Categoriescoaching

The Other Side of Coaching

Coaching. There’s a connotation that it’s all butterfly kisses, rainbows, wearing sweatpants to work and/or hoisting up a Lombardi Trophies.1

From a fitness pro’s perspective the sweatpants part is true, however the career is anything other than rainbows. It’s an arduous, drawn-out, paying your dues ass-kicking to be truthful. In today’s guest post by Texas based personal trainer, Shane McLean, he sheds some light on the “other” side of coaching.

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The Other Side of Coaching

You see them on TV. You see them in the gym and you see them at ball games. Coaches, they’ve got it made, right?

They’re strutting along the sideline yelling and screaming instructions at their players. Or it’s the personal trainers at your gym wearing tracksuit pants and checking their social media feed while telling clients what to do.

They don’t seem to be doing an ounce of ‘work’ and they get to wear comfortable pants to boot. Some might say, “That job looks so easy even I could do it.”

When I first started in the fitness industry over 8 years ago, I had no clue what to expect. Sure, I’d been lifting weights for a while, was in reasonable shape and was freshly armed with a personal training certification.

Which meant I knew everything and everybody else knew nothing. I thought coaching would be a walk in the park. How wrong I was.

I couldn’t coach my way out of wet paper bag. I was hurting my clients and they weren’t understanding any of my instructions, cues or programs. Maybe it was my Crocodile Dundee accent?

‘That’s not a knife…….that’s a knife.’

 

It’s one thing to know something, but it’s an entirely different matter to coach what you know to someone else. The history of sports is littered with great players who couldn’t coach to save themselves.

Sorry Magic

So, how did I get better at coaching? I worked my butt off, observed good coaches in their natural environment and read. That has kept my head above water (for now) but I’m still a work in progress.

Coaching is a great profession but I’m pulling back the curtain to reveal the other side. Here are some things that you probably never considered about that coach who is going bananas on the sideline while his/her team is up by 20.

1) People Are Less Than Truthful

 When I first started working as a trainer, a fellow professional said something to me that I’ll never forget.

“People are liars.”

I brushed this comment off at the time, to be honest. I’ve always seen the best in people (rather than the worst) and I’m inclined to believe whatever they’re telling me.

However, over time this statement has rung true. Some clients (in my experience) have been less than truthful about their reasons for cancelling, their old injuries or about general life details.

It’s hard enough to get the best out of players/clients as a coach, but when they’re less than truthful, it becomes more difficult. And when your livelihood depends on results, it becomes a real problem.

2) It Doesn’t Always Pay the Bills

Most coaches get into this business because of a burning desire to help people and they also love telling people what do to. I know I do. Furthermore, most coaches get to wear tracksuit pants to work.

Beats the suit and tie every time.

However, the passion coaches have doesn’t always reflect in their pay check, particularly at the start of their career. I’ve known good coaches who have left the profession or have had to work a second job to make ends meet.

While others have sold a little of their soul to get a decent paycheck.

Hint: none of the trainers (or models hired behind them) got their body by doing the exact thing they’re selling.

I’m extremely fortunate to have a supportive wife who understands but doesn’t necessarily like the up/down nature of the fitness business. For a large part of my career as a coach, I’ve struggled to make a decent living. However, that’s all on me and I’m working hard to rectify this.

There are plenty of coaches who are making a good living because they work their butts off and have figured it out. However, in my experience, that’s more the exception than the rule.

There are lots of good coaches who are still waiting for the rewards of their hard work.

3) There is More to Coaching Than Meets the Eye

Most of the public sees the final product of the coach’s toil, where they yell, scream, motivate and act like a crazy person who’s had way too much caffeine.


What the public doesn’t see is all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. Good coaches burn the midnight oil planning and preparing to make their clients/teams/players better.

Most coaches I know are happy to do the work. However, at times the consumer only sees the costs but not the value. What a lot of people fail to realize is all the hard work that goes into that final dollar value.

Furthermore, the coaching profession is an ever-evolving industry and if you’re not getting better, you’re getting left behind. The time and money spent on continuing education, industry conferences, coaching and travel adds up to a pretty penny.

Good coaches invest ton to make themselves and their clients better, a fact not seen by most of the non-coaching public.

Wrapping Up

Coaching is not all sunshine and roses. There is a lot of blood, sweat and tears involved. There are far more ways to earn a better living but none as quite as rewarding as affecting people’s lives in a positive way.

Wearing tracksuit pants is just a welcome bonus.

About the Author

Shane The Balance Guy McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Texas. Shane believes in balancing exercise with life while putting the fun back into both.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Program Design

The Abdominal Rollout: Common Mistakes and Progressions

Having a newborn at home = I’ve been waking up on the wrong side of the bed lately. A lot. I’m cranky AF and my brain waves aren’t firing on all cylinders this morning so you can blame this lame introduction on that.

Cool?

Awesome. Lets discuss abs. Specifically, lets discuss one of the more common ab exercises out there: the abdominal rollout.

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The Abdominal Rollout: A Complete History (But Not Really)

I’d like to sit here and pizzaz you with some interesting factoids and trivia about the abdominal rollout, like, say, I don’t know, its roots can go all the way back to Mesopotamia and that every male had to perform strict repetitions for 17 hours straight before he was allowed to mate. Maybe the History Channel can back me up on that one?

Who knows, for all I know some guy named Phil was the first to perform the exercise while training in his basement in 1968 while jamming to Hendrix. Phil was cool as shit.

Either way, all I can really tell you is that it’s a staple exercise that trains the anterior core musculature – upper and lower rectus regions in addition to the internal and external obliques – and has long been a “go to” exercise for anyone looking to shred their mid-section.

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Specifically the abdominal rollout is an excellent variation that trains ANTI-EXTENSION, and, well, many people tend to miss the boat in this regard.

I see a lot of common mistakes when I watch trainees perform this exercise. In fact, most would be better off pumping the brakes a little bit and mastering something like an RKC plank first.

RKC Plank = a plank (albeit learning appreciate tension).

The set-up is more or less the same a regular ol’ plank, except here you’ll want to flex everything – your abs, glutes, quads, eyelids, everything.

An important cue I use when teaching the RKC plank is to tell the person doing it to pretend as if they’re trying to drag their elbows towards their toes. When done right, it increases the “holy cow, this is really hard” factor by a large margin.

Also, when done right, 10 seconds will feel like torture.

But I’m getting a little off-track. What are those common mistakes of the rollout I was referring to above? The two most common are:

  • People falling into excessive lumbar extension (<– remember: the rollout is an exercise that helps train anti-extension; it defeats the purpose of the drill if you allow your lumbar region to “fall” into extension). The idea should be to maintain posterior pelvic tilt of the pelvis throughout.
  • Not allowing the hips to follow the shoulders.

 

In Case You’re Too Important to Watch the 2-Minute Video Above

1. I like to cue people to start the exercise in a bit more of a lumbar flexed posture (PPT). Relax, it’s unloaded flexion, you’ll survive. By doing so, most will end up in spinal neutral as they draw closer to the floor.

2. My triceps look jacked in that video.

3. Oftentimes as people break toward the floor their shoulders will lead and the hips will tend to lag behind. A cue that often works for me is to tell the person to pretend there’s a rope or chain connecting their hips and shoulders and that the shoulder are “towing” the hips behind them. They should move simultaneously.

Address those two things and technique will clean up nicely.

How About Progressions?

Assuming you’re already pretty good at the standard rollout, what are some ways we can progress the exercise?

Some less sexy alternatives would be:

  • Add a pause at the bottom.
  • Use a slower tempo on the way down and up. Think: three seconds down, pause, three seconds up.

We all know you’re going to skip those however, so maybe consider these options?

Level 1: This Is Kinda Cool, I Guess – Elevator Ab Wheel Rollout

 

Here, the idea is to include some pitstops or “speed bumps” along the way to make the movement more challenging and to increase time under tension.

With the Elevator Rollout I’ll tell people to rollout to three different lengths:

  • 1/2 way out, then back.
  • 3/4 way out, then back.
  • Full ROM, then back
  • THAT’s one rep.

Aim for 5-6 repetitions (which is really 15-18 repetitions when you count all the additional stops).

Level 2: Alright, Now We’re Talking – 2-Way Ab Wheel Rollout

 

All we need to do to make something a little more challenging is to add a change of direction. With the 2-Way Ab Wheel Rollout the idea is to alternate between veering off to the left and to the right. But, really, you can add as many directions as you want. And, if you’re really feeling frisky you can combine this with the elevator variation above.

I like to shoot for 6-8 repetitions per direction with this one.

Level 3: Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Snap – Band Resisted Ab Wheel Rollout

 

To up the ante even more we can add resistance in the form of a band. With this variation I wrapped two bands around the corner of a squat rack and wrapped the other ends around each handle of the abdominal wheel.

The band will “assist” with the yielding/eccentric component, but you will need to fight and overcome the concentric portion. It’s a pretty nasty progression, so don’t take it lightly.

Aim for 8-12 repetitions.

Level 4: “Whoa, I Know Kung-Fu” – Standing Band Resisted Barbell Rollout

^^ Bonus points for The Matrix reference.

 

Admittedly, this isn’t that baller…but it’s a nice variation for those who aren’t quite able to perform a strict standing rollout (which is next level Jedi shit). With this variation you have to overcome the band as you roll out, however on the way back the band will accommodate or assist you back up to the starting position. Pretty nifty.

Aim for 5-8 repetitions.

And that’s that. I hope those tips to clean up technique help and made sense, and I also hope you now have a few new exercises to try.

 

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Program Design

Sport Restrictive vs. Sport Specific Exercise: How to Avoid Damaging Our Athletes

Speed ladders, parachutes, BOSU balls…it’s all nauseating at times. There’s a time and place for all those things – I guess – but when they’re added to an athlete’s (especially young athlete’s) training repertoire I have to wonder if they’re in there because the coach feels it’ll make him or her better, or if it’s the novelty they’re after? Today’s guest post by strength coach, David Otey, tackles the idea of sport RESTRICTIVE exercise and sport ASSISTIVE.

Good stuff.

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Sport Restrictive vs. Sport Specific Exercise

In fitness, finding your niche is a major part of making an impact on an individual. Over the last few years, Instagram celebrities and fitness magazines are guiding people on the best “sport specific” exercises for athletes.

If you want to be great at throwing, do this!

If you want to play cornerback in football, do that!

The whole process is very demanding of precise movements. The only issue is, details enhance, they don’t create. Just like a nice tie doesn’t make a cheap suit look better, detail work without a foundational set of athleticism, doesn’t change the athlete.

We can all remember our first intro to lifting weights, like a first date. The first interaction is the most impactful so a shit program can really compromise your results for years to come if you don’t find the right direction.

Ever meet that 50 year old guy that is still doing his HS football team’s lifting routine?? I meet that guy all the time. The issue with this idea is young athletes usually get thrown into a specific rotation of exercises that may be helping tiny details but neglecting overall development.

The fact is, the first 6 months to a year of working out is the most crucial from a muscle mass, neuromuscular awareness, and overall gym knowledge standpoint. Those initial days and exercises really set the table for your future accomplishments in the gym.

Sport specific exercises have been used for years with the intent of developing a particular athlete in their respective competition. Ever hear of the SAID principle? If so, makes sense right?

Sport restrictive exercises is a term I use for any exercise that could hinder the natural athleticism of an athlete.

If we are using sport specific exercises, they should be a compliment to some natural big lifts that are the foundation of our program. Thousands of athletes, right now, are practicing how to make one hand catches like Odell Beckham Jr. While focusing on that, they are neglecting speed, power, route running, catching fundamentals, and more

Athlete programming has two overall objectives: Maximize potential and minimize injury/restriction.

If you are not getting better, you are competing less.

If you are hurt, you are competing less.

We want athletes to compete more, work more efficiently, and stay in the game longer. The idea of sport restrictive exercises is to change the thought process from what things can I do for specific movements to what things should I REALLY not be doing to hinder my development in that sport.

I would argue that the majority of exercises are good for all athletes with a strong foundational level of athleticism (assuming no major injuries). There are a subset of exercises for each sport which should be avoided if you are looking to max out your potential. Here are four of the more common situations we may run into which are holding back our athletes.

Restricted Hip Drive

Restricted Shoulder Mobility

Loss of Rotational Power Generation

Loss of Multidirectional Movement

These four basic areas are really what encompass the attributes that set an athlete apart from the field.

Lacking in one or multiple of these either place you behind the curve or place you on the injury reserve. These for characteristics are also seen in every sport just in varying quantities. Let’s dive into how we can distinguish and avoid sport restrictive exercises going forward. As sport specific exercises are truly movements seen in game situations, I will refer to the exercises below as “sport assistive.”

Hip Drive

Hip drive is one of the most powerful and common strengths of any athlete. Whether you are throwing, blocking, sprinting, hips dominate the motion. Hip drive can be used in many ways but explosion and stability are the key responsibilities of the Glutes. To get the most of your hip drive, it’s important to work in areas that are similar to your sport. The weight room opens us up to a long list of activities that can work on a more powerful looking lower body. Key word is LOOKING. How can we adjust to just flat our powerful.

Sumo Deadlift – Sport Restrictive Movement

Note from TG: Noooooooooooooooo (sad face). I’m still posting a video of myself.

 

Traditional Deadlifts are becoming more common in weight rooms everywhere which is a great thing. The movement is based on full body strength and developing power. With regard to the Sumo Squat, it’s inherently unique set up is unfamiliar to almost any sport we see on a regular basis. Now I know, some people are going to say, “But what about the extra muscles used in the Sumo Deadlift?”

I certainly can understand that, my argument is this is more suited for the athlete geared towards weight-room competitions and less towards indoor/outdoor traditional sports. Building a foundation should be based on movements that are going to directly impact performance, not just look sweet in your Instagram post.

Broad Jump – Sport Assistive Movement

Without hip mobility, you are leaving yourself with a quick road to injury. Restricted hip mobility leaves you in a position to rely on areas to gain mobility that aren’t meant to have mobility. This extra strain, either placed on your knees or lower back, can quickly turn into chronic issues.

 

To avoid this, don’t work on exercises with unique demands that are uncommon to your everyday activity. The broad jump for any athlete is a way to specifically focus on hip and lower body explosion with the outcome of “project myself as far as humanly possible”. All out power is what we strive for. The hip extension utilize in the broad jump mimics almost all lower body locomotive movements we will see more commonly.

Shoulder Strength

Shoulders are the second most impactful joint in the body. Where the hip is mainly responsible for power generation from the lower limbs, the shoulders have the main juncture of the upper limbs. In all throwing sports, the chain reaction between medial foot all the way through the throw, is either amplified or diminished because of shoulder (scapular and glenohumeral) strength and mobility.

Barbell Military Press – Sport Restrictive Movement

 

The traditional Military press is no argument a solid movement for building muscle mass, but not ideal for working with the general athlete. The fundamental difference between athletics and barbells is the level of predictability.

Barbell movements confine the body to accommodate muscle growth and patterning to a restricted path due to the bar. In sports, all movements are unique and the body is better prepared when trained to be strong through its own control of its path (Example: Dumbell Press).

With respect to athletes with large wingspan, shoulder movement independent from one another is also safer than fixated movement. Increased muscle mass restricts in some sports and helps in others, but overall, the barbell is counterproductive for the athlete.

Landmine Shoulder Press – Sport Assistive Movement

The Landmine Shoulder Press is a great method to strengthen the muscle while focusing on glenohumeral rhythm.

 

To build in the body’s capabilities to work at its highest demand, we need to reinforce the body’s desire to work in collaboration with coexisting parts of the system. The Landmine’s free pivoting base allows you to control the weight independently. Along with this, the path of the bar promotes scapular upward rotation along with force angle more appropriate for one of our most unstable joints.

Rotational Power

Power is only as good as it can be transferred. Its tough to turn on a light with a frayed power cord (don’t try that at home). The anterior and posterior core’s primary functions are to maintain spinal stability and transfer power. The inherently awesome part of rotational power is the body’s ability to work together and coordinate multiple segments to maximize output. This doesn’t happen without the core, and doesn’t happen without training the body in its full capacity rather than in isolated segments.

Power Cable Twist – Sport Restrictive Movement

 

Cable twists are commonly seen in gyms around the country as a method to great sick abs. Unfortunately, they aren’t great at that and are more detrimental to spinal integrity. Just as I wouldn’t swing a baseball bat without pivoting my feet, rotation without lower body rotation creates increased stress on the discs, vertebral columns, lumbar spine, hips, damn near everything. Creating rotational power generally starts at the medial foot and transfers up, so training in that manner is most appropriate.

Med Ball Throws – Sport Assistive Movement

 

The Med Ball Throw is one of the most similar movements to translation of rotational power. One key factor of power is the ability to go full throttle. Just like doing sprints on a treadmill is definitely not the same as doing full sprints outside, there is no restriction of full potential. Proper Med Ball throws can teach an athlete full power output, safely!

Multidirectional Movement

Side Shuffles – Sport Restrictive Movement

 

One of the hardest things for me to watch is a coach teaching an athlete to side shuffle. Usually, with the side shuffle, the athlete is instructed to keep their back foot in contact with the ground. This concept is generally contradictory to natural lateral movement. Try running while keeping one foot on the ground at all times. Chances are you are going to lose your race.

Lateral Skiers – Sport Assistive Movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOI1exR6pSk

 

The medial foot is one of the primary points of the body where power starts. Stealing a base, juking a tackle, initial drive in the baseball swing, all start from medial foot. Lateral work is a great translator to rotational power and lower body reactive capability. Lateral Skiers allow you to focus on single leg accommodation and the ability to propel from that loaded position. This is a movement that every athlete should build do and practice.

Summary

Every program is going to be unique because of the athlete and specific coach writing the program. The purpose of this article isn’t to blast certain exercises but to bring up arguments to why other movements may be more appropriate for your athletes.

You don’t need a speed ladder to be sport specific.

The best sport specific movements are those done in practice. Unfortunately, as coaches, we may only work with certain athletes in a weight room setting. It is important to identify which exercises can translate, and which in the long term, could be holding back our athletes. Bottom line: don’t restrict your athletes by refusing to adjust from the status quo.

Author’s Bio

David Otey is a Strength and Conditioning specialist based out of New York City. David is the 2016 Fitness Manager of the Year for Equinox and has been featured in several major fitness publications on the topics of strength and Conditioning.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 3/10/17

No diggidy, no doubt. Lets do this.

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STUFF TO CHECK OUT BEFORE THE OTHER STUFF

1. Just Announced

Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Orlando

Our Vancouver shindig in April sold out, but Dean and I have recently announced a stop in Orlando, FL later this year, October 21-22nd at Spark Fitness.

I’ve never been to Orlando. There’s no way in hell I’m visiting Disney World.

You can go HERE for more details and to sign up.

[SPOILER: Dean and I also in talks to bring the Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint to London this summer. Stay tuned……..]

2. SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th.

I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.

For more information you can go HERE.

3. The Principles of Nutrition Coaching

If you’re a fitness professional you know full-well one of the best things you can do for your athletes and clients is to help them hone in on their nutrition. THAT’s often the key to helping them look and feel better.

Exercise alone won’t get the job done.

But what kind of nutrition advice can you actually give?

(Is it even LEGAL to give nutrition advice?)

And if you CAN give nutrition advice, how should you give it?

Find out in this FREE Nutrition Coaching Course put together by renowned coach, researcher, and pioneer in the field of exercise nutrition — Dr. John Berardi.

Just click the link below and you’re all set:

http://mbsy.co/precisionnutrit ion/28316815?url=http://www.pr ecisionnutrition.com/nutrition -coaching-free-course

4. CORE Online Coming Soon

In a few weeks I’ll be offering a new service…CORE Online.

It’s basically the closest you’re going to get to training with me at CORE without actually stepping foot inside the facility. Each month I write programs that’ll help give you structure and purpose with your own training. You log on with your own CORE Online app, watch me demonstrate exercise, and you get diesel.

If you want to get stronger….this will be for you.

If you want to get leaner or bigger….this will be for you.

If you want to move better…..this will be for you.

If you want to get really good at long division….eh, not so much.

5. Lisa on Cut the S#!t Get Fit Podcast

My wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, made an appearance on the Cut the S#!t Get Fit Podcast recently and she rocked it. If you’re remotely interested in mindset strategies, how to deal with negative self-talk, her impeccable taste in choosing a life partner, or brain stuff in general you’ll want to check this out.

You can also click HERE for the direct link.

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work

A Biomechanical Analysis of the Deadlift: Conventional vs. Sumo – Kevin Cann

Nice breakdown by TPS strength coach, Kevin Cann, on the differences, advantages & disadvantages of the conventional and sumo deadlift.

Nerds will like this.

Fix Your Tilt For Untapped Glute Gains – Jonathan Acosta

APT tends to get all the love. But what happens when you have someone who seems to be in excessive posterior pelvic tilt?

Old Man Training – Part I – Alex Viada

If you’re 35-40+ you’ll soon realize you’re not 25 anymore. Awesome stuff from Alex in this one.

Social Media Shenanigans

Twitter

Instagram

I’ve had a change of heart with dips of late. I still feel strongly they’re not a good fit for those with a long history of shoulder issues, but they’re still a heckuva an exercise to help build the triceps (and as a bench accessory to help with lockout). The video on the left is my client, Kristina, performing a set without me saying anything. She’s pretty upright which leads to excessive extension of the humerus and even more excessive anterior tilt of scapulae (shoulders rolling forward). This places the glenohumeral joint in a very compromising position, pushing the humeral head more anteriorly and forcing the bicep tendon to flip you the middle finger. Instead, I prefer to cue people to add more of a forward lean. See the video on the right. Notice the less aggressive rolling of the shoulders? That slight forward lean will make a HUGE difference in making dips a little more shoulder friendly.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

CategoriesAssessment coaching Exercise Technique

“Squat Like a Girl”

I hate the term “girl push-up.” I hate the connotation it breeds; that girls are weak and that they should do these kind of push-ups instead (performed from the knees). Coaches who use it are 1) lazy and 2) are definitely worthy of the stink eye.

But what about squats? Is there such a thing as “squatting like a girl?” Does the term equally make me want to toss an ax into my face? Well, not exactly. In today’s excellent guest post, NY based coach, Meg Julian, provides some insight on why, sometimes, there is such a thing as squatting like a girl.

Copyright: Kurhan / 123RF Stock Photo

“Squat Like a Girl”

I’d like to start off by saying that I’m truly honored Tony named his firstborn child, Julian, after me. I hope to inspire the masses as much as I’ve affected Tony. But I’m not here to talk about Baby Julian; I am here because of Baby Julian (yay!).

We are here to talk about why “squatting like a girl” can be different than squatting like a boy.

After working in a female-only gym for five years and training many females clients during the past seven years (not to mention being a woman myself), I’ve found that we often don’t hear about how tips for men might not work perfectly for women, because our bodies (shocker!) are different.

This is one major reason why when I ask new clients to squat, they often struggle to squat, or even look back blankly (really!) Why? Because squats can be complicated, and most exercise science was developed for men by men.

Photo Credit: T-Nation.com

And that’s no way to live, as a great squat can help women with overall strength and weight-loss, which are frequently among the goals I hear from clients.

So, whether you want to put an Olympic barbell on your back or just get in and out of a chair, you’ll want learn how to properly squat. Here are four important ways that women can improve their squat:

#1: Use Your Butt

Squatting is widely considered a phenomenal exercise for building your butt, but many women don’t effectively engage their glutes when they squat. Counter-intuitive, right?

That’s partly because most people sit for much of the day and thus over-stretch their posterior chain, which is the butt and hamstrings; we also tend to over-work the front of our bodies, rather than the posterior.

It’s no surprise, then, that the little elves in your muscles don’t stand a chance.

This condition is called “glute amnesia,” and it’s a term coined by back specialist Stuart McGill — I’m not kidding! If you don’t engage your glutes when you squat, the connection between your muscles and brain will fade, which will make it even harder to use your bum when you want to. In other words, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

To remedy this, the cue we often hear when squatting  is to “sit back.”

But this often turns into a balancing act of:

  • Gripping the ground with your toes and hanging on for dear life;
  • Sticking your butt back;
  • Leaning forward and hoping to not fall over; AND
  • Doing nothing positive for your body.

Instead, I tell clients to pick their toes up off the ground.

Picking your toes off the ground, and putting the weight in your heels, makes the connection between the brain and posterior chain stronger. This is often what is meant by “sit back,” but our bodies tend to take the path of least resistance, so instead of truly using your glutes, it’s common to become a bit of a surfing expert.  

Note from TG: Nice cue to get people to “feel” their glutes work and to understand their role in squatting. While I don’t want to speak for Meg, it’s not one I’d use long-term, especially if the goal is to lift more weight.

If this seems weird and awful, or you topple over, you’re probably not doing it incorrectly; you just haven’t built the strength yet. Keep trying. And you might want to practice over a bench until you get the hang of it.

#2:  Redefine the Relationship Between Your Knees and Your Toes.

The misinformed cue we often hear is “Don’t let your knees come past your toes.”

The idea, again, is that your weight should be in your heels and mid-foot instead of being perched up on your toes. The cue has it’s heart in the right place, but it’s just misdirected, much like this meme:

But I love home; that’s where I keep my bed, food and dog.

The problem? Again, everyone is built differently. For example, if you have long femurs (thigh bones), it’s going to be better for your squat to let your knees come past your toes.  

The focus, instead, should be on having your shoulders go straight up and down as you squat.

So instead of focusing on your knee placement, double-down on your efforts to keep your weight back, barbell over mid-foot, and your back upright.

#3 And One More Thing About Your Feet.

It’s common to be toldSquat with your toes facing forward,” but most women will feel more comfortable turning their toes out a bit when they squat. The female hips and the way the leg bones fit into them are built to be a little wider; you know, “birthing hips” and all.

So instead of focusing on your feet facing forward, focus on aligning your knees above your toes, and for women, this likely means turning your feet slightly outward — and your knees along with it.

Trying to force a more narrow stance or twist the toes in a direction they don’t naturally want to go will cause a lot of tension in the knees. It’s like trying to jam a drawer shut that’s off its runners — not pleasant.

This may be perfectly fine for some and even how most assessments are done, but it’s possible that this is not the ideal form during every workout. Just look at the way a little kid naturally sits in a sandbox (do they still have those?): knees are wide and toes are turned out.

Not sure how wide to point your toes? I recommend standing barefoot with your heels together on a smooth surface like wood, and squeeze your glutes. Then, separate your feet until your heels are under your shoulders. This is likely the most comfortable position for a squat for your body. Play around and see what feels best.

#4: Show Your Ankles Some Love.

Tight calves can lead to a lack of dorsiflexion, which is the ability to flex the toes up toward the shins. It’s a problem I often see in women who wear high heels or flip flops and never stretch.

Lacking range of motion in your ankles is terrible for nailing a squat. By limiting the bend, your body will find a way to compensate by flattening arches, caving knees in toward each other or leaning too far forward.

Here’s a simple test of ankle mobility: Place your toes four inches from a wall. Without lifting your heel, can you bend your knee until it taps the wall. If yes, you’re good! If no, keep practicing twice a day until you can. Keep it up until you can consistently hit a wall. In a good way.

 

Wrapping It Up

Most women have goals of losing weight, improving their backsides and getting stronger. While these goals are a bit vague, I do have a specific answer: Squat as much as you can handle —  after you master squatting like a girl.

Author’s Bio

If you enjoyed what you read, want to learn more or just need to know where to send the hate mail, visit me HERE, where you can subscribe to my weekly email dedicated to tips like these and improving technique and strength for obstacle course racing. You can also follow me on Instagram HERE.

Megan Julian is a New York-based NASM Certified Personal Trainer, with additional certifications such as, FMS L2, NASM-CES and CFSC. She specializes in preparing brides for the big day, helping obstacle course racers improve their times and working with clients of all ages overcome injuries. In her free time, she enjoys running through the woods, jumping over walls and crawling under barbed wire — sometimes at events such as the World Championship Obstacle Course Race in Canada.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 3/3/17

Lets do this!

Copyright: urfingus / 123RF Stock Photo

STUFF TO CHECK OUT BEFORE THE OTHER STUFF

1. 2 Workshops Coming Up

Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver, April 1-2nd.

Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver that weekend to talk shoulders and hips and to start a tickle fight.

We’re capping this workshop at 50 attendees and last time I spoke to Dean we only have three spots left.

For more information and to sign up you can go HERE.

SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th

I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.

For more information you can go HERE.

2. CORE Online Coming Soon

In a few weeks I’ll be offering a new service…CORE Online.

It’s basically the closest you’re going to get to training with me at CORE without actually stepping foot inside the facility. Each month I write programs that’ll help give you structure and purpose with your own training. You log on with your own CORE Online app, watch me demonstrate exercise, and you get diesel.

If you want to get stronger….this will be for you.

If you want to get leaner or bigger….this will be for you.

If you want to move better…..this will be for you.

If you want to get really good at long division….eh, not so much.

3. Appearance on The Fitness Candor Podcast

Host Eric Feigl was nice enough to invite me onto his show earlier this week. I had a blast. I always enjoy talking shop with other passionate coaches.

Not to be braggadocious or anything but here’s what Eric said post show:

If you prefer a direct link you can go HERE.

4. Wildfire Yoga

Make no mistake: there are many benefits to doing yoga, and more power to those who enjoy doing it to reap those benefits. However, for some people, particularly for those who like to lift heavy things, yoga is the last thing on our minds. It usually goes like this:

1. Lift heavy things and/or sex
2. I’m hungry, I want a burger
3. LOLCats
4. When does the next season of Game of Thrones start?
5. Is it deadlift day?
.
.
.344. Long division
.
.
1,098,583 – Yoga

My friend, Neghar Fonooni, kinda feels the same way. For meatheads traditional yoga can take way too long and it can also be pretty boring. Her answer is Wildfire Yoga. In her words:

“This isn’t your standard yoga, but more along the lines of “flow series” that can be done in 5-20 minutes. The idea is to take the minimal effective dose and DO this shit.”

You can read more in THIS lovely post she wrote for my site earlier this week or just go HERE and get straight to it.

And now this week’s list of wonderful reads.

62 Tips on Crushing Public Speaking – Sol Orwell

One of the best articles I have ever read on the topic. I’ve done my fair share of public speaking and I took A LOT from this one.

Thanks Sol

The Biggest Lie in Fitness – T-Nation

Another fantastic compilation piece put together by T-Nation asking a bunch of bonafide coaches and fitness pros their thoughts on “lies” perpetuated by the industry.

The 8 Most Effective Coaching Cues You Aren’t Using – John Rusin, et al

8 coaches, 8 cues. Sounds like the title of a romantic comedy doesn’t it?

Social Media Shenanigans

Twitter

Instagram

Here’s an excellent option for your clients with low back issues: HBT Stationary Marches. I got this idea from both @dr.joelseedman_ahp and @ryanwoodtraining. Hang some light KBs from bands on each side of a barbell. This is the HBT part. HBT = Hanging Band Training. It’s a wonderful way to up the ante on challenging the core musculature, not to mention a “like whoa” moment on the central nervous system. Wakes it up for sure. I perform these stationary because I only have 800 square feet to work with at my studio, but if you have the space you can totally make your clients go for a walk. Trust me: this is a lot harder than it looks. And another benefit of this exercise is the self-intuitiveness of it. If you rush or try to speed things up it’ll get harder real fast. I like to cue people to keep the KBs “quiet.” 20-30 steps per set should do it. At first don’t worry too much about how high the feet go. Make sure the own the movement. As they get better your clients can go higher, or perform with eyes closed (which is unbelievably effed up; as in super duper hard).

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

CategoriesAssessment coaching Corrective Exercise Exercise Technique

The “My Shoulder Hurts” Checklist

“Wha, what was that? Was that him?”

It was 1:30 AM, maybe even 2:17 (it’s always a blur, sucky, and when it’s that late doesn’t it even matter?) as my wife nudged me to see if the baby was alright. I turned over to my left, peeled my eye open just enough to press the button to turn the screen to the monitor on, and indeed it was our newborn, Julian, making his case for one of the two of us to get our asses out of bed and ascertain the situation.

Julian, during one of his non-Gremlin moments

Our little guy passed the 4-week old mark earlier this week and in that time Lisa and I have had a crash course in sleep deprivation training (I’m basically a Navy SEAL by now) in addition to learning baby-speak, or what I like to call “What are you trying to tell me? Please stop crying. I’ll do anything. No, really, anything………”

[Jumps off roof] 

We don’t have much to complain about in the grand scheme of things. Julian has been awesome. Much like any baby in the history of ever, and as any parent in the history of ever knows, when your newborn starts crying it’s indicative of one or two factors to get them to (hopefully) settle back down:

  1. They need a diaper change.
  2. They need to be fed.
  3. They need to be swaddled,
  4. They need their binkie.
  5. They need to be swung or need movement (or maybe they’re overstimulated).
  6. WILDCARD: They need more cowbell.

 

As time passes you learn to not panic, run through the checklist, and before long you’re a first class baby-calmer-downer.

It’s funny, though.

Since I’ve been neck deep in baby shenanigans the past few weeks it’s been a trip to see how I make connections and correlations between that and stuff I see and come across in my professional life… training and coaching athletes/clients. One of the purest examples is something I witness on an almost weekly basis.

Many of the new people who start with me are beginner or intermediate level meatheads (male and female) who, for whatever reason(s), have been dealing with a pissed off shoulder that inhibits their ability to train at the level or intensity they’d like. It’s frustrating on their end and it’s my job as the coach to try to peel back the onion and see what may or may not be the root cause or causes.

Copyright: staras / 123RF Stock Photo

The “My Shoulder Hurts” Checklist

1) Technique

Most commonly people will note how bench pressing bothers their shoulder(s). Working on their technique is the baby check list equivalent of blow out explosive diarrhea.

I.e., It’s code mother-fucking red.

Following the mantra “if it causes pain, stop doing it” is never a bad call, and I am all for nixing any exercise or drill that does such a thing. However, I don’t like to jump to conclusions too too quickly. Sometimes making a few minor adjustments to someone’s technique or setup can make all the difference in the world.

Almost always I’ll have to spend some time on their set-up. I like to cue people to start in a bridge position to drive their upper traps into the bench and to set their scapulae (together AND down).

We can make arguments as to what this is actually doing. Some will gravitate towards it improving joint centration. Cool (and not wrong). I like to keep a little simpler and note that all it really does is improve stability.

Stability = strength

Another thing to note is many people tend to flare their elbows out too much when they bench which leaves the shoulders out to dry and in a vulnerable position.

 

MINOR NOTE: Since recording that video above (two years ago), I have since changed my views slightly thanks to some cueing from Cressey Sports Performance coach Tony Bonvechio. Elbows tucked on the way down is still something I’m after (albeit some are too aggressive at the expense of placing too much valgus stress on the elbows). However, when initiating the press motion, in concert with leg drive, allowing the elbows to flare out a teeny tiny bit (in an effort to keep the joints stacked and to place the triceps in a more mechanical advantage) will often play huge dividends in performance.

In the end, much of the time it comes down to people not paying any attention to how crucial their set-up is. It’s amazing how often shoulder pain dissipates or disappears altogether with just a few minor adjustments.

2) What People Don’t Want to Hear: Stop Benching, Bro

This is where the Apocalypse begins. Telling a guy (usually not women, they could care less) that he should probably stop benching for the foreseeable future is analogous to telling Donald Trump he can’t Tweet.

The thing about holding a barbell is that it “locks” the glenohumeral joint into internal rotation which can be problematic for a lot of people and often feeds into impingement syndrome.

[The rotator cuff muscles become “impinged” due to a narrowing of the acromion space.]

NOTE: I hate the term “shoulder impingement” because it doesn’t really tell you anything. There are any number of reasons why someone may be impinged. Not to mention there are vast differences between External Impingement and Internal Impingement….which you can read about in more detail HERE.

If bench pressing hurts, and we’ve tried to address technique, I’ll often tell them to OMIT barbell pressing in lieu of using dumbbells instead. With DBs we can utilize a neutral grip, externally rotate the shoulders a bit more, and open up the acromion space.

Or, maybe they can still barbell press, albeit at a decline. When you place the torso at a decline the arms can’t go into as much shoulder flexion and you’re then able to avoid the “danger zone.”

Something else to consider is maybe pressing off a foam roller. Sure, you won’t be able to use as much weight, but as Dr. Joel Seedman explains in the video below you’ll be able to work on better joint centration AND the scapulae can actually move (an important variable discussed more below).

 

If all else fails, sadly, you may have to be the bearer of bad news and tell someone that (s)he needs to stop benching for a few weeks to allow things to settle down.

3) Let the Scaps Move, Yo

Above I mentioned the importance to bringing the shoulder blades together and down in an effort to improve stability.

If you want to lift heavy shit, you need to learn to appreciate the importance of getting and maintaining tension. That said, if lifting heavy shit hurts your shit, we may need to take the opposite approach. Meaning: maybe we just need to get your shoulder blades moving.

When the scaps are “glued” together and unable to go through their normal ROM it can have ramifications with shoulder health. Push-ups are a wonderful anecdote here.

Unlike the bench press – an open-chain exercise – the push-up is a closed-chain exercise (hands don’t move) which lends itself to several advantages – namely scapular movement.

 

4) More Rows

This one will be short and sweet. Perform more rows. Many trainees tend to be very anterior dominant and spend an inordinate amount of time training their “mirror muscles” at the expense of ignoring their backside. This can lead to muscular imbalances and postural issues.

This makes me sad. And, when it happens, a kitten becomes homeless.

You sick bastard.

The easy fix is to follow this simple rule: For every pressing motion you put into your program, perform 2-3 ROWING movements. Any row, I don’t care.2

 

5) Address Scapular Positioning

I’m going to toss out an arbitrary number and I have no research to back this up, but 99% of the time when someone comes in complaining of rotator cuff or shoulder issues the culprit is usually faulty scapular mechanics. Sometimes people DO need a little more TLC and we may need to go down the “corrective exercise” rabbit hole.

The scapulae perform many tasks:

  • Upwardly and downwardly rotate
  • Externally and internally rotate
  • Anteriorly and posteriorly tilt.
  • AB and ADDuct (retract and protract).
  • Will clean and fold your laundry too!

 

They do a lot. And for a plethora of reasons, if they’re not moving optimally it can cause a shoulder ouchie. Sometimes people are too “shruggy” (upper trap dominant) with overhead movements, or maybe they’re stuck in downward rotation? Maybe they can’t protract enough and need more serratus work? Maybe they lack eccentric control and need a heavy dose of low trap correctives?

It dumbfounds me the number of times I have had people come in to see me explaining how they had been to this person and that person and NO ONE took the time to look at how their shoulder blades move.

I don’t like to get too corrective too soon (as I prefer to not make my clients feel like a patient), but if I’ve exhausted all of the above and stuff still hurts….it’s time to dig deeper.

If only there were a resource that dives into this topic in a more thorough fashion.

Hmmmm…………..Sha-ZAM.

Categoriescoaching fitness business Uncategorized

Why an Online Training Business Might be Right For You (and 3 mistakes when building one)

I have a special treat for you today. Jon Goodman, the Godfather of online training, emailed me to ask if he could write a guest post for the site. I was like, “does Dolly Parton sleep on her back? Of course you can.”

Jon knows online training and he’s painstakingly built one of the best online training resources in existence that’ll help anyone build a successful business: the Online Trainer Academy. Enrollment is sparse and only happens twice a year. Tomorrow (3/2) is the LAST day to jump on the train for the foreseeable future. Hell, I’m on the train – come join me in the caboose for a good time.3

Why an Online Training Business Might Be Right For You

ONE DAY I GOT SICK, and I didn’t get paid.

I wanted to see the World, but I knew that if I did, I wouldn’t have a job when I got back.

Soon after turning 26 I decided, much to my surprise, that babies weren’t weird and gross and that maybe one day I’d like to have a few. If I did want a family at some point, I knew that something would have to drastically change.

It became apparent that I had to figure out how to build a business in the fitness industry that works for me even when I’m not around and that I control.

Conventional personal training doesn’t lend itself well to a balanced life. When I was in my early twenties I wanted to train 10-14 clients a day. I made a lot of money — much more than my friends at the time — but the hours were arduous.

By 24 I’d reached my income ceiling.

  • I was charging $97/hr and booked 40hrs/wk. If a client cancelled I’d have another on call with as little as 45 minutes notice.
  • I received a small salary as the senior trainer in charge of the hiring, training, and development of the rest of the team.
  • I received commissions for referring new trainers to the club in addition to referring my overload of clientele to other trainers.

Things were good for a while, but then I got that itch.

I wanted to see the World and I desired to meet a girl (smart, kind, and with legs that scream, “I squat, bro”). With my schedule that just wasn’t going to happen.

Something needed to change. I love the fitness industry and I loved my clients but conventional wouldn’t work. Conventional training in a gym doesn’t work.

Early Mornings, Late Nights, and a Lack of Control

You must avoid spending your life in a reactive state.

Reacting to things like your clients schedules, your gym’s rules, and the economy.

It might seem like you’re busy and I get it, there are only so many hours in the day, right?

Well the CEO of a Fortune 500 company has the same number of hours in a day as you. The difference is that he or she has better systems for making the most out of those hours. With these systems the business works for the CEO, not the opposite.

Most good trainers hit a wall. You can’t possibly work anymore. Look, I get it; I’ve been there.

My wife and I a month ago in Thailand where we lived for two months. We had to come home because she’s now 7 months pregnant. Photo credit: Tida Cha Photography]

If you want to work smarter, not harder, in fewer hours, while still providing your clients with an exceptional service there used to be 2 or 3 potential solutions:

1. You Could Start Your Own Gym.

The dream right? For some, this is a good option. However starting a club is difficult. You’ve no idea the hidden fees. There’s a reason why your gym might appear stingy or has protocols in place that you don’t necessarily agree with. I’m not saying that you can’t do it better. But to be a businessperson is a completely different skillset than being a trainer.

Note from TG: HERE’s a post explaining why this exact “thing.” Why it’s a BIG mistake to think the holy mecca is gym ownership. It’s not.

2. You Could Rise Within the Ranks of Your Club Into Management.

The Peter Principle states that, “in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence”.It goes on to state that, “employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively”.

Similar to starting a gym, becoming a manager sounds good at first (the power, the ego-drive, etc.) but approach the position with caution. Managing other people is an incredibly difficult job and an entirely different skill set than training and managing a client load.

3. Multi-Level Marketing or Similar.

I’ll take a passage from one of my books, Ignite the Fire, here:

“The idea is attractive but very few are actually successful. You’re often forced to purchase the product yourself and it can be costly. Most people don’t have the requisite hustle, network, or marketing acumen to make a legitimate go of it. Not only that, the supplements are almost always poor-quality.

Read the ingredients carefully and look for independent third-party studies. Even if the supplement is of good quality, I’ve found that multi-level marketing companies sell supplements that are overpriced. It makes sense, and in fact providing such an attractive commission structure requires it. Finally, you’ll feel pressure to involve your close family and friends and this is not a position that I’d want my worst enemy to be in.”

In order to be successful and live a long, prosperous life as a trainer you must become proactive, and in order to do that, you must innovate. You need a new model.

The New Model i.e. The Best Solution That I’ve Found:

Imagine if there was a solution to every problem that is stopping you from turning your job into a prosperous and fulfilling career with ample freedom.

Imagine being in complete control of your schedule, to be able to charge less, make more, and offer just as good (or an even better) service.

Well it exists. But before I discuss it, I want to say something.

I’m not married to any idea. I’m about to discuss why online training or meshed online / in-person training is the best solution. When done right, it’s the solution that you might be looking for.

I came into this search for a solution with an open mind looking for whatever worked best and online training hit all-important points. What followed was 2.5 years of developing, testing, tweaking, and more testing of the best systems for delivering an exceptional online training service.

Since 2013 I’ve been teaching trainers how to either supplement their in-person training with online training or train clients online full-time. The Online Trainer Academy is the most current evolution of this process. Complete with a textbook, workbook, digital portal, and all scripts, worksheets, templates, and anything else that you’ll need, the Academy is the world’s first certification in online training that doubles as a business development course.

 

The physical Online Trainer Academy materials. Not pictured here are all digital materials.

Imagine creating a reliable and consistent source of income — one that you can depend on month-to-month. Or, if you’re a gym owner, imagine being able to attract and keep trainers by offering something different in addition to adding another reliable monthly income stream to your bottom line.

Online training is still relatively new and, like all new things that have tremendous potential, some have already jumped on the bandwagon without much thought.

Whether or not you enroll in the Academy, I want to help you get started with online training. Here’s the 3 biggest mistakes unprepared, yet well intentioned, trainers make when making the transition.

3 Biggest Mistakes (well-intentioned) Trainers Make When Starting or Growing an Online Training Biz-ness

 3 is actually the perfect number.

They are: 1) bad support systems 2) offering too much and 3) taking on the wrong type of clients.

I’ll go into detail on each below. Before I do that, let me say that building an efficient and effective online training business is akin to what we teach our clients: build a strong base and grow from there. Don’t slap on extras before you’ve got your foundation.

Right, here’s a bit more on each of the 3 mistakes and what to do to avoid them:

1) Bad Support Systems

Email will drive you crazy. It sounds nice to offer “unlimited email support” but that doesn’t help the client and wastes your time. It doesn’t help the client because it creates dependence and it doesn’t help you because it takes away your control and freedom – the two reasons why most add online training.

You need to establish a precedent. My suggestion is to tell your clients that they can send you one email a week. That email has to be point form. Each point is one question. And each point is no longer than 3 sentences. They can send as many points as they want. You pick one day to answer all emails – say Sunday morning.

The reasons for this tightly-controlled system are numerous, but here’s a few:

  • Most people aren’t writers. Forcing point form avoids the wall of words.
  • Forcing clients to create a list and send you it at once means that only the important questions get asked.
  • You can block off your time. Setting aside an hour or two once a week to do all email support adds back a level of freedom and control into your life.

You can always offer additionally support if needed on an off-the-cuff basis.

2) Bad Program Offerings

In a similar vein to my point above, online trainers need to think critically about what they are going to offer as part of their training packages.

Allow me to illustrate this with an example:

The first systems I built for online trainers were given to 24 beta participants. One day I got a message saying that a trainer was worn out. He was working more and making less – not what online training is meant to do. We got on the phone. Here’s what he was offering:

  • 1 hour Skype check-in call/week
  • Program design
  • Nutrition design
  • 24/7 email support
  • $199/month

Steve charged $75/hr for in-person training. When we spoke he told me that it takes 3hrs for him to design the program and nutrition. Ignoring the email support, he was offering 7hrs of his time for $199/month, or $28/hr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A

 

Because Steve didn’t think critically about his systems he was training at a loss of $329 per client each month. Just because you’re working online doesn’t mean that you’re working smarter. No wonder he was burnt out!

My advice to you is this: when deciding about your program offerings base the pricing off of how much time it will take you per month to deliver the service and go from there.

3) Taking on the Wrong Type of Clients

Maintaining a high quality service online requires more proactive and lateral thinking than training in-person does. The reason is simple: in-person you can be reactive. Online you have to anticipate problems and plan for them so that they never happen.

To do this requires an in-depth knowledge of the client you’re going to train. It means that you need to be a lot more selective of your clientele. It’s also why I don’t recommend trainers who have less than a year’s experience working in-person invest in the Online Trainer Academy.

For example: If I train a 30-35 year old working professional male with no serious injuries I can predict that he probably works at a desk. If I work further down the chain it’s likely that he will have some troubles with the bench press (shoulder impingement). Obviously there are exceptions, but bear with me.

For this client I might substitute an incline neutral grip dumbbell press for the bench press in anticipation of a problem that may arise.

It all comes down to knowing your client. High quality online training is possible but only if you take on the right type of clients for you.

My suggestion is to identify the 2-3 key client avatars that you deal with. Be specific.

Female, aged 30-40 with one client less than 6 months post-partum.

Male 40-55 was a college athlete but let things slide and has some lingering knee issues.

Whatever.

Figure out who you know best and only take them on as online clients. In-person you can take on a wider variety.

Tomorrow is the LAST Day to Enroll

Everything is laid out for you. All the tools you’ll need to help you build a legitimate online training business is here. Nothing shady, nothing nefarious. What have you got to lose?

I don’t point people in the direction of things I don’t believe in or that I don’t believe works, and I get it, some of you may be thinking……”this s*** is expensive!” And you’re right. But:

1) This will easily pay for itself (and then some x a bazillion jillion) if you put in the work.

2) You can write it off.

3) It’s gluten free.

4) Scrumptious.

—-> Online Trainer Academy <—-