For Coaches & Clients

It’s no secret that if you’re looking to hire or go into the strength & conditioning field, you will need to build a bullshit detector. The difficult situation I have found myself over the number of years is learning who to trust and who to look to as a reliable source as my education base expanded. Take a version of me eight years ago and ask him what resources I thought were valuable or who I would hire as a coach and they are completely different to what I value today.

I’ve contributed to articles before in the past here and here regarding myths and the BS that is out there. Here is a rundown of the important qualities I would hope young coaches would develop as they structure their “bullshit detector” meter. This includes a series of questions that athletes and clients, who are looking for help, would ask themselves.

For Young Coaches

1. Are their explanations on social media, for posts or stories, backed up by scientific rationale?

If they say constantly “they are backed by science” or generally stamp a “research supported” claim without going into any depth, then you might have to raise the alert level on your bullshit detector. I’ve never understood the claim that “you don’t need to explain anything to people who don’t ask for an explanation.” It is clear that you don’t overindulge anyone who hasn’t asked a “why”, but I believe by explaining with brevity your stance or position gives you a foot to stand on with social media posts.

If someone has a question behind what you’re showing or explaining, go into depth with them with your comments. People appreciate and can see passion outside of just words on paper.

2. Do they constantly use the words “extreme” or “burnout”?

This one is kind of easy: training should never be extreme or burn you out. There is a different with climbing a ladder with multiple small steps versus a ladder with long reaching steps – the former gets to their top faster.

3. Does it look like some of the exercises or movements they present have some form of risk or danger?

The primary focus of any strength and conditioning coach or personal trainer is to eliminate the risk of injury. This starts with the environment and then continues to the exercise selection. Safety comes first and foremost. Most of the time the move you saw on Instagram won’t be as easy to do let alone smart to perform. We live in a world where trainers and coaches try to have 15 seconds of fame. If you see an exercise that looks like someone is having an exorcism, your bullshit detector should go off.

We don’t celebrate the grinding days that lead to success or highlight the importance of the moves that are not sexy. We’re definitely not going to see “arm-care” being a hot key word with the IG algorithms. As a young coach however, knowing the difference is important.

4. Does the exercise selection or programming you’re looking at align with best practices for that sport?

I would think about this one on a sport-to-sport basis. The demands of tennis are not related to the demands of golf, but both have athletes that operate in a rotational sport. The demands of a basketball athlete does not relate to a volleyball player – even though both require change of direction and jumping. Athletic shapes, strength, power, and metabolic demands all matter and should all be taken with consideration. If you see a coach gloating over putting players through gassers because they need to build their endurance, you should raise the bullshit meter up a notch.

For Athletes/Potential Clients

1. Do they have any success with athletes or clients in the past?

A track record matters, however a younger coach may not have that repertoire and that will require you to dive into them a bit deeper with Q&A. Ask yourself what is the general feedback those athletes/clients are giving? Can they be reached out even directly?

2. Does it look like they have a system that they use to progress the athletes and clients they work with throughout their training?

Anyone can combine a bunch of exercises together and make anyone run into the dirt just to feel like they “worked out.” A smart coach knows the stress involved with each exercise, the selection of exercises, the order, the variables, and the desired outcome with training. If a system doesn’t look to be out in the open, ask them directly and see if they can respond with their theory in two sentences or less.

3. “Oh wow they work with professional athletes, they must be good. Can they work with me?”

Professional athletes have years of training experience and will often try a niche approach with training to gain the extra three-tenths of an inch to improve on their performance. This does not translate to success sometimes (albeit most the times) with younger athletes (adolescence through early adulthood/collegiate) with lower training ages. A good coach or trainer should be able to discern how to navigate a weight room with tons of tools to only use a few. When working with someone with a larger training age, expect more tools and toys to be used. Take a look and see if that coach knows how to deal with both of those situations.

4. Does that coach highlight PR’s or people chasing numbers rather than the quality of their work?

As mentioned earlier, no one wants to look at the hard work people go through to get to their goals – let alone publicly acknowledge them. If your prospective coach or trainer is only highlighting high intensity lifts, you might need to twist that dial on the bullshit detector. A successful athlete or client is a product of months if not years of training. Additionally: your success in the weight room does not translate to success on the field of play if you are an athlete. There is no squat rack on the 50-yard line and there is no bench press station on top of the 3-point line.

5. When you try to search up the exercise you just saw or read on social media and can’t find any resource that exists for that exercise.

You crank that bullshit detector up more than just a notch.

Now even though this sounded more like a rant – this is more of a field guide for those on the search for resources and people to help them achieve their athletic or personal goals. Be an educated consumer, ask questions, and do your homework.