I wrote a blog post 2 weeks ago on corrective exercises being just one tool among others in your toolbox if you’re a strength coach.  If you missed it, check it out HERE.  Writing that post got me thinking about the other tools a strength coach should have in his toolbox, and quite frankly there are many!  There are many different systems, training methods, pieces of equipment, injury prevention methods and much more that can be used in your programs, and in the end this is what constitutes your own unique system.  Every coach’s system is different because we all learn from different people, have different backgrounds, have different mentors, different clienteles and educate ourselves through different resources.  And it’s fine.  Not every strength coach in the world needs to have the exact same system and have all the exact same tools in their toolbox.

How big is YOUR toolbox?

The more different tools you have in your toolbox, the better you will be as a coach.  Or at least, you’ll have a greater potential to be.  That’s why it’s important to not completely buy into only one system; you limit yourself.  Using only one system means confining your athletes to one training method, and ignoring everything else.  Because most training methods and systems that have been around in the business only focus on one thing.

For example, the Westside system is a great one.  Powerlifters around the world have made tremendous gains using this system and a lot of the strongest men on the planet are following the Westside template.  But there’s also a lot of strength coaches who use this method, and it’s great to get athletes stronger, but if you don’t have other tools in your toolbox to incorporate to your Westside template, your ignoring many important qualities that athletes absolutely need (speed, rotational power, injury prevention, etc).  I am not shitting on the Westside method at all (because I use a variation of it myself); I’m just saying that it can’t be the only tool in your toolbox.  The Westside method was created for powerlifters, so it’s important to keep that in mind.  Just like every method or system is usually created for one specific population.

Same goes for the Crossfit.  Personally I’m not a huge fan because the injury potential is way too high for high level athletes when you’re doing complex exercises under extreme fatigue.  There are some merits to the method for their use of compound movements and lifting circuits to as a form of metabolic conditioning.  And if you use some sort of Crossfit circuit to condition your athletes, it can be a good tool in your toolbox.  But if you’re labeled as a Crossfit guy and do nothing else with your athletes, you’re definitely missing out on the specificity of the sport and the injury prevention component of your training program.

The take home message here is not to think that systems like Westside Barbells and Crossfit and bad, but that you probably shouldn’t use exclusively those methods, just like you shouldn’t use only a TRX, or only Olympic lifts to train your athletes.  Every tool has its place (just like corrective exercises if you read my post), you just need to know how and when to incorporate each one of them in your programs.  You’ll be a much better coach, and more than anything else, you’ll have your own unique system that will make you stand out from the rest.

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Having a good training program might just be one of the most important thing in your training.  Think about it for a second.  Yes, you need to bring in the effort and your program is only as good as the hard work you put in it.  But if you get to the gym with nothing but good intents and you’re ready to bust your ass, and all you do is stupid stuff, not only you’ll probably end up injured, but your progress won’t even be half of what it could be with a good structured approach.

This is beyond stupid…

With a good approach and a structured program your gains will skyrocket like you could’ve never imagined.  More often than not, you think that just busting your ass and doing more will get you where you want to be.  While in certain cases, that might help for a while, but the truth is you’ll stagnate very quickly with this less than optimal approach.  And then you’ll start to do even more to bust through plateaus, you’ll spend hundreds of dollars on useless supplements, and you’ll develop pain and aches from doing too much while in reality, a no-nonsense approach that’s efficient, time-effective and adapted to your needs will get you where you want without all the hassle.

Writing programs to get faster, to get stronger and to get bigger are not easy to write, especially for intermediate to advanced lifters.  Even worst is writing such programs for yourself!  For many reasons it’s really hard to write a program for ourselves;

• we do the stuff we like
• we avoid what’s hard and we don’t like to work on our weaknesses
• we’re limited by our knowledge (exercises, training methods, etc)
• it’s easy to stay in our comfort zone and we pretty much always do the same things

Writing programs for yourself can literally give you headaches

Why don’t you hire somebody to do that for you?  Just like you hire an accountant to do your taxes, and you hire a mechanic to fix your car, why wouldn’t you hire a professional to write your training programs?  The truth is, fitness professionals (competent ones that is, which are not that easy to find) are way more qualified than you will ever be and they WILL get you where you want faster than you think.

I have been writing programs for over 7 years now.  I have worked with week-end warriors who want to put on muscle, with D-1 College athletes and pro athletes who need to get stronger and faster to make their team; I’ve pretty much worked every clientele possible.  Right now, I write programs for athletes at Endeavor and for a couple of online clients.  I’ve had some time free up on my schedule recently and I am opening up 10 spots for online clients as of now.  If  you want to take the guess work out of writing your own training programs, I can help.  I will write you complete, structured and effective programs that will make you reach your goals while staying pain and injury free.

If you’re interested, visit my Services page to read all the details and see if you qualify for my exclusive services.  Like I said, I’m opening up only 10 spots, so hurry up!

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I’ve written in the past about what the biggest secret to gaining weight was: EATING MORE.  The so-called hard gainers out there who blame their genetics and are trying to find the magical training program out there to gain muscle mass.  There is no secret.  But there are ways that are more effective than others.  Eating whole natural foods and eating more of it, and following a well designed training program like Show and Go from my colleague Eric Cressey will definitely get you where you want to be.

I just finished the last phase of Show and Go along with the whole Endeavor staff, and I must say that I’m really pleased with the results.  I established new PRs (personal records) for my front squat and my bench press, along with packing on 11 pounds (8-9 of which is lean muscle) over 4 months!  And honestly, gaining weight was not even my first goal going into the program; my main goal was to gain strength.  But I did eat a lot during those 4 months, so the weight and muscle gain was expected.

Here’s a sample 1-day diet record of what I was usually eating in a day:

Breakfast:

- 8 eggs omelet with onions, peppers, spinach and organic sharp cheddar cheese

- 2 Ezekiel bread toasts with organic butter

- 2 clementines, 1 kiwi fruit and 3oz of pomegranate juice

Post Training:

- Smoothie w/ 1.5 cup of organic whole milk, 1 scoop of protein, 1 banana, 4 strawberries, 1 T.spoon flax seeds, 1 T.spoon cacao nibs, 2 T.spoon natural peanut butter and 1/2 cup of oats

Lunch:

3/4 pound of chicken breasts

2 cups mashed potatoes (made w/ organic milk and organic butter)

carrots w/ hommus

Snack:

16oz of plain whole fat organic yogurt, 1 scoop of protein powder, handful of cashews, 1/2 cup blueberries and 1/2 cup granola mix

Dinner:

3/4 pound of pork chops breaded w/ quinoa flakes

2 cups of green beans cooked in organic butter

Pork, quinoa and green beans

I don’t know exactly how many calories it represents, but if I had to guess I would say close to 4,000.  And yes I do realize that it’s a lot of food in one day; and it’s also almost all whole natural foods (nothing pre-packaged or overly processed).   I went from 220 to 231 pounds in 4 months eating pretty much like that everyday.  My goal is not to show off, but rather to make “hardgainers” realize what does eating A LOT of food actually means.

It’s really easy to make excuses, but a lot harder to cook food, plan ahead for all your meals for the day and actually eat that much food.  Combine those strategies with a good, no-nonsense training program like Show and Go and you won’t have to complain about not gaining weight anymore.

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Becoming a better athlete means a lot of things.  It takes EFFORT. Of course you want to be surrounded by good coaches, have a good training program to help you achieve the best gains possible, but without effort, you’re going nowhere.  As strength coach Christian Thibaudeau once said: ”You can have the worst program in the whole world, if you bust your ass, you will still make a lot more progress than someone with the greatest program in the world who doesn’t work hard”. 

It couldn’t get more accurate than this.  Every athlete willing to get better and reach the next level is always seeking for the best strength coach/trainer out there with the best program; one that will have that “magical ingredient” to his programs that nobody else has heard of and that will make their gains skyrocket. 

Let me clear something out; I am all for good programming and I truly believe that every athlete should have a program that suits their needs.  But let’s be honest, there is no such thing as a magical training program that will bring you to the next level.  Once you’ve covered all the essential components, all you need to make the greatest gains possible on a specific program is to put all your effort and dedication on it. 

I’ve seen way too many athletes in my career looking for the perfect program that would take them to the next level.  I’ve seen way too many guys like this who talked the talk, but didn’t walk the walk.  Success is guided by effort, dedication, sacrifice and commitment. 

Your training program is just a piece of paper after all.  It’s what you decide to do with it that will guide your success.

ARE YOU WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES?