How much do you look forward to coaching a warm up?
I know, it sounds ridiculous. But seriously, do you love those first 5-10 minutes of your session as much as you love the “meaty” bits?
Didn’t think so.
You don’t love those first few minutes and neither do your clients.
We do them because the industry tells us that by raising body temperature, we’ll help our clients avoid injury (which it clearly doesn’t, otherwise injuries wouldn’t exist in sport – but we could talk about that for hours and that’s not the point for today).
There’s loads of reasons why neither you nor your clients enjoy this particular part of the session:
– same thing every time
– feel stiff and sore until afterwards
– seems irrelevant to main session
and I’m sure there’s plenty more, but the one thing that disappoints our clients more than anything is the fact that it feels like they’re just wasting time until they can get to the good stuff!
And let’s be honest, as coaches we can be guilty of feeling that way too!
The thing is, we HAVE to warm our clients up. We know that and our clients know that.
So, instead of having this as a negative experience or a feeling of mundane averageness (is that even a word?), let’s take the opportunity to offer our clients a positive, results generating, super-useful experience (with a little bit of fun thrown in)!
Imagine how your clients feel when they’ve had a really long day at work, or the kids have been little terrors all day. They’re tired, stressed and they come to your session for a break, and the first thing they have to do is jog round the field/block/room or do a few laps of the pool.
BO-RING!
Did you change their emotional state?
Not in the slightest.
Did you focus their mind on the session?
Not a bit.
Did you give their bodies any warning that different movement was coming after they’ve been sitting down or on their feet all day?
No.
It’s no wonder that the social aspect of training with other people is more a powerful draw than the training itself when it comes to getting folks to show up!
But now imagine how your clients would feel if the very first thing they did when they turned up to your session was immediately focused on improving their results. Now all of a sudden, you’ve switched the first 5 minutes of their session time from a perceived “waste” to super useful.
And then layer on the fact that it’s warming them up as well, saving them time and effort.
And then layer on the fact that it’s reducing their stiffness (particularly useful for the over 40s) so they don’t have to suffer through the first few minutes of exercise.
Oh, and not to mention that it’s improving their technique too!
What if your warm up looked like this?
All in the space of 5 minutes.
Would you be changing their emotional state? Absolutely (switching them from mundane averageness to excited anticipation)
Would you be focusing their mind on the session? Yes – right from the get-go!
Would you be giving their bodies chance to prepare for moving differently after having been on their feet or sat down all day? Of course!
So, which kind of clients would you rather have in your sessions?
The ones who are just going through the motions, or the ones who are paying attention and focused right from the beginning?
Of course, you’d rather have them focused from the beginning, but you can’t create a warm up like this if you can’t see the problems your clients are struggling with before you start…even if they can’t tell you about them.
For too long now, coaching has been focused on the technical aspects of our chosen area of sport or fitness.
But REAL coaching isn’t about that at all.
REAL coaching is about your clients.
It’s not about you, what you know or how well you can demonstrate. It not really even about your area of sport or fitness (that’s just a vehicle).
If you want to get the best results from (and for) your clients, you need to understand them, better than they know themselves – and that means going above and beyond for them.
It means learning the skills that allow you to see what they don’t and getting ahead the game so you can ward off problems before they happen.
That’s why I’ve put together 36 different postures and behaviours that are clear indicators of issues that your clients may be having, so that you can go above and beyond what your clients tell you to see the movement restrictions that are likely to cause injury.
These unique insights will radically change your view of what you’re capable of as a coach and I’m giving them to you absolutely FREE!
Why?
Because I’m sick and tired of seeing so many people, who are trying their best to get fit and healthy, end up injured because the industry’s level of coaching education is so poor.
It’s time to give sports and fitness coaches the skills they deserve so that they can truly shine.
(Sorry, I got on my soapbox a bit there!)
So, if you want to get your hands on these 36 postures and behaviours, simply comment below “I want to shine” and I’ll send it over to you!