By Andrew Baker
This past summer, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 8 weeks working with the University of Florida Men’s Basketball Team and the Director of Strength & Conditioning Preston Greene. Preston is entering his 11th season with the Gators and is also a member of the DFS Sports Advisory Board.
The experience was invaluable and the scope of everything that Coach P taught me is far too extensive for a single blog post, but I was able to narrow it down to three things.
#1. Training Environment is EVERYTHING.
This one might seem pretty self explanatory but it is so important and missed by many gyms and trainers. Preston and I trained together for the whole time I was there, and my reaction after my first week of training was “Wow... I really wasn’t training hard before this.” Whether it’s is his own personal sessions, or training his athletes, the culture and environment remains the same and the focus is on the session.
#2. Support Detoxification
We talked a lot about different supplement protocols and one thing that he was adamant about was the idea that no matter how young and healthy you are, you still need to support your detoxification pathways. In todays world, it is nearly impossible to avoid all of the toxins and xenoestrogens consumed on a daily basis. While there are numerous different options, his detox method of choice are medicinal shakes that contain different nutrients to support phase 1&2 detoxification.
#3. Humility
One of the things that I admire most about Preston is the fact that he’s gotten
phenomenal results with such high profile athletes and he never tries to piggy back on their success. As he tells it, “These guys were freak athletes before they ever met me and to say that they’ve gotten where they are because of me would be crazy.” That doesn’t devalue the work that he does with them, but in an era where trainers and coaches so often try to use an athletes success to market themselves or their methods, It was refreshing to hear Preston say this and honestly made me respect him even more.
This was an experience I’ll never forget, and I encourage any strength coach or
personal trainer who reads this to seek Preston out, and go do a professional internship with him. There’s a reason that he is one of the top strength and conditioning specialists in the industry and you should go see why for yourself.
Andrew Baker of Baker Fitness
Top 3 Things I Learned from Master Strength Coach, Preston Greene
