Nine days ago, my 12 year old son and I were going to be passing through Fargo, ND on our way to the Twin Cities. Since I knew there was a starting strength coach in Fargo, I lined up a session with Dan Raimondi for my son, who has been training for a year and a half in my garage gym. Coach Raimondi was more than happy to look at and coach my son's lifts, and since I was due to train, since it was a Friday, he said I could train while he coached my son. We got to his facility in south Fargo, which was clean, well equipped, and easy to find. He looked over my son's log book and he had my boy start training. He did a wonderful job of communicating and cueing my son. My son couldn't stop going on, after we left, "no offense Dad but, he told me things to do during the lifts that you've never said and they worked!" My son finished his scheduled training session of squats, presses, and power cleans, while I did my training session. Not only did Coach Raimondi coach my son, he was able to coach and cue me on my work sets for squat, bench, and power clean. We finished and I paid him double what he quoted me since he not only did an outstanding job coaching my son, but he also went above what my expectation was and coached me as well.
I attended a Starting Strength seminar in 2015 and this session seemed, to me, to be as good of coaching as was given to me by the seminar staff at the seminar ,ie, highly competent/effective. Convincing me, the starting strength credential is synonymous with quality. If anybody is going to be in the Fargo-Moorhead area it would be worth your time to line up a session with Coach Raimondi, call well in advance to schedule though, just to be on the safe side.
01-11-2019, 10:32 AM
WFB
I just read his article "The First Rep" - really enjoyed the simplicity of the concept, it's easy to remember, and absolutely true - just get through that first rep instead of worrying about all 5 makes it a lot easier. Now when psyching myself up for a heavy set, that's what's going through my head!
I started my NLP on January 2 of this year. Things progressed well for the first few weeks. But, as the weights began to get a little heavier, it became clear that I had some form and technique issues. Not being sure how to best address them, I decided to seek out some coaching. In searching the site for Starting Strength coaches near me, I found Dan Raimondi, SSC. His gym, 51 Strong, is located about three hours from me in Fargo, ND. I contacted Dan by email and after a couple emails back and forth, I made an appointment with him to do his 1 Day Barbell Clinic on February 16th. With his clinic, Dan goes over form and technique for the main lifts, nutrition, progamming and any questions or issues you have. You leave with a programming plan to take with you to continue your journey. Dan is very knowledgable and easy to work with. He was very good at breaking things down and helping me not to overthink things. The gym is very clean and well equipped. When I left I felt much more comfortable and confident with my lifting...and had a plan to continue to make progress on my NLP. I highly recommend Dan's coaching for anyone looking for a little help with their training.
