*CSCS, NSCA-CPT Certified
*B.S. Virginia Tech in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
*Assistant Strength coach to various nationally ranked Division 1 Virginia Tech teams
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One of OA’s own, Lyndsi, (See her awesome transformation here) is running 58 floors of stairs on December 12, 2010.
If you’d like to help out and donate a bit or learn more about who she is climbing for, click HERE. Every bit helps. Thank you!
One of OA’s own, Colton, is helping out the IKWF Inner City Chicago After School Wrestling Program by hosting a shoe drive! If you or anyone you know have some headgear or wrestling shoes (new or used) that you’re not using anymore, bring them into OA and help out!!
We have a few athletes at OA competing at the USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals Tournament in Iowa this weekend. They’ve put in TONS of hard work in at OA and Gomez Wrestling Academy under the tutelage of Coach Hector Gomez and we can’t wait to see them perform well.
Good luck to Austin, Jake, and Pat! Kick butt and bring home the gold!!
WBC Latino, NABA, and USBA Heavyweight Boxing Champion Fres Oquendo and 2 time Chicago Golden Gloves Champ Omar Perez hard at work at OA Athletics today. Both men getting ready for upcoming fights, working hard and doing things at OA their muscles aren’t used to!
Sometimes, our bodies tell us not to go further. They tell us that it’s too heavy, too hard, or too long. That the pain, sweat, and hard work we put in was enough and we should just pack it up and head home. Sometimes, our bodies are right. But, more often than not, it’s simply your mind keeping you from your goal.
I’ve been coaching in some form for almost 8 years now. I’ve worked with elite youth athletes, weekend warriors, world champions, NBA and NFL players, and everything in between. There is ALWAYS a direct parallel between the way they train and practice and the way they perform.
Some athletes work hard in the weight room, but slack on the practice field, some do the exact opposite. Frequently, there are small battles that arise during practice.
-Pushing out that last tough rep
-Staring down a teammate who JUST beat you moments ago-a takedown, a sack, a dunk, a tapout, etc.
-The last sprint or prowler push
-A seamlessly never ending drill
I FIRMLY believe that the champions in life and athletics are those that win those tiny battles every day. A champion is the guy who refuses to finish out his set, practice, sparring session, drill, or sprint/prowler session without it being the best one he had that day. An athlete who is satisfied with simply ‘finishing’ his/her training session is not a great athlete. An athlete with the pride to be completely spent after their training session will become a champion.
You see, every time an athlete wins one of those tiny battles, it goes into his mind. And, when the going gets tough, when he needs one more inch, one more takedown, one more punch, one more burst of energy…he goes to that bank of tiny battles. And, I guarantee you…he will win.
Next time you face one of those battles, dig deep. It will be worth your while.
