Let me paint this picture of “brutal” coaching.
In the unforgiving heat and humidity of North Texas, my football coach was making the team run sprint repeats at the end of practice.
As you can imagine, we were all thrilled, and no one complained.
After a few intervals, the team was gassed, and we still had a few more to go. When it was my turn, I took off sluggishly, and the coach was not pleased. He shouted a few choice words at me—nothing worth repeating because what’s said on the field stays on the field. Among the expletives, he dropped this pearl of wisdom.
“Practice should be harder than the game, so the game is easy.”
That gave me all the motivation I needed.
I sucked it up, dug deep, and ran out my final intervals without complaint. That’s game-changer coaching. The coach picks you up when you’re feeling down, pushes you to dig deep when you’re spent, and helps you see the good in yourself when nothing is going your way.
Some discount the power of coaching, especially with personal trainers like me, because all the information to succeed in the gym is accessible online. But after I finish with you, I hope you’ll knock down the door to hire me.
Well, a boy can dream.
Game Changer Coaching
I’ve seen a lot of great coaching, but one situation stands out as the best coaching I’ve seen in my 15 years of doing it.
My fellow coach, let’s call him D, taught a senior strength group exercise class twice weekly at the Y where we worked. His exercises and drills were mind-blowing and creative—ideas I wish I had come up with. I struggled with them while people 30 years my senior were crushing them.
There was a guy D trained who used a wheelchair because he was suffering from end-stage Parkinson’s Disease. He and his wife would come, which was a great relief for her because I can only imagine being a full-time caregiver is challenging.
The exercises D put this client through were inspiring and creative. Here is a person with every reason to quit, working his butt off in a wheelchair to improve the quality of life that he had left. Witnessing D coaching from the sidelines helped me realize what game-changing coaching looked like.
I believe D’s coaching singlehandedly made his life better.
My Coaching Moment
My experience with Parkinson’s helped me realize the power of coaching. About ten years ago, I was hired by a gentleman with Parkinson’s disease to help improve his function and maintain his strength. As a former athlete with oodles of ability, he found it challenging to accept his future.
There were times at the beginning of the session when he would get uncontrollable shakes, and he would find it hard to balance or grip exercise tools. But with a few simple exercises that involved contralateral movement ( opposite arm, opposite leg), the shaking would stop, and he would crush his workout. My limited knowledge of training a person with Parkinson’s told me these types of exercise would work.
But to see it up close and personal was one of my finest coaching memories.
3 Reasons To Hire Me A Coach
If you’re still deciding after all this, here are three reasons to push you over the coaching edge.
Coaching Brings Out Your Best
I’m a believer that you already have the tools inside of you to be a success. You weren’t put on this Earth to be ordinary; you’re put here to be extraordinary. You may feel like this is new-age mumbo jumbo, but bear with me for a moment.
Like a lawyer who represents himself as a fool for a client, you fail to look at yourself without bias. You’re either too hard on yourself or fail to see the good inside you. However, who can help you access those tools and bring out the best in you?
A good coach, that’s who.
Coaching Provides Knowledge
After 25 years of lifting and 15 years of coaching, I thought I had my shit together. However, I realized that being exposed to different programs, philosophies, and training techniques taught me other ways of doing things.
Imagine that?
Whenever I hired a coach to write my strength programs and talk me through them, I learned new stuff that blew my mind and allowed me to become a better coach.
An old dog can indeed learn new tricks.
Coaches Provide Accountability
One reason people hire coaches is to provide them with accountability. They’ve invested money and time in pursuing better health and fitness, and it always helps to have some skin in the game.
However, if they don’t show up, they waste their money and the trainer’s time, which can result in one pissed-off trainer. Trust me, you don’t want to upset the person who writes your programs for a living. A good coach will help keep you on the straight and narrow.
Wrapping Up
Coaching is not all sunshine, roses, tracksuit pants, excessive coffee, and screaming and yelling while stalking the sideline. The good ones put their heart, soul, and knowledge into it. A coach brings out their best when they don’t want to or are half-hearted.
That is game-changing coaching; once you experience it, it will impact you forever.
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