Strength Coach Chronicles – Interviewing Part I
It’s that time of year again! Can we find that perfect fit for our department to help us take our program to the next level? If you are in the position of hiring, do you have a plan of getting new talent to help your staff? How much is hiring a matter of circumstance versus […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Delayed Gratification
Does every workout need to be really challenging to be effective? This is a really important question from the stance that is prioritizing short term, or first order, over long term, or second order. A common thread is that in order for something to be effective it needs to be really challenging. The concept hard […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Pre/Post Mortem
If you are familiar with goal setting, you should be familiar with the concept of Pre and Post Mortems. The idea adds on top of just setting goals the focal point of understanding constraints and limiting factors to accomplishing something. We are approaching the end of the year and should take some time to think […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Grass Is Not Always Greener
Let’s be real, everyone right now is looking at potential jobs for next year. Looking at football scoop, checking the forums, speculating on whose out and whose subsequently in. But let’s evaluate the situation first and foremost on the actual ‘health’ of this dynamic. Whether we admit it or not a huge part of S&C […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Mentors
This is the area I personally struggle with. I get a lot of requests for people coming by seeing my gym, giving them advice, and just general S&C questions. On one hand it is incredibly flattering that someone cares about your perspective. On the other hand it is a huge time commitment that honestly leaves […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Willingness To Change
I personally think it is incredibly sad when I see an S&C Coach who was unwilling to evolve and stayed entrenched with their views on training. This is not a S&C specific thing; antiquated personnel who are unwilling to change to a rapidly changing industry have always become obsolete. This happens in every industry. The […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Leave the Jersey Better Than you Found it
If you have ever read the book, Legacy, you’ll have read a chapter entitled “Leave the Jersey Better Than You Found It.” In that chapter is a poignant line: “plant seeds for trees that you will never see grow.” This is an important chapter to dive into with all of our staff, in that we […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Problem Solver
Sticking with the themes presented in Amazon’s Working Backwards, I want to look at Problem Solving with the Chronicles this month. One of the best attributes a coach can have is being curious. Asking questions, forming hypotheses, and creating experiments is what a good S&C coach does. This, however, does not always lead to actually […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – The Art of Saying No
This will come off as polarizing, I am sure. On the one hand, someone will read this and know exactly why saying ‘no’ is important. On the other hand, someone will read this and be insulted. What I want to do with this blog is first evaluate why saying ‘no’ is important, why saying ‘no’ […]
Strength Coach Chronicles – Reliability
What is better: to be on time and incapable or to be late and capable? It is really a chicken or the egg scenario in that neither is ideal. To a degree, someone who is reliable is more valuable than someone who is unreliable, regardless of ability. The reason is fairly simple; you can only […]