Nicole Burman, SSC

[Geoff Bischoff]

Went with my wife to see Nikki in Tempe, AZ today after purchasing a four-pack of sessions with her.

Nikki fixed my squat quickly; since my last coaching session (in Austin, TX) I had experienced significant form-creep. Before I even unracked the empty bar, she saw that my bar-position had crept up over the months. I was somewhere south of high-bar, north of low-bar, and she rolled the bar an inch further down and I *felt* it lock in. Such a simple thing, but it made the rest of the session (4-day TM, volume squat), which I had been dreading, lock in much better as well.

She helped my Press 2.0 setup as well. I had been setting up too wide a few weeks ago, so I corrected to a narrower grip, and after examining me, Nikki had me change it to a place about halfway between, and it felt smoother right away.

Between sets we were able to talk programming, and meet-prep (I'm competing in October at Robert Santana's place). She was encouraging throughout, and had all the special equipment we needed. We had brought our own fractional plates, lightweight bar for my wife, chalk, et cetera, because we just have that habit, but Nikki was ready for all eventualities.

Nikki really has the heart of a coach. After our session time was over, while she was standing there with her backpack literally about to turn around and walk out the door, she saw my barbell row set up, and came over and fixed it in under a minute before she left. Great stuff.

As for Julie (my wife), she got lots of valuable instruction as well. In form, certainly, on the squat and press. Equally helpful, though, she got some advice on programming through a tough period right now. Julie is forced for medical reasons right now to do the next 28 days in what amounts to a small caloric deficit. As Julie is not a large woman to begin with, this has been having a detrimental effect on her LP loading. Nikki was able to help Julie figure out a way to maintain strength, with perhaps some small gains, as a "situational intermediate" for the next month until she can resume and complete a more traditional LP.

For professionalism, service, and any other metric I can think of, I'd give SSC Burman a solid A-rating. I look forward to seeing her again soon for additional focused work on meet-prep.

[Nikki Burman]

Thank you Geoff and Julie!! It was a pleasure working with you two!! Can't wait to see you perform on the platform in a couple weeks and I look forward to our next session!!