REAL Athletes

Young Gymnasts in China

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It always amazes me the difference in work ethic of people in life. Some people get it at an early age. I remember getting up at 4 AM and lifting weights in the den when I was 12 and my dad was getting ready for work. In high school we would go for a run every morning before school with a group of friends, again at 4 AM. This may seem extreme but it's what I LIKED to do. So it made it easy to work in other areas of life. My dad challenged me at a young age to show as much commitment to work on things that I don't enjoy as well as what I liked. In fact, do the ones you don't like first. It was a good lesson and to this day I still enjoy that approach to life.

Anyway, the photo above reminds me why we no longer have superior athletes as kids. In California they called it the "fast food mentality" where kids played many sports until they got good enough that it took real work to improve further and then they would move to the next sport. Today I see kids think they can come out and vault for an hour two days a week and actually amount to something. In the book "Outliers" the author speaks of the 10,000 hour rule as being the gold standard of mastery. Tough to ever get there at 2 hours a week. The gymnasts and swimmers that we marvel at during the Olympics started when they were 4 or 5 years old and train five hours a day six days a week. That's why they succeed.

Yesterday I jumped 12' 6" (3.81m) from 6 steps to tie my PR. I am 57 years old. I truly believe I will make 4m (13' 1 1/2") from that same run in the next 2-3 weeks. This didn't happen because I became a better vaulter. It happened because I spent the last seven months training my butt off while injured and unable to vault. I wish more kids were willing to REALLY work. AND my mission continues. Have a great day! Bubba