Welcome to the “family”!

Dear Strength Coach or Personal Trainer,

Welcome to the Yes To Strength Membership Area! We are honoured to have you as a member and we are committed to helping you succeed with your goals as a strength coach or personal trainer.

We wrote on our home page that  “The single most powerful thing we can give you is the knowledge to think better and to ask better questions.” Below you will find 15 key principles and insights that continuously guide us in our  work. I am sharing these here with the aim that you may feel inspired too!

1. As a strength coach or personal trainer the bottom line is the extent to which you are able to help the athlete/client in front of you.



2. It is about which tools (=training methods and strategies) you have in your toolbox, how well you understand them and how well you apply them.
   
   If you put too many tools in your toolbox, you will not be able to learn how to apply them skilfully. If you have too few tools in your toolbox, you may not be equipped to handle the different situations that will present themselves to you efficiently. You want the smallest amount of superior quality tools that allow you to solve any situation with superior results.
   
   Your new tools or better application of existing tools MUST translate into better training programs, otherwise, the client/athlete doesn’t care. Look for the tool YOU need to grow and stop following “trends”.
   
   “To what extent can our current tools serve the client/athlete in this situation?” “Will the application of  new tools create a better end result?”
   



3. Think about, how the little story below can inspire you to increase the effectiveness of your program design and exercise:
   
   “You have a barrel. Now fill this barrel with large stones. Is the barrel now full? No. The barrel still has space for smaller stones. Even with smaller stones filled in the barrel, the barrel is still not full. The barrel still has space for sand. Even with sand filled in the barrel, the barrel is still not full. The barrel still has space for water. When water is filled in the barrel, the barrel is full.”



4. Always think “as simple as possible, as complex as necessary”.



5. A key to great results is to “surround the dragon” and being able to efficiently work with (or refer out) all details that affect the successful outcome of the athlete's/client's training.



6. At some point in your career your limiting factor as a coach is not learning new methods, but making sure you are applying the tools you know at the right time. Only applied knowledge is power!



7. From time to time ANY rule should be questioned, challenged and maybe broken. Any system you work within should help you, not limit you. If you don’t pose the right questions, you won’t get the right answers.
   
   Ask: "How well do I REALLY understand this topic?"
   



8. When we speak about training to other trainers or athletes/clients we can refer to research, accepted principles of physiology, biomechanics or other relevant bodies of knowledge. Our personal likes or dislikes matters not!



9. "Training is not science, but science can improve training." (Dr Jens Bangsbo)
   
   Being a strength coach/personal trainer or a scientist is two different “games” with different rules. As mentioned in point #1, the bottom line for the strength coach or trainer is to be able to help the client in front of him/her, safely, effectively and repeatedly.
   
   For the scientist, the bottom line is proving or disproving a hypothesis according to a specific set of rules.
    
   Often, but not always, science can provide us with effective tools or help us understand our tools better. Science can also educate us to dismiss tools that we thought were useful, but ultimately are not.
   
   Sometimes, a strength coach or trainer must make decisions than cannot be backed up by current science.
   
   A trainer should be able to explain how and why (s)he expects a given method to work using research, accepted principles of physiology/biomechanics etc. or – to some extent – experience. A trainer does not have to provide evidence for what (s)he does – that is the scientist's job.



10. Learn from all quality resources. Look for the quality, strength and usefulness in any resource first. Look for its weakness and limitations second.
    
    
11. Extended memory.
    
    Like we form mastermind groups to increase “brain power”, we must form an “extended memory” of computer files that contain our accumulated knowledge that we might intend to use in a future situation.
    
    Have many of us remembered that squat variation no client has needed for last 5 years? If your next client needs it, you should be able to find it easily.
    
    The more exercises and training methods you know, the more important it is to have a systematic recording of those methods that allows you to find them easily, when needed to create a training program.
    
    
12. Empathy without being empty and overwhelmed.
    
    When you speak to a (problem) client, imagine that you are an “energy-duck”. You are submerged in the situation but the situation (the energy of the client's problems) does not penetrate you.
    
    
13. When you want to convince, your clients/athletes to train with you, you must expect to speak their language.
    
    Make no mistake, if you have clients/athletes, you are selling. You are selling your clients/athletes on the training program.
    
    When you want to convince your client about a certain training strategy, make sure to gather enough “evidence” to present a compelling case.
    
    Never argue about a topic in such a way that it diminishes the client's trust in you, if your continued learning compels you to take a new stance.
    
    Be honest and respectful. Never say anything ABOUT the client that you haven’t said TO the client.
    
    Take a lesson from water. It can be the softest of all things, yet has the ability to carve rocks.
    
    
14.  “The best is better than nothing.”
    
    There are valuable lessons from working with a client in a “something is better than nothing” scenario.  If a client has 10 minutes to exercise, what exercises should s/he do?
    
    There are also valuable lessons from working in an optimal scenario with an Olympic team? How do you structure a week of training if time, energy or money is not an issue?
    
    The best of us can provide value to our clients in both scenarios.
    
    
15. Even though the situation may not always BE the best, we must always GIVE our best. The negative ramifications of taking short cuts goes way beyond the situation at hand.
    
    We must be as precise with our programming as a surgeon is with his/her knife.
    
    

You may find some of these keys immediately useful. Other keys may seem strange at first and require some contemplation before their usefulness appears. Some keys may never be useful for you personally.

We are driven by curiosity, ambition, passion and awe and we want to share our best “discoveries” with you - our valued member – in the form of  blogs, articles, videos, books, DVD’s seminars and more.

Are you in?

We continue to bring you articles and videos related to the 21 Insider Principles of world class Strength and Conditioning.  To access these items, click on membership and register for a free Bronze membership. Keep in touch by signing up for our bi-monthly newsletter at www.yestostrength.com

To your continued success,
Karsten Jensen