Guest Writer: The Fitness Tech

Gary here, when people finally decide they want to get in shape...

Most will join a big commercial fitness center BUT........

Most fitness centers make NO sense at all. Not to mention any names, but mainly the one with the yellow and purple logo and the one that never closes. 

More often than not:

- they don't care whether you get results..

- nobody knows your name..

- nobody's telling you what to do or supervising you...

- and most importantly, all those machines are basically useless. 

machines (weight and cardio machines) have a fixed range of motion. They force your body into an unnatural way of moving. 

Plus they only work one or two bodyparts........that's the LEAST effective way to workout if fat loss and getting fit is your goal.

The fact of the matter is  most people will be spinning their wheels on treadmill/ellipticals and the "ab" machines.

Those things are a waste of time......and it's proven - just look at these "gyms" in January......they're waaaayyy less crowded come April or even sooner. 

And, even if you see some familiar faces, they look exactly the same as they did when they started. 

You see, back in the day there were little to no machines in gyms.......

Gyms were still gyms and all you'd see were:

- Barbells

- Weight plates

- Dumbbells

- Pull up bars

- Lots of floor space to jump rope, do body weight exercises, etc.

That's what got great results, and still does!! Just the basics and HARD WORK. Some call it "Old School Training" and that's how people stayed in excellent shape.

There wasn't an obesity problem then........until some guys on the top floor realized there's money in the whole "fitness" thing.

So they started building big gyms and turned them into "fitness centers".........

This is where it all went bad, because fitness centers are not gyms.

Fitness centers are comfortable.....they make it easy for anyone to exercise. And that's the worst part......

By making it easy, they made it ineffective.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have people going to these fitness centers than sitting on the couch, but then again, most people that sign up end up sitting back on their couch in a couple months. 

Here's the deal if you want to see REAL, Lasting results: 

Your workout should be challenging and tough. And it's supposed to require some skill to get results.

Any other way just won't cut it.

Just like the "get rich quick" schemes will never die.....neither will the "fitness and diet-made-easy" programs.

And  I want to let you know not all workout "places" are created equal....

A fitness center is where money is made, Gyms, like TFT is where results come from. 

https://www.facebook.com/TheFitnessTech

Peace out! 

Guest Writer: Dustin Battas

 In my 9th year as an assistant coach at Edwardsville we have had our fair share of Division 1 basketball players. We don’t have McDonald’s All Americans or kids that end up in the top 100 of national rankings. What we have are tough, smart kids, that are winners and proven players. This year we were fortunate to have two All State players that both will play in the MVC conference next year. One of our players has a great future ahead of him at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His recruitment was fast and relatively easy as he received an offer early in the school year after blowing up during the summer AAU circuit. He jumped on it and is very happy with his decision to be a Saluki.

With recruiting rankings and message boards tracking every move head coaches make, recruiting is much more of a roller coaster for 17 and 18 year old kids than most people could ever imagine. I have seen no greater example of this than with our graduating senior point guard. First, let me give you his credentials. He was our starting point guard for the last three years in which we finished in the Top 8, 3rd place, and 4th place in the largest class of basketball in the basketball rich state of Illinois. He lost 12 games as a starter in 3 years and 3 of those were at the state tournament against players that are now playing at basketball blue bloods or entering the NBA draft.  This year he averaged 18 ppg, 8 assists, and shot 40% from 3. He’s fast, smart, and tough as nails. He’s also an honor student and member of the National Honor Society. He finished First Team All State, Belleville News Democrat Player of the Year, and Alton Telegraph Player of the year. He was also All Metro for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He ended his career for us as the most decorated player to ever graduate from Edwardsville. On paper it seems to be a no brainer that he is a sure fire D1 recruit and with his grades and accomplishments probably garnered many offers from D1 coaches. What I left off the list was that he is favorably listed at 6’1 and has not dunked a basketball in any of our games. Believe me, the latter of that statement is valuable and maybe more valuable than many of his other qualifications. 

The reality of his recruitment is that he didn’t receive his first offer until late January of his senior year after dozens of head coaches had been to practice and games evaluating his every move. Everyone loved him...right up until the part when it came to making a scholarship offer. Every coach said the right things but nobody would pull the trigger. Imagine the frustration with him as he is competing against, and in many cases, dominating other players that already had numerous offers. He is short by basketball terms. His size is a concern. How athletic is he as far as jumping and such? Who else has offered scholarships these coaches would ask? These were the main statements and questions we heard as coaches tried to justify their non-offers. 

After one particular game in which he had over 20 points and controlled the game he shouted to himself and anyone that would listen, “It’s time for some offers!” Not in a cocky showman type of way but in a “What the HELL else do I have to do to get an offer,” type of way. His frustration was clear and as a coach there was nothing to say to him except, “You are right.”

Once Eastern Illinois made him his first offer, his recruiting took off. Within a week Shawn had 6 offers from school such as Navy, UMKC, and UW-Milwaukee. Now coaches were pitching that he would have the keys to the sports car that was their high powered offense. What changed? How could he go from plan B to a wanted man? Easy...he had other offers! Coaches could now justify to their fan base that he was a great player. His stats didn’t change and he didn’t magically grow two inches. While all of the coaches were very professional and respectful throughout the process it was amazing to me that coaches don’t just identify the type of player they want and go after him. They worry. They are filled with doubt and often think about what a player CAN'T do as opposed to what he CAN do. Our point guard is a winner and facilitates winning. One coach told me unfortunately how many games a kid wins in high school isn’t really part of their evaluation. He ended up receiving 8 offers at the end of the season and the offer list grew when many Mid Major programs lost players to transfers in the Spring. He had numerous coaches tell him they would have an offer for him as soon as a certain player left or they pushed him out. Some of that was true while other coaches never were able to get a player to leave. 

He eventually went on official visits to UC-Davis, Navy, and Missouri State. Missouri State was the last school to offer him but he fell in love with their coaches and program on his visit. Missouri State’s point guard shocked the staff and abruptly left the program after the season. They hadn’t been to any of our practices or games to see him play during the season. But, they could justify their offer because he had other offers...if that makes sense. He then faced the tough task of calling the head coaches that had recruited him and treated his family to a visit to break them the bad news that he was going elsewhere. These were the hardest things he had to do he told me. To his credit he manned up. He didn’t text or email or have his Dad call. 

As a coach and especially as an assistant coach I think its best to just be supportive and only offer advice if it is asked. Our head coach did a great job of keeping him positive and helping him remain confident that things would work out. He also comes from a very strong family which really helped. As a coach you start to take offense with college coaches and their desire to offer bad character kids that may be taller or jump higher but simply aren’t better basketball players. The transfer rate has sky rocketed and this recruitment allowed me to see why.  Coaches seem to recruit a type of athlete opposed to a type of player and man. There is no doubt in my mind that after a couple of years with him at Mo State we will have many opportunities to tell coaches when they come in to recruit a new kid, “We told you so.” 

Miami Heat Please 3-Peat

If you read the blog you can tell I'm a little bias for the Miami Heat to 3 peat. Well, I want them to be the Spurs and I don't care so much about the 3 peat. The Miami Heat has the best player on the planet Lebron James. I love the way the Spurs play basketball and I think Greg Popovich is a Hall of Fame coach. I will admit that the Spurs play basketball the right way. Unselfish, pass to the man who is open, and play team defense. The Spurs have talented Big Three with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan. Kawhi Lenard also is a star in the making. They might have talent comparable to the Heat. The main reason I can't root for the Spurs is because I love my son. How does that fit in? I will tell you. Me and my son have been watching the playoffs together and the last thing I want is to hear my son say,

" Dad, I want to be just like Danny Green!"

I will reply," I'm going to change your last name to Gideon Snow little boy! I'm going to send you to the Night's Watch to protect the Wall!"

"Danny Green is better than Durant and James!"

"DNA test ASAP little boy!"

"I want to wear Danny Green shoes Dad."

"Well, they are Nike so, at least you have a little common sense."

"I want to be number 4 like Danny Green."

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa...that's the last straw. Ok, Spurs can not win!"

You can see my dilemma. Hey, I would love to have the career Danny Green has had so far. He has the perfect role on the Spurs team to be successful. The only thing is when you dream, you should dream big. I want my son to dream bigger. He should want to be the best player in the NBA. Not the best role player in the NBA. That's all I'm saying. I can't say I ever wanted to be Craig Hodges. I also never made it to Jordan status but, I never even reached Danny Green heights either. I can't be upset if my son is a carbon copy of Danny Green at the end of the day. Just right now I don't want him to settle thinking that being a 3 point specialists is all he wants from life. Who's to say he will even play basketball in 10 years. If he emulates Danny Green though, I hope my son turns out to be a computer guy!

Spurs winning is killing my future. At least the future I want my kid to have. I will let him watch the games when Danny Green is out of the game. Better yet, I will not let my son watch anymore of these playoff games unless Heat are up 3-2! Danny Green does not exist. His name shall not be spoken in my house. Any other parent's with aspirations of their kids playing basketball I hope you do the same. Thank You. It hurts me to even write a post about Danny Green and I hope the next Spur to get elbowed by Mario Chalmers is Danny Green. By the way Chalmers has elbowed more players then baskets made. That has to change. Go Heat!

Jozy Altidore don't hold back

 A strange thing happened when it was announced that Landon Donavan didn't make the cut.  U.S. soccer needed a new face to root for. Who were we going to put our faith in to compete with the top European countries? Every year we were led to believe that Donavan was our savior. Now not only is he not the answer but, he didn't even make the team. Who is better than Donavan?  I'm not going to listen to Coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Dre Beat's has told me to put my faith in Jozy Altidore...ok Jozy, don't hold back!

Why SLU?

 When I was getting recruited, I wanted to choose the 4 year college that had the best chance for me to play in March Madness.  How did I end up at St. Louis University?  The answer is Larry Hughes.  With that answer it was like everything made sense.  That has been my standard answer, and it's so far from the truth.  With that answer I didn't have to say anything else and that's the way I liked it.  It was just the shorter version of the truth.  I will now give you the long version.

 SLU was my second choice, not that I'm complaining about how things turned out.  I know you are not supposed to admit that your alma mater was Plan B, but it's the truth.  Plan A was going to Pepperdine and playing for Lorenzo Romar.  I mean the campus was in Malibu!  Walking on campus you could hear the waves.  I would be away from home but not too far away that my family couldn't visit.  I also built a good relationship with the assistant coach, Randy Bennett (now the head coach at St. Mary's).  They had some guys transfer in like Jelani Gardner (at that time he was star), and it seemed that the team was a step away from national recognition.  A week before I took my official campus visit they signed someone else.  I was crushed.  I was told through out the whole recruiting process that I was their guy.  How can I be your guy when you take my scholarship away from me?  So it was on to Plan B.

 I had a list of the top 5 schools I wanted to go to written down on this piece of paper.  I crossed Pepperdine off, and the second school was SLU.  Their sales pitch was come play with Larry "the Legend" Hughes.  I had watched the McDonald's All American game, and I thought Larry was the best player on the floor, and I had to admit we would have a great back court.  After being heart broken about Pepperdine, I started to think about why SLU was second on my list in the first place. The school had even more positives.  SLU was one of the first colleges to recruit me, and they were also loyal to me where Pepperdine was not.  I remember when Coach Spoonhour came to a game of mine.  I think I scored 5 points, but they continued to recruit me which amazed me.  After that game I thought they would pull my scholarship also, but they still had faith in me.

 I was upset no one told me college coaches were at that game, because I felt I would have played better.  I think Nebraska was there as well to watch me play.  I knew nothing about the "Show Me State" or what a "Billiken" was.  The more I thought about it, the more positive I felt about SLU.  I knew it was a great sports town.  Mark McGwire was smacking 500 foot home runs for the Cardinals, and the Rams were the fastest team on turf with Marshall Faulk and Torry Holt.  The city loved "Spoonball"!  They just had a top 10 recruiting class headlined by Larry the Legend.  They played home games in a 20 thousand seat arena.  I would play against my home town college, University of San Francisco, in San Francisco, and my family could come watch me play.  They had a Nike contract (yes it was important to me at the time).  My community college teammate was going to Kansas, and we would play each other the next two years.  SLU was also in a great conference.  Conference USA had Cinncinati, Louisville, DePaul and Marquette just to name a few schools that were ranked in the Top 25.  SLU was also a great academic school, which appealed to my parents.  Of course having to go to Plan C was on my mind, and I didn't want to lose out on another school.  So, I signed my letter of intent right away.

 The thought of playing with Larry Hughes got me to SLU, but things would quickly change.  Even before I got to campus, Larry would enter the NBA draft and be selected 8th overall.  Coach Charlie Spoonhour (R.I.P.) would retire after my junior season, but then Coach Romar was hired.  It's funny how things work out.  Why did I go to SLU?  The school that was my first choice took away my scholarship.  The player I wanted to play with left.  I still kept my commitment to the school.  After a year the coach I wanted to play for retired, yet I stayed committed to SLU.  What about the coach I originally wanted to play for at Pepperdine?  I ended up recruiting HIM to come to SLU!

 Not only did I come to SLU, but I stayed committed.  There was times after we had a big win or I had a good game, and I would walk into Coach Romar's office and ask him about that player he gave my scholarship to. "Coach how is Craig Lewis doing!?"  Then I would hear Coach laugh, and I would just walk right back out of the office. It was my running joke.  Craig Lewis put a big chip on my shoulder.  That chip lead to the Miracle in Memphis.  In the end SLU won the Conference USA Tournament, and I got my chance to play in the NCAA Tournament.  The next time I'm asked why did I chose SLU, it will be my turn to say Craig Lewis and laugh.

Guest Writer: Danielle McGee

I have never hated a month as much as August. The month of August brings about a lot of change to my family, including a sign that it's the end of summer and the beginning of STRESS.  While some look forward to the start of school for their kids and trip to Target buying school supplies. I dread the arrival of August for a completely different reason.  It's a trip that takes the man away from his family. The reason is August is the start of basketball preseason overseas. For a short time we must say goodbye to the man of the house. For me now it's fitting clothes for me and our children in two tiny bags for the airplane, making sure our passports are up to date, and making sure plenty of Doc McStuffins is on my IPad! I'm a basketball wife but, my story is a lot different then what you might see on T.V.

My husband just signed to play in France for the next season. It's good my kids like french fries! I know bad joke. The first day was filled with looking at the main attractions of his city on google. The second day was viewing rating for the best restaurants. The third day with shopping on my mind I wanted to know just how close to Paris he will be!  Every time I remind him of what we want to do in the future, he reminds me that he has a job to do. Which means he is willing to take us to Mc. Donald's and drive to his games and back home! I understand he isn't there on vacation but, to feed his family which he kind of pointed out to me on the fourth day. So, I know my joy is to support him and I hope that the other players wives and girlfriends are friendly.

I’ve been through a lot of August goodbyes, and they never get easier.  He goes and we will join him in September after his team finishes their training camp in Italy. Another country I wouldn't mind traveling too. As I'm reminded to say it's a business trip not vacation:( Also, I should say I get used to the good byes but, it's very difficult on the kids. His departure signals the beginning of a transition and adaptation for the family.  The kids have spent 2-3 months in the summer spending every day with Daddy.  They wake him up and have breakfast in the morning, play and wrestle throughout the day and enjoy Dad tucking them in at night.  The summer is truly the vacation.

Once he leaves, we immediately get back into our daily “basketball season” routine.  Breakfast with Daddy is now done over Skype or Facetime.  While many parents think there is too much technology available to our children, I am so thankful for it.  I’ve received many looks or comments about spoiled kids when people see our kids with their mini iPads.  They don’t realize that these devices provide a connection from our kids to their Dad throughout the year.  I’m not ashamed to admit our 2 year old knows how to call Daddy on Facetime all by herself.  This is our normal.

“I don’t know how you do it when he’s gone!”!?!.  What’s the alternative, to crawl into a corner and weep?  Yes, I become a single mother for many months of the year.  We are very fortunate to have an extended family that helps us. Blessed we can afford for me to be a stay at home mom.  I knew I signed up for this life, and I wouldn’t change a moment of it.  With all the challenges and loneliness we each endure, the blessings far outweigh them. I'm happy I can support my husband while he does what he loves.  I can say he supports his family.

Let’s not forget all the amazing memories we’ve been able to make thanks to this crazy life of basketball. I have traveled to 6 countries and have been immersed in vastly different cultures.  I have been to more countries than I have states(4) in America! I have had to drive in countries where rules of the road don’t exist. I had to buy groceries with foreign currency, while guessing at what meat I was buying.  You learn very quickly how to say yes, no, hello and thank you in other languages.  My husband is right. It's not a vacation. I now realize I miss our trips overseas.  We do what works for our family, though many believe it wouldn’t work for them.  I say, don’t knock it until you try it!

Game of Thrones NBA Finals Edition

Greg Popovich as Daenerys Targaryen

Erik Spoelstra as Bran Stark

Ray Allen as Arya Stark

Dwayne Wade as Brienne of Tarth

Chris Bosh as Jon Snow

LeBron James as Lord Baelish

Tony Parker as Tyrion Lannister

Tim Duncan as Tywin Lannister

Kawhi Leonard as Jaime Lannister

Manu Ginobili as Oberyn Martell