I should probably re-title this “4 Reasons You Should Hire Force Barbell,” because there is a high probability you could hire a strength and conditioning professional, and it ends up being a bad experience. Not all coaches put the client or athlete in their best interest, and some coaches aren’t very passionate about the profession, but was something they got into because they like to lift weights. So, be smart and do your research when searching for a strength and conditioning professional.
I am writing this article because there are so many people out there that think they can do it on their own. “I don’t want to spend the money on that, I can do it myself.” “I already throw 94mph, why do I need a strength and conditioning program?” “Why spend that amount of money when I can get a year membership at Lifetime Fitness for 10% of that price.” “I have my high school weights program so I’m already getting what I need in.” “I want to get started, but I just can’t seem to take the first step.” These are all questions or thoughts that I have come across in my very recent experience. So, why do you need a strength and conditioning professional, or better said, why do you need Force Barbell?
- Accountability
This is the very first reason because it is the most important reason. It is the number one reason why people don’t get started on their health and fitness journey or can’t keep their journey sustainable. They lack accountability. They can’t keep themselves accountable and that is the number one reason why people don’t accomplish their goals in ANYTHING in life. If you can’t keep yourself accountable to do the things that you don’t want to do, but NEED to do, then you are never going to make it. You are never going to make progress, or your progress will begin to stagnate and you will fall off the wagon. This is the main reason why people don’t make it. In health, fitness, athletics, business, etc.
Now, to give people a break it is very hard to keep yourself accountable. This is where a strength and conditioning professional comes in to play. If you try to do it all on your own then you are making the process that much harder for yourself. You need someone else to hold you accountable. It is very easy to surrender to your own thoughts, and say, “oh, I’ll just get my training session in tomorrow.” “I’ll just eat this doughnut now, but I’ll definitely make up for it by eating well tonight.” “I’m going to get started, but only when the time is right.” When someone else is holding you accountable besides just yourself it is that much harder to give up. It makes it that much harder to not go to your training session, it is that much harder to not get started, and that much harder to not eat the right foods. Nothing would ever get done in America if everyone just relied on his or her own willpower and self-accountability. We need that additional person in our lives to hold us accountable to get done what we need to get done. It’s easy to give up on yourself, but it’s hard to give up on another person. This leads to my next point.
- Empathy
In order to be held accountable by another person that person has to be empathic. You’re never going to trust your strength and conditioning coach if he or she is constantly screaming down your throat trying to get you to do shit regardless of you feel. I joke around with clients and athletes all the times saying, “no one cares,” but in reality they know I do care. But, when it comes to complaining, I don’t care. Do what you need to do and get your job done. You need someone who is good at understanding how other people feel and is going to meet you half way. THAT DOESN’T MEAN THE WHOLE WAY. Empathy sounds like a very “soft” term, but don’t get it twisted. A part of being empathic and holding someone accountable is calling them on their bullshit. This only works if you understand that person and are in their frame of reference. If you don’t know or understand someone and you try to call them out and hold them accountable they are going to take it from a completely different perspective. You can know someone for years, but that doesn’t mean you understand them. You have to put in the man-hours with someone in order to have a deep and confrontational conversation and have them trust what you are saying. This is one item that is very hard to find in a strength and conditioning professional, because not a lot have it, or understand it. You will know when you find someone who has it. Remember, in order to hold someone else accountable you have to be empathic. “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
- Guidance
Another crucial reason why someone should hire a strength and conditioning professional is guidance. This is huge because nobody has any idea where he or she is going in this world, or where he or she wants to go. Much less, they have no idea how to get their journey started in strength or fitness or what direction they want to steer that journey. This is where having a great strength and conditioning coach can provide a lot of value. As someone who has been on the journey and knows the in’s and out’s of training they can provide a lot of insight. Not only can they tell you what you are doing wrong and how to fix it, but they can see you from the outside in. Why this is important, is because most of the times we are so close to ourselves it is hard to understand our personality and what we really want. A good coach can provide some perspective and alternatives that can lead you down a better path. At Force, we have had Olympic Weightlifters switch to the sport of Strongman, we have had people come to us to lose weight and get more “fit” and they have turned national-level Powerlifters, and we have had coaches change career paths to stay on staff at Force Barbell. A little guidance can come a long way. At no point were these people forced to go in opposite directions, but were guided and lead to more positive alternatives. No matter what decisions people decide to make, the coach has to support them 100% even if they don’t completely agree. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Guidance also only works if you have that built up accountability and empathy. If there is no trust within the relationship than guidance is completely out of the equation.
- Knowledge + Application
I decided to put knowledge last, because that is usually the first item people seek when looking for a place to train. Don’t get me wrong, knowledge is great and that is why it is still on the list, but I believe the first three points above are much more important. Knowledge doesn’t mean anything if you can’t build up accountability and empathy. I also decided to put application with knowledge as well, because there are many coaches and people with a wealth of knowledge, but couldn’t apply it to save their lives.
I wasn’t even going to put knowledge on this list until I realized that there are people out there doing some incredibly absurd and dangerous things, but there are still people paying for their services. Just letting people train without proper coaching is dumb, and should be a big red flag to question whether you should still train at that gym or not. It amazes me how many facilities you could walk in to, and people are just doing their own thing without being able to tell if a coach is around or not. When walking into a legitimate training facility you would know right away who the coaches are without even asking. You would know by the way they are coaching and LEADING the room.
So, when deciding who to hire as your strength and conditioning coach or what facility to train at, make sure it is someone who is well qualified with a lot of experience. Make sure they have the knowledge and the application of that knowledge to set you up with the best opportunity to succeed in whatever your endeavor is. Make sure, without a doubt you believe you will see progress with this person or facility. That is how much they should stun you the first day. They should have that much knowledge and confidence in that knowledge that you are bought in right away, and that is the facility you MUST train at. It is sort of the same thing as relationship advice. It should be a f**k yes, or no. If you have to think twice about the decision then it probably isn’t in your best interest to train with that person. So, question the hell out those people, make sure they know what they are talking about, and they can apply their knowledge and experience to your situation.
Hopefully you are now more informed than you were before you read this. You should now have a reason to go hire a strength and conditioning professional, and know what to look for when deciding whether or not you want to pay these people for their services.
You can’t do it all on your own. Give up the reigns and you will feel much better about the situation. You don’t know yourself that well to do it all on your own. Ask questions, and make sure it is somebody you trust that has you in their best interest.
#LiveLightLiftHeavy