For the next 2 weeks, I’ll be on vacation. This much needed time off will be the calm before the storm known as the 2010-2011 season.
This winter I’ll be taking over my third sprints/hurdles/jumps program in the past decade or so (I’m the Larry Brown of HS track coaches) and I have high expectations for the group. This is a program used to experiencing success, so I’m excited to get the season started!
When I get back, I’ll be diving head first into preparing for the upcoming year. I’m not one to wait until November to start preparing for the winter season. Because if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.
And I’ll be explaining everything I’m doing, studying, changing and thinking about along the way.
In the meantime, here are the three most popular videos I posted during 2010.
A few weeks ago I sent out a survey to get a sense of who was opening my emails. The #1 area of interest from the group was “Program Design/Workout Planning”.
My friends. If that’s what you want to know more about, then you’re looking for my Complete Program Design for Sprinters program. It walks you through everything you need to know about writing workouts that lead to PRs in meets that matter. You can watch the above videos until you’re blue in the face. But if you don’t know what workouts to do, when to do them and why you’re doing them, all that technical stuff has little value. If you’re looking for an upgrade to your program design/workout planning/periodization skill set, invest in Complete Program Design for Sprinters now.
If I put you on the spot, you’d probably agree that, in terms of coaching, strength training and the weight room are areas of relative weakness.
And, while I feel pretty good about the evolution of my strength training progressions, I still put myself in this category.
It’s easy for me to focus on speed work and technical analysis because that’s what I’m good at. And we all like to focus on the things we enjoy doing.
BUT, if you want to develop faster, skilled athletes who don’t get injured, you need to do a better job with your strength/power training and weight room program.
(If you coach high school athletes and you’re not in the weight room at least twice per week all season, your program automatically gets a failing grade.)
The weight room I have to deal with this year is a joke.
But that’s not a pass to neglect strength training. There are a million options you can utilize that don’t require 2000 square feet and 15 power racks.
So what do you do?
One of the most experienced and successful strength coaches on the planet is Mike Boyle. Over the years I’ve jacked a ton of his information and applied it to my programs with obvious results.
Boyle’s site has a ridiculous number of articles, videos, etc., on every component of strength training.
You can test drive the whole site, for 2 weeks, for only $1.
After that, it’s less than $10 per month. I know the site and it is worth far more than the cost of lunch.
So spend the dollar and check out the site. If, for some reason, you don’t like it, then you’ve wasted…
One dollar.
To me, strength training is just as important to success as speed training. After all, if both of us have a good 55m runner, but mine is stronger than yours, your will lose to mine over and over again. End of story.
Check out Boyle’s site and evolve your strength training knowledge:
P.S. Based on my recent survey, 86% of you recognize that you can’t get something for nothing. Programs run by coaches only looking for a hand out (aka Welfare Programs) will experience the success found by people who are only looking for hand outs…
But this offer is as close to ’something for nothing’ as you’ll find. I highly recommend you take advantage of it. My season starts the Monday after Thanksgiving. I’m already training my staff and plotting my progressions.
The difference between success and failure, in anything, comes down to one simple word.
Choice.
You have the ability to choose the way your life is going to be.
Your situation, right now, is the sum of the choices you have made in the present moment.
And the choices you continue to make in the present moment directly dictate your level of success.
Because nothing exists but this moment. There is no ‘later’. No ‘future’. No ‘next season’. No ‘when I have more free time’. No ‘if I had better talent.’ No ‘if I had a bigger team’. No ‘if I had a bigger budget’.
Success is a choice.
The only difference between you and the coaches/teams/athletes/trainers you want to be like is simple:
They’re not a afraid to die on a treadmill.
Why not?
Because they made a *choice*. They decided who they wanted to be. What they wanted their life and their program to be like. And they made a choice to do it.
They didn’t make the choice in some undefined ‘later’. Or ‘tomorrow‘. Those things don’t exist. They never will. Ever. Because when 5:00pm tomorrow gets here, it won’t be 5:00pm tomorrow. It will be right now.
When I was a broke young coach and wanted Loren Seagrave’s (at the time) expensive Speed Dynamics Series, I could have said, “I don’t have enough money. Times are tough. I can get by on free information.”
Instead, I stopped ordering out, going to clubs and buying beer until I saved enough money to buy the videos.
I made a Choice.
I could have said, “I don’t have an exercise science degree, so I can never be a great coach”.
Instead, I study my ass off. Ask questions. Never stop learning. When I first started coaching, my athletes got real nasty, real fast. I was voted MA State Coach of the Year at 26. I’ve sold many thousands of programs to every US state and over 100 different countries.
I’m not any smarter than anyone else. I’m not particularly gifted or talented. And I sure wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
I simply made a *choice* to be successful. I didn’t listen to the haters (and there are many). I ignored the doubters (and there are many). I made no excuses for why I wasn’t smart enough or talented or connected enough to do what I wanted to do. I’m just willing to hustle harder than most other people. That’s the difference that makes the difference.
I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill.
And my athletes aren’t either. Like anything else, it takes practice to develop this mindset as our default. So, in my programs, I simply don’t allow kids to say:
“I can’t”. Sure you can. And you will as long as you hustle harder than the next guy (or girl).
“If I…” Not if. When. Saying ‘if’ just gives you an out. I don’t believe in outs. When you don’t give power to the possibility of not meeting the expectation, you will meet the expectation.
“I hope.” Don’t hope. Demand. ‘I hope’ means “I don’t really think I can do it”. I don’t accept that possibility.
So it’s not a part of our discussions. Not a part of our collective consciousness.
“My goal is….” I don’t believe in goals. I only believe in Expectations. So we don’t set goals. We only set expectations. Goals are for daydreamers and hippies. Expectations are for people who make things happen.
I don’t ever want to hear an athlete say:
“If I qualify for the state meet, I hope I run a PR because my goal is to make the final.”
What?? The athlete who talks like this A) won’t qualify for the state meet, B) won’t PR and C) won’t make the final. Because this wishy-washy language does not lead to success. Because the athlete is choosing not to be successful. And so the only possible outcome is… to not be successful. Instead, I expect the same athlete to say:
“When I get to the state meet, I will place Top 6”. Period.
My athletes succeed beyond their initial expectations because I demand that they demand excellence. From themselves. From their teammates. From their coaches. That is the energy I project at practice because your athletes will take on your personality.
Remember: Like begets Like.
Coaches without clearly defined expectations breed athletes without clearly defined expectations. Coaches who lack confidence in their knowledge breed athletes who lack confidence in their ability to execute.
Which type of athlete do you want to populate your team with? What type of standard do you set with your athletes? With your program? In your life?
Now, you might be asking, “What is this treadmill business you’re talking about?”
You should watch this entire video. And think about it. I watch it almost every single day. Because, if you’ll expand your current level of consciousness, you’ll realize just how powerful the message is. It’s a constant reminder of the importance of consistently making the *choice* to be successful.
To your success,
Latif Thomas
If you’re looking for speed, strength, power, flexibility and conditioning progressions, on video, for your 55-400m sprinters, Choose:
One of the new layers I’m adding to my program this upcoming season is a specific and consistent emphasis on nutrition.
Athletes will eat better if your advice makes sense and is extremely easy for them to figure out.
So I’ll give them some simple handouts and just spot check their progress.
You’ve got enough to do in practice. So it’s worth 5 minutes a day to help your athletes help themselves. Because I’m all about doing what I can to get better performances without having to do extra work.
And the bottom line is, if your athletes:
…drink more water, they’ll be happier and perform better.
…develop consistent sleep habits, they’ll be happier and perform better.
…eat a healthy breakfast, they’ll be happier and perform better.
…eat every 3 hours, they’ll be happier and perform better.
…understand sports supplements, they’ll be safer and perform better.
I think you get the idea.
So I’ll just be blunt. If you don’t want your athletes to shit the bed at the end of practice/workouts/games/meets/races/the season, then click on this link, read Jeff’s article, then purchase Teen
Sports Nurition Blueprint. It’s what I use, what I’ll continue to use and what I recommend you use.
P.S. There are certain programs and resources I strongly believe in. Because they’ll help you. And help your athletes. That’s why I promote them early and often. Teen Sports Nutrition Blueprint is one of them. It will help you and your athletes perform better on *and* off the track or playing field. I know I have to spend a little money to make my athletes better. Of course, you don’t have to. But there’s truth to the saying ‘you get what you pay for’.
