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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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Will yourself to wait

April 9, 2008

Some random thoughts from the last week, tied together with a special theme....

During the last week one message came to me loud and clear: "Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will...," a quote from Oswald Chambers in his classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest.İ

And if once wasn't enough: I prepared to teach a Sunday school class on Acts I, where the believers were told to wait after Jesus' ascension until the power of the Holy Spirit came to them. Wait.İ

Well, I have a hard time waiting, I want to get going now. Sometimes I get the proverbial cart before the horse and want to jump ahead to the future. My football coach at Bethany College back in Kansas, state sports Hall of Famer Ted Kessinger, always signed his correspondence "...one day at a time."İ Iİ appreciated it in my college days, but as the years have passed I've learned that there is a lot more wisdom there than I realized in my college years.

I recently received the book Downtime for Dads from its author, Gene Williams. I had eagerly anticipated this book, because I had penned one of the chapters. A few friends of mine had also contributed to this devotional book for men. Gene, a pastor in the Nazarene church for 47 years, has
written 15 books. He and his wife, Joyce, live in Wichita, Kansas, where they run Shepherds' Fold Ministries. Men like Gene amaze me - lived a full life of ministry and still found time to author 15 books. Personally, I don't have 15 chapters written on a book I hope to publish someday, and I've been at it for 8 years!İ Maybe this one-day-at-a-time thing will help me get that book done someday.

Tuesday morning, there was another lesson for me in the message at a local church's businessmen's breakfast series. The text was James 4, in which we are instructed not to boast about what we are going to do today or tomorrow, for life is only a vapor that lasts a short time. My wife Stacey got a call
Sunday from Nebraska informing her that a vapor had vanquished.İİ

Her 93-year old grandmother, Lydia Slepicka, had passed just that morning. Stacey took comfort in that she had just visited recently with Grandma Lydia on the phone. We had also learned that she had told a nurse that she was "ready to go see Jesus" in a recent conversation. A great ending to a life lived one day at a time. May we make the most ofİ the time that our vapor lasts on this earth.

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!