“We are a family.” This is the first collegiate strength and conditioning myth I’d like to debunk. Hear me out.
As with any purchase you make, your dollar is your vote. Before you hire an online coach, I ask you to do your research and discover what it is you’re searching for.
I’ve said for years that my job (both current and previous careers) is very easy. What I do is not life or death. What I do is empower those around me to improve. So daily I ask myself, what have I done to help?
I wanted to know the similarities between college coaching and private sector training, so I asked our director of customer engagement to write out his rules of personal training. Here they are.
I promise that these seven thoughts won’t be perfect, but they may help you along your path of becoming a better “boss.”
Reading enriches our lives and teaches us invaluable lessons. One of these lessons is taking control of our own lives and doing what’s necessary for our happiness and our career.
Stepping away from collegiate strength and conditioning, I’ve had time to reflect. In this article, I’ll delve into programming — the good and the ugly. Program-wise, exactly what are your goals?
I have left collegiate strength and conditioning because I’m concerned with where we’re going as a profession. I still want to be a positive force for the profession, but I’m not sure how to help. I’ll try to keep being a voice of change for positivity.
A coach once asked me, “Why do you lift?” My reply: “If aliens landed here and saw a basketball game going on, they wouldn’t have any clue what was happening. But if they saw lifting, they could at least wrap their heads around what they were seeing.”
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about internships, all in one place.
These are just a few of my mistakes, and I’ve made many more than the ones listed here. Remember, mistakes are just lessons, so if you haven’t made any mistakes, you haven’t learned any lessons.
I’ve been told I do a good job of being a heretic of the strength and conditioning coach profession, so I might as well keep it up and stir the pot with some of my hot takes on sumo deadlifts, box squatting, and more.
I’m here to remind everyone that we all have a part to play in making our field better and safer for our athletes. It’s on us to ensure our athletes, schools, and overall profession are all the best they can be. Start by implementing these 5 simple steps in your program.
My why is to improve athletes through and of the human body and mind by giving them all a well-thought-out program to make them faster, stronger, and more resilient. What’s your why? And why?
“We only have our word.” For Union Fitness owner Casey Williams, his history with elitefts, staff, integrity, and the imagery of Pittsburgh unions and steel are the things that hold his gym and community together.
Your athletes’ load and acceleration will vary greatly depending on the skillset and experience of your athletes. Your athletes’ levels of experience will impact the ability of what they can and cannot do, as well as how you can assess and train these athletes at each level.
My life went through a lot of changes and adjustments during 2018, which meant I had to learn and re-learn things. Lesson 1: the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, but sometimes it is, so watch your lawn and don’t forget that some grass is better than yours.
Exactly where does coaching begin? With the sport, athlete, or person?
Learning and thinking about the many issues that we – as coaches – face, have reminded me to look back at my own programming and question the good, the bad, and the ugly with regard to what I’ve seen and done over the years.
Too often in our industry, before we’ve even seen the athletes, we talk about what programs we’re going to use and how these programs need to be implemented.
For this month’s article, I want to write about something that I’ve been doing a lot of recently with some success: interviewing. Consider these eleven rules for your next job opportunity.
Last week I went into a meeting with my direct supervisor and came out jobless. Here are the things I’ve learned and the mistakes I’ve made that led me to this point.
If you aren’t willing to change and grow, you won’t survive. Here are the ways my perspective on strength coaching rules has changed since my previous article on the topic.
If you aren’t open to the knowledge and expertise of those around you, you’re only holding yourself back. These are some of the most influential things I’ve learned from others in this industry.
These exercises are not commonly used but they deserve a place in your strength and conditioning program. We’ve tested them on our athletes and on ourselves and we believe in them.
After writing about the importance of getting to know your athletes, I decided to take a real look at whether or not I’ve had an impact. I contacted two of my former athletes and asked them to tell me what they learned in the weight room.
In the time since I wrote the initial “Know Your Audience” article several years ago, I’ve refined my coaching methods and changed many things, but the enduring message remains the same: get to know your athletes better.
One question I often get asked is, should I set up a conference at my college/university? Then I’m asked how to go about doing that. I hope to answer those questions here.
While there are some great things that can go on during this time period, there are also many times that football coaches run their guys into the ground with months to go before the players even see the competitive field.
I’ve often heard people ask the question, what would you tell a younger you? This is a great question all strength coaches should answer.
Since college, I’ve worked at seven different universities and a few Globo gyms. I’ve run clinics, I’ve trained privately, and I’ve even worked construction. From all this, I’ve learned from some great leaders and some less than great leaders.
This is a difficult issue to balance because people expect us to be over the top and screaming all the time. I’m asking that we raise the level of professionalism.
As a profession, we must look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we’re doing what we’re asking others to do.
For me, five big mistakes come to mind. I want to tell you how I learned from them and the steps I took to never make them again.
Layering thousands of coaching hours on the floor with successes and failures, I think I know what works and what doesn’t work.
We had a blast in Oahu, Hawaii, although I think my son may have had even more fun than my wife and I did! With all that said, I was there for a business trip and I had to get to work.
I decided to interview a coach who I respect immensely for this month’s article. Meet Coach Buckley.
Drummer sensation Brandon Khoo gives insight into what makes a great drummer. Strength and conditioning coaches, listen up. His answer is genius.
This is the first question you should ask yourself when training a team. To get this point across, I’ve attached my entire fall football training program.
You can have the holy grail of training programs, but if it doesn’t fit your job, it isn’t any good.
As I see it, there are three directions that this profession can go. I know I favor one and I’ll explain why.
How can you sell your vision when it’s difficult to score your vision? Start with goals!
With a clinic and meet scheduled on back to back days, I was surrounded by influential members of the strength community and made a few discoveries.
Entering the time period away from pre-season or in-season training, our head coach made his expectations clear: “I want to see bench presses go up by 20 pounds and squats by 40 pounds in the next five to six weeks.” Easy, right?
Your relationship with your athletes is fundamental to helping them improve. It’s also fragile. Don’t risk compromising your role as a leader and your job as a coach.
After a four-year degree and multiple internships, I thought I knew it all. I was wrong. You are too.
In an endless flow of meaningless words, latch onto the lessons that challenge your mind and dictate your actions.
If we want to get better, if we want to improve the future of our profession, we need to be honest with ourselves. We need to understand and address the real issues.
When it comes to training athletes in the weight room, remember that just because you love science doesn’t mean your athletes do. Learn to speak their language.
These 10 coaching mistakes can hurt you, your team, and your entire program. Are you making any of them?
The emphasis is always on the athletes, but keep in mind, in order to be a productive leader, you must go through what you’re asking others to do.
The three laws of motion are the roots of athlete programming. Find out how to apply these rules and improve your athletes.
Ever wonder how collegiate athletes manage time between scholastics, sports practices, and lifting? Here’s how S&C coaches can help and develop a better relationship with sport coaches.
