1. Hey, hey, hey…it’s my wife’s Birthday tomorrow. Anyone who knows Lisa well knows how much she loves b-days.
Year 36 was a huge year for her. It was her first FULL year of life being married, which was excellent of course. She traveled with me to Europe, twice. Also excellent. And she’s currently busy building a human being inside her. Like, whoa.
In addition, she started to make some waves within the fitness industry this past year. She’s made numerous appearances on several health/fitness podcasts, our Strong Body-Strong Mind workshop we do together became a thing (NOTE: we’re taking requests for 2017), and she and Artemis Scantalides are building something special with their I Am Not Afraid to Lift workshops.
In fact, the two of them (along with Julia Ladewski) are putting on a stellar retreat in Arizona next year.
It’s designed by women for women.
If you’re a woman and interested in being surrounded by other like-minded women in learning anything and everything with regards to kettlebell training, the barbell lifts, nutrition, and mindset strategies…this event is going to be right up your alley.
And finally……LISA JOINED FACEBOOK in 2016! You can go HERE and “friend” her if you want. I’m sure she’d love a b-day shout out.
2. I also wanted to take the opportunity to remind people about the Pedestal Footwear Kickstarter that’s currently underway. I’m a big fan and fully support their product and mission.
They’re only three-days in and 80% towards their goal. Amazing stuff.
Take a look….
3. One more day down until the premier of Rogue One. Not that I’m excited or anything.
Despite my cheeky, juvenile tone…this is actually a very serious topic and wonderful article explaining what it means when your poop looks a certain way. It actually tells you a lot.
I’m a sucker for energy drinks, Star Wars references (obviously), deadlift videos, and articles about writing.1
I found this article to be brilliant in its simplicity.
No other way to summarize than to quote Erica directly from an exchange we had the other day when I said how much I enjoyed this article:
“No easy answer but just to write, screw up, and get better!”
BTW: About the only other way the picture above could be more staged (perfect posture, smiling, cup of coffee within arms reach) is if Erica had a copy of Stephen King’s “On Writing” underneath the cup of coffee. Pffft, amateur….;o)
Social Media Highlights
Twitter
General rule to deadlift setup that applies to most: shoulders above hips and hips above knees. You do that, you’re doing a pretty good job.
A common fallacy in the fitness industry is that if you don’t own a gym you don’t have to worry about “business stuff.”
Another common fallacy are those who open a gym and automatically consider themselves businessmen (or women). The idea being because they open an impressive looking gym filled with all the bells and whistles, that all they have to do is turn on the lights and people will show up.
Copyright: yuryimaging / 123RF Stock Photo
Ryan Ketchum chimes in today with an excellent article on the “fitness business” and how to build a successful one at that. I chime in too with some “TG Tidbits.”
His insanely reasonably priced resource The Academy is on sale now with tons of free bonuses.
Enjoy!
The Perfect Business Growth Plan
You didn’t go to business school and most the trainers I talk to don’t really have a passion for the business side of things. You’re in it to help people and create an impact.
Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of career options for trainers. You can work at a big box gym, maybe you get lucky and get a job working at a facility that provides you opportunities or you head out on your own.
So it’s no wonder that many great trainers end up frustrated with their business, struggling to get by or worse…
You can’t SOLELY rely on your skills as a trainer to build your business. If you choose to start your own business you’re going to have to learn how to market, sell, and manage your business.
Fortunately there are 5 keys to ending your frustration and finding the success you want.
Step 1: Start With The End In Mind
If you don’t know why you’re doing something, the purpose behind it, it’s nearly impossible to get there.
Having a long term vision for your business helps you create a short term action plan that gives you purpose. When you have purpose you’re more motivated to take action.
Start by describing what you want your business to look like three years from now. Imagine writing an article about your business that’s going to be featured in your local paper or even something like Inc.
Tell the story of your business. How many clients do you have? How many team members? Locations? What are your values? What impact do you have the community? How are you innovating?
You don’t have to figure out how you’ll get there just yet. But, you need a clear picture of what it looks like when you arrive.
TG Tidbit: I remember when Eric, Pete, and I were drawing up the “plans” for Cressey Sports Performance back in 2007. The three of us huddled up at a table in a local Applebees and tried not to destroy the back of our pants drew up a business plan and mission statement.
I want to say the business plan was “don’t suck” and the mission statement was “make people into deadlifting X-Men,” but of course we were a bit more thorough than that. The point being: this had to be done. How else to draw a line from Point A (gym owner rookies) to Point B (WHOA – people are paying us)?
We had to write down our WHY and then how we were going to achieve it.
If you accomplished 2-3 key projects or initiatives each quarter you’d have made progress in 8-12 areas of your business through the year! That’s huge progress, but you have to take it one quarter at a time.
TG Tidbit:When I opened CORE in 2015 this was something I admittedly struggled with. I still do. I’ve never been one to write down lists and then attack them. However, now that I’m starting a family it’s become more imperative I plan a head and recognize what needs to be done to best set myself and my family up long-term “success.”
Accountant? Check.
Financial Advisor? Check
Signing up for Jason Bourne hand-to-hand combat classes, which has nothing to do with nothing? Check
Finally understanding the power of list making and crossing things off? CHECK.
Step 3: Develop Your Marketing Strategy
If you’re going to grow to six figures and beyond you’ll need a strategy to acquire new clients.
Here’s where a lot of business owners go wrong! They deploy tactics with no consideration of an overall strategy.
Tactics are things like referrals, bring a friend days, FB marketing and joint ventures.They all work, but you need to know what you’re trying to accomplish and have a clear plan of attack before implementing these tactics.
A good business owner will understand their strategy and be great at implementing the right tactical methods to get them to their goals.
To start with your strategy let’s look at what you need to define:
Your Core Offer – what are you building your business around?
Your Ideal Client – who are you building around?
Your Local Market Positioning™ – why they should choose you?
Once you have this the next step is to figure out what you’re trying to accomplish with your marketing. Defining the objectives of a marketing plan will help you create the right tactical plan to get the results you want.
Did you know that only about 3% of customers are ready to buy right now?
That means that for every 100 people who see your ads, fliers, social media posts and hear about you from your clients only 3 are ready to buy from you today.
But, what if you could educate and persuade those others?
Here are some sample objectives you can accomplish:
Get people to trust you and your business
Build credibility within the community
Educate the market why they need to work with us
Refer new business
Gain respect
Overcome price objections
Gain influence
Build urgency
Once you’ve created at least 3-5 objectives for your marketing plan it’s time to develop it.
Most fit pros get a majority of their leads from word of mouth marketing or referrals. And while you need that in your arsenal of marketing tactics it’s way too passive to grow an easy to run and fun business.
Because you’ll constantly be worried about getting referrals 🙂
If you choose to use an education based marketing approach you’ll be creating content that you can use to educate your target market that simultaneously sells your services.
TG Tidbit:Here’s where I lucked out. I started blogging in 2005-2006, when there weren’t that many people writing fitness blogs. As of today I have 1,875 posts on this site. That’s a metric shit ton2 of content.
Moral of the story: what are you waiting for? Stop procrastinating. WRITE! Building a brand isn’t going to build itself.
On an aside, I also think one of the often overlooked “keys” to marketing is to not look like you’re trying to market. There’s a lot to be said about authenticity and being genuine.
Determine what the biggest pain points are for your target market (this is why you need an Ideal Client profile) and create articles, videos and workshops covering these topics.
For most many trainers the primary goal for your clients is weight loss. Knowing that, what are the biggest concerns for someone that’s trying to lose weight but hasn’t had success?
Here’s a few ideas for content:
How to eat if you want to lose 20lbs without following a strict diet
How to get results with 30 minute workouts
Eating Habits For a Lean Body
Quick Tip: You can get some really cool ideas from this Headline Generator.
Creating education based marketing on these topics will not only attract the other 97% (remember only 3% are ready to buy now) but it will also position you as the expert.
Once you’ve completed your education based marketing you can offer a solution for the biggest problem that your audience is facing. This is where you try to move a lead into your intro program.
Taking an education based marketing approach allows you to accomplish your primary marketing objectives.
If you’re stuck on tactical methods to get this strategy out to your audience here’s a quick list:
Free e-books
Workshops
Seminars
Lunch and Learns
Videos
Blog Posts
Email Marketing
Public Speaking
Joint Ventures
FB Marketing (ads to your videos/workshops/etc)
Networking
Plus, when you educate your clients in your marketing they are more likely to refer their friends. And because you’ve educated them they know exactly what to say.
TG Tidbit:I had this conversation with a friend of mine the other day who started working in a commercial gym recently and has been having difficulty finding clients. I told her “why not set aside 30-60 minutes during your floor hours and provide a free “clinic” to members on topics you’re passionate about and will resonate? Topics like “Better Exercises Than Crunches to Build Your Core,” or “Fat Loss Myths,” or maybe provide a squat or Turkish get-up tutorial.
Get yourself in front of more people’s eyes, provide education (value), show them you’re an “expert,” and it’s likely someone interests will be piqued.
Step 4: Create Simple Systems
An easy and fun business doesn’t require you to do every single task. That actually sounds like a hard, lame business to run.
If you’re just starting out there’s going to be a short period where you’ll have to do it all. As long as the goal is to get non-revenue producing tasks off your plate as quickly as you can afford to that’s okay.
You need to create systems for the following:
Lead Generation (marketing) Systems
Conversion (sales) Systems
Training Systems
Customer Service Systems
Billing Systems
Accounting Systems
Human Resources Systems
Facility Management Systems
When creating your systems make sure you keep the 80/20 rule in mind. Knowing that 20% of your activities will produce 80% of your results will keep you focused on documenting the most important activities in your systems.
The rest can be up to the person completing the system. If you get all your systems to 80% and you hire the right people they can take it the rest of the way.
TG Tidbit:I’ll tell you right now, Pete Dupuis not only handled all the “business stuff” for CSP in the early days, but he also handled the calls, billing, scheduling, payments, and also helped handle cleaning duties (with everyone else). His life changed dramatically, though, the day we hired an office manager (see Step 5). However that wasn’t until three or four years into our business. The systems he developed prior were what helped him not go insane.
Step 5: Hire the Right People
Now that you’ve got your systems in place it’s time to look at hiring or outsourcing some of your tasks.
The first hires in your business should be a great accountant, a solid bookkeeper and a superstar admin.
Stacie Leary, the “face” of Cressey Sports Performance and who really runs the show…;o)
Unless you love staying up to date with tax code and spending countless hours getting your P&L ready a great accountant will save you tons of time and lots of money.
You want your accountant to do more than end of year tax prep. You want them doing your monthly P&L, cash flow statements and balance sheets. It’s also critical as your grow to have them help with tax planning so you don’t get behind or surprised with a huge tax bill on April 15th.
A bookkeeper will help you manage your expenses and work with your accountant to make sure everything is tracked correctly. My bookkeeper provided me with an accounts receivable and accounts payable report each week and I’d tell them what to pay and what to hold off on for our bills based on due dates and the cash we had available.
Hiring a bookkeeper saved me at least two hours a week doing stuff I hated!
Next you can look at hiring an admin to take on some of the work you’re doing that’s not revenue producing. Training, marketing and sales can stay on your plate for now but everything else if fair game to delegate to an admin.
Hiring trainers is a great idea once you have these other areas covered. That’s a tougher position to fill and requires more training on your part, which is why you do it after the other three.
Having an accountant, bookkeeper and admin frees up your time to train your trainer on your systems.
TG Tidbit:Having an accountant is HUGE. Especially one who’s familiar with the fitness industry and tax code (knowing what you can and cannot write off).
Also, in terms of hiring in general for your business….Hire PEOPLE not resumes.
Step 6: Know Your Numbers
Successful businesses don’t guess. They use data and information to make educated decisions.
That’s why you need to know your numbers. Tracking and reviewing a few numbers in your business will help you identify issues before they become a problem and help you make key decisions.
You need to be tracking the following weekly:
Leads
New Front End Offer Clients (people on your low barrier to entry offer)
New Core Offer Clients (those signed up for your membership)
Retention Rate
The following need to be tracked monthly:
Operating Margin
Autopay to Expense Ratio
Closing Rate
Growth Rate
If you can get this info you’ll be able to manage the health of your business and make better decisions on a weekly basis.
It’s not always fun setting things up so that you can get these numbers but it’s well worth it once you have it.
Wrap Up
You’ll be able to create a six figure strategy for your business by getting this in place. Don’t worry if you don’t have it all right now, or even if you don’t have any of it.
Start by making one of these a priority to get in place this month and then add a new one each month until they are all in place.
Not only will you be able to grow your business to six or multiple six figures quickly, but your business will be more fun and a lot easier to run.
You can get access to all the resources and training you need to build your own six figure personal training business in The Academy.
Give it a test drive and watch your business grow.
Most people who have been following me know that when I left Cressey Sports Performance back in 2015 and started my own gym I was quick to affiliate myself with a small Boston-based company called Pedestal Footwear.
Granted one of the co-owners – Brendan McKee – was a long-time CSP friend, but when he reached out to me to introduce me to his business partner, Mike Lyon, to set up a meeting for Mike and I to meet, it didn’t take more than ten seconds for me to appreciate that what they were trying to accomplish and the message they were trying to convey was something I could get on board with.
Mike and I met, we discussed what Pedestal Footwear was all about, we deadlifted, and it was a match made in heaven.
In the year since that first meeting I have been using Pedestal Footwear exclusively in my training.
A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
I’ve also been recommending them to all of my athletes and clients. In fact, each person that starts training at CORE receives a complimentary pair.3
In fact, it’s not uncommon for everyone on the gym floor to be rocking their Pedestals during training, which, now that I think of it, definitely calls for a new hashtag.
#PedestalParty
Why Pedestal?
1) We don’t wear gloves when we type on a laptop, so why do we feel it’s necessary to wear shoes at all times, especially when we train?
When standing your feet are the one part of your body that’s in constant contact with the floor providing sensory input with regards to spacial awareness and balance. There’s a time and place for shoes, but when you’re inside, in a controlled environment, the capacity to actually use the small intrinsic muscles at the bottom of your feet can enhance training.
2) On that last point, many nagging injuries such as Plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinopathy, and many other injuries up and down the kinetic chain (knee pain, low back pain) have their roots at the feet. Due to wearing cement blocks for shoes at all times many (not all) people have lost the ability to use their feet because the feet are weak, and in turn, compromises the ankles and all the other joints up the chain.
3) More specifically, Pedestal Footwear aren’t just socks. They’re engineered and designed to enhance your training.
Their Base Grip makes it so that your feet stayed glued to the floor and don’t slip. Perfect for performing things like squats and deadlifts. What’s more, you can wear them in shoes – and many do – to help keep the feet more stable inside.
The Ped-Tex Blend makes them almost indestructible. Batman gives them a thumbs-up.
The Woven Saddle, which utilizes the Silver Weave, makes it so the socks themselves won’t become a HAZMAT hazard. They stay odor and bacteria free.
4) They’re manufactured in the USA, if that’s something that’s important to you.
5) And it’s not just me that’s been singing their praises. Other well-known coaches and health/fitness industry professionals have hopped on board: Bret Contreras, Nick Tumminello, Dr. Emily Splichal, Jen Sinkler, BJ Gaddour, and Bill Parisi are just few.
6) In addition reputable fitness publications such a Men’s Health Magazine, The FitCast, BodyBuilding.com, and STACK have all endorsed Pedestal Footwear.
Support and Find Out More
I don’t receive one nickel for any of this. I’m helping out because, yes, Brendan and Mike are two friends of mine, but also because they’re two guys who are the epitome of integrity and are doing the fitness industry a favor by attempting to bring Pedestal Footwear to the masses.
They’ve just started a KickStarter Campaign TODAY (<— CLICK)highlighting the new 2.0 versions. It would be a huge favor to me if you’d take the time to watch the video below and possibly consider helping out their cause.
As this post goes live I’m (hopefully) en route back to Boston after attending Mark Fisher’s wedding in NYC this past weekend. I decided it best to pre-schedule something on the off-chance some crazy shenanigans went down, like, I don’t know, an impromptu dance-off with a unicorn or a shot of Tequila somehow made it into my hands.
Nevertheless, better safe than sorry…I needed to plan a head.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Boston-based strength coach and massage therapist, Mike Sirani.
The assessment is one of the most pivotal moments when working as a personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach. It’s often your first in-person interaction with a potential client.
Even though brand awareness, marketing, and your reputation can all help your chances of success before the assessment even starts, you still have 30 to 90 minutes to sell a client on why you or your gym is the best person/place to help them reach their goals.
This can be difficult, especially if:
You’re young and/or new to training people.
You feel like you’re not as busy as you should be.
You have thoughts like, “I’m so much smarter than this other trainer, but they’re making way more money than me.”
You often scratch your head thinking things like, “I’ve taken PRI, DNS, FMS, FRC, SFG, and eat KFC, and despite all of my continuing education, the number of clients I see still isn’t growing.
If any of the above rings a bell to you, I believe this article can help you.
All the knowledge in the world is as useless as the Cleveland Browns on a Sunday unless you understand a few key things.
1) Most People Are Seeking Your Services to Get Fit
Somewhere along the way, physical therapy blurred with strength and conditioning, and strength and conditioning blended with physical therapy. It’s great for the field, and both do work optimally together, along the same continuum, but it’s important to know your role.
Most clients looking to improve their fitness don’t give a shit about their pelvic inlet position or posterior mediastinum’s or the 10-degree difference in hip internal rotation from side to side. When you start throwing out those terms, you’re just a big weirdo. Here’s what I recommend instead:
Listen
Be an active listener.
Have good body language.
Ask the right questions. All of your questions should help you build rapport and lead towards making good clinical decisions in order to help the person in front of you.
Meet Them Where They’re At
Don’t put down or talk bad about someone’s previous exercise programs, especially if it’s something they enjoy doing.
Making them stop doing something they enjoy should be your last option and done only if you’re 100% sure it’s holding them back from reaching their goals.
People will have pre-conceived notions and it’s your job to educated them—but also respect their views and understand that not everyone will be a good fit to work with you.
I currently train clients who are yogis, cyclists, triathletes, Cross Fitters, Pilate’s enthusiasts, and runners. What do they all have in common? They see value in my service, enough to limit how much they’re doing of their other activities to make room for strength training because it will help them reach their goals and allow them to continue doing the activities they love
Actually Come Up with a Fitness Plan
Here’s an idea: Instead of throwing someone through the gamut of corrective exercises on Day 1, why don’t you bring them through a brief workout?
Show them what they’re good at, show them what they’re bad at, and actually coach them through different movements.
Then work with them to come up with the outline of a plan that you’ll use to guide them towards reaching their goals.
2) Context Matters!
It’s clear that above I poked fun at a few philosophies and anatomical terms. Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t condone being one of those trainers who is all about doing an exercise only because it looks cool and fun. The better you know your anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and pain science, the more potential you’ll have to be a great coach.
But, as a coach, you must also take all of that knowledge and put it in CONTEXT for the client to UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE, and VALUE what you are saying.
You see, we take these continuing education courses that are catered towards physical therapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors and think we can explain things the same way when bringing someone through a fitness evaluation. Often times in a course, you’re explaining that increasing this range of motion or decreasing tissue tension in this area will help alleviate pain.
What if your client isn’t in any pain and they just want to get fit? What do you do then?
Consider learning how to re-phrase things and put them into context that not only work for fitness and performance, but put value in what you can do to help them reach their goals. Here are a few examples:
A right-handed baseball player who lacks passive hip internal rotation – “When we increase your hip internal rotation, you’ll be able to load and explode much better with your lower body and generate a lot more power during your swing.”
A powerlifter who lacks ankle dorsiflexion – “When we increase your dorsiflexion, it’ll become much easier to hit depth on your squat and you won’t get red-lighted on weights you should be able to lift.”
A client who asks why you’re watching them perform certain movements during a FMS – “This will give us a better idea of what exercises will be best for you body at this time and tell us what you need to work on in order to progress the exercises you’ll be doing during your first program.”
With that being said, you also need to realize that you’ll run into situations where a client may have a Type A personality and want to know the details and the science. Now is the time when you can step up to the plate and impress the client with your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics.
3) Analogies
Science can get complicated. It can be overwhelming explaining tissue healing or specific training and rehab concepts to a client. This is where analogies can be huge for educating a client and getting them to buy in and be on the same page as you.
A good analogy is great for explaining an unfamiliar concept with a familiar one and can take complex explanations and make them simple.
Be creative with these and make sure you drive your point home with something your client really resonates with.
In Summary
If you’re good at your job and are able to get a client to train with you a couple times a week, you’ll likely have good adherence and get good results. But you have to first know how to put yourself in a situation where someone is willing to spend money on you or your gym each week. It’s easy to fail getting to this point when you get caught up in how much you think you know and are waiting for every opportunity to share what you learned over the weekend.
Instead of feeding into your own ego by showcasing your knowledge with a new client:
Be a good listener
Meet them where they’re at
Always come up with a plan
Know that context matters!
Use analogies.
I once heard Alwyn Cosgrove say, “If you can see John Smith through John Smith’s eyes, you can sell John Smith what John Smith buys.”
If you can remember to see John Smith through John Smith’s eyes and know that clients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, you’ll be a much better coach, and your busier schedule and increase in clients/members will surely reflect your improvements.
About the Author
Mike Sirani is a strength and conditioning coach and massage therapist in Boston, MA. He works at Pure Performance Training where he helps client’s look, feel, move, and perform better.
Prior to building a successful personal training business in Boston, Mike graduated from one of the nation’s best exercise science programs at Springfield College and graduated from the Cortiva Institute in Boston for massage therapy shortly after.
He interned at Conca Sport and Fitness, one of Western Massachusetts’ top training facilities, and the nation’s best baseball strength and conditioning facility, Cressey Sports Performance. He is a certified strength and conditioning coach through the NSCA and has completed extensive continuing education in manual therapy, cardiovascular training, Functional Range Conditioning (FRC), Postural Restoration Institute (PRI), and Functional Movement Screen (FMS).
Mike played collegiate baseball at Springfield College and is an avid golfer. When not doing any of the above, Mike enjoys binging on good television shows and spending time with his fiancé. You can check out what Mike is up to on Facebookor check out some of his other articles at Rebel Performance.
I’ve been laying low on the writing front lately recovering from last week’s launch, and realized I never took the time to say those two words.
Thank you to everyone who purchased the Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint last week. It was a surreal experience on my end to have so many people lend their support and say such kind things about the resource.
As first product launches go I’d say it was a splendid success. I’d rank it somewhere between Miracle Mop and iPhone territory. Give or take a few dozen million units sold.
I may write something about my experience with the whole shebang down the road. I’ll discuss things like why I waited so long, why I chose this particular product, how Dean and I went about setting everything up for the launch, things I learned, mistakes I made, and whether or not I drank enough caffeine to kill a T-rex.4
Would that be something people would be interested in checking out and reading?
PS: psst, if you missed the party you can go HERE.
Stuff to Check Out Before You Read Stuff
1) No big deal…A Tribe Called Quest released their first album in 18 years today.
I was a junior in college the last time they released an album. Well, shit.
I grew up listening to 90s rap (and Tribe in particular) and remember the first time I listened to The Low End Theory…which I still feel is the best hip-hop album of all time and is still in heavy rotation for me. I can’t express how excited I am for this. I have a feeling that today’s squat sesh will be a good one.
2) I Am Not Afraid to Lift Retreat
Artemis Scantalides, Julia Ladewski, and my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis just announced this amazing event.
It’s designed by women for women.
If you’re a woman and interested in being surrounded by other like-minded women in learning anything and everything with regards to kettlebell training, the barbell lifts, nutrition, and mindset strategies…this event is going to be right up your alley.
If it’s any consolation I’ll be there too, but I’ll be on baby-watching duty. By the time this event happens Lisa and I will have a 4-month old, and I figure he and I can hit up the pool area or maybe head out to the Glute Lab and chill with Bret Contreras. My little guy has gotta learn about glutes sooner or later….;O)
3) Advanced Kettlebell Ballistic Workshop at CORE
Also, speaking of Artemis: she’ll also be hosting an Advanced KB Ballistic Workshop at my gym in Boston on Sunday, December 11th.
You can go HERE for more details and to sign-up (under EVENTS).
I’m not going to mince words today: I stayed up late, you know why, and I’m exhausted. I don’t have any energy for witty banter or mental gymnastics today…so here’s a cool push-up variation you should try.
I’ve long been a champion of push-ups. However, I feel they’re the Clive Owen of the fitness and strength & conditioning world.
You know, Clive Owen.
This guy:
He’s an actor in such movies as Closer, Sin City, Inside Man, and one my favs of all-time Children of Men.5 He’s recognized as an excellent actor too. He’s been nominated for, and won, a few awards including the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor (Closer). If you’re a movie snob like me you know Clive and his work.
He’s not quite “A-list” though, or as well-known or revered as George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, or Leonardo DiCaprio.
Which begs the question: “what in the name of two flying f’s does Clive Owen have to do with push-ups?”
Fair enough.
Clooney, et. al, are analogous to the sexier things we gravitate towards in the weight room, the movements that get more play or more of the spotlight: I.e., bench press.
People rarely get excited for push-ups, which is unfortunate because I feel they’re one of the most underrated exercises that provide a ton-for-our-training-buck.
This isn’t to the discount efficacy of the bench press. It’s a tool and a valuable one at that. It’s just that the push-up offers more than (many) people think:
1) I’m sure I can speak for many other coaches out there in saying that it’s rare when someone – average Joe to professional athlete – can walk in on Day #1 and perform a push-up, let alone several in succession, well.
It’s an easily butchered movement pattern and when used as an initial screen will highlight some significant dysfunctions – namely lack of lumbo-pelvic-hip control.
Photo credit: Greatist.com
2) The push-up helps keep shoulders healthy. How? Well, it’s a closed-chain movement (hands don’t move, but the scapulae can). When you only bench press – an open chain movement – you never allow the opportunity for the shoulder blades to move which can (not always) lead to shoulder discomfort or pain.
Part of what makes the push-up such a shoulder friendly exercise is that it allows the scapulae room to breath and move around the rib cage.
3) Push-ups can be hard. For starters: doing them right will help. Beyond that there are a bounty of ways to make them harder or more challenging to fit the needs/goals of the individual, which is another reason why I’m such a fan: they’re versatility.
Like this variation.
Chaos Push-Up
Who Did I Steal it From: Honestly, I forgot. I did not invent this exercise, but have seen them performed from other coaches such as Jim “Smitty” Smith and Todd Bumgardner. So, there.
UPDATE: yes, it was Smitty. He wrote about the chaos pushup in his Chaos Manual back in 2005.
What Does it Do: The instability or chaos of the band works wonders for additional rotator cuff recruitment, which in turn makes it an equally more challenging exercise with regards to core stability and control. I love to use this exercise with my overhead athletes in addition to my “regular” clients who just want not fall on their face…;o)
Key Coaching Cues: I’d suggest first and foremost to experiment with different bands and what height you start from. In the video above I have two Monster Bands attached. To make the exercise more challenging I’d either take away a band or lower the starting point. Or do this:
To make it easier you’d add bands or decrease ROM.
All the same cues I’d use for a “regular” push-up apply here. Abs on, glutes on, and keep head behind the chest as you lower (don’t poke head forward). The idea is to limit the “dip” of the bands and to keep them quiet. To do so it helps to think about pulling them apart. This will help with increasing body tension (and control).
As far as where to implement these in a program you have two choices:
1. At the start before a bench press session. These could serve as nice “primer” or warm-up to benching as the distraction of the movement will help activate the rotator cuff muscles. If this is the case I’d keep them to low(er) reps. The idea here wouldn’t be to fatigue the RC muscles as that would lead to superior migration of the humeral head into the glenoid fossa and increase the likelihood of impingement.
2. As an accessory movement after benching, or whenever.
It’s a question I’m asked often. And I can’t say I have a definitive answer. I’ve had coaches who were laid back and patient and coaches who were not that, and made a tornado look like a gentle Spring breeze.
In health/fitness circles, much like athletics, there’s a gamut of coaching personalities. On one end you have those coaches who are more observant and calculated with their feedback, seamingly Obi-Wan’esque with their cues and commentary.
And on the other end you have those who, for lack of a better phrase, come across as bat-shit crazy.
To their credit (“their” = celebrity/tv trainers): they do motivate people, and they do get results. Kinda. And they’re on tv, so they clearly know what they’re doing. (<— note sarcasm).
Who am I to say which “version” of a coach is better than the other? There are success stories on each side of the spectrum. However, I find the most successful coaches/personal trainers, and the ones I respect the most, are those who get results, but are also empathetic towards their clients.
There’s a time and place to be the drill sergeant. But it’s a time that’s few and far between. And, just to toss it out there: if these so called “celebrity/tv trainers” many people look up to as the creme of the crop were so good and so effective, why then do a large percentage of their “clients” tend to regain their weight back?
But then the counterpoint can be made that many of these shows – like The Biggest Loser – only exist because the objective is to see who can lose the most amount of weight in “x amount of time.” In that sense, the coaches are doing their job. Very, very well mind you.
It’s a massive catch-22 of Hellerian proportions.
However, if you ask me…it’s less coaching and more a crash course in clusterfuckery. But I’m getting off on too much of a tangent. Shane McLean did me a solid and put together this excellent guest post today on the idea of what entails “good coaching?”
Enjoy.
What Does Good Coaching Look Like?
Recently, I was watching my 10-year-old son play his rec-league soccer game. To say they were getting beaten was an understatement, and everyone on our sideline was getting frustrated.
The coach was screaming at the kids, the refs and pretty much anything else that moved. In the second half, with the result absolutely in no doubt, one of our kids misplayed a ball and the coach snapped.
“SHIT,” he screamed, loud enough that everyone could hear. My oldest son thought this was hilarious, and I had to explain to him why this was not good coaching.
Swearing in front of children to get your point across is an example of poor coaching in my humble opinion.
However, people who haven’t been exposed to a lot of quality coaching in their lifetime may think all coaches behave like
Middle school P.E teacher.
Swearing soccer coach.
Weight loss coaches on reality TV.
Lou Gossett Jr in an Officer and a Gentlemen.
Or
All the above
Warning- Colorful language alert.
Since becoming a coach, I have witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly side of coaching. I’m inspired by great coaching. However, I wanted to beat my head repeatedly on a brick wall when I witnessed this incident back in 2013.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MmD_KbwX8IE
No coach who draws a paycheck should ever behave like this. Intidation and fear is not the way to get the best out of people, and it’s coaching at its worst.
Good coaching, on the other hand, mostly happens behind the scenes. It is out of the spotlight where a coach motivates, inspires and pushes the athletes or clients to become the best they can be.
With that in mind, I reached out to some experienced coaches and asked them to give their thoughts on what good coaching is and what it should look like. You may be surprised that it’s nothing like drill sergeant Lou.
1) Tony Gentilcore (The man needs no introduction)
Good coaching should like coaching. How’s that for playing the Captain Obvious card?
What I mean is: good coaching is ACTIVE. It’s about being engaged and present. When I coach, I coach at 90 degree angles; I’m moving, I’m like shark. If someone’s squatting I’ll take a peek from the front, from the side, and from the back.
I’m not just standing there passively counting out reps like a drone.
Also, to speak candidly, I think a lot of shitty coaches’ mask how shitty they are by playing the rah-rah, excessively boisterous card. You know the type: always yelling and being way too loud.
There’s a time and place for that kind of behavior or course, but I find the “good” coaches tend to be more mild-mannered, meticulous, and reserved in their style.
They’ll watch a set, let the client/athlete marinate in their thoughts for a few seconds, and then offer feedback. Less is better often than not.
What’s the best pieces of coaching advice you’ve received?
“You have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth, use them in that order.”
Good coaching is making and building a connection with the athletes or clients you train. It’s not just counting reps and throwing some exercises together and calling it a program. It’s training people with an intent to make an impact on their lives.
What’s the best piece of coaching advice you’ve received?
Clients don’t know how much you know until they know how much you care. This is something that I’ve heard from several others and I think it took a while before I realized how true it was.
You can have all the certifications and education in the world but if you don’t know how to treat those you work with, they won’t stick around for long.
3) Pat Rigsby – Father. Husband. Entrepreneur. Coach. Author
Good coaching looks a bit like good parenting. It’s a combination of everything from teaching and motivation to providing boundaries and developing habits…all with a focus on helping the client become a better version of themselves and ultimately achieve their potential. So, coaching is no one thing…it’s a combination of many things.
The best piece of coaching advice you’ve ever received?
That it’s not about what you know, say or do. It’s about what the client or athlete gets from the interaction. Did they improve? Did they move closer to their goals?
As a coach, your role is to facilitate the improvement of those you serve, not simply to collect information.
Good coaching isn’t just about crunching the numbers. Appropriate exercise prescription and nutritional counselling are just a small part of a successful coach-client relationship – “Good Coaching” also considers client education, appreciates the value of effective communication and looks to empower the client in as many ways as possible.
The best piece of coaching advice you’ve ever received?
It’s very hard for me to pinpoint one single piece of advice – I’m fairly sponge-like when it comes to soaking up advice and information. However, I can honestly say that the tutelage I received from Dr. Mike Zourdos as a part of the SBS Academy completely revolutionized the way I write training programs.
I’ve also been incredibly lucky to spend time with the 3DMJ team, the Lift The Bar team and the other coaches who make up Shredded By Science – I’ve learnt countless things from all of them.
5) Nick Tumminello – CPT, author of Strength for Fat Loss and Building Muscle and Performance.
Coaching is about communication of your knowledge of the X’s and O’s of training and programming. So, “good coaching” looks like a good relationship between the trainer and the people they’re currently working with.
A good coach isn’t just someone who has great technical knowledge, but is also someone who recognizes how best to communicate with each individual in a way that they’ll buy into and get the cited about they’re training direction.
What’s the best pieces of coaching advice you’ve received?
The best piece of coaching advice I’ve received is from Bruce Lee. Although he was talking about different styles of martial arts, his advice to not be married to one style applies perfectly to the training and conditioning arena.
All training styles have different benefits and limitations, so taking a mixed approach to training – an approach that looks at different reasoning styles as mutually complimentary instead of as mutually exclusive – is ultimately a smarter approach.
As someone who has had some outstanding trainers guide me toward my goals, and now as a trainer myself, it is my belief that a good trainer is someone who avoids cookie cutter programs where they are doing the same exact workout with each and every one of their clients.
Each client has different goals and different needs based on those goals. Each client also has other personal considerations (including exercise background) and personal exercise preferences that should also be addressed when designing their client’s program.
To me a good trainer/coach will take all these factors into account and develop an exercise program individualized to the client, starting the client where they are and guiding them towards their goals in a safe, efficient and effective manner that will help the client successfully reach their goals.
What’s the best piece of coaching advice you’ve received?
One of the best pieces of coaching advice I have received is from my mentor Nick Tumminello: When working with a client, instead of trying to fit individuals to certain exercises, you should instead fit the exercises to the individual.
What Do YOU Think?
Share your comments, opinions, stories in the comments section.
Oh, hello. You may have noticed that Dean Somerset and I have been all over the internet this week promoting our new resource Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint. Collectively we’ve written about 717 guest posts and appeared on 32 different podcasts.
Okay, maybe not quite those high of numbers. But it sure feels like it. We may have even hit the threshold where we’ve hit annoying political ad territory and people would rather jump into a shark’s mouth than read another article, Tweet, or Facebook post on shoulders and hips.
By now I’m sure there’s a fair portion of the population that’s “had it up to here” with Dean and I.
If it’s any consolation…all this week we have both been pumping out tons of FREE content in addition to all the free content other fitness pros have been churning out to help get the word out.
So, shut up….;o)
Below is everything I could find. Enjoy. No purchase required.8
Stuff Written by Dean or Tony
I didn’t include THIS article I wrote for my site yesterday yelling at the internet for telling everyone that deadlifts are dangerous. Except, you know, I just did include it.
Dean and I break down some (hopefully) new-to-you drills and exercises you can implement today to keep your shoulders from flipping you the middle finger long-term.
This post will satiate any appetite for anatomy geekery, and will explain why it’s unfortunate that some coaches out there STILL think everyone needs to squat THEIR way.
Eric highlights 1) his affinity for alliterations (the title) and 2) some of his take-home points that resonated with him from watching the Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint.
Tony B shares some his insights on overhead pressing, how to assess it, how to “fix” it, and some more user-friendly options you can pepper in to keep your shoulders healthy.
Dean made his rounds this week on podcasts, talking more shop with Joe and crushing it.
Sale is Winding Down
Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint is currently on sale at $60 off the regular price. But that only lasts until this Saturday (11/5) at midnight.
Come on. What are you waiting for? You get 11+ hours of amazing content that I know will make you better at your craft, along with CEUs, and it has the backing of a many of the top coaches and trainers around. Sooooooooooooo.
The internet is a funny place. Regardless of the topic – Presidential elections, Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter, GMOs, or debating the original Star Wars trilogy vs. the prequels9 – people tend to marry themselves to extremes. They’re either way over on the left or way the eff over on the right.
There’s very little middle-ground, when it’s the “middle ground” where the answer almost always resides.
I think my fitness and strength & conditioning bubble personifies this sentiment and is very applicable…especially when the topic revolves around the deadlift.
Some people feel the deadlift is the exercise to perform and is a compliment to everything: improved strength, muscle mass, athletic performance, posture, movement quality (dissociating hip movement from lumbar movement), and a whole host of other benefits including the answer to global warming and erectile dysfunction.
Others feel the deadlift – any variation of it – is the worst exercise ever, that no one should perform it under any circumstance, and that it will cause the world markets to collapse (not to mention everyone’s spine).10
I think it goes without saying I tend to err on the side that prefers not to make blanket statements and to demonize and proclaim an entire movement pattern as “dangerous” because, well, frankly, you either have very little experience with it (which is cool, you’re just naive and that can be remedied) or, more often than not, you’re probably just a really shitty coach.
Or you might not even be a coach and just someone who likes leaving angry, oblivious comments like this on my blog (a recent doozy I received in response to THIS article I wrote six years ago):
“Idiot. This is a poorly written article that will only appeal to the ignorant or existing proponents of this stupid exercise.
To begin with:
He never illustrates any health benefit from the outcome of a deadlift. And if he will, I challenge him to provide any scientific evidence, let alone anecdotal evidence, that supports his claim.
Moreover, the deadlift may have various effects of potential damage depending on a person’s anatomy and body-type. The only people i see doing DL’s are the short and squatty types with short legs and longer torsos. It’s easier for them to complete that range of motion due to their short legs bypassing the barbell as it ascends upward. This means that they can keep a more straight knee alignment without putting undue stress on the knee joint. If a person is tall and long-legged they run the immediate risk of knocking their shin on the barbell as it ascends upward in motion. Thus, forcing them to angle the thighs outward causing undue stress on the knee joints. The author fails to acknowledge this simple mechanical principle.
These articles that permeate the internet often have this ‘one size fits all’ modality that, if read by an uninformed or novice, will harm an unsuspecting person. These articles, whether, deliberately irresponsible or not, should be vetted and researched thoroughly and vigilantly.”
Um, how do you really feel?
In fairness: I didn’t address in the original article some of what he brought up in his rant. There was no talk about assessment, nor was there any commentary on anthropometry and individual differences in anatomy and how that would affect programming and what variations of the deadlift/hip hinge would be best suited for any one individual (based off goals, current/past injury history, and ability level).
So, yeah, he did bring up some valid points. For some people, deadlifts are a bad choice. And given their leverages and anatomy, certain deadlift variations may be more counterproductive than others. But that’s why we assess, progress accordingly, and cater the lift to the trainee (and not vice versa).
Then again:
1) The main point of the article was to point out that blanket comments suck – “all deadlifts are dangerous and no one should perform them” – and that, in the end, they do little service in helping the industry.
2) It wasn’t a fucking dissertation on everything and anything deadlifts. It was a blog post. Relax.
Ironically, I found it odd he commented “I challenge him (me) to provide scientific evidence that supports his claims” when, in the article, I not only direct people towards Dr. Stuart McGill’s work (the world’s most renowned spine researcher and mustache haver…and avid deadlift fan) but I also referenced seven studies within the text (admittedly through someone else’s quote).
But whatever. I guess I should just GFM.
What’s the deal with using “stress” as an argument against the deadlift?
Deadlifts place “stress” on the spine.
Deadlifts place undue “stress” on the knees.
Well, no shit. That’s the point of lifting weights. To STRESS the body.
We need to “stress” the body in order to elicit an adaptive response – whether it be corrective in nature or more on the performance side of things. We don’t live life in this “stress free” bubble. Lifting weights isn’t supposed to tickle.
Besides, stress is what makes the body more resilient to prevent injuries.
To steal a quote from the always blunt and to-the-point Alex Viada:
“The goal of exercise/training is adaptation. Adaptation is a result of applying a stimulus that is, either acutely or in the aggregate, more than the body can handle in its current state. Applying a stress that is more than the body can handle is almost by definition uncomfortable. It may hurt. It may cause a certain level of discomfort, or even suffering. In other words, it is anything BUT comfortable.
This process is not supposed to be easy or painless. Attempting to keep it so is quite possibly the number one reason many would-be athletes or trainees stagnate- they dislike discomfort, and tend to embrace the flawed notion that “training should be comfortable and enjoyable.”
And this, dear readers (and meanie head commenter), is why any competent fitness professional will use his or her’s assessment to guide their programming and to figure out what VARIATION of the deadlift will be the best fit.
(If they deem it a good fit).
And Guess What?
The word “deadlift” doesn’t always have to equate to a barbell being placed on the ground loaded to 90% of someone’s 1RM.
Deadlift = Hip Hinge
Hip Hinge = Dissociating Hip Movement From Lumbar Movement
That can mean any number of glorious “deadlift” variations (that don’t involve a barbell):
KB to Sternum Hip Hinge
Foam Roller Assisted 1-Legged RDL
Pull-Through
KB Deadlift w/ Hover (and an epic beard)
However, more cogent to the discussion, when we DO incorporate a barbell, it doesn’t always mean we have to 1) perform it from the floor or 2) perform it using a conventional stance or 3) load it heavy each and every time so we shit a spleen.
The only people that have to deadlift from the floor are competitive powerlifters and weightlifters. That’s it.
And no one has to perform only conventional style.
So, of course it behooves any fitness professional to match the proper variation to the needs and ability of the trainee. Conventional, sumo, modified sumo, block pulls, rack pulls, Romanian, trap bar, and Jefferson deadlifts are just the tip of the iceberg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Xjb72gGTE
[NOTE: All of this assumes one is able to maintain a neutral spine and that appropriate progressions (and regressions) are being utilized.]
Furthermore, none of this takes into consideration that foot stance, stance width, and hip structure will vary person to person. To assume everyone has to perform the same variation let alone point their toes the same way or use a symmetrical stance disregards everything mentioned above.
You’re not going to lose demerit points or be sent to Slytherin if you have the audacity to choose trap bar deadlifts over conventional. If someone does lack ankle dorsiflexion, hip flexion, and t-spine extension, yeah, the trap bar is going to be a better choice. Likewise, lifters with longer femurs and T-rex arms will be better suited with sumo style deadlifts.
It’s all okay. The world won’t end.
No one has to deadlift. Yeah, that’s right: I said it.
However, to say it’s “dangerous” and that it should be avoided at all costs is myopic and juvenile, and, frankly, just as bad as someone who feels the opposite.
Lets pump the brakes internet: the answer is always somewhere in the middle. Except for bacon. It’s always delicious.
It’s a Good Thing I Have a Resource to Help You Figure This Stuff Out
Dean Somerset and I made the Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint in part, to do just that. Help fitness professionals figure stuff out, understand that everyone is different, and that “it depends” is a very powerful phrase to keep in your back pocket.11I mean, only Siths deal in absolutes. And you’re not a Sith. Or, are you? OMG can we hang out?[/footnote
Want to learn our systems and strategies we use to “connect the dots” from assessment to badassery on the weight room floor? I thought so…;o)
Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint is on SALE this week at $60 off the regular. It ends this weekend. Go HERE now. Now I tell you.
WHEW – talk about a whirlwind day yesterday. I spent the bulk of it glued to my laptop12 making sure things ran smoothly with the launch, answering questions and emails, and trying to stay on top of social media engagement.
This sucker contains 11+ hours of content covering everything from upper and lower extremity assessment, corrective exercise strategies, numerous hands-on breakouts, as well as program design and exercise technique troubleshooting (with maybe, 37 seconds worth of Star Wars references).
Here are two sneak peak segment from both Dean and I.
The One Where Tony Discusses Scapular Motion
The One Where Dean Talks Hip Integration (and makes a bunch of fitness pros groan)
And there is tooooooons more where that came from.
If you’re a fitness professional I can almost guarantee you’ll pick up something valuable (hopefully several) that will help your clients or athletes. And even if you’re not a fitness pro, and just like listening to two dudes talk shop about training or you’re just looking to pick up some cool new exercise variations to keep your shoulders and hips healthy this resource would be a home run.
wrong. I don’t condone being one of those trainers who is all about doing an exercise only because it looks cool and fun. The better you know your anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and pain science, the more potential you’ll have to be a great coach.
just counting reps and throwing some exercises together and calling it a program. It’s training people with an intent to make an impact on their lives.
Good coaching looks a bit like good parenting. It’s a combination of everything from teaching and motivation to providing boundaries and developing habits…all with a focus on helping the client become a better version of themselves and ultimately achieve their potential. So, coaching is no one thing…it’s a combination of many things.
nutritional counselling are just a small part of a successful coach-client relationship – “Good Coaching” also considers client education, appreciates the value of effective communication and looks to empower the client in as many ways as possible.
Coaching is about communication of your knowledge of the X’s and O’s of training and programming. So, “good coaching” looks like a good relationship between the trainer and the people they’re currently working with.
