Categoriescoaching personal training Program Design

The Importance of Feedback

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

…London.

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

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

Enjoy!

Copyright: niroworld

The Importance of Feedback

“That was awesome!”

“Good job!”

“You are on fire today!”

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

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

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

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

via GIPHY

Me: “How’s that plank treating you?”

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

Me:

 

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

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

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

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

Me:

 

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

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

Me: “Where do you feel that most?”

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

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

Me:

via GIPHY

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the steps I suggest:

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

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

No idea what this works

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

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

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

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

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

Step 3: Coach, Adapt, or Replace

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

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

Young woman and personal trainer rest in the gym after workout

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

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

Did that work?

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

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

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

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

The plank that works the low back:

Planks

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

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

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

Single-leg glute bridges felt mostly in the hamstrings:

Female doing single leg glute bridge

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

About the Author

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

Categoriespodcast

Appearance on the 50 Percent Facts Podcast

I had the lovely opportunity to be invited onto the 50% Facts Podcasts recently hosted by Mike Farr and Jim McDonald. I “met” Jim back in the early 200o’s via the T-Nation.com and RuggedMag.com forums. We eventually met in-person during a group get-together in NYC.

This was circa 2004 when meeting people online was becoming more normalized, but still put you on par with possibly being an ax murderer for doing so.

Fast forward 15+ years and neither of us would have ever thought we’d both being reaching audiences across the world discussing lifting heavy objects of all things.

It was fantastic to catch up with him on his popular 50% Facts Podcast where we exchanged notes on the current state of coaching & the fitness industry.

Copyright: yalcinadali

Sometimes I Sound Smart

Give the episode a listen HERE.

Categoriespodcast

Opening and Running a Top Class Studio Gym

For the record: “Top class” wasn’t my choice of words to describe my studio.

“World Renowned, Michelin Rated, A++, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Sick Hip-Hop Beats Factory” would have been more like it.

Either that or, “Meh.”

I don’t know, the essence is somewhere in the middle…haha.

Barbell and kettlebell weights

Opening & Running a Top Class Studio Gym

I was invited onto the James Rafferty Radio Show recently to discuss my experience operating a small training studio here in Boston, MA.

And by “small” I mean “inside a space the size of most people’s living room.”

It was a lovely chat and I appreciated James’s interviewing style (which I think most of you will enjoy as well). I mean, if anything, aren’t you the least bit curious how I managed to swing a Silence of the Lambs reference into the conversation??

Give it a listen HERE.

Categoriespsychology

Progress In the Gym Isn’t Linear

In case the title of this post wasn’t clear enough…

…let me repeat (but in capital letters for added emphasis).

PROGRESS IN THE GYM ISN’T LINEAR.1

Girl preparing to lift weights.

Sorry, It’s a Fact

I wish it wasn’t, but that’s how things work. Well, save for the stark beginner/newbie you can LOOK at a barbell and seemingly grow or get stronger.

Ah, the good ol’ days…😢

I had an interaction recently with a client of mine where this topic came up. We were meandering our way through a pretty brutal bench day and my client ended up getting pretty bummed he wasn’t able to hit his (goal) numbers for the day.

His program said “x,” but his body was like “nope, nice try.”

The fact I took weight off the bar and pivoted from what was planned irked him.

via GIPHY

I reminded him of a few things to help put things into perspective:

1️⃣ The day prior, he had deadlifted the most he had ever deadlifted…ever.

300 lb for 3×5.

(strong!)

That undoubtedly played into things.

2️⃣ I then drew this fancy graph:

I reminded him that progress in the gym (or anything really) – whether it be rehab, learning an instrument, dating, or honing your nunchuck skills – isn’t linear.

You’re going to have great workouts and subpar ones.

It’s inevitable.

(NOTE: I’d make the case that it’s the average workouts, the ones where you just show up, do the work, and nothing remotely interesting happens, and then you just go home and watch a marathon of House Hunters is the sweet spot anyway.)

There’s going to be peaks and valleys, struggles and wins. However, so long as the OVERALL TREND is inching upward, that’s the larger theme to keep in mind.

Missing lifts routinely is something else entirely and speaks to a larger issue:

  • Lack of recovery between sessions.
  • Too much training volume overall.
  • Not enough Wu-Tang.

However, so long as the occasion is ephemeral in nature and not something that happens every Tuesday, not hitting your goal numbers during a session is nothing to be too concerned about. You still showed up and did some work.

That’s not nothing.

Consistency trumps ego.

Categoriescoaching fitness business Program Design psychology

6 Ways to Instill Success In Your Clients’ Training Programs

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

LOLOLOLOL.

I’m kidding (sort of).

Facetiousness aside2, I wanted to spend some time discussing a few strategies you can (hopefully) implement today that will make the training programs you write for your athletes and clients more successful.

Businessman target for success

6 Ways to Instill Success In Your Clients’ Training Programs

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

I.e., they get results.

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

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

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

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

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

You’re failing, hard.

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

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

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

That goes without saying.

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

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

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

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

Man performing a crossfit back squat exercise

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

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

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

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

(NOTE: I am not a depth Nazi. To me squat depth is arbitrary and all I am really concerned with is someone finding whatever depth they’re able to “own” & control. If it’s past 90 degrees, cool. If not, that’s cool too.3Either way we’re going to train the hell out of it.

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

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

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

2. Ensure Success in Every Session

This seems a bit redundant, I know.

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

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

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

I hate the connotation and message this sends.

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

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

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

 

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

I’m coaching.

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

This, my friends, is the key.

That and…..

3. Building Autonomy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Roll of Duct Tape

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

Teach your clients that.

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

They’ll become autonomous.

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

4. Provide Choice

I wrote about the power of choice in THIS article.

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

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

Taking away choice behooves them.

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

“Demonstrate unconditional positive regard.”

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

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

Others are, well, pretty shitty.

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

via GIPHY

Celebrate the small victories!

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

But would a little enthusiasm hurt?

6. Simplicity For the Win

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

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

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

Strength coach nods approvingly.

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

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

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

Categoriescoaching Nutrition

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

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

It’s just as “tribal” as the next.

There are factions who feel that heavy back squats cure everything (except herpes4) and that not including them in a program is sacrilegious and that it’s impossible to add muscle or get stronger without them.

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

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

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

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

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

 

Copyright: niroworld

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

The fitness industry is failing.

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

But I believe this is changing.

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

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

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

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

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

Healthy products for paleo diet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

via GIPHY

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

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

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

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

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

Just try harder.

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

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

via GIPHY

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

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

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

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

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

Would it have all been for nothing?

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

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

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

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

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

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

via GIPHY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

via GIPHY

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

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

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

Obesity rates continue to climb.

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

Clearly something isn’t working.

And that’s because education is not the problem.

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

Because what we need is more action.

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

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

We need principle-based fitness coaching.

About the Author

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

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

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

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

Old books in bookshelfCategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 3/18/22

Old books in bookshelf

STUFF TO CHECK OUT FIRST

1. Strategic Strength Workshop – BOSTON & LONDON

NOTE: In case you don’t have any plans this weekend and you happen to be in Boston (and get really excited about the particulars of femoral acetabular impingement) there are spots still available last minute.

This Spring Luke Worthington and I will be putting on our popular Strategic Strength Workshop in both Boston, MA and London, UK.

A hometown switcharoo extravaganza if you will.

The purpose of this workshop is to give attendees a more thorough look into our assessment process and how we connect the dots between that and setting our clients/athletes up for as much success as possible.

I.e., turning them into deadlifting Terminators.

There’s plenty of talk surrounding the traditional x’s and o’s of program design, but we also take some time to dive deep into the soft(er) skills of coaching:

  • How to improve motivation
  • How to build better rapport
  • Learning to meet your clients where THEY are.

You can click the respective links below for more information and to register:

Boston (March 19th-20th) – HERE.

London (April 23rd-24th) – HERE.

2. Coaching Competency Workshop: Leeds, UK – May, 1 2022

On top of my cameo in London this Spring I am also putting on a BONUS 1-day workshop further north, in Leeds. I’m pumped for this one. I’ve never visited northern England and am very much looking forward to this.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll attend my first soccer football match.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore)

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

5 Common Misconceptions About GPP (General Physical Preparedness) – Missy Mitchell-McBeth

Man training in the gym with a push sled

The more stuff I read from Missy, the more I need to go to the emergency room for shaking my head so aggressively in agreement.

Examine.com Anniversary Sale – Really Smart People

Examine.com is the only resource I refer people to when it comes to supplement information and the like. It’s truly the only unbiased  resource out there.

Their 11-year anniversary sale is currently happening where you can get 30% off all of their most popular products. If you’re a fitness professional you can’t go wrong.

6 Bodybuilding Lies Crippling Your Progress – Stuart McRobert

Cropped of black bodybuilder exercising with barbell

Honestly, this article contains sound training advice even if you’re not a “bodybuilder” by its truest defintion.

Categoriespersonal training

Everything Is the Same

Today’s post marks the return of Paul Levitin who some may recall wrote an excellent piece here a few weeks ago on self-sabotage.

Being a successful fitness professional, much like every profession, takes practice, patience, a bit of luck, and an unyielding desire to not be average. If you’re a new trainer I urge you to read Paul’s “lesson(s)” below. And even if you’re a veteran coach I think it’ll be useful to be reminded that you’re not that special and the basics still work.

Enjoy!

Copyright: nomadsoul1

Everything Is the Same

When I started my career as a personal trainer, it was at a “big box” chain gym. I was hired, even though I had never actually trained someone before. I just enjoyed working out, and passed a test that said I could now train other people. I was in way over my head.

My manager at the time was a guy named Chris. He walked me around the gym floor, started showing me where things go. I still remember the conversation from that day.

“So, when you’re here, your job is to talk to people. Help them with the weights, spot them, drum up conversation. Then, if they seem interested, offer them personal training. A lot won’t be interested, but some will. The more people you talk to, the better chances you have. It’s a numbers game.”

Casino roulette, ball stopped on black 8 number closeup. Gambling and betting. 3d illustration

Just like John Cutter said, “always bet on black.”

We continued our walk.

“In the beginning, it’s going to be slow. It takes time to get going, because you don’t have any experience right now. Once you get a few clients under your belt, and get more comfortable, things will start to get rolling. It might take a few months, so you’ve got to hang tight in the beginning.”

I nodded. Not like I had anything else better to do. 

“A lot of people look at training and think ‘oh, that’s a cool job! I like working out, so I can get paid to do that!’. But that isn’t really how it is. It’s a hard job, and you get out what you put in. It is time-consuming, and draining at times. It is not nearly as glamorous as you might think.”

Kind of weird to be telling me on my first day, but I just continued to listen.

“Any questions so far?”

So I meekly chimed in, “Yeah well, you know, I don’t really, like, know how to train people? What do I do if I actually get a client?”

“Ha. Don’t worry about that. I’ll tell you a little secret: no one knows when they first start. You learn by doing. Sure, you read the textbook, but the REAL education starts now. Don’t stress about it. It comes with time, and practice. I started just where you are, everyone does.”

That helped a bit, but I persisted.

“Yeah but, won’t people know I’m just faking it? Who is going to pay me to train them when I’ve never done it before?”

Chris looked me dead in the eyes:

“Listen, you might think you don’t know anything, but that simply isn’t true. We hired you right? You went through the interview, you were tested. You wouldn’t be here if you knew NOTHING. Is there room to grow? Sure. But you know far more than you give yourself credit for, and you DEFINITELY know more than anyone coming in here off the street looking for training. You just need to know enough to answer their questions, and enough to ask for help when you don’t have the answers.”

via GIPHY

A week later, I had my first “orientation.” (my gym’s name for the free training session given to new members, with the real goal being a sales pitch for more expensive personal training at the end).

I got through the training session, I made the guy sweat. Burpees, planks, all the usual suspects (please, it was 2014, it was a different time). Then, I got to the sales portion, and I completely froze. I ended up bumbling my way through the pitch, and the guy gave me a weird look, said “no thanks,” and walked out.

Chris was there watching from afar, and he asked “So, how’d that go?”

“Not good,” I said “I sucked.”

“That’s ok. No one knocks it out of the park on their first swing. You can’t. It’s just like working out, you’ve gotta put in the reps. The more practice, the smoother it will become. You will work out the kinks, but it comes with time, patience, and persistence.”

That helped me feel less crappy, but I still wasn’t pleased.

“I don’t get it,” I bemoaned to Chris “I did everything right! I killed him. Burpies, battle ropes, he was panting by the 15 minute mark! I know his legs are going to be so sore tomorrow, he even said this was the best workout he’d ever done.”

“Here’s the thing,” Chris said to me, “First of all, what makes you think he wanted to be crushed? Did he tell you that, or did you assume it?”

“Well, I just thought…”

“That’s right. You assumed that because that’s how you want to work out, that that’s how he would want to work out. But he isn’t you. Next time, take the time to ask, rather than just jump right in with assumptions. you’ll see as you do this, that less is more. People are out of shape, overstressed, overtired, and overwhelmed. It doesn’t take a lot to push them over the edge. What they need from you, is help and guidance, not to be crushed by the world’s hardest workout. Any bozo can do that, it takes tact and skill to actually give people what they need, not simply what you, or they, think they want.”

I got that.

via GIPHY

“And in general,” he continued, “It’s better to start slow and build. It’s easy for you to add more to their routine over time. However, you can only do that, if they stick around. If you overwhelm them so much that they don’t keep coming back, you end up helping them less, rather than more. Trying to do too much, too soon, ends up backfiring.”

This all made a lot of sense to me, and I continually worked to implement Chris’s advice and techniques. 

Eventually, I found my groove.

I sold a few training packages, which gave me confidence to sell more. I started training clients, and learned that I could help people with the knowledge I had, which helped me feel less like a “fraud” (Imposter syndrome anyone?). I went on to become the top trainer (and salesperson) in my gym, and soon the entire company.

via GIPHY

I remember those lessons from Chris in my early days, and think about them often. Not because I need help being a better personal trainer anymore, but because I am always trying to be better at something.

Somewhere in my life, I am always trying to improve, as I hope you are too (and I suspect that is the case, since you are reading this right now).

Which brings me to my main point: everything is the same.

There were many lessons that Chris taught me. Lessons that took me from newbie personal trainer, in over my head and feeling flustered and overwhelmed, to the top of my company. Eventually, I was promoted and given Chris’s job, and put in charge of training new personal trainers on how to have more confidence, train their clients, make more sales, and overall be successful.

Each of these lessons, although given to me in the frame of personal training, could have just as easily been about working for a Fortune 500 company, building a business from scratch as an entrepreneur, or a romantic relationship. In reality, all of this advice was really just about life. 

Take out “personal trainer,” and replace it with “salesman,” “entrepreneur,” “athlete,” “dieter,” “spouse,” or other. It doesn’t matter.

These lessons are about life, they transcend career paths and specific goals.

What did my manager really teach me?

  • It’s a numbers game. You get better with practice. 
  • Things aren’t always as glamorous as they seem from the outside. It takes hard work, and you get out what you put in.
  • Give it time. It is hard in the beginning, but if you can stick with it, you’ll see success
  • You have more to learn, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking action right now
  • Ask for help when you need it, and don’t be ashamed if you don’t know an answer
  • Don’t assume that everyone is like you. Humans are unique, and what works for one person, even you, doesn’t work for everyone
  • It’s better to start slow and build up, than to try to do all-out right out of the gate

Name a place in life, a challenge you face, a goal you might want to work towards, where these are NOT true. Go ahead, try to find one, I’ll wait. This is advice I could give to anyone, about anything, and it would always hold up. Why?

Everything is the same.

What we need for success is not unique to one realm. Success is success. It is built from the same materials, no matter the location. If you can internalize these simple lessons, you will be able to build success wherever you choose.

About the Author

Paul Levitin spent a decade as a personal trainer & strength and conditioning coach, becoming the number one trainer in his entire company, while collecting over 30 certificates (CES, CSCS, PRI, PN1, FRC, & many more).

Wanting to better serve his training clients, he began to study behavior change, and eventually became a Board Licensed Health & Wellness Coach (NBHWC). This led him to create his education and mindset coaching company “The Healthy Happy Human Academy,” where he now helps clients deal with things like self-sabotage and perfectionism, to allow them to build a healthy, happy life.

He seeks to bridge the gap between the worlds of fitness and nutrition, and the frustrated, overwhelmed masses who just want to move more, feel better, and live a little longer.

https://www.instagram.com/paullevitin/
The Healthy Happy Human Podcast
The Healthy Happy Human Academy FREE Facebook Group

Caucasian male weightlifter bench-pressing in fitness centerCategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

How to Spot a Dumbbell Press: I Can’t Believe I Have to Say This

Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time knows that I don’t take myself too seriously, and that much of what makes my blog so popular is that I’m able to combine great fitness and health information with a pinch (or two) of an entertainment value.

I mean, where else can you learn about program design, exercise technique, corrective exercise, femoral acetabular impingement, and gluconeogenesis5, all while being peppered with Lord of the Rings references, self deprecating humor, and cute cat pics?

Cute cat face

Anyhoo, today’s post is going to be a shining example of finding that balance between educating people (hopefully) and me being a facetious asshat.

It’s going to be short and sweet, though.

Okay, ready?

If you’re like me, whenever you train at a commercial gym you try not to vomit all over yourself from all the asinine things you see.  Now, don’t get me wrong:  there’s PLENTY of trainers and facilities out there who do a fantastic job and are great at what they do.

And, more to the point, I don’t want to come across as combining everyone into one massive bowl of fail.

Avocado in a bowl

I.e., NOT a bowl of fail. Rather a bowl of deliciousness

But I think we can all agree that those examples are few and far between, and that for the most part, a small piece of our soul dies every time we walk through the doors of a commercial gym and Celine Dion is blaring over the stereo system and/or some asshole is performing their WOD taking up half the gym equipment.

Then again, who the hell am I to judge, right?  Sure I can roll my eyes at the two dudes who have a combined weight of one hamster performing their 47th set of bicep curls. And yes, it’s hard not get a bit eye rolley at the woman over there performing her 317th glute exercise of the day.

But you know what:  THEY’RE ALL EXERCISING

And that’s pretty freakin awesome.

At the end of the day, it’s far better than the alternative which is sitting on their butts watching America’s Got Talent.

Even still, I’ll give most everyone a free pass because most people don’t know any better.  Most people could care less that their elbows are flaring out on their push-up, or that leg extensions place a lot more shearing force on the knees (and that doing them shirtless is borderline weird).

Whatever the case may be, they’ll read something online or watch something on tv that’s interesting to them, and then they’ll try it out at the gym.  That’s usually how it goes – and everyone has to start somewhere.  They’re exercising and that’s all that matters anyways.

One of my biggest pet peeves, though, is when I watch a trainer do something dumb.  That’s when my blood starts to boil.

Presumably these are people who are supposed to know what they’re doing, and it dumbfounds me at some of the stuff I see going down at some commercial gyms.

Take for example something I witnessed not too long ago as I watched a trainer spot his client through something as simple as a set of dumbbell bench presses.

Caucasian male weightlifter bench-pressing in fitness center

Everything was fine and dandy until the client started to struggle and the trainer grabbed her elbows to help her out.

I thought maybe this was a one-time, fluke thing.  But then I saw him do it again, and at this point I was just waiting for something bad to happen.

Luckily it didn’t.

I got home later that day and posted a casual status along the lines of “watched an inept trainer spot his client during DB presses by grabbing the elbows instead of the wrists.”

To me it’s common sense, and I didn’t think much of it and thought it would get some funny responses.

And it did.

But to my surprise I actually received two private message from personal trainers asking me why spotting through the elbows was wrong.

So, to review:

The Right Way to Spot Someone

If someone starts to struggle, you just guide their wrists to offer help.  And try to refrain from being that guy who yells “all you, all you, all you.”

And the “Holy- S***-My-Client-Is-About-To-Crush-Their-Skull-And-Get-Face-Planted-By-That-Dumbbell” Way

Obviously this is said in a slightly tongue in cheek kind of way, but at the same time I feel this is something that should be obvious and that most trainers, coaches, and general fitness enthusiasts should understand.

Don’t spot DB presses through the elbows.

It’s not smart.

Old books in bookshelfCategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 3/11/22

Old books in bookshelf

STUFF TO CHECK OUT FIRST

1. Strategic Strength Workshop – BOSTON & LONDON

(NOTE: Only one more week before the Boston event!)

This Spring Luke Worthington and I will be putting on our popular Strategic Strength Workshop in both Boston, MA and London, UK.

A hometown switcharoo extravaganza if you will.

The purpose of this workshop is to give attendees a more thorough look into our assessment process and how we connect the dots between that and setting our clients/athletes up for as much success as possible.

I.e., turning them into deadlifting Terminators.

There’s plenty of talk surrounding the traditional x’s and o’s of program design, but we also take some time to dive deep into the soft(er) skills of coaching:

  • How to improve motivation
  • How to build better rapport
  • Learning to meet your clients where THEY are.

You can click the respective links below for more information and to register:

Boston (March 19th-20th) – HERE.

London (April 23rd-24th) – HERE.

2. Coaching Competency Workshop: Leeds, UK – May, 1 2022

On top of my cameo in London this Spring I am also putting on a BONUS 1-day workshop further north, in Leeds. I’m pumped for this one. I’ve never visited northern England and am very much looking forward to this.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll attend my first soccer football match.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore)

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

Sucking Off Your Client’s (Energy) – Perspectives On Being An Energy Vampire Coach – Chris Kershaw

✨NOMINATED✨ The pallid man with vampire eyes on the Halloween

I’ll be the first to admit I am not a rah-rah coach (and, quite honestly, I find those that are somewhat annoying). There’s this connotation in the coaching world that in order to be an effective coach you have to be full throttle at all times, as if you’ve injected caffeine directly into your left ventricle.

Then and only then will your clients/athletes truly understand.

This is a nice compilation (of which I am part of) that breaks down how absurd this is.

Tri-Sets For New Muscle Growth – Merrick Lincoln

Physical athlete doing barbell bench presses

I really liked this article.

Not because it was revolutionary, but because it was so simple and actionable. If you need a bit of a “jolt” in your training, this may be something you should consider.

Psych Skills For Fitness Pros – Dr. Lisa Lewis


There’s only a few more days to purchase this excellent resource on sale. Curated FOR fitness professionals and with over 13+ hours of clinical & research base information available, this course is undoubtedly one of a kind.

What “bogs” down most coaches are suffocating clients; those that seemingly lack motivation and are unable to respect boundaries. This course delves into that and much, much more.

(Plus, it’s actually developed by a doctor who lifts)

In addition, this course contains lectures, case studies, and recorded interviews with some of the industry’s best coaches (Mark Fisher, Dean Somerset, Tony Gentilcore, Georgie Fear, Molly Galbraith, Meghan Callaway, and Kelly Coffey).

There’s only a few more days to get it at the sale price.

Check it out HERE.