After 10+ years working in the trenches as a private strength coach/business owner working with athletes from middle school on up through the pros..Began fresh off active duty military in 2013 with free training for athletes to “prove” results & slowly increased pricing to reflect the true value that’s gained training with a professional strength coach. I’ve noticed a few things working with highly talented, average, and not so talented athletes regardless of sport, age or gender: Performance of athletes long term, regardless of talent, is dependent on their mindset within & outside of their time with their coaches/trainers.. Anyone can do the work in front of others. But is this work even done well or to our full focus & effort? Some are able to do it well, some not so well. Some can be shown, directed, and taught the proper form to perform and they want to improve so they focus and push themselves toward limits in all they do. Others will falter due to disliking discomfort so much that they’re not able to see value in the efforts required to improve. The juice is worth the squeeze for some, others not at all. Some athletes are focused most of the time, some sometimes, and some have to be convinced to lock in occasionally. Some pay attention to detail in every movement, others are simply going through the motions jokingly as if they’re ’too cool’ to sweat the small stuff.. Some pay attention, some don’t. Some care about nutrition, some don’t. Some care about stretching, rolling, and resting - some don’t. Some want to do whatever it takes, some don’t. Some are hungry for the simple shit they can do repeatedly that others won’t, some think it’s bullshit when given 3-5 things they can do on their own to improve their performance long term. It’s the athletes able to focus on their work and maintain a long term outlook most of the time that have long term success in sports and life. Success is simply accepting what the process requires and learning to take action regardless of how we feel in any given moment. Some get it, some never will. Some win, some lose. Some love truth, some hate to hear shit that doesn’t soothe their ear. Some need another coach to be their friend and hold their hand. Some don’t. The game remains the same, whether in sports or life.. Win or lose, focus & effort are really the only things in our control. Effort & focus = long term success. Never give up.

This is my only point. It’s a bit misleading to say everything works leaving out the fact it’s all conditional and relative. There is nuance in training, especially athletic performance. Many young athletes need to be taught nuances of training instead of doing whatever works.

Ex. Many teenage athletes will focus on how much they bench press vs mastering the push up. Many young athletes will focus on plyometrics to jump higher / run faster prior to building foundational lower body strength through training deadlifts, squats, etc.

STRENGTH COACH 101: If & when possible, refrain from telling people how much they're lifting prior to a relatively heavy lift. Most people will complete the lift and surprise the hell out of themselves with how strong they actually are after you tell them how much they just did.

Once we accept the pain as part of the process making progress, we settle in

🐐

ELITE

Accumulate intensity under fatigue. Everyone does well while fresh. Winners win while being tired. Practice tired enough to win.

Hiring a strength coach and not following their guidance outside of your time with them is like paying for school and not doing the homework.

Winners hate to lose more than they love to win and losers love an excuse

Strength is BUILT outside of the comfort zones

Do what most don’t. Go where most won’t.

‘The shortcut’ is to stop thinking so much and begin doing much more.

Taking training advice from someone that doesn’t hold themselves to the standard is like taking travel advice from someone that’s never been anywhere. Hypocrisy is the number one barrier to entry for leadership in anything. Especially in training. Live it first.

The closer we get the tougher it is

Observation: people with ‘trust issues’ don’t do very well with ‘the process’

The results we want are ready for us when we are ready to do the work required consistently enough to get them.