I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions.  Quite simply, I think that if you want to make a change or strive for a particular goal, then just start doing it.  There’s no need to wait for an arbitrary calendar date to start improving yourself.

That being said, I’m not going to use this post as a resolution for things to come.  Rather, I’d like to look back over the last few years and resolve some things that already happened.

In fact, this post is inspired by one that was written exactly 1 year ago today, and stuck with me ever since.  If you work as any type of fitness/athletic/strength coach, then you need to read THIS, and learn why the most important three words in strength and conditioning are:

I WAS WRONG.

The previous article expresses many of the thoughts that both haunt me, and simultaneously motivate me.  A few specific examples from my experiences come to mind:

  • I have jumped blindly into methodologies, and sold clients on the idea that those methods were the end-all and be-all of fitness.(No matter what anyone claims, it’s not for everyone and it’s not universally scalable.)

  • I have treated other training methods as inferior, without fully understanding them.

  • I have mistakenly coached clients to perform an “athletic hip-driven” bench press, because I misinterpreted some coaching cues I learned.

  • I have tried to force athletes into “ideal” squat mechanics, rather than work within appropriate mechanics for their body and training goals.

Cressey’s closing statement pretty much sums it up.

“Looking back on these experiences when I was clearly wrong, part of me wants to send individual apology notes to all the athletes I saw early in my career. By that same token, though, I feel like thank you notes might be more appropriate, as these mistakes played an essential role in my growth as a coach and person.”

The goal is to never stop learning – through education, mistakes, successes, and experiences.

Here’s to another great year!

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