coaching – Page 6 – Tony Gentilcore

90s Hip Hop, Complete Coach, and Mike Robertson

My good friend, Mike Robertson, released is latest resource this week…the Complete Coach Certification.

Check it out here —> http://bit.ly/2lWGhpJ

It’s on sale this week only (until Friday, 9/6) at a hefty discount.

If you’re a strength coach, personal trainer, you work with athletes, non-athletes, Doug from accounting, or ninjas, this resource will make you a more well-rounded health/fitness professional.

I had some questions for Mike about the product, but more specifically about his coaching philosophy and what he feels we (as an industry) need to do better.

Mike and Tony Talk Shop

TG: Mike, first things first: When I came onto your podcast a few weeks ago I introduced you to muy new favorite obsession: the Take It Personal Radio Podcast. How much do you love me it? Which has been your favorite episode (I know it’s hard to choose)?

I have only two words:

Life changing.

Seriously, I love that show so much. I mean, it’s all of the artists I grew up listening to, chopped and mixed to perfection.

My favorite so far is the Wu-Tang episode, but anyone that really knows me knows that I’m a pretty massive fan of the WU!

Note from TG: It’s hard to pick my favorite, but if I had to choose I’d go with the DJ Premier Tribute. Eight freakin hours or Premier beats. My head just about exploded when I listened to it for the first time. And then there’s the Native Tongues (Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, Money Love, etc) tribute that’s something like 12-13 hours long.

I can’t handle it.

TG: Okay, let’s get on track: What was your vision/goal in creating the Complete Coach Certification?

MR: Simple: To push our industry forward, and over time, positively influence 10,000 trainers and coaches across the globe.

Unfortunately what I’m seeing nowadays is a dearth of trainers/coaches who have gone the traditional route – school and a certification – and then struggle to be of any value whatsoever on the gym floor.

They can’t interact with other humans.

They can’t progress or regress clients.

And forgot about asking them to write a program! Their brains are so scattered and influenced by random Instagram trainers you can’t get a cohesive, streamlined program out of them to save their lives.

And while I may sound a little harsh, the fact of the matter is, it’s not really their fault.

This is the culture we’ve created for training and coaching.

So my goal is to fix that.

To show trainers and coaches how systems and procedures can make their lives easier, and help them get better results.

To show them it’s not about knowing 1,879 exercise variations, but knowing 10-15 really good exercises, being able to progress/regress as necessary, and then coach the hell out of them.

And to show them that if you act like a professional and get really good at what you do, this can be an amazing career.

One where you can make real money and have a life outside of the gym as well.

At the risk of sounding bold or narcissistic, here’s where I’m at:

I’m only 41 but I don’t think it’s too soon to start thinking about my legacy.

What did I bring to the table?
Did I really make an impact?
Or did I live a life where I could’ve done more, and instead settled to play small ball?

If I go out tomorrow, I want people to be like “That Mike Robertson wasn’t perfect, but damn he did his part and made a massive push to drive this industry forward.”

TG: I, uh, taught my toddler to go pee-pee in the potty last week. That’s my legacy…haha. I know this is about as lame of a question as I can ask (but I’m going to ask it anyway). What are some common mistakes you find coaches make with regards to program design?

MR: I don’t think it’s a lame question – it’s actually one we need to be asking more often.

Here’s a brain dump:

Having no clear goal.
Having too many goals and “program jumping.”
Not knowing the basics of program design (sets/reps/time under tension, how they all work together, etc.)
Poor (if not awful) exercise selection.
A lack of cohesiveness across all elements of the program (resistance training, conditioning, etc.)
Failing to meet a client/athlete where they’re at.
Failing to give a client/athlete some of what THEY WANT in the program.
Letting their beliefs/training focus influence that of their clients/athletes.
Being too boring with their programming.
Being too random with their programming.

I mean I could go on and on here, but hopefully you catch my drift.

As an industry, we have a looooooooong way to go to get our program design skills up to snuff.

TG: What do you feel has been the biggest change or maturation in your own programming since you first started coaching? As an example, for me, it was the under-appreciation of sub-maximal training; I’m a firm believer (now) that easy training is good training.

MR: Man this is a really tough one, so I’m going to give you two:

1 – I do a better job of planning and programming all elements of a program nowadays. For instance in the past, I was a powerlifter so I skewed everyone towards a strength focus.

Because if it was good enough for me, it was good enough for them. Right???

It’s taken me a long time to break that habit, but now I can write a really smooth and well-rounded program for virtually any client or athlete.

TG: Oh man, good one!

2 – The second piece is I’m better at streamlining and transitioning clients between two programs.

Let me explain that in a bit more depth…

Imagine taking a client who is doing an accumulation phase and they’re using like 60-70% of their 1 rep max.

Then the next week, you decide they need to move to max strength and so you start crushing them with 90% loads.

Can you imagine how jarring that is to the body?

So it’s been a big goal of mine to smooth out all of the elements I have to program for my athletes – from speed/power, to strength, to conditioning – and trying to make those transitions from block to block smoother and easier on the athlete.

It’s never perfect, but I’m light years of where I was even a few years back.

TG: Complete off-topic, but is Bill (Hartman) a cyborg?

He is, but here’s the strangest part – he’s not alone.

There are actually a few hiding in plain sight in our industry.

I’m sure there are others, but these three I can confirm from first-hand experience.

TG: I lived with Eric for two years and was a business partner for eight, I can confirm he’s not a T-1000 (but close).

One of my biggest pet peeves in this industry (other than kipping pull-ups) is how some coaches take this bravado approach and more or less “bully” people into thinking that THEIR way is the only way to coach “x” exercise.

I feel this is a narrow-minded take and fails to appreciate (much less consider) each person’s individual anatomy and how that will dictate set-up and which variation of certain lifts will be best suited for them.

Your take? Agree? Disagree?

MR: Couldn’t agree more.

TG: Okay, whew, good. Cause if you didn’t shit was gonna get awkward.

MR – and that’s where I think progressions/regressions come into play.

I have a model for what I want a squat/deadlift/push-up/whatever to look like, but I also realize that everyone is going to move different.

They have different lever lengths.
Their body (thorax, pelvis, hips, etc.) are positioned differently.
They have different joint structures on top of that.

So while I might have my model, I also have to realize that every/client athlete is going to find the strategy that works most effectively for them, based on their goals.

Part of the evolution of coaching is realizing that how you think/feel/move is great, but it shouldn’t necessarily impact how you train other people.

Once you get there, training and coaching become a lot more fun.

TG: One missing component of program design, I feel, is centered around the soft skills of coaching. It’s one thing to write a solid program, but then how it’s executed and coached is whole different matter.

I know you touch on this in the certification, but can you maybe elaborate on this here?

MR: Look man, I got by for my first 3-5 years on the floor because of soft skills, so I’d like to think I’m better to speak on this than most!

A big part of my success early-on was due to my ability to relate to people, to empathize, and to build rapport – NOT due to my coaching or program design skills.

I know John Kiely has talked about this in the past, but there’s actual research out there that shows if a client likes you and has positive emotions about you, that they could potentially get better results than someone who might have a “superior” program!

TG: The fuck outta here Mike Robertson! What’s next? Telling me bacon isn’t delicious? That Bachelor in Paradise isn’t where one find true love?

Isn’t that crazy?

When they like you, they have the right biochemical make-up when they enter the gym, and they end up getting better results.

But this is why I’m such a stickler for finding that blend between the hard and soft skills.

Relationships, rapport, and trust are critical – if you don’t have them, you won’t have success in this industry.

Period.

But the results are fast tracked when you have streamlined programming and coaching on top of that.

I’m sure you would agree, it’s not an either-or proposition – but finding the balance that works best for you as a trainer or coach.

Complete Coach Certification

I know I say this all…the…time, but it needs repeating:

Those who invest in themselves will last longer in this industry, are less likely to burn out, and, frankly, will often make more money and be more successful.

There aren’t many coaches whom I direct other coaches to more than Mike.

I’ve learned a ton from him throughout the years, I still do, and he’s really outdone himself with the Complete Coach Certification.

It’s on sale this week only and includes the option to pay with installments rather than one-lump sum. Everything from basic anatomy, breathing mechanics (<– SO important), keys to coaching, program design, and Mike’s “R7” protocol is covered.

There’s also a bevy of additional bonuses, including training templates, exercise regression/progression charts, and access to Mike’s fitness business webinar.

Check it out —> http://bit.ly/2lWGhpJ

September 4, 2019 Tony

coaching

Program Design Tip: Simple Before Sexy

I often joke that when other coaches and fitness professionals come shadow or observe me for a day that they leave underwhelmed by what they see.

“Huh, Tony’s not really doing anything innovative or exciting with his athletes and clients. I mean, sure, it’s interesting he refuses to wear pants, but all in all…he’s pretty lame.”

Now, I don’t necessarily feel what’s written above is precise representation of their inner dialogue, but I will admit…

…I’m lame AF when it comes to the exercises I prescribe and the programs I write.

Also, the no pants comment is a joke.¹

Simple Before Sexy

Let’s discuss the box jump.

Peruse social media and you’ll see a bevy of videos from coaches showcasing their athlete’s jumping prowess. Some are “vanilla” and “quiet” in nature, simply highlighting an athlete jumping onto a box with little to no fanfare.

My favorite.

Others, however, will go out of their way to “one-up” everyone else and seemingly highlight a video that’s more concerned with garnering likes and increasing “viralability” than offering anything useful or of substance.

Don’t get me wrong: There’s a time and place to have fun and to not take things so seriously.

I get it.

That said, with regards to youth athletes (and, to be honest, even with high level or professional athletes 98.2% of the time) I don’t feel this sentiment applies or is warranted.

Videos of athletes/clients jumping to boxes at 40, 50, or even 60+ inches in height (with poor form) and/or that involve circus like acts – such as jumping onto a stack of foam rollers while juggling a pair of chainsaws – don’t impress me much.

I don’t have enough eye rolls to give.

via GIPHY

I want my athletes to do the simple things, and do them well.

Here’s one of my high school basketball players – Theo, 15 – performing a Box Jump to a 1-Legged Landing.

Could we have used a higher box?

Maybe.

Could I have had him look straight into the camera after sticking each rep, rip his shirt off, and yell “THIS….IS….SPARTA“?

Next time.

Neither is the point of the drill, though.

The point is to:

1️⃣ Learn to create force (putting force into the ground to propel him up), but to also ABSORB it and learn to decelerate.

Athletes need to know when (and how) to turn on their brakes. It’s serves no advantage to ALWAYS focus on the throttle, or acceleration.

I often tell my athletes to “land like a ninja.”

If I hear a loud THWAP when (s)he lands, especially if I’m across the room, and even more especially if it’s over a sick Tiesto beat in the background, then I know they’re not landing correctly.

Too, if the landing is noisy, the height of the box may be too aggressive. Train force development (the jump) AND force absorption (the landing) and NOT the ego.

I’m more concerned with the fact Theo had no idea who A Tribe Called Quest was before he started training with me then I am about the height of the box he’s jumping onto.

2️⃣ OWN the landing.

I shouldn’t see any “excessive” caving-in of the knee or foot as he lands. Nor should I see his posture collapse as he lands on the box.

If that is the case the height of the box is likely too aggressive.

Lower it.

Moreover, there’s nothing wrong with performing Single-Leg Hops on the ground. It isn’t sexy, it won’t win you any “innovative coach of the year awards,” but by gosh will it ever transfer more eloquently to the daily needs of your athletes/clients.

On a Side Note: I told Theo to hold his landing position for a 1-2s count so we could reinforce it. Slowing athletes down is often advantageous so they learn what appropriate positions look and feel like.

3️⃣I also feel appropriate technique requires stepping off the box rather than jumping off it back to the ground…👍.

4️⃣ Oh, I also feel you’re cra-cra if you haven’t started watching Mindhunter on Netflix yet. Season two just came out.

Get to it.

NOTE: And yes, I understand that on Theo’s first rep his knees caved in a little as he was generating force. Not ideal, something we’re going to work on, but certainly not an egregious error and nothing where I felt he was going to hurt himself.

My expectation isn’t perfection out of the gate – especially with beginners (of any age) – but each rep got progressively better, and subsequent sets were even more betterer.

God, I’m a wordsmith.

In any case, there’s always going to be a learning curve when introducing new exercises, even the “simple” ones.

August 20, 2019 Tony

coaching Motivational

The Lost Art of Adult Play

I’m currently in the Barossa Valley with my wife.

There’s not a chance in hell I’m writing a blog post this week. Thankfully TG.com regular contributor, Shane McLean, was a champion and took it upon himself to pinch write for me.

Thanks Shane!

The Lost Art of (Adult) Play

When you were a kid, (I assume) you were a blur of movement.

One moment you’re tugging on your dads leg and the next moment you’re chasing the dog (or cat, sorry Tony) throughout the house, tearing shit up while your father is trying to figure out how you moved so quick.

Like the flash baby.

There was no stopping you.

Then age, responsibilities, jobs, kids, bills and a mortgage took care of all that. With more adult time there comes less play time because you have to grow up sometime, correct?

Well some of us do and some of us don’t.

I’ll leave it to you to determine where you are on the kid scale.

However, now to keep up your lean machine look, you hit the gym and do squats, presses, pulls and curls so you can keep up with the younger generation, to feel less like an old fart and more like a superhero, crushing everything in your path.

However, trying to recapture your childhood through exercise is fine but acting like a one (or Flash Gordon) is okay frowned upon.

So please keep your tantrums under control.

You cannot have desserts before your main meal.

Whoops, I’m projecting. Let me get back on track.

During your early childhood, you discovered what you were capable of and what you get away with through playing.

But What is Play?

Play is an activity done for its own sake, with no real goal in mind and play is characterized by flexibility (making up stuff as you go along), and the positive effect it often has on the person playing (smiling, laughing, and having fun.) (1)

The exact role of play in learning is often debated and opinion tends to exaggerate the evidence for the essential role of play.

However, other evidence suggests the important benefits of play and its contribution to learning. (2)

What Has This Got to Do With You?

How does play benefit you now, the adult trying to shed fat and crush PR’S in the gym?

Firstly, it gives you a welcome break from the barbell. When you get wrapped up with the weight on the bar and have the blinkers on, other things like moving in different directions and a little thing called cardiovascular exercise gets neglected.

When ‘playing’ you may discover your weaker points that are holding you back.

Secondly, it may help you through a plateau and improve your co-ordination.

When you were a child, you engaged in locomotor (exercise) play, which involves physical activity to support the training of your muscles for strength, endurance, and skill.

Think of the local school or park playground and all the fun you had on the swings and monkey bars.

Back then, play was the neural and muscular basis of your physical co-ordination and physical growth. And going back to ‘play’ may help you break through your sticking points and make exercise more enjoyable. (3)

And when things are enjoyable, you’re more likely to do them.

Who’s up for crushing their goals with a smile on their face?

If you answered yes, start inserting these ‘play’ drills into your routine (or separately on off days) because the gym is the one place where nobody cares if you act like a child.

Because they’re all too busy taking Instagram selfies.

1. Reaction Ball Drills

And who doesn’t like playing with balls?

The beauty of the reaction ball is movement without thinking. See the ball, go get the ball. And before you know it you’ve performed squats, hinges and dozens of lunges without realizing it.

Furthermore, training hand-eye co-ordination never goes astray.

And with so much of your program planned, it’s great to add a little chaos and uncertainty to it.

2. Agility Ladder Drills

Some coaches’ poo-poo on the agility ladder while other coaches over emphasize it with athletes trying to get them faster.

However, there is plenty of middle ground and they’re another tool in the toolbox.

But for the regular joe, who’s looking for a little variety, a fun way to get the heart rate up and to raise a sweat while improving their co-ordination, these drills are perfect.

The agility ladder will help you learn a wide array of different movement patterns without you even realizing it because you’ll be having too much fun.

3. Friendly Competition

Exercising with a partner is shown to increase exercise adherence. Use these fun drills will a friend and you’ll be sweating and smiling in no time.

4. Stability Ball Wrestle

You and your partner will be too busy trying to knock each other off-balance, and not realizing that you’re working on your ankle stability/mobility, balance and core stability.

Set Up – Put one foot on top the ball making sure your knee is bent 90 degrees. Your partner puts the opposite foot on the ball, directly across from you

Rules – Both people are trying to knock the other one-off balance by rolling the ball aggressively with their feet.

This exercise can be done either as warm-up, for 30 seconds or so on each foot or you can turn this into a full-blown friendly competition. Every time some loses his/her balance it results in a point for the opponent. First to 5 or 10 points wins.

5. The Boxer

This exercise with work on your power, muscular endurance and hand-to-eye co-ordination. You’ll be too busy hitting your partner’s hands to realize any of this.

Set Up – Use a resistance band with handles looped round a solid anchor point. Bring hands to shoulder level and keep the resistance band tight. Your partner puts hands up, open palms facing forward and away from the face.

Rules- Hit the open palm (with a clinched fist), one hand at a time. Your partner can change his/her hand position up, down or left and right to increase the challenge.

Do this for time (30 seconds) and record the amount of hits, and then your partner can try to beat it. Winner takes all, baby.

Wrapping Up

Exercise doesn’t always have to be a grind. Taking a slight break to think and play like a child is reinvigorating and a welcome break from the barbell.

And because you’re an adult now, you can have dessert before dinner.

Knock yourself out.

About the Author

Shane “Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Louisiana with the gators.

References

Learning Through Play PETER K SMITH, BA, PhD ANTHONY PELLEGRINI, PhD Goldsmiths, University of London, UNITED KINGDOM University of Minnesota, USA
Smith PK. Children’s play and its role in early development: A re-evaluation of the ‘Play Ethos’. In: Pellegrini AD, ed. Psychological Bases for Early education. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.; 1988: 207-226.
Byers JA, Walker C. Refining the motor training hypothesis for the evolution of play. American Naturalist 1995;146(1):25-40

July 17, 2019 Tony

coaching rant

Porcelain Post: Trying to Answer a Question That Has No Right Answer.

NOTE: The term “Porcelain Post” was invented by Brian Patrick Murphy and Pete Dupuis. Without getting into the specifics, it describes a post that can be read in the same time it takes you to go #2.

Huh, I guess that was more specific than I thought.

Enjoy.

Copyright: nexusplexus / 123RF Stock Photo

Trying to Answer a Question That Has No Right Answer

This past weekend I had the honor of teaching alongside my good friend Luke Worthington as we put on our 2-day Strategic Strength Workshop here in Boston.

Side Note: We will be teaching it again in London this September. You can find out more details HERE.

We had an eclectic group of 30 fitness professionals ranging from personal trainers and coaches to physical therapists and gym owners, young and old, newbies to those with more experience, all under one roof to listen to the two us speak about assessment, program design, coaching up specific strength exercises, and swoon over Luke’s British accent.

I’m all like, “blah, blah, blah, who’s your favorite Power Ranger?, blah blah blah.”

Luke and I covered a metric shit ton of information (FYI: which is more than a metric boat load), and as is always the case, we had a bevy of questions.

This is a good thing.

Nothing is worse than when you ask “does anyone have any questions?” and all you get is a bunch of tumbleweeds. I am elated when attendees ask questions, and I always attempt to answer every single one to the best of my ability.

Attendee: “Tony, what muscles upwardly rotate the scapulae again?”

Me: “Serratus anterior, upper and lower traps.”

Attendee: “Thank you. Also, can you put your pants back on?”

Me:

via GIPHY

However, there’s one question in particular – which can present itself in a variety of ways – that I often have a hard time with when I present.

Invariably, after two days – and close to 14 hours of content – where I’m showcasing a litany of drills, exercises, concepts, and breaking down my way of doing things (which isn’t to suggest they’re the right way) I’ll get the following question:

“If I implement “x” exercise how long before my client will see results?”

I understand why it’s asked.

If I take the time to demonstrate a particular drill and how I like to use it for a given scenario, it’s only logical for someone to ask the question: “hey, if I use that, how long before it works?”

But the truth of the matter is…

…I don’t know.

How good of a coach are you?

I mean, how long did it take you to master deadlift technique, the intricacies of the Turkish Get-Up, or, I don’t know, the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique?

Chances are it wasn’t overnight or during the course of a 1 or 2-day workshop.

Are you the type of coach who, after taking a weekend course, heads into work on Monday to torture your clients with new stuff you only knew existed a few hours prior?

Or, are you the type of coach who lets things marinate for a bit, gives yourself some time to understand the information, and try it out yourself before unleashing it to the masses?

My suspicions are that old(er) fitness professionals – or those with more experience – take the latter approach; they want to spend time with their notes, go through with a fine toothed comb, and really digest things.

Conversely, new(er) fitness professionals – or those with less experience – are quick to start posting “this cool new drill I learned” on Instagram.

So maybe there IS an answer here: Don’t be that coach.

June 11, 2019 Tony

coaching Program Design psychology

The Road to Recovery Is Paved With More Training

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of trainer, writer, and guy I hate because he is waaaaaaay too good looking, Michael Gregory.

Michael wrote an excellent post on nutrient timing for my site last year which you can check out HERE. He’s back again discussing an important topic: “reframing” injury and how to use (more) training to aid recovery.

Warning: Avengers: End Game spoilers ahead.

But come on: It’s been three weeks for crying out loud. If you haven’t seen it by now it’s your fault.

The Road to Recovery Is Paved With More Training

Let’s talk about acute injuries in your clients: those accidents that leave a scar in the shape of a teddy bear.

“Oh! What a cute injury!”

Allow me to elaborate, for those of you who aren’t a fan of Dad jokes.

If you hurt yourself, the best recovery plan you can follow includes continuing to train and actually treating the injury as if it is less egregious than it may actually be.

I’m not suggesting that you act as if nothing happened, but I am suggesting that you only adjust your training as much as you have to in order to work around the pain.

As a coach, you aren’t a doctor, so don’t act like one. You are, however, in the chain of recovery, and may be the only fitness professional around when an injury first occurs.

Know your role Snoop Lion

How you react matters to your client more than you realize.

The Assumption Is You Know What You’re Doing

You’re a shit hot programmer that doesn’t plan anything your client isn’t ready for because you follow the principle of progressive overload.

One-rep maxes are not a spontaneous event that you perform when the sunset is a particularly auspicious color. They are planned for and prepared for, for weeks or even months in advance.

Because you program smartly, you know that any injury a client sustains under your care isn’t going to be a career ender.

It’s simply a kiss from the weightlifting gods that initiates them into the barbell illuminati.

If you train hard you will have battle wounds. That being the case, it’s time you learn how to get your clients past their injuries in the most economical way possible.

The Biopsychosocial Model of Pain for Acute Injuries

This framework comes from Dr. Austin Baraki over at Barbell Medicine. It applies on some level to every injury you or a client may sustain.

This entire process is about facilitating the best environment for healing. That means not freaking out and quitting, but rather, changing training only as much as is needed.

Step 1: Reassure AKA “Don’t freak out.”

Even if someone’s eye is hanging out of their skull, the best thing you can do is keep your cool. The power of positive thought is a hot topic these days.

There’s guys healing broken spines with just their minds, supposedly.

Even if those stories are only 10% accurate the power of the placebo effect is a wildy useful tool to have on your side. Keeping your cool and addressing unhelpful thoughts and fears are the first things you can to do to help your clients harness the effects of the placebo.

This is the psychosocial aspect of the model. It is the most important to get right the first time. Poisonous thoughts are really hard to uproot once they’ve been planted.

This whole step is the opposite of what my Junior Varsity football coach did to me and my relationship with the 2-plate bench press.

He told me I’d never be able to bench 225 with my long-ass arms unless I weighed 300+ pounds and the gravitational pull of the moon was twice its normal strength.

(Brief aside: Of course, the world’s weather and tidal patterns would be thrown into absolute chaos if all of a sudden the moon was twice as strong. So the joke’s on Coach J, because we’d all be dead before I could even make it to the gym. Try to remain calm after that sick burn.)

Regardless, I struggled for years with that negative reinforcement (nocebo effect) in my head. I could rep out 205 for sets of 5 but as soon as that second plate went on the bar “it was too heavy.”

Step 2: Assess the Situation

Like a good cub scout that just stumbled onto the remains of a deer that had been hit by a car, you’ve got to get your bearings.

Should you help it?

Put it out of its misery?

Add it to your Instagram story?

He already knows he messed up. Overreacting isn’t going to help the situation.

Start by asking the trainee what they were attempting and what they felt.

Remember, poker face: don’t let ‘em see you wince.

This is the first two “O’s” of the OODA loop, something that fighter pilots and military tacticians love to reference. Observe and Orient to the situation. (DA is Decide and Act, but you have to orient first).

No need to jump to any reactions here or start calling people lower life forms.

Be a professional.

Step 3: Move Forward by Reintroducing Movement in a Non-Threatening Context

Your special snowflake of a client is down, but not melted. You can still fix this and get them back to lifting heavy and kicking in doors faster than you can say “rubber baby buggy bumpers”.

Arnold said it first.

Your goal is to work your way backwards from the exercise that caused the injury in as short a distance as possible.

Start by asking these questions:

1st Question: Load. Is there a weight you can use that does not hurt?

If you can just reduce the weight of the exercise and the client no longer feels pain or discomfort then… do that.

If your client felt a “tweak” (technical term) in their mid-back while deadlifting, deadlift day isn’t over. Just take some weight off the bar. If it still hurts with 135, use the bar.

If it still hurts with the bar, use a PVC pipe.

The goal here is to show your client that the movement isn’t inherently dangerous at all weights.

2nd Question: Range of Motion. Where does it hurt?

If your client is still in pain conducting the movement with only their bodyweight, the next thing to adjust is range of motion.

In deadlifting, for example, if their pain is in the first two inches off the floor, elevate the bar until you are out of the danger zone.

No, this isn’t perfect form, for you deadlift sticklers out there, but your client isn’t going to be doing deadlifts from the rack or with the high handles on the trap bar forever. Pretty much as soon as you adjust the range of motion of a movement you should be planning for a progression to get the trainee back to the full movement.

If you haven’t seen it, consider this your warning.

Secondly, who the fudge decided what “full range of motion” is for any given exercise?

If your client isn’t a competitive lifter, it doesn’t actually matter.

I promise you won’t cause a rift in the space-time continuum resulting in an alternate timeline where Thanos succeeds in destroying half of all life in the universe and it stays that way. (Okay, that’s not really a spoiler so much as conjecture. Hey, spoiler warnings entice the reader to finish the article).

3rd Question (well, statement): Exercise Selection. If decreasing the weight and range of motion still results in pain, work your way backwards down the line of exercise specificity.

Only now should you be thinking about changing up the exercise entirely. This is assuming that you chose the initial exercise because it is the one which most completely trains you client to achieve their specified goal. If you just chose the exercise because it makes the vein in your biceps pop when you apply the Clarendon filter on Instagram I ask you the following question. How did you get this far in this article?

As an example, let’s say you were doing conventional deadlifts with your client. In my mind, the regression looks something like this:

Conventional deadlift
Snatch grip deadlift
Sumo deadlift
Straight leg deadlift
Romanian deadlift
Trap bar deadlifts
Rack pulls
Dumbbell deadlift variations
Single-leg DB deadlift variations
Single-arm DB deadlift variations
Single-arm single-leg DB deadlift variations
Good mornings
Cable pull-throughs
Hip thrusts

Okay, I digressed quite far there, but I think you get the point.

There are lots of exercises you can try with your client to teach them that they are not only not broken, but in fact still strong even with pain.

There is no excuse for the countless number of trainees doing leg presses and camping out on the stationary bike in the name of recovery.

Training is recovery.

It’s All Really Just Reassurance

This entire process of managing acute injuries is really just reassuring people that they aren’t fragile.

Some of our fellow humans, some of them your clients, have spent their entire lives avoiding pain at all costs. As a result, they’ve never had to learn how to overcome true adversity. By teaching this process to your clients, you are giving them the gift of self-reliance.

Resiliency is something most trainees are looking to build, mostly in the context of making their muscles more resilient. As far as I’m concerned, tenacity, fortitude, resilience, and mental toughness are all muscles. Each and every one of those is embedded in this process, and they are all made stronger every time someone learns to overcome something you or the barbell throws their way in the weightroom.

Does that tempt you to injure your clients on purpose now so that you can teach them about mental toughness?

Don’t do it.

But do be prepared to react calmly and with precision when accidents happen.

About the Author

Michael is a USMC veteran, strength coach, amateur surfer, and semi-professional mushroom connoisseur. As an intelligence officer and MCMAP instructor Michael spent the majority of his military career in the Pacific theater of operations.

He now lives in Bali where he writes, trains, and has had multiple near-death experiences in surf that is much too heavy for him.

For more by Michael check out his Instagram, Facebook, or his website www.composurefitness.com.

May 21, 2019 Tony

coaching

Coach’s Roundtable: Two Things They Should Know

If you work with high-school athletes this is for you.

Friend and colleague, Mike Anderson, who’s a strength coach in Ohio, reached out and asked if I’d be open to sharing a roundtable discussion of several coaches discussing the rigamarole of working with this population.

I always enjoy other coaches riffing and pontificating on this subject and I think there are many perils of wisdom below.

Enjoy!

Copyright: tonobalaguer / 123RF Stock Photo

Two Things They Should Know

One of the most important populations for strength and conditioning / fitness right now is the high school aged athlete.

Training has become so common amongst this age group that if you even think that you might want to compete at the next level then you need to be in a gym. I myself train a metric shit-ton of high school athletes and it’d be an understatement to say that this population has some unique traits and attributes.

As a strength coach, it’s sometimes easy to forget that not everybody knows the same things you do. I occasionally take some information for granted and am surprised when the kids or their parents don’t know it.

Some recent interactions I had with athletes spurned the writing of this post and I thought it would be really interesting to get some points of view from friends of mine in the industry around the country regarding the two things that they, as coaches, wished that both high school athletes and their parents would really understand about training.

Jarrod Dyke – Owner / Coach, First XV Performance, Brookline MA.

1. Every athlete that walks into a weight room or training facility needs to remember this: you are there to help you get better at your sport, not to set the world record in powerlifting or weight lifting (unless those are your sports). Check your ego at the door.

If your squat doesn’t jump 100 pounds in 3 weeks, it’s not the end of the world.

Put in the work and the weight will go up! You will get stronger and be much stronger on the pitch, field, court, ice, track etc. Just because you tick the room temperature up from 29 degrees to 30 and the ice isn’t melted yet doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress, be patient!

2. In season training is a big must if you want to last throughout the season.

It is very possible to maintain your strength or even gain strength, depending on the circumstance, throughout your sport season.

Not training at all is probably the worst thing you can do; your practices and game aren’t enough to maintain the strength you just put all the work into building up. Then when the off-season comes you are not starting all the way back at square one, but rather you’re still better than you were at the start of the last off-season.

Hilary Lederer – Strength Coach, Force of Nature Strength & Conditiong, Toronto, Canada.

1. The first thing I’d want parents and athletes to understand about strength training is that it doesn’t need to be (and almost always shouldn’t be) something that completely exhausts the athlete. A ton of productive work can be accomplished while still feeling pretty fresh after.

2. The second thing is how valuable a solid coach and program can be for every athlete. You can be talented and successful without, but those athletes tend to be less common and rarely last long.

Injury prevention, weak points, confidence, etc. will all be positively affected in the short and long term, plus you are setting the athlete up for lifelong good habits relating to health and fitness.

Mitch Gill – Head Athletic Trainer at Dacula High School, Private S&C in Dacula, Georgia

1. “Sports specific” training is just practice; it is not the weight room. Strength and conditioning is about building the qualities such as strength and speed to increase the robustness of the athlete’s skills. The goal in the weight room is to create a better all-around athlete who is able to express that athleticism on the field.

2. Athletic development is a long term process; or as I like to call it, “slow cooking the athlete.”

We live in a microwave society that wants to see results right away.

They want their squat to go up 80 lbs in a month or their 40 time to drop half a second in that same time. For long term success, let nature and time in training take its course.

No one cares if the kid is the best 14 year old in their county at their sport if he/she has already peaked or is always hurt.

Brandon Strausser – Performance Coach, Spire Performance, Geneva Ohio.

1. The idea of “Sport Specific training” is a hoax – Athletes and parents need to understand that our jobs as strength and conditioning coaches is to make better athletes (through strength, speed, and power gains along with injury reduction protocols).

The training program that the athletes receive will be very similar to one another (in regards to the movements and speed development). The only thing different will be how they apply their training program into their sport (ex: A swimmer and a baseball player will both squat to develop stronger and more powerful legs.

For the swimmer it’s to have a better start and turns off the walls. For the baseball player, it’s to have a stronger swing and faster sprint to the bases). Leave the specificity to the actually sport coaches who know and understand the sport like the back of their hands.

2. Be patient with your training – Understand that good things take some time to develop.

You actually have to work your tail off to get results.

Some people adapt quicker than others and see improvements much sooner than their counter parts. But that’s the beauty of us being human; we’re all different and react to stimulus and stress differently. This might sound like another point but it goes right along with being patient and that is staying consistent with your training and who you are training with.

Be organized with your training and have a set schedule of when you’re doing it (certain circumstances I understand will pop up but try to stay as close as you can to your schedule). The number of training sessions per week will alter how fast or slow your results will be.

You see that your vertical hasn’t improved in two weeks. Well maybe it’s because you’ve only had a total of four training sessions in those two weeks.

Lastly, jumping from coach to coach will break up and stunt your progress because each coach has a different approach to their training. Your body will not be able to adapt if you are constantly changing the training stimulus with a new program from a new coach each month or even week. The moral of this spiel is that good things will come to those who wait!

Greg Robins – Co-Owner / Coach, The Strength House, Worcester MA.

1. I need you to understand what it is you want to gain from training with us.

Can some of this be coached? Yes, probably.

However, if you don’t have a clear picture of what you hope to gain from training you will not achieve much of anything in the end. While I can explain what training can do for you, it is not the same as YOU knowing what you want to gain from training.

As parents, you need to understand that from the same level as I do as the coach. You telling your kids what they should get from training is not the same as them expressing what they want to get from training. It has to come from within them…what is it that they want to achieve?

2. I need you to understand WHY achieving that is important to you.

I mean really break it down on every damn level. Why, why, why, why, why?

Why do you want to get stronger? To play on varsity. Why do you want to play varsity…oh snap…now that’s where the ball is usually dropped. Guess what? You’re 16. Your child is 16. Why do you want to play varsity?

Don’t give me the lip service of you want to be the best you can be unless that is really true. Maybe you want to elevate your social status. Maybe you want to be like someone you look up to. Maybe you think it will help you get a date with that girl on the softball team you like. Why you want it is the most important thing you need to understand about training.

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

You are going to be pulled in 6 directions at that age…you will continually have other things you could do. If you understand WHY you are training, and have therefore decided that that “why” is the most important thing to you then you will get it done. Whether or not you’re training with me, whether you’re on the best program or worst program. The kids that know their why and who are supported by parents that know their WHY will succeed.

Mike Anderson – Owner / Coach, Anderson Strength & Fitness, Cleveland Ohio.

1. The real impetus behind this discussion, for me, was that I really want athletes and their parents to understand that getting ready for a particular season takes more than two weeks.

I recently had two different kids reach out to me ready to “get jacked” and “crush shit before season” only to realize that one of them had three weeks to go and the other one was actually in the middle of try-outs.

There is very little I can legitimately do for you in that time frame. If you really want to explore how much you can develop athletically then it needs to be a year round part of your life.

2. The other thing that I’d really want to impress upon both athletes and their parents is that you will directly get back what you put into your training.

If you consistently show up to Saturday morning training after a seven hour Fortnite binge ending with three hours of sleep and no breakfast, then you’re going to have a really shitty training session.

If we are fueling our young athletes with Pop Tarts and Captain Crunch then we should be expecting their development to be reflective of that. Sophomores in high school are rarely in charge of their own nutrition, and thus parents really need to be aware of providing the right things for their kids to make good choices with.

I hope that this was ultimately helpful in some way, and if you found it to be so then please share it so that other athletes and/or their parents can benefit! If you’re in the same area as any of the coaches on this panel please don’t hesitate to find them on social media and get your young athlete in the gym and working!

March 25, 2019 Tony

coaching Motivational

Porcelain Post: Fitness Marketing 101

NOTE: The term “Porcelain Post” was invented by Brian Patrick Murphy and Pete Dupuis. Without getting into the specifics, it describes a post that can be read in the same time it takes you to go #2.

Huh, I guess that was more specific than I thought.

Enjoy.

Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo

Fitness Marketing 101

The fitness industry is growing fast.

I was l listening to an episode of The Fitcast with Kevin Larrabee and guest Lou Schuler recently and Lou brought up an eye-popping stat saying something to the effect that within the past 3-5 years there’s been a steady rise of people graduating with a degree in Health Science.

I’m having a brain fart on the actual stat, but I wanna say it’s in the 200,000 to kajillion-billion range per year. It’s definitely closer to the former, but suffice it to say: there’s a lot of people entering the fitness industry.

And lets be honest: there’s not really much one can do with a “health science” degree.

Sure, some will enter collegiate strength & conditioning, maybe gravitate towards academia, or, I don’t know, join a ninja gang. The vast majority of people, however, will likely root themselves getting a job as a personal trainer at a local commercial gym.

And this is when the shit show happens.

Marketing.

via GIPHY

Most fitness professionals have a firm grasp on the intricacies of concurrent vs. undulated periodization, the nuances of breaking down squat mechanics, or hell, maybe they’re an uber nerd and can articulate every step of gluconeogenesis.

Many can write a program or assess scapular upward rotation with their eyes closed.

Yet, when it comes to marketing their services – and “wooing” new clients – they’re as lost as a White Walker in Westeros.

There’s intense pressure on trainers – especially in bigger box commercial gyms – to “recruit” more patrons into personal training each month and to hit quotas.

And this is where I feel most trainers have it backwards.

I believe time would be better spent – not to mentions it’s waaaay more cost effective – doing everything one can to foster an environment where client retention is the goal.

What’s more lucrative?

1. A trainer spending an inordinate amount of his or her’s time scratching and clawing to maybe entice two new people to sign up for one (maybe two) months of training, never to be seen again?

2. A trainer who has a healthy roster of ten clients who are continually re-upping their packages?

SPOILER ALERT: the latter.

Some Stuff to Consider

None of this is to insinuate that the burden should be solely on the trainer’s back 100% of the time; I do believe commercial gyms can (and should) play a more proactive role in supporting their staff.

Offering (free) continuing education opportunities would be a nice start.

I.e., invest in their trainers.

That said, here are a few quick-n-dirty suggestions for trainers:

1. It’s quoted often and may induce a hefty amount of eye rolls, but Mike Boyle’s “no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care” line is never more germane than here.

Be punctual.
Be professional.
Never underestimate the power of a hand written note.

All are more apt to maintain a client’s business more so than your proclivity to break down synergistic dominance or name every articulation of the body in alphabetical order.²

2. Try not to be a fitness industry T-1000.

Maybe you think it’s cool you haven’t missed a workout in four years, post shirtless pics of yourself eating a kale salad, and haven’t eaten gluten since 2009, but your clients could likely give two shits.

They want to be able to build a connection with you.

This is NOT to say you shouldn’t practice what you preach and be proud of it. This is also not to say you’re #1 goal and priority in keeping clients is to elicit results.

It IS to say, however, it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit more relatable and not give the impression you eat, drink, and breath fitness at all times.

Remember that one time you ate an Oreo after 9 PM?

Share that.

Or, what about that time you lived life dangerously and didn’t spend your Friday night watching YouTube training videos and instead watched Eyes Wide Shut?

Share that.

Or, I don’t know, maybe not.³

Either People prefer to know they hired a human to interact with and are more inclined to stay with someone they can relate to.⁴

3. When I was at Cressey Sports Performance the most valuable way we “marketed” our services was to be present and attend our athlete’s games whenever we could.

First of all, our athletes loooooooooved it; and what better way to build long-term rapport than that?

Second, it was a free advertising and it wasn’t uncommon for other parents to approach us and inquire about our services.

Third, it’s not lost on me that many of you reading don’t work with athletes and that it would be awkward to just randomly show up at your client’s open mic poetry slam reading or their powerpoint presentation at work on “How the 2018 Tax Laws Affect Free Market Sales of Industrial Strength Penis Enlargers.”

That said, maybe you started working with someone who’s going to compete in their first powerlifting meet or figure competition or kite flying contest.

Go!

Be a voice and beacon of support for them.

They’ll love it and will undoubtedly be loyal to you as a client for the foreseeable future.

I Guess What I’m Trying to Say Is

Be unapologetic with regards to making your CURRENT clients happy and fostering those relationships. It’s a slight reframe from what we’re programmed to do and think, but one I feel will pay huge dividends.

March 21, 2019 Tony

coaching

How to Get Your Clients to Work Harder

I often say that what bogs down most fitness professionals, and what often causes the most stress, isn’t the x’s and o’s of program design, assessment, or breaking down the Creatine phosphorylation cycle.

Nor is it the ability to break down squat or overhead pressing technique.

Most coaches/trainers can do all the above without blinking an eye.⁵

Nope, what really grinds most fit pro’s gears is how to better motivate their clients and to get them to work hard(er).

Now, to be fair (and to add a sense of brevity), when I say “to get them to work hard(er)” I am not implying the word “hard” means someone trains to the point of shitting their kidney on their last set of cleans or that they can’t feel the right side of their face after finishing that day’s WOD.

Just so we’re on the same page…

I Am Not Referring to This

via GIPHY

5 Tips to Get Your Clients to Train Hard(er)

1) Meet Them Where THEY Are

We all have biases as coaches. We all have notions of how most people we work with should train and what they need to do to get from Point A to Point B.

Using myself as an example:

“Lifting heavy shit.”

I’ll unabashedly admit that the bulk of people who walk through the doors at CORE already know what they’re getting themselves into

I mean, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to take a gander at my logo and tagline to put 2 and 2 together:

I.e., we’re not participating in tickle fights.⁶

That said, I’ve made a massive philosophical change in my coaching style ever since marrying my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis.

She’s a psychologist and knows a thing or two about Jedi mind-tricks.

To that end, I try really, really, really hard not to force feed and project MY preferences onto my clients. Granted I live in a bit of a strength & conditioning bubble where I don’t have to work very hard to convince new clients to understand and appreciate the benefits of strength training.

Many times people walk through the doors of CORE on Day #1 wanting to deadlift, or front squat, or discuss why Colton was a fool (and FOOL I tell you) to pick Cassie over Tayshia in the latest season of The Bachelor.

However, NEWSFLASH: a lot of people could give two shits about deadlifting 2x bodyweight or performing a low bar back squat.

Using the latter as a reference point, not many people have the ability to perform a barbell back squat well, and if I played the meanie head strength coach card all the time and forced every client to do it – even if it didn’t match their current ability level, injury history, or goal(s) – I’d be doing them a disservice and likely taking away from their training experience.

Doing our part and meeting our clients where THEY are – oh, you mean not everyone wants to train like a powerlifter? – would be the more germane and responsible approach.

If your client can’t perform a certain exercise because it’s too advanced (or worse, it hurts), then yeah, they’re not going to be very motivated to work hard.

2) Set Them Up For Success

I’m going to divulge a big (coaching) secret; something that will undoubtedly help separate any coaches/trainers who may be reading from the masses.

Wanna know what your clients want most and what will (likely) allow them to work harder?

No, it’s not a Instagram feed of you wearing yoga pants making a smoothie or posing shirtless next to a Tesla.

And it’s definitely not however many supplements you want to peddle their way.

Nope, what they really want is to not feel like an incompetent asshole on the gym floor.

The fitness industry likes bright shiny things; exercises that are flashy and look cool. That’s fine. I am not anti having a little fun in the gym.

That being said, lets stop with the exercises that take 13 minutes just to set up or are only good for garnering “likes” on social media.

I think the more prudent approach, and at the expense as coming across too “vanilla,” is to hammer the basics – squat, hinge, row, push, single leg, carry, core – and to use your skills as a coach to find out what variations of these patterns best fits the needs of your clients.

Want your clients to work hard(er)?

Set them up for success and provide a litany of exercises they can actually perform well and without feeling like a fool.

And then, you know, progress them accordingly.

3) Have Them Write Shit Down

Let me know if this sounds familiar:

Client: I’m frustrated by my lack of progress.

Me: Okay, lets break this down. Let me look at your program.

(looks at program)

Me: Why isn’t there anything written down?

Client: Oh, I just try to remember each week what I do.

Me: Excuse me, brb.

(tosses face into a brick wall).

Please.

Most people can barely remember what they had for dinner the night before let alone what they did on their third set of DB Bench Press last Wednesday.

“What gets tracked, gets managed”

I like to place a bit of accountability with my clients and encourage them – almost naggingly so – to WRITE THEIR SHIT DOWN FOR THER LOVE OF GOD.

4) Appreciate RPE

It’s one thing when I can have my eyes on a client and adjust load or otherwise provide instant feedback on their technique in real time.

It’s a whole different ballgame when a client trains on their own.

There’s always going to be a bit of trial and error, however most of the time (not always) I find people tend to UNDER-estimate how much weight they can lift when training on their own.

Lets say a program calls for 4×8 of a particular exercise and that’s exactly what a client does.

Great.

That’s half the battle⁷

Upon further inspection, though, when you bring up effort or Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), you come to the realization that they could have done eight more reps with that same weight.

[Cue The Price is Right horn here.]

Granted, they’re doing work, which should be celebrated…just not work that’s challenging enough (or, to be more specific, “work” that challenges the body and forces it to adapt to the load placed upon it).

Getting your clients to appreciate and adopt “RPE” to help provide feedback and direction in terms of what loads to use can be a game changer with regards to nudging them to work harder.

Courtesy of Mike Turscherer

5) Use a Teeny Tine Dose of Tough Love

Lastly, sometimes I like to write little notes into my client’s programs – especially those who can’t seem to live without their cell phone – to remind them that I have their best interests in mind.

Unless you’re a brain surgeon on call, leave your phone off the gym floor…;o)

March 13, 2019 Tony

coaching personal training psychology

The Subtle Art of Shutting Up and Listening

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of TG.com regular, and my 1-day-per-week training partner⁸, Justin Kompf.

Listening, I mean really listening, is a learned skill and takes a lot of (purposeful) practice to master. Those who are able to so, however, are often the ones who separate themselves from the masses in the fitness industry.

This is a quick read, but worth your time

Copyright: aaronamat / 123RF Stock Photo

The Subtle Art of Shutting Up and Listening

I take a deep breath before I knock on my advisor’s office door.

“Keep it together Justin, whatever you do don’t cry”

I take a seat in his office and immediately start crying. We don’t need to go into details, but I was in a tough place.

Fine, my girlfriend broke up with me and I had no idea where I was going with my career. Okay, great, sharing feelings, my favorite.

Can we move on?

I’m sitting in his office, which mind you is surrounded by other offices, just balling.

But as I’m talking, I’m starting to feel better.

Why?

Well, here’s what he was doing. Just listening, providing me with enough silence to think thoughts and say them out loud. He asked me open ended questions without giving advice. That was special for me because up until then I don’t recall ever really being heard like that.

via GIPHY

Of course, there are friends I could say anything to, but I never really had this kind of experience before. This experience profoundly changed the way I interacted with people and even changed my approach on coaching.

Empathetic Listening

The other day in a lecture I hammered home the importance of forming relationships with the people you coach.

Given enough time in anyone’s life, something stressful (which is not necessarily bad) or crappy is bound to happen with different magnitudes of crappiness.

Sometimes I like to think of God as Donkey Kong from Nintendo just throwing barrels filled with crap (like bad or stressful events not actual poop) at people. It’s not a bad thing, that’s just life and it happens to everyone but it’s nice when you have someone to help you work through it.

Low levels of crappiness might be failing to get a promotion at work whereas high levels of crappiness might mean going through a divorce or a death in the family.

Many of the clients I train I’m close with, especially those close in age to me. I’m sure lots of other trainers are the same. Over time, trust forms and when things that bother them come up, they know I’ll listen.

This isn’t to say that a lift should turn into a therapy session, because it shouldn’t. But imagine how much a client would appreciate it when something came up and you just said:

“Hey, it sounds like you’re going through some tough stuff, let’s grab a coffee after the session”

How to Do This Empathetic Listening Thing

I don’t have set in stone guidelines on how to accomplish this, but I know when I’ve done it the right way and I know when I’ve failed.

I think one of the biggest issues people have in conversations is that they wait for their turn to talk. They have already concluded what they are going to say next even before the person in front of them has finished talking.

Yes Karen⁹, you’re guilty of this so pay close attention.

As soon as you’re thinking about what you are going to say next, you’re not fully engaged with the person, so that means you’re not listening.

Side Note: This is also super important for a successful initial consultation with a client if you want to truly understand their goals and why their goals are important.

If you’re going to be a good listener, you need to suspend your thoughts.

via GIPHY

Good listeners don’t jump to give advice or relate their experiences to the person in front of them. If you feel like you have something that the person can relate to, try saying:

“You know, everyone’s experience is different, and I don’t want to pretend like we’ve gone through the same thing, but I’ve got a story that I think you might relate to.”

People don’t always talk to get advice back.

They just want to talk because things are tough, and they want to get it off their chest. If they want advice, they’ll probably say “what do you think I should do?”

The last thing that I know for sure is that if you want to be a great listener you need to put your phone down.

All the incredible memes will still be there when your conversation is over.

The Subtle Art of Shutting Up

Listen…

Listening is incredibly important. Yea, sometimes it can be just about as comfortable as being single for the third year in a row at your families Thanksgiving get together.

Right…

But in order to be a good listener, you need to shut up.

Something great happens when a person feels accepted and can speak their mind. You might find out way more about the person you are working with, whether it’s about their goals or about their life, by saying nothing.

Just like lifting, writing, or slipping high brow poop jokes into casual conversations with your highly successful clients, listening is a skill that needs to be practiced.

So, I would encourage all of you to go out their and in the appropriate times, just shut up.

About the Author

Justin Kompf is doctoral student studying exercise and health sciences. He is a personal trainer in Boston at CLIENTEL3.

You can follow Justin here and here.

December 3, 2018 Tony

coaching Conditioning

The Problems With Youth Fitness. With Solutions

I’ve got a guest post from Baltimore based strength & conditioning coach, Erica Suter today. She’s someone I respect a lot not only for her writing prowess (she gives me a run for my money with Lord of the Rings references), but also for her steadfastness in sticking to her guns.

She could easily train professional athletes given her own athletic background, but more to the point because she’s a gifted coach.

However, her preference is to work with youth athletes

And she crushes.

I am always impressed with Erica’s content and commitment to serving our younger generation of athletes. She’s recently released her first product – Total Youth Soccer Fitness – and it’s fantastic.

It’s really a manual for all young athletes and not just soccer, and I think it does a superb job at bringing the pendulum back to the middle. It provides a detailed strength & conditioning component, of course, but emphasizes something sorely lacking in today’s culture…

….fun!

It’s on sale for $67 for the next three days and then jumps to it’s full price of $97. Coaches, parents, Nazguls, act quickly. You won’t be disappointed. Get it HERE.

The Problems With Youth Fitness (With Solutions)

Besides J.R.R. Tolkien book themes, snowboarding trips, and triple shots of espresso, nothing lights me up more than youth fitness.

After seven years of coaching kids, I guess I have a lot to say on the topic. As a self-proclaimed introvert, my extrovert side certainly shines through any time strength and conditioning for youth athletes comes up. Here’s a common conversation I’ve had countless times:

Parent: “Can you do conditioning for my 10-year-old?”
Me: “Like take them to the playground?”
Parent: “No, like suicides, laps, timed miles.”
Me: “Find another coach.”

(hangs up phone abruptly)

via GIPHY

Okay, okay, maybe it’s not this dramatic, but you get my point.

Look. I love working with kids. There’s something magical about teaching a beginner the ropes of training and seeing them all the way through their athletic development to college and beyond.

But what I love more is teaching everyone involved in youth fitness that there are safe, fun, and effective ways to get kids better at their sport.

Still, some of these kids are in the wrong training hands. With overuse injuries, sports drop-out rates, lack of passion for sport, and sedentary lifestyles on the rise, I fear the future of the youth athlete.

More often than not, kids are trained wrong.

Whether a coach is misinformed, parents are Googling Messi workouts for their 10-year-old too much, or a new trainer wants to grow his social media following, kids are doing some ridiculous things (most that are unsafe) in the gym and on the field.

With that said, besides sitting at the DMV, there’s nothing worse than perusing Instagram and seeing these things:

– an 8-year-old sprinting up a hill carrying a medicine ball.
– a 10-year-old attached to a sled while dribbling through cones.
– a team of 8-year-olds running sprints around the field as punishment.
– a high school kid doing CrossFit box jumps without mastering jumping and landing mechanics.

Of course, I could make a laundry list here, but instead of complaining, I want to shed light on some of the biggest problems in youth fitness as well as provide actionable solutions.

Let’s do this:

1. People Aren’t Keeping Youth Fitness Simple.

When it comes to training kids, I like to be guided by this mantra: keep it simple, stupid.

A training session with kids should focus on 1-2 skills or performance components you want them to improve, then progress from there. There’s no need to be all over the place and complicate things. If you’re a coach who is trying to teach speed and jumps right into the speed resistance bands, harnesses, sleds, and unicorns to look flashy, who the hell are you?

Worse yet, the kid’s reps are terrible, form is weak, and coordination is non-existent.

So.

I have an idea: tell kids to skip or march and see the whacky coordination show. If they can’t do these simple tasks, what makes you think their linear and multi-directional mechanics will be clean?

Besides asking yourself what skill you want to teach that day, I’d also argue you should ask yourself: “am I developing athletes or social media stars?” before you jump to posting flashy videos on your Instagram.

*drops mic*

2. Youth Athletes Don’t Learn the Basic Motor Skills Enough.

Speaking of keeping it simple, always start with the basics.

Here are some staples to my youth fitness programs:

– Balance
– Contralateral Coordination
– Core Stability
– Jumping and Landing Mechanics
– Athletic Stance

What’s funny is, these basics set youth athletes up for the “cool” things they get to do later on in their development, like power cleans, deadlifts, pull-ups, lunge variations, and more. Behind every healthy, athletic youth athlete is someone who masters the basics.

Relentlessly.

Vertical Jump Tutorial

Because this much I know: motor skill learning is REAL. Like anything else in life, such as learning math, an instrument, or a soccer skill, this stuff takes a long time frame to master. Like as long as it took Frodo to trek across Middle Earth time frame.

Reflexive Strength

Being able to be coordinated (contralateral) is critical for not only developing optimal speed mechanics, but also for blending the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Kids who can connect across their bodies through movements like Bird Dogs, Crawls, and Marches can tap into their logical and creative sides. A great book to check out on the benefits of coordination for brain development in youth is Smart Moves.

Here is a fun drill that touches on coordination, balance, and core stability to try:

3. Youth Athletes Aren’t Strength Training Enough.

Let’s get this out of the way: youth strength training does not mean throwing a kid under a barbell right off the bat.

Here are several things that could mean “strength training” for kids:

– Bodyweight
– Resistance Bands
– Free Weights (dumbbells, kettlebells)
– Barbells
– Prowlers
– Peg Boards

Now that you see you don’t have to sign your kid up for CrossFit to become the next Lebron, how should we gingerly go about strength training?

Taking the conversation back to the basics, always start with bodyweight first to ensure the kid can move well and execute good form.

Split Squat

Then, once bodyweight looks as pretty as a Starbuck’s peppermint mocha, you can progress to more crazy shenanigans like this:

Bulgarian Split Squat

Here’s a rough template I like to use as far as when to strength train:

– Girls 11-years-old and up
– Boys 12-years-old and up
– However, this may vary based on physical maturity and mental readiness.

How do we know a kid is mentally ready to enter a gym setting with clanking barbells?

– Ask them why they want to go in the gym.
– Notice their body language (proud, head up upon leaving gym)
– If they can’t stop talking about how awesome Coach Erica’s Pull-Up competitions were, they’re a green light. ;-O

4. Youth Athletes Aren’t Having Fun.

While structured training and coaching should done in a controlled environment, sometimes we need to set the seriousness aside and have some fun.

After all, don’t we want kids to fall in love with fitness?

Not just to get better for their sport, but to be inspired to move for a lifetime. In the midst of today’s Fortnite culture, it’s pretty freaking scary how little kids move nowadays.

Think about it: most sports teams practice a few times a week, amounting to a total of 2-4 hours a week of activity. This is meager compared to what we did back in my day. By “my day” I mean the 90s.

Shout out to those of you who played Dodgeball, Capture the Flag, Four Square, and Tether Ball.

Alas, I digress.

We don’t see this anymore. So to inspire kids to move, let’s lean into our creativity as coaches and make fitness fun. Here are several examples of games I’ve come up with over the years:

Example #1

Example #2

Example #3

Of course, these are just glossing over the tip of the iceberg. The good news for coaches is that yes, keep things simple, but sprinkle in creativity as you go to keep kids passionate and engaged.

Teaching must be done to some degree so kids learn, but we have to be cognizant of peppering in the fun.

To that end, let kids be kids.

Total Youth Soccer Fitness

If you’re a coach of young athletes this is for you.

If you’re a parent of young athletes this is for you.

Kids aren’t professional athletes and they should NOT be treated as such. Erica has provided a stellar resource that will help guide you step by step on how to build a well-rounded athlete, but remain cognizant that kids are kids.

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November 28, 2018 Tony