Categoriescoaching personal training

Training Athletes vs. General Population Clients

A few years ago, while presenting at the NSCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, I mentioned to the crowd that I don’t work with a lot of athletes anymore.

By choice.

Copyright: yuran-78 / 123RF Stock Photo

Training Athletes vs. General Population Clients

Instead, I explained that currently 90-95% of my clientele are made up of general population clients.

You know, “normal” people.

What’s more, I noted that I actually preferred training them over professional athletes.

There was a cacophony of crickets chirping and cold, blank stares. You would have thought I had just told the crowd I had given up everything just so that I could go walk the land and practice kung-fu.

via GIPHY

During the subsequent Q&A later that day I had a handful of people approach to ask if I was okay and whether or not I needed medical attention for saying something so blasphemous me to further elaborate my comment from earlier:

“So, uh, you said you stopped training athletes to work with general population clients.

Like, why?”

Here’s What I Said

Before I peel back that onion, I think it’s important to address the elephant in the room.

I think the overlying credo in the fitness industry is that once you get to the point where you’re working with (professional) athletes or celebrities you’ve somehow “made it.”

You’re elite.

You can now write your memoir.1

Woman hold notebook. Book notes for the Story of my life. Personal memoirs notes concept.

Quick Aside: I also feel there’s a tendency for people within the industry to give more credence or credibility to certain certifications over others. For example if someone is a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) they’re obviously smarter and more qualified than a lowly CPT (Certified Personal Trainer)….and they can probably walk on water.2

Certifications are great and all (and necessary to some degree), but I guess I fall into the camp that tries not to place too much weight on the letters next to someone’s name, and more so on their experience and overall track record.

I get it: Training Gary from accounting doesn’t attach itself to as much prestige and luster as, say, an NFL player or Zac Efron.

However, as my friend and colleague, Mike Connelly, eloquently stated back in the day:

We all train people. Whether or not they get paid to play a sport does not change their “peopleness” nor does it impact your status as an elite trainer. You either know what you’re doing or you don’t and there is plenty of both on either side.

Training professional athletes and actors has its benefits and setbacks, as does training general population clients.

I’ve been fortunate to work with people on both sides of the fence.

I can tell you that throughout my career I’ve been every bit as excited watching one of my female clients nail her first strict, bodyweight chin-up as when I was watching an athlete of mine make his Major League debut.

Fun Tony Factoid: I watched one of my former athletes make his Big League debut the night of my Bachelor party.

Anyways, far be it from me to tell you which is the better fit or more rewarding route to take.

All I can do is speak for myself.

Speaking of which, how about I finally STFU and get to the meat and potatoes of the post.

“Tony, why did you CHOOSE to not work with pro athletes?”

Here’s What I Actually Said

1. You’re not my Mom, you can’t tell me what to do.

2. The truth is I still do train athletes.  My previous coaching position was at an institution – Cressey Sports Performance – which is known for working with a metric boat load of professional athletes.

Especially overhead athletes.

So, in effect, me switching gears and not training (professional) athletes at the same abundance was very much a result of that.

I simply am not around them as much compared to the past.

Rest assured, though, if Mike Trout wanted to train at CORE I wouldn’t turn him away….;o)

3. When I decided to leave CSP and open up my own small studio in Boston I knew the demographic I’d be catering to the most would be normal, everyday, all-I-want-to-do-is-to-be-able-to-pick-my-kid-up-and-not-hate-life people.

Partly because of the location of my studio, and partly because that’s what I wanted to do.

Don’t get me wrong: I loved working with athletes – and I still do.

However, as far as absolute joys in my life are concerned, outside of a good tickle fight, a heaping bowl of ice-cream, or rough-housing with my 5-year old, I have always gotten more out of helping “regular peeps” nail their first 2x bodyweight squat or helping someone finally conquer his or her’s chronic low-back pain.

I wanted to get back to former and the joy it brought me.

So that’s what I did.

Bye Felicia.

 

Besides, I don’t feel there’s any less pedigree of coaching involved at accomplishing any of the things mentioned above compared to improving someone’s VO2 max or vertical jump from 31 to 32 inches.

In fact, this quote from Vince Gabriele sums things up nicely:

I get more satisfaction helping a level 3 become a level 7, than a level 8 becoming a level 9. The former is so much more rewarding.

4. Also, if I really wanted to be honest with any young fitness professionals reading:

  • There’s more general population clients out there in the world than there are professional athletes. It’s an inevitable mathematical likelihood that, despite how important you feel you are and that only the elite of the elite can (and should) be privy to your superior training methodologies, you may, never, work with professional athletes.
  • But if you do, training athletes can provide a level of prestige that can be leveraged to garner more business.3 That said, and I think a lot of gym owners will agree with this, it’s general population clients that pay the rent and often result in more consistent revenue.

Something to think about.

And That’s That

If anything I hope this little rant resonates with those who may struggle with the notion that they’re “less qualified” because they don’t work with athletes , models, actors, or clowns.

That’s a bunch of hogwash.

Maturity in a trainer/coach is revealed in ‘the process of progress’ rather than who’s connected to it.4

Categoriescoaching fitness business

6 Reasons to Consider the Semi-Private Training Model

I started my career as a personal trainer back in 2002.

To give a little perspective on how long ago that was:

  • Joe Millionaire was one of the top-rated television shows that year.
  • The standard reaction to anyone requesting almond milk was one of two things: 1) a cold, blank stare into the abyss or 2) a cold, blank stare into the abyss followed by a definitive “the fuck outta here. Making milk out of almonds? What’s next…making pizza crust out of cauliflower?”
  • MTv still played music videos.
  • Smart phones and social media didn’t exist.

More to the point…the concept of semi-private training didn’t really exist either.

Copyright: ramain / 123RF Stock Photo

What Is Semi-Private Training?

There are a few iterations of semi-private training, so I think it behooves the conversation to make a clarification first:

Example #1 = One program for a small group, generally in the ballpark of 10+ people.

Example #2 = Individual programs with a group of people (usually 2-4) training at the same time.

Example #3 = One program, one chain saw, 14 ninjas, last person standing wins.

For this article I’m referring to option #2.5

As I mentioned above I started my career as a personal trainer working almost exclusively with clients in a one-on-one fashion.

I can’t stress this enough:

“You need to be good at training ONE person before you start training a group.”

I have zero doubts the five years I spent working with people one-on-one helped to dampen the shock when I eventually started working with several people at once.

To that end, it wasn’t until 2007, when I co-founded Cressey Sports Performance with Eric Cressey and Pete Dupuis, that I got first-hand experience with the semi-private training model.

Up until then there weren’t many fitness professionals, let alone commercial or privately owned facilities, utilizing this model…and full credit has to go to Alwyn Cosgrove for serving as the nudger and architect for us adopting it.

He and Eric had many, many conversations on the matter, and considering Alwyn had built one of the most successful training studios in the country – Results Fitness located in Newhall, CA – utilizing this approach, who were we to question it?

That would have been like telling Gandalf “nah, I think we’re good. We can handle Mordor on our own”

 

Compound that with the fact Eric, Pete, and myself knew we’d be catering to the athletic population and that we very much wanted to emulate more of a collegiate strength & conditioning vibe it seemed like a no-brainer.

Long Story Short: The model worked (for us) and today more and more facilities (and individual coaches) are seeing the merits of the semi-private training approach.

Long Story Short (Part II): I left CSP in 2015 to start my own small studio in Boston. And even though I now work predominately with gen’ pop’ clients I still use this model and see many benefits.

Long Story Short (Part III): I am not implying CSP is responsible for the semi-private explosion. But I’d like to think we – along with other facilities such as I-FAST (Mike Robertson & Bill Hartman), Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning, Mark Fisher Fitness, and many others – have helped to promote its popularity over the years.

WU-TANG!

via GIPHY

Tony, For the Love of God, Shut up, and Tell Me WHY I Should Adopt the Semi-Private Training Model?

1. Yes, It’s Safe

The most prominent argument I’ve seen against semi-private training is that it’s dangerous. The rationale being that people aren’t getting the attention they need and, as a result, things inevitably deteriorate to the point where everyone’s running around with scissors in their hands.

Well, if that’s the case then CrossFit, Bootcamps, and Aerobic and Spin classes are the fitness industry’s equivalent of getting into a hugging match with a grizzly bear while wearing a steak vest.

I think it was Alwyn Cosgrove, fittingly enough, who made the best rebuttal of date to this train of thought:

People learn to swim and shoot guns in a group setting.”

I think we can pump the brakes on the whole “danger wagon” scenario.

2. People Stay Motivated

I think most people have an inherently competitive side and to that end tend to work harder and (are more motivated) when they’re surrounded by like-minded individuals getting after it in the gym.

total body workout group training

Most humans feed off the energy of others. On many occasions I can think of instances where clients end up getting competitive and try to push each other’s envelope.

Of course, it’s important to reiterate to clients not to compare themselves to others and that it’s no big deal if “so and so” can perform seven chin-ups or squat a house and they can’t.

I often use the term “progress, not perfection” when certain clients get too caught up the comparison game. So long as they see improvements (even small, incremental ones) over the course of time that’s all that matters.

That said, it’s uncanny how a group environment will often bring out people’s competitive side and nudge them to work a little harder.

3. Be Part of a Community

I’m biased, but my clients are the shit.

They’re cool.

They’re jacked.

And they’re just overall a bunch of amazing human beings with diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences.

It’s not uncommon for clients to want to schedule sessions at the same time or to hang out outside of the gym to hit up a concert together, go out to dinner, or, I suspect, sit around and write about how poetic my deadlift looks:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore)

The sense of being part of a community and the camaraderie it yields is an underrated if not unparalleled advantage to the semi-private model, and why so many people tend to stick around for the long haul.

4. See More Clients – Leverage Your Time – Make More Money

This past Monday I coached from 4 pm to 8 pm.

I saw ten clients during that time

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a four-hour “work day” compared to ten hours.6

Not only that, on a per hour basis, all someone has to do is basic math to see why the semi-private model works well from a money-making standpoint.

Lets say the average trainer makes $75 per session working with clients one-on-one.

That’s not too shabby.

The same trainer, however, could charge $50-$60/person in the semi-private format and make 2x (if not 3x) that much depending on the numbers:

Two People = $100-$120

Three People = $150-$180

Four People = $200-$240

via GIPHY

No doubt these numbers will need to be adjusted to take into account varying cost of living in different regions, but math is math.

As far as leveraging one’s time, the semi-private model is a strong candidate for most fitness professionals.

5. More Cost Effective For Clients

Pigging back on the above, the semi-private model is financially prudent for the client as well; it lowers the financial barrier.

Generally speaking this approach is 10-15% (maybe a smidge higher) cheaper compared to one-on-one training.

That may be the lone incentive someone needs to get them over the hump to seek out coaching services.

6. A Godsend For Introverts

This last point takes a bit of personal angle and may not resonate with some of you reading, but as a self-proclaimed introvert, I can say the semi-private format has helped me a ton as a coach.

It sounds counterintuitive, but hear me out.

I can turn on the charm and be extroverted when I need to. The common misconception about introvertedness and extrovertedness is that they’re both on a spectrum; neither is a stagnant, set-in-stone thing. What’s more, those who identify as introverted are (usually) not socially awkward or a recluse.

A person deprived of communication with society. Difficulties in integrating into society

Sure, they may like to spend more time with cats than the average person, but they can turn it on or otherwise be the center of attention if need be

However, what “being introverted” really refers to is how a certain individual prefers to re-charge. After marinating in social circles yhey tend to re-charge by being in their own thoughts, at a bookstore, watching a movie alone, or, I don’t know, looking out the window contemplating when season 2 of Squid Game will finally come out.

Now, it’s not lost on me that part of why some people hire a coach is so that the coach can serve as the spark or center of energy.

I find this latter point infinitely more challenging when working strictly one-on-one with clients (especially with fellow introverts) and the impetus falls on me to be the curator of conversation.

Me: “Soooo, you watch Game of Thrones?”

Client: “Yeah.”

Me: “Dragons are cool.”

Client: “Yeah.”

Me: “Okie dokie, ready for your next set of deadlifts?”

Client: “Yeah.”

Me: “Excuse me while I go throw an ax into my face.”

When on the gym floor with a group of people, and the music’s blaring, and everyone’s moving around doing their thing, I typically don’t have to generate any gab.

It just happens organically amongst the group.

THANK GOD.

Some Cons to Semi-Private Training

Semi-private training isn’t all butterfly kisses and rainbows.

1. Some Clients Get Less Attention

Semi-private training is akin to hosting a party, and every client is a guest. The last thing I want to do is socialize with one lone person the entire night (unless it’s Kate Beckinsale) while everyone else is left twiddling their thumbs in the foyer.

Some clients may get irritated and feel they’re not getting enough coaching, and that’s a very valid point to bring up.

I do feel if you take the time to do your due diligence and structure things accordingly – maybe offer a few “ramping” or introductory classes so people can learn some basics, cueing, etc – this is a non-issue.

However, some people just won’t be a good fit for the semi-private model and it’s important to have referrals (or systems) set in place to accommodate them.

2. I Wouldn’t Jump In Right Away

After reading this post the last thing you need to do is contact all your clients and tell them you’re revamping your entire business model and that everyone’s going to be training BFF’s moving forward.

If you do I guarantee you’ll be receiving a few emails with the title:

“Fuck this shit, I’m out.”

Ease your way into things.

Maybe block out a few set hours per week to give the semi-private approach a test drive and to allow an opportunity for a few of your clients to get their feet wet with the concept.

3. It Can Be Draining

Working with several people at once isn’t everyone’s bag.

It can be very draining.

I get it.

Some people prefer working with people one-on-one and that’s totally cool. Many fitness pros still do it, do it very well, and are very successful with it.

There’s no real right or wrong here.

Except, you know, you should do it….;o)

Categoriesbusiness coaching

The 4 Steps to Never Ending Growth

My good friend and colleague, Gavin McHale, is back with another excellent guest post today. He’s been on a tear of late writing some stellar content for this site.

We’re all our own worst enemy, and for many, stepping outside our comfort zones and taking risks (calculated or not) in an attempt to grow our fitness business can be a daunting (if not sphincter clenching) task.

Gavin provides some sage advice how how to NOT let this happen moving forward.

Enjoy!

Copyright: olegdudko

The 4 Steps to Never Ending Growth

It was the summer of 2014 when I first read a blog article alluding to the “laptop lifestyle.” 

I was immediately hooked.

Not because I was hoping to sip mai tai’s on the beach while my clients worked their asses off to a shitty, templated training program like the article seemed to suggest would be the case, though.

While I had some thoughts of grandeur that my life would drastically change, I was mostly aware that this lifestyle the blogger spoke of wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies.

So I did what any 27-year-old personal trainer with zero business or marketing experience would do. I paid someone too much money to build me a (shitty) website and started an Instagram page for my business. I had no plan or idea what I was doing, but I knew this was part of the path to laptop lifestyle freedom.

It had to be, right?

I’ll throw a few blogs up on the website and make some educational posts on Instagram and they’ll be flinging their credit cards my way, salivating to buy my yet-to-be-figured-out online training programs.

I’m sure you already know that didn’t happen.

For the weeks and months following, I got crickets.

via GIPHY

So, like any savvy business person would do when no one is buying the high-priced 1-on-1 online training option, I lowered my prices. In fact, I went all the way from offering $1000 training services to $29 e-books.

Guess how many of those I sold.

And even though this little story is quite fun in hindsight, neither of those decisions were where I truly went wrong, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

As my online business continued to flounder and take up more and more of my time and energy, I began to become soured to the whole process. 

My in-person training business was still ticking along as it had been for several years now. 

  • 6:30AM-12:30PM – chalk full semi-private sessions
  • 3:30PM-6:30PM – mostly full private and semi-private sessions

Evening hockey practice to make some extra cash, toiling away in a freezing cold rink once a week all winter.

Rinse, repeat.

via GIPHY

The issue wasn’t even really the money at the time.

I was making enough to pay the bills and live comfortably.

I could pay the mortgage and put food on the table, but it was the way in which I was making it that wasn’t working for me.

I now realized my potential income was choked out by the amount of hours and energy I had, and that if I ever wanted a different lifestyle that included things like seeing my spouse or having a family, things would need to be different.

And as I continued to grind for 60 hours a week, while trying unsuccessfully to build a more sustainable business online during every single non-gym-floor hour, my ego led me to believe this wasn’t for me anymore.

What had started off as such a promising option 18 months before had become a stupid idea that “wasn’t for me.” 

I told myself I was an in-person coach (and I was a good one) and that online coaching was stupid and only for those who couldn’t make it in person.

I thought I was taking the righteous road.

I told myself this was the path and stood strong in that belief.

Except I kept seeing other good coaches, whom I respected, rapidly building online businesses. They were leveraging their skills into something that kept the quality while also being scalable. Some got to the point they were so busy they had to give up their in-person clients so they could focus on working from anywhere, at any time while raking in the cash.

Seriously… what the actual fuck?

Let’s get back to what went wrong here. I was caught in the Vicious Cycle of Imposter Syndrome.

Let me explain the steps of this cycle.

1. Feel Fear

Evil forest: Fear from the dark
Hey, Tony here. I attempted to look for an “inspirational” fear image to put here, but opted for this one instead. Excuse me while I go destroy the back of my pants.

It was scary to do something I wasn’t good at.

I had always been good at everything I tried – school, hockey, in-person training –  and when I wasn’t very good at marketing or using social media, I quit (because I was scared).

2. Make Excuses

The excuses comin’ out of me were so fast and believable, that I became an expert in them.

  • I was too good in-person.
  • I wasn’t built to work with people online; I’d rather be in person.
  • The market was saturated.
  • No one knew the guy from little old Winnipeg, Canada (as if location had anything to do with working online…).

I made such compelling arguments that even I started to believe them.

I see this in the trainers I speak to regularly. They have become so entrenched in this set of false truths that it’s hard to pull them out of it.

3. Don’t Take Action

Take action

Like I said earlier, I did take action originally. I started a social media page and made a website. I tried to sell training and e-books.

When none of it worked the way I expected it should, I stopped taking the actions required to build an online business. 

At the very least, I half-assed them, telling myself they wouldn’t work before I even hit publish or post.

I stonewalled my success before it even had a chance.

When that action proved to be more trouble than it was worth (fulfilling my prophecy), I gave up on it before it had a chance to succeed. 

And as you’ll see in the virtuous cycle of growth below, I missed one crucial step on the path to success, bringing it all crumbling down.

4. Expect Different Results

Through all of this, even though I was quickly spiraling and not seeing any results with the actions I was taking, I continued to hope for someone to fall through the cracks. 

I continued to make the same type of boring, educational, poorly written posts, expecting for more likes or thinking “this one will go viral”.

And what’s worse than going all in on something and failing is half-assing it, hoping it will work out but deep down knowing what you’re doing is not working and will never work.

Because I didn’t look for another way, I just kept ramming a square peg into a round hole, while it kept trying to tell me to do something different.

I allowed a lack of results to strengthen the resolve that I wasn’t good enough.

Does that pattern sound vaguely familiar?

I know this pattern too well, not only because I repeated it over and over for 18 months (and still fall into it sometimes), but because I see and hear trainers – really good trainers – saying the exact same things to me on a weekly basis.

So the goal of my program is now to flip the script from the vicious cycle of imposter syndrome to the virtuous cycle of growth.

Virtuous Cycle of Growth

1. Feel Fear

Evil forest: Fear from the dark
Yup, still creepy AF

Notice how this step is the same in both the vicious and virtuous cycle? 

You’re never going to outrun fear. Fear will always be present. Your job is to feel it, harness it, and act anyway.

Fear and the parts of you that bring it to the surface are just doing their job. They’re just trying to keep you safe. 

It’s an evolutionary trait that has kept humans alive and evolving for thousands of years.

But being afraid of getting attacked by a lion in the desert is a lot different than being scared to ask someone if they need help with their training.

One results in possible (probable) death.

The other results in a hit to the fragile ego.

Very different.

2. Take Messy Action (Knowing It Will Be Incomplete Or Wrong)

Action is a funny thing, because it’s often the thing that’s scariest, but also the thing that will help you see that it’s not as scary as you think.

I’ve noticed that we’re all very good fiction writers in our own brains. We pen tragic and imaginative stories about what will happen when we ask the person out, how our clients will react to a price increase and what all our friends will say behind our backs when we make that vulnerable post.

And the only way to know that’s not the case, is to take the fucking action.

  • Ask them out.
  • Raise your prices (more than you think).
  • Make the post.

The messier, the better. 

Because I never learned anything from an A+ on a test. But, if you handed me back a D, I’d sure as shit study harder next time.

3. Seek Feedback

Here’s the super important step I missed in my first attempt at building an online business.

I felt the fear and took action anyway. Maybe I was so naive that the fear didn’t even register, but I can give myself that.

What I missed was asking for feedback, or even looking for feedback. The pure lack of engagement on my social media content was trying to give me feedback. The lack of clicks and website visits after the initial surge from family and friends was trying to give me feedback.

The overall lack of any measurable results was trying to give me feedback.

Customer feedback and satisfaction conceptual image

But I was too proud to see it.

See, I always thought the only feedback came from parents or coaches or people who otherwise knew better than me.

I thought I had to ask, but in this case I had no one to ask.

And while a coach or mentor is absolutely valuable as an outside observer, feedback can be found after every single intentional action you take.

Did it produce the results I hoped for? Why or why not?

Keep asking questions and you’ll get the feedback you need to either change course or double down on what you’re doing.

I look at feedback as the final number in those annoying high school combination locks. You can do everything else – take messy action in the face of fear, but without feedback, you’re left running around like an idiot doing everything for everyone and never knowing what’s worked.

4. Recalibrate and Take More Messy Action

Here’s where the virtuous cycle really takes off.

Once you take an action (any action, really) and seek feedback, your next action is even more calibrated. The more you can repeat this process, the more calibrated and purpose-driven your actions will become.

In this scenario, there is no way you can lose.

You will either hit it out of the park, or you’ll learn, tinker and keep iterating until you hit it out of the park. 

Closing Thoughts

So, if you’re anything like I was back in my laptop lifestyle chasing days, things are probably going pretty well for you.

I will leave you with one final piece of advice before signing off, because the drive to take action on a blog post can be low when things are going pretty well.

The question you must ask is, “Is this what I want to be doing in 10 years?”

Is this my version of my “best life”?

If it is, GREAT

Use that as feedback and double the fuck down.

If it’s not, then it’s time you take some action, no matter how scared you are, towards the lifestyle and business you truly want. 

And believe me, it is possible.

After several coaches and tens of thousands of dollars invested, I built a hybrid business that paid me 6-figures a year and allowed me to travel for 3 weeks at a time while my clients still got great results and were waiting for me when I came back.

If I can do this, so can you.

About the Author

As a Kinesiology graduate, Gavin McHale quickly realized that following the traditional business model would lead to trading more time for more money.

Over the course of 8 years, Gavin built a 6-figure hybrid training business before founding the Maverick Coaching Academy in 2019.

Since then, Gavin has left the gym and gone all in helping other strength coaches build their businesses. He has made it his mission to fix the broken fitness industry and connect other amazing humans to the highest version of themselves.

Check out his FREE course for trainers, coaches and therapists that will kickstart your path to a more sustainable business.

The Coach’s Playground Podcast

MaverickCoachingAcademy.ca

IG – @gavinmchale1

 

CategoriesAssessment coaching Exercise Technique

Textbook Technique and Why it Doesn’t Exist

It’s not lost on me that the title of this post will raise some eyebrows. The title shouldn’t be taken too literally, because I do feel there are ideal approaches, methodologies, and “rules” to consider when coaching any lift in the weight room.

That said, when it comes to exercise technique (or human movement in general) why are textbooks the metric at which we compare everything?

Textbooks provide context, information, and sometimes make for handy coffee table improvers.

However, we don’t live in textbooks. What a squat, sprint, overhead press (or hell, even a carrot cake) looks like in a textbook can (and usually is) a stark contrast from what is emulated in real life.

Copyright: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/profile_spotpoint74'>spotpoint74 / 123RF Stock Photo</a>
Copyright: spotpoint74 / 123RF Stock Photo

Textbook Technique & Why It Doesn’t Exist

I do believe there are some universal tenets to coaching a deadlift or squat or bench press or kettlebell swing7 that will not only allow a client or athlete to marinate in its benefits, but to do so in a fashion that won’t increase their likelihood of injury (or their contributions to their physical therapist’s mortgage payments).

I’m interested in making people savages, but I’m also interested in the long-game. It wouldn’t bode well for business (or my reputation) if all of my client’s deadlifts looked like this:

To that end, with regards to universal tenets for deadlifting:

  • Loaded spinal flexion is a no-no.
  • That’s pretty much it.

If you’re following that one golden rule, you’re doing a better job than most. It’s sad, but true.

However, golden rule(s) aside, there are many intricate, more nuanced things to consider person to person. One’s training experience comes to mind. We can’t hold someone holding a barbell in their hands for the first time to the same standard as someone who’s been a competitive powerlifter for 17 years.

Likewise, someone with a vast and delicate history of lower back issues is not going to take the same path as someone with a “clean” health history. And, of course, other factors come into play such as goal(s), movement quality, favorite color, and anatomical/structural differences between individuals.

Someone with hips like this…

…is going to move differently – and presumably be coached differently – than someone with hips like this:

There are many, many fantastic resources out there that help to break down anatomy, assessment, biomechanics, joint positions, and what’s considered ideal exercise technique. I have my biases as to what I feel is correct – as does everyone – but it’s important to take every resource with a grain of salt, because…

“Textbook technique only exists in a textbook.”

When I heard Mike Reinold say this sentence years ago my immediate reaction was this:

via GIPHY

My second reaction was to start doing handstands down the sidewalk outside my apartment, but I didn’t.

You know, cause that’s fucking weird.

And because I can’t do a handstand.

Either way, what Mike said was/is 100% correct.

Textbook technique, in the real world, is every bit as much of a myth as detox diets making you pee rainbows or me riding a Dire wolf to work today

What we read or deem as “ideal” on paper, while often a great starting point for many people, doesn’t always translate to real-life. As coaches it’s important to understand this. Anytime we corner ourselves into one-train of thought or that any one thing applies to everybody, we’re doing the industry – and our clients/athletes – a disservice.

A Real-Life Example

A few months ago I started working with a woman who had been battling some low-back issues, yet wanted to hire me to take over her programming and help clean up her technique.

Specifically she wanted to hone in on her deadlift.

She was frustrated because no matter what she did (or who she worked with), her back always bothered her.

I like to be a fly on the wall and just watch people do their thing during an initial consult. I want to see what their default movement schemes are. In this case I set up a barbell on the floor, loaded it up with a weight I knew she could handle safely, and then asked her to do her thing. Her “default” stance was a conventional stance, and while it wasn’t the worst one I had ever seen, I could clearly see why her back may have been bothering her.

We had established earlier in her assessment that she lacked t-spine extension and her hip mobility wasn’t great either.

More to the point, after doing a simple hip scour and Rockback test, I surmised she was able to attain more hip flexion ROM with more hip abduction. An important point, as you’ll soon see.

Note: the Rockback test is a great assessment to use to figure out one’s “usable” ROM in hip flexion. The idea is to see if or when the lumbar spine loses positioning.

Bad Rockback Test

Notice when spine loses position.

 

Dead Sexy Rockback Test

Notice the spine stays relatively “neutral” throughout. Also, notice those triceps.

 

 

We can then compare what we see here with what we see on the gym floor.8

Going back to my client, she read a lot of articles and books on deadlifting, most of which told her that deadlifting = conventional stance. Always. Moreover, other coaches/colleagues she had consulted with in the past told her to use the conventional stance.

No exceptions.

This is what I mean by falling into the “textbook technique” trap. On paper everything sounds (and looks) great. Everyone can and should be able to conventional deadlift.

In real-life, though…not so much.

Here’s a before and after picture I took of my client. The top picture shows her original set-up with a conventional stance. The bottom demonstrates me putting her into a modified sumo stance.

sarah-z-deadlift

Immediate improvement in her lower & upper spine position. Having her adopt a wider stance better complimented her anatomy, which then resulted in an infinitely better starting position to pull (no lumbar flexion, improved t-spine extension).

What’s more, with that modification alone she noted there was zero pain.

She left that session feeling motivated and hopeful about training. A win-win if you ask me.

I posted the above picture on some social media accounts – explaining much of what I mentioned above. And wouldn’t you know it: I was called out by a handful of coaches.

One stated the problem wasn’t with her anatomy, but that the real issue was my poor coaching. A funny assertion given he wasn’t in the room with me. Another coach agreed stating something to the effect of:

“No client has walked into “x gym” and not have been able to perform a conventional deadlift after a little coaching on day #1.”

I guess all I could have done at the time was to just go fuck myself.

I demonstrated I was able to clean up someone’s deadlift and do so in a way that was pain-free, and yet, here I was being told by a crew of All-Star coaches I had failed because I didn’t have her conventional deadlift. My actions, apparently, were on par with drop kicking a baby seal in the mouth.

Pump the Brakes

I hope people can appreciate the narrow-mindedness of this type of thinking. To expect everyone to fit into the same scheme or way of doing things because that’s what YOU prefer to do (or because a textbook told you to do so) is about as narrow-minded as it comes.

No one has to conventional deadlift.

Likewise…

No one has to low-bar squat or squat with a symmetrical stance.

No one has to bench press or bench press with an aggressive lumbar arch.

And no one has to start watching Severence on Apple TV. Except, yes you do.

I’d argue a “good” coach understands and respects that everyone is different, and that he or she will be humble enough to put their own personal biases in their back pocket and appreciate there is no ONE way to perform any exercise.

Cater the lift to the lifter, and not vice versa.

Categoriescoaching personal training Program Design

The Importance of Feedback

I am currently galavanting around in my favorite place in the world…

…London.

I spent the weekend with my good friend Luke Worthington putting on our Strategic Strength Workshop and now I am in Day one of a three day introvert extravaganza. My plan is to do nothing but walk around the city, talk to as little people as possible, and eat carrot cake.

I am hoping to get a little writing in while here, but until inspiration strikes I have a lovely post today from another colleague of mine, Ottawa based personal trainer, Elsbeth Vaino.

Enjoy!

Copyright: niroworld

The Importance of Feedback

“That was awesome!”

“Good job!”

“You are on fire today!”

Everyone likes to hear they’re doing well, and the feedback you give clients can take their workout up a level or two. If their form isn’t the best, feedback can help them get the more out of that exercise. But that’s actually not the kind of feedback I want to talk about.

I want to talk about the feedback you ask for from your clients.

No, not about how well you’re doing, although it is nice to hear clients tell you how much of an impact you are having on their life.

The best feedback is the stuff your clients tell you about the exercises they’re doing. I’ll be honest that I only clued into this gem a few years ago, which means I spent way too long training clients without all the facts. I don’t even remember why I started asking “where do you feel that?” and “how does that exercise feel?”, but I do remember how high my eyebrows shot up at some of the answers.

via GIPHY

Me: “How’s that plank treating you?”

Client: “I love it. It’s a great back exercise!”

Me:

 

Me: “Where do you feel that most?” (asking about a glute bridge)

Client: “Here.” (pointing to her quads)

Client: “Here.” (pointing to the low back on his up-leg side)

Client: “Here.” (pointing to his hamstrings)

Me:

 

Me: “How easy or hard is that?” (asking before their second set of split squats)

Client: “It’s really hard on the left leg and pretty easy on the right.”

Me: “Where do you feel that most?”

Client: points to the left quad. (while doing the exercise with the right foot forward)

Client: points to the left quad. (while doing the exercise with the left foot forward)

Me:

via GIPHY

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest I’m not the only trainer whose clients feel some exercises in unexpected ways. I’m not saying there’s anything inherently wrong with the responses above, but I am saying that if you put a glute bridge in someone’s program, you’re probably doing it with the goal of strengthening their glutes, not their quads or hip flexors.

Sometimes form issues in an exercise are easy to spot, with obvious ones being round-back deadlifts, or deadlifts where the person clearly pulls up from their back vs drives from their legs and hips. But the truth is, sometimes an exercise looks good, but still isn’t accomplishing what we think it is.

In addition to clients telling me they feel muscles in a way I don’t expect, sometimes they also give visual clues. If you or your client is stretching or rubbing the low back right after an exercise, ask why. The answer is almost always one of two things:

  • It’s just a habit
  • The back feels tight.

If the back feels tight after doing an exercise that isn’t intended to work the low back, something unexpected is probably going on.

If you’re on board with the concept that maybe you (or your clients) aren’t getting what is expected out of some exercises, the next question should probably be: “what can you do about it?” Thankfully it’s not super hard.

Here are the steps I suggest:

Step 1: Make Sure You Understand What the Exercises You’re Doing Are Supposed to Be Working

Some are simple: glute bridges should primarily work the glutes, side planks work the sides (aka obliques), planks work the abs, split squats and lunges work the legs, primarily the front of the front one. Most rows work primarily the upper back, while bench press is primarily about the chest.

No idea what this works

Some are less simple as they work more muscles. Deadlifts work basically everything, but really, the low back is just stabilizing while the legs and upper back do the heavy lifting. Given that, if you ask your client how they feel after deadlifts and they mention their back is sore or tight, odds are something is off. Similarly, squats work almost everything but it’s mostly a lower body exercise.

If you’re not sure, find out, because this is important. How? If you have a trainer, ask them. If not, check in with a book or articles from one of the trainers on the internet whose stuff you think is good.

Step 2: Find Out What’s Actually Happening By Watching and Asking

“Where do you feel that most?” “How does that feel?” Ask yourself/your client upon arrival “how are you?” or “how did you feel after the last workout?”

Does the answer match the goal? If yes, great! Carry on. If not, now what?

Step 3: Coach, Adapt, or Replace

Pretty much every exercise issue can be solved by one of these three things, and in my opinion, they should be tried in that order.

Try to re-coach it first (or review the form if you’re doing your own thing). As trainers, we can be quick to assume that if an exercise isn’t performed properly, we need to bring in approaches to correct it but maybe the person just didn’t fully understand the movement. Before assuming you need to adapt the movement, coach it again – with different words if you need to.

Young woman and personal trainer rest in the gym after workout

If that doesn’t get the desired result, then try to adapt. There are lots of options:

  • Add a riser to limit the range of motion (maybe temporarily)
  • Add a band to help the person feel the intent of the exercise (e.g. band around the knees in a squat)
  • Move the arms from the floor to a bench for the plank or side plank (if you or your clients have ever felt planks or side planks in your back more than abs or obliques, or in your shoulder and neck this is a game-changer)

Did that work?

If so, great! If not, try another adaptation if you know one.

If that still doesn’t work, replace it with something else.

Contrary to what the internet wants you to believe, there is no exercise that you have to do. (ducks to avoid the lightning). And most of the time there are other exercises that will actually achieve the desired outcome for you or your client.

Here is how I have addressed a few of the examples noted above:

The plank that works the low back:

Planks

Coach it: “Think about shortening the distance between the bottom of your ribs and the top of your pelvis, and I want you to stop if you start to feel it in your back.” In this case, if they make it to twenty seconds before it goes into the back, we keep the plank as is, with the goal of twenty becoming twenty-five and then thirty… If after a few workouts, it’s still at twenty, we move to adapt it.

Adapt it: “I want you to do the same thing, but this time with your forearms on a bench.” I’m not sure who decided that planks from the floor is where everyone should start, but in my experience, there are a lot of people who should be starting with an incline plank. This adaptation is often a game-changer. Once the person can get to a minute at an incline, we try moving to the floor, while coaching them to stop if they start to feel it more in the back than the abs.

Replace it: In this case, we rarely have to replace it, but if need be, dead bugs can be a good option, although they might need coaching to ensure the back doesn’t arch.

Single-leg glute bridges felt mostly in the hamstrings:

Female doing single leg glute bridge

Coach it: ”Push your hips up as you press your foot into the ground and also think about pressing your toes through the front of your shoes”.

Adapt it: Provide some extra support by switching to a 1.5 leg glute bridge where you have both feet on the floor, but only put as much pressure on the second foot as you need to feel the glute working.

 

Replace it: Try a cable hip extension or two leg hip thrust.

 

Split squat for the side where it is felt more in the back leg:

Coach it: “Lean forward at the hip and when you get to the bottom, really drive the front foot into the floor to push yourself up.”

Adapt it: Put a band around the front knee and pull it forward as they do the movement.

Replace it: Switch to a lateral stepup (or a reverse lunge.

About the Author

Elsbeth Vaino is a personal trainer and gym owner at Custom Strength in Ottawa, Canada, where she and her team primarily train regular people who don’t love the gym but do like what going to the gym allows them to do. Before becoming a trainer, she worked as an electronic warfare engineer (you know, same old story). Check her out on Instagram (HERE) for exercise videos or head to her blog (HERE) for those who prefer words.

Categoriescoaching fitness business Program Design psychology

6 Ways to Instill Success In Your Clients’ Training Programs

The answer is easy: Tell them to add more weight to the barbell.

LOLOLOLOL.

I’m kidding (sort of).

Facetiousness aside9, I wanted to spend some time discussing a few strategies you can (hopefully) implement today that will make the training programs you write for your athletes and clients more successful.

Businessman target for success

6 Ways to Instill Success In Your Clients’ Training Programs

“Successful” in this context means 1) your clients continue to show up (bills need to be paid, yo!), 2) your clients don’t hate you (most of the time) and 3) as a corollary to your Jedi-like coaching skills, you turn all your clients into deadlifting Terminators.

I.e., they get results.

We often bog ourselves down harping over details like optimal exercise selection, exercise order, set/rep schemes, rest intervals, or even which type of muscle fibers are firing during which exercise.

Of course, this is not to insinuate all of the above aren’t important, they are. Except maybe the last one. If you’re going into that much detail with your coaching on something that won’t matter of 99.2% of the population, it’s safe to say you might be over-thinking things.

However, as fellow fitness pro Jonathan Pietrunti noted on my Facebook wall recently:

“If we don’t focus on bolstering the client’s intrinsic motivation and fostering self-efficacy, they aren’t going to show up for long, regardless of how awesome are programming is on the movement/physiological side of the house.”

You can design something worthy of a Program Design Pulitzer, but if your client would rather wash his or her’s face with broken glass than perform another front squat or set of bench pressing with tempo contrast, you’re failing.

You’re failing, hard.

1. Understand People Are Different (and That They’re Not You)

  • Powerlifters like to train people like powerlifters.
  • Bodybuilders like to train people like bodybuilders.
  • Kettlebell aficionados like to train people with kettlebells.
  • CrossFitters like to do #whateverthefuck.

Any well-thought out training program should fit the needs and goals of the client.

That goes without saying.

A mistake I find many fitness professionals make is that they write programs catered to what they like or how they prefer to train.

I don’t feel this is wrong per se; it’s only natural to default to your strengths and/or personal beliefs and methodologies. Where it becomes a problem is when we gravitate towards a specific modality at the expense of, well, everything.

I remember having a conversation with one of my young athletes recently who’s a rather big dude for his age. He mentioned in passing (and I am paraphrasing here) that his football coach wanted everyone to squat the same way:

  • Same foot width.
  • Same stance.
  • Same bar position.
  • Like a bunch of robots

Man performing a crossfit back squat exercise

He then demonstrated the exact stance his coach told him to use and maybe hit 70 degrees of hip flexion.

Let’s just say that if what he showed me was seen at an FMS workshop, people would become visibly sick to their stomachs.

I simply asked him him to widen his stance significantly and to externally rotate his feet a bit so his toes pointed outward.

He was able to hit a beautiful depth. Thus saving himself from the wrath of internet warriors everywhere.

(NOTE: I am not a depth Nazi. To me squat depth is arbitrary and all I am really concerned with is someone finding whatever depth they’re able to “own” & control. If it’s past 90 degrees, cool. If not, that’s cool too.10Either way we’re going to train the hell out of it.

The point being: If he had followed his coach’s poor squatting advice, assuming everyone is supposed to squat the same way, he may have never realized his full potential.

Everyone is different, and it’s important to respect unique leverages and anthropometry as it relates to not only squatting, but any lift.

Programming based around your client’s goals is paramount. But it’s also important to tweak any lift to fit the needs (and abilities) 0f the trainee, not vice versa.

2. Ensure Success in Every Session

This seems a bit redundant, I know.

“You write a post on how to instill success in a training program and you’re telling me in order to do so I need to….ensure success? Wow, Tony, that’s revolutionary. What’s next: telling me that in order to improve my vertical jump I should jump higher?”

The best analogy I can offer is the whole concept behind “girl push-ups.”

No, I’m not referring to a woman performing push-ups, which would make sense. Instead, I’m referring to the lame premise of women performing push-ups from their knees. I.e., “girl push-ups.”

I hate the connotation and message this sends.

Oh, you can’t do an actual push-up? That’s okay, lets pander to societal norms on engenderment, plant the idea in your head at an early age that women must train differently from men (flexed arm hang test vs. chin-up test), and do “girl push-ups” rather than take the time to coach and progress you accordingly.

If I’m working with a female client and she can’t perform a push-up (from the floor) – usually due to a core weakness or lack of lumbo-pelvic-hip control – I find it more productive to OMIT the “you’re a girl so lets do this instead” mantra, and instead demonstrate to her that she can do the exercise.

Either by having her perform elevated push-ups in a ROM where’s she successful, or possibly having her perform a band-assisted push-up, like so:

 

In both scenarios I’m addressing the actual weak-link (a weak core, or the basic novelty of the exercise) and not just tossing my hands in the air and relinquishing programming control to the fact she has a vagina.

I’m coaching.

And not only that I’m going out of my way to ensure a sense of accomplishment/success in each session.

This, my friends, is the key.

That and…..

3. Building Autonomy

Autonomy is the love-child of good coaching (and giving a shit).

Despite what some fitness pros may think, people aren’t paying you to count reps, they’re paying you to COACH.

On numerous occasions I’ve had new clients be taken aback when they realize I’m not counting their repetitions.

I’m too busy watching and coaching to count their reps.

Furthermore, I’ll tell all new clients that my goal is for them to “fire” me at some point. Not because I did something creepy like forget to wear pants, or, I don’t know, play Coldplay during heavy deadlifts.

No, I want them to (eventually) no longer need my services.

I want to make them their own best asset and advocate.

I want them to go on vacation or walk into a random gym and be able to “MacGyver” a workout in any scenario…whether we’re talking a fully-equipped training mecca or a rinky dink hotel gym that has nothing but a treadmill, dumbbells up to 35 lbs, and a roll of duct tape.

A Roll of Duct Tape

Dan John often speaks to program design being stripped down to nothing more than the squat, hip hinge, push, pull, single-leg variation, and carry.

Teach your clients that.

Force them to marinate in learning each category and what exercises belong where. In doing so they’ll eventually be able to jimmy-rig a workout without batting an eye.

They’ll become autonomous.

And a funny thing will happen: they’ll end up staying with you anyway because they understand the value you bring being a coach that actually coaches.

4. Provide Choice

I wrote about the power of choice in THIS article.

As it relates to providing fitness and program design services this can be a double-edged sword because:

  • If people knew what they were doing they wouldn’t hire us to make choices for them.
  • It’s often in their best interests to be told what they need to do and not what they want to do.

Taking away choice behooves them.

On the flip side, it can behoove us, the fitness professional, to offer some choice.

This can mean giving them the choice to pick their main lift of the day – Squat? Deadlift? Maximal frisbee toss?

Or maybe giving them the choice to pick the mode of the exercise. Say, a KB deadlift or a trap bar deadlift?

 

In the same vein, I’ve compromised with clients and “rewarded” them with a 5-10 minute window of doing whatever the they want – judgement free.

  • For many of my guys it’s all about the gun show – bis and tris baby!
  • For my ladies they’ll often congregate at the Hip Thruster

Whatever the case may be, offering your clients some choice is a splendid way to keep them motivated and engaged in their training.

5. Celebrate the Small Victories (Regardless of How Small They Seem)

I like to call this the Todd Bumgardner rule; although he has a much better way of stating it:

“Demonstrate unconditional positive regard.”

When I travel and workout at various commercial gyms I can’t help but observe other trainers in action.

Some are amazing. They’re engaged, actively coaching, and paying attention to their client, offering feedback and encouragement whenever it’s needed.

Others are, well, pretty shitty.

There’s zero effort in providing feedback. And if there is, it’s generally nothing more than a casual “nice job” or “way to go.”

via GIPHY

Celebrate the small victories!

You don’t need to do back flips or Parkour of the power racks when a client keeps their chest up during a squat.

But would a little enthusiasm hurt?

6. Simplicity For the Win

Consider this final point the Mise en place of the entire article.

I had a client admit that she was “frustrated” by the simplicity of the program I wrote for her. I took no offense, because it happens often.

Fast forward a few weeks, “Tony, I feel stronger and my lifts are going up!”

Strength coach nods approvingly.

I’m not the first to state this, but people tend to fall into the trap of adding stuff into their programs for the novelty, almost always at the expense of failing to take something OUT.

You can’t just keep adding more and more to a program and expect to make progress. Get rid of the superfluous BS that serves no purpose.

Moreover, fancy or elaborate looking exercises don’t equate to better. They great at receiving likes and vast applause on social media, but rarely do such exercises elicit actual results.[/efn_note]And I guaran-fuckin-tee that the person who posted the video doesn’t perform or utilize the exercise themselves in their own training.[/efn_note]

Categoriescoaching Nutrition

The Future of Fitness: Principle Based Coaching vs Plan Based Coaching

The fitness/health community isn’t much different than every other community out there.

It’s just as “tribal” as the next.

There are factions who feel that heavy back squats cure everything (except herpes11) and that not including them in a program is sacrilegious and that it’s impossible to add muscle or get stronger without them.

And at the opposite end of the spectrum there are those who think if you even look at a barbell you’ll turn into He-Man.

The same dichotomy plays out in the nutrition realm as well. One week dietary fat is the enemy, and the next you’re the spawn of Satan if you offer someone a Diet Coke.

In both cases many are failing to recognize that the key to long-term progress, and progress that sticks, is the concept of focusing on PRINCIPLES.

  • In order to lose weight you need to elicit a caloric deficit. There are myriad ways to to do so.
  • In order to gain muscle you need to elicit progressive overload. Squats. There are myriad ways to do so.

In today’s guest post via Michigan based trainer, Alex McBrairty (whom you may recall from THIS spectacular read), he elaborates more on this concept. 

 

Copyright: niroworld

The Future of Fitness: Principle Based Coaching vs. Plan Based Coaching

The fitness industry is failing.

After a decade of working as a fitness professional, I see firsthand how many of the most popular products and programs leave people worse off—with the only benefits going to the people selling the products and services.

But I believe this is changing.

Slowly, a new approach to fitness is emerging. It’s one based in sound reason, eliminating the need for marketing gimmicks and fads. It’s called principle-based coaching.

Principle-based fitness coaching uses practices and strategies informed by first principles—ideas, concepts, and information that we know to be objectively true. The most base layer knowledge; Ideas and insights from psychology, human physiology, nutrition, and exercise science.

It’s the type of information that most traditional fitness plans cherry-pick to sell their particular spin on fitness.

  • Paleo tries to limit processed foods.
  • Keto tries to limit carbohydrate intake.

In reality, both of these diets work because they limit calorie intake.

Healthy products for paleo diet

The first principle being applied in both cases is calorie management. To lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than you’re expending. Both of those diets approach this problem in a different, hyper-focused way.

This more traditional style of coaching is called plan-based fitness coaching. Plan-based coaching, as the name suggests, uses specific plans to help users see the intended results. The main pitfall of plan-based coaching is the extra leap these plans take to reach their conclusions.

Plan-based coaching takes the objective facts of first principles and then makes additional assumptions about them to reach different conclusions.

If calorie management is the first principle, a Paleo plan jumps to the conclusion that processed foods are the reason you overeat.

A Keto plan jumps to the conclusion that carbohydrates are the reason you overeat.

Plan-based coaches make unverified claims to leap from first principles to their principles.

This results in fitness plans that are rigid, inflexible, and disconnected.

For someone following a Paleo or Keto (or other) plan, there is a rigid structure for selecting which foods are “good” or “bad.” This leads to a lot of black and white thinking.

via GIPHY

“Good” Paleo foods are unprocessed, whole foods that our caveman ancestors consumed before agriculture. “Bad” Paleo foods are foods we didn’t begin to consume until we began to grow our own crops, including anything processed and produced in the modern era.

“Good” Keto foods are foods that are low in carbohydrates. High-fat foods like butter, bacon, cheese, or red meat are green-lit. “Bad” Keto foods are anything with carbohydrates. Don’t even think about consuming bread or pasta. Even fruit is considered bad in the Keto plan.

In each of these plans there is no room for nuance. There is good and there is bad. Pick a side.

It’s because of this rigidity that these plans are inflexible and less effective for most people.

The plan pays no attention to the accessibility of the good foods. Say you want to follow a Paleo plan but live in a food desert, where access to fresh, natural foods is scarce or nonexistent. In this reality, how can you stick to the tenets of such a rigid diet?

Just try harder.

At least, that’s the prevailing advice. And it isn’t much help.

Imagine that you attend a dinner party where you’re excited to see your friends. The food offered is a spread of vegetables, a bit of meat, some potatoes, and a fruit pie for dessert. If you’re following a Keto plan, instead of enjoying the company of your friends and eating sensibly, you spend your evening upset that the only thing you can eat is the meat.

via GIPHY

The specific rules of the diet force you into inflexible eating patterns, causing even more stress and deterioration in your relationship with food.

Because these plans are rigid and inflexible, they remain disconnected from the real lives of the people they attempt to serve.

They may be helpful for some individuals, but that list is very short. Plan-based coaching might help give people more direction and a clearer focus on how to achieve their goals, but it is a far cry from addressing the complexity of human lives.

Even worse, what happens if the assumptions of the plan are wrong?

What if cutting out carbohydrates leads to additional stress and strain in navigating our carb-rich world? You find yourself giving up your favorite foods, avoiding social events, and worrying about your diet all day, every day. What if, after all of that, you come to find that carbohydrates were not the real problem the whole time?

Would it have all been for nothing?

This isn’t just a risk of eliminating carbohydrates. It’s the inherent risk of following a plan that is rigid, inflexible, and disconnected. It’s the risk of any plan based on unverified claims, a plan not based in first principles.

Principle-based coaching results in a program that is adaptive, flexible, and integrative.

Unlike plan-based coaching, which builds on additional, unverified assumptions about what is true, principle-based coaching begins with all the base-layer information that is objectively true:

Ideas like calorie balance, progressive overload, and self-efficacy.

The principles allow coaches to evaluate what must be true in order to see results, and then gauge how the program can be adapted to the needs of the unique individual in front of them.

If two individuals need to improve their calorie management, the principle-based program does not limit one from enjoying carbohydrates while the other decides they’d prefer to eat fewer carbohydrates. Both can coexist and see great results.

via GIPHY

Principle-based coaching does not put every individual in the same bucket, nor make the same assumptions about each.

This ability to mold the program specifics to the individual makes these programs adaptive.

Because the means of achieving the first principles is non-specific, they are also inherently flexible to changing circumstances.

If you live in a food desert, where access to fresh, natural foods is scarce or nonexistent, you are empowered to make alternative choices based on what’s available. Not only are you empowered to make these changes, but you can do so and see the same (if not better) level of success as following a rigid plan.

If individuals find themselves at a dinner party, a social event, or traveling across the country, they will be able to adjust the specifics of their plan—the particular foods they choose or the types of movement they do—in order to satisfy the first principles.

The ability to adjust strategy, without negatively impacting results, makes these programs flexible to changing life circumstances.

Since principle-based coaching adapts the program to the unique individual and inherently allows for flexibility in how to achieve optimal outcomes, these programs integrate very well into the lives of those who follow them.

No matter the goal or phase of life, because these programs are rooted in objective truths, they can be molded to meet the needs of the individual as those needs change over time.

Another advantage of the adaptability and flexibility of these programs is that they allow for greater adherence and consistency—two important variables for successful outcomes. Greater levels of adherence and consistency lead to better results, both in the short- and long-term.

Principle-based coaching allows individuals to integrate good behaviors into the fabric of their lives, ensuring permanent success.

via GIPHY

Fitness programming began as a way to educate people on how to live healthier lives. As time went on, we began to realize it wasn’t working. As the fitness industry grew, so too did the obesity rates.

The solution was to begin making assumptions about what people were doing wrong.

That led to the plan-based model previously described. That model is the most pervasive model for fitness programming that we currently have. The result?

Obesity rates continue to climb.

As of 2018, over two-thirds of the U.S. Adult population was overweight or obese.

Clearly something isn’t working.

And that’s because education is not the problem.

Sure, most people could benefit from a little more information about healthy lifestyle practices, but not in the traditional way of what’s good versus bad. If we’re going to educate people, educate them in first principles.

Because what we need is more action.

We need people to learn how to practice healthier habits consistently, not sporadically. We need to eliminate the prejudice around good and “good enough.” We need to empower people to make change, even if their life circumstances are less than ideal.

We need fitness programs that are adaptive, flexible, and integrative.

We need principle-based fitness coaching.

About the Author

Alex McBrairty is an online fitness coach who owns A-Team Fitness in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Obese as a child and teenager, he blends fitness and psychology to help his clients discover their own hidden potential.

He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

His articles have appeared in Breaking Muscle and The Personal Trainer Development Center, and he’s contributed to Muscle & Fitness, USA Today, Men’s Fitness, and Prevention.

Website: ateamfit.com
Facebook: facebook.com/alex.mcbrairty
Instagram: @_ateamfit_

Categoriescoaching Motivational psychology Strength Training

The Fitness Zeitgeist

Female athlete stretching her hamstringCategoriesAssessment coaching Corrective Exercise

The Difference Between Good and Bad Stiffness

Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about muscles here…;o)

Female athlete stretching her hamstring

The Difference Between Good & Bad Stiffness

Having “tight” or “stiff” muscles is often viewed as a bad thing. Not losing a match of Squid Game bad, but bad nonetheless.

When someone presents with a (true) muscular length limitation there are increased risks of injury involved – strains, tears, explosive diarrhea14 – not to mention an increased likelihood of faulty movement patterns up and down the kinetic chain.

But injury isn’t always omnipresent.

Take any NBA basketball player through the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) – specifically the Active Straight Leg screen – and you’re bound to open up a can of epic fail.

NOTE: I personally don’t use the FMS currently when assessing/screening new clients. I took both modules several years ago and gained a lot of insight and knowledge. But in the years since I have gradually weened away from the FMS for myriad reasons. I know a lot of fitness professionals who still utilize it though and feel it’s a relevant talking point in the context of this post.

Many would be lucky to score a “2” (which is an average score), and many would showcase a right/left asymmetry, which, as we all know, means a baby seal dies.15

As a result, we’re quick to go into corrective exercise overdrive and implement every strategy under the sun that’ll increase hamstring length.

Ironically, it’s “tight hamstrings” that allow many NBA players the ability to do what they do so well. Namely, jump through the roof.

In this case stiffness is a good thing. We don’t have to fix it.

Of Note: the ASLR screen isn’t necessarily a hamstring length screen to begin with. Sure, offhand, it can be a way to ascertain hamstring length…but what we’re really looking at is the ability to both flex and extend the hip.

Stiff hamstrings can affect the ability to do so. However, more importantly, the ASLR is about teaching people to get into better positions – improving stiffness in other areas – to “trick” the CNS into turning off the emergency breaks.

Get people into more optimal positions (nudge them into better alignment), and what presented as “tight” or stiff is no longer the case.

Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise

 

Here we engage the anterior core – increase stiffness – to promote more posterior pelvic tilt (decrease “bad” stiffness in lumbar spine) in order to improve ROM, in addition to getting movement from the right areas (in this case the hips).

Likewise we can throw the hip flexors underneath the bus. I think we all know someone who’s been stretching their “tight” hip flexors since 1997.

Newsflash: If you’re someone who’s been mindlessly stretching your hip flexors for that long, with no improvement, what the hell?

I’d garner a guess the reason they feel tight/stiff is due to protective tension (and not actual tightness).

The stretch you’re doing – what I like to call the BS Hip Flexor Stretch – is doing nothing more than increasing “bad” stiffness in the:

  • Lumbar spine.
  • Anterior hip capsule.
  • My eyes.

It exacerbates and feeds what’s causing the issues in the first place.

Instead, perform a REAL Hip Flexor Stretch by increasing (good) stiffness in the appropriate areas – the anterior core and glutes – and actually get at the crux of the issue.

 

Another prime example would be the lats.

Stiff lats can be a bad and a good thing.

When Shit Hits the Fan (I.e., Bad)

In mine and Dean Somerset’s Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint, we spend a large portion of time speaking about the lats and how, in the overhead athlete population (as well as in the general population), they’re often stiff/short and overactive.

As a result: Overactive/stiff lats will drive more shoulder depression, downward rotation, adduction, as well as lumbar extension in general.

Anyone familiar with PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) and their thought process and methodologies will recognize this “Scissor Posture,” where the pelvis is pointing in one direction (tilted forward in Anterior Pelvic Tilt) and the diaphragm pointing in another direction (due to an excessive rib flair and lumbar extension).

This is not only an unstable position to be in, but also keeps the nervous system “on” at all times, driving more sympathetic activity.

What’s more, with regards to shoulder health, overactive lats will make it much less likely someone will be able to elevate their arms overhead, as well as “accessing” their lower traps (which share a similar fiber orientation as the lats @ 135 degrees), which, in concert with the upper trap and serratus, aid scapular upward rotation, posterior tilt, and protraction.

Taking the time to coach someone to turn off (or down-regulate) their lats in order to flex, externally rotate, and abduct their shoulder works wonders.

Bench T-Spine Mobilization

 

Wall Lat Stretch w/ T-Spine Extension & Lift Off

When Lats Can Increase Your Overall Level of Badassery (I.e., Good Stiffness)

And now it’s time to turn those fuckers on!

Your lats are a MAJOR player when it comes to performance in the weight room and lifting heavy things.

It also behooves you to turn them on in order to improve your technique in the “big 3.”

With the deadlift in particular there are some significant advantages:

 

Another trick I like to use to help people learn to use their lats during a deadlift is to attach a band to the bar and a stationary object.

 

Trainees will learn very quickly what it means to “pull the bar towards you” and to keep the lats engaged throughout the duration of a set.

You can also peruse a few more options in this IG post from a few weeks ago:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore)

In this light, stiffness isn’t such a bad thing.

So, you see…

…it’s not always end of days or something that requires going into DEFCON 1 corrective exercise purgatory mode. Whether or not stiffness/tightness is bad or good depends on the context.

Woman lying with her legs crossed indoorsCategoriescoaching

Confessions of an Introverted Strength Coach Revisted

People are often surprised when I state I’m an introvert.

Woman lying with her legs crossed indoors

Confessions of an Introverted Strength Coach

What most people fail to recognize is that “being an introvert” is part of a spectrum. No one is 100% introverted, nor are they 100% extroverted.

Everyone’s a little of both.

Another common misconception is that introversion is somehow correlated with being depressed or sad or downtrodden. In attempting to find a suitable image to go along with this post I simply typed “introvert” into my image finder thingamajiggy on WordPress and was quite surprised (if not slightly appalled) by what appeared on my screen:

Image after image after image of various people looking dejected, anti-social, and altogether unhappy.

It was quite striking, because all “being introverted” means is that you likely need or require a little more down time (or down tempo activities) in order to reenergize and recharge.

Is time to recharge yourself 65

I remember when my wife and I first started dating there was a night where I had just gotten back from a full day of coaching and was zapped. All I wanted to do was collapse on the couch and watch House Hunters. Unfortunately (for me) it was a Saturday night and Lisa had already committed us to a get together with a bunch of her friends at a local lounge in downtown Boston.

Ten minutes in it took all the will-power I could muster to not walk out of the place and straight into the path of the #66 bus down the street.

I just stood there with a blank stare and repeated one word answers as she and her friends attempted to engage with me.

  • “Tony, Lisa tells me you’re a personal trainer?” Yes.
  • “How long have you been doing that?” Awhile.
  • “So, what do you think about keto?” Grabs beer bottle, breaks it over the counter, slits own throat.

When we eventually left we had one of our first arguments. Clearly I was acting like an a-hole, but after explaining to her that the last thing I wanted to do after coaching for eight hours was to go to a bar and listen to Panic! At the Disco, we had a better understanding of each other’s needs.

I explained I am not against going out and participating in social events, I just needed a bit of a “buffer.”

Being a coach – inundated with constant noise and non-stop interaction – can be draining.

An introvert requires the antithesis of that in order to feel rejuvenated and ready to go the following day.

To repeat: This doesn’t mean we don’t like to do or be involved in social activities.

Rather, in our free time we generally prefer to:

✅ Read a book
✅ Enjoy a barrage of kitty cuddles.

That’s pretty much it.

One common remark I receive from other coaches and personal trainers is what would I recommend they do to counteract their juices running on empty when they’re in the middle of a long work day?

What can they do when they’re five hours deep into a long work day and have a barrage of sessions yet to complete? It’s not like they can meander off into a hidden closet and take a power nap.

(or can they?????)

Likewise, is the expectation that we have to be the rah-rah, high-energy coach who jumps up and down everywhere and perform cart-wheels after every set in order to be considered “good” or successful?

Listen, the bulk of your clients aren’t expecting a DJ Khalid performance during their session.

DJ hands and remote and mixer DJ for music

Sure, there’s a time & place to amp things up and to be the cheerleader, but I’ve found that more often than not…

…most clients don’t care for the (fake) performative nonsense.

You can still be a switched on and attentive coach without the theatrics.

That being said, it still behooves you, introverted coach, to be proactive and give yourself sporadic breaks throughout the day. These could be brief 15-30 minute windows of solitude when you know you have a full-day looming. Or, when you know you have a solid line-up of clients scheduled, it may be worthwhile to break the day up where you get your own training session in half way through.

BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL: Do NOT fall pray to this idea you have to be a performative coach in order to be seen as legit. That BS may get you likes on Instagram, but it’ll lead to nothing but eye-rolls in the real world. Not to mention it certainly won’t be doing you any favors from an energy conservation standpoint.16

BUT EVEN MOST MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL:  Be sure to grace yourself with ample “me time” when you feel you need it. This could be sitting at home binging a show, going to the movies, hanging out at a bookstore of coffee shop, or, I don’t know, perusing your baseball card collection.

Remember: All being an introvert means is that you’re a fucking psychopath you likely require more solo time in order to reenergize.

It’s important to lean into it.

It’ll help make you a more engaged coach and your clients will benefit as well.

So, hi fellow introvert. I see you. What’s up?