Week 7: Activity

Note to Past Self
If you’re not in control of your schedule make sure you have the “okay” from the boss to embark on the academy. I have a lot of control over my schedule but you still need to make sure you will be able to take the time over 10 weeks.

Take the time to reflect on the notes, reading, and lectures. I use a huge white board to consolidate the most important notes, definition, principles, etc. The process of reading, hearing, and writing this information helps engrain it into you memory better.

Have a good level of knowledge in anatomy, physiology, physics, and writing. My education from college has helped enormously because I don’t have to go look up words or go learn a system which a book is talking about. Writing will be huge and you need to have a decent level of knowledge of the writing process and APA format.

Have an athlete on the linear progression. I was able to get a decent portion of my soldiers on the LP but just 1-3 athletes would be a perfect size to use for the videos throughout the Academy.

Be audacious and work your ass off. Don’t be there to just get by. Set the standard for the class and make the trade-off to give most of your free time to the class. If you’re not good at managing time, get better and do it fast.

Don’t be afraid to fail. View it as training, to succeed you will have points you fail or get told your point of view is wrong. Don’t play it safe, fuck safe.

Understand the time commitment coming into the Academy. Plan on about 20 hours a week of extra work on top of your normal schedule.

Get started on the reading asap after it is posted on Wednesday nights and take notes while reading rather than simply relying on highlighting sections.

Have a class work schedule template to follow the best you can. Don’t freak out when you can’t stick to it but try to have a plan in place for when unexpected things come up to still get your work done.

Spearhead group study sessions and note comparisons from day 1. This will help with retention of materials rather than just plowing through to get the required work done.

Participate, participate, participate in class discussions. It’s okay to be wrong but this will leave you with your questions answered. If a question is not answered get into the pre-class sessions with Tex!

Re-read as much of the power athlete original content before the class starts as you can. Tie in as much of that original content to the readings when you start the class as you can.

Prep your significant other for the lack of time you will be spending with them before the class starts, so they have the same time commitment expectations as you. This will help them be more supportive and not pissed off at you.

Prep your staff to help pick up some of your slack with this time commitment as well.

This is probably the biggest one, understand the commitment that it is going to take (16-20 hours at least), and plan out time dedicated to the Academy each day. Also find incorporate time to reflect on the material that you just learned to be able to make the connections, and not survive from week to week.

I would set up the weekly group study session immediately as well. I felt like once we got that going retention and understanding started to increase since we had each other to bounce things off of. This has been more effective then the study hall forum.

Analysis the task that you are doing day to day, and identify which are the ones that only you can do, and what can be handed off to other such as cleaning the gym. This will allow you to free up more time for the Academy as well as maximize the now more limited time you have to spend on your business.

Participate in the class and group discussion more. This comes in part making the time for the weekly group discussion, as well as not being afraid to fail or be wrong.

Allocate your time that you spend working on things in such a way that when the office hours that are available they can be utilized, and not just time to finish up assignments and discussions.

READ! READ! READ!

Dive head first into reading assignments the day you get them and pay attention to the assignment and discussion questions as you read.  It will make your assignments easier to reference and allow for better retention.  Allow an hour a day minimum strictly for reading.  After you are finished reading the class assignments, get on PAHQ and read everything you can there as well.  Be a sponge and soak up everything you can.

You are among like minded individuals who have already bought into PA and all it entails.  Share freely and openly all the info and knowledge you can, they will do the same.  You are in this together, be a team ASAP.  Be open and honest with content and cognition.  Ask questions. Be present for others.

Practice what you learn, the more you do it the better your comprehension and application of the information.

RELAX!  This is what you wanted, enjoi every second of the experience.

Dear Tony Fu,

Buckle up buddy this is going to be an intense 10 weeks.  If you haven’t carved out 15-20 hours to properly attack this class do it now.  The information is dense, the concepts are deep, and it’s going to challenge your views on training; it’s all good (just a little overwhelming).

First piece of advice DO NOT get behind.  You have to make the time to complete the assigned readings and homework.  If you don’t the quality of your work will suffer, and Tex will not like that.  You may develop a hatred of Mel Siff and his superfluous language  but Supertraining is considered the bible of training for a good reason and you need to digest as much as you can.  To help tie what you’ll read about refresh yourself on all things PA so you can connect the dots as you go.  The teaching and views of PAHQ are grounded in science and experience and this course is giving you the science.  You must take what you learn here and apply it to your clients to develop a deep understanding but you’ll be ahead of the game if you know what you’re testing.

Also, make sure to connect with your fellow attendees.  The views, experiences, and knowledge of your classmates will help you develop as a coach.  They will be there to bounce ideas off of, clarify concepts, and commiserate in shared suffering.  The relationships and network grown through this course will serve you down the road on your coaching journey.

Finally, suck the marrow out of this course (if you’re here you already know what this means).  You have access to some of the best S&C coaches in the business and you would be foolish not to take advantage of it.  Use office hours with Tex, engage in class discussions, put yourself out there; in the end you’ll be better off.  This is your audition and your grade (and experience) will be directly proportional to the effort you put forth.  Have no regrets.

Sincerly,

A better looking, smarter Tony Fu

Start the water boarding process early, since the marrow will be heavy and dense with an amazing platform for knowledge.  It will never be easy that’s not the Power Athlete way.  Learn to hate and love and love and hate Mel Siff he will be long, hard and dense … that’s what she said.  Be consistent, don’t fall behind, read and read and read and read… buy both versions of the books: one in spanish, one in english, plan 25+ hours a week and prep your family and your staff on what you are about to go through.  Prepare to have your mind blown on daily basis and see the genius of John be the foundation of a phenomenal program you already love.  Tex and Luke are both bad cops there is no good cops!  They both are protectors of the brand, the original space monkeys that endure the cold and lonely path of “figure it out”, their passion for coaching and battle bullshit on daily basis will be demonstrated with some tough love from both.  Make an early bet with the group to see who can make Tex LOL… be patient it will happen.

Enjoy the path …Viva Texas motherfuckers!