STACK’s mission has always been to provide you with safe and effective training information. To gather it, we’ve spoken with and videotaped the nation’s top athletes and coaches. And guess what? We found a common denominator: many of the best, world-class athletes didn’t truly understand the importance of training until they reached the college level.

Read these words, straight from three NFL 2008 first-round draft picks, on their growing awareness of training and how it improved their games.

Matt Ryan//Quarterback, Atlanta Falcons//Number Three Overall Draft Pick
“I don’t think I [understood] the importance of how [training] can affect your game, how it can improve your play on the field, until I got to college. I trained in high school and did the things I thought necessary, but I was educated to a much greater degree in strength and conditioning in college, and I think that helped me improve.”

Vernon Gholston//Defensive End, New York Jets//Number Six Overall Draft Pick 
“In high school, you’re kind of just starting off in those core lifts, which is just mainly getting strong in your bench press, your squat, really learning how to do them and what they focus on. As you get older, injuries set in. You need to develop more of your muscle groups, and that’s [when] I would say your attention to detail really increases.”

Aqib Talib//Cornerback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers//Number 20 Overall Draft Pick
“[When you get] to college, you [have] strength coaches walking around making you lift weights. That’s when I really started lifting, and it really paid off. I put on about 25 pounds and . . . a lot of muscle. I realized how important it was to lift weights in order to stay healthy and last a whole season.”

It makes you wonder how much more these athletes could’ve accomplished at an earlier age. Just think, what if they’d had access to STACK’s information like you do? Believe it or not, you’re ahead of the curve for achieving your athletic accomplishments.