Check out one of our six E-Books:
• “Squat Every Day”
• “Eat What You Want”
• “Squat Every Day 2”
• “No Weaknesses”
• “Mash Program Sampler”
• “The Mash Blueprint for Program Design”
Check them out here: ⇒ Mash Elite E-Books
Go Where You are the Weakest! Best Advice Ever!
This weekend, I am hosting one of my high school best friend’s son, Matthew Greer. He is a senior in High School, and he is on his way to play football for Carson-Newman University in Tennessee. He’s going to be spending some time on the weekends with me in preparation for college.
He text me the night before saying, “ I am not use to being the weakest person in the gym.”
I responded by saying, “You are going to be right where you are supposed to be.”
It’s so true. Most people love being a big fish in a small pond. That small pond is going to restrict your growth every time. When you are the strongest guy in the room, there is no incentive to get stronger or better. Your daily view of reality is just the weight that you are lifting. This can quickly become a stagnant environment.
I use to drive hundreds of miles every week to seek out the strongest individuals around. I wanted to find those people and understand why they were stronger. I wanted to challenge myself to become stronger. I mean if you want to be better at basketball, you find the courts where the best players are balling. It doesn’t matter the sport. The universal truth remains the same: “Go where the best are”.
Here’s why:
• It’s a mindset thing. Your view of reality will completely shift. Maybe you think that a 600lb squat is heavy. If you come to our gym, you will see multiple people that can squat 600lb.
• It’s a skill thing. You will see athletes performing the movement in a more efficient manner. This will also rub off.
• It’s a competitive thing. If you are a naturally competitive athlete, you are going to rise to the occasion. You aren’t going to allow defeat for too long.
• Most environments with great athletes have great coaches. If you come to our gym, you have Coach McCauley on a daily basis and me on an almost daily basis. That’s two International coaches in one gym. That’s a lot of knowledge to be spread around.
• It’s an expectations thing. If you come to Mash Elite, you are expected to become great. If you make an International team, you just did your job. We expect all of our athletes to eventually make Team USA.
I get it. It’s a scary thing to leave your home gym. You are the expert. Everyone looks up to you. However we both know that you will never grow in that environment. Going to those amazing gyms will also be learning experiences that will serve as sources of knowledge for the rest of your life. I learned a lot at Appalachian State University. I have read books that have greatly enriched my life. However, the real life experiences far outweigh any other forms of learning. For example you guys read an article from Louie Simmons, and then you think you know where he’s coming from. If you go there, you will learn exactly where he’s coming from.
Most of my knowledge that I have right now comes from my time in gyms like:
• Westside Barbell
• MuscleDriver USA
• Olympic Training Center
• Champion Health in Colorado with Coach Charles Poliquin and T Nation
• Big Iron Gym
• East Coast Barbell back in the day (where I met Coach Joe Kenn)
• Attitude Nation Gym (met Donnie Shankle, Jon North, Ryan Grady, Jessica North, Charlie Zamora, and so many more)
These are just a few, but each gym taught me so much. Each gym had an athlete capable of doing amazing things. Each gym had coaches that were amazing in multiple areas. Each gym had a limitless atmosphere. Each gym was filled with athletes that desired to be the absolute best in their chosen sport.
These gyms will teach you everything you need to know as an athlete. Are you really cut out for the sport? Do you really want to be the best? Will you rise to the occasion during competitive situations? Will you work hard? Will you persevere? These are questions that will forecast your future in life. Not everyone is cut out to be the best. Some people will naturally fill supportive roles. That’s ok too. The key is don’t quit and do the work. If you can do those two things, you will be successful in life.
Not everyone will make it. My gym has watched people come and go. Not everyone finds that they really want to be the best. They quickly realize that Mash Elite is not the place to be if you want to be second. We train hard, and our athletes are driven and confident. It can be overwhelming for some.
Our gym has hosted some of the best athletes in the entire country like:
• Tommy Bohanon, starting fullback for the NY Jets
• Jon North, Team USA Weightlifter
• Cade Carney, starting running back for Wake Forest University
• Nathan Damron, Team USA Weightlifter
• Mattie Sasser, Olympian weightlifter
• Joe Mbang, NBA Basketball player
• Trip McNeil, starting Offensive Lineman for Duke University
• Donnie Shankle, Team USA Weightlifter
• Jared Enderton, Professional Grid Athlete and weightlifter
• Jacky Bigger top 63k weightlifter
• Rebecca Gerdon Team USA Weightlifter
• Greg Nuckols, World Record Holder in Powerlifting
• Kevin Nason, National Champion Powerlifter
• Michael Black, American Record Holder in Powerlifting
• Chris Mason, Professional Powerlifter
• Adee Zukier, Champion weightlifter, professional Grid athlete, and owner of Team WAG
• Hayden Bowe, Champion Powerlifter
• Morgan McCullough, American Record Youth Weightlifter
• Coach Joe Kenn, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Carolina Panthers
Really this is just a short list of the amazing athletes and people that I have coached at Mash Elite Performance. There have been hundreds of National Champions, World Record Holders, Professional Athletes, and simply amazing people. This is the secret to my success. It’s not the programming. Yeah we have great programming, but the fact is that we have the best people and coaches. It’s an atmosphere designed to create champions.
If you desire to be the best, you need to go where you are the weakest. If you want to learn, you need to go where you are the dumbest. This is the best advice that I can give any of you. This is where the rubber meets the road.
I see people trying to give advice all the time on the Internet. A lot of them are super smart, but most of them have one thing missing. You cannot teach someone to be a champion if you have never: 1. Been one yourself, or 2. Coached one yourself, or 3. Both. That’s the bottom line. You can’t learn that from a study, classroom, or book. It’s something that you must experience.
Go experience it now before it’s too late!
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My latest E-Book “Mash Method” is live and it’s FREE! Check it out now at: http://www.mashelite.com/mashmethod
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This book has several of the techniques that I used to set personal records and world records along with some of my latest techniques that I’m using to get my athletes and me hitting all-time numbers.
-wave training
-bands and chains contrasted with straight weight
-walk outs
-partials contrasted with full ROM
-Squats for vertical leap -Sled drags to set PR 40 yd dash times
And more!