By: Michael Collette (Owner/Head Coach of CrossFit Prototype)
This past weekend was the annual 3 Day Perform Better Summit in Providence RI.  I have been attending this summit since I was in college and every year I attend I learn, grow, and get fired up from the experts in our industry. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to listen and meet world-renowned strength and conditioning coach, Al Vermeil. Al’s resume and credentials far outweigh any other coach in the industry. Al Vermeil is the only strength coach to have World Championship rings from both the NFL and the NBA. He is also the only strength coach who has been in the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball. You may have also heard of Al’s brother, Dick Vermeil, who was the former NFL coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs.
To say that Al know’s what he is talking about is an understatement. He has seen it all and has worked with the best in the personal training business. At the Summit, Al’s presentation was titled “What I have learned over 50+ years from the great minds and training athletes.” Going into his presentation, I was very excited to get some wisdom from the best and bring it back to our CrossFit fitnees gym. Someone who has been in the industry for as long as Al has, I was pumped to hear about his best practices and how to help more people with our own personal and small group training. As Al started to speak I realized that the majority of what he was going to share was well beyond that of strength and conditioning principles but rather life lessons that can be applied in any industry, fitness gym or not. Here were my key takeaways from Al’s presentation:

1. Don’t forget those who have helped you along the way.
2. Give your athletes/Clients/Kids a purpose.
3. Be tough, have rules and let people know there is a right and wrong.
4. Every time you miss a workout, the next one is easier to miss.
5. Find mentors, learn from them.
6. If you can’t interact and build report, it doesn’t matter how much you know.
7. Practice Gratitude.
8. Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.
9. Good judgment comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgment.
* Realize and learn from the mistakes you made.
10. Wisdom begins in the recognition of how little we know.
11. Ignorance will always grow faster than knowledge.
12. Build a team around you that has things/qualities that you don’t.
13. You expand your knowledge when you put your ego in your back pocket; Circumvent your weaknesses.
14. Don’t become to impressed with yourself because the size of your funeral depends on the weather. Always be humble.
15. Give credit to people who have helped you and they will help you more.
Thank you, Al, and much appreciated!