Episode #83 one of the most cringe things I did as a new coach..

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Transcript

0:35

Hello, and welcome back to the podcast. So today we are taking a trip down memory lane. And when I first became a coach, all right. 10 years ago. I started out as a coach and the CrossFit group class space. And I think that if you have a similar background, you are probably going to resonate most with what I'm going to talk about in this episode. But if you, even, if you cannot resonate, I bet you will be able to take something out of this episode. So. I would say that one of the most cringe things I did when I first started coaching. I was looking at somebody's PVC, overhead squat to quote unquote, assess them. All right. And now. This is something that was happening a lot in the CrossFit space. Okay. There was like kind of these baseline assessments. That we would do on new clients coming into the gym. Before getting them in a group class, and this came from a good place, right? Like, It came from a good place of wanting to know how to best to modify for this client when they got into a class. But. Like there were some big mistakes that were being made. With the methods that we were doing, knowing what I know now. Okay. But. And like also. 10 years later, I know, way better. And like, here's an example of like, why looking at someone's, you know, overhead squat, it's a terrible idea of a quote unquote assessment. Because when you are watching somebody Mo do this movement. There are multiple things going on simultaneously in order for this movement to like even happen when we're talking from an anatomical standpoint. Okay. Now. For something like an overhead squad to happen. Some things that are going on in the body. Ankle, dorsi, flection, hip flection, knee flection, shoulder flection, and core stability. To name a few. Okay. Those are, that is five things happening. And going on in different areas of the body. In order for the client to like, even be able to do this movement. And so I want you to imagine if you had a client who is a limited. In all of those tests. Of course, that movement is going to look like a freaking train wreck. Okay. Like I remember doing this on clients and being like, oh my God, this just looks like a shit show, but no wonder, because. All of those things that I mentioned, like, if you have major mobility restrictions, you were like straight up not going to be able to do that movement. Like at all. And so. Here's a better way to assess. Okay. As a, looking at a client's range of motion, joint by joint, before you even have them do something like a squat, even if we're talking about a regular air squat. Looking at their range of motion first. It's going to be so much more beneficial in the long run. And here's why. When, you know, as clients available range of motion, joint by joint. Before you even have them do a movement, you know exactly what types of squat variations are going to work best. For their current ability. And I think that's so important. Like a lot of times when people start working with trainers, they're nervous, they might be embarrassed. They are afraid of falling over, you know, like there's so many things going on within the client and like the last thing you want to do. As make them. Feel shitty for not being able to do a movement that you're asking them to do. Or them feeling like, oh my God, this is so hard. Like, I, a hundred percent cannot do this. Like I knew working out wasn't for me, or I knew strength training wasn't for me. Like that is the last thing that we want as coaches. And a way to get ahead of that is too. Take the time to assess them joint by joint. So you already have an idea in your brain, like what available movements? Could work for them. Right. So that when you are a program for them, whether you're doing sessions with them or working with them online, Like you're a lot more likely to give them things that are going to work better for them. And then they are going to leave feeling empowered instead of feeling like a failure. And not just from a client perspective, but from a coaching perspective, let me tell you that you were going to feel. So much less frustrated when you are programming for clients, because you have a much better idea of what kinds of movements that they should be doing. Instead of just guessing and throwing stuff at the wall and being like, okay, like, I'm going to have them start off with air squats, but if they have limited. Ankle hip and knee flection. Those air squats are going to look like shit. All right. So they're probably better off doing something like a split squat instead. Even if it is like half range of motion because they have knee pain or, you know, whatever, but I think you get the point. And it's like, It says you a lot of times that of having the backtrack. And an example of backtracking could be like, okay, let's say your program is like, Squats for the client. And then you review their video and you're like, wow, that looks like a total train wreck. Like, let's try this other thing instead. Well, you could have just gone right. To trying the split squats week one. If you would know if you would have done more assessments in the beginning, right? So. That is M. A way that it just saves you a lot of time, as well as the coach. So. I hope this was helpful for you. Maybe gave you a little bit of a laugh when I'm talking about making new clients do overhead squats. But if you are a coach listening to this. And you want to learn more about being a better coach. You want more tips like this? Make sure to be following me on Instagram. At Ashley crocker, one to seven. And also get on my email list to make sure you are in the know for everything I've got. For coaches. That is coming up. So if you want to get on my email list, click the link in the show notes, or send me a DM on Instagram with your email. And I will make sure you are on there. All right. Talk to you soon.