The little things really do make all the difference. You see examples of this repeatedly throughout history. Think about this in terms of sports performance. The 'greats' weren't usually the most gifted. They weren't freaks in the weight room. For example, none of the following are household names: Justin Ernest, Stephen Paea, Mike Kudla, Mitch Petrus, Leif Larsen, Brodrick Bunkley, Jeff Owens, Dontari Poe, Scott Young, Kyle Harrington... Do any of these names ring a bell? Don't worry if they don't but they are the NFL Combine bench press record holders. Contrast this with Peyton Manning. His level of preparation for games was meticulous. Before a Super Bowl he would watch all 16 regular season games the opponent had played. And he had the back-up watch the 4 pre-season games and give him a report on what they were doing. He kept notes himself of what worked and what could be better. And then he made the appropriate adjustments and corrections based on this study and preparation. What about regular Joes like you and I? Does preparation matter? Absolutely it does! All I need to do is go back about 5 years to a powerlifting competition where I missed a deadlift attempt at 385 lbs. My previous effort in that competition was 365 lbs so that is where I finished for that lift. That was disheartening. At that point I felt like maybe strength was going to be a thing of the past for me. Maybe I would have to adjust my training? Maybe I would  get into the sports and activities that guys in their 40s and 50s do? Maybe my best was now in the rear-view mirror? [caption id="attachment_5459" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Was this going to be my new sport? This was a bitter pill to swallow. But I was...