Becoming A Pro Takes A Good Attitude and Lots of Muscle Memory. As a pro baseball player for almost 16 years, people have asked me what it was like to get paid to play a “kid’s” game. It took me 14 years of physical and mental preparation just to get a CHANCE to play in the minor leagues. After I signed a pro contract, it took me 6 ½ years in the minors just get a CHANCE to play ball in the Majors (MLB). In retrospect, getting to MLB was much easier than staying there. There are 4 areas that I had to master and that helped me succeed.
HAVING ENOUGH STRENGTH
I was not a very strong athlete in high school or college (where I was basically a walk-on (Florida Southern College). I was not strong enough in the minor leagues since my opposition showed me how weak that I really was. It was not until I was 28 years old that I found out that “the harder I worked, the luckier I got”! In ’77, after my second season in Triple A ball with the Rangers, I was traded to the NY Yankees. The Yankees invited me to their MLB spring training camp in Ft. Lauderdale in 1977. It was make or break time for me. My strength training program during the winter between my ’76 and ’77 seasons got me to where I needed to be physically. Even though I did not make the Yankees MLB team, I performed well enough for the Yankees Triple A franchise in Syracuse, NY and got the attention of the Chicago White Sox who I went on to play with for my first 4 seasons in MLB.
HAVING ENOUGH MUSCLE MEMORY
Getting the adequate strength that I needed to improve my physical skills (hitting, fielding, running, etc.) helped me build up a large reservoir of “muscle memory”. Muscle memory occurs when your body has repeated a movement so many times that you no longer need to think consciously about how to make it happen. Your muscles simply know what they need to do. Sadly, I learned more about how to encourage muscle memory when I got out of baseball. Had I known then what I know now, I could have added certain nutrients to my diet that would have given my brain and muscles a better chance to perform better and recover more quickly from exercise.
HAVING ENOUGH CONFIDENCE
Being able to perform in front of 60,000 hostile Yankee fans in the Bronx, took tremendous concentration and confidence. I was able to get to a point where I could basically eliminate crowd noise in stadiums. It was never easy or comfortable to perform at the games highest level but the game would have eliminated me had I not been able to reach the concentration level that I did. Again, it was not until I was out of baseball that I learned how the production of neurotransmitters in the brain can basically “help slow down the game” that allows the body to perform at its maximum capability.
HAVING ENOUGH STAYING POWER
When I finally made it to MLB I kicked everything up a notch because I did not want to blow my chance to have a good career. I needed managers who had faith in me to write my name in the lineup enough but I still had to perform well enough to stay in MLB. Having a successful career as a MLB player simply meant that I had worked hard enough to acquire get enough muscle memory to play well enough over a 162 game season…year after year after year. My positive attitude helped me get over the previous days failure.
GET LUCKY WITH LIFE PRIORITY!
Again, the harder that I worked, the luckier I got. I feel that the use of the right nutrients in adequate amounts can help you get more out of your workouts and perhaps “luckier” in your desire to compete. I invite you to learn about the mental fitness products LIFT, LIFT CAPS, and MIND, and the physical fitness product, MUSCLE MEMORY, available through my company, Life Priority, at www.lifepriority.com.
If you are learning a new sport or physical activity, training for a competition, or just wanting to be more fit, trust in one who has been there, the more “muscle memory” that you have programmed into your brain will help you keep fit longer and could help you become a winner in the competitions that you participate.
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To Your Health!
Michelle & Greg Pryor and the Life Priority Team 800.787.5438 | www.LifePriority.com
