This is a guest post by David Veibl. David now writes for Malea-Massage, a provider of great massage equipment. The Malea-Massage team has many skilled players: scouts of new technologies, models, Expert Quality Photographers etc.

Everyone knows that massage therapy can help different people to deal with a series of psychological and physical issues. Among these issues, we can find stress and athletic performance. The massage therapies have a benefic influence on the life of an individual especially because it can help a person to relax, while improving different body functions.

Massage Therapy for Psychological and Physical Stress Relief

Stress can trigger many effects on people. In most cases, this element can cause various diseases, such as heart conditions, indigestion, pain, and even cancer. Stress is usually related to our everyday living patterns, which focus on our ability to achieve various daily tasks. And, as you already know, the personal and professional tasks that we must complete daily are more numerous than ever before. Thus, there is no wonder that our incapacity to solve different problems on time leads to various stressful situations. This thing prevents many people from finding a way to relax.

For all these people, massage therapy can be a blessing. The reason for this is that massage can help a person to relax physically and psychologically. In most cases, stress creates physical symptoms, such as muscle tension that leads to sore neck, backache, and headache. Therefore, a simple massage session can help a person to get rid of all these annoying health issues. Another important thing that you should know is that stress can easily lead to different psychological issues, such as anxiety, self-esteem problems, and even depression. The truth is that massage represents the best answer for all these problems. This is because a complete massage session can eliminate for good the factors that usually trigger these issues.

Stress can also increase any existing health conditions, leading to various complications. Additionally, it is a primordial cause in different diseases, such as indigestion, asthma, pains, and even heart attack and stroke. Another important thing that you should be aware of is the fact that the professional massage sessions can easily improve athletic performance. The reason for this is that this technique can improve the blood circulation, reduce muscle-related injuries, and strengthen joints. Massage can also increase the energy levels of a person, helping him or her to feel more energetic during workout sessions.

Discover the Positive Effects of Massage Therapies

As you might already know, different massage therapies are capable to treat various stress symptoms and physical issues. Therefore, through massage a person can easily obtain the following positive effects:

• Reduction of pain and tension
• Improvement of physical comfort
• Psychological improvement which helps a person to cope with stress much better
• Efficiency of circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems
• Improvement of “feel-good” hormone circulation
• Promotion of sense of well being and calm

All these things are possible especially because the soothing massage touches encourage the natural positive psychological response. Therefore, the massage therapy can help every single individual to eliminate stress and improve physical and psychological processes.

What Else You Should Know about Massage Therapy

If you intend to get the best out of massage therapy, it is important to opt for regular massage sessions. A massage session once in a while is unable to help you to improve your life. For this reason, you should know that massage therapies are really efficient only if the person performs a session every week. But, if once a week is still too often, you can choose to go for massage twice a month.

By simply opting for a massage session every two weeks, you can get the best out of massage therapies, which are literally able to help you to reduce stress, improve energy flow within your body, and feel naturally good. Another important thing that you should know about regular massage sessions is the fact that they help the body to release endorphins, which can be of a great help for those individuals who exercise regularly.

As you are able to see, the benefits that you can get from massage therapies are very important. And this is the reason why you should not overlook them. However, if you intend to choose professional massage therapies, you must know that they can be quite expensive. But, you can opt for a solution, which allows you benefit from regular massage sessions while staying within your budget. Thus, you can get a massage parlor subscription together with one of your friends. This way, you can benefit from two massage sessions every month while paying half of the subscription fee. Obviously, your friend will benefit from the other two sessions for which he or she will pay the other half of the subscription.

“All these things are possible especially because the soothing massage touches encourage the natural positive psychological response. Therefore, the massage therapy can help every single individual to eliminate stress and improve physical and psychological processes.”

Ok I feel your pain! You had a bad season and feel like life is not worth living. Well I am going to turn that frown upside down and show you how having a bad season may not be the worst thing in the world.

1. You need bad to know good

If every season you have gets better and better, you break more records and you just keep on doing bigger and better things year in and out for 15 years. What do you gain from it? Bad times really teach us to appreciate the good times in life. A good season seems that much better after a bad one but it also makes you appreciate what you are doing that much more. The greatest thing about not being perfect is knowing that you can improve and be that much better.

2. Forces You to Learn

When most people are winning and in the lime light they tend to think they need to learn less then the person who keeps coming 2nd. When you have an awful season you just want to do anything you can to get better. You step back from the season and go back to the drawing board. It is at this point that you decide that next year will be that much better.

3. You Need to Have the “I want to quit” Feeling

That “I want to quit” feeling is an awful one but one that I think every athlete needs. I have found that when most athletes think about giving it up, that is when they were the closest to succeeding in a big way. I remember my senior year of highschool I got my butt whooped in a 60m race. This year was suppose to be my year it was my last year of highschool before coming to Iowa State and the year before I represented Canada at the World Youth Championships.

In my eyes I was suppose to be the big shot but I was getting killed. I remember after a race my friends were all making fun of me saying my time was up and I remember crying all alone because I was so upset at what was happening. I was so ready to be done with the sport. I endured though and the next month I ran the fastest 60 of the year for any highschool student across Canada that year.

4. Humbling

The best thing about losing is that it humbles you as an athlete. When we win we seem to forget that we are human and we will be beaten at some point. The best thing that can happen to an athlete is a good humbling year to remind them where they come from and how they got to where they are.

So What…

If you are having a bad season or had a bad season, my advice to you would be to ENDURE. Times will get better and you will become stronger but you have to be patient enough to see that happen. No one trains to lose but if you happen to lose use those losses to create more wins.

This list Covers all sorts of negatives and positives that we can all stand to learn from as athletes. Listen up well because we are about to go on a crazy ride.

1. Michael Vick

He is my poser boy of athletes that we all must learn from. This guy was a superstar and he had the attitude like one. He clearly lived his life in a way that showed he thought he was untouchable. Like lets be real, he was a highschool football start, went to VT and was a college star and got drafted to the NFL and did the same crap he was doing in highschool to grown men. It can start to get you your head after a while.

The Lesson: Stay humble and remember where you came from but do not use it as an excuse because no one will care. Vick probally had the most homies in the world before he got in trouble, but when he was going to jail and the whole world was kicking him do you think he had those same friends? Watch the company you keep because the company you keep may not watch out for you. Vick also taught us that it is a long fall from the top but it is possible to win back hearts again.

2. Marcus Vick

If you did not guess it Marcus Vick is Michael Vicks little brother and he also went to Virginia Tech. Marcus was the perfect example of what happens when you live in a bad placed but become spoiled with money because your brother is a super star.  He let it get to his head. He had so many legal issues, and behaviour problems at VT that they eventually decided to boot him off the team. He then declared himself into the draft, never got picked up because he was too much of a risk. He got picked up as a free agent from the Dolphins and was cut not too long after.

The Lesson: Marcus Vick shows us that talent and even money will only take you so far. Eventually you have to put your head down and work until you are unable to work any longer. It is not to say that people do not make mistakes, but he just made so many that it ended up costing him the dream life of being in the NFL, instead of just living off his brother.

3. Peyton Manning

He is a field general and for the past 10 years has been one of the key Quarterbacks in the NFL.  You might be surprised to see him on this list because you are expecting this list to be full of athletes who did bad things this is not the case. This guy has been a BOSS in the game, cutting up defenses like a grown man playing pee wee football.  He has started a crazy amount of games for the Colts, won them a superbowl. In the 2011 season he missed the whole season with a neck injury where the Colts had an awful season.

The Lesson: I will never forget when Manning was early in his career, maybe 3rd or 4th pick. He was a top pick in the NFL draft and was on a contract that was pulling him in hefty money. My dad showed me this picture of him sitting in this small apartment reading his playbook while he watched ESPN. He wanted me to see how he was smart with his money he was not out blowing it, but he was living a modest life. He has never been a big in the spotlight guy, or known to be all about himself. He just throws touchdown passes and gets out the spotlight.

4. Mike Tyson

Where do I start with this guy. Mike Tyson is probally one of the most misuderstood athletes on the planet. He is often knowing for biting a mans ear off. There is so much more to this guy story that people do not know. I read this boxing book when I was younger that broke down his life and it was really surprising.

Tyson was a monster in the ring and he lived boxing. His dad left him at a young age, and his mom died before he was even in highschool. He never finished highschool and grew up in communites full of crime. He quickly rose up to be the best in the world, as he got his championship belt at age 20.

He managed to pull in about $300 Million in the next 1o years of his life and still somehow managed to go bankrupt.  I will put it like this, he got married and divorced 3 times, had lots of kids, got into lots of trouble in which he had to pay lawyers for. He also liked to live large which came with the basic shopping sprees of buying every fast car he could, big houses all over the country, jewllery and a whole bunch of other things. It was once reported in his prime he had to spent about $850,000 a year just on his insurance payments. Never mind the fact that he hung around people who never cared about him, but love to take his money.

The Lesson: On a positive note Mike was a student to the game of boxing. He lived it and studied his opponents very hard. Athletes should love watching film and knowing more about what it takes to be the best. On a negative note I think it is kind of clear what we should learn from Tyson. Watch who you call your friends and be wise with your money please.

5. Evander Holyfield

He got his ear bitten off by Mr.Tyson but he was another athlete my Dad made sure he taught me about. He was a heavyweight champion of the world at one point and that may have been his downfall. He had rediculous spending habits and a massive mansion that he lived in for a while until it got repossesed. He lived the life of an athlete who thought he was larger than live. His lesson is much different from all this though.

The Lesson: He could not let go of getting his belt back. His downfall was the fact that he did not know when it was time to be done with the sport. He was kept fighting and getting killed losing respect as being one of the all time greats. He wanted the belt back so bad that he forgot about everything else that he had in his life. You never want to be that athlete that refuses to let go of the sport. When your time is done walk away from a great career.

6. Michael Jordan

I am not even going to talk about his brilliant play on the court which made him a NBA hall of famer and one of if not the greatest of all time in the sport. Jordan created a legacy and a way for his name to live on forever. By creating brand Jordan and signing other great athletes like Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony his name will always live on. His brand is so popular that there have been numerous instances of people getting murdered over his shoes.  Jordan never was satisified with being great on the court. He found other ventures that he always wanted to be involved in. A lot of people do not even know that he actually has his own motor cycle racing team (with bikes that look so wicked I might add).

The Lesson: If a legend like Jordan had to look for ways for his name to live on. We all have to look for ways for our names to live on. Sports will come to a close and the Jordan brand is a constant reminder of that fact. Always be thinking of what you will do if you found out you could no longer play your sport starting tomorrow. How would you filll that void in your life?

7. Travis Henry

This guy was in the NFL but his story is really quite simple. He ended up being broke like many athletes, but what made him broke is what gets me everytime. He had 11 kids with 10 different woman. This added up to $170,000 in child support payments every year. Which is possible when you are in the NFL but once he retired he could not keep up. He ended up getting into drugs trafficing and getting time in a federal prison while also having to pay a 4 million dollar fine.

The Lesson:  I think this one is pretty straight forward. Think about what you are doing. Never turn to selling drugs like there are so many more legitimate ways to make money in this world. Now he has a bunch of kids who will grow up with out a dad because he wanted to be stupid.

So What…

My whole life I focused really hard on not making the same mistakes as those people close to me. My brother is a good example of this. Most of the things Justyn got in trouble for growing up I did not do because I learned from what he did. I still made my own mistakes but it helped me to learn from his. When I hear about the things that these athletes have done – good and bad, I only hope that we all can learn from them and better ourselves.

Guest Post by Akeem Haynes…a sprinter from Alberta, Canada currently at Barton County Community College in the United States. Follow him on twitter @FranchiseHaynes.

Everybody wants to be great at something; nobody wants to be “that person” who never achieved a thing. In that same breath though, the ones that want to be great don’t always want to work for it. Life is not always fair and nothing will ever be given to you especially if it’s something that you think that you deserve.

I’ve seen so many talented kids make one excuse after another and sure enough they went down the wrong path in life. People always ask me why I’m so serious all the time, but anybody who really knows me knows that I joke around 24/7. I just know when it is time to be serious. Track is not a game for me, I wasn’t blessed with brains to go out and get a 4.0 gpa every year, I wasn’t blessed with money, what I lack in those areas I make up for it in heart.

All my life I been the underdog, wasn’t supposed to be anything , but I told myself why settle for little when I already have a little? Why not work hard and take what I don’t have? I’ve had tremendous help along the way, without the people that were really there I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m serious because this is who I am. And what I am is not a failure. No one will ever be able to look me in my face and call me a loser, and be able to walk away.  I refuse to have that word associated with me.

Ups, Downs and Staying Positive

Emotions are like a game of dice, one minute you’re rolling all seven’s winning the jackpot the next you’re hitting snake eyes and you end up right back to where you started. I feel like in life you need to have a killer mentality to be able to strike at any moment. This means taking advantage of your opportunities when you have the chance.

I remember playing in a football game that some scouts came to watch me and for some reason I was mentally out of it just a brutal first half. We were down 21-0, I apologized to my teammates because I didn’t feel like was giving it my all they looked to me to lead them and I wasn’t doing that. I sat down on the bench and my coach came over and said two words that I’ll never forget and made all the difference. “Just relax” is what he told me. I was so worried about not making it out of the “hood” that I forgot to take care of business on the field.

We ended up winning that game 41-21 but I learnt that even in stressful situations take a second to think and breathe and always remember to have fun. If you’re not having fun why even do what you do. One thing we must all know is that life is not fair. As harsh as it sounds it’s the truth. There has been so many countless times where I wanted to give up and just say forget everything and go back to a life I know would get me nowhere but trouble. My mom and God kept me going when I had nothing at all. I always told myself that if I just endure a little longer a breakthrough will happen. I mean bad luck can’t happen forever right?

People always try to hide their emotions and I am definitely one of them and I don’t do it on purpose it’s just how I was brought up. I saw so much and been through more than I should at such young age I just keep everything in. I’m doing my best to change that. Honestly sometimes if you cry it may be just what you need, everybody hurts sometimes and every heart needs relief. Pain is something we are meant to endure it builds character and makes us stronger mentally.

Thanking The People That Helped Me.

I just would like to take this time to thank everybody that helped me out in my life. There has been so many people that took time out of their lives to bring me in theirs and I am forever grateful. Sometimes I tear up because I don’t want to let any of them down even when I do my best I always feel like it could be better. I’ll never forget the things anyone has ever done for me. I always told my friends growing up that “when I eat, we all gon eat” I plan on taking care of everybody just a matter of time.

The best thing about the title of this article is that thy way you say boss is just like this >>> How to Say Boss. Debbie Warner is my Mom and anyone who knows my mother knows she is not one to mess with. Like I did not stop being scared of her until I was like a junior in college (which was last year by the way).

She taught me some basic lessons about being a boss that I was able to take with me through life. Remember the way I see life is anything that can help me as a person can just as easily help me as an athlete and vice versa. I will break it down for you.

1. Dont Be a Dummy With The Bread

Lesson number one from my mom was to not be too quick to spend the cheddar cheese on dumb things. This one was huge for me growing up because I saw how far my mom could make a dollar go. She clipped them coupons and was an amazing spender and because of that I was able to get protein shakes to drink after practice, and always had a decent pair of running shoes to roll with.

The comedian Kevin Hart made a joke about how he does not mess with athlete friends because they spend too much money, which in turn makes him spend too much money. I have been around athletes my whole life and athletes by far can be some of the dumbest human beings when it comes to what they do with their money. Or what they say they will do with their money when they get it. Like most athletes have already bought a house and 4 cars in their minds before they ever even make a dollar.

The basic life skill of saving money and not living for wants can go a long way and it builds character to be able to hold you back from doing something you want to do. I learned it made you look like more of a BOSS to not drop every penny you own on things you do not need.

2. Do You and I’ll Do Me

At my house growing up, I make no joke when I say we NEVER have people over. I found it so weird all my other friends would be like man we having this person over and that person over. Everyone else always had somone over but in my house it was just the quiet family of 4. My parents are both single children so I have no aunts no uncles we have a real quiet and small family. I’m the only one in the house who really runs the mouth piece.

As I got older I understood why my mom is not a big “I want the whole world in my house in my business type of person.” The most important thing she taught me was that she knew how to stay in her lane. She did not look at what other families were doing and try and one up on them. She really did not care, she did what she wanted in her way and rolled with it.

The is a key concept in being a BOSS. You can’t be an balling athlete if you always looking to your left and right to see what the hell everyone is doing. If they want to party or do something you not feeling, let them do them and you do your own thing.

3. Where I Was Has Nothing to Do With Where I Will Be

My mom told me there were days where she never had food to eat and all her money went to my brother and I. That was where she was but that did not have to be where she stayed or ended up… And because of that mindset, that was not where she stayed or ended up.

Here is the thing, you may be injured, or have had the worst season of your life. That in no way means that is your fate and the only place you can go. You must see that the past and the future can be two very different things if you let them. I myself have made some stupid decisions in the past. The choices only ate me alive when I refused to let the past be the past. You have to use the dark past to make a bright future.

4. Being a Class Act Comes First

My Mom was on more of a “do as I say… NOT a… I do as I do” basis with this one but I am happy she did this. For my brother and I being polite boys was not something we could choose to do. It was mandatory, she did not care how many touchdowns we were scoring or how fast we were. What matter to her is that we were level headed about it.

If you think of yourself as a human being first and an athlete second like everyone should this should be no problem for people. Remember the basic things that your parents tried to teach you when you were young and don’t forget them when you are in the lime light becuse I promise you it will not be forever.

5. Fear Who? Why?

I remember being at football games and seeing my mom getting into it with my own coach, coaches on the other teams, parents it did not matter. If you wanted it my mom was down to throw some bows, words anything it did not matter. She was not scared and she taught me to be fearless of other humans.

The lesson carried over very well to being an athlete because you can’t step in the field of battle scared of your competion. It just will not work out well in your favor. Always remind yourself that no matter how good the people or person you are facing is, they put their pants on one leg at a time just like you. They cry, they hurt, they make mistakes just like you. Once you remind yourself of that simple matter you realize there is no reason to fear anyone.

6. Stand Up

Hear me out. I could go to school punch a teacher in the face and I almost promise you my mom would come to school and bat for me. I was so bad in elementry school it was insane the things I did, yet when all the teachers tried to gang up on me and bring me down. My mom was the angry black woman in the school no one wanted to deal with because she always stuck up for her son. She knew I was wrong sometimes but she still stuck up for me in public and dealt with me at home.

In life we have to always stand up for what we beleive in. Stand up for the things and people we love…protect them. At the end of the day if you allow people to walk all over you or think that they can they will continue doing so just because they can.

So What…

My Mom has helped me a lot in many ways that have made me the athlete I am today but even more importantly it has helped me become a better person. All I can say to you is do not forget where you came from and what lesson you were taught growing up. Use them to excell both all areas of your life. I have no idea what my mom would think if she read this but all I know is it is about a 14 hour drive from Iowa to Toronto so I should be ok lmao. Love you Mom!

I know you have all heard the saying “it is about doing the little things right”. It is so true, but to add on to that you have to do the little things right and you have to do them often. The people who go on to be really good at what they do, pay attention to the small details. They never just go through the motions they make every ounce of eveyrthing they do count towards their success.

What Counts as the Little Things

The little things count as everything that is not major. That may sound kind of stupid but that is how simple it can be. You would never just skip practice as a whole but there are things at practice that are not as important as others that you may take it easy on for no reason. Anything in your training that you think is not a big deal is one of the little things that add up to be a big deal.

For example as a track athlete I know a lot of people who like to skip bounding at the ends of their workouts for what ever reason. One day is not big deal but by the end of the year I realized that anyone who had skipped bounding every time we do it all semester had missed about 1600m worth of bounding. That is what happens, those little things turn around and become huge things that bite you in the butt.

Everything stems back to being consistent. Get used to being GREAT on a daily basis. Tony the tiger does not come out amped in one commercial then slouching and not very excited in the next. He is consistently GREAT everytime.

Tips to Be Consistent

• Get used to living your life by routine
• Don’t see things you skip as a one time event, look at the big picture
• Act as if eyes are always on you
• Remember that when you cheat you are not letting your coach down you are letting yourself down
• Everyday in everyway look to get better and better
• Give 10% more effort on everything you do
• Constantly remind yourself of where you want to be

It is important that you get in the weight room and work hard, that is a major thing. You must back that up with making sure you do your abs at the end of the workout, or stretching after your workout, and doing the all the annoying rehab you must do to stay healthy. Those are the little things that seprate the wishes from the ones who go out and make it happen day in and day out.

This is a guest post by David Veibl. David writes for Well Wisdom. Well Wisdom is a service business with products like organic whey protein developed specifically for individuals in need of help to recover from and to prevent relapse of immune compromised diseases.

Whey protein is a great compound that everyone can use for supplementing a diet. Moreover, this protein is very useful for the people who suffer from various diseases or want to recover from different types of injuries fast. The main role of this type of protein is to help muscles to grow and recover at a faster pace that they would normally do. However, in order to get the best possible results, you must use whey protein in a certain way.

A Few Background Elements

Several scientific studies show that whey protein has a significant positive effect especially on muscles. The human body is programmed to break down different aliments in order to synthesize the needed protein. Usually, the “breakdown” process consumes a lot of energy, which lowers the overall effect of protein. The reason for this is that the energy, which the body consumes in order to break down different compounds, is retrieved from proteins. Therefore, by simply complementing a specific diet with whey protein, the person in cause is able to elevate the protein balance levels. This thing leads to a great positive effect on muscles. And this is one of the reasons why whey protein represents a great adjuvant in muscle regeneration and injury recovery.
Another important thing that you must know is the fact that the best form of whey protein is the isolate product. Whey protein isolate is the purest form of protein that you can find on the market these days. Usually, any injuries that result in damaged muscle fibers lead to a cascade of reactions. These reactions might create a variety of health issues, which can only be stopped with the help of a correct treatment. In this case, a correct treatment means the introduction of appropriate diets, which should come with as many natural compounds as possible. And this is the reason why the specialists recommend whey protein isolate for injury recovery.

How to Effectively Use Whey Protein for the Best Outcomes

In order to get some truly great results from using whey protein products, the specialists recommend a few important things. Therefore, the following paragraphs present the most important points that you should associate with whey protein consumption.

• Daily Whey Protein Quantity: Allotted daily whey protein quantity highlights one gram of protein compound per one pound of body weight. The 1:1 ratio allows anyone to achieve recommended nitrogen balance, which permits people to get the best out of using whey protein.
• Portions: Another important thing that you should know is the fact that the professionals recommend people, who are facing various injuries, to fraction the total whey protein quantity evenly over 4 to maximum 6 meals throughout the day. This thing leads to a better absorption of the compound. As a result, the body will recover faster than if you would fraction the protein quantity in only 2 or 3 meals.
• Dietary Supplement: In case of injury or illness, whey protein is seen as dietary supplement. This thing actually means that the person in cause must have a complete diet to which he or she must add whey protein. Additionally, you must know that if you intend to use this protein as dietary supplement, you have to mix 1 portion of whey protein (which corresponds to 1 of the 4 or 6 meals throughout a day) with 4 to 6 ounces of cold skim milk, water, or natural juices. You should avoid combining whey protein with different drinks that contain chemicals especially because chemicals might slow down the recovery pace.

The Athlete and Whey Protein

Every fitness enthusiast or professional athlete must consider whey protein as the best possible workout ally that he or she can get. This is because whey protein can help a person to recover much faster after a session of workouts than he or she would normally do. Furthermore, this protein underlines some additional benefits, which allow a person to prevent different injuries from occurring during workout sessions. Additionally, whey protein is well-known to improve performance and speed-up any injury-related recovery processes.
This is because the muscles contain a high quantity of proteins. These compounds are primarily responsible for creating different structural adaptations, which help athletes to make their muscles stronger and bigger, while different functions become more fatigue-resistant and faster than before. Therefore, by simply adopting a whey protein diet, you can easily prevent injuries, and enhance and accelerate muscle grow. Additionally, whey protein can help you to recover in a truly fast pace when different injuries occur.
The benefits of this protein have already been demonstrated by numerous studies. This is the reason why whey protein is recommended to everyone, from healthy people to individuals, who encounter serious health issues, such as injuries, and even AIDS and cancer. Therefore, whey protein is one of the few compounds which can literally help the human body to perform better, respond faster, and recover from various health problems in a truly unique, amazing pace.

(original image by lucaconti)

Anyone who follows me on the Cover Ground Twitter may have got a hint of the fact that my brother and I are huge fans of the show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. One thing that sticks out to me about Will Smith in the that show is the fact the he has FUN at all the time. I try and take this same strategy into practice with my everyday. Sports are serious but nothing in life will go as well as it could if you were having fun.  Things can be serious yet still fun at the same time so in no way take this article as a way to make your practice a big joke.

1. Make fun of people

The best part of Fresh Prince on certain episodes is all the time spent making fun of others. Will has many fat jokes, short jokes, and dont froget the dumb jokes for Hilary. The butler is always getting at someone in the most sarcastic manner possible, or Will is getting cracked for his big ears. The jokes never stop, Check this video out!

I take that right into practice. The group of guys I train with we have fun at practice because we constantly make fun of eachother. We do not bring it to a point where it is personal but we know it is never going to be a good day if we are warming up and everyone is quiet.  I remember a time one of the guys was doing an acceleration and he tripped and fell. We spent the next 10 minutes just laughing and imitading him falling.

2. Laugh and laugh hard

When you watch the bloopers to Fresh Prince or any sitcom one thing you notice is the genuine fun they are having. When people make mistakes it is no acting at all people are on the ground rolling in laughter. You need to laugh something like this.

Practice should be no different in the sense that you should not go an entire practice without atleast cracking one mighty big smile. I mean whats the point of putting yourself through hell day in and out if you are not going to have a bit of fun along the way. That does not make much sense to me. There are some people who will be the downers and never want to laugh and I bet you those will be the ones who are not enjoying what they are doing the most.

3. Know when to turn it on and off

The wicked thing about Will Smith in Fresh Prince is that he truly proved he could act. He was not just a clown all the time. There was one episode where he thought he had his Dad back in his life and he was crushed to find out that it was all a lie. He cried at the end of it but the episode show cased how well Will could turn things on and off.

Practice is no different for me. When I step up to the line for a rep or I am in the weight room I am serious and as focused on the task. Once I have a bit of rest there is no reason why I cant crack a joke to make another human smile. Life is hard enough without being serious all the time. You have to know when it is time to play and when it is time to have fun.

4. Always lighten up the mood

No matter how dumb or serious someone tried to be in Fresh Prince they always find a way to lighten the mood up with a wise crack from someone. The show does an excellent job of never letting you take things too serious.

When it comes to training I apply this same idea. There is nothing like coming to practice and I can tell we have a big meet coming up and everyone looks super nervous at practice. Even if I am nervous I am going to come to practice and start being a goof to get people to smile or I will just talk to people about why they are nervous. At the end of the day I let people know it is just a sport. Not to say that it is not important but if you dont perform well a lot worse things can happen in life.

5. Shake Hands Often

Will and Jazz have the most classic hand shake. If you have not seen it before, here it is! Everytime you see it you just have to laugh because it looks so much fun. Every time they see eachother they do it and everytime it makes me laugh.

When it comes time for practice always be slapping hands with people. It produces a great team atmosphere and something about slapping someones hands for no reason is always just so funny. Double or triple the amount you slap hands with others and I bet you will have that much more fun at practice.

6. Be as Amazing as You Can

At the end of the day the only reason I can even write about this show is because it was simply amazing. With all fun being aside the show has touched many people all over the world and it launched Will Smiths acting career into what it is today.

When it comes times for practice you still have to perform hard and get the most out of practice. No one is going to have fun at practice knowing full well that they had a poor practice. You still need to come out and get the most out of every single rep that you do at practice. My motto is… you can have a bad rep but not a bad practice. Hope you have a BLAST!

(original image by brinalein)

This is more of a athlete service announcement then it is an actual article today. Cheese is awesome but it can be very fatty and not always be the best thing or you depending on the cheese you decide to eat. This announcement is going to give you the inside scoop on the best cheese that an athlete can get…COTTAGE CHEESE.

The Quick Science Behind It

Even though I don’t try to dwell on the science too much, this time it may actually help you understand where I am coming from. Basically at night your body has no food for 8 hours so to keep itself running what does it do… it eats itself. Now if it ate the fat first no one would ever be fat and lets be real I would not be writting this. What it does though is devour those muscles you spend all that time building. You do not want such a thing to happen so as a result you need to fight back.

Fight Back

Eat cottage cheese before bed becuase it is a slow digesting protein. This means your body can feed on it hours after you have fallen asleep. As a result of eating cottage cheese before bed you wake up in the morning knowing you have lost less muscle then if you had not eaten it.

My Cover Grounders… This is a Athlete Service Announcement

(original image by smittens)

The Disney movie Hercules is one of my favorite movies to watch because it has always shown me the way to everything I want in life.

The Run Down

Young Hercules has his Immortality taking a way by an evil plot from Hades. Once he grows up a bit he finds out that the only way his father Zeus will grant him his right to be a god again is if he becomes a true hero.

Soooo he goes out and saves the day on numerous occasions and figures that he willl be the true hero, but his father tells him that he has more work to do. Hercules becomes upset because he does not know what he has to do in order to become a true hero. In the eyes of others he is cheered for and love on a dialy basis and they all see him as a hero.

He eventually falls for this girl, and long story short she has a deal with the devil and ends up getting Hercules into some trouble. They end up in the underworld together where she falls into the spirits and Hercules jumps in after her knowing that it wll probally kill him and he wont be able to save her because the sprits suck away your life.

Right before he is suppose to die, he does not because he has become a true Hero. He is granted the right to be with his family as a god.

So What is the Key to Success

To most people this movie is just a normal disney happy ending , but in reality it speaks volumes. If you want anything in life it takes SACRIFICE to get it. That is what people do not see about this movie. He was willing to give up his own life so that the person he loved could have hers.

Replace the girl with your goals. What would you give up in order to ensure you reach them? Most people would not give up very much. They want it all! They want the girl, they want to be the god status and they never want to take any risks. I am here to let you know that things do not work this way.

As an athlete to reach your goals. You can’t have it all. You can’t have the crazy exciting life. Your life needs to be routine in bed by this time, woken up by that time, eating consistenly throughout the day. Most people won’t give up a lot of things that they know they should. So you know what….MOST PEOPLE WILL NOT GET THE GIRL.

It takes sacrifice to be succuessful. You have to be willing to give something up. I am not saying you have to risk your life like young Herc but you do need to give something up. The only way I have been able to run CG, be an athlete and run a clothing line is to sacrifice almost all of the things that most people my age enjoy doing. I never sweat it or complain though because I remember the power of the TRUE HERO.

(original image by erjkprunczyk)