What a Day Looks Like for Me and How I Coach Everyone the Same
Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com
I work at two different gyms so I coach a wide variety of people. From athletes, to wannabe powerlifters, to stay at home moms that really just want to stay in shape and get a break from their ultra busy lives. While I think it’s very important to find your niche in this field, I think there is a ton of merit to being a well rounded coach. In one day, I literally take people through a class where they are learning barbell power cleans, to my 11 year old girls playing around the gym, and ending my day with helping someone deadlift and squat free of pain.
I really do love what I do. I’m always having different days so I never get bored which is unlike other gym jobs I’ve had in the past. Would I like to work with one population going forward and hone in on one niche and be in one gym instead of commuting between two? Of course. But that’s not my reality right now as I am trying to figure out what I want out of this industry. (Should I know this by now? probably.)
On this blog, I wanted to talk about how I interact with so many different types of people yet I coach people very similar with minor differences.
A little bit about what I do...
My Group classes. I teach group class at both my locations I work at. Both are SO different. RX Strength Training in Somerville, Mass is a barbell gym. Most people in these classes are ages 21-41 and are either in school or are working in the city. Each class is programmed by the owner Jeff Butterworth and he always chooses a main movement for each class were the members will either squat, bench, deadlift or power clean. I coach a class that is more or less like a crossfit style class and another one that is geared towards powerlifting. These classes can be 5 people or 15 people. The FieldHouse In Sudbury is a little different. I program each class I teach and we do a lot of cardio and kettlebell work and SOME barbell work. Linda Martindale the owner of the FieldHouse loves when I add in barbell work so I do that as much as I can. Each class I teach (at both gyms) are fun, fast, energetic and get the job done.
My Girls Fit Group. I right now only have a group of 10-11 year old girls whereas before I had Girl Fit for High School but that is on hold for the season. With the younger girls I choose games and little mini competitions for them to complete. I used to struggle with this class. I wanted them to learn some basic movements with kettlebells and other basic strength exercises. I found this to be very, very difficult with the space I had and the amount of girls (I have 8 girls right now). So, instead of stressing myself out I have been finding better alternatives for them to still learn and play which is all they really want anyways.
My personal training. This depends on what the person is seeing me for. I have people that are with me who have NEVER stepped foot inside the gym. I have women who want to do pull-ups for the first time in their lives or want to learn what the barbell movements are like. I have a few guys that want to deadlift pain free. I coach couples who are getting ready for their weddings. I train athletes getting ready for lacrosse or crew.
As you can see, I do a lot of different things through the week. It definitely keeps me busy and it keeps my days fun. I think when I first started coaching I would train everyone very different and very specific to what their particular goal or sport was. Which I still do however, training people so vastly different is unnecessary. In terms of exercise selection everyone needs basic strength work and conditioning. The sets and reps will change varying upon the person and the class I have in front of me. For example one of my personal training clients learning to barbell back squat will follow 5 sets and 5 reps in their program. A class because it’s in a larger group setting and most likely shorter on time, I will have them do 3 rounds of 10 goblet squats. The same movement is there (the squat) just given a different way depending upon the situation.
With all of this said, one thing I have been very good at, is coaching people in terms of how much cueing I do. Cueing is a verbal phrase a trainer will use to try to get their client to understand the movement they are telling them to do. “Push your knees out” is an example of a cue while learning to squat. While verbal cueing is very helpful, doing it too much can be detrimental to the client’s technique and progress. I try not to over cue and sometimes I actually don’t say anything at all as long as the client is safe, of course. Over cueing is a mistake I made in the past. Think about it like this:
Imagine you have a bar on your back for the first time!! (which already feels so foreign in itself) and your coach or trainer is saying “Okay, now sit back on your heels, and keep your chest up, and look straight ahead, and push your knees out and ……..”. This is just TOO MUCH! And it is so overwhelming to the person they can’t even think about actually squatting because they are so worried about everything else!!
Something I have learned the last few years is cutting back on the cues. I let people make mistakes and I know eventually they will get there. There is a time and a place for giving a lot of feedback to someone and I think I have a good handle on when I can and should do this. People will self-organize themselves (proud of me, Kevin??) into the proper form with some guidance from me but I am not the reason they learn the movement. We ultimately teach ourselves the movement rep after rep, right? This takes practice and patience.
I am not all over my clients anymore drilling perfect form in their skulls. I had a client tell me that when I spoke to her she really listened because she knows when I give her feedback it’s because she really can use it in that moment and that I’m not just saying a bunch of things to sound smart or hear myself talk. I appreciated this! I think I am always learning new ways to coach people but cutting back on cueing the crap out of people has definitely been a game changer for me.