HARD WORK
There Are No Shortcuts
BY MARK TWIGHT

The following paragraph is excerpted from John Jesse's remarkable book titled “Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia, published by The Athletic Press, Pasadena, CA, in 1974.

The writer would like to conclude with a personal message to wrestlers and coaches alike. It is taken from a talk given in 1964 to coaches at the National Collegiate Track Clinic and quoted many times by authorities throughout the world:

“There is no shortcut to strength development, as there is none for the development of skill, agility or endurance in an athlete. No amount of fancy gimmicks or equipment or adoption of alleged time-saving ‘fads' will substitute for a long term program of hard work, that is required to develop the quality of strength needed by an athlete for optimum performance in his specialty. Greater progress in track and field during the past 15 years has been the result of harder work by the athletes, not by resorting to shortcuts and less work.”

If the day's workout prescribes hard work (as opposed to recovery or "conversational" intensity) and you can read a magazine, or talk, or take a sip of your favorite sports drink, or recognize it's your phone that's ringing, or if you're not feeling dizzy, then you are not working hard. Avoiding hard work isn't wrong but it should not be confused with embracing effort, mouth wide open and giving it a bit of tongue ... "

Get psyched for some hard work on Wednesday.
Signed, your coach.