Four Benefits Of Your Child's Strength Coach

After having set an all-time PR on my equipped bench press with 457lbs, I'm now in off season mode getting back to some heavy training while running my gym, THIRST.

For programming and coaching inquires, please email SmitleyPerformanceSystems@gmail.com or visit brandonsmitley.com

I've had the pleasure of running a training facility with my wife for a little over sixteen months. In that time, we've worked with a variety of clients, athletes, powerlifters, weightlifters and your average Joe's.

I've known the value of strength training for my own personal life, but I think it's also important that parents understand what it can do for their child.

While you might think initially it's going to get them stronger, bigger, and even healthier, there are MANY other variables that come into play.

Below are some of the top things I've realized over the past 16 months we've been able to do for the athletes that walk into our doors at Terre Haute Intensity Resistance and Sports Training (THIRST), in Terre Haute, IN.

More Than Just Strength

As I mentioned above, strength is just one aspect of fitness we've been able to help our youth athletes obtain. There are dozens of articles here on Elitefts.com that can show how strength improves the ability of the athlete to perform better on the field.

However, the number one thing I've noticed that we've been able to instill in our athletes is the strength to believe in themselves. Sports psychology is a growing aspect of sports performance, and one thing that strength training can do is build confidence for every child that walks through the door. The role of myself and my wife as a coach for these kids, is to show them that what they were able to do from day one to months down the road is an amazing mental boost.

We use a variety of exercises and methods, none of which is new or Earth shattering, but using certain progression models starts kids at certain movements and slowly builds them up correctly to doing the things that they look forward to doing and seeing the other kids doing (squats, deadlifts, Olympic variants, etc.). This has created buy in as the kids get stronger and faster, while also remaining injury free. But what we love most is that we are building good movement patterns from an early age, so that as future strength coaches get them, they walk in the door ahead of their peers.

Life Lessons Beyond The Barbell

I often enjoy seeing kids come in the doors and looking forward to getting after the days training. But from a long term perspective, I enjoy watching a youth athlete grow before my eyes. While we've only been in business for approximately 16 months, we notice how our atmosphere and culture has taught kids and young adults simple tasks that will go a long way further than the weight room.

Qualities such as attendance, integrity, positive attitude, commitment, taking responsibility, teamwork, and self-reliance are all things that not only do amazing things in the weight room, but go on to make great leaders on the field/court, but more importantly in the classroom and workforce.

Part of our "job" is to create an atmosphere where hard work is the standard and that anything less than your best for the day is "taking an L". I like to tell parents and kids that we've got a "D1" attitude, not that we expect their kid to make a division one school, but rather that what it takes to get to the division one level is what we want to see in the weight room. That way when that division one school contacts the kid, there are no surprises.

Education In Sport

Often times if you talk to a private sector strength coach, they will tell you how they are doing their best to work around the sport coach, parents, and other outside influence. We get this quite a bit, but I see it as my role as a coach to do my best to educate the sport coaches and parents. Often time, this is where egos begin to get in the way.

 I know what I know when it comes to strength training and long term athletic development. But I also know there is a plethora of what I need to continue to educate myself on to ensure our athletes are getting their best shot at being their best. I know I'm not a track coach or football coach, so I don't talk to my kids or parents about the intricacies of those practices. But I do try my best to explain a couple of key things to them on how strength training can make them better.

The first thing I always try to talk to them about is long term athletic development and sports specialization. Too many parents think that doing the same sport year around is how one excels. While an athlete does need to do their sport to get better, most of know that doing this year-round is not the ideal model to develop the best athlete. Taking time off, having periods of rest (not doing the sport at all), and trying other sports gives the kids a chance to excel at other movement patterns, provide mental breaks, and decrease injury risk by decreasing repetitive movement patterns (a great example is a child pitching 50 weeks a year, and harming the shoulder health).

The downfall is that most parents just see us as "the strength coach", but I do assure you, that some of us are much more educated than just lifting weights. Part of our jobs as a strength coach is to be a stress manager (I got this from Buddy Morris). We're going to do our best to help you, the parent, and the child to decrease overall stress - even if that means altering our training plan because the sport coach won't.

From Coach To Life Long Mentor

While I think this is obvious for most sport coaches, being a mentor for your child is one of our most proud aspects of being a coach. While we love training, seeing kids go to school on a full ride, and seeing them grow up before our eyes, we want nothing more than to know we helped your child grow and become a better person because of something we said or did.

At the college level, the strength coach spends more time with the athlete than anyone else on the sports medicine or performance team. In the private sector, if you've got a strength coach for your child and take the long term buy in (which in most cases you should,since there is no "quick fix" in strength and conditioning) there is a chance your child might be with the same strength coach for five or six years (maybe more), where sport coaches change every couple of years. That relationship should grow to be a great one, and one forged on the qualities I've mentioned above to build an amazing young adult.

I know personally I can't wait for ten years to pass, and for kids I've been blessed to work with to come back and tell me how what we did the weight room has helped them later in life. That is what I truly want to come from my own training facility. I want to hear about how they've went on to do great things and influence other people from something they did with me and my wife at THIRST.

In Closing

At the end of the day, a strength coach can be a great investment for your child's athletic success, there is no denying that. But look also at everything other than sports that your child can gain from being in a weight room with the right people and the right guidance. It's why our motto at THIRST is "Building Better People Through Strength".