Do you need a coach? The answer to this question ranges anywhere from “absolutely yes, maybe, or probably not.” This is definitely a concept worth exploring.
If you are performing at your maximum potential, are free from injury, have excellent health markers and body composition, feeling fantastic, and totally satisfied with your training and lifestyle…you don’t need a coach. In fact, if that’s the case, reach out to me so I can ask a few questions and learn from your expertise. There are many ways to achieve this level. While there are big rocks or commonalities in the process such as sleep, nutrition, relationships, exercise selection, etc., each peak performer finds unique ways to personalize and optimize their training patterns. I always enjoy engaging with like-minded folks (who doesn’t?) and I’m inspired by their often ingenious approaches to conditioning. Thanks in advance for sharing in our inclusive, supportive community.
But on the other hand, if by your own estimation you’re not quite there in terms of health and performance, coaching can be of immense benefit to you. It’s this category – those for whom coaching may be a viable option – that we’ll focus on in today’s exploration.
Before we take that dive, we should first ask “Can’t you just coach yourself?” Absolutely “yes” is the answer, but it comes with some caveats. In order to effectively coach oneself, you’ll need to be very naturally inquisitive about all the nuts and bolts of physiology, anatomy, mechanics, psychology, and athletics. You’ll want to do extensive study in these and other areas, be willing to experiment (on yourself) and have a few failures, and dedicate a significant amount of time to this process. If that’s you, rock on, and I’m happy to be a resource for you. A single Lifetime Performance Coaching Consultation might be all you need to bounce around some ideas and lend a clear direction to your journey.
Let’s break down aspects of health, fitness, and performance. These are the areas in which a vast array of coaching is available, from a plethora of professionals (not just me).
Health coaching is a somewhat modern invention. Especially in the online form, which is now most common. The concept here is that you can receive expert guidance and extensive 1-on1 attention from someone who can help you to address various needs and goals. This is not a replacement for medical intervention, but it’s a very appropriate adjunct.
Health coaching, when done right, improves the efficacy of the medical system because it separates the counseling and programming elements of health from the medical necessities. Healthcare providers and facilities, i.e. doctors and nurses and hospitals and clinics (and many others) are designed to do the following:
- Evaluate and diagnose major health issues.
- Intervene after the onset of illness, disease, or injury.
- Treat or deal with emergent conditions.
- Save lives and get people back to systemic baselines.
Arguably, our system in this country is the best in the world at those objectives. But prevention, specific plans, and directed programming fall into the wheelhouse of the health coach. A lot of hats get worn here. It could be a registered dietician or nutritionist, a variety of counselors who primarily utilize a coaching model, or anyone with certain degrees, certifications, or experience and a strong desire to help others in a mentoring, nonjudgmental manner.
In some ways, coaching is coaching. We can use terms like health coach, life coach, executive coach, sports coach, and so on…but there really is a lot of overlap. That’s because the principles which make a human happy, fit, productive, and successful are fairly universal. And coaching itself can use a lot of different styles. Much of this is personality-driven. Every coach develops a method which they prefer and by which they can be identified. The best coaches are also able to adapt and tailor their coaching to better fit the needs of their clients. But one size does not fit all and it’s usually necessary to shop around to find the best coach for you. These relationships have to “click” and if they don’t, it’s best to move on and not try to force the old square peg into a round hole. Life really is too short for that.
Back to health coaching, or working with people to improve health. This was the missing link in our healthcare system until recently. Now, folks can use coaching as a powerful tool to work in concert (not against) their HCP’s, and save everyone time and money in the process. Coaching improves the efficiency and effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle, and it supports the all-important concept of the healthspan. Enjoying a long life of high health and participation is what everyone deserves and it is the primary goal of every health-oriented coach.
I view my coaching work with clients as facilitating the optimal life experience and healthspan. In the health arena, that gets subdivided into three areas.
First, there’s improvement of specific markers such as blood pressure, resting pulse, glucose control, lipid panels (and other bloodwork identified in conjunction with the HCP), and generally just feeling good (or great) all of the time. A lot of this revolves around basic lifestyle changes using The Lifetime Athlete 5-3-1 System. On the foundational level are the 5 Components of Lifelong Health. They are Food, Movement, Sleep, Ergonomics, and Awareness. They can be presented in any order and are described extensively in the 5-3-1 document (available for free when you subscribe to the weekly Peak Performance Update). When we arrive at a reasonable balance among those components (there is no perfect), good things tend to happen.
Second, body composition optimization, or “bodcompopp,” is a popular coaching project. This is usually weight loss, or primarily fat loss (the reduction in percent body fat or adipose tissue), but more and more these days we are targeting lean body mass gains (or at least maintenance) in the form of muscle and bone density. These are incredibly important for longevity. This type of programming is supported by all the basic health pursuits but it leverages heavily on diet and exercise/activity levels. A lot of customization goes in here and we often utilize DEXA scans, anthropometric measurements, DNA analysis, etc. Results in this arena take time and patience and with good science it works well.
Third under the health hat is the injury and pain resolution game. This is the area in which I get to wear my physical therapist hat. I’m proud of how this has evolved and I’d humbly say that I’ve been an innovator in bringing PT into the online coaching model. I’ve been doing this for almost a decade now and refinements continue to be made. I never set out to replace the brick and mortar clinic with this approach. Acute injuries and post-surgical conditions usually require at least some level of face-to-face and hands-on intervention. Especially if you’ve got blood or pus coming out of you. But in the case of the so-called “overuse injury” or chronic pain condition, especially those that have not responded to other means, online coaching is a powerful tool that gets amazing results. Saves time, energy, and money and is incredibly efficient and effective. As long as the PT coach knows what the hell he or she is doing. This comes with decades of experience. You have to be able to cut to the chase, identify the root cause of a problem, communicate effectively, and assemble the correct intervention (rehab, exercise, lifestyle) strategy. And do all this “on-screen” (but with appropriate email, text, and phone support) in a way that works for the client. I’ve been able to help people solve problems that just didn’t respond to the old “shotgun approach” or the typical “rehab mill” clinic. Paying for a couple of dedicated online sessions always ends up being less expensive than a long series of appointments with deductibles, co-pays, commuting costs, etc. no matter how “great” (questionable these days) one’s insurance may be.
Over the years, a lot of clients have chosen the Lifetime Performance Consultation Package. This is 3 sessions available at a discounted rate when purchased together. There is something magical about the number 3. We usually space the sessions out at one every week or so and in many cases that’s all it takes to get the results we are seeking. My philosophy has always been to over deliver on service (I do get that feedback often) and never waste anybody’s time or money. It’s all about value.
Now we get to talk about fitness coaching. Collaborating with clients to increase strength, cardiorespiratory capacity, mobility, and the like. Obviously, this utilizes and builds upon that health platform we just discussed. But we get to make exercise more goal-specific and purposeful. More meaningful. We call that TRAINING. As opposed to exercising just generally or randomly, we now use a plan which is personalized to the client and that progresses towards an outcome.
There are three basic tenets in fitness coaching. Get results. Have fun. Don’t get hurt. Program design must address these considerations appropriately. Getting results means we are using evidence-based training, adapted for best personal fit, to elicit the appropriate responses in the trainee. Having fun is critical. Training doesn’t have to be drudgery. It’s a joyous celebration of able-bodiedness. Enjoyment increases consistency and this tends to yield better results. It’s all about intrinsic motivation. Inserting play, competition, and periodic successes into the system is key. Not getting hurt is really a product of good program design, flexible application, monitoring response-readiness-recovery status, and coach-athlete communication.
Many clients select the Personalized Training Program option. We do an initial intake assessment video meeting and outline all the needs, goals and considerations of the client. Then I do my homework assignment and design a cutting-edge program. We meet back up and go over everything including exercise demonstration and discussion. It’s a killer service.
Performance coaching is the pinnacle. When you have a client who is systemically healthy, of reasonable body weight, and in fairly decent shape overall, it’s time to look at peak performance. Most of this lies in achieving an athletic outcome goal, such as completing an event, improving one’s PR time or weight lifted, or competing at a higher level in sports. But I also coach a number of executives whose focus is producing at peak levels in business, leveraging all-day energy and mental acuity fostered by coaching. And at some point for everyone, peak performance becomes simply being able to keep doing what you love for as long as possible. This can be anything from golf or pickleball, hunting and fishing, or playing with your grandkids.
Apex output leans on the 3 Essential Elements of Peak Performance: Training, Recovery, and Mindset. By diving deeply into these elements, we can take that healthy, lean, fit critter and turn them into a goal-crushing beast. Utilizing long-term plans, periodized programs, and key performance indicators blends art and science in training. Knowing when, how, and what to measure for ideal recovery ensures the gains and avoids breakdown. And framing everything in positive, realistic, and challenging yet attainable ways gets it done.
Effective coaching depends on good communication. A coach needs to be able to listen and observe. Identify issues, problems, targets, etc. Convey and teach in a way the athlete understands and can apply. Assess and adjust programming in an ongoing manner. Be accurate most of the time. Be wrong on occasion but learn, grow, and get better. Give appropriate feedback to the athlete and never take credit for their hard work. Be accessible and patient. The best coaches do all these things and more.
When the game is results (isn’t it always?) athletes need to do certain things. Be honest with yourself. Interact frequently with your coach, especially when you have questions or comments. Trust the system. Stay patient and focused and don’t try to change things up too often.
It really doesn’t matter whether you use various coaching and training apps, spreadsheets, program documents, calendars, email, phone, text (I use them all). Coach and athlete need to be able to have that sense that the other person is “right there” and when that’s a reality, things sync phenomenally.
The premiere service offered at TLA is the Lifetime Performance Coaching Subscription. This is a monthly subscription (no initiation fees and clients can cancel at any time) which provides everything we’ve discussed, 24/7. It’s for people who are serious about results and who are seeking a comprehensive coaching relationship and experience.
All of the different objectives in coaching are interrelated. Sometimes a person can be struggling to hit a peak performance because they are highly fit, just not necessarily optimally healthy. You know, like when chronic fatigue gets in the mix, high stress, poor recovery, etc. and that’s what’s limiting progress. I’ve also seen a lot of athletes who were just not doing the right training for their unique body in their chosen sport or fitness pursuit. Or maybe an athlete is not necessarily overtly injured, but they have some imbalances and deficiencies of which they are unaware and that can be corrected. And of course there are those who can’t even entertain the thought of peak performance because they are stuck in the hole of poor health/chronic injury and they need help digging out of that situation. But once they do…suddenly the possibilities look endless.
Being a Lifetime Athlete is a tough job. In a lot of ways it doesn’t get easier to stay athletic and high performing as you get older. With every advancing year or decade, we need to adjust our strategies, increase our dedication, and outhink The Reaper. He’s coming for us and he’ll get us all. But we don’t have to make it easy for him, rhetorically speaking. I think this is where coaching really shines. A good coach can make it easier for a Lifetime Athlete to stay in the pursuit of Hard to Kill status. As we say, that’s on the playing field for sure, but it’s also, perhaps more importantly, in the game of LIFE. A coach just might save you some time, energy, money, disappointment, and even pain. And he or she can help you have more health, performance, enjoyment, satisfaction, accomplishment, and contribution in this journey.
Maybe you need or want a little coaching. If I’m not your guy, that’s fine. Just explore the possibilities and options available to you. Thanks so much for joining me today.