The greatest things in your life won’t happen by chance, they’ll happen by choice.
In the article What is the Value of an Online Diet Coach? I talked about the specific benefits I think working with an online coach holds vs one you can hire locally.
This article focuses more on the specifics of what I personally do and my thoughts on what I feel a good coach does.
Solving the Information Overabundance Problem
In many ways we are lucky to live in a world where information is freely available at our fingertips, however, I would say that the fitness industry is suffering because of it.
We are swamped, and when it comes to achieving our physique goals there is so much information that reading and studying more quickly becomes counter productive.
For every opinion you read on this site, you will find someone somewhere on the net saying the exact opposite. That doesn’t make them wrong – there is certainly more than one way of doing things – the problem comes when people start taking pieces of different systems, putting them together and confusing themselves over the inevitable advice conflicts.
If you’re a fan of someone’s work, the results they get, and are frustrated with your own, then you’re better off sticking with what they say and the system they use until you start making good progress. – Better to bend yourself to meet the rules than try and bend the rules to meet you. For now anyway, leave the debate for later.
Giving the ‘Right Answer’
There are times when what people want to know and what they need to hear are different. This is the difference between a coach, and Google.
I’m often asked why someone would pay me for advice when I publish so much information on the website for free. “You probably don’t need to hire me, just have a look at the website. All the information is there and if you have a question just ask me in the comments.”
So what is it that people pay for? – I call it, the ‘right answer’.
Though the articles and guides are well intentioned, I’m painfully aware that the more in-depth I explain things, the deeper many people dig their hole. – People have a tendency to assume that the most complicated answer is the right one for them. Complication appeals to us, and we love to change things and assume the worst.
Consider the following questions I’ve had in the comments:
- Is it better for me to train fasted?
- What’s the optimal carb split for meals across a day?
- Should I squat every session?
- How do I adjust things if I do another sport aside from the lifting?
There is no single answer to such questions, and I can’t give one without knowing the person’s individual situation. This is what the coaching relationship allows for that the comments don’t. It means I can make an objective decision: clear, concise*, actionable advice for you.
(*Baffling someone with technical bullshit spanning several paragraphs may seem impressive and feel good, but if it leaves the client paralyzed because they are given too many possibilities then that isn’t coaching.)
Assessing Compatibility – Makes a Suggestion and Prediction
Choose a coach you think you’ll get along with. You’ve got to agree with the person you are thinking of hiring about what can be achieved and the method in which you’ll go about achieving it. This is vital to avoid frustration down the line.
If you’re a fan of large amounts of cardio, metabolic conditioning, high meal frequency and exactitude then it makes sense to choose someone that works with, and gets good results from such methods. I don’t, and I can only make a prediction based on using the methods that I am familiar with.
Within this context the most common ‘mistakes’ (which I’ll list here as it may be useful for you) I see are:
- Inflated expectations.
- Underestimation of body fat.
- Lack of a clear direction/goal.
- Emphasis of training over diet.
- Over-reliance on cardio or ‘conditioning’.
- Too much stressing over minor details.
- Inappropriate training volume.
- Inadequate tracking methods.
- Lack of patience.
- Too severe a calorie-deficit for too long.
Making suggestions for change is relatively easy. Predictions are harder. I have a good idea what will happen when the changes are implemented but there is always a degree of educated guesswork. Still, it’s important to make a prediction to check we’re on the same page with expectations on what we can achieve and I always do this before working with someone.
Doesn’t Allow People to Faff
faff: verb [ no obj. ] spend time in ineffectual activity: We can’t faff around forever.
There are some times where I need to be soft, and others where I need to be firm. A good coach does not pander to the whims of their client if said whims threaten to throw them off course. I don’t believe in hand holding but I do believe in supporting people. If I think you’ve been faffing around, you can guarantee that I will tell it to you straight and I won’t mince my words when I do so. By the same token if you’re blaming yourself for something that I feel you have no blame for – I will tell you.
With the faff cut out, plan in action, everything should and usually rolls along fine. However, if things don’t, then decisions have to be made that aren’t always simple. This brings me onto the final and possibly most important part of the job of a good coach…
Making Difficult Decisions
Several weeks have past. Nothing seems to have happened. Body measurements are the same, scale weight is the same.
Do we need to adjust the macros to keep things moving or just be patient?
Or to put it another way:
Is this a stall that will be fixed with patience or do I need to do something?
Some of the things I look for:
- Any irregularities in sleep patterns, or stress at this current time in their life?
- Are they the the lean but weak guy who has just started training and is growing muscle at the same rate as he’s losing fat and thus nothing shows up the change but he feels harder?
- How does this person’s macros compare to other people I have worked with (of comparable height, weight, training status and schedule, etc.)?
- Is any metabolic slow-down (above the norm) likely due to a previous extended period of dieting? Should we look fix that with a diet break?
- Has this person been low-carbing for a while and thus probably will do better on lower carbs for the time being?
- Should I look to adjust the macro ratios? Are they the type of person that seems to simply do better on relatively high carb/low fat diets, or vice versa?
In the most extreme example I have seen a person stall for no apparent reason for 6 weeks, then BAM, it all comes off. Frustrating when there doesn’t appear to be any reason except that your body is screwing with you.
There aren’t always clear cut answers. I just try and do what I can based on experience and the patterns I’ve seen.
Thanks for reading.
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