Importance of Consultations
A real coach isn’t someone who just puts out a great program, but someone who seeks to understand you in whole and support all facets of your day not just the sixty minutes in the gym.
There are a lot of options out there for those seeking guidance with their fitness journey nowadays. Even when you take your choice and narrow it down to the field of a remote coach there are still a myriad of options and styles of service delivery. It can be hard to decide about what features matter most or will help you achieve your goals in a fulfilling and expedient manner.
From my experience, not only as a coach, but as a client I can’t say enough how important it is to select a service that includes regular live consultation. This is one of the most important parts of the coach-client relationship not only for YOUR fulfillment but to help me do my job to the best of my ability.
Asking and Answering Questions - a live AMA
Something I always say to my clients during the initial consultation is, “I cannot tell you how highly I value your feedback to progress my program design ideas.” The monthly consultation is probably the most vital and rapid information gathering session I get as a coach. When we get the chance to conversate and have some live questions and answers, not only can I get a better understanding of what tweaks to make in the program but also to bring you into the fold on why we are doing things. Just this month I have a few great examples from consults:
● Client 1: I was able to ask about a string of negative comments on Wednesday training, the client was able to feedback that he had additional family and work duties that day. It was as simple as switching priority days and making the schedule individualized.
● Client 2: We developed an experiment around low recovery. She was curious about poor HRV scores, and after reviewing BLG Principals we decided as a team that hydration was the best opportunity for change. We were able to decide a goal, test (monitoring HRV) and why it was important.
● Client 3: Recently had a client who switched from a very active job to working from home at a computer (thanks 2020…) We were noticing some poor aerobic recovery trends and feelings of restricted mobility. As a team we were able to point out that perhaps the decreased step count was limiting active recovery and actually reduced daily aerobic work. From there I was able to educate her on the importance of non exercise activity and point out how this out of the gym piece effects in the gym.
“I cannot tell you how highly I value [my client's] feedback to progress my program design ideas.”
Understanding Long Term Goals
Going beyond the nuance of program design, I find that these conversations are vitally important to long term goals, and creating buy-in on actually creating a foundation for achieving them. Whether I have a client who wants to qualify for a Sanctional, complete their first half marathon, or just get out of pain it is often a step wise, and long term project. During these monthly consults we always have the opportunity to review what the long term goal is and how this specific phase fits into it.
For example, I’m currently working with a client who has a long term goal of making Sanctionals. His program currently does not include a lot of traditional “CrossFit” style workouts or as much strength training as he is used to, instead there is a strong focus on cyclical aerobic workouts. We can chat on why during this phase of the year this will help him make the important changes necessary to excel beyond his previous limits. It’s always a good thing to be on the same page and understand the path we have laid out.
Forming Relationships
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, monthly consults are important because I genuinely enjoy talking to my clients, yes even Mitch (check out Will and Mitch's Mitchapolooza on instagram!).
I coach a wide range of very interesting people; engineers, teachers, coaches, entrepreneurs etc. Hearing about your whole story as a person only helps to build our coach-client relationship and give me a stronger understanding of where fitness fits into your life.
A real coach isn’t someone who just puts out a great program, but someone who seeks to understand you in whole and support all facets of your day not just the sixty minutes in the gym.
With that in mind, if you’re a current BD client make sure you book that next monthly consult, and if you’re on the fence about finding a coach I hope you can see some of the tools we use to not only deliver a high quality program but develop an even higher quality relationship.
Written by: Coach Will Trujillo
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