Surround yourself with people smarter than you

I have been very blessed to spend time with two of my mentors over the past few months.

I have talked about him before, but Coach Jim Kramer - former NDSU strength coach, and arguably one of the best in the business - is someone I have been able to learn from for years. Now that he is retired, he has been spending time at Rise consulting with us and helping us continue to strive to be the best we can be at helping adults 40+ take care of their bodies for the long haul.

I have also followed Coach Mike Boyle very closely throughout my career and have “stolen” much of my training philosophy from him. One of Coach Boyle’s key lessons is “Steal Smart Peoples’ S***” (So I can say I took that to heart.)

A few months ago, when Coach Kramer was in, I was explaining to him that I have followed Coach Boyle very closely. Coach Kramer responded, “Mike! I used to coach with Mike back in the ‘90s at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. Connect us and we’ll get out to meet him.”

So I reached out to Coach Boyle through Instagram, got Coach Kramer and him connected, and a few months later, Coach Kramer and I were on a plane headed to Woburn, MA, where Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning is located. This facility is one of the best in the country and he has interns flying in from around the world to learn from him.

It was a very special experience for me to get to spend time with two of my mentors. We went out and watched the day-to-day operations at Coach Boyle’s facility so we could learn, compare, contrast, and talk about what they are doing versus how we do things at Rise. We also got to sit down with Coach Boyle and ask him questions.

A couple of big takeaways I took from my conversation with him:

1. Have a “why” for everything you do.

Coach Boyle has a reason for every single thing they do, and he can explain it well. Nothing is done just because “that’s how we’ve always done it.”

2. The #1 way to get stronger is to not get weaker.

This is the name of the game when it comes to training in your older years. We need to get strong and maintain that strength for as long as possible. Make it a lifestyle, not a short season of “getting in shape” that disappears when life gets tough.

3. The first 15 minutes of the workout are the most important.

This is the time to get adults doing the things they will never go do on their own in most cases such as: foam rolling, stretching, power movements, etc. This is crucial. We need to stay mobile and flexible to stay healthy. We don’t want to add strength on top of dysfunction.

I have a whole page of notes and many other takeaways, but I wanted to share these with you because I think they are the most applicable to what we do at Rise.

One thing we have talked about often as a coaching staff is that most of us are coaches in our mid-twenties and mid-thirties. We don’t know what it is like to have a 50+, 60+, 70+, or even 80 year old body.

Working with adults in these age groups for nearly 15 years has given me a great deal of insight into what you are going through, but I haven’t lived it yet.

Coach Kramer and Coach Boyle have. And they are both still actively coaching while going through these stages of life themselves.

That knowledge and experience is so crucial for our Rise team. We need to continue learning from people who have been where we are going so we can best serve our members who are 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 years old.

So that brings me to the principle here: Surround yourself with people much smarter than you and always be humble enough to keep learning.

That is what our team is committed to doing and we will continue to strive to keep learning so we can best serve you.