“The lie you are fed becomes the story you believe”- Dr. Bryan Chung

I don’t typically barbell back squat clients as we have safety bars and cambered bars that I think are useful tools for adding load to the squat pattern. But the words I choose are careful. I don’t tell people that back squatting ‘isn’t good for you’ or that ‘you will get injured back squatting” as your words have the ability to influence someone’s beliefs. Be responsible for that influence with the words that you use, which they will then use as prior information to make future predications.

Someone saw me back squatting last week and said “that’s not good for your back.” That is a scare tactic that they have been fed.

• Is there a direct cause and effect?
• Does everyone who back squats have low back pain?

Usually people put personal limitations on their own capabilities so they will cling to those words or use those words to limit...

Most people just need to gain muscle mass, lose body fat, and accumulate volume.

The idea of ‘fixing’ a fitness client or using some of your new continuing education catch words to tell people they are something that needs to be fixed is a lack of understanding of the end game and the big picture.

* “You shouldn’t deadlift because your thorax is narrow”

* “You’re so jacked up, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten hurt back squatting yet”

* “You don’t ‘manage pressure’ well in your pelvis so you shouldn’t squat” Can you even explain what pressure management means?

* “You need to do these specific exercises because ‘you’re extended’”

These are all promoting mindsets of ‘there is something wrong with me’. We sometimes like to prove our value and spit out some new knowledge we learned at a con edu event but lose sight of fitness. 

At the end of the...

Hard work is the basis for everything you desire to achieve. It is applying your ability with focused attention and the exclusion of other abilities. You must know the purpose or intended outcome of the work especially in relation to the type of person you desire to be.

Types of Hard Work

1.  PHYSICAL SAVAGERY: 

• Primitive instincts of hunting and killing
• Suffer, Competition
• Do you know what a 10 out of 10 feels like?
• You will need to train at the level you are going to compete at, its called preparation.
• Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

2.  PHYSICAL AWARENESS

• Sense of Self/Body Awareness
• Can you feel muscles working?
• Learning, Variability
• Can you be thoughtful about instructions and the details when you need to be?
• Internal & external standpoint
• Be aware of how your actions effect your surrounding environment

3. HUMILITY & GRATITUDE

• Show appreciation and return kindness
• What type of person do you want to be? If you don’t know that...

The term “Strength and Conditioning” has long been associated with the idea of heavy barbells and running until one’s legs collapse. The strength coaches who exploit our social media pages are often shown yelling until their veins pop at an athlete performing a 700-pound squat. Unfortunately, this has skewed the public’s eye on what a strength coach should represent. Negative reinforcement, yelling, exercise punishment, and representing the villain who runs the team into the ground after the loss predominates the strength coach persona. However, as psychology and motor learning research enters the weight room, it becomes increasingly obvious that these traditional strength coach’s tendencies may hinder an athlete’s performance and psychological well-being. Therefore, it’s time we reexamine the words a strength coach uses and understand how much power one’s word choice can carry beyond barbells.

Your words have...

Coaching: Perception, Context & Perspective.

“More awareness translates into greater survivability” (Lipton, 2015)

“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as WE are.”

Perceive: become aware or conscious of (something) or to interpret (someone or something) in a particular way. Self awareness is the conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires. There is a difference between how you perceive yourself (a false perception can differ from who you actually are), how you think others perceive you, and how they actually perceive you. 

Context: the external circumstances of the present moment and your internal state that has been influenced by past experiences. If context is different, your perception is different, thus your responsiveness is different. 

Coaching is both understanding how to best interact with others that may have a different perspective than you and being aware of your own behavior. All...

It may not necessarily be getting females into leadership positions. Many individuals who hold leadership positions or titles do not demonstrate leadership qualities. The conquest of a title may be less important than the acquisition of the skills and qualities of leadership.

Providing females in the S&C field with these skills may have more value long term. 

Provide solutions in skill sets that include:

• Critical conversations skills
• Thinking about solutions (which most likely can be found in your own behavior) instead of identifying faults in others
• Self awareness (there is purpose in understanding yourself)
• Learning how to promote the growth of others (empowering) instead of spending time establishing hierarchies/inferiority
• Identifying skills in others that will help them succeed
• Listening skills instead of waiting to speak over others (creating mutual respect)
• Being adaptable to how you interact with different people (not being rigid in your own behaviors)
• Learning how...

As a coach there can be much more to programming and long term planning than rep schemes, technique, and modality selection. What is the emphasis on deliberate personal development?

Success can be limited by personal growth through challenges related to honesty, commitment, learning, feedback, critical conversation skills, planning, and hard work. Being more aware of your own behavior and reflecting on others behavior just may give you that edge for success as an athlete and person. 

Questions to always think about and prompt to others:

1. What is something that have you learned from a friend or teammate (past or present)? Not sport related
2. What does maturity mean to you? Why is that important?
3. What is being a good person? Why does being a good person matter or does it?
4. What does being a better person mean to you? What do you need to work on? What is a habits that aren’t getting you there?
5. How has a last relationship (ex. teacher, friend, parent) impacted you in a...

If you’re able to take a look at the impulses that drive you and admit them, it will help you understand other people better, make you wiser, and more careful in your actions.

If you understand that you’re not harmless then that can make you a lot more careful with what you say and do. If you think you are harmless that can make you naïve and vulnerable.

You need reference for the perspective in which you see the world. The wisdom comes from understanding what’s underneath other people’s behavior and being aware of your own intentions. [Jordan Peterson Maps of Meaning Lectures]

Feel free to relate this to coaching.