People You Need to Listen to…
Thursday, July 19th, 2012There are so many people in this industry that have something to teach. Every single one of them with unique background and experience that makes them very knowledgeable.
In my opinion the ones with the most valuable knowledge to share are the ones that have been successful for many years in this business training athletes. I always get pretty pissed off when I hear or read some “internet experts” talk shit on those that have far more real world experience than them, and that have been successful at what they do for such a long time. Charlie Weingroff once said something like “you can make research say whatever you want”. Meaning there will always be a study somewhere to support your opinion. So I hate to break it to you, but research is not the end all, be all of performance training. Yes it’s important, and yes it helps understand the science behind what we do, but don’t trust every single research paper ever written.
That being said, here are some of the guys, in my opinion, who have been the most successful in the fitness business for a long time. When these guys talk, I listen.
Mike has been coaching athletes for almost 30 years. That’s about as many years as I’ve been alive! For that reason alone, when coach Boyle talks, I listen. It’s funny how it works in the fitness business, as it seems like you’re either a “Boyle guy” or you’re not. By that I mean that there is a lot of people out there that believe what Mike does is the best way to do things and follow all of his ideas. On the other hand there are a lot of coaches out there who disagree with everything Boyle says. Regardless, Mike has been coaching high level athletes for a very long time, and has been sending more players to the NHL than anybody I know. Most of the guys that Boyle trains have very few incidences of injury, and usually have pretty long careers. So whether you agree that 1-leg squats are better than back squats, or foam rolling serves a purpose or not, you have to respect what he’s done. The other thing I really like about coach Boyle is that he is not afraid to change his mind and admit when he has been wrong. That proves his open-mindedness and his will to still get better. Even after 30 years in the business, he doesn’t sit on it thinking he’s the best.
It’s a shame that Mark doesn’t have a bigger internet presence to share more of his knowledge because he has so much to share. I’ve seen Mark present once at the Perform Better seminar last year, and before that I knew very little about him even though he’s been in the business for close to 20 years. His facility Athletes’ Performance, is one of the most successful companies in the business, and highly sought after by many professional athletes. That in itself tells me a lot. Building a successful company is just as important as being good at training your athletes, and Mark has proven himself successful in both. If you have a chance to see him in a seminar, jump on it! He is a very energetic guy that shares stuff that always makes a lot of sense to me.
The least I can say is that there is a lot of controversy around Charles Poliquin. People take shots at him constantly, he disagrees with a lot of other successful coaches, he seems to have his own ways, and he has a very select group of followers. Charles has done a lot of great things for the strength and conditioning world, and a lot of his principles and training methods are widely spread across the world. He has been around for more than 2 decades as well. He was a little guy from Canada who grew into becoming one of the most sought after strength and conditioning coach in the world. He has trained a ridiculous number of athletes who succeeded at the highest level (Stanley Cup champions, Super Bowl champions, Olympic gold medalist, etc), and he owns many facilities across the country. He has his own supplement line, his own certification program, and spreads his disciples everywhere in the country, and they all train people according to the ‘Poliquin principles’; it almost looks like a cult in the fitness industry! I can’t say I agree with every single thing he says, but with all the knowledge and experience coach Poliquin has, along with the success he’s had developing his business and products, I have a lot of respect for him and I always look to learn from him.
Joe has successfully trained athletes and Hollywood stars for many years now. He owns the most successful gym in New York City, and has built a solid reputation in the fitness business. On top of that, I met Joe a couple years ago and he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. He’s very down to earth and he is not afraid to share his knowledge. Joe has been training a lot of clients who have body composition goals, and have had tremendous results doing so. I worked with personal training clients who wanted to lose fat in the past, and it is never easy because there is such a huge psychological component to it, especially when it comes to sticking to a diet. Because of that I can appreciate the work Joe does with his clients, and I am very impressed at how ripped his clients get!
Dan John has been in the business forever. He has an incredible amount of experience under his belt and he has coached more athletes than I ever will. He has a TON of knowledge, yet his advice are always simple and to the point. I’ve interacted with Dan a little bit via the internet and he is very nice and available, which are very important quality to me for people you look up to. Dan John is a really good writer too as he always shares experiences, and anecdotes while sharing his knowledge. The simplicity of his methods are always good for people who over-complicate things too much to hear. And more than anything else, for me, is that he is the exact opposite of every internet expert with no real world experience; he doesn’t use any big words, he’s easy to understand, he’s very down to earth and his training advice are always very practical.
I think it would be fair to say that 5 years ago, no one knew about Joel Jamieson. Fast forward a couple years, he released a book that creates a lot of discussions, released a heart rate variability product, and he is surrounded by controversy for his beliefs about aerobic training. The bottom line is that Joel brings some fresh air to the “just get everybody as strong as possible” mindset that has been very present in the strength and conditioning world. He has a lot of knowledge in some aspects of strength and conditioning that most coaches don’t have. He has been successfully training top level MMA fighters, as well as athletes from other sports for more than a decade. His opinions on many topics are different than the ones of other well known strength coaches, but Joel’s experience shows you that he has been successful using a completely different system, which we can all learn from.
Unfortunately not enough people know Sean, as he is not too big into marketing himself over the internet. But Sean his one of the best strength coaches out there. He has been working for an NHL team, and every single season his team finishes in the top 5 teams of least men-games lost to injury. In a sport that is becoming increasingly fast, and where the epidemic of injuries is growing every year, Sean manages to keep the injuries to a minimum with his team, the Anaheim Ducks. When working for a professional team, this is probably the biggest impact you can have as a strength coach. Let’s face it: you’re not going to improve performance that much during the season with pro athletes playing 82 games in 5 months or so. And during the off-season if you’re lucky to have 20% of your team still in town, a lot of them need to nurse injuries and reverse the damage from the previous season. Sean probably understands that more than anyone, which explains his success at the professional level. There is always something I can learn from Sean.
I didn’t really know Dave until recently, but he is one of the most knowledgeable guys in strength and conditioning. His understanding of the energy system development is simply fascinating. And Dave doesn’t just speak with big words, he has been coaching athletes for quite some time. He also has a unique perspective working with soccer players. Dave was involved in some forum discussions following an article I wrote for StrengthCoach.com recently, and I have to say that I learned a lot just by reading his posts on the forum. He is definitely someone I will refer to a lot in the future when it comes down to energy system development.
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