Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Train for a Great Life. Today we're going to talk about being a student of your craft and I'm going to talk a little bit about some recent coaching experiences. I haven't coached a heck of a lot in the last couple of years for various reasons. I've had this conversation with a few people the growth of everything in our gym and our business and bringing on staff and different programs and everything. There are a lot of cogs turning in the wheel and it has demanded a lot from Lacey and I in different roles and at different levels of leadership. That we've really had to pour into and, quite honestly, the more I was on the floor, the more it would take me away from those and it would also take away hours from, especially, our full-time coaches that we're responsible for Um. So me being on the floor a little bit more recently, I realized I just miss it. I, I, I always kind of did, but like I, I know that I'm good at it too. Um and I, there is just a level of connection that I miss, um, and so what I've asked of lace is to schedule me in not a whole lot, just a couple of hours um at at hours of the day that I wouldn't normally see. I my workouts usually happen at, uh, at noon or three, 30 or four, 30. So probably mainly the evenings, because I do pop in, you know, in the 9 am time to time, and early mornings I have responsibilities at home with it, with a young one and a dog that's got to get walked early in the morning, so you're probably not going to see me a heck of a lot in the early morning. We've got great coaches for that. Anyway, coaching it still lights me up and I've I've had some awesome classes recently. So I'm going to talk about a couple of experiences in those and coaching at different levels. So we're going to talk about one is like a not understanding issue. Two is a not understanding what you're capable of issue. And three is not understanding how to fix it issue Okay.

Speaker 1: 2:03

So number one last night I was coaching a workout intervals. It was toes to bar rowing, chest to bar, pull-ups rowing. Actually, all three of them are going to be from yesterday. I was coaching the 530 class and it was with Nadim on the rower, okay, so it was toward the end of the workout fourth interval and I noticed he was rowing a little bit slower, like a 220 pace, and I thought, okay, you know what, maybe he's pretty fatigued, it's late in the workout, but the more I kind of paid attention to his facial expression, his posture and everything. He just wasn't really putting out too hard on the rower and I said, you know, hey, bring this down, man, like get it down under under 210 at least, and I'm not even kidding like two hard pulls. And he was down to like two minute pace. And then I was like, okay, um, yeah, keep that up, man, I think you're just holding back on me Kind of laughed and he, he kind of like laughed and nodded, uh, and then we had a little talk in between the next interval and and he told me he's like, yeah, you know, like I, that felt actually pretty easy.

Speaker 1: 3:08

Um, and I and I asked him if he really understood the numbers on the monitor. That was looking him right in the face and he didn't really. And and it's it, doesn't. You know, you can go into all sorts of different depths, but the one that I wanted him to focus on was the pace per 500 meters, the big number that stares in the face on the machines. That is how fast you're going. It's like the pace per 500 meters, the big number that stares in the face on the machines. That is how fast you're going. It's like the pace on your running watch same thing. Okay, um, the amount of effort and power that you put into each stroke will affect that the most. Uh, your stroke rate will affect that as well.

Speaker 1: 3:36

Anyway, I told him I wanted to see like no slower than like a two minute pace on the next one, because it looked like he's a big strong guy, right, um. And then, lo and behold, I come by and he's rowing at like a one 40 pace and you know, he just smiles at me. I'm like, yeah, man, like you're, you're, you're a big strong guy. You can be a monster on this machine. You just need to understand what you're actually trying to do on it, right, and and give him a little bit of feedback of what could be expected of him. Okay, not to go too much further than that one. The next one, not understanding what you're capable of, in a way. So I really liked this one. So I actually wasn't even coaching.

Speaker 1: 4:15

I was in class with John and he got his first toes to bar. He was getting so close and we were chatting, as we were like grabbing a whiteboard, I said, John, just go, go, do it already, get your, get your first toes to bar over with. Like I know him well enough, I see him most days, I can talk to him like that and and he went and he did it, uh, basically on his first try, and then he decided he was going to do them in the workout. Great, okay, um, and then I heard him explain to coach Andrea what his plan was for the workout and and as I was walking by I heard him well, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to try to do this number and blah, blah, blah, and if I can't, then blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

Speaker 1: 4:55

And and I, I finished what I was doing, maybe filling up my water or something and I walked by and I said, john, I just heard you use the word can't and try in the same sentence, I'm going to need you're basically already negotiating what's going to happen and I'm not, I'm not here for that, and so I need you to bring it. And he kind of laughed and he's like okay, understood. And coach Andrea said she was like everything I wanted to say. Jay just said it. And I said I turned and I said, hey, you just say it Right, and that's something like I have to appreciate. I have decades of experience doing this in different formats, um, coaching people and just knowing how to get a message across and like coaching to the individual. Um, I feel like that is a side of things, like not someone not understanding what they're capable of. That that has always been one of the pieces of coaching that really lights me up, so like I love doing that. Um, but anyway, yeah, he, uh, he attacked that workout, he kept his reps, basically the whole thing.

Speaker 1: 6:05

I think the last round broke down a little bit, but like big win for the day for sure, last one not understanding how to fix it. So this is the same class that Nadim was in. Uh, maria, she asked me to have a look at her chest-to-bar pull-ups. She said they have been described as very inefficient, and so she showed me two reps and I said, yeah, I can see that. I saw it right away. This is a hard one to fix and and that's like it's a hard one to fix because it's kind of ingrained, and what I told her was like chest to bar pull-ups are hard, like for most people. If we like raise the bar an inch or two of where they have to actually hit, like they're going to start to do the same thing and if we lower it a little bit, you're going to see that go away.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Um, basically what was happening is like an overextension and a little bit of timing off with her kip. Um, she won't be able to like change it right away. It's not like I can just show her like here's a demo, like now just do this she. But she needs to actually first understand what the problem actually is. So at the point of contact where her chest contacts the bar, like she's getting up there but she's not staying in a hollow position. She's not staying hollow and letting her her hips lift up, um and come closer to the bar as her chest. This might be tough to visualize, but as her chest comes to the bar, her lower half is actually moving away from the bar, right, so her body's kind of levering in a way that that is is going to bring her away from the bar. Basically it's an inefficiency.

Speaker 1: 7:40

I said I'm not going to be able to fix this right away, but I want to show you at least what's happening. And then I followed up and I sent her an email with a video of a couple Chester Bar faults and I said it's mainly these two, number one and number five in the video, and that, uh, and that'll show some some things on how to fix it as well. So again, three different, three different coaching levels. Coaching cues not understanding, sort of like how you should be attacking a workout and what you know what, what could be expected of you and and what sort of effort level. Not understanding what you're capable of with a new movement and then not understanding how to fix something. Hopefully there's a little bit in this for both athletes and coaches. I'll see in the gym.