On the other hand, there are some severe limitations to the traditional model of group class instruction that do not lend themselves to holding an effective “weightlifting class.” In a typical group exercise class, the instructor leads the activities by designating the nature of the activity and providing parameters to standardize the activity. There is a short lifespan under which this type of instructional model can prevail for a group of different levels and abilities. Even teaching the most basic exercises for weightlifting will exceed the limitations of the group class model.

Know When to Individualize

So when is individualization necessary? The short answer is it’s necessary whenever it’s necessary. The goal of the coach is to make the athlete as efficient as possible. If over the course of a 10-year weightlifting career, the athlete’s body changes (and it will), then technique will have to undergo slight modifications, and the training will have to be suited to the specifics of the athlete’s training condition.

Furthermore, that same body will have to train differently depending on the point within the macrocycle, and this will require individual modifications. Although the movements being learned are the same, they will have to be modified to suit the specific body proportions and movement patterns of each individual. This means the coach will have to make specific adjustments.

On other occasions, a group made up of individuals with equal capacities who started at approximately the same time may have to modify certain aspects of the same training program. This requires the coach to do some individualization, which may include dropping or adding a set, eliminating or adding an exercise, adding repetitions on certain sets, or changing the number of sets performed in a specific intensity zone. To make these individualized modifications, the coach must have a deep working knowledge of the medium and a vision for the eventual goal of the training.

Group Training Has Its Place

Personally, during the sessions I host, we have 10 or more athletes training simultaneously on three different programs that vary according to each lifter’s abilities.

There is great energy in the room, as many of the athletes are trying to do well on the same training program and are anxious to see how others are doing. The energy is helpful. The lifters encourage each other, reinforce the culture of the sport, generate enthusiasm for upcoming competitions, and share common knowledge that lies beyond the training advice that I dispense as the coach.

The group also maintains a common pace that keeps the training active and inhibits lagging. For the less accomplished, there are role models to observe and performance models to mimic. Each team member is reinforced by the others. Performing such demanding training on a solitary basis will not last as long as is necessary to benefit from rigorous training.

Final Word

The conclusion here is that training must be individualized for it to be most effective, but must be performed in a group setting that encourages full participation and maintains enthusiasm. As a coach I’ve found this to be true in a wide variety of venues around the world. It is the most productive way to organize a team of lifters to achieve their highest potential.

You must coach individually in a group. 

Featured Image: Flamingo Images/Shutterstock

The post The Right Way to Approach Group Training for Optimal Results appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It’s easy to become certified in the fitness industry – but that doesn’t always mean you’ve been educated.

Athletes spend a lot of time seeking the next greatest training program – usually a super-secret-never-seen-before-Russian plan. Yet athletes should be investing more time in their own education and understanding of the process. Have you noticed that many athletes fail to actually complete any given training plan?

Perhaps this is through boredom, but I would put it down to a lack of understanding of the science and education behind the process. Without thorough understanding, mastery becomes near-on impossible. The path to deep mastery is education.

We’re Not Using Our Weapon

Education is far from a quick fix or the ability to download something instantly. It is a lifelong pursuit. Nelson Mandela declared, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Yet as a fitness nation trying to change the world of 2.1 billion obese people we seem to fail in a big way.

“Cheap one-day courses are also now in abundance. Such is the low barrier to entry for fitness education certifications that anyone can become an expert and run one.”

Industry standards have become so low that coaches are now confusing the very population they are trying to help. In the desire for one guru to outshine another, coaches contradict each other for the sake of it. For athletes, the weekend warrior, or fitness enthusiast, our desire to understand our training has become null and void. Monkey see, monkey do. Then move on to the next shiny object.

Let’s look at the options for self-improvement.

Put Down the Books and Attend Live Events

Reading should of course be a staple part of anyone’s diet in self-improvement, but attending live events takes things to a new level. These events or courses facilitate a deeper level of mastery. They allow you to be the dumbest person in the room (think about that for a while), to connect with like-minded peers and individuals, and to ask in-depth questions of the experts.

It’s not easy to figure out where to start with these live events. The fitness industry has an abundance of certifications to choose from. Type in “BOSU balancing circus acts” and you’ll probably find a level 3 qualification. Cheap one-day courses are also now in abundance. Such is the low barrier to entry for fitness education certifications that anyone can become an expert and run one.

Although in-person classes are best, some are more valuable than others.

How to Choose the Right Course

First of all, ask yourself these two questions;

1. How much am I prepared to invest?
2. Will this course or certification fill a void in my educational needs?

Take your time to think about question one. If you think it’s just about the money, then buy the cheapest course out there as you are missing the point. I’m talking how much time are you willing to invest in your own education. Price should be irrelevant.

“You can be the best theorist in the world, but remember we’re in the fitness industry, and practicality is essential.”

Investing in your own personal development and education is one of the richest and rewarding things you can do in life. Treat fitness education like a university degree. Invest wisely and look at the long haul. Would you like to buy that instant training program or learn how to write multiple programs for different scenarios?

The best things in life have to be earned. Nothing in life should be a given, yet sadly the fitness industry is handing out certificates like there is no tomorrow. When I talk about investing time in education, I like to look at the pre- and post- learning material to the course. And that is both from a theoretical and practical perspective. You can be the best theorist in the world, but remember we’re in the fitness industry, and practicality is essential.

With the best courses, the learning is mostly in the journey to the certification. The effort required is both mental and physical preparation. To teach and apply our knowledge we must first seek mastery – and in the fitness industry that means getting our hands dirty and hanging out in the trenches.

Take the Strength Matters Level 1 kettlebell certification as an example. We advise a four- to six-month pre-certification training period. Minimum. Not because we want to give you a beatdown. Because we expect our students to be just that, students. And to become an instructor, you must follow the path and journey to becoming an instructor in the way a student would. That is where the real education is. The journey of self-discovery. The ability to empathize with students.

To be a good instructor, you must be a good student.

My Advice

So whether you’re an athlete, coach, or fitness enthusiast, my advice to you is this. Put down the computer, put down the book, and go and learn in person from the industry experts. YouTube University is merely a starting point in your journey of fitness. Think of fitness as education. Invest wisely for long-term rewards.

I’d guestimate that 99% of training plans are never completed. Be part of the other 1% who thinks of fitness as an investment for life. Value yourself and own worth like a university degree. A deeper understanding of the subject matter and will set you apart from others who follow the herd mentality and seek the easy option in life.

Be different. Value your education and work hard for it. Seek mastery. Nothing is more rewarding in life.

More Like This:

• What Does “Certification” Mean?
• 4 Reasons to Do the StrongFirst Certification
• The CSCS Credential: What’s It Actually Worth?
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 3 courtesy of Strength Matters.

The post Stop Surfing the Internet and Go Learn in Real Life appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Whether you meant to train:

The training session is over, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you got any better.

Whether you meant to train:

• Speed
• Agility
• Power
• Strength
• Hypertrophy
• Endurance

What you do after the workout will largely determine how much benefit you get.

Athletes and parents sometimes tell me how they are going to another trainer plus, the work they are doing with me. The thinking seems to be that if they do twice as many workouts, they’ll see twice the results. It is that pervasive myth that more is better.

Unfortunately, coaches often fall victim to it as well.

They’ll condition their kids into the ground practice after practice and then wonder why they are dragging on gameday. Of course, you have to work hard, but there is an optimal way to do it. Just because someone got sore and tired doesn’t necessarily mean they got better.

It comes down to some elementary principles that all coaches and parents of athletes need to know.

Allow me to explain:

The post A Guide to Recovery and Training for Coaches and Parents appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

But, for some reason, when it comes to metabolic conditioning, fitness becomes a free-flowing ocean of random, high-intensity efforts, filled with varied, whatever modalities are en vogue that week:

When it comes to strength training, most coaches and even clients understand the concept of progressing in a structured and systematic way, using percentages to build strength slowly over time.

But, for some reason, when it comes to metabolic conditioning, fitness becomes a free-flowing ocean of random, high-intensity efforts, filled with varied, whatever modalities are en vogue that week:

• Thrusters
• Kipping pull-ups
• Hang snatches
• Toes-to-bar

Since wall walks recently became a thing when they burst onto the scene during the CrossFit Open 20.1, we can now add wall walks to the cool movement club.

Though it’s tempting for many athletes and coaches to enjoy wild-west-style metabolic conditioning training, it’s not what’s best for most people.

It’s certainly not what’s best for longevity, explained veteran Opex coach Georgia Smith.

“If you do it too soon, and you don’t build a proper base of support, there can be some negative characteristics that come from that, and you can end up hurting their long-term health and vitality and their progression with metabolic conditioning,” she said.

So, like strength training, to avoid developing compensatory movement patterns that can lead to injuries, and to improve recovery and produce sustainable, long-term results, metabolic conditioning needs to be progressed in a systematic, structured way, Smith explained in Opex’s free course: Metabolic Conditioning: Principles and Progressions.

Principles

For metabolic conditioning to be sustainable, Smith offered four principles to always keep in mind when programming for individual clients.

Principle 1: Repeatability

“Everything a client does should be repeatable,” Smith explained.

For example:

• If they do a five-minute conditioning piece and take five minutes rest, they should repeat that piece and achieve the same result.
• Or, if they do a 30-minute AMRAP, they need to know how to pace the 30 minutes equally, meaning maintaining the same pace throughout the piece, as opposed to flying and dying.

Principle 2: Slow to Fast

When programming for new, inexperienced clients, Smith emphasized the importance of programming slower efforts first, and in time, as they gain experience, you can move to faster actions.

Principle 3: Long to Short

Metabolic conditioning needs to progress from longer (slower) efforts to shorter (harder) efforts as the client becomes more experienced and fit.

Principle 4: Simple to Complex

Smith explained that movements in a metabolic conditioning environment need to be kept incredibly simple for inexperienced clients (think biking and rowing instead of thrusters and cleans).

Including movements that are too complex too soon can lead to poor movement patterns and, often, the intention of the workout gets lost.

For example, a thruster movement might end up being more about muscular endurance than the session’s intention—aerobic conditioning.

Progressions – The Four Cs: 1. Cyclical

Smith recommends introducing metabolic conditioning to new, inexperienced clients as cyclical training sessions.

For example,

Rest 90 seconds between sets.

The idea here is to help the client figure out how to pace these low-skilled, low impact, non-dynamic intervals, where the goal is to maintain the same speed throughout each interval or overall piece.

In this way, the client will start to build a more robust aerobic system while learning how to pace workouts according to their fitness level.

Progressions – The Four Cs: 2. Circuit

Once the client has developed themselves aerobically and understands pacing, you can start introducing circuit workouts,

Smith explained. These can be AMRAP-style or workouts for time, where you’re repeating various rounds of various modalities throughout the piece.

• The key here is to include movements where the client has the technical proficiency to put it into a metabolic conditioning piece. If their form breaks down after 20 wall balls, it makes little sense to include an AMRAP where they are asked to do 30 wall balls multiple times.
• Like cyclical work, circuit training should be repeatable and sustainable in terms of the person’s pace. If they do the first round in one minute and the third round in four minutes, they’re probably not ready for this type of training.

Progressions – The Four Cs: 3. Chipper

Chipper-style workouts are, of course, when you go through a list of exercises one at a time.

For example:

These are tougher for someone to learn how to pace because it’s hard for inexperienced athletes to know how to break up the repetitions.

As a coach, you don’t want someone reaching muscular failure on a movement, which is why they introduce them to circuit-style pieces first.

Progressions – The Four Cs: 4. Constant Variance

An example of a constant variance workout would be to complete the chipper above, rest, and then repeat it two more times, but both times with the movements in a different order.

• These are particularly hard for less experienced athletes, as they’ll be lost regarding how to pace themselves. Thus, Smith recommends constant variance workouts for advanced level athletes only, who have spent a ton of time progressing through cyclical, circuit, and chopper-style workouts first.
• Smith said that the only people who need to know how to tackle constant variance-style workouts are athletes competing in fitness sports, adding that the average person probably never needs to progress to this level.

Final tip from Smith: For all four of the above style workouts—cyclical, circuit, chipper, and constant variance, remember to consider the four key principles in making program design decisions: Repeatable, slow to fast, long to short, and simple to complex.

The post The Four Cs of Metabolic Conditioning appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

After 11-plus years of coaching, I have learned that pretty much every single person who shows up to train with me has some pain.

Pain is something to which we can all relate. For some, it’s an emotionally-rooted pain, and for a vast majority of adults, there’s a certain amount of physical pain they deal with every day.

It can be tempting, as a coach, to want to fix this pain by writing the perfect training program. The OPEX Coaching Certificate Program (CCP) enlightened me to another idea. The training program is only a small part of helping your clients live without pain.

Shift Your Mindset

Most people are impatient and want results now. It’s why people try muscle ups when they can’t even do a strict Chest-To-Bar (CTB) pull up. It’s not their fault.

We have all been told we can:

• Get abs in seven minutes.
• Lose 30 pounds in 30 days.

Unfortunately, the path to improved fitness and decreased pain is a slow one.

The key is to help our clients shift their mindset to embrace a long-term, patient approach to fitness and pain-free living.

Here are three steps you may not have considered to change your mindset and get out of pain long-term.

Step 1: Many People Don’t Know Where They Are.

“Meet them where they’re at” is how OPEX CEO Carl Hardwick, a man with almost 20 years of coaching experience, often puts it.

The basic idea is to get to know as much as you can about your client’s:

• Training history
• Injury history
• Nutrition habits
• Sleep habits
• Wants and needs
• Goals, schedule, and priorities

Then, you can design an effective program for them that considers their entire life and ultimately “meet them where they’re at” in all areas of their life.

However, one of the issues with this is that many people don’t know where they are. They don’t even know what it is they want to achieve from working out.

Somewhere along the way, they decided that snatching and learning a muscle up sounded like a cool idea. Still, some clients have ignored the fact that they can’t put their hands overhead without extending their spine (or maybe they don’t even realize this is the case) and that they’re in physical pain every time they snatch.

This person keeps trying to shove a square peg into a round hole—Talk about pain!

Other people set arbitrary goals without really considering what it will take to achieve them. Have you ever had a client who says she wants to lose 20 pounds and get a pull up, but her actions don’t align with her goal?

She never sticks around to do the pulling homework you gave her, and she keeps admitting to her Taco Bell addiction. It’s frustrating as a coach to watch this person continuously fail, and it’s even more frustrating to be the person who feels like a failure.

Much of sorting out of this emotional and physical pain stems from awareness.

Helping clients figure out what they want—their intention or why—is the first step to uncover, work through, and eliminate their emotional and physical pain, explained Firass El Fateh, the owner of OPEX Abbotsford in British Columbia.

You have to, “Dig really deep with their exact reason for doing this whole thing,” El Fateh said. This starts on day one. “It’s about setting expectations right from the start during the initial consultation. Going through the assessment together and giving the client a clear picture of where they stand physically,” he added.

Emotionally speaking, when clients are honest about what they’re genuinely willing to sacrifice, such as losing 50 pounds—they’re more likely to shed emotional baggage and work to fix their problem.

Practically speaking, putting them through a thorough assessment allows your clients to understand their limitations.

• For example, if your client knows they failed a shoulder flexion test, they’re more likely to respect the fact that maybe going overhead with a barbell isn’t a great idea just yet. Perhaps it’s even the reason they’re always in pain. From there, you can lay out a path that will help them fix this weakness and get out of pain.

The mindset change starts with awareness of what’s causing the emotional pain, physical pain, and understanding what they want to achieve.

Step 2: The Beauty of Simplicity

Remember the saying in elementary school: Keep it Simple, Silly (KISS)?

As coaches, we’re always trying to reinvent the wheel to keep people interested and show off our knowledge. Another lesson I learned from the OPEX CCP was about the beauty of simplicity.

This comes down to, as Hardwick calls them, the “Basic Lifestyle Guidelines (BLGs).”

Simply put, “Start with lifestyle,” Hardwick said.

First, you have to look at what the person has been doing for fitness and whether they have been doing “a bunch of inappropriate (for them) contractions and movements,” Hardwick said.

Look at what they’re doing the other 23 hours of the day. How are their sleep hygiene, nutrition hygiene, and stress levels? Teach them how this contributes to their pain, lack of recovery, and fatigue, Hardwick added.

“If the client isn’t sleeping well, drinking enough water, getting enough sun, there is no point of diving deep into the program design part of it,” El Fateh added.

Beyond sleep, stress, sunlight, nutrition, other basic lifestyle guidelines, Hardwick asks coaches to consider how many steps the person is taking each day, how much water they’re drinking, and what kind of bowel movements they’re having.

As OPEX Founder James Fitzgerald put it, if you don’t feel comfortable talking to your clients about their poo, you’re missing out. “It’s an indisputable barometer of health…You need to talk about it with your clients,” he said.

“Identify the lowest hanging fruit lifestyle habits,” Hardwick said, “and tackle them before you bother writing a fancy training program that promises your client the world.”

Step 3: Teach Them Why.

Anyone can teach someone how to squat, press, hinge, pull. While useful, for people to indeed be on board with a long-term path to better health and pain-free living, they need to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. Doing this fosters that all-important buy-in explained Hardwick.

“It has to start with having the ability to educate our clients,” Hardwick said, not just through “principles and science,” but also through your own and other clients’ experiences.

El Fateh agrees. Once his clients have a clear understanding—based on the OPEX assessment he puts them through—he can now “tie in how their program will take them from where they are to where they want to get,” he explained.

He added: “Explaining the why behind the program is important…When people know why they’re doing something, they are much more likely to keep doing it.”

The more self-sufficient and autonomous your clients become, the more likely they’re going to make decisions when you’re not looking (which is most of the time) that are smart for them and ultimately help them get out of pain long-term.

The post Embrace A Long-term, 3 Step Approach To Pain-free Fitness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Does original thought exist? Have we covered everything, or are there thinkers out there who aren’t in the box? I know my friend David Weck down in San Diego is changing the game when it comes to running, but when we get down to the nitty-gritty of strength training, we all regurgitate the same things while adding our particular flare?

The reason I ask is that working with my population (13-18-year-olds), I have needed to simplify and streamline much of my teachings to get what I need from them. Any of you who work in this demographic realize that the young ones will tune you out if you get too sciencey. I’ve learned this the hard way.

Therefore, my job has been to distill the big words, find ways for the kids to understand and create rules around the larger concepts. Then, the young ones can skillfully navigate a training session and think independently.

Before we begin, I want to acknowledge you smarties out there reading this. What you are about to read applies to most.

Yes, due to something unique to them and them alone, there will be those who make this coaching inappropriate. Someone with an anatomical issue that forces a degree of change to the rules presented might not be the perfect person for this.

But, this teaching is for the masses.

This technique is for coaches like me, who coach large groups at one time and see between 60-150 kids per training session every hour of every workday.

It’s rarely under 60 bodies, and I will coach up to eight groups a day.

• I need to be efficient.
• I need to be precise.
• I need to simplify things where the vast majority can understand what I’m asking.
• And I need them to problem-solve independently.

Simplicity is the recipe.

Don’t Share Everything You Know.

Look, I know you are not a child, but you would be lying to us both if you didn’t still require permission on a few things. We do it with our government, our jobs, the law, even within the confines of our own homes. So what I’m going to say to you might liberate many of you.

You have my permission, while coaching, to not share everything you know.

“I see this in young coaches all the time. They are so fired up about all the science they consume and all of the new technological know-how that they want to peacock and word vomit everything at their clientele.”

And what I’ve learned after almost 25 years of doing this is to tell them only what they need to know to do what you want, the way you want, and nothing more.

If I need one of my high schoolers to pry their knees out when they squat or pull, I don’t have to give them a dissertation as to why.

• Yes, I could write books about why it makes everything better, safer, and more powerful.
• I could give them the anatomical ins and outs and explain why structurally it’s a superior approach to others in clinical-level terms.
• I can give detailed reasons and justification that innervating the glutes first protects the spine and then drives the work into the hip’s engine.

But why should I do that? Just pry your damn knees out—every rep.

If I can simplify, qualify, and streamline things, so my kids know what I want and apply it at the right time, then why go any further? This article is precisely that.

It’s boatloads of experience and over two decades of painstaking distillation into the most straightforward explanation that works 99% of the time.

The Midline Is Where All the Goodies Are

The midline is where the goodies are located—your eyes, throat, lungs, heart, diaphragm, guts, and reproductive equipment.

Any structures that are worthwhile and responsible for keeping you alive run along your midline.

The further you move away from the middle, the less critical it is.

If you have spent any time training martial arts, particularly any Chinese styles, you quickly learn to attack the midline.

If you want the fight to end, immediately crush anywhere on the midline.

Remove an eye, crush a throat, slam your knee into their diaphragm or rake some testicles and watch how fast your opponent retreats.

The midline is also where movement originates, particularly athletic movement.

The best movers have uncanny control of their core (as much as I hate that word). Again, I default to martial arts. Watch high-level fighters kick, throw punches and engage their opponent. If you slow down the video, you will see how the midsection initiates the coiling and spiraling to generate speed, power, and precision.

I spent a long time training the Chinese internals.

“The movement is based on the notion that an etheric pole runs through the body from the center of the top of the head down through and out the perineum—the Taiji pole drills to the center of the earth and anchors in the heavens.”

Woo, woo sounding, I know. Once you get a sense of this and understand it’s much like one of the horses on a merry-go-round and that you are effectively a kabob with a pole going through it, your movement becomes cleaner, and your root becomes sturdy and powerful.

This control is why, when you see high-level Tai Chi players move through their sequences, one of the things you notice is how balanced they appear, how marvelous their posture is, and how they seem to have otherworldly control—it’s because they do.

If that is too fanciful for you, consider your center of gravity. As long as you own your center of gravity, things like balance become something more under your control.

It’s why we hinge, squat, push and pull in the manner that we do. Think about catching a clean. Why is it so important that we get our elbows through and up when we catch a clean? People in the know understand there are likely dozens of potential answers.

Still, the best one is to get your elbows up with your humerus parallel to the floor. Functionally, this puts the load of the bar directly in the center of your body.

However:

• In 90% of clean misses, the load is to the front.
• In 90% of those misses, it can be attributed to the elbows being down-ish.

The bar itself is to the front of the body’s center, effectively moving the lifter’s center of gravity forward of the body. The entire event leads the lifter to either dump or to lurch forward to reclaim balance.

It’s a hot mess that the lifter could have avoided if the lifter would have shot the elbows up as quickly and as high as possible.

The Importance of Feet Biomechanics

I’m not a guy who has taken any real deep dives in learning the foot’s intrinsic workings, but I know a few things. Anyone who disregards their feet, glazes over their role, or is ignorant to how important the feet are, is handcuffing themselves in any training situation.

I’m not saying that you need to buy those creepy-toed minimalist shoes or take a course on foot anatomy and biomechanics, but there are a few things you need to concede if you want the most from your training.

Yes, it would help if you considered your footwear for the job in front of you.

No, you wouldn’t wear ice skates to run sprints, so you shouldn’t wear the new balloon shoes by any of the top dog shoe manufacturers to lift.

Any closed chain exercise requires that you and the floor work together. The ground is your partner, and the more fluff you have between the ground and your foot, the more disconnect you have between the mover and the movement.

Taking things one step forward, the position you choose for your foot for a given exercise sets the stage for the entire body moving up the chain.

Toes out, toes in, toes dead straight all impact the structures, muscles, and joints up to and probably beyond the thoracic spine. So, having a whimsical approach to where your feet are in space is like wearing swimming fins to go hiking. Okay, I’ll stop with the dumb analogies.

Your Feet Relate to the Midline

Over the years, I have had to simplify things so my lifters can get moving and problem-solve and answer their questions. Sure, I don’t mind my athletes’ questions, but I will not be standing next to them for every rep throughout their lives.

Therefore, part of my job is to help them develop a tool kit for problem-solving for themselves.

“Coach, how much turn out can I have for this exercise?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

The midline rule is simple when standing with your feet on or as close to your midline, where both feet touch; the toes should be pointing dead straight.

The further away you get from the midline, the more turn-out allowance you get.

A great way of showing them this is actually with your arms.

• Put your arms out in front of you with your thumbs touching, and then slowly move your arms out to your side without moving your wrists.
• At the beginning (*on or pressed directly into the midline), the fingers are dead straight.
• As you slowly move your arms out, the more your fingers begin to angle (from your perspective of where they are in space).
• And, by the time you get your arms straight out your side (iron cross style), your fingers should be pointing directly out to the sides.

This is, in many ways, the same thing with your feet. If I have you stand feet together, your toes are virtually straight ahead.

1. If I move you out to where we teach RDL’s, the feet are directly under hips, nearly straight, and with minor angling.
2. When you move to a squat stance, the feet are just outside the hips but inside the shoulders and widen a little. We allow some more toeing-out to happen—10-30 degrees is the allowable range.
3. Then leap to a sumo stance. The feet are extensively wide apart with considerable toeing-out.

From feet together to the other end of the spectrum into sumo, the stance the exercise demands instructs the lifter on how much toeing out is allowed.

What I tell my kids as it relates to which stance to set up for a given lift is as follows:

• If you hear the word sumo in the exercise’s name- it’s a broad stance toe out a ton.
• If it’s a kettlebell ballistic- it’s in between your sumo and your squat stance, toes angling out for comfort.
• If you hear the word squat in the exercise’s name, your stance begins in your preferred squat stance with the toe rules already stated above.
• If it isn’t a kettlebell ballistic or you don’t hear the word sumo or squat in the name of the exercise, you will almost always be right to use the narrow, feet under hips stance with toes nearly dead straight. This applies to RDL’s, cleans, deadlifts, and lunge variations.

It’s that simple. I give the kids enough information to navigate a lift. They have some firm but straightforward rules to remember.

I engage them in the idea that “I’m going to tell you this once, and then you are going to be expected to apply this to everything.”

So, if they come to me and ask me where their feet should be, my answer to them is, “What’s your midline rule?”

If they paid attention to the explanation the first time and know that the name of nearly all the exercises gives them the answer to their question, they can answer it for themselves.

I know, I know, it seems like a lot as you read this. But once you understand and buy into the midline rule, you can get in a room with 125 14-year-olds approaching each set of each lift in the correct stance—just like me.

The post Midline Rule: Simplify Your Stance appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

My reason for writing this is because I have been wrong a lot.

When strung together, we should say these three words with our tail between our legs and a strong shimmy to our confidence. I’m not going to get on my high horse and go through some Pinterest list of virtuous bullet points on how personal growth starts here and how courage is found in these moments, blah blah blah.

My reason for writing this is because I have been wrong a lot.

I know what it feels like to be a young coach/trainer who has one of these epic moments where the thought, “Ohhh shit, I think I’ve screwed up,” races up your spine like an alarm going off at a firehouse.

And in that bone-chilling moment, you see your career, your approach, and your entire belief structure go flashing before your eyes.

It’s a gut punch, for sure, but one that comes with a ton of upside.

I hope you can set your ego aside and admit that some of your tried and trues might be what is holding you and your clientele back.

Toes Up

My career started in the springtime of 1999. I was a card-carrying meathead by the dictionary definition of the word.

I loved the weight room, started my collegiate strength and conditioning career, and could not have been happier. I thought beginning work at 4 am was terrific. Less sleep meant I could be in the gym longer. When I shut down training at 7 or 8 pm, it was perfect.

I didn’t want a relationship or a family anyway. I was that guy.

One of the coaching cues that we used for years was toes up! Toes up in our squats, or deadlifts, basically any closed-chain exercise.

The intention was a good one (sort of), in that we were trying to get the lifters to shift their weight back. We knew that much of the posterior chain appears online when the heels are dug-in.

It was the day and age when all problems were blamed on posterior chain issues.

“Do you have chronic migraines?”

“It’s because your posterior chain is weak.”

“Breaking up with your wife?”

“It’s posterior chain issues.”

“Do you have erectile dysfunction, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic nosebleeds, sleepwalking or severe acne?”

“A steady diet of RDL’s should fix it all.” – Yeah, so we preached.

And we preached it. And then something funny started to happen. We were getting a lot of low back issues, particularly when squatting. These ailments were also during the last few years where political correctness wasn’t a thing.

We blamed every injury or chronic problem on the kid’s lack of toughness or inherent softness.

Then, seven years into my career, I heard a friend of mine give a talk at a kettlebell course I attended on the big toe and how it has a direct neurological relationship with the glutes:

1. The big toe
2. Knuckle down
3. Glutes come on

Wait, what?

The glutes are part of the posterior chain, but it’s like the most posterior of the posterior chain.

Oh shit, I think I’ve screwed this up.

After experiencing this myself, the kids I had coached up to this point, including the soft-ass ones with the low back issues, raced through my mind. Have I been holding my athletes back (by this time, in the thousands)?

Could I have been the reason all those kids ended up with low back issues? The cold hard truth is, very likely yes.

One Message

I’ve told this story before on this site, but it bears repeating. While this comes up time and again, I was hell-bent on becoming the second coming of my mentor, Mike Kent.

Coach Kent is a national coaching treasure. There’s no one like him, and every athlete he’s ever come across loved him. I was one of them, and I was desperate to be just like him.

The problem is, I couldn’t see how adaptable he was to different groups.

I became the football version because I played football for Coach Kent, and I thought that version was the silver bullet to get any athlete to work.

Was I right? With football, I was golden:

• They loved the way I coached them.
• I was hard but playful when the time was right.
• I pushed them and wouldn’t for a second listen to any bitching or complaining from anyone.
• I challenged them as men and asked them to reach outside of themselves during every training session.

In retrospect, I was a bully of sorts, and they ate it up.

Insert our Women’s Soccer team. You can guess what is coming—same recipe. I coached hard, took no excuses, refused to let them complain, and pushed them harder than ever.

And, I lost every single one of them. When I say lost, I mean I earned the nickname The Weight Room Nazi.

They hated me.

They hated coming to the weight room, and I got to the point where my skin would crawl, knowing they were on the docket for the day.

Instead of inspiring them or showing them how to dig deep, they descended further into disinterest and lack of care. It was the worst.

Was the reason that:

• They were a bunch of spoiled rich kids?
• They had some weak coaches before me, who let the athletes walk all over them, and now they finally had someone who demanded hard work?
• I was dealing with young women who were relatively new to weight training?
• They didn’t believe that blood makes the grass grow. And, perhaps the ladies thought saying something like that makes you sound like a moron.
• These 25 young ladies, most importantly, weren’t football players, and my approach was what was failing?

Oh shit, I think I’ve screwed this up. I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Death of the Ego

There is being right, and then the insecure, desperate, and manic need to be right. Somewhere in the middle is where most of us dwell.

And the entire reason for writing this article is to challenge you to do some soul searching.

I promised no Pinterest moments, but I’m almost 22 years in the game, and I welcome the whoops-a-daisy moments. I’ve learned enough and seen so much that there are those times when I feel like I’ve seen it all.

And then, I realize that I don’t know everything.

Our egos are functioning for a slew of reasons. Some are productive, but most are toxic. And as a coach or trainer, we have chosen a significant decision-making profession. We are the final word, the long arm of the law.

Most of us have a ton of education (degrees and certs) and are confident in our thinking. Because of the physical nature of what we do and the nervous system’s incredible adaptability, even when we are wrong, the body adjusts and gives us credit when we aren’t deserving.

I Don’t Know

Dr. Susan Puhl (may she rest in peace) was my Advanced Exercise Physiology instructor and my thesis chair during my graduate work. She was as smart as they came and was a hammer in the classroom.

I love to tell this story about my first group presentation in her class.

We had taken the topic of altitude and its effects on the human body. The instructor broke us into small groups, and we spent an entire evening presenting our sections.

Each group had 3-5 people, and we were responsible for a few minutes individually for each section. We were all a tad nervous, and then the first student gets up and starts her portion.

Within the first couple of minutes, Dr. Puhl asks her a question. At that moment, the lady gave an answer that she thought might pass.

Dr. Puhl commented, “Wrong—try again.”

The young lady made another attempt at talking her way through the answer.

All we heard from the back of the room was, “Nope, the wrong answer, try again.”

The student’s portion was to be a few minutes. But, the exchange turned into 20 minutes with her sobbing in front of 18 strangers.

Round and round, they went. The more this girl tried to bullshit, the more Dr. Puhl wouldn’t let her off the hook.

Halfway through this debacle, I began to sink in my seat because I was up next and feeling the doom that might come my way.

Another guy named Victor in my group was already terrified about presenting, so I’m pretty sure that he was sitting there, in a puddle of his urine.

Right before this poor girl’s soul was about to leave her body for good, Dr. Puhl called off the dogs.

Dr. Puhl said, “Do you know why I’m not stopping?” And the wet mess of a human in front of us said, “No, why?”

Her answer was straightforward.

“It’s because you clearly don’t know, but refuse to admit that you don’t. So you would rather make up answers than admit that you don’t know. I would have happily accepted that and let you move on, but instead, I wanted to see how long you would rattle off guesses than swallow your pride and let us all know you don’t have the answer. In the future, the answer is simple; the answer is, I don’t know.”

– Dr. Susan Puhl

From that moment forward, things changed for all of us. As you might have figured, when I was to get up and answer questions, I was tripping over myself to give the reliable and bulletproof answer, I don’t know.

I appreciate the need to be right. I understand the image we are trying to uphold, and we don’t want to look unprepared. But know when to stop talking in circles and attempting to pull an answer out of thin air.

And never, ever, bullshit. Let them know that you don’t know, but will find out and get back to them with an answer as soon as you can.

What We’ve Always Done

• Do you know how many studies were in the first-ever edition of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research? Four.
• Do you know how many studies were featured in the last edition of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research? Nineteen.

What the hell does any of this have to do with this article?

When I was on my come up, I used to, like a nerd, spend my evenings and weekends in the library at Eastern Kentucky reading all the research I could get my hands on. I have read every word of the first five volumes (currently at 34) of that publication.

Due to this journal and other scientific journals like it, the profession has accelerated discoveries and improved old ones.

When I got my start, the profession was in diapers. Now, I mean, the evolution of strength science is like a rocket ship. We are evolving at a breathtaking rate.

The reason I bring this up to you is that I’m guilty of this myself, perhaps more than anyone.

The phrase, “What we’ve always done.” rolls right off of your tongue.

It’s also the biggest cop-out answer of them all. It tells us that you are lazy. It gives me all the information I will ever need about you.

I’m experiencing this as we speak, a professional night of the soul. I’m on the back nine of my career, and what we’ve always done doesn’t make much sense.

Yes, there are mainstays in my system, those exercises or groupings that would be the hill on which I would die. But many of the things I have preached for two decades are losing their shine. Why? Because I’m tinkering with other things.

I’m listening to fresh voices and watching some brilliant people do some unconventional things that are downright better at producing the results that I want. This openness is in contrast to what I’ve always done.

To give you a glimpse, much of the traditional exercises, like squats and deads, and how we’ve executed them, don’t work.

I’m a big carryover guy. If we do this in the weight room, then we do this on the field. And to be honest, I’m struggling to lie to myself that the carryover is there in the way I need it to be or how I have fantasized it to be. Has it all been a lie? In real-time, I’m telling you, oh shit, I think I’ve screwed this up.

I am standing on the mountaintop of epic proportions in the world of admitting I was wrong. I’m questioning the very fabric of my system.

Not because I have been wrong the whole time, but that there are now better choices.

You can’t be wrong when it’s the best choice available, but when a better alternative has shown its face, It’s a real crossroads.

I’m not exactly sure where I’ll be a year from now. Stay tuned and find out.

Look, we all have to face the music at some point. The day will come when you realize that something you are prescribing to your clientele isn’t working. And that is okay. It’s pretty liberating, to be honest.

I’m too old to waste any more time.

My reputation has never really been a thing for me and certainly isn’t something I’m afraid to tarnish now. So admitting when I’m wrong and saying, “I don’t know” (big love to you, Dr. Puhl) is easy for me. It gives me room for something better.

I want to be excellent and don’t have any more time to throw away.

Embrace being wrong. It happens. Do what is required of you, and then move on. You’ll be better for it.

The post I Was Wrong appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Photography by Jeffrey Perez, Oahu, Hawaii

To accumulate enough Continuing Education Credits to renew my ACE certification, I try to attend two conferences per year. In 2018 I attended IDEA PTI Eastern Conference as well as the NSCA Personal Trainers Conference in Baltimore. After attending three days filled with lectures and hands-on demonstrations I decided to write up a few blogs/posts/articles on what I learned and what appears to be trending in the industry this year.

In March I left Vermont and the incoming snowstorm to fly to DCA for the annual IDEA PTI Eastern Conference being held in Alexandria, VA. I woke up at 6:45 each morning to head to the conference center where I listened to talks and participated in workshops put on by some of the biggest names in the fitness industry.

I got to learn from the same people that I follow on Facebook and Instagram and ask them questions and pick their brains to figure out just how they did it. They shared their tips and tricks and I left the conference on Sunday afternoon loaded with new information and new exercises to share with my clients at home.

The first article in this series will focus on the importance and the definition of leadership.

What Is a Leader?

Write down what leadership means to you and what qualities you feel a good leader has.

• Are you embodying those qualities?
• What could you improve on?
• Are you letting your thoughts and words limit yourself from getting to where you want to go?

While I was at the conference and listening to these experts talk about what makes a good leader, I couldn’t help but realize they were describing the owner of the club I work at. I feel lucky to have a person I can talk to every day that I feel is a great role model.

This is also someone from whom I can learn essential skills that are required to succeed in the fitness industry. Not everybody can say the same, but definitely try to find a person you can learn from and that inspires you.

Meet People Where They Are

Practice empathy, learn about what the client’s dreams and goals are, dig deeper, and find their real why. See the world from your client’s perspective and try to understand their needs and emotions.

In your initial meeting, ask what they have done in the past and how it made them feel. As they say, there’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth; when it comes to creating a lasting relationship and retaining your clients, listening to them is twice as important as thinking about what you’re going to respond with next.

• What did and didn’t work for them?
• What did they enjoy and even more importantly, what did they hate doing?

Things they’ve experienced in the past can have a big impact on their present and future. Once their “why” is defined, remind them of their mission, keep them motivated, and encourage them to repeat it to themselves throughout the day so that they’re not only making good decisions while training but while they’re on their own as well.

Dream Bigger

Believe in yourself, realize that you have more potential than you can even fathom at this point in time, and be the spark in somebody else’s life; if you’re not making someone else’s life better, you’re wasting your time.

Even though Todd Durkin wasn’t at IDEA East, he’s one of my favorite people to turn to when I need motivation, inspiration, and positive energy. I highly recommend signing up for his emails and checking out The WOW Book. He gives out daily tasks that encourage you to hustle, discover your life’s purpose, and always be grateful. He also has a list of the Top 41 Tips for Success in the Fitness Field which includes his 90 Day Wonders tip—every 90 days write down and answer the following questions:

1. What have you accomplished in the last 90 days?
2. What are your present challenges, issues, or obstacles?
3. What are your goals for the next 90 days?

Jonathan Goodman (also wasn’t at IDEA but definitely deserves a follow) is another fitness mogul who tries to share as much free information as possible. His emails offer great advice and on his website The Personal Trainer Development Center he posts the best fitness articles of the week every Sunday.

The articles range from strength training and body image to being a better coach and how to get more clients. The PTDC used to put on a conference in Toronto where I was actually inspired by presenter Lisa Simone Richards to start writing on a larger scale in order to share what I know with more people.

Be Decisive

No decision is always a bad decision. Instead, make a recommendation.

Today I actually just received an email from Jon Goodman that encouraged the reader to make a bad plan. At least you’re doing something in the moment and you can make corrections as you go rather than remaining stagnant and doing nothing.

There’s a book that I read in the past, and while I can’t remember the name, I specifically remember it saying something along the lines of “Just hit send.” I also work in the ski industry and a big motivational line we use is send it! To me this means even if it’s not 100% perfect, go with it. Get it out there before somebody else steals your ski line, or writes your article, or gains a new client before you do.

In an article posted by Team Tony they wrote, “When you make a decision and every bit of you is committed to it, it’s amazing what mountains you can move. When you commit to a decision–I mean really commit to it–you are essentially saying to the world, ‘This is how it will be.’ If you find something that you are passionate and excited about and add decisiveness, you can make anything happen.”

If you’re interested in learning more about how to improve your leadership skills, some of the speakers recommended the following books and podcasts:

• Strategic Coach Website by Dan Sullivan
• 212 The Extra Degree by Sam Parker & Mac Anderson
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• The Life Coach School Podcast
• The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential by John C. Maxwell
• The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential by John C. Maxwell
• Mastery Series Podcast

The post Leadership in Fitness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On a congruent note, there is a strange paradox that we have run into this past year in terms of leadership. An air of hypocrisy, double standards, and lack of appropriate role models to look up to hangs in the air, from our current president on down.

We all need to stop settling for what society has deemed to be a normal standard—doing the minimum, instant gratification, limited accountability, mediocrity, discrimination, laziness, sexism, and the list goes on. Our world needs great leaders, and that starts with each and every one of us. Here are some summarizations of things I’ve read and experienced that have helped me immensely in my own quest for self-growth.

“What you are shouts so loudly in my ears, I cannot hear what you say.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be Who You Say You Are

This is an important character quality to possess. No one respects someone who says one thing and then does the opposite, that’s obvious, right? To lead others, you must take an inside-out approach, meaning you first need to be able to lead yourself.

This requires discipline, commitment, openness to change, and the willingness to grow. A famous quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson reads, “What you are shouts so loudly in my ears, I cannot hear what you say,” or as we would say in modern times, walk it like you talk it.

Don’t Compare

On the subject of quotes, I heard a beautiful saying this summer, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” How simple and true is that? If we live comparing ourselves to our peers, to social expectations of who we should be, or to our own glorified self-image, we will continually be disappointed.

This is one area I admit I have really struggled with through my twenties and it has robbed me of self-confidence and happiness too many times. Some of the most influential and effective people I’ve read about or met all agree, don’t waste energy or focus measuring yourself up to anyone else, keep your eyes forward and only measure yourself against who you were yesterday. To grow, we must take advantage of the lessons and opportunities we are given every day.

Lead So Others May Follow

If you are in a leadership position now and were to experience a day through the eyes of someone who works under you or looks up to you, would you like what you saw? Would you be a leader that you would like to follow and who treats others how you would like to be treated? All of these are important questions to continually ask yourself, as power can play negatively on our human tendencies and has potential to cause complacency, ego inflation, and blindness.

?An outstanding leader will radiate integrity, empathy, justice, patience, and humility. An outstanding leader will expect of themselves what they expect of others and are lighthouses in the darkest of storms. They get people to follow because they are willing to do even the most simple and “puny” of tasks to accomplish the overall team goal.

They are willing to deeply listen and provide direction when needed. An outstanding leader will push people to be better by showing them how, not dragging them along like a tugboat, trying to get them to where they want to go.

Be Able to Self-Reflect

I will just open this section by shamelessly saying that no one likes a know-it-all. I will be the first to admit that the majority of the principles outlined in this post have not come from my own experiences.

I love to read and learn from others with great reputations, or who I trust and respect. Some of my favorite books are listed to the right, with brief summaries of each outlined in a separate post worth another five minutes of your time.

Personally, these books have all helped me self-reflect on the choices I make, whether large (what direction I want to take in life) or small (how to approach someone with an issue). Many are written from the author’s personal experiences, how they overcame certain things to survive, become successful, be a great leader, and so much more.

Make Excellence a Habit

The final take away from this post is the age-old principle that we are what we repeatedly do. Your thoughts lead to your beliefs, which lead to your actions, which become your character. No matter how small or unimportant a task may seem, our resolve to do everything to the best of our ability creates habits of excellence.

Thus, something as small as tying your shoes properly to as large as leading a team to a championship should be done as best as we can. If you make excellence a habit, and not just a now and then decision, you will become the author of your life and not the victim of circumstance, “bad luck,” or the hardships that you’ve endured because of other people. Become a leader from the inside out.

The post Be a Lighthouse: Lessons on Leadership appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Right now there are millions of people making their ways to their first gym session in over a year. The last time they got this excited about working out was around the same time after the last holiday season. It’s cliche but it’s true. Equally, at the same time, there are a lot of coaches and trainers who are looking at this influx with some level of anxiety or apathy. They’ve seen it all before. Memberships go up, people seem motivated, the energy is palpable and then, just as quickly, it all disappears and everyone goes back to their allotted position in life.

It’s a sad fact of life that we are all flawed in some way. There are very few people who are so motivated and disciplined that they can rise above everyone else despite every obstacle in their way. That’s why there’s usually only one spot on the podium for a champion. The reality is that almost everyone else hits bumps in the road and most everyone finds there are some obstacles that they just cannot overcome.

The sad fact is that no one is ever ready for a zombie apocalypse and while it sounds really cool to think that you might be the next winner at the CrossFit Games because you got your first muscle up, the math isn’t on your side.

You Are Your Best Athlete

Knowing what your weaknesses, your flaws, your failures are is an important step in accepting that there are things you need to work on if you want to push ahead and succeed in your goals. If you really want to succeed. But, let’s say you don’t. Let’s say you’re never going to stand out as a physical specimen. What are your options?

The fact is, it shouldn’t matter whether you are a star performer or, the least motivated person on the planet, when you decide to pay your dues and make it to the gym, you’re the customer and you should have some expectations. You should expect the service that you paid for.

Your Gym Membership Sets Your Expectation

Let’s break that down. I’m only going to focus on strength and conditioning facilities and not studios and boutique gyms but the principles are pretty much the same:

Globo Gyms: You pay to rent time on the equipment. Unless you are paying for personal training, you have very little ownership or expectation of personal service. This is the fast food segment of the fitness industry.

Box Gyms: You pay to be coached and trained as part of a group. It’s usually a pretty small group. This is the family owned restaurant of the fitness industry.

Private Personal Training: In theory, you should be getting a highly personalized training program delivered by an expert who will give you one-on-one attention as you workout. This is the equivalent of having your own private chef who is not your mother.

In a globo gym you shouldn’t have much expectation of the staff personally. What you should demand above all else is a clean, safe working environment. If all you’re really doing is renting time on someone else’s equipment then it seems like your best hope is that the equipment works, is not going to give you fatal bacterial infections, and you don’t have to fight off a zombie herd to get your time at the rack or bench.

The truth of the matter is that a typical globo gym doesn’t care so much about you. At the low end of the market, your payments are probably so low that you may not even notice them on your bank statement. That’s what the globo gym hopes. In higher end globo gyms, you don’t get much more in terms of service although you might have plenty of clean towels to choose from, and wine and cheese mixtures every Friday night.

In a box gym you should definitely expect the cleanliness and the right equipment. In fact, you’re probably going to be paying anywhere from 2x to 6x the price of a globo gym for your membership so, it’s got to be globo gym plus service. So, most importantly, you should expect that the coach, or his trainers, gives you some chunk of attention and that your group activity doesn’t just herd you through a class and hope your sweat is enough value for your paid up dues.

Personal training is a whole other thing. First of all, it’s expensive. If you can afford private training then good luck to you. You really have all the control you need and you can get in and out of those relationships anyway you want. Having said that, there’s some universal truths that you need to hear. Globo gyms don’t always have the best training staff. That doesn’t mean there are no great trainers at globo gyms but you are going to have to do your homework. Frankly, there’s no simple way of finding out who is or isn’t a great personal trainer other than through observation. So, you need to know what you want and what to expect.

In box gyms you have a distinct advantage in picking a personal trainer. The first thing, the guy who owns the place and runs it is probably the best option in most cases. He may not want to do private training but he’ll certainly be a good major domo for whoever he, or she, designates as your personal trainer. Secondly, if you’re really looking to build your own expertise, you’d do better to work with someone in a box gym who may be highly specialized.

You get guys like Sean Waxman in Los Angeles who is a weightlifting expert and has highly trained staff. You get people like Mike Tromello who has been training people in CrossFit for a decade. In Fort Worth, you have Chris Lofland who is a gymnastics specialist. In Houston, you have someone like Amanda Thebe who works with menopausal women. Then there are guys like Tom MacCormick in London who work in a personal training facility who specialize in more general fitness and hypertrophy routines. Most of the best independent coaches and trainers are right here on the Breaking Muslce pages.

All these guys exist outside of the globo gym system and are exemplars of the point I am trying to make here but, frankly, I am not sure if they would want to train you. If you find someone who is a good coach and seems like the perfect trainer for you, they are probably good enough to tell you if they can really help you specifically. Some coaches don’t feel expert enough to help older populations, some feel the same way about training competitive athletes. Some coaches may require that you have a solid foundation in a particular discipline, and some may feel happier to take you from zero to hero. A good coach will also know his, or her, own limitations and will not take on a trainee that they feel they cannot help. That’s a really important point.

Respect – You May Not Deserve It but Your Membership Demands It

Finally, we get to the clincher. Having gone through all the due diligence of finding the right gym and the right coaches, technically assessing everything and making sure all the boxes are ticked off on your wish list, you get to the point where you have to decide whether your relationship with is going to be mutual or a one-way street.

Some people and I am not judging here, have different levels of self-worth or motivation. Some people like to be in a place where they have to earn favor with the coach or trainer. This is particularly true of some competitive CrossFit or weightlifting gyms, for example. It’s not that much different than joining a pick up basketball game, you’re not going to get much attention unless your game is noticeable. So, decide if you’re that type of person and choose your gym accordingly.

Some people like to feel like they need to learn for themselves and then have a sounding board or adviser for a coach. That’s fine. Not every coach likes that kind of a trainee unless the trainee is strong enough and disciplined enough in their practice.

Other people just need to be lead. They want to feel like they’re there, at the gym and are ready to put through the wringer by a coach or trainer they can trust. They don’t need to think about the workout, they need to feel it, and they would really like it if they weren’t hurt or killed off in the process.

In all these cases, no matter what, you’re right to want what you want because you are, after all is said and done, a paying customer. The clincher for you should be whether your coach or trainer respects your needs.

I can think of a few instances where that respect may not be forthcoming:

You’re competitive but not enough to make a difference to a coach who is building a profile with successful athletes. Some coaches have bigger egos than their athletes. Your compromise position can only be, this is a superior coach and I’ll take the hits to my self-esteem and ego because I am learning so much.

You’re not motivated enough or disciplined enough. You might find some trainers and coaches who just don’t want to put any effort into your training if they feel you are not motivated. However, that’s not the same as them not caring about you as a client. It also doesn’t mean that you can’t fault someone for feeling that way but you have to know that you only get as much as you give. What shouldn’t happen is a situation where a coach is dismissive of you as a paying customer just because they don’t like your effort. They can’t get blood out of a stone if you are lazy or not make it to the gym that much but, they can’t hold it against you if you are paying them.

The selfish coach. Yes, there are people who run and operate businesses, some are even able to do it successfully for many years, but they shouldn’t be allowed paying customers. There as many great coaches who don’t want to deal with customer service as there are bad coaches who should never have gone into business for themselves. There are also a group of coaches who are all about their own workouts and their own standing. They have a gym because they like working out, they’re good at it, and that attracts a certain type of following. At the end of the day, you’re on your own. Again, that may not matter much if you are acquiring the wisdom of a truly great coach by osmosis, but respect has nothing to do with it.

Look, there’s no way to get around the fact that there are no real standards in the fitness industry. What you have to decide is what are you willing to trade-off to be at a certain gym or to work with a certain coach or trainer because there are always going to be trade-offs.

Just remember that your environment plays a big part in your success. Given two athletes of equal ability and equal determination and ability, the difference is going to be their training environment and the support around them in their training. You may not be able to control much in your life but you can determine where, when, and who you train with.

The post Picking a Gym: Do They Respect You? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

To better understand coaching and programming, we can look at the multitude of aspects that must be taken into consideration. It’s not enough to put together a list of exercises and just perform them. Many factors must be considered, such as:

• Actual age
• Training age
• Goals (there can even be more than one)
• Time to train weekly
• Event or activity training for
• Changes in eating
• Recovery

Beyond the basic specifics that have to be taken into consideration, other factors have to be looked at as well. These include but are not limited to:

• Time under tension
• Isometric pauses
• Deloads
• Mobility
• Proper strength ratios between antagonistic muscle groups as well as those between opposing limbs
• Exercise selection
• Training specific muscles to reduce injury, (i.e. semitendinosus hamstring fibers vs biceps femoris and/or semimembranosis)

It’s nearly impossible to learn all of these requirements from one direct source, often requiring multiple books, mentors, classes and life experiences. Programming, just like coaching can require 10,000 hours to master, which is why many great facilities, such as Results Fitness, run by Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove in California, employ staff who’s sole responsibility is programming for their members.

Some of the best sources that have helped me to become better at programming for my athletes and clientele are Charles Poliquin‘s books (specifically the “Poliquin Principles”) and courses, various podcasts, Triphasic Training by Cal Deitz, Louie Simmons’ Conjugate method, and articles on the various differences between different periodization methods, such as block, undulating, linear, conjugate, etc.

Exercise and Workout Programming Resources

There is a never-ending supply of information to learn from, both scientific and in-gym proven based methods. As legendary strength coach Charles Poliquin states, “the human body hasn’t changed much in the last 150 years.” We have training data dating back to the Roman and Ancient Chinese Empire’s that can be utilized efficiently today! In reality, the human body truly hasn’t changed much in the last 100,000 years.

The best place to begin when trying to become proficient at program design is through specific certifications. Many certifications exist that help coaches to begin to understand program design that has been proven to work and are often based on work that has been developed by coaches before them. Some of these include:

• Charles Poliquin’s basic and advanced program design courses
• Michael Boyle’s Certified Functional Strength Coach
• Joe Defranco and Diesel’s Certified Physical Preparation Specialist
• CHEK Exercise Coach C.H.E.K. Practitioner Program

These are all amazing certifications, but it is important to make sure not to only take from one modality. There’s something to learn from everyone, so it’s important never to get caught in the belief that you know everything. Further learning can be taken from these individual certifications’ assessments, but others exist in the field that can potentially be useful. These include:

• Functional Movement Screen
• Dr. Nicholas Romanov’s Pose Method
• Paul Chek’s Holistic Lifestyle Coach Certification

And truly in-depth programs such as Postural Restoration Institute’s 3 introductory courses.

When searching for a coach, some of this information can become useful as well. Going in to your assessment or initial intake with your new potential coach, it is important to have your ducks in a row. Make sure you know what you want out of your training experience and be ready to list all of your major injuries and issues; your coach should have some ideas or be able to put an action plan together almost immediately, or not be afraid to admit if they do not know the full answer to a question or problem and at least be willing to research it. If your coach can’t break things down in a way that makes sense to a 5 year old, then they often do not have a clue about what they are explaining. Look up short articles by some of the coaches I have previously mentioned and create a small base of knowledge on a topic that interests you and see if your coach can answer more detailed questions regarding some of these interests.

Finding a great coach can be one of the most challenging things to do, but great certification programs such as those listed previously, often have a database of certified coaches in your area that can potentially be a great fit for you!

Later in the learning experience, I’ve found that great sources of information can be taken from seminars and podcasts. Even one tidbit from each source can make the difference in you improving for the rest of your life. Kaizen stands for “constant and never-ending improvement” and this is one of my core principles. It’s important to always keep learning and improving your craft, even if it is the most minute piece of information, that may help only one particular client achieve better results.

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Don’t Settle for Smokin’ Hot

Let me start by saying I am not judging anyone who prioritizes aesthetics when it comes to working out. Everyone has a right to want what they want. I just don’t care what you look like. It’s cool with me if you are shredded, swole, dad-bodied, or a hulking beast of a strongman who looks like you chew Atlas stones for breakfast. Your looks are not important, and they shouldn’t be the way you are judged as a person.

A professional coach can address the needs of people who come for training and advice.

This is equally true for a person’s ability to train others. Getting “ripped” is an individual accomplishment that reflects a person’s ability to train (and, maybe, their genetics). But it has no bearing at all on that individual’s ability to train you safely or effectively. And it certainly means nothing in terms of how well he or she can run a gym or other fitness facility. Just as a great cook may be incapable of running a restaurant, an accomplished athlete may be incompetent at running a gym.

If we all know that to be true, then we should certainly know that judging a professional coach based on looks is kind of lame. Would you trust your legal advice to the best-looking lawyer, or the most competent? Would you want your kids to think their only value was based on what others think of how they look? Then why on earth would we consider a fit appearance to be a qualification for fitness coaching?

Look, coaching is a profession. It shouldn’t be something you do because you are very fit, or very strong, or very flexible. It isn’t something you should do because you are a world-class athlete. Coaching is something you do if you can address the needs of people who come to you for training and advice. It’s high time we get serious about how we judge the aptitude of a coach and take a stand on professionalism.

Do Look For Coaching Competency

Unfortunately, in the United States, there is no standard qualification for becoming a coach or trainer in almost any commercial gym or independent fitness facility. There are innumerable certifications and programs that tell you that it’s okay to now call yourself a trainer. Most of these courses are short – often just a weekend – and almost all of them lack any post-certification quality control or assessment of graduates. Few require continuing education. Most certifications and programs are also established in support of a particular school of thought, fitness sect, or business model. Because of this, almost all certifications are, unfortunately, in competition with one another. Sometimes vehemently so.

Your role as a consumer is limited to supporting a fitness paradigm instead of a profession, yet you have very little influence with these systems. How many of you have a horror story about working with a coach and getting injured? Yet, what are the chances you sought recourse against a certifying body or organization? You probably believed you had no recourse other than to not go back to that particular coach again, or to quit that gym.

“Simply going for the smokin’ hot coach hardly seems like a smart approach. Instead, you should choose a coach like you would choose a doctor.”

I am not arguing for or against government licensing for coaches or trainers. I’m making a simple point: cosmetologists, massage therapists, accountants, and smog-check technicians are licensed and regulated by most states and have to meet minimum standards. But not trainers, who are entrusted with your health and well-being. This leaves it to each consumer to determine if a trainer is legit, which is why some trainers’ careers are built on little more than a six-pack and a good base tan. If the coach has a facility, a website, and a business card, those are about the best qualifications they can provide.

Simply going for the smokin’ hot coach hardly seems like a smart approach. Instead, you should choose a coach like you would choose a doctor. Sure, it’s unlikely you’ll trust a coach to make the serious medical decisions a doctor might make. But your coach will still be responsible for your physical well being. It’s important. It should be treated as far more important than it commonly is.

The Definition of a Professional Coach

A professional coach should be dedicated to teaching, nurturing, supporting, and programming for their clients. Of course a coach may specialize. He or she may focus purely on strength and conditioning, cycling, MMA, baseball, or rehabilitation and recovery. But, ultimately, a professional coach should be able to:

• Assess your individual needs.
• Design or modify a training program that will help you reach a prescribed goal.
• Teach you how to get it done, and give you a clear understanding of how the program should work for you.

A professional coach should also be able to turn you away if you are not the right client for his or her expertise. Many coaches will say they can train anybody – kids, the elderly, the injured, Olympic bobsledders – and for any purpose, from success in specific sports, to body shaping, to regaining youthful vitality. In fact, the best coaches have generally picked something to be good at. So, let’s show some mad respect to a coach who turns you away because he or she is not right for you.

A 6-Step Assessment

Okay, that’s the state of things. Now let’s look at what you need to do to assess the coach before he starts to assess you:

Step 1: Find the Right Fit

You are a unique individual. So, why not seek out a coach and a facility that teaches folks like you? Ask for references from people who are like you, and check out both the coach and the facility. Do you see people like you? If you are a 55-year-old man and have not worked out since high school, a gym full of 20-somethings gearing up for competition may not be your best option. You want to know your coach is capable of handling your needs, so look for other people like yourself. Just because a coach can teach a 30-year-old doesn’t mean they can teach a 40-year-old. As mentioned earlier, a professional coach will have no problem telling you their limitations as well as their strengths.

You can easily begin this research on the coach’s website or social media. Is it all pictures of the coach? Shirtless? Or does the gym have group pictures, and are there people like you in them? If they’re glorifying puking and passing out, that’s great, provided that’s what you are looking for. Or maybe you’d rather look for images and descriptions about the real achievements of real people like you?

Step 2: Observe the Coach in High-Pressure Situations

How attentive is the coach in the setting in which you’ll participate? One-on-one is a whole different game than group classes, so if you’ll be taking classes, be sure to check out a coach in a group session. The ability to help each person appropriately in a group setting is one of the most telling aspects of professionalism. A professional coach is there for everyone in his class, not just the people he likes or who are easy to train.

Judge a professional coach by his character in a high-pressure situation. There’s nothing like observing a full class with a lot of people who need help to see how well a coach deals with people. And look to see how the coach deals with people like you.

Step 3: Programming, Programming, Programming

Professional coaches should be able to write training programs for a wide range of situations. They should have the ability to adapt and shape programs that are specific to finding the right solution for you as an individual. Now, that doesn’t mean they have to individualize their programming. That takes time, and the coach is running a business. But a professional coach will assess you, understand your needs, and know how to guide you to the right program, even if he or she does not agree with your goals.

If the coach doesn’t talk about modifying the program or giving you specific programming, make sure you are in the right place. If the coach is programming for an older, de-conditioned crowd, your dream of crushing the Caber Toss at the Highland Games just went out the window.

A professional coach will assess you, understand your needs, and know how to guide you to the right program.

Step 4: Assess Qualifications and Certifications

The hardest thing to assess is the education of a coach. We know there are great coaches out there who are largely self-taught. We also know that, other than graduate and undergraduate degrees, the myriad options open to a coach makes any assessment highly subjective. However, there are some simple rules to follow:

Educate yourself about the coach’s preferred certifications. If you don’t know what the coach is qualified to do, go look it up first and make sure you are comfortable with it. Most legitimate certifications have a strong online presence and can be easily researched.

Conversely, you can choose a particular methodology, then see what kind of facilities and coaches are following it, and go to one of those. Often, there will be referrals on the certifying organization’s website. If you want to powerlift, visiting a coach who only has expertise and certifications in Olympic lifting will be a waste of time.

You should also ask yourself whether you would be happy paying to learn what the coach knows. Do they have experience in areas that are relevant to you? Do they have a long history of coaching in these areas?

Last, when you watch the coach work, do you feel he or she is doing a good job? You can trust yourself on this one because, in the absence of standardized credentials, ultimately you are the one who decides if it’s worth paying for. No matter what certifications or awards they have, if you don’t like the look of things, just get the heck out of there.

Step 5: Pay Attention to Marketing

How are they selling themselves? Is the coach selling you based on athletic achievements? Or, worse yet, on appearance? Athletic achievement all too frequently bears no relation to the ability to learn, communicate, assess, and be attentive. And a coach who has more glamor shots than credentials might not be a good choice.

Even if a great physique is your goal, be wary of choosing a coach who struts around shirtlessly sporting his own six-pack. He may be showing off something he can never help you achieve.

Step 6: Sweat the Small Stuff

There are a lot of small things that go into making a professional coach. Check out the obvious things like punctuality and organization. If your coach cannot be bothered to come to class on time and be prepared, that should be a red flag. Is the gym clean and organized? Is there up-to-date information online and in the gym?

Professionals know they have an obligation to at least do the job they are being paid to do. If they cannot be bothered to show up and run a proper business, that’s not acceptable.

Looks Mean Nothing

While superficiality has always been around in the fitness industry, it is getting out of hand. Almost to the point where anyone who looks good without clothes on can claim to be a coach or trainer. “Look at me. You can look like this. I can make it happen for you.”

Experience tells us that the fittest guy in the room isn’t always the coach, and vice-versa. And we know that many good coaches don’t look like underwear models. But, if you take your search for a coach as a search for a professional, you’ll be on the right path.

More Like This:

• Don’t Let the Fitness Industry Tell You What to Do
• Safety: The Most Important Part of Choosing a Fitness Program
• Buyer Beware: How Not to Hire a Phony Personal Trainer
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

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