7 Lessons in 7 Years: Part 1- Coaching

This website started a year ago. I had no idea what it would amount to or where it would go.

Needless to say, I didn't get fired or arrested so it was probably a success, right? 

The first post was titled '6 Lessons in 6 years' and it was extremely well received...in fitting format, with another turn of the calendar, another year of perspective, and another year of making mistakes and growing from them, here is part 1 of my 7 lessons in 7 years all with a focus on coaching and training. 

1) You are a translator between fitness geek talk and the client. 

I'm a little bias towards this as 80% of my clientele are youth athletes under the age of 18. My clients honestly don't care about progression tree's, sets and rep schemes, or how cool it is that they've earned a percentage-based training program. The one's that find exercise science cool (are a rare breed) will ask you about their program details.

What they do care about is their emotional response to the facility when they walk in, how you/I can drive personal connection through out the session(s), and if the end result is what they desire (did you actually help them reach their goal?).

Don't throw the former out the window, just figure out how to relate non-linear periodization in to Fortnite, The Bachelor, or scoring goals on the soccer field...

Spend time thinking about the who/what/when/where/why of the client experience...more on this coming down the road...

2) Ask more questions...

Early on in my coaching career I would spend 90% of the time telling new clients  how great our training sessions would be for them. 

See point number 1...Way to go, Casey...

Fast forward 7 years...I now listen more than I talk, and ask questions that dig deeper in to what I want (and need) to know in order to deliver the best experience possible. 

Think about asking 'why' more rather then telling 'why' and watch your client engagement increase.

3) Regressed positions yield progressed results. 

I've spent the last year diving in to Functional Movement Screen's 4x4 programming matrix. My dude Chris Merritt at Strength Faction talks about this system a lot and it's really jived well for me with my programming. Making simple changes in my programming like swapping DOWN a standing 3 point row for something like a quadruped row off of two benches has been a game changer for cleaning up movement patterns, getting clients to understand their bodies in space, and actually increasing intensity early on in a training program...something clients definitely notice...but keeping them in safer positions. 

Part 2 will bring tips 4,5, and 6 which all have to do with the managerial and leadership side of lesson's I have learned! 

Tip 7 is it's OWN blog coming at you down the road!