If you want to educate your athletes/clients then you need to keep is simple and straight to the point. Coaching is not an opportunity to show people what a smart arse you are. It's not big and it's not clever.

Take a look at the slide below and then ask yourself this question…do you just pull together a bunch of fancy training techniques and call it a programme or do you actually understand the fundamental training principles of physical preparation?

It's pretty simple really, if all you've got in the locker are a bunch of training techniques your not going to get very far. Don't be the 'kettlebell guy' or 'crossfit guy' or 'olympic lifting guy' or 'strongman guy'.

Be the coach that understands training principles so that you can then use the most appropriate training technique to improve performance.

(I'm screwed!)

These days S&C coaches and fitness professionals are in a tough spot. Where do they go to get reliable information that is not only backed by science but also has a firm footing in the real world? More importantly where can they go and actually sit down with the coaches and discover first hand the tried and tested strategies that they've used to get results. You can spend hours trawling through the internet, reading books, watching DVD's but there's nothing quite like taking the opportunity to actually get stuck in. Options are limited because there are a lot of internet gurus out there that are amazing in cyber space but can't actually cut it on the floor in front of clients and athletes.

There's a HUGE difference between knowing and DOING.

You need to get ahead of your competition and search for ways to get the same results in less time. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the huge amount of information out there and are struggling to make sense of it all then the only solution is to simplify.

Myself and Duncan French are once again opening our doors to strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists, sports therapists, and other health professionals to participate in our Performance Training Mentorship Programme. Whether training high performance athletes, young athletes or weekend warriors, learning our training methodologies  will help you raise your level as an achiever in your profession. The 3-day mentorship will change the way you train yourself and your athletes/clients and we will improve your skills as a trainer giving you the confidence to work with anyone, from weekend warriors through to Olympic level athletes.

Get yourself out of that tough spot, simplify your search and make yourself stand out in fiercely competitive market.

Don't just take our word for it…

I spent the best part of yesterday morning with Duncan looking through the applications. It's not too late to apply but before you do make sure you watch the video below…if you don't tick these boxes there's little point! We need passionate people because it's a packed 3-days.

We are almost full for the only 2012 mentorship programme so you need to get a move on (we can take applications until the end of January).

(Matt Roberts and his team of trainers)

What did I talk to the team about then? Well the key message from both workshops was to focus on fundamentals and make sure that everything you do is at an appropriate intensity and quality focused. In an age dominated by 'shouty coaches' (more of that to come) it's important that fitness professionals get back to basics and actually COACH.

For the first session I took inspiration from Goldilocks. Now, regular readers will know that I often take inspiration for children's characters so you're probably not that surprised (the trainers at Matt Roberts PT looked a little perplexed when they saw the opening slide!). I was actually reading Drive, by Daniel Pink when Jon first contacted me to ask if I would like to be involved in the training day. When Jon explained what he wanted to achieve I remembered something I'd read in Drive and thought it applied perfectly.

(seriously, are we sitting here listening to an S&C coach talk about Goldilocks…)

When Goldilocks rocks up at the three bears house she gets stuck into the porridge, sits on some chairs and then finally goes for a kip in their beds. Each time she goes from one extreme to another (too hot, too cold, too lumpy, too hard, to small, too big) before settling for the one that is 'just right'….and there you have it. The Goldilocks Principle. The skill to being an effective coach is being able to develop a programme that is 'just right'. All too often coaches churn out 'vanilla' training sessions that are far too easy (the client gets bored and ultimately won't get results). At the other end you have coaches that produce programmes that are way too hard, kicking the arse out of their clients at every opportunity (I'm still at a loss when clients and trainers post on social networking sites how great the session was because they puked or because 4 days later they still have savage DOMS and can't walk). What they've just told me is that they have no concept of progressive overload and the Goldilocks Principle! During the workshop I ran through the fundamental laws of training and then explained how to manipulate the acute training variables and exercises to bring about a session that was 'just right'.

My second workshop lead nicely on from the first and this time we got stuck in to the nuts and bolts of what effective training should look like. The workshop was entitled "The March of Futility" because this is what a lot of people are doing, day after day, week after week. There's no plan to their training and ultimately they are just 'doing work', treading the same path but always ending up at the point.

(ever get the feeling that your training programme sucks?)

Everyone wants to do the fun stuff, the 'Hollywood exercises'. Now don't get me wrong, I want my clients and athletes to enjoy the training process but there are certain things we need to do in order to bring about results. We need to nail the basics (Movement Quality Training) before advancing onto the higher end training (Performance Based Training). A lot of what takes place in gyms in neither one thing or another, it's something in the middle – it's GARGABE, and the only guy I know that likes garbage is this fella…

(the perfect client for shouty coaches…he loves garbage!)

There's a lot of 'garbage' training taking place in gyms around the country. 'Shouty Coaches' are dominating and it's a real shame because their clients and athletes are being sold short. The only things in their locker is 'noise',  'work' and 'entertainment' and their clients/athletes are just working. Ask them to drill down a bit deeper into their training philosophy and more often than not I think they'll come up short.Two slides that I used to sum it up nicely are below (thanks has to go to Vern Gambetta for these quotes).

We need to remember that making people work is easy. I can EMPTY anyone in the space of a few minutes, I can probably make them puke and I'll make them so sore they'll have to stay in bed for a week. Does that make me a great coach? Well, if I want a slot on prime time TV, maybe but that's not what I do and it's not a route that I encourage others to follow.

We need to remember that all training needs to have a purpose, over and above 'emptying' someone. The goal of the session is to bring about an adaptive response. Lots of people love to train and are just simply putting the hours in, without much consideration of what they actually want to achieve. Unfortunately, lots of coaches are doing exactly the same when they put together their training programmes.

It was refreshing to work with a group of trainers that 'get it' and recognise that success in the industry doesn't come from quick fixes. If you actually think about your coaching and adhere to the fundamentals of training you'll go a long way and you'll still be going long after the 'shouty coaches' have packed up their bags and moved on.

Key messages…start to think like Goldilocks, train your clients just right and ensure that your clients and athletes are doing something other than just working.

Thanks to Matt and Jon for inviting me down, a terrific day and a great opportunity to work with your team.

Let me know what you think. Are you a shouty coach that thinks I'm talking a load of old rubbish? Are you someone trying to do the right thing but are surrounded by others that just don't get it?

If you would like to learn more about how to develop programmes that actually work then check out our Performance Training Mentorship Programme. We are only holding one event in 2012 so be sure to book on.

Follow the link for full details

>>Performance Training Mentorship Programme<<

Back at the start of December I was asked to take on a client who was getting ready for a special project. The brief was to get them into shape as quickly as possible and we wanted him to look a certain way (lean and mean – very very mean!). We had 35 days to get a grip and sort out someone, who, shall we say wasn't in the best physical shape. Given such a short time frame and lack of training base I set to work with a 'master plan' to bring the client to a peak for the 18th January.

We got cracking with the training and I have to say he was working really well, we cleaned the diet and were building up the training sessions nicely. Then after just a week I got a call to say that there had been a drastic upheaval in his personal circumstances so the daily training sessions with me were going to have to go on the back burner.

Disaster – the plan I had put in place was now redundant.

What did I do? Sit in a dark room rocking back and forth muttering to myself about what a great programme I'd written. No, of course not. I've been in the game too long not to realise that training programmes are rarely cast in stone. I sat down, looked at the new situation and came up with a plan B. It wasn't as good as plan A but as a former coach once told me "you can only do the best given the circumstances you are faced with".

The client has been working under his own steam now on plan B for 2-weeks and I should get to see him next week (hopefully an opportunity to crank things up a little and fine tune his training). We will get to the end point, just via a slightly different route.

Take Home Message

Many coaches and athletes think that a programme has to be followed to the letter – despite changes in circumstances. What every good coach understands is that the training plan is not a prescription, it's a process and you need to be adaptable.

The situation reminded me of a great phrase that I picked up from a coach attending a workshop I was delivering. We were talking about programme design and he said that in the military they have a phrase…

"NO PLAN SURVIVES FIRST CONTACT"

Now this is not an excuse that allows you to rock up to a training session without a plan or programme, you MUST have a plan, but a good coach has the skill to adapt the plan if they are faced with a different situation.

1. The Ten Training Commandments – this seems like an obvious place to start – the world according to me! If you want to get a feel for how I coach and the princples that form the cornerstone of my training programmes, take a look.

2. Foam Rolling 101 – if you've been living under a rock and still don't know what a foam roll is and how it can have a huge impact on your training then you really should take some time to read this article.

3. Yoga For Sports Performance – this is an interesting introduction to the benefits of Yoga for athletes – and not a weird happy clappy person in sight!

4. Evolution Not Revolution – I originally wrote this article for Leaders in Performance. Some simple but effective concepts that every coach needs to be aware of.

5. Pre-Season Bingo and B******T – Back in July i lost he plot! I kept seeing highly paid sportsmen doing the most ridiculous pre-season training. Read this to find out why running around with the Marines isn't going to help your team avoid relegation.

6. Fuzzy Fitness – Art and Science of Coaching – Hunches, gut feelings, blurring of lines and grey areas are all part of being a strength and conditioning coach. Not that you would think it when you read and listen to some of the self proclaimed ‘guru’s’ that are only too quick to tell you that there is a right or wrong way to lift.

7. The Book Club – pretty simple really, if you want to to what I've got in my library, this is the article for you!

8. Productive Practice: The Bittersweet Spot – I was lucky enough to see Daniel Coyle speak in November at the UKSEM conference. I love the talent code and this article explains a key concept that all coaches and athletes need to be aware of.

9. Tool Boxes, Haynes Manuals and Coaching Workshops – if that title doesn't make you wonder what the hell I'm talking about then I don't know what will. This piece came about after I delivered a workshop in London. It's pretty much the key message I try to get across to PT's and S&C coaches.

10. Three Things Every S&C Coach Needs – seriously, do I really need to explain why you would want to look at this article?!

I let one of my former athletes borrow these a couple of years ago and just before Christmas he popped them round to me! I'd completely forgotten about them. They've not made it into the library that I compiled in the summer but they are crackers. If your Christmas money is burning a hole in your pocket and you are thinking about getting some books, check these three out.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Tough read but well worth it. Probably the first 'self development' book that I ever read. I spotted it on the bookshelf of one of my first mentors, Nigel Stockill. He's a sharp guy and has always offered me great advice when needed.

The E-Myth

Another one of my mentors, Alwyn Cosgrove suggested I read this book when I was thinking about leaving the English Institute of Sport to go it alone. It's a fantastic book and I reckon this is a book that's had a major influence on Alwyn's business model. Well worth a read.

Under The Bar

I bought this book for one of my S&C coaches (I have a Christmas tradition of buying books for my S&C coaches – not very rock and roll but it's all about development!). I took a sneak peak before wrapping it and purchased a copy for myself. Dave Tate brings together his experiences and offers some real pearls of wisdom. If you want to be successful then this is the book for you. One of Dave's rules on education and books is "Don't Loan It!" – I must have missed that bit!

Getting carried away with the whole 'specificity' thing is, in my opinion a big BIG mistake.

Whilst it's an important concept to understand we've been hijacked by the 'sports specific movement'. Far too many fitness coaches try and please the technical and tactical coaches by including drills that have less to do with strength and power development and more to do with the specifics of the sport itself.

All too often I'm asked by a sports coach if I've experience working or playing in a particular sport. I fail to see what relevance that has on my ability to develop an effective strength and conditioning programme. I'm being employed as a strength and conditioning coach, not a sports coach. If I understand the fundamental principles of training and immerse myself in the sport through a thorough needs analysis of movement patterns etc then I can coach an athlete in any sport and have a positive impact on performance.

I've worked in a wide range of sports (rugby, football, cricket, judo, rowing, wrestling, taekwon-do, squash, badminton, basketball, athletics, cycling, hockey, figure skating, gymnastics, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, swimming, equestrian, golf, triathlon, thai boxing…the list goes on) and I've only ever competed in one, taekwon-do. The fact that I'd never played netball didn't mean that I didn't know how to improve their fitness. The fact that I was a rubbish football player that couldn't get picked in my god fathers Sunday League team, didn't mean I didn't know how to prepare professional football players. Far from being a hindrance, going into a sport without preconceptions is often a real bonus.

Coaches need to remember this key fact…

Give it a go and let me know what you think.