• work ethic
• discipline
• integrity
• patience
• consistency
• mental toughness
• goal setting
• goal attaining
• disappointment
• physical culture

These values will carry over to the child’s walk in society as they get older.

Sport is also to be fun, many times as children we played sports that we enjoyed. I never knew anyone in my hometown that played a sport that they didn’t like.

Here in KY I have seen kids playing sports they have no interest in but their father is making them play. Another example of an adult trying to live their dreams/regrets through their child.

I don’t understand this.

Why make a kid do a sport that they have no interest in? I agree all kids should be involved in something.

Does it really matter if your son wants to be in the chess club instead of a football player?

Maybe your daughter wants be in an after school art program instead of playing basketball.

If a kid enjoys what they are doing then they will do their best to excel at it.

Period.

I don’t have children but I have about 20 kids ranging in the ages of 6-17 that I train at my Machine Shop Gym LLC 3 days per week.  During my time in the USMC I was in charge of getting the other recruits up to speed on their conditioning to pass boot camp. I have experience.

I am a strength & conditioning coach, I am a USMC Honor Grad and a former 5x Submission Wrestling champion.

I know how to get people in shape and I pride myself on knowing how far to push kids and when to back off and deload their training.

You may know the sport that these kids are playing under your tutelage but this doesn’t mean you know strength and conditioning. In my area these guys don’t have a clue.

They wouldn’t mean what a “deload week” is if it came up and smashed them in the face.

It is the same old training, the same repetitions, sets and more of running the kids into the ground with these marathon conditioning sessions often 2-3 times per day.

And you wonder why the kid gets injured or starts to not perform up to par.

I know from first hand experience what it’s like to be sleep deprived, hungry, training with no energy, training through injury, training at all hours of the night, never falling out of a run for fear of the corpsman coming with his thermometer and having your oil checked on the side of the road, I’ve made a 5 mile run on one good leg with a badly twisted right knee leading my platoon with flag in hand.

This is high school sports people, it sickens me when parents call me or show up to my gym and tell me their child is out with an injury.

When I ask what happened, I’m told of some foolish training by a “want to be” strength and conditioning coach who pushed the kid way too far.

Often when the kid gets hurt bad enough then they lose their top spot on the team.

It is not about YOU, the coach. It is about the kids.

You need to get off your high and mighty arse and stop worrying about the politics of the town or your winning record.

Come back to reality and allow the kids to shine.

I had instance 4 years ago when I first opened my gym.

I was approached to train 6 football players, 2 of them were top boys who ended up going off to college to play ball. They came to me 3 days per week.

These guys were getting in great shape and it was starting to show on the practice field. The coaches and parents were taking notice.

My program works.

This one coach who is a big fish in a little pond with an ego the size of the state got butt hurt when he tried to take credit for the kids new conditioning but was told by the kids it was because they trained with me.

I don’t know anything about football but I know how to get a boy or girl in top shape.

When this guy started talking badly about me the kids, his own players stuck up for me as did one parent who had a confrontation with this coach.

This was crazy, you would think this little town and their players were the NFL or NBA draft for crying out loud.

I did not go out and scout the kids to start training them.

They came to me.

My goal is to make everyone that comes under my care the very best they can be with what they have.

It is not about me nor will it ever be.

My goal is to provide an environment where we train hard, learn life skills to better ourselves physically, mentally and become the best we can in all walks of our life.

I enjoy serving others and will continue to do so. I had my time in the spotlight and understand that it is not about me. As a man we need to realize that putting others first and stepping back in to the shadows demonstrates a maximized man who knows who he is, where he has been and where he is going.

Team Machine after a tough workout.
Ages 13-17.

Keep the Faith,

The Machine