Everybody’s got one

So I’ve fallen in love with this trainer from Arizona, Bret Contreras.  He’s known as the “Glute Guy” as he’s has great success in training people and is know for his “ass development”.  He works mainly in sports conditioning, training athletes.  He’s also an avid blogger and has a huge following of readers, one of them being me.

On Facebook a very famous fitness model, Jamie Eason was talking about him, and her post got a huge reaction from alot of different people, some good, and some bad.  In response he blog in answer to the comments on Facebook: http://bretcontreras.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/will-the-real-glute-guy-please-stand-up/

This post just cracked me up. Not because I think it’s all that funny, but just because it hit’s close to home, as we fellow boxers all know. Everyone has to have their opinion and apparently everyone is an expert.

I get it all the time; after an awesome win in a boxing match I get at least 5 or 6 people (sometimes other coaches) come up to me and say “good job, but you should have done this or that. You need to work on your conditioning more, and do more road work!”  Everyone has to get in their two cent’s.

Hey man, the proof is in the pudding! The way I see it, if you’re winning,  you must be doing something right!  And as for what I should be doing, I guarantee you, I’ve done it all.  I’m quite sure that I do more roadwork then the average competitive RUNNER.  And as for conditioning, I currently have a conditioning coach, who I work with once a week, I do conditioning 4 times a week.  I’ve also trained with professional body builders, sports therapists and fitness competitors.  So I’d like to think I’m pretty well versed in what’s out there.

The nice thing about being involved in this sport for so long (and having tried every method out there available) is eventually you get to know your body quite well and you begin to realize what works best for you.  For instance, I need to keep my conditioning light and fast, otherwise I gain to much weight and get really slow.  I also find that I do better on a higher carb diet (as appose to a higher protein diet), as strangely enough I am able to manage my weight like this.  I know I have a very defensive style of boxing and that works best for me.  I’m also quite happy to work on the inside, despite my height and reach.  Of course, this is just me and I would never say it’s the be all end all.

But the advantage of knowing your self well is that you can take all the “know it all’s” comments, sift through them and select those few that could benefit you.  The worst thing an athlete can do is be closed minded to something, but at the same time it’s important that they realize the advice isn’t the be all, end all (Unless it’s coming from my husband/coach, or so he would think )

Anyway, I love this guys blog, his advice advice is golden, and I intend to totally blog and twitter about him from now on! Thanks!