It's funny what you forget isn't it? I stumbled across something I had put together a couple of years ago that attempted to sum up what effective training should be about. I think it's pretty good (even if I do say so myself), nice and simple and to the point. I developed this specifically with the 'Joe average' client in mind, the type of person that wants to get in shape but has fallen out of love with the whole idea of fitness training. When I'm asked how I work with clients at SMART Fitness this is how I sum it up.
Our coaching will adhere to the F.I.T. principles:
Functional: adjective - "capable of serving the purpose for which it was designed"
Whether you need to improve your core strength so that you can hold your young child in one arm whilst transferring the shopping into your car or you need to develop the strength and power to make a match saving tackle, training programmes need to meet individual needs. A functional programme is simply 'training with a purpose'. How may people do you know that can tell you exactly why they are training? How many coaches and PT's can explain the progressions and regressions and principles backing up their programme? How many have just dipped into the exercises tombola at the start of the session and plucked out random exercises?! (This is not functional - it's just plain stupid!)
Integrated: adjective - "combining or coordinating separate elements so as to provide a harmonious, interrelated whole"
My experience allows me to draw on a wide range of tried and tested training techniques. Once I've completed an individual evaluation I will develop a training programme that incorporates a combination of training techniques that will give clients the results that you want. I'm not the TRX guy, I'm not the Bootcamp King, I don't think the world begins and ends with a kettlebell. I'll use whatever gets the job done in the quickest time possible. If the only tool you have is a hammer then everything starts to look like a nail!
Training: noun - "the education, instruction, or discipline of a person or thing that is being trained"
I take my clients and athletes through training step by step. Not only do l help them get fitter but I will help them to develop a better understanding of how their body works and how to train it to maximise your results. Being a coach is about educating your client/athlete. Anyone that can push a button or pull a pin can try to get someone fit. The key to long term improvements is about education. The coach needs to understand what they are doing and then they need to get that information out to the client in a manner that they can understand. Don't be a button pusher, be a coach and start educating.