End of Phase 1: 

Learn Hurt ,Trust Pain, Embrace Struggle.

I came across this slogan on a website  - dreamloudlynow.com and ever sense its stuck with me, in part it really speaks to style of training I have endured over the past few months. About three years ago I started a push to lose weight and get faster. Living in downtown Indianapolis, I started to run 4-5 miles every morning. I weighted 245 at the time, by late spring I lost 30 lbs to 220. At 220, I realized at 220, I could no longer be a lineman. I spent the next 2 months looking for a home on the football field. I found one that required limited skill, at FB. I then spend the next two years lifting none stop, adding explosive power and raw strength. I went from a bench max of 305 to 430, a squat max of 405 to 550 struggling with 135 power cleans to a max of 265. I gained back every bit of my weight in muscle mass.

I hit 245 at my mass peak , strong as an OX, big as I could be. But I learned this came with a price. My flexibility, range of motion, ability to run and move decreased. I could no longer run the 4-5 miles I use to without pain. Another reality finally set in, that at 5’9” there was always going to be someone bigger, stronger, that me. So the wheels were set in motion this summer to begin the slim down and fix the damage I had done.

How does one fix being big? I backed off on the massive eating of protein, and fully backed off on the carbs. I moved my diet to paleo based natural foods. I begin to focus on faster feet and the ability to flow and catch passes. A few months ago I took the next few steps toward better athleticism  and began yoga to increase flexibility and increase core strength. I also began to finally remove the built up scar tissue from the previous two years though weekly deep tissue massages.

Each step of this three year transformation has hurt. It hurt to take the first 30 min. run. It hurt to lift that first 355 bench, it hurt to repeatedly maintain a core strength position. But you have hurt to move forward in progress.

I had to learn hurt, and trust when hurt became pain. You have to push yourself beyond the hurt level and balance to the point of pain. You have to push against that pain limit and move it to see growth but you also have to trust yourself when you cross that line and need to back off. And this entire time span of three years, I have embraced the struggle, sometimes lost or confused, most of the time determined. This journey has taught me so much about me.  Even today as I embrace some of the most painful training yet, I have learned to trust the hurt, for it is only growth toward your next goal. 

Flow Like Water to Move the Earth

Phase 1: 

Repair Rebuild Retrain

Lesson 2: 

Flow Like Water to Move the Earth

How do you move something big?

Would you walk up to and give it a push? Would you tie a rope to it and pull it? Would you find a machine to assist you? If it was big, really big, would you use explosives?

So much energy is spent, each and every down to impose your will on another player, and nowhere is this more true than the trenches. A 280lbs DT flexes his bicep, throws his hand into the dirt and prepares to unleash uncontrolled havoc. Across from him, a 300lbs OG beats his chest, squats, and prepares to control the opposing linemen at his will. This happens play after play after play.It is what linemen are taugh over and over again. This is an example of a block grinding against another block.

Some of nature's most magnificent wonders are shaped not by blocks grinding blocks, but the flow of wind and water. The raging colorado river carves the grand canyon, the Great Lakes drives back Niagara Falls inches a year. Coastlines across the world change daily and winds erode mountain tops. OK so what? Air and water are so small yet they have the power to impose their will to greater masses. Apply speed to these masses and their force becomes unstoppable. Raging flood waters, hurricanes, tsunami, are the deadliest forces in all of nature.

What makes this flowing force so much more powerful? Balance, angles, and the ability to redirect their force in a fraction of a second. These keys are the strength behind the flow and the tools the natures uses to form a sphere out of a block.

Become the Circle from the Square

Phase 1:

Repair, Rebuild, Retrain

Lesson 1: 

Becoming the Circle from the Square

The block for millenniums was the ideal building unit. It was relatively easy to shape, easy to stack, and contained the strength to withstand the forces of gravity. It was not until the Romans invented the arch in the 1 Century BC did the concept of the ideal structural concept take shape. Its invention was painstaking and there were many failed attempts but today is still the golden standard for spanning distances giving it an advantage over the block. 

For the past three years I have been training and performing as a football player like the block. I got stronger and faster. The training concept was easy and took me a long way but with my size, I have hit a disadvantage that I cannot overcome, no matter the speed or strength. To move on, I have to become a sphere. 

The sphere has a number of advantages over a block: 

• Agility, the ability to move with ease from one space to the next
• Stronger, the sphere is 100 times stronger than a block in strength
• Beauty, a sphere is captivating as it is rare in natural form

The downside of a sphere is the difficulty of its creation. Precision is necessary as it is  far more difficult to craft than a block, strikes must be accurate and planned.

That is where I am at in my training moving forward to my third and final year of professional football, I have been asked to train to become a sphere. I am going to be pushed outside of my comfort zone and asked to take on different aspects of training. The mental difficulty increases as accuracy and timing count, not just the reps. Flexibility and movement have become center and forefront in my training just as the placement and turnout of my foot counts as much as the placement of the strike on the arm. 

I was told from day one, this is not going to be easy, this is not going to be like what you have done before. Many times, you'll leave here not dripping in sweat,  but we are training you just as hard. Mental preparation is just a hard to learn, and if not more difficult to practice. Anyone can tell you what their 225 rep test is, but can they tell you 7 ways to weaken your opponent for the next play?