Thursday, December 13, 2018

We’ve Only Scratched the Surface


We’ve Only Scratched the Surface



Eight days ago, I had my right hip totally replaced by Dr. John Howe of OrthoCarolina here in the Winston-Salem, NC area. First, I want to say that he did a fantastic job. I walked the day of my surgery, and within a week I was doing air squats. I was told in 2011 that some kind of hip surgery was inevitable. I did everything under the sun to delay the surgery for as long as possible.

At the end of it all, I had to decide between hip replacement and hip resurfacing. That’s a blog in itself that I might write if you guys want to know what I found. However for today, I will just say that Ed Coan was the convincing force. He told me about his two hip replacements. He had one performed with an anterior approach, and one was performed with a posterior approach. He believes that had he gone with an anterior approach both times that he would still be competing. That’s all I needed to hear.



Now I am not saying that I want to squat 800 pounds again, but I am excited about training hard. This is the first time in three years that I have been truly excited to train. You see at the end my will to train was totally gone. I have spent my entire life training for a sport, competition, or event. I was always training to improve, to set records, and to win. I was at a point where improvement wasn’t an option. Mentally I wasn’t capable of that type of training. I know that is something that I will need to work on as I get older, but dang it y’all I am not there yet.

During the last week, I have experienced improvement for the first time in years. At first, I could barely move around at all. I started performing bodyweight knee flexion, knee extension, and hip abduction and adduction. Around day 5, I performed a bodyweight squat to a chair. Now eight days later, I am walking without support some of the time and performing multiple sets of air squats.

This article isn’t a drawn out update on my health, but I definitely wanted to let you guys know that I am getting better. I am getting better, and I am ready for the challenge of rehabilitation. I have some thoughts forming in my brain of where I want to take my strength and fitness. All that I can say is that it’s going to be epic. I think that you all know to expect that from me when I am all in.

There is something more exciting that really triggered this blog. A few days ago, Kelly Starrett, the Supple Leopard himself, reached out to me to see how I was recovering from surgery. We have never met in person, but his amount of concern lifted my heart.  Here’s what he said:

“Coach! If I can help, please give a shout. My cell is @#%-*%&-@#@#. Juliet (wife) has had 2 of those bastards. Do you have a Marc pro? Pain relief and decongestion are key. If not, let me send you one.” Kel

Do you think colleagues in other professions reach out like this when one of them has surgery? Maybe, but it’s never happened to me. This warmed my heart, but there was something else that actually fired me up. Look at this conversation:

I said, “I appreciate you so much. This is what makes this industry of ours so amazing. Thank you so much.”

Kelly responded, “Amen. The content you put out and your athlete advocacy are a jewel in the crown of s&c. It’s the very least I can do. And look, if we have to grade ourselves, we all get a d-, why? We haven’t moved the needle enough at all. We need you BACK asap.”

This fired me up y’all! He’s right! There is so much more to be done. CrossFit opened the eyes of so many people to the world of strength and fitness, and that’s a start. However, it’s just a start. Like Kelly said, we all get a ‘D’. Yeah we read a chapter, but we were supposed to read the whole book.

There is still so much bad information out there. We have to educate the world starting with the community that we live in and working out. What you believe that all the good information is already out there? Check this out:

·      People still think that weight training is bad for youth.
·      Some people still believe that squatting below parallel is bad for your knees.
·      Some women are still afraid to lift weights because they might get bulky.
·      High Schools are still filled with unqualified strength and conditioning coaches.
·      Young athletes are still getting hurt in weight rooms across the county.
·      Kids are walking around high schools with movement patterns of 80-year-olds because they play video games all day.
·      Obesity continues to rise
·      Childhood obesity continues to rise
·      Dang it if your child is obese, you have to look in the mirror. I said it, and I know that a few of you are going to be mad. It’s time for tough love.


Look I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Kelly fired me up! I still want to created the best weightlifters and athletes in the world, but now I want to spread strength, fitness and movement around the world. It all starts with the way I carry myself at home in front of my own children.



There’s another point that’s even bigger from all of this. Instead of talking junk about one another all the time, what would happen if we all bonded together like this example with Kelly? That’s how you get things done y’all. Think about this scenerio:

·      Kelly teaches me movement
·      I teach him how to move a barbell
·      Layne Norton teaches us about nutrition.
·      Andy Galpin fills us in on the latest research
·      Greg Nuckols teaches us everything in between


You see the momentum building here? This is how we change the world. We help each other. When it becomes about something more than ourselves, it becomes a cause. Until then, it’s just a job.

It feels good to be motivated again. Kelly thanks for being a big part of that. There is so much good to be learned from the world of strength and fitness. I am ready for this to be a cause and something bigger than just me. Let’s do this together.

P.S. If you guys want to help with our 501c3 nonprofit Weightlifting Team and Youth At Risk Program, you can check out our "Mash Feats of Strength Online Competition" or check out the other ways of supporting our program:




 Here's a cool article that explains the "Mash Feats of Strength" a bit more:

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