Interview: Per Welinder
Former Free Skating World Champion
MOTIVATION
ATHLETE WHISPERER: Your background—how old were you when you got involved in the sport seriously? What was your goal? Where did it lead you?
PER: I had no real goals at the beginning, just a burning desire to learn how to skate and do new tricks. At first, it lead me from the suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden, to the center of the city where there were skate shops and occasional demos by U.S. pros like Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. Then it lead to trips to Paris and other European destinations for competitions. Winning lead me to a more goal-like mind-set. I wanted to go to southern California, the Mecca of skateboarding. I wanted to compete against the best. I loved the skating opportunities, the weather, and the girls.
Today, I live with my wife and two sons in southern California, and run my skateboard company.
DISTRACTIONS
AW: What or Who were your stumbling blocks along the way? Were you encouraged and supported or discouraged?
PER: Rain and cold Swedish winters reduced the opportunities to skate outside. I was fortunate and was allowed to skate and do stationary tricks on a carpet in the living room. Also, when the weather was bad we would go to into Stockholm and find the least busy subway stations deep underground and skate for hours between the trains stopping. Those were very memorable days. My mother was supportive but my dad had reservations for many years about me spending so much time o the skateboard.
VISUALIZATION
AW: Did you have a pre-event psych-up routine?
PER: About 2-3 weeks before an event I would really start working on skating timed contest runs to the music I selected for that competition. On the actual day of the event I would warm-up in the arena. I would then go to a quiet area and rehearse the entire routine in my head numerous times.
SKATING AS IF. . .
AW: Who were your skating heroes?
PER: Skating with guys like Steve Rocco, Rodney Mullen, Hazze Lindgren, Bob Schmeltzer, Don Brown, and Pierre Andre Seniserguez inspired me.
MENTAL GAME
AW: Did you use mental game techniques?
PER: I would prepare using visualization. I would also use it to imagine new tricks. I would imagine the trick in slow motion, real time, and speeded up. All can be helpful to grasp how you would go about pulling off the trick.
AW: How did you deal with disappointments?
PER: Mull it over for a day or two. I would use it to push harder, skate more often, skate faster, and try more tricks.
LESSONS LEARNED
AW: What are you doing now? Does your sport experience help you in business? In life?
PER: In business, I really enjoy pushing for new products and new designs. That has carried over from the competitive skating days. And dealing with disappointments is similar too. I don’t dwell on business disappointments; rather I try to learn from them. I hope that transfers into satisfied customers.
athletewhisperer@gmail.com
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Elliptical Marathon For A Cause
MEDIA RELEASE
Hollywood Personal Trainer Sets Elliptical Record For Charity
Erik Flowers, a Hollywood-based gym owner and personal trainer exercised on an elliptical machine for 24-hours for ALS research. . .
(Sept. 10, 2007) Los Angeles, CA
He called it “ElliptiSize for ALS,” and fitness expert Erik Flowers went 24-hours on an elliptical machine during the 43rd annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. The event was designed to bring awareness and funds to “Augie’s Quest,” an organization that raises money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease).
It may not be a recognized record by organizations that sanction such events, but it is the first time anyone has ever attempted an elliptical marathon.
Fact is Flowers went the equivalent distance of three marathons at a walking pace. He burned over 10,000 calories while maintaining a heart rate of barely over 100 beats per minute. Flowers trained six months for the event.
“This was my tribute to Augie Nieto, a fitness industry icon and role-model,” says Flowers. Nieto invented the Lifecycle and started the Life Fitness company. He developed ALS about two years ago, at 54 years old. Flowers raised $4,000-5,000, with contributions still coming in.
Earlier this year, Flowers was named one of L.A.’s most innovative personal trainers. His gym, Body Builders Gym, is located in Silver Lake, between Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles. Flowers lives in Orange County, CA.
He is also a certified mental game coach, which he says helped him during the more boring a.m. hours.Learn more about Augie’s Quest at: augiesquest.org. Read more about Erik Flowers at: athletewhisperer.com.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Celebrity Rehab Advice
You're an instant celebrity, a hot, young actor or actress, a rising pop singer, or perhaps an emerging filmmaker. Success looms large, and so do the choices you have to make. With success comes pressure, pressure creates stress, stress breeds doubt-in yourself and those around you.
That's how it starts. One day you wake up on top of the world, but in a fog, unable to put your finger on right choices. The choices have gotten easier, but that's when you're hooked.
As a Personal Trainer, I've worked in health and fitness for over 25 years, in Sin City, the OC, and the last ten years in Hollywood. I've seen my fill of "users." I've been around deteriorating health, relapses and suicides. Alcoholics, meth addicts, coke-heads, sex addicts, speed-freaks, and drugs simply identified with a single large letter. I've also witnessed addicts turn it around and become spiritually fit and mentally sound. How do some users make the change?
Get physical. Make exercise your new addiction.
Here are ten sober choices you can make to change your habit:
1. Exercise and add years to your life; or have your life stolen from you by your addiction
2. Impress yourself by getting physical; or depress yourself by remaining inert
3. Exercise can help prevent illnesses; or become a breeding ground for constant mystery sicknesses
4. Use your body wisely and be admired; or abuse your body and become a joke
5. Breath or choke
6. Finely tune your machine; or become a Pick-a-Part
7. Sleep well; or sit in front of the mirror and watch your face (and life) melt away
8. Exercise and feel good about yourself; or remain in an addiction that doesn't give a damn about you
9. Exercise and prevent neuromuscular diseases; or invite strokes, heart attacks, palsies, and other disabilities
10. If you are in recovery, which if you are you always will be, you need to exercise because it will add quality to your life; or you can search the word "Depression" on the internet and see your picture come up.
Get back to making the right choices you're capable of making. I say you need to re-train your addiction. But then what do I know, I've never had one.
Erik Flowers is a Personal Trainer and co-owner of Body Builders Gym, Los Angeles. He has been called "The Athlete Whisperer," and the L.A. Times named him one of L.A.'s most innovative trainers. Reach him at: http://www.athletewhisperer.com
That's how it starts. One day you wake up on top of the world, but in a fog, unable to put your finger on right choices. The choices have gotten easier, but that's when you're hooked.
As a Personal Trainer, I've worked in health and fitness for over 25 years, in Sin City, the OC, and the last ten years in Hollywood. I've seen my fill of "users." I've been around deteriorating health, relapses and suicides. Alcoholics, meth addicts, coke-heads, sex addicts, speed-freaks, and drugs simply identified with a single large letter. I've also witnessed addicts turn it around and become spiritually fit and mentally sound. How do some users make the change?
Get physical. Make exercise your new addiction.
Here are ten sober choices you can make to change your habit:
1. Exercise and add years to your life; or have your life stolen from you by your addiction
2. Impress yourself by getting physical; or depress yourself by remaining inert
3. Exercise can help prevent illnesses; or become a breeding ground for constant mystery sicknesses
4. Use your body wisely and be admired; or abuse your body and become a joke
5. Breath or choke
6. Finely tune your machine; or become a Pick-a-Part
7. Sleep well; or sit in front of the mirror and watch your face (and life) melt away
8. Exercise and feel good about yourself; or remain in an addiction that doesn't give a damn about you
9. Exercise and prevent neuromuscular diseases; or invite strokes, heart attacks, palsies, and other disabilities
10. If you are in recovery, which if you are you always will be, you need to exercise because it will add quality to your life; or you can search the word "Depression" on the internet and see your picture come up.
Get back to making the right choices you're capable of making. I say you need to re-train your addiction. But then what do I know, I've never had one.
Erik Flowers is a Personal Trainer and co-owner of Body Builders Gym, Los Angeles. He has been called "The Athlete Whisperer," and the L.A. Times named him one of L.A.'s most innovative trainers. Reach him at: http://www.athletewhisperer.com
The Mental Game Of Blackjack
What if I told you I know what's inside the minds of the world's best tournament blackjack players? You want to win like the pros, you have to think like the pros! You're going to need all your book knowledge, skill, experience and more to compete professional blackjack tournaments.
To be a top professional tournament blackjack player you have to control your emotions, minimize drama, use effective systems, employ flawless strategy, enjoy competitiveness, rely on unerring money-management skills, and absorb the bad-beats.
I know you. I know your bookshelves are stuffed with expert blackjack books: "Big" books, "Secrets of..." books, "Theory" books. You must have a brain for numbers. Likely you play chess or Sudoku. You are a visual-analytical thinker who stores information up and to the left. That's where your eyes go when you are ruminating. You remember vividly your first love--what he/she looked like. You don't have time for heavy breathing, so likely don't do yoga. You prefer action sports. You speak in clips or bursts. You'll agree their are X-factors in the game, but not the thing called luck.
Here are the mental skills needed to be a top pro tournament blackjack player:
1. Relaxation (comes with hours and hours of experience in mini-tournaments, not with the game on your cell phone)
2. Concentration (so many important decisions to be made in brief spans of time)
3. Risk play (be comfortable losing because most of the time you will)
4. Fear (don't--it's only a game)
5. Pressure (it's your money you're losing)
6. Distractions (waitresses dressed like cheetahs, drinks, noise, stares, jabbering players)
7. Confidence (start small win big, start big win nothing)
8. Optimal play (not perfect play)
9. Post-performance review (all pros in any sport do it)
10. Control factors (stay in your zone, play your game)
Even after all that training, how much of the game can you really control? Maybe only 20% say some of the pros--same as any other high-stakes game.
Erik Flowers is a Certified Mental Game Coach. He has been called "The Athlete Whisperer" and was taught tournament blackjack in his mid-20s by players who are now considered the world's best. Contact him at: http://www.athletewhisperer.com
To be a top professional tournament blackjack player you have to control your emotions, minimize drama, use effective systems, employ flawless strategy, enjoy competitiveness, rely on unerring money-management skills, and absorb the bad-beats.
I know you. I know your bookshelves are stuffed with expert blackjack books: "Big" books, "Secrets of..." books, "Theory" books. You must have a brain for numbers. Likely you play chess or Sudoku. You are a visual-analytical thinker who stores information up and to the left. That's where your eyes go when you are ruminating. You remember vividly your first love--what he/she looked like. You don't have time for heavy breathing, so likely don't do yoga. You prefer action sports. You speak in clips or bursts. You'll agree their are X-factors in the game, but not the thing called luck.
Here are the mental skills needed to be a top pro tournament blackjack player:
1. Relaxation (comes with hours and hours of experience in mini-tournaments, not with the game on your cell phone)
2. Concentration (so many important decisions to be made in brief spans of time)
3. Risk play (be comfortable losing because most of the time you will)
4. Fear (don't--it's only a game)
5. Pressure (it's your money you're losing)
6. Distractions (waitresses dressed like cheetahs, drinks, noise, stares, jabbering players)
7. Confidence (start small win big, start big win nothing)
8. Optimal play (not perfect play)
9. Post-performance review (all pros in any sport do it)
10. Control factors (stay in your zone, play your game)
Even after all that training, how much of the game can you really control? Maybe only 20% say some of the pros--same as any other high-stakes game.
Erik Flowers is a Certified Mental Game Coach. He has been called "The Athlete Whisperer" and was taught tournament blackjack in his mid-20s by players who are now considered the world's best. Contact him at: http://www.athletewhisperer.com
How Many Exercises You Can Do With A Chair
Cancel your gym membership. I'm going to list 21 exercises you can do with a common chair. You'll be able to exercise your entire body, for free, with these:
1) hands on the seat, face down, legs stretched out and on your toes--pushups;
2) butt off the seat, hands behind you, raise and lower--back of the arms;
3) sit, put your hands on the insides of your knees, try closing your legs as you resist with your hands--thighs;
4) stand, hold chair, lift up a straight leg to the side, then switch--hips;
5) sit, hold sides of chair, bring knees up, hold for two--abs;
6) sit, straight arms out to sides, rotate in small circles--side shoulders;
7) sit, long arms in front, then hide straight arms behind your back--front/back shoulders;
8) on floor, feet on chair, hands reach for ceiling, bring shoulders off floor then back down--abs;
9) on floor, feet on chair, long legs, lift heels off chair six inches, up and down--lower abs;
10) sit, squeeze your cheeks and hold--butt;
11) sit, knees flared out to the side, raise knees up--side abs;
12) sit, face in, raise shoulders up to your ears and hold for two--neck;
13) stand, curl the chair--biceps;
14) lying on floor, lift chair over head, then all the way over your head until it touches the floor behind you--high back;
15) stand, hands on seat, bring your knee to your chest, then kick back like a donkey--butt;
16) sit down, stand up--front thighs;
17) stand, hold chair, raise only your toes twenty times--shins/ankles;
18) same thing, this time raise your heels and hold for two--calfs;
19) stand, hold chair, kick your heel to your butt--back of legs;
20) hold chair, curl it by flexing your wrists up and down--forearms/wrists;
21) walk around the chair twenty times, then reverse, and hop to make it harder--cardio; Bonus: sit on chair and take a moment for yourself, you did it--meditation.
Just these will help change your attitude, your body and your energy level. Email me your additions to the list.
Erik Flowers is a Personal Trainer and co-owner of Body Builders Gym, Los Angeles. He has been called "The Athlete Whisperer," and the L.A. Times named him one of L.A.'s most innovative trainers. http://www.athletewhisperer.com
1) hands on the seat, face down, legs stretched out and on your toes--pushups;
2) butt off the seat, hands behind you, raise and lower--back of the arms;
3) sit, put your hands on the insides of your knees, try closing your legs as you resist with your hands--thighs;
4) stand, hold chair, lift up a straight leg to the side, then switch--hips;
5) sit, hold sides of chair, bring knees up, hold for two--abs;
6) sit, straight arms out to sides, rotate in small circles--side shoulders;
7) sit, long arms in front, then hide straight arms behind your back--front/back shoulders;
8) on floor, feet on chair, hands reach for ceiling, bring shoulders off floor then back down--abs;
9) on floor, feet on chair, long legs, lift heels off chair six inches, up and down--lower abs;
10) sit, squeeze your cheeks and hold--butt;
11) sit, knees flared out to the side, raise knees up--side abs;
12) sit, face in, raise shoulders up to your ears and hold for two--neck;
13) stand, curl the chair--biceps;
14) lying on floor, lift chair over head, then all the way over your head until it touches the floor behind you--high back;
15) stand, hands on seat, bring your knee to your chest, then kick back like a donkey--butt;
16) sit down, stand up--front thighs;
17) stand, hold chair, raise only your toes twenty times--shins/ankles;
18) same thing, this time raise your heels and hold for two--calfs;
19) stand, hold chair, kick your heel to your butt--back of legs;
20) hold chair, curl it by flexing your wrists up and down--forearms/wrists;
21) walk around the chair twenty times, then reverse, and hop to make it harder--cardio; Bonus: sit on chair and take a moment for yourself, you did it--meditation.
Just these will help change your attitude, your body and your energy level. Email me your additions to the list.
Erik Flowers is a Personal Trainer and co-owner of Body Builders Gym, Los Angeles. He has been called "The Athlete Whisperer," and the L.A. Times named him one of L.A.'s most innovative trainers. http://www.athletewhisperer.com
Thursday, January 18, 2007
MENTAL TOUGHNESS Q & A WITH A CHAMPION
Mental Toughness: Staying In Control
Interview w/ Rod Gaspar, a lifelong competitor (and member of the World Series '69 N.Y. Mets)
Rod Gaspar is a former standout college, minor league and professional baseball player. He has a World Series ring to prove it. Rod is a lifelong competitor and was raised with a tough view of the game--whatever game it happens to be. He is currently a nationally highly-ranked handball player.
Q: How did you prepare physically for your United States Handball Association Four-Wall Tournament matches?
RG: I did 30-60 minute sessions of intense cardio on an elliptical machine, and played handball 2-3 times a week leading up to the tournament.
Q: How do you prepare mentally?
RG: By the time the tournament starts, I go into it thinking I can beat anyone.
Q: Are these the same psyching techniques you used as a pro baseball player?
RG: Similar. But handball is such a physically demanding game, so it has a different type of mental challenge. The game of handball is relentless mentally and physically. Baseball allows for breaks to gather yourself.
Q: They are long tournaments. At 60 years old how do you deal with the physical and mental fatigue?
RG: If I think I'm tired I'm tired. Sometimes mentally no matter how hard I try to push past the fatigue my body says "no." I had to learn to accept that. Sometimes my competitor wins.
Q: What percentage of your game is physical and what percent is mental?
RG: I couldn't say. I do know this: all things being equal, whoever is mentally tougher is going to win--most of the time.
Q: How do you stay focused?
RG: It can be difficult in a long ballgame or handball tournament to maintain concentration. My style has always been to take the competition head-on and try to get it over as quickly as possible.
Q: How do you usually react if you make a mistake during a game?
RG: If you're smart, you'll learn from it and move on.
Q: As a serious competitor, do you always compete to be the best?
RG: I just love to compete. It's a fun process. But it's important to realize that you're not going to be the best at everything--in life or athletics.
Q: Where do you get your drive?
RG: I have a very intense nature.
Q: Where does that "nature" come from and where does it go during the game?
RG: It has a lot to do with how I was raised. Growing up in the 50's and 60's, my parents were blue collar, hard-nosed loving people. By being small for my age (at 16 I was 5'2", 105lbs.) I was competing against bigger boys. I could hang in there with them, but I wasn't an exceptional talent, until 19-20 years old. By then my confidence in my baseball abilities had skyrocketed.
After I signed my first professional baseball contract the confidence level increased even more as I progressed through the New York Mets system. That confidence and my athletic ability has helped me tremendously in handball. Competing at the major league level has helped give me the confidence to know that I can compete with the best in handball as well.
My attitude is I am going to win and most of the time that happens.
Q: What mental game techniques do you use to control your competitiveness?
RG: Practice your skills until they become automatic. I use Relaxed Concentration, a technique that helps relax my breathing and intensify my focus.
email: athletewhisperer@gmail.com
Interview w/ Rod Gaspar, a lifelong competitor (and member of the World Series '69 N.Y. Mets)
Rod Gaspar is a former standout college, minor league and professional baseball player. He has a World Series ring to prove it. Rod is a lifelong competitor and was raised with a tough view of the game--whatever game it happens to be. He is currently a nationally highly-ranked handball player.
Q: How did you prepare physically for your United States Handball Association Four-Wall Tournament matches?
RG: I did 30-60 minute sessions of intense cardio on an elliptical machine, and played handball 2-3 times a week leading up to the tournament.
Q: How do you prepare mentally?
RG: By the time the tournament starts, I go into it thinking I can beat anyone.
Q: Are these the same psyching techniques you used as a pro baseball player?
RG: Similar. But handball is such a physically demanding game, so it has a different type of mental challenge. The game of handball is relentless mentally and physically. Baseball allows for breaks to gather yourself.
Q: They are long tournaments. At 60 years old how do you deal with the physical and mental fatigue?
RG: If I think I'm tired I'm tired. Sometimes mentally no matter how hard I try to push past the fatigue my body says "no." I had to learn to accept that. Sometimes my competitor wins.
Q: What percentage of your game is physical and what percent is mental?
RG: I couldn't say. I do know this: all things being equal, whoever is mentally tougher is going to win--most of the time.
Q: How do you stay focused?
RG: It can be difficult in a long ballgame or handball tournament to maintain concentration. My style has always been to take the competition head-on and try to get it over as quickly as possible.
Q: How do you usually react if you make a mistake during a game?
RG: If you're smart, you'll learn from it and move on.
Q: As a serious competitor, do you always compete to be the best?
RG: I just love to compete. It's a fun process. But it's important to realize that you're not going to be the best at everything--in life or athletics.
Q: Where do you get your drive?
RG: I have a very intense nature.
Q: Where does that "nature" come from and where does it go during the game?
RG: It has a lot to do with how I was raised. Growing up in the 50's and 60's, my parents were blue collar, hard-nosed loving people. By being small for my age (at 16 I was 5'2", 105lbs.) I was competing against bigger boys. I could hang in there with them, but I wasn't an exceptional talent, until 19-20 years old. By then my confidence in my baseball abilities had skyrocketed.
After I signed my first professional baseball contract the confidence level increased even more as I progressed through the New York Mets system. That confidence and my athletic ability has helped me tremendously in handball. Competing at the major league level has helped give me the confidence to know that I can compete with the best in handball as well.
My attitude is I am going to win and most of the time that happens.
Q: What mental game techniques do you use to control your competitiveness?
RG: Practice your skills until they become automatic. I use Relaxed Concentration, a technique that helps relax my breathing and intensify my focus.
email: athletewhisperer@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
4 NEW GOALS
A local cutting-edge magazine wanted me to analyze the Resolutions of four people. The goals were expresed as these:
1) Pass the Bar examine
2) Learn Italian
3) Refuse to make one because I don't want to fail
4) Graduate college
Some people call them "New Year's Resolutions." Let's look at them as typical new goals. Break them down this way: Goal/Motive/Plan.
Pass the Bar after investing $100,000 and three years........With this type of "advancement" goal you have to visualize the big picture. See it. Feel it. Make it your movie. Taste the success. Smell the $$$. Ask yourself "How will passing the Bar benefit me and others? Be honest. Write down how you will contribute. Find out how you learn best. Are you tactile (flash cards around your room), visual (a class) or auditory (CDs in your car). Study using your strongest modality.
Learn Italian so I'll be ready when I go someday........Too broad of a goal. The "someday" weakens the purpose. The chances of accomplishing this goal have already been diminished. If we do not have many reasons to act on something, the action can break down over time. Reframe this way: Learn Italian because it can lead to learning other languages and more international travel, which I love.
Graduate college because I don't want to be here forever..........Better to reframe into a positive statement by just dropping the second part. To accomplish this type of goal don't overload your classes or assignments because of outside pressures. Keep in mind why you want to accomplish this goal--For the grand party after? Because your big sister didn't? To feel proud of yourself? You're ready to start the career you've always dreamed of? Put your reasons on wall and look at them everyday. Lose outside distractions and maintain focus. Be a "student," one who is an attentive observer.
Don't want to make one so I don't fail again..........Nothing happens without action. And, we are the sum of our actions. Not acting for fear of failure is a safe, secure limiting belief. Do you know what "security" is? Security is the person who guards the corndogs at 2am at the Quickie Mart. Pick something you can accomplish NOW; ONE HOUR FROM NOW; NEXT WEEK. Do these things, that's your resolution! Good job! That's the path to success.
Email: athletewhisperer@gmail.com
1) Pass the Bar examine
2) Learn Italian
3) Refuse to make one because I don't want to fail
4) Graduate college
Some people call them "New Year's Resolutions." Let's look at them as typical new goals. Break them down this way: Goal/Motive/Plan.
Pass the Bar after investing $100,000 and three years........With this type of "advancement" goal you have to visualize the big picture. See it. Feel it. Make it your movie. Taste the success. Smell the $$$. Ask yourself "How will passing the Bar benefit me and others? Be honest. Write down how you will contribute. Find out how you learn best. Are you tactile (flash cards around your room), visual (a class) or auditory (CDs in your car). Study using your strongest modality.
Learn Italian so I'll be ready when I go someday........Too broad of a goal. The "someday" weakens the purpose. The chances of accomplishing this goal have already been diminished. If we do not have many reasons to act on something, the action can break down over time. Reframe this way: Learn Italian because it can lead to learning other languages and more international travel, which I love.
Graduate college because I don't want to be here forever..........Better to reframe into a positive statement by just dropping the second part. To accomplish this type of goal don't overload your classes or assignments because of outside pressures. Keep in mind why you want to accomplish this goal--For the grand party after? Because your big sister didn't? To feel proud of yourself? You're ready to start the career you've always dreamed of? Put your reasons on wall and look at them everyday. Lose outside distractions and maintain focus. Be a "student," one who is an attentive observer.
Don't want to make one so I don't fail again..........Nothing happens without action. And, we are the sum of our actions. Not acting for fear of failure is a safe, secure limiting belief. Do you know what "security" is? Security is the person who guards the corndogs at 2am at the Quickie Mart. Pick something you can accomplish NOW; ONE HOUR FROM NOW; NEXT WEEK. Do these things, that's your resolution! Good job! That's the path to success.
Email: athletewhisperer@gmail.com
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