I cannot direct your approach to the Universe, my son. You must make your own path.
Member
Fighting a losing battle
Mr. Rippetoe,
I would like to know your thoughts on this matter. Perhaps it is me venting, but feel free to vent back.
I am a strength coach at a private facility and believe in nothing but the fundamentals. I understand the bull shit in the industry of "fancy" exercises, and special treatments that are all just bogus and not even needed, if you simply perform the fundamentals properly. However the issue I am having is with my client base. They are soaked in the bull shit philosophies of all this "special treatment" training and "sport specific" training, and I am having a hard time conveying to them that what we are doing (the fundamentals and proper progression) is priority. Specifically I have a client that just wants more. More training, more specialties, more stuff to do. We have made nothing but PRs every single week for the past three months. She has recently paid for more training to do "corrective exercise" and "transverse abdominal strengthening" to better her squat with another trainer..... I cannot even make this up. Do I allow her to waste her money, and just nod my head and say good job and condone this? I just cannot steal money from people. Do i switch up her training for the sake of fun and forget my moralistic approach to true progressions?
The fact that I don't blow smoke up everyones ass and intelectually masterbate in front of everyone on bull shit ideas and sciences, makes me look like an amatauer...... Its catch 22 it seems.
A more direct question for you on this rant; how do you deal with your clients that want all the fancy bull shit? Let them have it and take their money? Dont work with them at all?
Just looking for your wisdom
Aaron
TMPHBITEU
I cannot direct your approach to the Universe, my son. You must make your own path.
Member
Have you said to this woman "you know, all that other stuff you're paying for is, in my professional opinion, total bullshit and a waste of your money"?Originally Posted by Aaronf90
Starting Strength Coach
If she's really just looking for 'more stuff to do', have her to simple gymnastics exercises like handstands, cartwheels, and forward rolls. As long as it doesn't interfere with the the main lifts, you can have two gymnastics skills a workout that take up 10-20 minutes at the end of the real workout.
Also, "She has recently paid for more training to do "corrective exercise" and "transverse abdominal strengthening" to better her squat with another trainer." This is just me, because this is a side job/hobby not a source of primary income, but I would fire her ass if she did that. She either trusts you to know what the hell you're talking about or she doesn't. Why would you work with someone that doesn't trust you? (other than for money)
Member
Cutting your quote down to the actual question; it's her money to waste, but you'd be remiss not to point out this "extra work" will compromise her recovery and affect the main lifts in negative ways - if it hasn't happened already, it will as she continues along the LP path.
Perhaps a simple phrasing of "Let's run out this program, then we'll see what else needs to be added."
✓ Member
Andrew's post is the key in my mind:
If this is your primary source of income and you are trying to build a client base, you may have to just deal with it...while gently prodding her in the right directionThis is just me, because this is a side job/hobby not a source of primary income, but I would fire her ass if she did that. She either trusts you to know what the hell you're talking about or she doesn't. Why would you work with someone that doesn't trust you? (other than for money)
If on the other hand this is a side job/hobby/or you have a firm client base already established. You can just lay it out for her and tell her this isn't how you coach and she is wasting her money. And then let her decide what to do. Integrity counts a lot. But sometimes you also need to pay the bills.
Member
You have training goals as a strength coach, but your clients have their own goals, which might be very different than yours. Your client might be:
* a young person who wants to look good in a swimsuit
* a fat middle-aged guy who wants to join the 1000# club
* a woman who wants to tell her friends about the latest trendy exercises that she's doing
* a bro who wants gainz and shredz so he can pose in his underwear in front of other dudes
* a grandmother who wants to get stronger so she can enjoy playing with her grandchildren
* someone who wants you to be her unofficial psychologist
etc.
You will have to decide whether your goals (strength and perhaps money) are compatible with your client's goals, whatever they are. It might be helpful to ask each client to share his goals before you get started, but there will be times when you won't get the real answer, and you'll have to figure it out, over time, through observation.
Member
But seriously, when I was doing the program exactly as prescribed I literally didn't have energy to do much else of anything. If the problem isn't that "the other guy is hotter than you", perhaps your not pushing her hard enough?
(I remember for the first few months of the program, I needed that full 48 hours between workouts, and I was still not feeling ready to do the next workout—no matter how much I ate, although the 12 month old was impacting my sleep somewhat).
Member
I'd go with Rob on this one, what are her goals? Adjust accordingly.
Member
Perhaps a lesson from a different field may offer an idea.
In the '80s, due to a series of movies about them, Ninjas were very popular. So, a local Tae Kwan Do instructor added "Ninjutsu" to his Yellow Page ad (younger folks: this was sort of like a website home page, in book form). So, naturally, many prospective customers who showed up at his school asked about learning Ninjutsu. His response: "First, learn Tae Kwan Do".
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