Just a brief word expressing my gratitude and thanks to everyone who attended the 2nd Annual Strength and Conditioning Symposium at SUNY Cortland this past weekend in Cortland, NY.
It was a stellar line-up of presenters including myself, Nick Tumminello, Mark Fisher, John Gaglione, and Joy Victoria.
In freakin Cortland, NY.
Don’t know where that is? Here’s a map to help out.
Hook a left at middle-of-nowhere, make a u-turn at the 7347th corn field you pass (if you miss it, just use the lights emanating from the North Star Wal-Mart to guide you), and you should see it on your right. Nope, crap, you missed it. Turn back. There. See the cow? Dammit, you missed it again.
Yeah, yeah….the NY Jets have had their pre-season camp there for the past five years or so, which is a big deal and brings a lot of excitement to the community. But this is the second year in a row that Justin Kompf has wrangled together some impressive coaches and speakers to come speak, which is a big deal in of itself.
The re-acquisition of Darrelle Revis by the Jets will undoubtedly bring some buzz to Cortland this summer; but with Mark discussing how to build a gym culture, Nick sharing his thoughts and insights on single leg training, John breaking down the deadlift, Joy discussing female specific program design, and my biceps with me offering my own thoughts on program design, the buzz that was felt this past weekend was pretty epic too.
Keep you eyes peeled and mark your calendars for next year!
Here’s some stuff to read…..
Cressey Sports Performance Roundtable: Carving Your Path As a Strength Coach – Tony Bonvechio
It happens all the time. An athlete comes to train at CSP and gets the “bug” to become a strength coach, personal trainer, or something along those lines.
In fact, we’ve had several former athletes of ours pursue this path once completing their collegiate or professional careers, oftentimes returning as an intern. And I can’t begin to tell you how many high-school athletes of ours have gone on to higher education to pursue becoming a strength coach, physical therapist, or athletic trainer.
It’s awesome, and we take a lot of pride knowing we’ve had a say in helping to mold young adult’s passion and career path.
Some (not all), however, to no fault of their own, feel all they need to do is study for an exam, pass a test, and BAM, they’re well on their way to training professional athletes. It’s not quite that simple, and we as a coaching staff took it upon ourselves to offer our own insight and experiences on the topic.
Settling the Great Grain Debate – Brian St. Pierre
There are two types of people in this world: those who eat grains, and those who feel you’re the Spawn of Satan if you do and are condemned to a life of on-going health issues, never getting below 10% body fat, and explosive diarrhea.
Facetiousness aside, the “grain debate” is a real one and one that’s making people choose sides. Often with major biases, faulty logic, and misinformation.
This was an excellent piece by Brian I feel was a fair and level headed answer to the debate.
How to Be a Popular & Successful Fitness Authority – Bret Contreras
This was a very fitting post by Bret, because it was a topic that was discussed extensively this past weekend in Cortland (see above).
I agree with Bret that the words “popular and successful” are a bit ambiguous and don’t speak to the anything concrete or relevant to the topic.
Some will define popular and success by how many Twitter followers they have. Some will define it by their back account. It’s up to the individual to figure that out on his or her own.
That said, Bret nails it on the head with this post. I’d also add TALENT to the mix. At the end of the day, you still need to convey some semblance of talent – in multiple facets: coaching, continuing education, program design, getting results, and not being an uppity, entitled, doucher of a douchebag).
Well said Bret. Thank you for writing this.
