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THE COLE HARD TRUTH

Launching "Ever Stronger"

After 24 years in coaching, 18 as a collegiate head strength coach, I have launched my twofold "Ever Stronger!" consulting - personal workout programs, and clinics for school S&C programs. MORE

A football high: out-physical the opponent

Our six-man team, in its first two games, brought back memories of dominating wins over big powers in college football by demonstrating how an off-season strength and conditioning program pays off. Never mind it wasn't Nebraska or Texas; satisfaction still runs high over a job well done Feb-to-Aug leading to success in the fall. HERE'S HOW

Scant Equipment, Big-Time Workout for Kids

Details of the makeshift equipment and big-time football workout regimen, out behind a church....TUGGING STARTS HERE

You don't need fancy

A dozen youngsters, 11-18, a football/soccer field behind Steep Hollow Baptist Church, rigorous workouts. Not impressive. But the workouts are.....READ WHY

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Daughter Aubrey's mission to Mexico

March 31, 2008

Growing up as I did in a Christian home, I always had a high level of respect for missionaries. Now my daughter is one, mini-version.

I must admit that the idea of going off to foreign lands to live and share the gospel didn't appeal to me. Many summers I referred to our summer preparation of football players as a "summer mission" requiring commitment and sacrifice. That was my kind of mission.İ

My thoughts on missions were altered forever by a class called Perspectives (check out their Web site here). Stacey and I attended the class along with our oldest daughter Aubrey about three years ago. Aubrey was 14 at the time, easily the youngest student in this class of over 100, most of whom were college undergrads or grad students taking the class for college credit.İ

The three Coles were auditing the class, but did we ever get an education!İ Perspectives on the World Christian Movement is more than a class on missions. It is an education in how God has worked through history, and continues to work today, to accomplish His mission of drawing men and women to Him.İ The course changed the way we look at the world and they way we look at our role in it.
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Aubrey (and hence mom, dad, and the clan) became involved in Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) and Christian Youth in Action (CYIA) - it seems like every field has its version of alphabet-soup acronyms - in the summer of 2005. Aubrey went off to camp in Nebraska for some 12 days completed a rigorous program of memorizing and presenting various programs designedİ to present the message of Christ to children in 5-Day Clubs.İ

That summer and the next, after the camp the participants taught 5-Day Clubs and Vacation Bible Schools in various Kansas communities. Aubrey became a "summer missionary" with a purpose far more important than preparing for a football season.
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We moved to Texas on Memorial Day 2007 and we had barely settled in when Aubrey, this time with brother Kade, traveled to CEF-CYIA Camp in Longview.İ Both of them returned as summer missionaries teaching 5-Day Clubs for children in our Bryan-College Station community.İ Later in the summer Aubrey went back to Kansas to teach Vacation Bible School. It was only a matter of time before Aubrey would be ready to take a real, out-of-the-country mission trip.
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March 9 became a memorable day for us this year. (See blog archives.) The same day little sister Charlsey Lydia was born, Aubrey left to spend four days in Acuna, Mexico with SHIP (here we go again - Shelter the Homeless International Project) on a spring-break missions trip. She mostly worked in an orphanage while a construction crew worked on building a fence in the backyard at the orphanage.

She said she had a great experience just over the border into Mexico from Texas.İ Now she is ready to make a return trip to Acuna in April with Word In Deed Evangelical Ministry. (AAW...oh, you get the picture). I think you could say she is hooked. What better purpose for her to be hooked on?
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I have a friend who heads up Sport Performance Science International, an organization that goes into countries around the world and uses strength and conditioning as a medium to minister to others. Maybe it's time for Dad to follow his daughter's lead and step out in faith on a mission trip?İ Stay tuned.

THE TURKISH GET UP IS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR FITNESS & WORKOUTS.

To add a new wrinkle for your workouts, I'd like to give you a quick and easy self- assessment. You don't need a workout gym for this, or a weight room. Just a little corner of any room, a book, and a few minutes of your time. You don't even have to put on workout clothes.

First position to start the Get Up exercise

Standing up to complete the Get Up drill

The photos with this article show my son Kade, who is 15, performing a Turkish Get Up with a 30-pound dumbbell. He has three years left to prepare for college, where he wants to play football or baseball, or possibly both. He did this demonstration when I consulted with a small college recently. (By the way, photo credits go Kade's sister, Kressyn, who is 13 Head shot of Kressyn the photographer and loves photography. This is Kressyn.)

Just follow these instructions carefully. A few minutes later you'll know all you need to know about your balance, coordination, flexibility, shoulder strength, and even your core strength.

Grab your Webster's Dictionary from the bookshelf, or any hardback book about that size.
Go to an open space in your house.
Hold the dictionary in one hand at arm's length while lying flat on your back on the floor.
Now, get up! And get up this way:

Keep the arm with the dictionary locked out.
Hold the book overhead as you work your way to a standing position.

Do this, then come back and read the rest....

* * *

OK, how'd you do? You've just performed an exercise called the "Get Up," or, more specifically, the "Turkish Get Up."

Many strength coaches or personal trainers would have given you significantly more instructions on how to get up. I refrained, because I like the problem-solving dimension of the drill. I feel it is important for you figure it out.

Had I been coaching you, I would have helped you along with tips whenever you struggled. For the most part, though, this drill can be figured out with a little persistence and practice.

I have used this drill many years as an assessment. It works not only for the average person, but for athletes. Big athletes, not so big athletes; elite athletes, average to middlin' athletes; all athletes. It's especially effective when they are just coming into a program, as a freshman or a transfer.

After administering five minutes of Turkish Get Ups, I can look at a group of newbies and tell who is the most flexible and coordinated, who has the best core strength, and who has the best shoulder strength and flexibility.

All from lifting a book with one hand. (Well, not quite. College athletes would perform Turkish Get Ups with a dumbbell, something between 30 and 60 pounds, not a dictionary.)

The mental side of the equation is always interesting, too. Some individuals take to new things and catch on quickly, while others fight it, complain, and are quick to give up. It's amazing what a few minutes of work can tell a coach.

If the Turkish Get Up with Noah Webster's masterpiece seemed fairly easy with your dominant hand:

Try it again with your other hand.

And then again with two hands on the book.

After that you are ready to try it again one-handed with the opposite hand not touching the floor as you get up! (That's the way my wife, Stacey, did it the first time she tried it.)

After all that, graduate upward. Make all the lifts all again with a 10-pound dumbbell or weight plate, and then continue working up in weight.

Special note to young athletes: If you are a scholastic athlete and aspire to compete in college, when you can do the Turkish Get Up with a 50- or 60-pound dumbbell, you might be ready. Keep practicing just in case.

In working with college athletes, our staff would revisit the Turkish Get Up every so often in workouts. That way we could measure the overall improvement that our program was giving us in functional movements.

I recommend this exercise once a week or so, just to see if it is getting easier as time goes on. If it's not getting easier, you may want to rethink your program.

At that point, I'd be pleased to help you do that.

The Turkish Get Up is just one minute tool in my kit of various methods as I work with athletic programs, and I thought you might enjoy giving it a try.

If you'd like some consulting for your personal workouts, just send me an email, webatt@coachrodcole.com and we'll set something up. Consulting can take place by telephone, by email, or in person.

My workout tool kit has a lot more tools to help you reach your goals, too. Let's work together on the central theme: Ever Stronger!