose: to be lifted.  Certainly, when one throws enough 25-kilo plates on a bar all this design crap flies right out of the window.  And still I feel as if I’ve accomplished something just deadlifting the type of poundage Taranenko rams overhead.  No, I’m not saying that lifting barbells is easy.  The distinction I’d make is that barbells are heavy while stones are defiant. 

To the prospective lifter, a stone seems to say,  ‘I’m not here to be lifted.  You have gyms and such to satisfy that need.  Now, if you still care to proceed, then be ready to pay.’  What’s more, should you be blessed enough triumph over the stone, the only adulation you’re likely to receive will come from the local squirrels and millipedes,  for most big stones are still resting obscurely in nature right where God put them. 

Ultimately, a man is challenged and bettered by facing any task that exceeds his current abilities.  Some choose big stones.  Others drive or transverse past such challenges. . . . pity.” 

Play Hard… Train Harder… NO EXCUSES

            THE SQUAT

Down this road, in a gym far away,

a young man was heard to say,

“No matter what I do, my legs won’t grow.”

He tried leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses too

trying to cheat, these sissy workouts he’d do.

From the corner of the gym where the big men train,

through a cloud of chalk and the midst of pain,

where the noise is made with big forty fives,

a deep voice bellowed as he wrapped his knees.

a very big man with legs like trees.

Laughing as he snatched another plate from the stack

chalking his hands and monstrous back,

said, “Boy, stop lying and don’t say you’ve forgotten,

the trouble with you is you ain’t been SQUATTIN’.

-Dale Clark                                          

If you were a powerlifter in the 80’s & 90’s then you have a shirt with Dale’s poem on the back... I still have mine!!!

Play Hard… Train Harder… NO EXCUSES

#oldstrongguysrule #powersportstrengthconditioning 

Let’s step into my Time Machine like Dr Who and travel with me to December 14th 1985… my birthday!! Good things have happened to me on my birthday here in 1985 and in 1996 I graduated with my Bachelor's in Science - Kinesiology. Welp back to my story. 

I’m at my second powerlifting meet and it’s a big meet for sure being held at the hotel that’s so close to The Ballpark at Arlington that you can see the outfield from the windows of the hotel restaurant.  I’m there with my coach Rick Gaugler and my two training partners Russell and Hank and all of us competing!!!   

Now try and understand that this is a big deal for me because I’m fresh out off the Army all of 23 years old (turning 24), just a kid from the east side of Detroit and have never flown somewhere just to compete.  Walked in and saw the venue and admittedly I got a wobbly in the knees at the prospect of being on an elevated stage in front of a huge crowd.  

I was entered into the Open Class and had a decent opening squat of 611 pounds but we will come back to that squat in a few but remember this is 1985 and we are in single ply suits and have equipment check AND we weigh in 2 hours before competing.

Rick says that until I total 1650 my ass is staying in the 198 pound class, mind you it’s one of the most competitive classes in powerlifting at the time!!  Of course I’m over by a few pounds so I’ll be watching what I eat, well in reality Rick will be watching like a hawk and if you’ve ever heard me tell stories about Rick then you’ll know that he will slap that food out of my hand before it gets close to my mouth!!  

I don’t have a scale in the hotel room so I head to a gym nearby to sit in the sauna then back in the room we turn up the heater and I wrap up in blankets to sweat off weight since all 3 of us needs to drop weight, Rick has his own room and ain’t struggling with his weight so I’m sure he’s sleeping comfortably.

Saturday morning and we head to weigh in before we eat so I step on the scale and I’m 194…OH GOD panic sets in as I think that my squat suit won’t fit right because I’ve lost too much weight so off to the fancy buffet I go and I eat everything in sight and I’m not kidding when I say I’m eating everything that’s not nailed down!!! Think I had a solid 20 pieces of French Toast and eggs.  Afterwards we head to the rules meeting and equipment check then to the warm up room…. Starting to feel a little queezy from the food… have a sip of Sprite and nope that’s not any better!!!               side note: to this day I still cannot drink Sprite

So lets come back to that 611 opening squat…. Nice and easy but as I’m coming up so is all of that French Toast… I'm about half way up … and out comes my breakfast right in the Head Judge’s lap!!!  I’m standing there waiting for the “rack” signal and once I get it I ask if it was a good lift?  The Judge comes back with ‘I’ll tell you when you clean up your mess’

Funny thing with this story is in 1987 I moved to San Antonio and walk into probably the best gym there is in the World of Strength.  Bob and Mary Dickson’s Olympic Gym and there behind the counter is Dave Spadafora the Head Judge who I puked on just a few years before….he jumps up and yells 

“OH NO DON’T PUKE ON ME” and the entire gym erupted in laughter, me included!!!  

Dave was one of the toughest powerlifting judges in Texas if not the USA.  My training partner Milo and I use to say that if we could get Dave to pass our squats then we’d have no problems getting white lights at the meets (side note here; we didn’t want someone to tell us our squats were good only to get to a big meet and find out we’ve been squatting high).  We knew Dave worked nearby so we decided that on Squat Day we’d get Dave to come to the gym and judge us.  We would go get a sandwich and all the goodies (sure as hell wasn’t gonna ask him to give up his lunch time to help us without buying him lunch).  We’d set Dave right in front of the platform and had it timed perfectly that we’d be at our final 2 warm up sets then into the work sets… we’d get done and Dave would give us some additional feedback and off he went back to work.  

It’s been a long time since I’d seen Dave but I have never forgotten the impact he’s had on not just my powerlifting career but on me personally.  We’ve run the back stage area for Bob and Mary at the South Texas Bodybuilding Show… he and the rest of the Powerlifters gave me lots of shit when I decided I wanted to compete in a few bodybuilding shows and cheered the loudest…. when I became an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Antonio Spurs he told me how proud of me he was!!!  

The other night Sally and I went to Little Italy to eat and this guy comes walking through the restaurant and I immediately recognize my old friend. It’d been at least 20 years since I’ve seen him but when we stood there introducing our families it was like we had just seen each other yesterday.   

Sometimes you never know the impact that you have on a person until many years later… Always make sure the impact that you have on people is positive!! 

Play Hard… Train Harder… NO EXCUSES

I can’t breathe.... damn this hurts... why is my heart beating so hard that it hurts my ears. It’s like something is just not right... but I got a group coming in so fuck it I’ll take care of it later maybe I need to add some cardio in at the end of my workout later and we all know it’s NOT gonna happen.  

Low intensity cardiovascular training to strengthen the heart!!!  NO WAY… it’ll take away my GAINS!!!   Why does our ego think like this until it’s too late, the damage has been done. 

No one wants to face their own mortality... especially a fucking strength coach!!! I’m not mortal I have to be PUMPED UP for the next group!!! I’ll just eat a little at my desk before the group comes in... shit I had a good hard workout this morning.... even though I slept like crap from snoring so bad that I woke up more tired than I was before I headed off to bed… Funny thing about my sleep apnea and its not the damage that it did to my heart … actually it’s more sad to think that when I was with the Spurs the athletic trainer, doctors or anyone else never said anything to me and never intervened even when the players would not allow me to sleep on the same floor as them because they could hear me though the doors or walls!!!  Not one person spoke up and said shit to me that I was doing irreversible damage to my heart.  Sally sure hell did that’s for sure and she didn’t give me a choice in going to get a sleep study done and then using my CPAP machine once I got it but by then the damage to my heart could not be undone. 

Fast forward 6 years and I can add more to the cause of my heart diease with the asshole Dr. Marvin Brown of San Antonio Orthopedics and Associates who fucked up my Achilles and ankle surgery leaving me with infections that caused me to have an additional 9 surgeries in order to save my life, almost dying twice from septic shock or that I came damn close to having my left foot amputated and the 20+ weeks of seriously nasty antibiotics that were given to me through a PICC Line. That PICC Line was inserted into my brachial vein and it went all the way to my heart so those antibiotics that destroy the organisms or should I say all organisms (you can actually feel them burning as they run through your veins) can get straight to the heart and pumped out to where they need to be!!!  I could tell you more but you’d probably want to vomit…. I know it leaves me feeling that way.  It was barely 2 years later that I suffered my heart attacks.  Oh and a side note to the asshole politicians, lawyers and lobbyists that rewrote Texas’ Tort Laws making it next to impossible to sue for medical malpractice because the piece of shit lawyers can’t make enough money since they capped the payout!!!  Never mind the lifelong damage that was done to me from now having only 20% of an Achilles attached or the ankle ligament that was eaten away by the infection.  I’m left with permanent weakness and a limp….but i still have 2 feet so I guess I’m supposed to be thankful for that tidbit. 

I know the scenarios... I know the excuses.... I lived them and used them and now I have the damn +12” scar that serves as a reminder of the “prize you get for not taking care of your heart”! 

It all came to a head, 8 years ago late on a Friday night (6/5/2014) after coaching and training all day as I sat on the edge of the bed “bartering with God” looking into my wife’s beautiful eyes and said good bye to our bulldogs because I honestly didn’t think I was gonna be coming back home... and yet I still acted like I was invincible because I was taught throughout my life to never show weakness. I’ve battled through a childhood of violence to become an Airborne Ranger, Champion Strength and Power Athlete all while bouncing in some shit clubs and I never once showed weakness or fatigue, it’s just not in my DNA or I would have been eaten alive.  

10 June 2014 I believe that God answered my prayers to not take me just yet as I finally had a family to call my very own, blessed to be loved by Sally and our Furbabies but God had something in store for me, something that I feel is why he spared me that late Friday night into Saturday’s early morning hours.  I know this because the doctor told my that my heart was in bad shape, I coded twice before he finally got the stent inserted giving me a fighting chance by stabilizing me while I waited to have triple bypass surgery on 10 June. 

I felt compelled to write this after several of my friends and people I know from lifting have died from heart disease and many more have had bypass surgery.  I always reach out to them to prepare them for the journey ahead.  

I’ve had a lot of folks reach out and ask me questions on how I developed heart disease. I know that all of this that I’ve written about contributed to it along with that old strength athlete adage of “mass moves mass” so even though I was lifting heavy, regularly jumping on a 30” box and throwing heavy shit really far being 5’10” and weighing 286 pounds (130kg) and more probably wasn’t the best thing especially at the Masters level. 

In the coming weeks I’ll be writing and sharing my journey from barely able to walk to squatting and yes…. at week 16 I started snatching again!!  

Until then….. 

Play Hard… Train Harder… NO EXCUSES 

Here’s a little birthday rant for ya and it goes something like this…

To all of the “Strength and Conditioning Coaches” I see posting on social media or that I hear about from the athletes that I work with… 

If you want to add Strongman Training or Strongman Conditioning Circuits into your athlete’s training programs that’s great BUT at least understand what it is you’re adding and how to do it safely and effectively. 

Here’s an idea instead of just copying shit…. learn to use them by asking someone that actually does it. The 

Trust me there’s more goes to it than you think… selection of exercises, weight of implement, time limits, technique and so much more.   Take the time to learn before someone gets injured and you blame the exercise instead of blaming YOURSELF!! 

I took the time to learn from and train with the very best in the world before I ever had an athlete do any strongman training.  

I’m not exaggerating on this and here’s a little taste of the action…. I was at Sorinex Summer Strong and Bert has the original stones from strongman with the MacGlashen Stones and I was taught to lift the stones by World’s Strongest Man competitor Dave Ostlund and a few years later I was outside lifting the #2 stone and a voice asked me if I’d like him to help me to lift the stones and I turn around and standing there is non other than one of the greatest strongmen / powerlifters in history Bill “Kaz” Kazmaier.  Still at Sorinex Richard Sorin the ‘Grip King’ worked with me on grip training…. I couldn’t grab my fork or my manhood to pee for days my hands and forearms were so sore and fatigued.  Again more information that you think when it comes to something like Strongman Training. 

Back at my gym back in Houston Travis Ortmayer would come in to train and invited me to train with him at my place as well as his storage shed where I learned more stone lifting, log clean and press, farmers carry, yoke walk and much more.  I’ve listened to and trained with other Worlds Strongest Man competitors as well AND the people that coach them!!!  

Here’s another and a biggie too …. Dr Terry Todd who as a kid I watched talk on the late 70’s version of Worlds Strongest Man back on CBS and of course his book Inside Powerlifting but that’s an entire other story so back to my rant, I visited with Terry and his wonderful wife Jan at The University of Texas where they are professors and Terry explained in great detail how to choose exercises and everything that went with that but down to the scientific reasoning…. Bet your ass you didn’t expect that shit!!!!   Yeah a lot goes into this….. more than you think!!!   

The biggest impact on me was actually training and competing in Strongman contests!!!  Back when I was a kid and it was on CBS I’d head outside and try my best to recreate the events, later when I was in the Army and stationed in Germany this type of training was all we had to do at times.  Fast forward to competing in Scotland doing a Highlander Challenge (a combination of Heavy Athletics and Strongman) but in 1997 Bill Holland started an amateur strongman competition in a field in Azle Texas I went on to compete for 5 years before concentrating on the Scottish Highland Games.  

There’s more to the story and it’ll continue in a later blog…

Old Man Rant Over!!! ? 

(actually this has been brewing inside of me for a long ass time probably around 2006, I don’t know how I kept it bottled up inside me!!) 

#oldstrongguysrule #3xlstout #powersportstrengthconditioning #tight5performance

Play Hard...Train Harder...NO EXCUSES

Sitting here on the eve of my 60th birthday looking in the mirror wondering just who the fuck is looking back at me?  I don’t seem to recognize this person staring back at me…. He’s older than he used to be with more gray hair in the goatee and an age line or two by his eyes and a lot more scars on the body and spirit.  

Just who is this person looking back at me?   

Looking back at my journey especially over this past decade, I may not be where I expected to be nor where I wanted to be and like many others I have made some critical mistakes but I’m trying not to beat myself up over them.  I look at my dream board that I haven’t updated because I have been too busy helping others achieve their dreams that it seems I have left no energy for my own dreams.  What a decade its been!!  It’s definitely been tough but the past couple years have truly tested my resolve but while I may stumble I will never ever quit. 

To be honest I’m a little embarrassed at this because it’s something that’s never happened before to me. I’ve always taken care of my own dreams and goals while of course working to help others to achieve their goals and dreams. 

Several years ago I heard NFL Football Player and Coaching Legend Mike Ditka read a poem on an inspirational video that resonated with me.  

The Man In The Mirror 
By Dale Wimbrow 

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,

And the world makes you king for a day,

Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t a man’s father, mother or wife,

Whose judgement upon him must pass,

The fellow whose verdict counts most in life,

Is the man staring back from the glass.

He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,

For he’s with you clear to the end,

And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test,

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But the final reward will be heartache and tears,

If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

Yes, now I recognize the man in the mirror looking back at me and while I may not happy with him right now I do love him and I do trust that he will right the proverbial ship and achieve his goals and dreams and make the most out of what’s left of his time here on earth. I understand that I haven’t cheated the man looking back at me and that man looking back at me is my friend. 

Over the course of the next blogs I’m going to share more of the journey over this decade of 50 I’m leaving so share the struggles and triumphs as I work towards my goals and more. This will keep me accountable but putting it all out there in the universe for everyone to see. 

A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. 

A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. 

A plan backed by actions makes your dreams come true. 

Play Hard…Train Harder…NO EXCUSES