Why everyone can benefit from a coach regardless of their level

So you’re starting your gym journey. It seems pretty reasonable to think that you will need an expert to teach you, an amateur, how to do things properly. Not only to avoid injuries but mainly to learn the correct sequences and techniques to achieve your particular goals and reach the most efficient way of getting there.

Now fast forward a couple of years. You know what to do and how to do it. What's more, you feel perfectly comfortable going to the gym by yourself, and you successfully turned it into a habit. The need for a coach is not that obvious anymore. Of course, you can still recur to your coach to make new programs for you, both to avoid boredom and also to adapt to your new level and perhaps new goals. But then you can pretty much train by yourself, right?

Well, the short answer is: pretty much. However, unless you’re intentionally keeping to maintenance training… then, not exactly.

Countless repetitions and many (many!) hours of training in a suitable space with adequate equipment, will undoubtedly make you good at what you’re doing and able to train by yourself. And you will probably see results. Your training routine is now a habit and you are committed to keep putting in the effort, which mind me, is awesome! You’re already at a better place than a great number of people, and you will be able to tell by your results and progression. And yet, by reaching this point, you are also on the way to hinder your way to further success.

Let me first and foremost reinforce that turning something into a habit is really the only way to become the very best you can do at it. So, by no means am I saying that this is not a positive achievement.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s examine the other side of it. When you’re accustomed to doing certain movements or to maintain a given routine, you will start doing things "automatically". That is, your body will engage in these actions without you having to focus on what you’re doing. You will do these things without having to be ‘in the moment’, as your brain does not have to be 100% conscious of what you’re doing. You can be lifting weights and singing the lyrics of the song you’re listening to, for example. And whilst this certainly allows you to have a good time, it doesn’t exactly contribute to your development. As you are not completely engaged by the movement, you are not learning to become better. Your brain is not creating new patterns of recognition, etc., that would otherwise allow for improvement - either rapid or incremental (depending on what stage of your body/strength development you’re at).

So how can you go around this? Well, a valid environment and many repetitions are not the only two things you need in order to get really good - or even an expert - at something. You also need to get timely feedback. Even in the beginning when progress is usually faster, the feedback is never immediate. You won't notice it at least until the next session, but often times it can take weeks until you can lift more weight, do more reps, and so on.

It gets hard to save information on your brain efficiently, about what you’re doing right (or not). For this, a coach is invaluable.

They will let you know immediately if you’re moving the right way, and what you need to adjust to perform better. Sometimes all it takes is a correction to your position or technique (and a little encouragement from your cool coach) to take you from: “I can’t do it yet”, to: “Oh my gosh I did it!”. Even if that is not the case, you will always benefit from immediate feedback. It will make you reinforce positive actions and correct wrong ones, guaranteeing you are following the most certain path to success. But wait, there’s more.

At the end of the day, you will only improve if you truly engage with what you’re doing. It takes deliberate practice to reach the next level. In other words, to keep coming up and doing the movements you already know so well repeatedly is surely a positive thing, but after a certain point, it won’t take you further.

A good coach will ensure that once you reach the point where you start doing your workouts automatically, they tweak things in a way that will make you need to re-engage your focus on what you’re doing.

Depending on how well they know you, they will be able to account for not only your fitness level but also your workout history, as well as your personality. Thus, guaranteeing the most efficient outcome - and of course, the most fulfilment for yourself!

Although I’ve been doing this for a while, I still feel amazed at how satisfying it is to witness someone’s breakthrough. However, I must admit that helping an advanced lifter to reach new personal records, has a special flavour. Purely because it’s easier to see progress in beginners than in intermediate or advanced athletes - they already dominate so much so well, that progress will inevitably be more incremental. And so ironically, advanced lifters often need a coach almost as much as a beginner, in a way. The latter needs us to learn the basics and for motivation, and subsequently to turn it into dedication and a habit. The first, to guarantee continuous improvement through timely feedback and deliberate practice.

Phew, this was a big one, but I really enjoy this theme and I hope you’ll enjoy reading about it - and in some cases, clarify some misconceptions about learning and becoming truly good at something.

Speak soon,

Train ComplEat,

Coach G