Chris, Are you telling me that in all your athletic endeavors you were never injured while training? Are you saying that of all the athletes that have trained at Next Level Speed, none have ever been injured while training? If so, then I will admit that I am definitely doing something wrong. IMHO- you can read all the books you want, take the tests regarding those books, and get the pieces of paper saying you passed those tests. In the end, it's still the tinkering you do with actual human beings and what you learn hands on from coaches who are smarter/more experienced than you that best serves your education as a strength and conditioning coach.

A lot of pull-ups? There are 45 pull-ups. SInce when was 45 pull-ups a lot? That's the same amount of pull-ups as Fran. Definitely NOT a lot of pull-ups.....

Hey, that Gabby chick bombed last night. I don't think we can consider any athlete that competes in a sport that is judged (gymnastics and ice skating and CrossFit (lol) for example) Too much human meddling that the athlete can't control. Agree, disagree?

Fun thread.. I knew it would get a ton of comments. Now I need you all to comment on tonite's post asking for volunteers for occupy strength. =)

Uhhh....yeah. Swimmers have no strength. What was I thinking? I took me a few minutes to realize Alex was trolling but after I read the Gabby comment I wised up. Too funny.

Definition of athlete: " A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts." In competitive contexts: Phelps won his first medals at the 2004 Games when he was 15 years old. To this day, his national records from when he was a child (8+ years) up until he competed in the Olympics still stand. Can any other athlete that has been mentioned say they were the best in the world at 15 years old and still the best at 27 years old?? I think we should think about the question. What is "athletic"? Most of us base our judgement of athletes by exposure of what we see in mainstream sports. Are only football/basketball/soccer/baseball athletes to be considered? Do team sports rate as high as individual sports? Personally, I don''t think they compare because in the team game there are so many variables to consider. BTW- I throw Dan Gable's name into the hat as one of the greatest athletes of all time

Yes Rob, Ali was very vocal in pointing that he was the greatest of all time =)

I just watched 37yo Oksana Chusovitina in her SIXTH Olympic Games. Her total medal count over 20 years? 1 silver.

Jahed, you are at top alltime trollolololol status...... Rob, one performance under pressure was not the question. The greatest athlete of all time was the question. Jesse Owens was definitely the bomb diggity!

Whoops! I meant 10 seconds to over 3 minutes

Interesting that so many people picked a bunch of athletes that played team sports. Also, a 100m swim and a 400m swim are like comparing a 100m sprint to a mile runner (40 seconds to over 3 minutes). Phelps rocked shorth and long. Have you seen the guys who run the 1500m and the guys who run the 100m? Just a thought to add to the debate....

Jahed, quite possibly the GREATEST comment ever.

test!!!