Let There Be Strength…The Role Of The Strength Coach And Trainer!
Yes, I’m still alive and kicking! It’s been a crazy week, but it has all been for good reason. It’s great to be back here after a cloudy having a serious case of the Monday’s… Monday afternoon! Now that I have that out of the way let’s take care of some business, as the Great Elvis Presley used to say.
And The Strength Coach Said Let There Be Strength…
I had an interesting conversation with one of my young students the other day about getting ready for his competition. He has been training hard for a jiu-jitsu tournament for about 8 weeks and wanted to go hard and heavy load training on a Thursday evening right before the Saturday morning of the tournament. I had to ensure him that about 2 days of rest prior to the competition would be beneficial so that his system had time to recover. Basically I told him that his next hard training day would be Saturday morning at the tournament.
So many times I have had conversations like this with my students/trainees about specific things concerning their performance as it relates to competition or to improving their level of fitness. Because of this I wanted to go Dr. Phil on you and sit you down on the couch to discuss the role of the strength coach/ trainer, or perhaps I should be the one lying on the couch? Either way, we’re going to discuss it.
So if you have ever been to the gym to watch some of these trainers work with their trainees or prospective trainees you may often hear them say things like “This exercise will tone your shoulders, or this exercise will tone your hips,” while their very overweight client is standing there doing lateral raises with a set of pink 2lb. dumbbells. This is where I almost need anger management from Dr. Phil because you know as well as I do that nobody is getting toned in this scenario. They might as well pack it up and go home if this is the effort that is going to be put into their training. I blame the sorry excuse of a strength coach or trainer for this more than the trainee.
Look the strength coach or trainer has several responsibilities that should be carried out most everyday. If we’re being very realistic about it these responsibilities can range from the marketing and advertising to get new clients all the way to self study, programming, knowing progressions, and the application of sound strength training principles to every person they come in contact with that is serious about getting results. In short, the strength coach/trainer better know their damn role!!!
Well the Rock almost had it right. The strength coach/trainer should be more outspoken instead of keeping their mouth shut. Now moving on, as a strength coach you have to know when how much is too little and when how much is too much. Every person will be different. Having had the opportunity to work in the MMA community I will tell you that there have been some days that I actually have to work on reining in some of these guys and girls because they are wanting to do too much! At times I’ve felt like some cowboy trying to tame a bucking bull with some of these guys and girls because they are so amped up about training. Trust me, they are getting no shortage of work!
As a strength coach or trainer it’s important to know that 2lb. pink dumbbells need to be thrown into the dumpster, but to also recognize that more isn’t always better either. You’ve got to be able to profile your students and apply what is effective to them based on their situation. Following sound principles such as progressive overloading, plenty of mobility work, and a sound recovery are all necessary for everyone’s success. It is the role of the strength coach/ trainer to recognize what is needed with the participant during the assessment and then applying the sound principles of what is needed to get them to perform at their best.
Other News And Responsibilities…
In other news, and in doing my best at trying to properly fill in my role as an independent strength coach for hire, I am pleased to announce that I am going to be programming and developing the winter strength and conditioning workouts for Southeast Baseball Academy here in Atlanta! This is a wonderful clinic headed up by retired major league baseball pitcher Adam Brandenburg. I am blessed to have this opportunity and am looking forward to helping Adam get his players into the best playing shape of their life with a little kettlebell love to help. 😉
If you are interested in learning more about some of the strategies I’m putting into this program and other news as this plays out then make sure you get your copy of my Better Than Steroids ebook here. By getting your copy you will also be opted into my email news list for all the latest killer training stuff!
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