Well in typical MR fashion, I took what was supposed to be a short and sweet, bullet point post and made it into something much bigger!
I really wanted to just give you some quick ideas to stimulate thought, but in that same vein it’s hard to just randomly drop ideas on you without at least a little bit of context.
So regardless of where you’re at in your coaching journey, I hope at least a few of these points will hit home and resonate with you.
Enjoy!
1. There is no shortcut to success.
If you want to be a great coach, trainer, or rehab professional, it’s going to take time.
Not only does it take time to accrue the necessary knowledge, but even more so in understand how to apply that knowledge.
And we’re not talking weeks or months here – but really years and decades.
So how we do fast track the process?
2. Find – or become – a mentor.
I know all the young kids talk about being an influencer these days, but influencers amount to the proverbial hole that’s 1″ deep and 100 feet wide.
Instead, a mentor is the opposite of that – they can shape or mold an individual from the ground up.
They can respectfully challenge their thoughts and beliefs.
They can help them learn to ask better questions.
And as a result, they create a hole that’s 1″ wide and 100 feet deep.
If you’re early in your career, seek out and find great mentors.
And if you’ve been doing this for a while, work to become a mentor to someone who is younger in the field.
Not only will YOU become better in the process, but you’ll help make the next generation great as well.
3. Do your own research on those you follow.
The only caveat to the above is you have to be smart about who you follow.
Basically, choose your Gurus wisely.
- Who are they?
- Can they succinctly explain their training, coaching or rehab philosophy?
- Who have they trained?
- And can they explain what they do in plain and simple terms? Or do they hide behind fancy jargon and attempt to speak over your head?
Finding the right people to follow in our industry is crucial, so take the time to seek out the best and spend the bulk of your time learning from them.
4. Minimize overwhelm by “chunking” your goals and learning to love the process.
Whether you’re just starting out or trying to dive into a new topic, it’s only a matter of when – not if – you’ll feel overwhelmed in your career.
It’s normal, and it’s okay.
To minimize this in my own journey, I’ve tried to do two things:
- Break any new goal or topic into bite-sized “chunks,” and
- Understand you can’t master anything overnight.
Chunking helps you narrow your focus and avoid overwhelm. This is critical especially if you’re diving into a wide topic like speed, conditioning, etc.
Instead of looking at speed, maybe focus strictly on acceleration or change of direction.
If you’re focusing on conditioning, maybe dive into low-intensity or Zone 2 work first, and then branch off from there.
This short video might give you some insight into how I do this as well…
And along those same lines, realize anything worth learning won’t happen overnight – it’s going to take some time and dedication on your part.
Be okay with the fact that this IS a big topic and it’s going to take some time to really understand.
By focusing on the long-term and enjoying those little wins along the way, it makes the road to mastery that much more enjoyable.
5. It’s cliché, but if you’re not assessing, you’re guessing.
The fitness industry has evolved rapidly in the past 20 years, and we’re at a point now where you simply cannot guess how a client or athlete is going to move.
It doesn’t have to be super sophisticated early-on, but you absolutely MUST assess the people you train.
Even if it’s just watching them perform basic exercises, that’s better than nothing and allows you to write a program that’s more specific to their needs and goals.
(And if you want to learn more about how I assess my clients or athletes, be sure to check out either my Complete Coach Certification or attend one of my Complete Coach Seminars.)
6. Stop winging it and use a system for designing your programs.
As you evolve as a trainer or coach, your goal is to get more sophisticated.
(And note I didn’t say needlessly complex – because that’s a trap. The goal is to get more sophisticated.)
What worked early-on won’t work for you NOW.
When you’re just starting out, it’s okay to fly by the seat of your pants when you’re writing a program – because quite frankly you don’t know any better!
But the longer you do this, and as you start to have a better appreciation for the thought and care it takes to write a great program, the days of winging it are quickly over.
As Atul Gawande notes in his book The Checklist Manifesto, airline pilots and surgeons use checklists to minimize errors and streamline their process.
And as trainers and coaches, we can use checklists and systems to help us write better training programs!
I actually outlined my thoughts on this topic last week, so if you want to take a deep dive into program design, check it via the link below.
7. “What is the goal?”
This is the simple question I ask myself whenever I get stuck writing a program.
Too often, we try and accomplish 987 goals when writing one program, and then wonder why we can’t get clear on what should be in or out!
Instead, if we focus on what really matters – the ONE THING we want or need to achieve with this program – everything gets easier.
As the incomparable Dan John is apt to say, “The goal is to keep the goal, the goal.”
Wise words from a truly great coach.
8. It’s okay to make mistakes.
I wish someone would’ve told me early-on that it was okay to make mistakes, both in life and my career.
Instead of constantly holding back and waiting for something to be perfect, I would’ve been more aggressive and known that failures are critical on the path to success.
If you’re a young coach who is afraid to make mistakes, stop.
Mistakes are part of the process – and you’ll make them whether you like it or not!
Instead, use those mistakes as learning opportunities, and strive to not make the same mistake twice.
9. Trust your instincts!
Cut from the same cloth as mistakes, as a coach you have to learn how to trust your instincts.
Too often I see young coaches not correct that movement error, or not give that cue, when it was absolutely the right thing to do.
Why?
Because they were afraid of being wrong!
Once you do this for a certain period of time, your internal movement model will sharpen and you’ll instinctively know what movements should or shouldn’t look like.
It may not be perfect, but that’s okay as well, because here’s something else I would’ve known when I was just starting:
Our models will constantly change and evolve the longer we do this!
So if you think something needs to be addressed, fix it.
Because here’s another quote from another legendary coach…
10. “If it looks right, it flies right.” – Dan Pfaff
As coaches, I think most of us have a base-level understanding of what movement should look like.
Whether we’re talking squats and hinges or accelerations and vertical jumps, even young coaches have a level of intuitiveness when it comes to their movement model.
So these two points really go hand-in-hand.
Trust your instincts. If something looks off, it probably is.
You may not know exactly how to fix it yet, but that ability to coach, cue and get the desired change takes time.
But I can tell you this: If you DON’T try and fix it, it’s not magically going to get better.
Unless you work with elite athletes who can figure it out on their own, and in that case, they really don’t need you anyway :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing:
11. Position–>Pattern–>Load–>Express
If you want to build a movement pattern from the ground up, this is exactly how I do it.
I will probably write a full post on this soon, but here’s how I think about it:
- Position: Does your client have the physical tools necessary to perform the movement? If not, start here.
- Pattern: Build the movement in a low-level environment. Static and ISO holds work great here.
- Load: If they can hit a position, now see if they can move in and out of it with load.
- Express: Take that movement pattern and make it powerful, explosive or athletic!
If you want a visual recap, here’s a quick reel I shot for the ‘gram that outlines this in a bit more detail.
12. Use 1 Set-up and 1 Performance Cue.
Last but not least, stop overwhelming your clients and athletes with long, boring monologues.
I’ve talked about this a lot lately, but over-cuing – and the ensuing client/athlete overwhelm – is a real thing.
Instead, coach and cue in bullet points, and limit yourself to one set-up cue and one performance cue.
When you break up your cuing like this, it’s easier for the client to get set-up appropriately.
Because we all know that if the set-up is off, performance won’t magically fix itself!
And once the set-up is locked in, now they only have to focus on one thing while performing the actual lift.
Trust me on this one – when you reduce overwhelm and drive attention and focus on one thing, it’s amazing how quickly movement can improve.
Summary
So there you have it! 12 random thoughts for trainers and coaches.
We started with high-level, overarching philosophy type stuff, and then dove into the weeds talking about program design and coaching and cuing.
Regardless of where you’re at, just make it a goal to get a little bit better each and every day you do this.
And like I said up top, if you’d like to learn more consider checking out my Complete Coach Certification or attending an upcoming Complete Coach Seminar.
I’d love to see you there!
All the best,
MR