Don’t be the kind of Strength Coach who…

Some of you may have seen this before; it’s a blog put together by my friend Nick Tumminello. I thought it was very inciteful so I asked him if I could repost it on my blog. Here it is:

–

In this post, I’m going to provide with some great advice from myself and some of the Strength & Conditioning Industry’s Smartest Coaches.

–

Coach Nick Tumminello says – “Don’t be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Never listens to your clients and doesn’t care about what they want because you have already decided what they need”

“Who doesn’t provide an element of variety and fun during your workouts”

“Would rather be right than helpful”

“Mistakes your personal opinions for facts”

“Tells other professionals “this is how you should do things” over saying “this is how I do things”

“Who thinks they are smarter than the human body”

“Thinks they need to fix everybody’s problems”

“Specializes in a piece of equipment”

“Trains to your bias”

“Uses exercise as punishment”

“Tries to be cool instead being effective”

“Confusing adaption with adaptability”

“Trains people like robots”

“Forgets who’s session it really is”

“Is overly stuck on the science”

–

Eric Cressey Says – “Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Invites me to be a fan of your bootcamp’s facebook fan page for the 8,497th time even though I’ve already shot you down the first 8,496 times because I didn’t want to be inundated with notifications about how you’re having a free 6AM class 7,000 miles from where I live”

“Don’t be the kind of strength coach who…overlooks assessments. A destination and road map won’t do you any good if you don’t know your starting point”

“Don’t be the kind of strength coach who…doesn’t actually train oneself”

“Don’t be the kind of strength coach who…still thinks that it is just about clean, squat, bench. We’ve learned a lot since 1983″

–

Kevin Neeld says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Stops reading when they graduate college!”

“Thinks that corrective exercise is only for the training room”

“Doesn’t acknowledge the importance of nutrition in facilitating results and recovery”

–

Mike T Nelson says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“confuses pain with progress”

“does not test anything or perform any re-assessment”

“does not account for TOTAL stress (lifestyle included)”

“does not think for themselves”

“does not directly address the role of the nervous system in performance”

“allows athletes to move like crap”

“only makes them a great athlete in the GYM and NOT on the field where it counts”

–

Mark Young says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“is a giant pompous ass”

–

Chad Waterbury says – “Don’t be the kind of strength coach who”
“Loses focus of what the goal of the training session really is”

“Focuses on the muscles instead of the nervous system”

“Thinks having more certifications is better”

“Gives credence to coaches who have trained no one”

–

Rob Simonelli says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Forges ahead with today’s workout even after learning an athletes “today” injury or limitation”

–

Matt Coe says – “Don’t be kind to the strength coach who…”
“Thinks Crossfit and their mascot pukey are cool.”

“Doesn’t use a progressive system”.

“Is more about using the new gimmick they have in the training of their client (i.e. entertrainment) than getting results”

–

Bret Contreras says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Prescribes solely axial hip dominant exercises and fails to prescribe any anteroposterior hip dominant exercises”

“is overly-focused on having his athletes hit big numbers in the powerlifts”

“doesn’t keep up with new research and methodology”

“has his or her clients do 30 minutes on the treadmill as part of their session”

“fails to prioritize unilateral lower body training”

“sticks to machines only”

–

Mike Boyle says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Who never attends a seminar”

–

Bruce Kelly says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Fails to realize that learning is a continuous, life long process. There are too many facets in this business for someone to be intellectually lazy and not spend part of each day reading, learning something new, etc.”

“Isn’t open to listening to other points of view whether they coincide with your philosophy or not. Doesn’t mean you have to agree but you should at least listen”

“Has PDD (program deficit disorder). Heard that one from Brett Jones. We know the type who jumps from program to program according to what they just read or heard.”

–

Henry Paul says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Who doesn’t make changes when they know they are wrong. There’s no shame in admitting a mistake in your programme, it’ll only improve you and your athlete.”

–

Coach Wendy says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Who prescribes an exercise without trying it first (and mastering it)”

–

Eric Wong says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“pushes your athletes harder than you’ll push yourself”

“Spends so much time training and working to make money that you neglect study, learning, and experimenting with new techniques”

.

Dan Blewett says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“Can’t relate to people well enough to put his knowledge to good use.”

“Makes his athletes strong but too inflexible to use it on the field.”

“Has a lat pulldown machine but no chin-up bar”

.

Teddy Willsey says – ”Dont’ be the kind of Strength Coach who…”
“thinks powerlifting alone develops power”

“thinks every athlete should perform olympic lifts”

“does not sufficiently warm up their athletes through dynamic movement prior to strenuos work”

“believes every athlete should squat ass to grass”

“does not consistently prescribe specific exercises to help prevent inury or “prehab” the low back, shoulders and knees”

“does not understand that introducing a new exercise is an additional stressor”

“does not take into account the bioenergetic demands of each individual athlete’s specific position in their competitive event”

“gets more glute activation in bed than in the gym”

“isn’t constantly reading, learning, and open to new information”