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Thread: Testimonial for Diego and Emily Socolinsky of Fivex3 Training

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Alexandria, VA
    Posts
    228

    Default Testimonial for Diego and Emily Socolinsky of Fivex3 Training

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    I sent this to Diego and Emily directly via email, but I wanted to share it here as well:

    I’ve been an online client of Emily and Diego at Fivex3 for almost four months now, and it has been nothing short of outstanding. Their coaching, support, and guidance has exceeded all of my expectations. I think the first time I went up to Fivex3 was back in 2015 for a squat camp, and I’ve always enjoyed working with these two amazing coaches. At that time I was somewhat of a noob, and it was really great listening to them give me and the other beginners basic form and programming advice that was extremely useful, and then also hearing how they could seamlessly answer specific questions for a more advanced competitor that was also in attendance.

    I’ve had it in my head that I want to eventually test for the SS Coaching Credential, and for some reason I thought this meant I should be stubborn and attempt to program for myself. After all, I had read the books, watched plenty of videos, and kept up with the form checks and Q&A sections of the SS forums. This didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. However, I finally decided that I needed professional help, and I preferred to work with Emily and Diego, since I have worked with them in person a decent amount, and really respect their professionalism, knowledge, and abilities.

    I set up a garage gym at my house back in the fall of 2018, so I really have no excuse to miss a workout. However, sometimes life gets in the way and you just can’t find the time to train, or you just want to go to bed at 6pm. I never let this become a habit, but it was easier to delay a training session when I was just lifting by myself in my garage. Among other things, online coaching provides you with a sense of accountability, and everyone knows that consistency is one of the most important aspects of training. If I miss a session, not only am I letting myself down, I’m letting the coaches down, and am I not getting my full value from paying for online coaching.

    The initial few weeks as an online client was the typical break-ya-down to build-ya-back-up scenario; the coaches made some adjustments to my form, reset the weights a little bit, and saw how it went for a few sessions, then made other minor adjustments as appropriate. There were definitely some ups and downs with my training during this timeframe, but I knew in the end I had to “trust the process”, which ultimately meant trusting the coaches. After all, they are the professionals. This was something I would have never been able to accomplish on my own. For example, I would crush a heavy set of five on the deadlift, and the following week, I could barely get one rep up with only five additional pounds on the bar. Emily and Diego really took the time to discuss the potential issues and provided the appropriate fixes. This type of feedback and individual attention has been invaluable to me, and is one of the many reasons I have continued to be an online client of theirs.

    It is very hard for me to explain and write out how important it has been for me to get constant feedback on my lifts. My form is nowhere near perfect, and I usually have the same few issues, but it is extremely useful to get that consistent feedback from the trained coach’s eye week in and week out. I’m lifting weights that I never thought I would be able to and with vastly improved form. The weights always feel heavy, and I sometimes I don’t know how I will keep adding weight on the next workout, but this is why it has been so important for to have a professional objective eye review my lifts and give me the reassurance that I can add more weight next time.

    Emily and Diego have been certified Starting Strength Coaches for almost ten years, and have been coaching for much longer. You can’t put a value on that type of knowledge and expertise, and the fact that they still take the time (and have the patience) to guide people through their training and goals is a testament to the type of people they are. Emily and Diego are not only the best coaches I’ve ever had, but the best professionals I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Baltimore
    Posts
    57

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    Ryan,
    Thank you for your very kind words and trust in us. We are honored to be your coaches, online and in person. Thank you and looking forward to seeing even more progress!!!

    Emily

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Posts
    194

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    I was lucky enough to attend Emily and Diego's squat and deadlift camp in Scotland in the summer. It was excellent. I had recently gone wayward with sets of 8, huge volumes and high bar squats and had completely forgot how to properly use my hips in the low bar squat, but their instruction quickly got my low bar squat working properly again and I came away with some good notes on how to recover proper low bar mechanics following the next time I decide to go quad building with high bar squats.

    The deadlift advice was even more helpful. I had been deadlifting with hips high as per the starting strength model and hadn't gotten anywhere for a long time. Diego identified that I have some specific limb proportions where I'd be better with the hips lower to get my shoulders further back closer to the bar. I've trained my deadlift in this improved manner since the camp and have recently hit an all time personal best for a set of 5 and haven't suffered any of the lower back fatigue from deadlift training that I had in the past.

    So I am very pleased I went and would recommend anyone following the starting strength model to look out for any opportunities to get some coaching from Emily and Diego.

    Cheers

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