Sunday, 29 January 2012

Treat Your Athletes Like Family

Attention:  Refer to the video above and we will probably not have an issue. This post is mainly for my athletes and the people that doubt them and I apologize in advance for any informal comments and those taken out of context.

Treat your athletes like family

These "clients" invest a lot of time and money, work their asses off day in and day out, and place a huge amount of trust in me with the expectation that not only am I educated and experienced enough to help them to succeed but that I am constantly pushing the envelop through research, experimentation, studying, attending seminars and lectures-whatever it takes to set them apart from other athletes.

After my immediate family, these guys are the next closest thing. On average I spend upwards of 3-4 hours a day being away at school discussing programs & training online with my guys-adapting, changing and producing the best programs I can to get these guys to the next level in personal performance. While home for the summer I spend upwards of 6-10 hours a day surrounded by them. These are the people who understand what is it to train like an athlete, these are the guys who don't quit when things are a little rough, and these are the guys that trusted me enough to be where I'm at today. This is the exact reason why each of them is like a brother to me and the reason that I'd do anything to help these guys out-athletically & even academically at times. All sentimental remarks aside, it really upsets me when people talk down to them or talk negatively about them.

You don't know as much as you think... 

Not only does most of the criticism come through some form of social networking portal, it also comes from those individuals who are A) Not a strength and conditioning coach. B) Never played at a high level in any athletic domain ever C) Read lots of Mens Health, Muscle Magazines and other forms of "academic research" that makes you seem even more pathetic than your comments towards my athletes and D) Terribly out of shape but somehow still the loudest, and obnoxious person in the gym who drinks out of supplement containers, preforms 3-5 lifts routinely because anything athletic would be a chore, and finally would preform at the bottom of the class in any high school fitness test involving running, push ups and pull ups.

Everyone starts somewhere, and I am a firm believer that whatever it is you are passionate about-stick to it. If you want to be a personal trainer who focuses on improving general health and physical fitness-do it. If you want to be a powerlifting coach-do it. If you want to be a strength and conditioning coach for serious athletes-do it. Etc...Etc.... Each domain has its differences and each is unique. But when you don't fit into any of those categories, do not talk poorly about my athletes or fill their heads with BS, and frankly, stop misleading your own "clients". If anything, my athletes are educated enough through constantly asking questions, researching themselves and buying into the program so much that they ask for scholarly resources weekly, that they could probably train you.

As a young athlete I bought into so many stupid training routines and concepts because I trusted the person who I heard it from. At a young age you buy into any program that guarantees that you'll get bigger & stronger. The truth is, when you take this advice from some idiot who cannot even make it through basic bodyweight movements and control his own body freely through various ranges of motion, and who's soul claim to fame is a 315lbs bench press and 405've been sadly misinformed on so many levels and are only setting yourself back further and further. The type of training these individuals are prescribing will lead to postural problems, serious loss in range of motion and mobility, overtraining and burnout and muscular imbalances leading to improper running and jumping techniques.

You gain your clients respect once they see results
You gain their trust through going through gruelling workouts with them to show them that you care
You wake up early and go to bed late so that they have the best programs possible
You yourself train athletically, showing that you believe in your programs enough to do them.
And so on and so on....

And for those of you who have been talking about my can gain my respect once you have multiple clients, starters in the CIS, a couple national championships in the group, many high school championships, numerous MVP awards, East West Bowl Attendees, CFL & NHL hopefuls and actually stop setting back athletes who believe you know something more than you actually do.