“When you don’t have the best of everything, make the best of what you have”.

“When you don’t have the best of everything, make the best of what you have”.

Many Folks in the State of Georgia could tell me who said this. Many of those could probably tell me the date in which Coach Erk Russell stated that when you don’t have the best of everything, well, you just have to make the best of what you have”. Coach Russell was responding to a question of how he had managed to build a Championship Football program from nothing with a shoe string budget, and WIN multiple NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Georgia Southern still holds many “reminders” of those days. These days Georgia Southern Football can afford nice uniforms, but they choose to “dance with who brought ‘em”. They still wear a very basic uniform. This reminds them of where the program came from and that you don’t need fancy uniforms to be champions

This thought reminds me of the young men that I worked with at The Citadel and at VMI. These Cadets had no Air Conditioning, and no phones. Their schedule was full from 5:00AM until they finally went to sleep, sometime after midnight, when their studying was done. Both groups of men earned the best education in their respected states.

I once heard a coach tell a recruit: “you don’t come here for the next 4 years of your life; you come here for AFTER the next 4 years of your life”.  Think about it. Have you ever seen a Graduate of The Citadel or of VMI that was not a success? These men … and women (now) look past the luxuries of a social life on Thursday nights, wearing clothes of their choice in 100 degree heat. They do not focus on what they do not have. Their focus is on their mission or on their goal. They think WIN. WIN is what Coach Lou Holtz says stands for What’s Important Now. They have a short term or NOW goal, which is their mission. All of their short term goals lead them to their long term goal, of successful lives, leaders of their communities, great fathers, and great husbands. They carry this in to life. This IS why many do not graduate without a job waiting on them.

These qualities are not limited to graduates of these two schools, BUT you will be hard pressed to find a graduate of these schools that do not have these qualities.

The message here is to focus on your goal. DO NOT give a moment thought as to way you cannot do something. Focus on how you can. MAKE IT HAPPEN. WIN ANYWAY. Decide what it is that you want. Make a plan and then GO GET IT.

If your goal involves fitness, you do not need a fancy health club. You just need to get off the sofa and get outside. MOVE! Go for a walk. Cut the grass. Heck, go meet your neighbors (there is not enough of that anymore). If you have no training equipment; body weight exercises are fantastic. Do something other than sit wishing. All the planning in the world only goes so far. The key is ACTION.

Stop think about why not and do it!!! … NOW!!!

Get to / Got to

When you wake up in the morning, is your first thought that you get to go to work, or is it that you “got” to go to work. For MANY years now, I have been up between 4 and 5 each morning thinking “man I want to get to work. It’s going to be a GREAT day”. I get to go to work. On the other hand I hear people complain on Sunday night, or they complain even worse on Monday morning about how work stinks, they don’t want to go to work.

I’m a free spirit when it comes to this. Hell, if you hate it that much, this is America, FIND ANOTHER JOB!!! Yeah yeah, I do know that we are still in tough economic times blah blah blah. I’m not saying walk in your bosses’ office first thing tomorrow morning and quite. I am saying BE ABOUT SOMETHING. Stop complaining, make a plan and act on it. Not to long ago, I loved the work I did, but hate the philosophy of those that I was working for. I made a plan. I put the plan in motion and I walked away.

It’s about being in the right place for the right reasons. I loved being a College Strength Coach. I loved being a High School Strength Coach. I loved both because I loved working with the people that I worked with, in the environment in which we were working. We (meaning the Student-Athletes, the coaches and the administration) had a common philosophy, common goals and we were all in it for the same reasons. Some of the schools that I worked were not the right places for me. The situation was not right for me or I was not right for that school. At the job that I referred to earlier, my bosses and I had COMPLETELY different philosophies on what was going on. It was time for me to leave. I was happier the day I left that place than I was when I accepted the job. I say all of that to say this: You have to be YOU, to be completely happy.

What puts you in a “Get To” mode?

Your answers to the follow questions will guide you to find your right place or your right situation that will allow you to “Get To”.

What is your mission statement?

EVERYONE needs a mission statement. Your mission statement will answer: What are you all about? Why do you do what you do? What are you trying to accomplish each day?

What is your Philosophy?

Your Philosophy is what you rely on when things get tough. Your Philosophy is statement of the beliefs, the values, the “rules” or the motivation that guides you to do what you do? Why do you do what you do? Why are you trying to accomplish what you do? What does it take for you to accomplish you mission, and do it the right way?

What are your Goals?

Where are you going? If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there? More importantly how will you know HOW to get there? Goals are the single most important guide in your life, BUT your goals are based on what you do, why you do it and where you are trying to go or what you want out of what you do.

Take some time, sit down and develop your own Mission Statement, your own Philosophy and a few Goals. Then ask yourself, am I in the right place. What is or Where is the right place for me. If you are not in the right place or in the right situation, then form Goals to get there.

Remember when you were young and you could be ANYTHING that you wanted to be? What did you say then? What changed? Get back there. BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE … Be who you are!

Stop having to things that you have to do, and start getting to something that you love. It starts with you knowing where you are, where you want to go, and forming a plan of how to get there.

Win Anyway … No Excuses

The recent success of The University of South Carolina Baseball Team brought attention to one of Coach Ray Tanner’s mottos, or sayings that he would use to keep his team’s minds focused. “Win Anyway” was Coach Tanners answer to any adversity. This Saying or RULE of Life can be applied to anyone’s life, in anyone situation. I can actually hear my Dad saying it. The context that Coach Tanner uses it is; no matter the situation in the count, if you are a pitcher or a batter Win Anyway. If you are down by 5 runs with 2 outs in the 9^th, Win Anyway. Don’t think about “the Odds” don’t think about what others would think or say, JUST WIN ANYWAY!

I Love it!!! This reminds me of Coach Spurrier's quote from his introduction as South Carolina’s Head Football Coach: Why Not Us? He was referring to the feeling that South Carolina could not consistently win or compete in the SEC. He was asked can South Carolina win an SEC Championship. His replay was Why not us?

If people would train their mind to tell themselves “WIN ANYWAY” Or “Why NOT me” instead of I cant, or Why Me. Their success rate would certainly increase. One may ask How?

One: it is a positive thought. Just like success, positive breads positive. Positive thoughts will snowball into more and greater positive thoughts. This can lead to positive action.

Two: there is no longer an excuse to stop or not to act. Take the old Nike attitude. Just Do It!

The Challenge is to accept this Win Anyway attitude. Apply it EVERYDAY to every situation. You will move from an “I can” … (implying that it is possible), to “I will” … (Implying that there is no doubt).

The next step is to go from an “I will win this challenge” to “I will Win Each Day and Every Day” (in an athletic setting this would mean: instead of a winning season, let’s have a Championship Season).

The Weekend is over … WIN ANYWAY!!

Performance Nutrition

Performance Nutrition

One of the first things that I noticed when I went back into the high schools to coach was that many high school student-athletes do not eat. They eat BUT lunch to them is a sandwich, chips and a soft drink. IF they eat a snack it is a pack of crackers or another bag of chips and a soft drink. This was the only “food” these students had eaten since 7:00AM that morning, when they ate a pop tart and a soft drink (maybe some milk, because, after all, it was breakfast). I started really looking into this when I noticed that the guys had NO energy at practice or in the weight room, after school. This is when I realized the importance of teaching Performance Nutrition to these young student-athletes.

There is little difference in Performance Nutrition than “Nutrition”… ACTUALLY there is really no difference, but I feel that calling it Performance Nutrition stresses that there is a purpose behind what we eat.

The simplest way to think of Performance Nutrition is to compare it to 3 types of vehicles (an 18 Wheel Truck, a “Normal” Car, and a Race Car). Each vehicle has its own function or purpose. Each of the three functions or purposes has a different engine than uses a different fuel. Depending on what you are doing, you too need different fuel. An example is that a distance runner’s diet is very different from that of someone who works in an office. This is because they have two different functions of their day. Two very important factors must be considered are Nutrients and Calories.

Why do we eat?

Like the cars needing fuel to go, our bodies need fuel and our body’s fuel is food. From food, our bodies get Calories and Nutrients. Calories are the fuel that our bodies need. Nutrients are the types of fuel that our bodies need. Different Nutrient provides different types and different amounts of fuel.

Let’s start by looking at Basic Nutrition. There are 6 basic Nutrients that our bodies NEED. Each nutrient brings something different to the table, and all have an important function. Carbohydrates, Protein, Lipids, Vitamins, Minerals and Water

Carbohydrates    –     Primary energy source. Simple and Complex.                                4 Kcal / gram

Protein                –     Tissue repair and function.                                                             4 Kcal / gram

Lipids                  –     Mental function, protection, secondary energy source.                 9 Kcal / gram

Vitamins             –     Essential for bodies functions. Water soluble and Fat soluble.     No Calories

Minerals             –     Works with Vitamins to perform Essential for body’s functions.   No Calories

Water                 –      Natures coolant and lubricant.                                                       No Calories

Now consider what your basic caloric need is. This is where Performance Nutrition comes into play. The students at the high school were probably eating enough calories to get them through a “normal” day. They were NOT eating the right nutrients nor were they eating enough calories to get them through a Student-Athlete’s day.

A “normal person” needs aprox 1200 – 1500 calories each day to function properly. Of that 1200 – 1500 Calories, it is recommended that 50 - 60% of our calories come from Carbohydrates, 20 – 30 % from Protein and 10 – 20 % from Lipids. Now is the “tricky” part. How much of each do we need? I have the people that I work with do a Nutrition Dairy for 3 – 4 days. From there we sit down and look at what they eat, when they eat it, and what they want to accomplish. From there we work out the amount of each nutrient needed and when to consume those nutrients. Most importantly, we look at what foods those nutrient can come from.

I am not one to be tied down by a feeding schedule, and I do not ask that of you, BUT this process gives us a very good idea of what we need, and what adjustments need to be made to our diets to accomplish our goals.

Nutrient                      Function                                                                                         Calories

What is Performance Training?

               Long placed with the arena of athletics, Performance Training can be applied to ANY area of work, play, or life. We all want to perform at the highest level that we are capable of. Some even desire to compete at a level higher than their abilities can take them. As competitive humans, we want to do it right and we want to be the best at it.

                Performance training encompasses all that is needed to be the best that we can be at our jobs, at the gym, on the field, on the court, on the links, or simply at home. I have heard people say: “After work, I just don’t feel like doing anything that needs to be done around the house”. Or “The kids take every bit of energy out of me”. If you think about it, this is a performance issue. Are you performing your “job” at home, to the best of your abilities?

                When we are not performing at “the top of our game”, something is missing or is out of “order”. I group our performance into 3 main areas. Our Mind, Our Body or Our Spirit. Mind, body, spirit … yeah you hear the 3 terms allot, but have you thought about: What they are? How they work? OR How they work together? All 3 are VERY powerful. All 3 affect our performance.

Our Mind

                Our Mind controls everything. I like to say: “If your mind aint right, you’re gonna get left”. Our mind is our thoughts and our decisions. Our Mind is very powerful. Our thoughts can affect our ability or our will to do. Our thoughts can affect our spirit.

Our Body

                Our body is the Physical. It is the doing. It is the ability to physically perform a task, or duty. Many times our Mind will over ride our body and tell us to stop, or tell us that we can’t.

Our Spirit

                Our Spirit may be the most powerful, but can be affected by our thoughts and can be affected by how our body is feeling or reacting to our environment. Our Spirit is our Motivation. No one who has accomplished ANYTHING has had a poor attitude, or a negative spirit. Our Spirit is our Drive. Our Spirit can keep us going, make us stop or at time can push us to far … ego.

Performance Training addresses all 3 of these areas. When something is wrong, or “Not Right”, it may mean one of these 3 areas is bringing the other 2 down. Like the Body’s parts, these 3 areas act as a chain. When something is going on with one, it affects the other 2 in some way. A negative attitude or thought can tell the body it can’t. A body running on low rest or poor nutrition can make a mind cloud ones decisions. If ones heart is “just not in it” or is in it for the wrong reasons, it will show in ones performance. On the flip side, a positive attitude can boost a physical performance, the right motivation can propel one to physical perform higher that one originally thought that he or she was capable of doing.

Welcome

Hello Everyone and Welcome. The purpose here is to share what’s going on at Palmetto Personal Performance and my thoughts on training.

Palmetto Personal Performance has been going on for some time now, but it is time to share it with the world. Hang on, and enjoy. It WILL be a great ride.