Do your clients read Starting Strength

[Dlk93]

This might be a dumb question. How high of a priority do you make it for your clients to read Starting and related materials? Is it just kind of like a "You should read this in your spare time," or, "Read the Squat Chapter before next session or I'll crack out the cow prod next time for every form error."

Also, do you ever lose clients because they feel that the workout is simple enough to do on they're own without a coach?

[Michael Wolf]

Mixed bag. Some people come to me for coaching because they love SS: they've read the books, watched the videos, listened to the podcasts, etc etc etc and they are just all about that life and want to be sure they're doing it right.

More common is they've skimmed it, seemed above their heads but well thought out, so sought professional help to do it right. Maybe read some SS articles here or T-Nation/PJ/HuffPo/wherever, maybe watched some youtube stuff, maybe not.

Some don't really care and haven't read it at all. They just want me to tell them what to do and they'll do it.

At this point anyone who comes to me, comes specifically for strength and barbell coaching, usually specifically SS. Even if they haven't actually read SS, they want to get stronger and already see me as someone they can trust to get them that way. So no, I don't lose people because they aren't "entertrained" enough. But as a generic personal trainer, that might be an issue.

Don't know what others' experiences are but that's mine.

[Tom Campitelli]

Wolf said it better than I could. I am just here to bask in his glory.

[Nermin]

... they are just all about that life...

This gave me the excellents. Bout it, bout it.

[Dlk93]

But as a generic personal trainer, that might be an issue.

That's my worry. I'll be finishing my PT certification process in December with NASM.
......I'm sorry, okay? I stumbled on SS after I had already signed up and began. No idea what I was doing at the time. The long term plan now is to be a SS coach. (I'm young and ambitious; let a guy dream.) I'm hoping the NASM cert will allow be to get some coaching experience. I'm helping three others at the moment through the program because they've seen me go through the process of becoming a skinny little shit to, well, okay I still need to gain weight in the SS world, but they can tell that I've packed on some size (155-175 in a couple months). A few ask if I "eat the whole cow" and I respond, "Well if I did that, where the hell would I get my milk?"

One person that I was talking to about the method was just so taken aback by how simple it was: "That's all you've done to get the results?" Well yeah! I could still get a whiff of skepticism. The person said, "And what exercises were they again?" I could tell the person just wanted to know the exercises and go do them on her own. That's when I started emphasizing how important good form is and that would be the benefit of having a coach, blah blah blah. Also, I've found with two of the people I'm helping, they find that it's helpful to just have someone there to train with, even better that it's someone guiding them through the process and also going through it with them.

How long do you typically keep clients? Do most stop after they've run the LP, or do a good size stay afterwards, whether for maintenance or intermediate advancement?

[Michael Wolf]

Though I haven't kept up with what the acronym PT Cert mills have been up to the last few years, I doubt yours will aid you at all in coaching the SS model, other than maybe giving you a chance to learn some basic anatomy. I hope they still require that, at least. But it might open up a job at a globo or community center type gym. You won't find more than a few people there willing to do the SSLP by the book, without any other exercises, without also doing a bunch of cardio or other sports during the process. But such a position will put you in a position to teach the exercises to a lot of people, and that is a very valuable first step, if a better opportunity isn't available.

Most of my clients are in one of two categories:
1. Want to do 1-2 sessions to learn and or review technique
2. Want to train for the long term indefinitely, irregardless of exact level of training advancement. Most of these people stay with me for years.

A few are more of an extended version of #1, and do a few months before working on their own, but #s 1 and 2 account for the vast majority.

[Michael Wolf]

Wolf said it better than I could. I am just here to bask in his glory.

Tom. Friend. Comrade. Surely you know how well I admire your unrivaled ability to bask.

This gave me the excellents. Bout it, bout it.

You're cooler than the average Canadian, Nermin.

[Jayson Ball]

This might be a dumb question. How high of a priority do you make it for your clients to read Starting and related materials? Is it just kind of like a "You should read this in your spare time," or, "Read the Squat Chapter before next session or I'll crack out the cow prod next time for every form error."

Also, do you ever lose clients because they feel that the workout is simple enough to do on they're own without a coach?

Yes because they are bored (usually means I've failed to convert someone from the CrossFit/endurance beat-down paradigm of exercise), no because they do them on their own. People who are locked into the program usually appreciate the help of a coach and there is usually something to address in the nuts and bolts SS as well as other fun to be had after building a strength base.

[Dlk93]

You won't find more than a few people there willing to do the SSLP by the book, without any other exercises, without also doing a bunch of cardio or other sports during the process.
Most of my clients are in one of two categories:

I'm sure I'll encounter this more than a few times. The two people I'm helping at the moment asked several times, "What about cardio," "What if I'm trying to get tone, not bulky," "What about abs?" Etc. But luckily and surprisingly, they seem to be pretty open-minded and trusting, and are letting me run them through an LP. I think one of them is actually pretty happy that they don't have to do anything additional to SS.

Like you said, having a cert with NASM will really help only insofar as it allows me to teach the movements. That's really all I'm hoping to get from it at this point. (They've even made the anatomy portion of book "functional.") I'll be spending at least a year or more teaching people the movements, studying SS and PP, attending a few seminars, finish my own LP, learning a good bit of musculoskeletal anatomy (since NASM doesn't want to teach me that), etc., before I attempt to become a SSC.

I'm interested to see how many clients are willing to do the model having never heard of SS and with me just being a generic PT, not a SSC. I think my target pop will be those people in the gym just kind of floating around doing this and that, not the bros flexing and shrugging in the mirror. (Because, of course the latter already knows everything there is to know about exercise.)