Coach Your Way to Personal Training Success

At Steve Nash Fitness Clubs & BCPTI, our training staff may have the title "Personal Trainer" but through our nashFIT program, every trainer is instructed and given the tools to become effective coaches.

The best way to sum up the difference between a coach and a trainer / motivator is this video clip from Brad Pitt (Chad the Personal Trainer)

Goto the (13:55 – 15:30) segment of this movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-C0BltIZVk 

This clip represents the epitome of being a raw (i.e. fun, energetic, and even motivational) and enthusiastic trainer. But entertainment isn't what client's need to move well.

Anyone can make someone tired, but not everyone can make them better. Have you made someone better today? If not, why?

Great coaches are all very enthusiastic leaders, but can also create achievable goals and use a system of accountability to get their client’s to that end. John Gordon from the book “The Energy Bus” has this as Rule # 7:

"Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos which means inspired or filled with the divine." Enthusiasm is infectious and 1 very important attribute of effective leadership.

Assuming enthusiasm is one of many great traits a personal trainer must possess, what other intangibles make a great coach? Essentially, a coach understands a client's needs & goals. A coach through experience and empathy sets a progressive path of 1,000 small wins or steps to help their clients achieve their desired goals. They make people believe that anything is possible & empower them down a path of improved fitness, health and self-esteem.

Coaches must:

1. Enlighten & empower through knowledge

2. Inspire through self-discipline & experience &

3. Lead highly personalized sessions

In the context of empowerment, a coach's job is to:

1. Believe in their client more than they believe in themselves

2. Safely & effectively get more out of their client than their client could on their own
3. Worry more about their well-being more than they currently do
4. Make them feel more important than they currently do
5. Light a fire inside them
6. Be the memory maker – help them create their new story.

Do you recall someone in your past that has made a unforgettable positive difference in your life? Can you remember that exact moment in time?

Here's where I start to draw the line of differentiation between a coach and a trainer; good trainers do all of the above. In addition to empowerment, good coaches are highly knowledgeable, technically sound, great communicators & movement focused role models. In this sense, the application of knowledge is power. Good coaches have multidisciplinary knowledge / credentials and practice what they preach.

For example, my personal development workouts aren't designed to burn “x” amount of calories. They are practice sessions, designed to maintain and improve the coaching skills I currently possess. My job as a coach and role model is to become and stay proficient in my areas of expertise. Because I possess a lot of credentialed specialities, I have to purposefully practice – a lot. What’s the benefit of purposeful practice? It keeps me in great shape and keeps my mind focussed on skill acquisition & learning. Coaches only teach drills / movements that they themselves are fully competent at performing themselves. Credential, combined with purposeful practice is a desirable attribute all trainers should aspire to achieve. The problem is, a lot of people may look the part and are inspirational role models to others, but it says little of their ability to actually help others achieve their goals. This takes experience & empathy. Which brings me to the next point - coaches are great instructors.

Doing isn't the same as teaching. If that were the case, every professional athlete on the planet would become the next great coach. Some do, hence the point of purposeful practice. Learning a sport happens through purposeful practice. Athletes, particularly the good ones inherently practice mindfully. That being said, beyond technical proficiency, good coaching requires effective communication and empathy towards others.

To that end, a trainer becomes a coach when they possess most if not all of list:

1. Enthusiastic / passionate - Get excited about helping your client reach their goals.
2. Expertise - Find what will set you apart from other coaches. Continue to upgrade    your education and credential, find your niche. Also, be a good role model, practice what you preach.
3. Empathy - Feel bad with them, not for them.
4. Expectation - Have high expectations for themselves and the clients they service. These expectations should be higher than they have for themselves.
5. Engagement - Be present in the session, give it your all. Think of how much that client is paying for a session, they deserve your undivided attention and all of the energy you can dig up.

6. Expert mover - good coaches move with ninja like precision and smoothness.

7. Develop the critical eye- Learn to detect movement errors. Good coaches are biomechanist who constantly assess their client’s functional abilities.

Stay Present (Error Detect & Correct)

8. Become an expert communicator- A good coach learns to correct movement verbally and physically through touch and accurate demonstration.

  

The last 2 above are critically important to the success your clients have and the length of time they choose to train with you. This is something I speak to extensively in my nashFIT and BCPTI Personal Trainers courses. In short, trainers too often are lured into motivational high energy tactics. Trainers challenge metabolic demand and they push clients beyond their limits of physical capacity. Coaches, only challenge capacity when their clients are capable of moving with high function. Function, by definition is the ability to "safely perform pain free movement repeatedly without loss of form". Trainers befriend, motivate & energize their clients; coaches personalize every aspect of their client experience. To that end coaches:

Coaches Assess - They Don't Guess

1.    Train movement not muscle.

2.    Safely& effectively help their clients achieve their goals through a process of highly individualized attention.

3.    Assess, they don't guess

4.    Detect errors through systematic observation

5.    Correct errors through systematic application of movement, competent demonstration, effective communication & feedback

6.    Personalize through assessment, feedback & touch training every set, rep & program their clients perform

7.    Progress movement volume, intensity, speed, range of motion & complexity only when competency is repeatedly demonstrated

8.    Care about the longevity of their clients, set realistic goals and offer as much professional assistance as required to get them there.

Do you want to be a trainer or a coach? Would you want to learn from a trainer or a coach? To me the answer is clear J

BCPTI is full time Personal Training Institute who’s VISION is to:
“To provide affordable, highly personalized, cutting edge, research driven and industry relevant fitness education to passionate fitness professionals and enthusiasts.”

Chad Benson, MSc, BSc, BPE, CSCS, CPT

Educated at the University of Victoria and Memorial University of NL, Chad is the Director of Fitness Education for SNSC & the British Columbia Personal Trainers Institute (BCPTI). Past training experiences include sub-contracted & consultant strength & conditioning roles with Canada Basketball, the Vancouver Canucks, the Canadian Sport Center, B2Ten, the BC Lions, Twist Conditioning, & the Vancouver Ravens. Chad is a Trigger Point & Bulgarian Bag Master Trainer, a certified in Kettlebell level 1 and FRC© certified instructor. Benson also has expertise in myofascial release & muscle activation, functional movement assessment & sport rehabilitation. Chad was recently named the 2013 Educator of the Year for the BCRPA, is a member of the CanFitPro advisory board, developed the ‘nashFIT’ educational system. In his spare time Coach Benson enjoys the odd newfie joke, all things fitness, exploring scientific journals, red wine, recreational hockey, tennis, and warm weather destinations.

New Lease Model for Trainers

NEW ARC MODEL

After years of fighting the obvious, mentoring and helping trainers, I am finally fully committed to revamping a business model, we at ARC have worked very hard to create, a high performance training environment that includes world class training, professionalism, and amazing role models.

 

Mission: to provide highly personalized, cutting edge, well researched education and performance based training programs to healthy or recovering fitness enthusiasts & athletes.
Vision: Through the development of world class facilities, training programs and educational materials, the ARC mandate is to create results via a client centred approach. ARC's performance based training programs are strategically developed to help clients overcome muscle imbalances, improve injury resistance and obtain maximum performance based results with highly personalized programs. With a commitment to small groups & individual attention, no ARC athlete's training experience is the same.

Let me state this loud and clear, in respect to my potential and the opportunities I have been blessed with, "I have underachieved". The reason is simple, I didn't listen to the little voice in my head telling me to write and complete your ACTivated (Athletic Conditioning Techniques) trainers manuals, write a functional training book, and open a facility where other trainers can afford to step outside their current 6-10 client, 10-12hr days within a system of support and mentoring.

This week, starting on the Sept 3rd stat holiday, I stopped underachieving. Yesterday I told the ARC inner circle that we are about to begin a new journey, and today I am proclaiming it to the masses and all trainers who are haven't yet listened to their inner voice, but need a change to fulfil the dreams of success, autonomy and continued learning. Starting OCT 1, 2012 ARC will be open for the new business of providing a highly functional space including:

A great location amidst the South Surrey Athletic Park

The Surrounding Rugby Fields

A world class track and field that include punishing / fun hills

and stairs

But, while the convenience of a the fields and track are an amazing benefit, the most alluring aspects of the facility are the 3000 sq ft of turf

The amenities

and 3 independent strength stations including: 2 squat racks, 2 cable stacks, and 3 complete bench and DB rack systems

the amazing, well established client base

 

the credentials and skills of the current ARC Training team

and the innovative training tools and techniques we apply to the science of training each and every day.

 

 

At this point, I'd like to offer 6 lucky trainers the chance to train and mentor inside of ARC and all of its support systems including on-line access to our:

Volo scheduling, business tool, & invoicing system
https://www.arctraining.myvolo.ca/club/index.jsp

Dropbox operational docs and training program share software
 https://www.dropbox.com/

The candidates the ARC team are looking for certified:

•  Personal Trainers, Strength and Conditioning coaches, Exercise Physiologist or Kinesiologist

that are:

• Highly motivated to learn / share functional and sports specific training techniques,
• Self driven and enjoy autonomous / flexible work schedules,
• Role models to their clients,
• And want to continue their educational growth and financial opportunities.

If these qualities fit you, please contact:

Chad Benson

Owner, ARC Performance Training Systems Ltd
14600, 20th Ave 
WRSSBA Building in the South Surrey Athletic Park
604-315-9734
chad@arctraining.ca

Is Your Conditioning Coach Qualified?

Below are my Top 5 qualification recommendations (with helpful resources for coaches wanting to gain education and experience) for prospective clients to consider before participating or paying for a sports-specific or high function exercise program.


For those of you reading this article, while this may be a pipe dream, I truly hope this blogs reads as common sense affirmation. This Blog is designed as a tool for qualified sport science and conditioning professionals to pass onto athletes and parents. By outlining key aspects of 'qualified' conditioning coaches, perhaps before deciding to waste their hard earned money in sports specific training programs with unproven and unqualified 'professionals', a parent or athlete will ask the right questions. I highlight professionals, but the vast majority of fraudulent, money grab organizations who claim 'TOP' sports specific training often have an ex pro player on staff, who 90% of the time has little or no related education or coaching experience. 

So, why am I inspired to update last year’s article? Well in short while working out yesterday I had the ‘pleasure’ of watching a group of 6-8 hockey athletes working with a trainer. Picture this; it was late afternoon in a packed weightroom.

• A group of 6 (semi experienced with weight training)
• Upon arrival 3 of the athletes began to ride the bike, 3 began bench pressing and bicep curling (no warm-up at all).
• 10 min later the trainer showed up, 5 min late for the beginning of the session.
• The bike athletes joined the other athletes who then began (no additional warm-up and limited instruction) to perform a circuit based training program consisting of a series of exercises designed to train the chest, back, core and quads.
• For a while I turned my attention to my own workout, but like a bad car crash my subconscious forced me to tune back in. The last exercises of the training day were as follows:

1. Loaded Countermovement Jump Squats (x10-12)
2. Heavy Squats (x10-12)
3. Cable chops (x10-12/side)
4. One other upper exercise

When I noticed this situation 4 things popped into my head:

• Many of these athletes would have started off-season training within the last 2 weeks. Therefore, a Loaded Counter Movement Jumps (LCMJ) should not be performed. There are a number of other foundational plyometric exercises which need to be mastered before progressing to the LCMJ : Ebben et al. (2010) J of Str & Cond Research, 24(2): 300-306.
• In order to prevent neuromuscular fatigue, contrast or complex training (heavy load followed by light load exercises) should always occur with a max of 5 loaded plyometric repetitions: Alves et al. (2010). J Strength Cond Res 24(4): 936-941.
• More importantly, unless a trainer is using a reverse periodization for power endurance development, plyometric training should always occur early in the workout.
• And finally, during early off-season workouts, the athletic movement focus needs to be on mobility, transitional joint stability, eccentric control and perhaps power initiation, not rebounding in a fatigue state.

All of these points can be substantiated scientifically and practically. But, let me assure you this trainer and many like him wouldn’t understand the previously mentioned terms. Did I mention the gym was packed and the athletes spread all over the gym (while the trainer stayed at the squat rack)? Did I mention the trainer didn’t even have a training program in his hand? Did I mention the trainer was obese, unfit and answers his cell phone during the session?

The take home message is simple; regardless of the level, anyone participating in sport should source out qualified, experienced professionals who they respect and can meet their individual needs. The volume, intensity, frequency, and recovery strategies required to create high function performance are much different than the standard health considerations taught to trainers with a basic personal training certification. More importantly, high function prescriptions require a strong biomechanical understanding of movement, mechanical breakdown and the athlete’s sport. Most university graduates trained / schooled in biomechanics lack this skill, so don’t expect a trainer with a basic certification to have miraculously developed this skill.

Top 5 qualification recommendations:

1.Education & Credentials: a performance coach should have gained 2 types of credential, purely educational and educational / practical. Look for the following qualifications:
a. A university PE grad / Kinesiologist. This not only ensures they have the sports science knowledge to write proper programs but also the biomechanics knowledge to one day, with coaching experience, correct poor movement and technique. More importantly, the designations below forces those practicing to work with a code of ethics and stay current via renewal and CEU`s.

b. A sports performance certification like the NSCA`s CSCS http://www.nsca.com/Certification/ with testimonial backed experience. http://www.arctraining.ca/Main/Testimonials 

d. A Physiologist: a great credential to look for in Canada is http://www.csep.ca/english/view.asp?x=739 a CSEP Certified Exercise Physiologist. Back in my day I landed the PFLC credential. Both of the previously mentioned CSEP and NSCA certifications guarantee your coach has a sport sciences undergrad.

2. Extensive Experience & Mentoring: coaches can gain invaluable experience learning from the best and knowledge through extensive practical study in CEU based sports performance courses. Some of the most valuable courses allow conditioning coaches to gain experience in:
a) Movement error assessment / detection & correction. Gray Cooks FMS http://functionalmovement.com/en/certification/fms_course is a good example of this. My soon to be released Module 3 of ACTivated would also be good. I haven`t studied the Combine 360` yet, but I suspect it does some of the same. 
b) SAQ (Speed, Agility & Quickness). SAQ International http://www.saqinternational.com/ & Twist Conditioning`s, Sport Movement Essentials http://www.twistconditioning.com/learn/twist-coach-education/program-structure/silver.asp credentials would be good start points.
c) Strength & Power. For Olympic lifting technique, the NCCP Level 1 Technical is the gold standard here in Canada http://www.bcweightlifting.ca/calendar/. You can also obtain credential in alternative multijoint techniques from Twist Conditioning`s Sport Strength module, and ACTivated`s Module 5 `Athletic Strength`
d) Mentorship in my mind is huge. I participated and gained invaluable hands on application and experience. Athlete`s Performance, Twist Conditioning, ARC Performance and highly experienced, highly credentialled conditioning coaches are the goto`s in this category. I would suggest a minimum of 6 week (40hr) internship with an experienced functional / performance coach. 

3. Walk the walk – talk the talk. I test drive my programs so I can gather understanding of the training
protocol’s impact or outcome prior to unleashing it on the ARC athletes. Of course I can’t repeat this process for every program but I can honestly say, I have never instructed an athlete to perform an exercise I have never executed, semi perfected, and examined for technical difficulties or injury risk. I believe this is an essential process which does 3 things; it allows me to remain empathetic to the athletes performance goals, it affords me the opportunity to gain respect and become a role model for athletes to aspire towards and one day exceed. 

4. Played the Sport. While a sport sciences grad are often taught how to do a sport needs analysis, nothing replaces the experience of having played a sport, particularly at a high level. Playing at a high level usually implies a coach has experienced good coaching and therefore should have learned and mentored under someone with a strong skill set. However, that isn`t always the case. In my experience, the individual must have a true passion for conditioning and have aggressively applied the practice to his own benefit. But, being `pro` does not teach you how to coach or help you quantify / evaluate how the programs that worked for you will work for someone with different genetics, drive, nutritional status etc. That takes years of experience to go along with the `been there done that credential`. A player fresh off his pro career may talk a good game and probably execute a hard program but truly is the definition of an `unarmed Jedi`.

5. Insurance & CPR: is the trainer insured to train athletes? While it isn`t required of emerging athletes, most insurances won`t even cover a PT credential to train athletes. The credential on the right below is a well respected personal training (PT) certification, but it does not permit me to train elite level athletes; only the above credentials permit and insure athletic training. For elite, carded, Olympic and pro level athletes, a PT would be deemed negligent (i.e. an illegal action), if a serious injury were to happen under their guidance. You will note the attached insurance doc above. If a coach cannot provide this document, you can be assured they are not credentialed or at the very least, the athlete is not protected under their supervision.

If your performance coach has most or all of the above credentials, he or she should have the capacity clearly articulate a philosophy and experiential knowledge of functional performance training. If this isn’t the case, they either haven’t given it much thought, lack passion, are inexperienced or have poor communication skills and therefore will not educate you throughout the process. Buyer beware, a trainer who can name
entire teams full of athletes or can recant every highlight from last night’s game is either an armchair athlete or an idiot savant but it is usually the former.


Hiring a Performance Coach or following a well chosen sports specific program should never involve a high risk to your performance goal(s). In fact, if you chose poorly, your chances of becoming injury resistant is far less than your chance of becoming injured. Chose Intelligently, play safe & play hard!!


Chad Benson, ARC Performance Training Systems Ltd
604-315-9734