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In this post, I’m going to provide with some great advice from myself and some of the Strength & Conditioning Industries Smartest Coaches.
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Coach Nick Tumminello says – “Don’t be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Never listens to your clients and doesn’t care about what they want because you have already decided what they need”
“Who doesn’t provide an element of variety and fun during your workouts”
“Would rather be right than helpful”
“Mistakes your personal opinions for facts”
“Tells other professionals “this is how you should do things” over saying “this is how I do things”
“Who thinks they are smarter than the human body”
“Thinks they need to fix everybody’s problems”
“Specializes in a piece of equipment”
“Trains to your bias”
“Uses exercise as punishment”
“Tries to be cool instead being effective”
“Confusing adaption with adaptability”
“Trains people like robots”
“Forgets who’s session it really is”
“Is overly stuck on the science”
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Eric Cressey Says – “Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Invites me to be a fan of your bootcamp’s facebook fan page for the 8,497th time even though I’ve already shot you down the first 8,496 times because I didn’t want to be inundated with notifications about how you’re having a free 6AM class 7,000 miles from where I live”
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“Don’t be the kind of strength coach who…overlooks assessments. A destination and road map won’t do you any good if you don’t know your starting point”
“Don’t be the kind of strength coach who…doesn’t actually train oneself”
“Don’t be the kind of strength coach who…still thinks that it is just about clean, squat, bench. We’ve learned a lot since 1983″
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Kevin Neeld says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Stops reading when they graduate college!”
“Thinks that corrective exercise is only for the training room”
“Doesn’t acknowledge the importance of nutrition in facilitating results and recovery”
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Mike T Nelson says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“confuses pain with progress”
“does not test anything or perform any re-assessment”
“does not account for TOTAL stress (lifestyle included)”
“does not think for themselves”
“does not directly address the role of the nervous system in performance”
“allows athletes to move like crap”
“only makes them a great athlete in the GYM and NOT on the field where it counts”
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Mark Young says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“is a giant pompous ass”
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Chad Waterbury says – “Don’t be the kind of strength coach who”
“Loses focus of what the goal of the training session really is”
“Focuses on the muscles instead of the nervous system”
“Thinks having more certifications is better”
“Gives credence to coaches who have trained no one”
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Rob Simonelli says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Forges ahead with today’s workout even after learning an athletes “today” injury or limitation”
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Matt Coe says – “Don’t be kind to the strength coach who…”
“Thinks Crossfit and their mascot pukey are cool.”
“Doesn’t use a progressive system”.
“Is more about using the new gimmick they have in the training of their client (i.e. entertrainment) than getting results”
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Bret Contreras says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Prescribes solely axial hip dominant exercises and fails to prescribe any anteroposterior hip dominant exercises”
“is overly-focused on having his athletes hit big numbers in the powerlifts”
“doesn’t keep up with new research and methodology”
“has his or her clients do 30 minutes on the treadmill as part of their session”
“fails to prioritize unilateral lower body training”
“sticks to machines only”
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Mike Boyle says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Who never attends a seminar”
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Bruce Kelly says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Fails to realize that learning is a continuous, life long process. There are too many facets in this business for someone to be intellectually lazy and not spend part of each day reading, learning something new, etc.”
“Isn’t open to listening to other points of view whether they coincide with your philosophy or not. Doesn’t mean you have to agree but you should at least listen”
“Has PDD (program deficit disorder). Heard that one from Brett Jones. We know the type who jumps from program to program according to what they just read or heard.”
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Henry Paul says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Who doesn’t make changes when they know they are wrong. There’s no shame in admitting a mistake in your programme, it’ll only improve you and your athlete.”
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Coach Wendy says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Who prescribes an exercise without trying it first (and mastering it)”
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Eric Wong says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“pushes your athletes harder than you’ll push yourself”
“Spends so much time training and working to make money that you neglect study, learning, and experimenting with new techniques”
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Dan Blewett says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Can’t relate to people well enough to put his knowledge to good use.”
“Makes his athletes strong but too inflexible to use it on the field.”
“Has a lat pulldown machine but no chin-up bar”
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Teddy Willsey says - ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“thinks powerlifting alone develops power”
“thinks every athlete should perform olympic lifts”
“does not sufficiently warm up their athletes through dynamic movement prior to strenuos work”
“believes every athlete should squat ass to grass”
“does not consistently prescribe specific exercises to help prevent inury or “prehab” the low back, shoulders and knees”
“does not understand that introducing a new exercise is an additional stressor”
“does not take into account the bioenergetic demands of each individual athlete’s specific position in their competitive event”
“gets more glute activation in bed than in the gym”
“isn’t constantly reading, learning, and open to new information”
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Now its your turn to provide insights and advice to add to the next “Don’t be the kind of Strength Coach who”?
Post your comments below!
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doesn’t understand that your ability to lead others is directly related to your ability to follow others
Awesome list!
Love the pompous ass comment! Bravo!
Thank you for putting this together. It was a great read!:o)
“gets more glute activation in bed than in the gym”
Classic!
Don’t be the kind of strength coach who:
1. jumps on the latest fad toy, especially mid-program
2. doesn’t listen, follow, attempt to keep up with, and to a degree mimick those with 20 years more experience than you
3. believes they can train any type of person, specialize and accept that 80% of your business is coming from a target market that has more or less gravitated to your style, personality and work ethic
4. gives back to the sports community, especially our youth (sponser a young athlete for a 3-6 months; read: free training once or twice a week for 3-6 months)
5. watches (in horror) instead of acting on the instinct to help someone doing anything with dangerous technique; Hell, I’ll do this mid-session with a client if it’s bad enough (not mid-set/circuit obviously).
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that shows up late for appointments.
that continually checks cell phone during session
that mocks trainers who do cutting edge science based training because you DON’T
that do not chart workouts or document progress
that do not use par q,client movement assessments, client reassessments. C’mon people Are we asking too much?
that being professional is criminal! unfortunately i see these behaviors daily,and it devalues the profession. Enough already!
“…assumes that he knows everything about what another coach knows and does with his clients simply from having read one of his articles or blog posts, watched a DVD of his, or heard an isolated comment that he made at a seminar.”
Coach Tumminello,
I have a question regarding the following statement ““Confusing adaption with adaptability””. Are you referring to the difference between the physiological adaptation of the body to a given type of training versus the ability of a coach/athlete to make on-the-fly adjustments when confronted with a new and unfamiliar situation, set of circumstances, or stimulus?
“gets more glute activation in bed than in the gym” VERY FUNNY!
Don’t be the Strength coach who plays on other, folks insecurities.
… or the coach who uses the bosu ball for everything.
[...] Nick Tumminnello Dont’ be the kind of strength coach who… [...]
“prioritises money earnt over RESULTS GAINED”
Great post Nick, shame the cowboys in the industry are unlikely read this!
“prioritises money earnt over RESULTS GAINED”
Great post Nick, shame the cowboys in the industry are unlikely to read this!
Well said!
Coach N
Great question!
I want my athletes to have a very broad training and athletic base. Just because someones squat weight goes up does not always need that they are a better athlete when playing their sport. It just means they are stronger in the squat So, they have adapted to the squat but that doesnt mean theve adapted to better movement on the field of play.
Strong (in the gym) athletes can still suck at playing their sport if they don’t have the ability to adapt well to the game being played.
Thanks for your question and reading the Blog.
Coach N