This past weekend I had the honor of teaching alongside my good friend Luke Worthington as we ran our two-day Strategic Strength Workshop here in Boston.
Side note: We’ll be teaching it again in London this September. You can find out more details.
We had an eclectic group of 30 fitness professionals—personal trainers, coaches, physical therapists, gym owners—young and old, newbies and seasoned pros—all under one roof to hear us talk about assessment, program design, coaching specific strength exercises, and swoon over Luke’s British accent.
I’m all like, “blah, blah, blah, who’s your favorite Power Ranger, blah blah blah.”
Luke and I covered a ton of information, and as always, we had a lot of questions. This is a good thing. Nothing is worse than when you ask, “does anyone have any questions?” and you get tumbleweeds. I’m elated when attendees ask questions, and I always do my best to answer every single one.
Attendee: “Tony, what muscles upwardly rotate the scapulae again?”
Me: “Serratus anterior, upper and lower traps.”
Attendee: “Thank you. Also, can you put your pants back on?”
Me:
However, there’s one question in particular that tends to show up in various forms, which I often have a hard time with after two days—about 14 hours of content—where I’m showing a long list of drills, exercises, concepts, and my own way of doing things (which isn’t meant to be the only right way). I’ll hear: “If I implement x exercise, how long before my client will see results?”
I understand why it’s asked. If I demonstrate a drill and how I like to use it for a given scenario, it’s only logical to wonder: how long before it works?
But the truth is… I don’t know. How good of a coach are you?
I mean, how long did it take you to master deadlift technique, the intricacies of the Turkish Get-Up, or, say, the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique? Chances are it wasn’t overnight or during a one- or two-day workshop.
Are you the kind of coach who, after a weekend course, goes back to work on Monday and starts pushing new stuff you only learned a few hours ago? Or are you the type who lets things marinate a bit, gives yourself time to understand the material, and then tries it out before sharing it with clients?
My guess is that more experienced fitness pros take the latter route: they take time with their notes, go through things carefully, and truly digest the material. Conversely, newer professionals—or those with less experience—are quick to post “this cool new drill I learned” on Instagram.
So maybe there is an answer after all: don’t be that coach.
