There’s always something crazy going on in this industry. At any moment, there’s a maniac in a weight room taking a dangerous lift and a shady businessman in an office finding a way to turn dirty profits. The posts you find here in my log are the musings of a mashed-up meathead — the reactions I have as I spend my whole life watching this industry. I will share my thoughts with you here, unedited, uncensored, unfiltered, and Under The Bar. If you are offended by profanity - do not read this.
Online Off Season
Over the past several weeks I've had discussions with several coaches ,some brick and mortar and some online, that all lead to one big take away. The value of the off-season and how many clients and athletes discount it.
I do not perform online training. I don't have the desire nor time but I do business consulting with many coaches and business owners that offer this service. Most reading this understand the value of what the off-season is and what it is for.
What I tell my business clients is if you hire me during a high stress, adverse, and crazy busy time there is only so much we can do (time management and a lot of quick fixes). These will help but don't address how they got in this position in the fist place. With so many variables in the box it's very hard to pick apart to find the real reason when the box is being shaken so hard.
The same exists with training. Getting to the starting gate, the time when you feel ready and are ready to begin training for a meet/contest. For most this is between 8-16 weeks depending on how they train. Once you cross the starting line bringing up weak points can still be done but it becomes a much more difficult process.
The time after your meet, contest or show is the time to relax, recover, increase aerobic capacity, fix technical flaws AND bring up weak points. Your entire training should be based on these things and by the time the starting gate hits your weak point should be brought up so you can build on and peak it for the meet/show.
Knowing how to bring up these things is one of the hardest aspects of the sport. You can go online and find thousands of contest peaking programs and for 90% of those reading this - these will work fine and perhaps the same as any coach could dial in your strength. The coaches role during prep (from a strength athlete) is to keep you on track, adjust if something goes south and keep you from over-reaching too much. This is not really that hard to do because the client will be motivated with the meet coming up and for the most part do what they are asked to do.
This isn't true with the off-season as the athlete may be asked to back off some, reduce volume, lack motivation as the next meet may be 30 weeks away and what they need to do will not be what they like to do. A weak point is usually a weak point for a reason - that being it's due to something they do not like to do in the first place.
When I was told most online clients drop their coaches after the meet and will pick them back up when prep starts for the next meet I wanted to scream "This Is Fucking Stupid". If the trainer is worth anything their greatest asset and skill they have to offer is what they can provide in the off-season. This is the time of the macro-cycle that can be extremely customized to the needs of the client and will yield the greatest results comes meet day.
Personally I see more of a need for coaches during off-season than I do peaking for a meet. The real changes are made in the off-season, the accommodating and realization of these changes are made during the meet prep phases.
