Categoriescoaching Motivational psychology

How Macho Bull and the Word Should Can Hold Back Your Training

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of UK based strength coach, Chris Kershaw, and lands on a theme I am a huge proponent of…

…Jennifer Lopez, Jason Bourne fight scenes, kitty cuddles people “should’ing” all over themselves.

  • I “should” life x amount of weight.
  • I “should” train x number of days per week.
  • I “should” workout despite being injured.

All of these so-called rules are made-up BS and nothing more than stories we tell ourselves. You may find that you fall prey to this line of thinking.

If so, read on…

Copyright: etiamos

How Macho Bull and the Word “Should” Can Hold Back Your Training

For the last six months, I’ve been trying to build my squat back up to my previous numbers prior to the pandemic. Not surprisingly, I got a little inside my head and decided I “should” add weight to the barbell every…single…week.

The result of this 100% made up “should” rule resulted in a steady escalation of a pesky back injury every six weeks.

Times were sucky.

Needlessly adhering to silly, arbitrary rules hurt me.

Why Is It Important to Manage Our Relationship With These Rules?

When our mental health becomes defined by our performance in the gym you risk everything blowing up and our head space becomes tethered to whether or not we have a bad session or two.

Good session (hit our numbers) = Everything is hunky dory. Don’t worry babe, I’ll make dinner and wash the dishes tonight.

Bad session (miss our numbers) =

via GIPHY

So the solution is you need to get better forever, yes?

No!

We are all getting older. One day, our performance will decline.

If you are defined by your gym performance, you will eventually run into problems.

Having an awareness of the “should” rules will hopefully keep you on the side of positive unconditional regard most of the time and help you to avoid dips in mental health relating to your training.

Another benefit to understanding your relationship with these “should” rules is better decision-making in training.

If you make better decisions, your training will be less self-sabotaging.

It’s not the answer to all your training woes, but it might allow you to train longer without injury, to be able to do your rehab without much resentment, and/or get you to the gym a few more times a year.

In short, staying cognizant of these “should” rules will give you the ability to perform poorly in the gym, to be unhappy about it, but still be able to turn the page, chill out, and accept yourself as being okay.

 

“Should” Rules That Aren’t Actually Rules

I should….

1. Lift More Weight Every Week

Macho bullshit.

You can’t lift more every week. You’re not He-Man (or She-Ra).

Most of the time, you’ll lift the same weight or less.

If you train regularly with a solid plan, your numbers will go up eventually. If you try to force the numbers up every week then you’ll likely end up frustrated and hurt.

Note From TG: I couldn’t agree more. I often call this expectation management, and it’s something I have to consistently remind my clients of. Like I always say…easy training is good training.

2. Lift More in Competition Than in the Gym

Some people lift more in the gym than in competition, others don’t. You need to compete a few times before you decide you are going to go for a massive PR in competition.

3. I Shouldn’t Get Injured

You’re not Wolverine.

Injuries are part of this journey.

The idea you’ll never get injured is a misguided idea.

You should do everything in your power to have good recovery, and to limit the risk of injury as much as you can, but it isn’t always possible.

4. Deadlift More Than I Squat

Not necessarily.

Josh Greenfield, (a world-record squatter) has a much bigger squat than his deadlift.

My squat and deadlift are around the same, and that is the case for many athletes around the world.

The difference between the two is decided by many factors, most of which are out of your control. Build great technique in them both, program them correctly, go at each lift with the same attitude, and see how they progress.

5. Front Squat

Unless you are training for a particular sport using a particular movement, you don’t need to do that movement if it’s causing you problems.

After a few weeks of front squatting, my knees want to explode.

What does this mean?

It means I don’t front squat often in favour of safety bar squats, goblet squats, or leg presses.

Trying to include a movement in your plan because you “should” is misguided. Quit banging your head against a movement that is hurting you.

6. Low Bar Squat

“LOW BAR SQUAT OR NOTHING!”

-Low bar squat extremist.

If your low bar squat sucks, and you keep hurting yourself then stop low bar squatting.

Find a squat variation you DO get on with.

7. Sumo Deadlift

If sumo deadlifts ruin your hips then the chances are sumo deadlifts don’t work for you. Don’t worry, you will be able to find a deadlift variation optimal for you.

The same goes for any other deadlift variation people say you “should” do.

If it hurts you consistently and your form looks good, switch it up. Maybe rack pulls or block deadlifts work better for you. That’s ok.

8. Max Out EVERY SESSION

Yes, you should, if you want to: 1) get injured 2) make training so mentally exhausting that you’ll burn out in 4 seconds.

This is macho bullshit hampering your training.

To make maxing out effective, you have to pick your battles. When you are in a competition is a great time to max-out.

When it’s something you do because it’s a Tuesday (or something equally as random and there’s no planning involved) you’re setting yourself up for trouble.

I like having my clients max-out infrequently as it’s hard to recover from and it’s risky.

I’d much rather a lifter got stronger while keeping some effort in the tank for another day unless they are competing.

9. Take Pre-Workout Before Every Session

Pre-workout supplements, when used diligently can work effectively.

When used perpetually to fuel sessions, we often see issues with anxiety, motivation, and other issues because of the knock-on effects on recovery.

via GIPHY

Too-much pre-workout makes people need to de-load more often and makes stupid decisions in training more likely.

My personal strategy is to have a black coffee or sugar-free energy drink before training rather than a specific pre-workout supplement.

10. Be Able to Train Hard All the Time

Life happens, we don’t sleep sometimes, we get injured, and we get ill.

Sometimes, you will train poorly, and the cold truth of it all is most sessions are going to be average.

Some sessions will be awful.

Sometimes bad sessions come out of the blue, other times it’s after doing something you wouldn’t usually do.

Often it’s due to things completely out of your control. Which means bad sessions are unavoidable.

You have to be able to cope with that if you are to succeed in making training a long-term habit.

11. Train “x” Amount of Times Per Week

Based on over a decade of working with people like you, can you guess what training frequency tends to work best for people?

  • 6 times a week?
  • 5 times?

The answer is 3-4 sessions of 30-90 minutes.

For most, trying to train more than this is wildly optimistic.

If your favourite athlete trains 18 times a week it doesn’t mean you should.

Typically when people with lives end up training hard more than four times per week they end up under-recovered and over-injured.

For most people, I’d encourage you to train 3-4 times per week with various non-gym walks/steady cardio sessions dispersed throughout the week, with a little bit of HIT training .

12. Train Through Injury or Illness

You can safely train around an injury with careful exercise selection, and the correct application of rehab work.

Expecting to push through a program without factoring in your injury is macho bullshit.

When injury strikes you have to adapt to the circumstances, not steamroll ahead without changing course. The course correction may only need to be small, but a change of course will be needed to accommodate an injury.

With illness, there are times when you have to train, especially with chronic illness.

But with cold, flu, coronavirus, or whatever other short-term illness you have you to rest 1) so you don’t spread it to others and 2) so you don’t end up more unwell.

Conclusion

Good training is built upon hundreds of good decisions. Trying to adhere to rules because you “should” derails those decisions and makes it more likely you will make bad decisions and mess up your training.

When you begin training, many of these bad decisions will crop up.

By avoiding these bad decisions and rules that aren’t rules, your training is likely to be more consistent, more productive, and less stressful.

This is a good thing.

About the Author

Chris Kershaw is a certified personal trainer located in Leeds, England.

Known as The Heavy Metal Strength Coach, Chris aims to show as many people as possible that consistently lifting weights and working with a coach “isn’t that bad.”

He works with clients to improve their lives via the medium of the barbell (and the occasional kettlebell.)

Website: HERE                 Instagram: HERE

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 4/16/21

Copyright: conneldesign / 123RF Stock Photo

STUFF TO CHECK OUT FIRST

1. Digital Strategic Strength Mentorship 

Luke Worthington and I developed our 6-week digital mentorship last Fall because 1) we felt between the two of us, we had a lot of expertise and insights regarding assessment, program design, coaching, brand building, and business that we could offer to other fitness professionals to help build & grow THEIR businesses, and 2) because there’s a fucking pandemic going on that’s prevented us from doing these sorts of things in person.

(Hopefully soon, though)

Nevertheless, we had a great experience the first go round with a stellar group of fitness pros and we’re excited to open it up again this Spring.

It all begins on April 26th.

Click HERE for more details.

2. CORE @ Home

You can now purchase CORE @ Home for whatever you want to pay.

In all I filmed 36 workouts during quarantine last year using nothing but bodyweight, bands, and kettlebells and/or dumbbells. With many people still reticent to head back to their regular gyms (not to mention the scarcity of gym equipment out there to purchase) I figured this would be a nice opportunity to help.

Whether you want to spend $1 or $99 (FYI: the latter enters you to win a 5×7 shirtless pic of me), the workouts are ready and available to start.

For more information go HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

 

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STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

6 Things They Don’t Teach in Bench Press School – Lee Boyce

Many think the bench press is nothing more than lowering a barbell toward the chest then hoisting it back up. That may very well be a worthy Wikipedia entry to summarize the most popular exercise out there.

But, as Lee notes in this superb article, there are many other factors to consider with regards to not only technique, but also METHODS, that many lifters fail to incorporate to help improve their performance in the lift.

How to Promote Personal Training on Instagram (Without Getting Half Naked) – Meghan Callaway

Meghan has built an impressive following on Instagram over the past 1-2 years, and she did it WITHOUT resorting to what’s seemingly a normal tactic nowadays…

…revealing more and more skin.

IG has grown to be the first thing most people view to get an idea of who YOU are as a fitness professional (even ahead of your website).

Showing skin, while not necessarily a bad thing, can be fleeting.

Meaning, outside of a few outliers, you’re likely not going to build a sustainable business through garnering likes alone on IG.

Meghan outlines several other ways to grow your following (and business) in a way that will STICK.

Should Youth Athletes Use Creatine? – Wendi Irlbeck

Very informative article from Wendi.

I will most definitely be bookmarking this one to share with parents.

Categoriespersonal training

5 Things I Learned From My Most Difficult Personal Training Clients

I’ve been training people since 2002.

I’ve worked with myriad of clients ranging from professional athletes to young athletes to people just looking to increase their general levels of badassery.

I’ve enjoyed the bulk of people I have worked and interacted with over the years. The vast majority I’d label as splendid and lovely individuals whom I’d name my second born after.1

Except for these five…

5 Things I Learned From My Most Difficult Personal Training Clients

1. Mrs. Vague

2. Mr. Late

3. Mrs. Bulk-a-Phobic

4. Mr. Complainer

5. Dr. Clueless

Who are they? What are they? How did I deal with them? Did I “fire” them? Send them to time out? What gives?

Find out in my latest article for the Personal Trainer Development Center – HERE.

Categoriespodcast

The Art of Session Delivery

I was recently invited back onto the Lift the Bar Podcast hosted by Stuart Aitken, and I enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with him and to delve a bit deeper into how I “assess” my clients as well as how I to go about delivering a quality training session.

I also explain what I mean when I say “people need to should’ing on themselves” and why it’s important to go out of your way to “of course” your clients in order to showcase a bit more empathy.

Copyright: kantver

The Art of Session Delivery

Stuart is a class act (as is anything affiliated with the Lift the Bar brand), and he’s hands down one of the best interviewers in the business.

He’s the Oprah of our industry.

If you enjoy more of a conversational, off-the-cuff vibe when you listen to podcasts you’ll definitely enjoy this episode.

Go HERE to give it a listen (time stamps included).

Categoriescoaching personal training

What Planning For a Dinner Party Can Tell You About Program Design

It’s not lost on me that not many people are having dinner parties of late.

World pandemic and all…😒

For the past year the closest my wife and I have gotten to a bonafide dinner party is ordering take-out every Saturday night with our 4-year old, and then sitting at the table with his army of super hero action figures.

Excuse me Hulk, can you pass the garlic sauce?

That said, here in the States we’re inching ever so closer to some semblance of normalcy and my wife and I are beginning to make plans with friends for get togethers in several weeks.

And it got me thinking…

…planning for dinner parties is very much analogous to writing competent training programs.

Copyright: Cathy Yeulet

What Planning for a Dinner Party Can Tell You About Program Design

No surprise, there’s a lot to consider and plan for when constructing a classy dinner party:

  • Picking the perfect Canva template for the invitations.
  • Should you get catering or will this be a self-culinary event?
  • What kind of playlist for background music?
  • Should there be any board games involved?2
  • Finally, and I’m just spitballing here, but what about maybe requiring a password to enter? We could go all Eyes Wide Shut and make things weird:

Annnd, Get Me the Fuck Outta Here

via GIPHY

All of the above are important things to ponder.3

(Don’t you dare forget about the cheese board).

Above all else, of course, would be ensuring your place is spic and span for your guests.

Think about it this way: If you’re planning on having guests over for dinner, and you need to tiddy up the place, where are you going to concentrate your efforts?

  • Vacuuming the floors?
  • Dusting?
  • Cleaning (and putting away) all the dirty dishes in the sink?
  • Making sure there isn’t any dirty laundry laying around?
  • Fluffing the pillows on the couch?
  • Lighting a few scented candles for some added ambiance, perhaps?

Those all sound like winners to me.

You’re likely not going to focus on iron pressing your ties, scrubbing down the shower, or, I don’t know, organizing your spice rack alphabetically.

The point is: You’re going to focus on the “big rocks” and save the superfluous, extraneous minutiae for another time.

By comparison, when working with a personal training client and you only have, if you’re lucky, two, maybe three hours per week with them, what should be the priority with regards to their training program?

More globally, what THEMES should be emphasized to help him or her make long-term progress that sticks?

NOTE: The answer to both questions can (and should) be dictated by one’s goal(s), injury history, and ability level (to name a few)…

…but let’s briefly take fat-loss as an example.

Speaking for myself, if a client of mine expresses interest in focusing on fat-loss, from a programming standpoint I’m going to concentrate my efforts toward the BIG ROCKS:

1️⃣ Discuss Strategies to Promote a Caloric Deficit

I’d rather jump into a shark’s mouth than go down the rabbit hole of discussing calories here.

There’s a myriad of things to consider and take into account:

  • Lifestyle
  • Social Support
  • Medical History
  • Favorite Color
  • Socioeconomic Considerations
  • Food Likes and Dislikes
  • One’s “Relationship” With Food
  • And Other Psychological Factors

Instead I’ll just direct you toward people like Andy Morgan, Sohee Lee, and Dr. Spencer Nadolsky who are more authorities on this topic than I.

Needless to say…if fat loss is the goal, a caloric deficit needs to happen in some fashion.

2️⃣ Strength Training

Sure, we can have a discussion on the efficacy of utilizing approaches such as supersets, compound sets, intervals, finishers, circuits, AMRAP sets, and so on and so forth to help promote more metabolic type training.

However, for me, I’m still going to have my client lift appreciable weight to “remind” the body to keep as much muscle as possible during a caloric deficit, which means I’ll still emphasize compound movements such as deadlifts, squats, rows, and various presses in order to hit as many muscle groups as possible in a minimal amount of time.

Seems pretty logical, right?

Again, if I only have a limited number of hours per week with a client, I’m going to use that time as efficiently as possible.

Why, then, would having your client perform 15 lb. standing tricep extensions followed by 1-legged lateral raises while standing on a wobble board even enter the equation?

Sadly, I see this type of programming a lot.

Going back to the dinner party analogy, that’s akin to me vacuuming the insides of my shoes in the in the bedroom closet.  It makes absolutely no sense!

Stop Majoring in the Minors

Far too often I see trainers focus on the minor, sweating the details to the detriment of actually giving their clients lasting results.

When you think about it, it’s the Pareto Principle to a T.

“80% of your results are going to come from 20% of the work.”

My good friend, Bryan Krahn, said it about as succinctly as possible recently:

As far as GLOBAL themes are concerned (the stuff that most people would bode well following), you’d be hard pressed to do any better.

(Maybe add some bicep curls?…haha)

I am by no means suggesting I know the best way to train every client – particularly yours.

All I’m saying is that when it comes to program design – and by default, exercise selection – trainers need to take it upon themselves to think critically and ask: “is this really going to get my client the best results in the quickest, most time efficient way possible?”

If not, then start over.

Now, excuse me while I go organize my He-Man underoos.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 4/2/21

Copyright: conneldesign / 123RF Stock Photo

STUFF TO CHECK OUT FIRST

1. Digital Strategic Strength Mentorship 

Luke Worthington and I developed our 6-week digital mentorship last Fall because 1) we felt between the two of us, we had a lot of expertise and insights regarding assessment, program design, coaching, brand building, and business that we could offer to other fitness professionals to help build & grow THEIR businesses, and 2) because there’s a fucking pandemic going on that’s prevented us from doing these sorts of things in person.

(Hopefully soon, though)

Nevertheless, we had a great experience the first go round with a stellar group of fitness pros and we’re excited to open it up again this Spring.

It all begins on April 26th.

Click HERE for more details.

2. CORE @ Home

You can now purchase CORE @ Home for whatever you want to pay.

In all I filmed 36 workouts during quarantine last year using nothing but bodyweight, bands, and kettlebells and/or dumbbells. With many people still reticent to head back to their regular gyms (not to mention the scarcity of gym equipment out there to purchase) I figured this would be a nice opportunity to help.

Whether you want to spend $1 or $99 (FYI: the latter enters you to win a 5×7 shirtless pic of me), the workouts are ready and available to start.

For more information go HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

Why Do Clients Leave Personal Trainers? – Stuart Aitken

Not only is Stuart (the author of this article) one of the best podcasts hosts/interviewers I have ever corresponded with, but he’s also a very knowledgeable coach and this piece demonstrates why.

The Alexandra Show: A Conversation On Breaking the Stigma of Mental Health w/ Dr. Lisa Lewis

Full Disclosure: Alexandra is a long standing personal training client of mine. Dr. Lisa Lewis is my wife. I’m undoubtedly biased, but this interview is the shit.

Alexandra is a gifted interviewer and Lisa is pretty much the world’s best psychologist (and hugger giver). I think you’ll enjoy this candid, genuine, and sometimes funny conversation on mental health.

No Respect for Basic Strength Training? Lift in the Garage – Zach Even-Esh

Not gonna lie: After reading this I wanted to run through a wall.

But for real, Zach has such a knack for being inspiring with his words and showcasing that getting big and strong is really not that complicated. You don’t need fancy equipment or a world renowned coach.

All you really need is a garage, some weights (and some self-discipline for course).

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Kickstand RDL w/ Banded Accentuated Eccentric

Let me set the record straight:

1. Just because an exercise has a long name (like this one), doesn’t mean it’s better or more effective.

2. I was just going to call it Banded Thingamajiggy, but it didn’t make made sound smart enough.

Suffice to say: The name is a mouthful, but it’s an exercise that has several practical, across-the-board applications.

Copyright: Georgy Dzyura

Exercises You Should Be Doing: This One 👇👇👇

I’ve always felt 1-Leg RDL variations are difficult to master for most people. They’re an advanced exercise, and not something most people can pull off on day #1.

(AHEM: Which is why I wrote THIS post showcasing how to progress the movement).

It takes a lot of balance and coordination to pull off, and frankly, let’s be honest: Most people can barely make a peanut butter sandwich without falling over…😉😂

Kickstand (or B-Stance) variations, however, still give off the “vibe” of isolating one leg (the front leg is still doing 80% of the work), but also still providing the support or balance many people need to perform well.

In short: You get “most” of the benefit of performing a 1-leg variation, without the annoyance of grace, balance, athleticism, and genetic superiority resembling a drunk pirate.

 

Who Did I Steal It From? – The adding the band part was a tip I stole from Joel Seedman.

What Does It Do? – I explained the “kickstand” rationale above. Adding the band to overload the ECCENTRIC (lowering) portion forces the lifter to stay tight/engaged and to control the descent.

In this sense, you’re “accentuating” the yielding component of the lift, which, not coincidentally, is also the part of the lift where we can handle the most load.

Too, controlling the lowering portion emphasizes time under tension…an important factor in muscle growth.

You’ll also notice I add a “hover pause” about an inch or two above the floor.

This is a nifty trick to 1) help people stay tight and not lose their upper back position and 2) make you or your clients hate life.

Key Coaching Cues – Don’t die. That’s pretty much it.

Add this drill as an accessory lift on your lower body days, for say, 3-4 sets of 5-6 repetitions per leg.

Categoriescoaching Female Training personal training

Failures Hurt. Here’s What I Learned From One

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of good friend, colleague, and past contributor to this site, Kim Lloyd. 

If you’re a coach/personal trainer you’ve likely experienced what Kim describes below…

…being “fired” by a client.

It never feels good. But did you take it as an opportunity to reflect, learn, and grow or to just shrug off, turn the page, and repeat the same mistakes?

Copyright: Marek Uliasz

Failures Hurt. Here’s What I Learned From One

A funny thing happened on my way to losing an online training client.

By funny, I mean I rocked in a corner for two days eye-opening.

Regardless of the industry in which you work, failures hurt.

This client was an acquaintance I’d met when I lived in Boston, and after following my blog for a few years, she decided that she wanted to ditch Zumba (not that there’s anything wrong with Zumba) and start strength training.

Win.

We hopped on a phone call, got down to the nitty gritty, and after talking through her goals, injury history and why Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks is one of the best vinyl records ever, I set her up with a program and off we went.

Except…well…we didn’t.

After a few weeks, she very kindly sent me the break-up email that no one likes to get. It’s not you, it’s me, I just need more space, Keene shoes are not a fashion statement…

Ultimately, she was too overwhelmed to even start the program, and she was headed back to Zumba (again, not that there’s anything wrong with Zumba).

But in the breakup email, she very graciously offered me a breakdown of all of the challenges she had in trying the program I’d written.

Her reaction to the cable machine was perhaps the most telling:

“I have never used the cable pull-down thing. That’s in the boy-area, and one feels one should be carrying a gallon container of blue liquid to even be admitted. How will I approach it? How do I change the weight? How long can I stay on it? I will completely break into the boy area, of course, I don’t care, but it’s somewhat intimidating unless someone shows you first.”

I was disappointed to lose a client, sure. But once I got over myself, I also came face-to-face with all of the nuances about strength training that I take for granted.

I forgot what it felt like when I first started to train seriously.

What it felt like to walk into the free weight room (not the Nautilus room), with a bunch of dudes who were all getting after it and panic about where I should put my gym bag and do my warm up and why is that man in the corner wearing a pro wrestling costume? (This really happened.)

I forgot what it felt like when I couldn’t get the bar off of my chest that one time in the weight room when I was 24. What it was like when I couldn’t press 15lbs for more than three reps during a softball practice when I was 15.

I forgot how long it took me to grasp how to read and understand a program. Sets, reps, tempo and wtf is a Pallof Press? And a Landmine? And what do I do if my gym doesn’t have one?

 

When it comes to strength training, I live in a bubble and this client reminded how difficult it is for many people to get over the humps that I got over so many years ago. Worst of all, I forget that there are those humps.

I try to give people a roadmap, but sometimes forget that they don’t know how to drive the car.

What I want most is for people to fall in love with strength training the way I fell in love with it.

Because it’s good for them.

As a coach, I think the worst thing that can happen is for someone to be interested in the idea of strength training, to be bought in to trying it out, only to feel so intimidated, defeated and frustrated by the process that they quit before ever getting started.

My client’s break-up email reminded me of the people out there, especially women, who are trying to figure out what good information is in a world full of Insta-trainers and infomercials.

Who are battling old feelings of inadequacy every time they set foot in a gym environment because 7th grade gym class experiences are never as far away in our brains as we think they are.

I’m grateful to this client for so many reasons – but perhaps most of all for reminding me as a coach that I have to help clients understand how to drive before I send them on their way.

Cue This Is Why I Wrote a Book Portion of the Article

Believe me when I say this: I feel a bit timid being all like “and that’s why I wrote a book,” even though the truth of the matter is…

…that that’s exactly why I wrote a book.

I did so not to self-aggrandize4, but to legitimately help people (particularly women) that are too intimidated to ask for help, much less step foot in the weight room.

I wanted to show them that they CAN, but in a way that meets them where they are.

Note From TG: It’s a fantastic guide and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in learning in’s & out’s of lifting weights in a safe, efficient, and results driven manner. Kim is a phenomenal coach.

Start Where You Are: A Beginner’s Guide to Lifting Weights and Feeling Great

About the Author

After spending her first two decades out of college working 29 different jobs (English major for the win), Kim Lloyd settled into a career in fitness and is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer as well as an Online Certified Trainer. She coaches full-time at Spurling Fitness in Kennebunk, Maine and trains online clients through Kim Lloyd Fitness.

You can find Kim and her plethora of inflatable costume videos HERE.

CategoriesWriting

Writing Confidence For Fit Pros

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of regular contributor, Shane McLean.

It should come as no surprise I’m a firm advocate of fit pros having the ability to write and write well. Doing so can easily be a way to separate oneself from the masses (as well as opening up opportunities to develop alternate revenue streams).

Suffice to say: Writing can be an intimidating space. Shane provides some excellent advice to get started.

(NOTE: I make a bit of a cameo toward the bottom in case you’re interested in what I have to say. And you totally are. Read it. READ IT!!!!!)

Copyright: Andrea De Martin

Writing Confidence

I failed English all throughout high school.

Plus, when I was a newly certified personal trainer in 2009 a veteran personal trainer had to teach me how to teach clients to squat because I had no idea. Having no idea was a theme of my first few years as a trainer.

But outwardly, I was faking I knew it all.

These are perfect qualifications for becoming a Professional Freelance Fitness Writer, right? If you said no, you are wrong. Go straight to jail and do not collect your $200.

Don’t you hate when this happens?

Anyhow, I’m not going to reminisce about the many times I kicked butt at Monopoly. That’s a tale for a different time. So, let’s get back on track about writing as a fitness professional.

Why Should You Listen To Me?

Okay this is the part where I brag. If you don’t like bragging, you can skip this part and trust you know what I’m talking about.  Because Tony doesn’t allow hacks to be published here.

Here are a few of my writing accomplishments.

  • Tony first took a chance on me here almost seven years ago and I’ve been featured on his site this many times.
  • This is my first paid article on The PTDC, the biggest website IN THE WORLD for personal trainers.
  • Been writing regularly for Barbend since 2018.
  • I’m part of a team of five at The PTDC who put together the weeks best content for trainers. What does that mean? It means I read a crap-ton of fitness content.

Plus, I’ve published an article a week on my site Balance Guy Training for the past six years. Not bad for a person who failed English.

Okay, bragging over.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

With me not being entirely qualified to talk about writing, this article isn’t going to be about the X’S and O’S on the skill of fitness writing. I’m assuming you know how to put together a few coherent sentences and your knowledge of the human body and coaching is up to snuff.

What this is about is overcoming your imposter syndrome and it has all been written before so why the hell should I bother syndrome. I feel those two things hold a lot of fitness professionals back from putting their content out there.

And when doubt creeps in and imposter syndrome puts negative thoughts in your head, here is what you should do.

Hopefully, the suggestions below put these thoughts to bed to help crush your content.

Impostor Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is the feeling of doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. And it doesn’t matter how many abbreviations you have after your name, most people have a feeling why in the hell do people listen to me, buy my services, or read my articles.

When these negative fears and thoughts take over, your productivity will plummet among other things. I’m no shrink (obviously) but when these thoughts start to take over and you’re getting sucked down into a deep dark hole, here’s some suggestions to pull you out of your nosedive.

1. Write Something, Anything.

It doesn’t have to be fitness related but writing helps get your creative juices flowing and usually sometime during this process you realize you do know something. The act of doing is powerful.

2. Remember Your Successes.

Whether it’s a client reaching a long-term goal, or your article had lots of eyes on it, it helps to remember your successes. This reminds you that you do know something.

3. Lift Something Heavy.

Not only do you get out of your own head but the process of thinking about your technique, the cues you use to get yourself in lifting position helps remind you that you do know something.

Imposter syndrome is going to haunt you like Casper the friendly ghost. This in my experience is normal. What is not normal is letting imposter syndrome take over your thoughts and feelings and completely bogging you down. Instead of stewing, get to doing it because doing is imposter syndromes kryptonite.

A short note on its been written before so why the hell should I bother. Sorry, there is not much to counter this one because it’s true. It has all been done before.

But this shouldn’t stop you because it hasn’t been done with your perspective, your know how and your thoughts and feelings. Your clients and audience need to know what you think. We will get into this below.

7 Tips For Getting Better At Fitness Writing

This is a murky area because what works for me mightn’t work for you. Plus, your thought processes are different from my thought processes.

So, I’m taking the view from 10,000 ft which you can apply to your own work. Some of these suggestions may seem obvious, some not, but it is my hope you can apply this to your own work to get more writing confidence.

1. Find Your Voice

There are tons of great writers in the fitness space who are more qualified than you, smarter than you and have a larger audience than you. But none of them have your voice, your perspective, and your set of experiences. You need to use this to find your voice and the only way to find it is to write more.

Don’t worry if it’s any good, just write.

When I started, I admit I wanted to be like Tony. I wanted to be funny, informative, and basically copied the way he wrote. But slowly along the way I developed my voice and my way of being entertaining and informative.

If you’re struggling to find your own voice, read a writer, you want to emulate and imitate him/her in tone (not in words) until you feel you’re developing your own style and not just copying theirs.

2. Read More

Not just fitness articles but everything you can get your hands on. The act of reading is like osmosis for your brain. You pick up vocab, style, ideas to write about and increase your general knowledge.

This will only help your writing.

3. Develop Relationships

With the advent of social media, it is easy to develop online relationships with other coaches and writers. A major reason (I think) Tony let me write for his site seven years ago was I left comments on his webpage and Facebook posts.

(Note From TG: Yes, it was. That, and Shane always commented on how pecy my pecs looked. Flattery will get you far).

Plus, when I read anything that catches my attention I reach out to the writer and tell them how much I liked it, and this starts a relationship.  Which brings me to my next point.

4. Seek Opinions

When I started getting published on the world-wide web, I’d basically harass other coaches on their opinions on my work. Granted I had a relationship with most of them, so It wasn’t a shot in the dark. I figured what’s the worst they could say?

When you’re too close to your work, you don’t see your opinions rubbing people the wrong way or you may have your facts wrong. Or you made some grammatical whopper errors.

Either way, it helps to have a second pair of eyes on your work.

5. Learn From Your Mistakes

I’ve lost count of the amount of times my writing has been criticized for style, grammatical errors, opinions, or my lack of facts to back up what I wrote. I have received tons of solicited and unsolicited feedback some great, some not so great. The main thing is to try not to take it personally.

If you made a mistake, admit it, learn from it, and move on.

For example, when I started writing for Barbend my editor sent me an email with the subject in all caps saying “YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL WRITER” about a litany of errors I made on an article.

Those mistakes haven’t been repeated since.

6. Stay In Your Lane

Otherwise known as not extending into territory you know nothing about. For instance, weightlifting, nutrition, and training athletes I know little about, so I don’t go there. Sure, you can Google it and write about it, but you’ll come across as a fraud.

Better to stay in your lane and until you develop the knowledge to come across as an expert. When you write about what you know (and you can back it up) and write about how you feel, I feel you cannot go wrong.

7. “Hire” Me to Help

Developing writing confidence is a process and I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way. And I’m bringing those hard knocks and experience to my new writing service Fitness Flow Writing Services to give personal trainers and coaches the confidence to hit the publish button.

I offer SEO, editing, rewriting, opinions and suggestions services to help take your content to the next level. And as a special offer for Tony’s readers, I’m offering your first service free to see if we are a good fit.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

A Brief Cameo From Tony

Oh, hey.

Tony here.

I’m the guy who pays the hosting fees for this site you’re reading (and I occasionally summon enough mojo to muster some decent ideas to write about too).

Shane did a splendid job outlining things and providing some sage advice for aspiring fitness writers. There’s isn’t much I can add (although I am going to try). Massive apologies up front if anything I write seems repetitive. Then again, if it is repetitive, but it’s coming from two dudes who make part of their living getting paid to write fitness content, maybe there’s a reason…;o)

Whenever I write something (and just after I press the “publish” button) I have to battle my inner negative self-talk:

1. Did I provide enough actionable content?

A statement I  default to often is…

“…don’t bark at something if you’re unable to provide a solution.”

People, but fit pros in particular, have an innate superpower to bitch a whine about anything and everything.

  • Keto
  • High Bar vs. Low Bar Squats
  • Tracy Anderson
  • Squirrels5

They’ll yell from the rooftops about how stupid or asinine something is, yet never pontificate as to WHY or provide any modicum of a solution.

As a writer, if you’re going to bark, bark with intent.

via GIPHY

2. Did I Make Sense?

Quick Writing Tip: Read what you write out loud. If it doesn’t make sense out loud, it’s going to come across as Elvish on paper.

3. Was I Able to Convey My Message Succinctly & Clearly?

(Another) Quick Writing Tip: Write whatever it is you’re gonna write. Then, go back and edit 20% of it. Getting rid of superfluous jargon will make your writing more readable.

Nevertheless, there’s seemingly a smidgeon of self-doubt I’m always playing an unabated game of tug-o-war with.

But then a cool thing happens.

People (usually) like my shit!

Random people will reach out and say how much they enjoyed something I wrote or say how they picked up a number of gems and tidbits they’ll be able to apply toward their training (or that of their clients).

I want to hug them.

Or at least Predator handshake them to death (or, to be more germane to the current state of affairs: Fist bump them to death).

via GIPHY

All Of This to Say:

1. You DO NOT have to reinvent the wheel when you write. When in doubt keep things simple. What makes things new or novel are YOUR experiences, YOUR insights, and YOUR voice.

2. You’d be surprised. Many fitness professionals can wax poetic on complex concepts but are unable to figure out how to regress an exercise for someone with limited thoracic mobility or even name a hip flexor.

Or coach a squat well for that matter.

As Mike Boyle once eloquently stated: “The industry is quick to disregard basic/general principles in lieu of fancy schmancy shenanigans (<— italics mine).

This is nonsense.

The basics are still legit. And, to be candid: Is an area most fit pros could use a little refresher in.
Lean into it. There’s an audience for everything.

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.

Categoriescoaching personal training Program Design

Putting the Pro In Fitness Professional

What does it mean to be a fitness professional?

The definition (or more to the point, the expectation), admittedly, has gotten a bit less clear cut in recent years.

Copyright: Lupin ALEKSANDER

Putting the “Pro” In Fitness Professional

I could sit here and wax poetic that what separates a “true” fitness professional from someone who’s pretending to be one is that the former actually practices what they preach.

Meaning: They 1) actually workout and/or 2) actually DO the workouts and exercises that they espouse on their respective websites and social media feeds.

Or they don’t.

I mean, I could make the case that a “true” fitness professional is less likely to post asinine videos of circus-act like exercises (that they’d never do themselves) in the name of accolades and attention.

You can spot the fake trainers from a mile away. They write the most ridiculous looking routines.

A Competent Trainer’s Program

A1. Trap Bar Deadlift: 3×5
A2. Pallof Press: 3×10/side
B1. Goblet Step-Through: 3×12,10,8/leg
B2. Pull-Through: 3×12-15
C1. Goblet Squat (50 lb): 2xAMAP (up to 20)
C2. Suitcase Carry: 2×40 yd/arm

An Instagram PhD’s Program

A1. Trap Bar Deadlift Contrast Tempo Set vs. Chains (From a Deficit): 5×10
A2. 1-Arm Landmine Press w/ Contralateral Ossillatory Facilitation: 5×10/side


B1. Barefoot Walking Lunges Over Broken Glass: 2×400 m
B2. Or Until Your Pancreas Fails (whichever comes first)
C1. Pull-Ups: 10×10
C2. Ice Bath: 10x30s

I’m obviously going out of my way to be facetious here, but therein lies my point.

As my friend and colleague, Nick Tumminello, has so succinctly stated in the past:

“A master trainer (I.e., someone who’s a “pro”) can also be referred to as an Exercise Prescription Specialist.”

He or she has a high level of expertise doing the following:

  • Exercise Individualization
  • Exercise Application 
  • Exercise Prioritization 

1. Exercise Individualization

This can simply be boiled down to figuring out the correct stance for someone on their squats. For example, despite what most textbooks would insinuate, not everyone is going to have the luxury of having the “correct” anatomy to squat with a narrow stance and their toes pointing straight a head.

NEWSFLASH: People don’t live in textbooks.

Hip anatomy tends to have the most variance given a broad swath of the population. Things that come into play are:

  • Hip socket depth
  • Hip socket orientation – retroverted (outward facing) or anteverted (forward facing).
  • Femoral neck orientation (retroverted vs. anteverted)
  • Femore neck angle
  • Femur length
  • Amongst other things

There are a bevy of variables to consider and to expect every person to fall into one set pattern or way of executing a lift is a bit of a stretch.

In fact, there’s a number of permutations that manifest when you allow for individualization of squat stance.

Exercise individualization can also come down to figuring out the correct grip for someone to use during their bench press. Someone with sub-acromial pain syndrome (SAPS) will often have pain in the front of their shoulder. Conventional wisdom would suggest that such an individual should adopt a narrow(er) grip during the bench press to “protect” the shoulder.

However, a narrow grip will require more glenohumeral extension, which for these individuals can be problematic. Instead, a wider grip may be more germane to reduce the amount of GH extension required and to place more stress on the pec muscles.

A “pro” leans into and pays more attention to these sort of things.

2. Exercise Application

Should everyone squat to the same depth?

Short Answer: No. Tha fuck outta here.

A Less Short Answer: As I noted above, hip anatomy varies person to person and it shouldn’t be your expectation that everyone, all the time, with no exceptions, should squat to the exact same depth.

I have some clients who squat ass to grass.

I have others who squat to parallel.

And, indeed, I have others who squat above parallel.

Come at me, bro.

 

They all still count as a squat.

Depth is more or less arbitrary and is contingent on one’s goal(s), unique injury history, ability level, and, in case you haven’t picked up on the theme, individual anatomy.

No one should get demerit points because they don’t fit some fictional standard.

Moreover, what about when the conversation switches to sets and reps?

  • What’s the determining factor between prescribing 3×10 for any particular exercise or 5×5?
  • What about 8×3? 6×4?
  • 4×6?

Are you using a dartboard to ascertain a client’s set/rep scheme or intelligent program design catered to the needs/goals of the athlete/client?

A “pro” knows the difference.

3. Exercise Prioritization

Which exercises should be done first in a workout?6

Which ones should be done last?6

Which exercises should be performed most often?7

The eloquent answer is past the scope of this blog post. However, a fitness professional can easily provide a “why” for each example.

In Short

What really separates a true fitness professional from the IG PhD is that the former knows how to DESELECT things. What makes a great chef isn’t the fact they have every ingredient in the bowl.  They’re great because they know what ingredients to (de)select, they understand what order they need to be applied, and they know how much of each to use.