This is what a typical day is like at Iron Sport Gym lately,
"Hey Steve, can you help me out for a minute?"
I always reply, "yeah sure, what's up?" Assuming my vast knowledge and years of experience in the strength game is about to be called upon.
"Yeah, can you help me out and video tape this lift so I can send it to my online coach?"
I gladly oblige and as I'm looking through the phone as it's recording I see about three glaring technique errors and I'm thinking to myself, dude I've been watching you train, your program blows, your technique is way off, you put not nearly enough balls into your workouts. I could straighten this shit show out verbally in about two minutes FOR FREE if they had just asked me. But they didn't, and it's their loss. Once again the internet has everyone panicking and running all over the place for the magic bullet that doesn't exist. I'm not about to bust some online coaches groove by poaching his client so I keep my mouth closed.
No, I don't do online coaching, if I'm going to help someone it's got to be somebody I can see every single day so I know exactly what they are doing so I can be assured they are reaping the full benefits of my help. But I will gladly work with any member of my gym on technique, discuss their programs, give my views on peaking and training for meets FOR FREE. This is what I'm here for, this is why I started a gym, what do they all think I'm doing here every day? It's even gotten to the point where if some of the lifters in my gym find out I'm helping out a guy here they tease him because they are using so-and so the online coach and he's wayyyy better than me. So now I have to help people on the down low so that people don't get harassed. I just found out that there are even lifters at my gym that actually ARE online coaches that actually make good money doing it that I was stronger than when I was 15 years old.
Ok I get it, I'm an "old head", I do have old ways of looking at training, I wear dad jeans, I tuck in my shirt, I don't have a three foot long beard, tattoos up to my eyeballs, I'm sometimes curt and I don't have a massive internet following but jeez let me look at your squat and show you what you're doing wrong before you destroy yourself. Most of the people I have personally seen hire online coaches don't need to be coached by the top lifters in the universe, they just need to be shown the very basics of weight training.
Please don't email and say "Stevey P I love your rants . . . " This is not a rant, I'm actually very calm when I write this stuff, I'm just putting some thoughts out there. Also, don't write me and say, "Stevey P why are always so down on yourself man . . . ? It's not like that at all, I'm totally fine, I'm just trying to point out some of the things in our changing industry. I'm still going to be here providing people with the best gym that I can, I'll still be killing it in the gym with my own training whether I help people or not.