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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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The Get-Back Towel

March 14, 2008

We have been busy adjusting to baby Charlsey the last several days. Her first visitors arrived, driving from Nebraska - Grandma and Grandpa Eberspacher. (I saved Stacey a lot of time signing checks when she married me.) Aubrey, our oldest at 17, returned from a four-day mission trip to Mexico.

Charlsey had her first doctor's appointment at 4 days old. Mom preferred not to get outside, so it was just Dad and Charlsey. We did okay. Seems like all our kids have liked car rides when they were infants. Puts them right to sleep. No road rage.ЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭЭ There's a little back story about the towel flapping in the photo on this page. A nickname for me at Kansas State on game day was Get-Back Coach. From the start in my tenure there I carried a towel and waved it on the sideline during football games. It was good to have for whacking the players while yelling "Get back!"

The need for that arises from the tendency of coaches and players to bunch up and crowd the sideline during a game. By rules, in theory, everybody has to stand behind a set of marked areas up to nine feet behind the sideline. Yeah, like that's going to happen. The ref can throw a penalty flag against coaches or players who jam the sideline, outside their designated areas, especially when offenders are actually on the field. Usually the zebras issue warnings, but even then they often might as well being talking to themselves.

Fans can see the marked-off areas, but did you know: The first three feet from the sideline is "no man's land." That's to protect everyone when plays run out-of-bounds. The next three feet is for coaches only, followed by three feet for immediate subs.

Everyone else should be standing behind that nine-foot area. Find me one coach, anywhere, that doesn't wear out the sideline itself. The coaches calling signals are nearly always on the field of play. And you can only imagine the, uh, let's call them "conversations" (often one-sided) throughout a game between a head coach and various officials. If an official runs into a coach who is on the field, Katy bar the door.

Of course as excitement in the game builds, everyone in the players' box creeps closer and closer to the sideline. Hence the need for the Get-Back Coach.Э I would always get a headache from constantly yelling at players to back up during the games.

So for the better part of 14 years at KSU I waved the same towel, the one in the photo. It has writing on it: "Get Back Coach Rod Cole." It was a gift from "Bones" and Norene Nay of Hutchinson, Kansas.Э I first met Bones when he was theЭ Director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the state of Kansas. About eight years later he was my boss as athletic director at Dodge City Community College where he got me into college coaching from 1990-1993. "Bones" is like a second dad to me, and the towel is a prized possession. It also has a KSU PowerCat logo on it.

At Texas A&M during the 2007 season, I kept my towel-waving tradition alive, but used a plain white towel. One special memory: Kansas came to play us in College Station. The Jayhawk head coach, Mark Mangino, and I coached together six years at K-State and against each other several years when he was at Oklahoma. Before the KU game, we hooked up and he asked if I was still going to be waving that "so-and-so" towel. Mark is a colorful conversationalist, sometimes matching the Jayhawk blue.

I guess the towel was kind of a trademark. Now it's packed away. Maybe I should frame it.

Ever Stronger....

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!