EP 169: What Is Strong Enough, Developing Rotational Power, & Improving As A Coach and Building Your Fitness Career w/ Eric Cressey

I’ve been fortunate to learn from and develop friendships with the best of the best. My relationship with Eric Cressey goes back close to 17 years where I went to a seminar of his in Birmingham, UK. Since then he’s been someone I have constantly learned from and continue to as we have grown in the industry, built our businesses and expanded in what we do. He’s not just an extraordinary coach but also a great human being that I’m honored to call a friend. Having a conversation with him is always insightful and thought provoking, and I learn a lot from it.  Eric Cressey is president and co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance, with facilities located in Hudson, MA and Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  A highly sought-after coach for healthy and injured athletes alike, Eric has helped athletes at all levels - from youth sports to the professional and Olympic ranks - achieve their highest levels of performance in a variety of sports. Eric is perhaps best known for his extensive work with baseball players, with more than 100 professional players traveling to train with him each off-season. In January of 2020, he joined the New York Yankees organization as Director of Player Health and Performance. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: => Eric’s involvement in multiple areas from being director of performance for the New York Yankees, running two successful facilities, coaching elite MLB players daily, and how it affects his views on strength and conditioning.  => Insights on the principle of: “What you know vs what you can implement.” => How strong is strong enough for athletes (as well as general population). => Strength is simple to build and sticks around but ________ is much harder to develop.  => The studies that show how impactful the work that high school and college strength coaches do and why building a foundation is SO critical. => The dangers of carrying your own training biases into the training programs of your clients and athletes. => Power drops close to 10% per decade in the aging population and rarely finds itself in most programs. => The surprising ability that we lost the most as we age, that MUST be trained.  => What Eric has charged in his in season programming for athletes in the last 5-years, based on research and his personal insights.  => The power of high quality warm ups and why it is so important and how you can get a 40% injury reduction.  => Why you may need less strength work in season and how 30 minutes of strength training can be enough. => Focusing on building relationships to get buy in to your program/system.  => The best ways to learn and speed up your growth that are completely underutilized.  => The sacrifices that have to be made to develop yourself as a great coach.  => Eric on investing in yourself and betting on things you understand.  => What is “work life harmony” and why balance in life isn’t what you think it is.  => The “Say yes to everything before 40, and no to everything after 40” quote and what it means.  => Eric’s thoughts on getting a college degree in the exercise science realm that will shock you.  => One thing that young coaches really need to analyze and the question they MUST ask themselves. => Why you should consider spending $100k’s on your undergraduate degree.  => How to really stand out as a coach, be a linchpin, and be scarce so that you can keep progressing in your career. => The #1 thing you can do is get a good mentor and be part of a great facility to learn in person, skin-to-skin.  => The power of the apprenticeship model and why it’s the missing link for most coaches.  LINKS & RESOURCES: Eric Cressey's Site www.EricCressey.com Cressey Sports Performance http://cresseyperformance.com/ Elite Baseball Development Podcast h Eric's IG https://www.instagram.com/ericcressey Luka’s Courses and Workshops  www.LukaHocevar.com Luka's YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ29YcBh-g6onRujX3wD_XA?view_as=subscriber