Me playing some defense this past weekend. Good times!

As some of you may or may not know, I played in an alumni football game this past weekend. It was my old high school’s alumni football players versus our rival high school’s alumni. It felt awesome to put the pads on again and play the game that we all obviously love so much. I thought I was in pretty decent shape coming into the game, but I quickly realized that my training leading up to the game did not prepare me to play an entire 60 minute, full-contact game from start to finish, playing offense (wide receiver), defense (free safety), and special teams (kick returner, kickoff team, punt coverage). I also managed to break my middle finger and incur a nice gash on my left forearm after laying out for a ball (thank you very much ARTIFICIAL GRASS), as well as three blisters on my feet (again, thank you artificial grass). Was it worth it all? You bet! Here’s a few things I learned after playing in the game this past weekend.

1.) Prepare Months in Advance! This should hold true to all athletes training for competition, but the preparation for intense sports should be done months and months in advance. I trained as I always do, don’t get me wrong, but my conditioning was lacking! The ability to run repeated sprints with full effort quickly diminished. Had the proper conditioning and general fitness been there I think my performance would have been much different i.e. been able to go full go without fear of cramping up, etc… I know better than this, but this is how we learn as coaches and athletes. It was apparent to me how many of the players on both sides were severely lacking in physical preparation as there were countless pulled hamstrings and other muscular injuries that could have been prevented with some hard training 3-4 months out. This makes even more incentive to stay active as we start to drift away from our competitive athlete playing days.

2.) Discipline, Accountability, and Responsibility - This game was for fun, but each of us paid to play; most of the proceeds went back to our high schools’ athletic programs. But as soon as we took action and forked over the $$, each of us were relying on one another to show up and perform. Also, as soon as you step onto that field, you are expected to know your role and assignments and perform without fear or hesitation. This goes for the gym as well; if you train in small groups (which I highly recommend), you must show up and perform. One weak-minded person or someone that is constantly late for training and eats like shit, parties 24/7, sleeps 3 hours and shows up to train will bring the entire group (team) down. Hold yourself accountable, be on time, and perform with some intensity in the gym!

3.) Never Give Up- We lost 15-6, that’s not an issue with me since it was for fun anyways. But it kills me when a team rolls over and lets the other continue to run the score up because they are down by a couple scores. When something goes wrong (it will!), a person’s true character will show. Will you continue to fight, or will you give up? It’s all about how you handle adverse situations. The true warriors will continue to go until they can no longer, while the physically and mentally weak will give up. Same goes for your own training. So you aren’t getting stronger; what are you going to do about it? Will you continue on your path you’re on, or will you strive to make tweaks in your lifestyle and examine what’s going wrong? So you gained a couple pounds because of poor eating this weekend;  what are you going to do about it? Never ever give up and stay the course!

I’d like to hear what sports have taught you about training and life in general. Leave me a comment below and let me know what your thoughts are! Football has taught me a lot, this is why I think team sports are essential for personal development and character building.

See ya,

John Cortese

Check out my response below from a “Q & A e-mail”  from Joe, asking “When is the best time to start conditioning for football?“..

Just watch the video below, and don’t forget to drop me a comment afterwards! I love hearing your feedback!

Agree/Disagree? Let’s hear your thoughts!

See ya, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

-John Cortese

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PS- Did you catch Part I of my Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Training article yet? Head over and let me know what you thought of that! PART II comes out shortly! Stay tuned!