38 sports in 27 years, folks. Of those, I’ve trained seriously for and competed in 21.

We call this indecision. We call it FOMO.

Every sport I see, I’ve wondered if I could be the best in it. Then, if circumstances permit, I commit a minimum of 6 weeks and up to years trying it out.

Most have been hilarious failures after I hit a certain (usually intermediate) level of competition. You don’t want to see me drooling over myself at the back of a road race, flailing helplessly in the swim leg of a triathlon, or going 0/8 in free throws, I assure you.

But some have been so good that I continue to wonder why I didn’t continue. I figured out the stone load the first time I ever tried it, with a 100kg Atlas stone. I learned the rules of rugby in a weekend and was a collegiate starter by my third week. I was a popular recruiting target for college football.

What have you learned as an athlete?

This is why I feel qualified as a strength & conditioning coach – I understand a lot of sports. I understand what transfers. I’ve learned and relearned and applied movement skills to a few million sport scenarios.

I also understand competition. I know ramping up and dialing back and straining and coasting and struggling and dominating. I’ve done it three dozen times over.

I know how to train. I know how to change my training. An endurance athlete has different standards and different energy constraints than a lifter; a field sport fast kid has different sensitivity to technique than a sprinter.

I know the controllable and uncontrollable about being a team player. I know the independence and the isolation of being an individual athlete.

But were you ever great?

But, broadly speaking, you won’t hear me talking about my own career. First, that’s because I care more about your career and your perception of your sport and role than I expect you to care about mine. Second, that’s because there’s this misconception that because I was never national- or world-class in any of my own sports that I don’t have anything to highlight.

Naturally, I disagree. But I admit that it’s part of why my ego keeps seeking the arena I can excel in. I genuinely believe I could be a world-class masters athlete in weightlifting or decathlon or the sprints in track cycling.

But to get there, I would need about 8 years of focused training. Focus means decision, decision means saying no.

And saying no to a new sport experience is counter to my goal of being the most effective speed and strength coach I can be, because it denies me another chance to learn about transfer.

How does your experience help me as an athlete?

So embrace my hypocrisy: I’m going to demand that you be 100% focused on one sport, even as we leverage a month or two a year to goof off with some other activity…and I’m going to make that demand even as I take tennis lessons and practice the caber toss and ponder archery.

My job is to help you be the athlete you want to be. My ego comes second to my job, so even if I never become world-class, I hope you understand that I absolutely know that I can help you get there, no matter what dream you’re chasing.

I’ll miss out. You don’t have to.

What sports did you play, anyway?

And for fun, here’s the list of sports:

COMPETITIVE
1. Taekwondo
2. Wrestling
3. Football
4. Rugby
5. Triathlon
6. Duathlon
7. Road racing (cycling)
8. Crit racing (cycling)
9. Track racing (cycling)
10. Track racing (motorcycle)
11. Downhill racing (mountain bike)
12. XCM (mountain bike)
13. 5K/10K (running)
14. Half marathon (running)
15. Basketball
16. Athletics (hurdles, 200m, relays, decathlon)
17. Powerlifting
18. Olympic weightlifting
19. Strongman
20. Highland Games (as of 2023/09)
21. CrossFit

RECREATIONAL/NON-COMPETITIVE
1. Boxing
2. MMA
3. Hockey
4. Speed skating (ice)
5. Speed skating (roller)
6. Ultimate
7. Soccer
8. Single scull (rowing)
9. Rifle & pistol
10. Beach volleyball
11. MX (dirt bike)
12. Bouldering (climbing)
13. Gymnastics (high bar and floor)
14. Ping pong
15. Badminton
16. Snowboarding
17. Skiing