This Is My Sheet ...

At Advanced Training, every athlete gets their own individualized training program. Their program is tailored directly to their strength level, their training maturity, and their current physical condition.

These training programs are documented and handed out to each athlete on what is called "The Sheet".
(I have provided a portion of one of our sheets below for reference.)

Each athlete gets their own "Sheet" and each athlete is responsible to make sure they bring it to the gym for each training session.

The sheet is the physical manifestation of my "Mona Lisa".

Not only does it provide weight and rep schemes, it also provides a detailed sequence for how movements are to be executed.

Unfortunately, most of our guys are too mentally soft to bring the sheet to training every day.

Fortunately for me, I never miss an opportunity to make them feel terrible when they do.

Last Tuesday, as per the usual protocol, one of my athletes forgot to bring his "Sheet" to our training session. After doing my best to make him feel like an awful human being, I heard him say this as he walked away ...

"This is my sheet, there are many like it, but this one is mine..."

For those of you that know nothing, these words are a play on "My Rifle" - The Creed of a United States Marine.

Even if you know less than nothing, you should at least be familiar with this creed from the movie Full Metal Jacket.

Either way, I thought his comment was brilliant.
With that, I decided to write my own creed for Advanced Training called "My Sheet".

I am still debating if I am going to make the guys walk around the gym reciting it, while holding the sheet in one hand and a 45lb plate in the other.

Until then, enjoy...

My Sheet - The Creed of an Advanced Training Athlete

This is my sheet. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My sheet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

My sheet, without me, is useless. Without my sheet, I am useless. I must fill out my sheet true. I must fill it out more clearly than my competitor who is trying to beat me. I will...

My sheet and I know that what counts in this gym is not the weights we drop, the chalk we throw, or the grunts we make. We know that it is the reps that count. We will complete our reps...

My sheet is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its font, and its layout.

I will keep my sheet clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before Advanced Training, I swear this creed. My sheet and I are representative of this program. We are the masters of our competitors. We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is mine and there is are no competitors, but adoring fans and adulation!