Pro athletes around the world keep in peak shape by training at elite centers like Mark Verstegen's Athletes’ Performance Institutes. Now, those same systems and specialists that train the top performers from the NFL, NBA, MLB, and major champions in golf and tennis, are available to regular guys like you and me, who are interested in performing at a higher level.

You can find it all at the first-ever Core Performance Center in Santa Monica, CA, where Verstegen integrates personalized training, nutrition and physical therapy programs with world-class systems and services, giving average Joes the ability to train like franchise pros.

And if you don't happen to live in southern California, you can get articles, expert tips, and training videos on their site, coreperformancecenter.com, to help bring your training to a new level. The site lets you access info on the four fundamentals the Core Performance system is built on: Mindset, Nutrition, Movement and Recovery, and also gives tips from trainers and pro athletes for specific sports or fitness goals. (Later this week I'll be posting some key tips from Core Performance trainers.)

Because winter is coming, and that's the time when a lot of us tend to settle in and spend the season on the couch getting flabby and out of shape, I'm giving you a chance to win a Core Performance fitness pack.

The pack includes:
-- One copy each of the popular Core Performance fitness books, signed by author Mark Vertstegen: Core Performance, Core Performance Essentials, Core Performance Endurance and Core Performance Golf
-- A Core Performance short-sleeved t-shirt
-- A Core Performance long-sleeved t-shirt
-- A Core Performance hat
-- A pair of Adidas workout shorts
-- A Gatorade water bottle
-- A Gatorade towel
-- An EAS shaker bottle with EAS Myoplex Lite shake mix
-- A GoFit rope for stretching
-- A coupon for half off the rack rate at participating Starwood properties nationwide
-- A wireless heart monitor

All of that comes packed in an Adidas Core Performance gym bag. And if that doesn't make you get up off your ass and get in shape, nothing will.

To enter for a chance to win, enter your email addy here. And on Friday, the 31st, I'll pick two of you at random and you'll get the packs. And hopefully a set of six-packs.

To check out the training articles, tips and videos from Core Performance, click here.