Last summer, a youth from my hometown came up to me while I was watching a high school baseball game and asked, 

        "Did you know that if your palm is bigger than your face, you have cancer?"

To his delight, I opened my hand and brought it close to my face to see if indeed it was true. A few seconds later, I had a bloody nose and an embarassed ego.
 

The young kid had known I was going to see if my palm was bigger than my face, and when I went to measure it, he pushed my hand smack dab into my nose. If I was a little younger, I probably would have chased him down and done the same thing to him. I decided it might not look good if a 23 year old beat up a 12 year old at a high school baseball game, and proceeded to just laughed it off.

Did I think if my palm was bigger than my face that I had cancer? Not really. Rather than just believing what the young boy told me, I decided to check for myself.

My point is that, too often we listen to others and believe everything they say, rather than figuring out the truth on our own. This becomes a problem in the fitness world as there are thousands of "professionals" out there trying to make a quick buck by telling you what you believe to be the truth in order to sell you their product.

When you aren't sure of something, it's a great idea to ask for help. It's an even better idea to look up the answer for yourself. Where do you look for the answer you might ask? Well, if it's a fitness, nutrition, or sport performance question, no better place to look than TrueFitnessLeadership.com!

Don't rely on others for answers all the time. Get off your butt and do some research on your own!

Make it happen.

TS

I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would like updating my site. I guess that's what grad school, teaching, working, and studying will do someone. I sure do wish there were more than 24 hours in a day!

Within the next few weeks, there will be some changes to TrueFitnessLeadership.com. Here are few potential ones:

1) I'm replacing "exercise of the week" videos. My goal is to have a exercise video library with progressions and regressions of each major exercise rather than adding a "new" exercise each week. Getting back to basics!
2) More emphasis on research reviews. Rather than always adding an article from another site, I hope to dissect current literature on relevant topics in the fitness, nutrition, sports performance field.
3) Updated FAQ section
4) More emphasis on sport performance
5) Word of the week (w/ motivational quote)
6) Updated photos

These are just a few of the ideas I have for the site. As always, your comments, suggestions, ideas, etc. are always welcome!

Stay tuned!

*Disclaimer* - I have a B.S. in exercise science and am studying to receive my M.S. in exercise physiology.
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Are exercise science/physiology degrees worth the time/effort/money?

I receive interesting opinions on this topic. Even though "exercise science" programs are one of the fastest growing degrees, are they really worth it? My answer might surprise you.

In the majority of cases, I say "no."

The reason being, most people are unsure as to what they want to do with an exercise science degree. It isn't like other degrees, in the sense that once you finish school, you're all of a sudden a nurse, or engineer, or teacher. Students that receive an exercise science degree finish school, and then wonder "now what the heck do I do?"

I've read multiple articles claiming the majority exercise science degree holders end up working in something drastically different than what they went to school for. Not what you want to hear if you're currently studying exercise science, but it's important that students know the truth.

That being said, if you are PASSIONATE about the human body and making a difference in people's lives, then you can be successful in the exercise science/physiology field. I believe the majority of jobs that exercise science students will hold in the next 5-10 years have not yet been created. Having an ability to market yourself and your skill set is a major plus when it comes to being successful in the exercise science field.

Moving forward, I feel that educators working in the exercise science and physiology field need to do a better job at communicating to students what they are signing up for when they decide to pursue a degree in exercise science. Most students don't understand the degree, and assume classes will involve working out all day...followed by getting a job working out all day. Sorry to bust your bubble, but that's not how it goes.

PLEASE read the following articles for a more in depth analysis.
http://www.ericcressey.com/is-an-exercise-science-degree-1
http://www.ericcressey.com/is-an-exercise-science-degree-2

Again, I am a big advocate for higher education. No one can ever take that away from you. I'm an even bigger advocate for learning outside of the classroom through reading research, books, articles, and attending seminars, etc. Combine these two aspects, and you will set yourself up for success.

I will hopefully receive some feedback from potential, current, and former exercise science students on this one...

Make it happen.

TS

"Really successful people almost appear to have a social disorder."

Think about that statement.

Then think about the successful people that you know. Do they fit into this statement?



"Social disorder" can mean different things to different people, but what the author of this article is trying to get across, is that successful people are DIFFERENT. Think Kobe and Arnold.

"Social disorder" isn't necessarily a bad thing! It just means that rather than going out to a party, a successful person stays in to watch game film. Or rather than sleeping 12 hours when given the chance, they wake up early to organize their day. Whatever it may be, successful people do things differently.

Do you have a "social disorder?"

If not, maybe you should reevaluate how bad you want to be successful?

Make it happen.

TS

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Read the full article on "Social Distortion: Kobe and Arnold" here
Credit to original author: Kyle Newell

Eric Cressey is a smart man. I follow him on Twitter, and read almost everything he posts. His latest post, a webinar entitled, "How to Create an Effective, but Imbalanced Strength and Conditioning Program" is summarized below. I wasn't planning on posting anything, but Mr. Cressey had some interesting points, so I decided to share my notes.

Prior to sharing the 10 points summarized below, Mr. Cressey explained why strength and conditioning programs should not be "balanced." His rationale was that we are so "jacked up" from sitting all day, we need to tailor our programs to the other extreme to help fix our "jacked up-ness."

Makes sense.

Below are the 10 key points from the webinar. Feel free to shoot me an email or comment with specific questions.

For the past few days, I've been thinking quite a bit about leadership and what it is I consider to be a "great leader." Between my classmates, clients, high school student-athletes, coworkers, and friends, I've received a lot of feedback on who the great leaders are in the world and what qualities they possess.

Since I've asked over 20 people who they consider to be the greatest/best leader in their own life (and why), I figured I'd better share my thoughts on leaders in my own life.

Before I do, here are the three qualities I believe every great leader needs to have: 


1) Great communication skills
2) Active listener
3) Always makes the best decision, even if it's not the favorite

Three leaders in my life:
1) Who: My college basketball coach at Calvin
Why: Coach V-Streek is not only a great coach, but a great person. The quality that made him a great leader was his listening ability. Coach had an "open door" policy, meaning players can stop in and talk with him about anything (on or off the court) and it wouldn't be held against them. Coach's ability to listen to his playes share their thoughts, problems, concerns, complaints, etc. allowed us to get things that were bothering us off our chest. There wasn't one time I walked out of his office not feeling better for having spoken to him.

2) Who: Tim Tebow
Why: Even though I don't personally know Mr. Tebow, I consider him to be a great leader; not because of his determination to succeed (although incredible), but rather his ability to stay true to himself and be the real "Tim," despite what others said. Being criticized publicly about your lifestyle might make some think twice about how they live their life and what they believe in. Not Tim. No matter what was said about him and his faith, not once did he change who he is. He has been an example for those who maybe afraid to show their true colors because of fear of not being accepted by their peers.

3) Who: My Grandfather
Why: My Grandfather might be one of the classiest people you will ever meet. Talk about top-notch. From his life as a long time high school principal/superintendant, to his honesty and passion for the game of golf. The thing I admire most about my Grandfather, and the reason why I consider him to be a great leader, is his ability to make the right decision, even though the decision might not be the group favorite at the time. He will always do what is ethically and morally right, and doesn't hesitate when presented with a decision. Quick to make a decision, and always making the right decision; a great combination when it comes to leadership.

Not all people will be leaders. Not all leaders will be great leaders.

Lead. Follow. Or get out of the way.

Make it happen.

TS