Ian King

Supercross, Super Injured

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As the 2023 Monster Energy AMX Supercross season unfolded it become increasingly apparent that it was going to be a season remembered for its shocking injury toll.  I will specifically focus on the 450cc class, to keep the article as brief as possible. The 250cc class injury list was equal in length to the 450cc class.

Here’s he injured list as of 2 May 2023. These riders missed one or more rounds or failed to complete a round in the 2023 season due to injury sustained in racing or practice:[1]

450SX

  • Eli Tomac – Achilles
  • Colt Nichols – Unknown?
  • Jason Anderson – Neck
  • Cooper Webb – Concussion
  • Justin Barcia – Collar Bone
  • Benny Bloss – Collar Bone
  • Grant Harlan – Shoulder
  • Christian Craig – Hip, Elbow
  • Dylan Ferrandis – Concussion
  • Brandon Hartranft – Back, Shoulder, Hip, & More
  • Scott Meshey – Leg
  • Marvin Musquin – Wrist
  • Bubba Pauli – Thumb
  • Aaron Plessinger – Hip
  • Alex Ray – Finger
  • Justin Rodbell – Achilles Tendon
  • Malcolm Stewart – Knee

The author of this list acknowledged they may have missed a few injuries because the injury list was so long. They have missed at least:

  • Adam Cianciarulo – Concussion [2]
  • Kyle Chisolm – Knee [3]
  • Christian Craig – Hip and elbow [4]
  • Joey Savatgy – Wrist [5]

And in the week following the compilation of this list add the following:

  • Ken Roczen – Knee [6]

In the seventeenth and final round of the season in the 450cc class, 4 of the top 10 riders on points were not available due to injury. That’s 40% of the top 10 points leaders. And  if you add Ken Roczen  who didn’t complete the final round, that 50%.

But even that stat is misleading on the upside, as it only includes those riders healthy enough to be in the top 10 points leaders by the last round.

If we look at the riders who started the season, it’s worse. Using the 20 riders listed on the official series web site,[7]  only the following three (3) riders may have avoided missing 2023 rounds due to injury.

  • Justin Hill
  • Shane McElrath
  • Dean Wilson

Assuming the 20 riders featured were the top 20 riders for 2023, this means 85% (17 of 20) of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross top 20 lost rounds or their season due to injury.  85%. That’s a huge number, even for a high risk sport. I have not seen or made any comparisons to prior seasons; however I suggest it is a PB – for the wrong reasons.

Many were surprised and shocked, including the riders, and industry experts.

The final stretch in one of the most exciting years of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship is playing out much differently than we had expected … several contenders in the 450 Class are now sidelined with injuries. [8]

These injuries have brought out the armchair experts, submitting their theories as to the cause.

Firstly, you did not need to surprised and shocked. At least not if you had read my blog article on this very topic, warning of the impending injury impact and the reasons why.

Secondly, while everyone is entitled to their opinion, most have no ‘skin in the game’. What if their hypothesis as to the cause of the rise in injury incidence is wrong? There is no price to pay. However, someone in every racer’s team is or should be accountable for ensuring the riders enjoys an injury free career, and it’s obvious they are failing their rider.  Now this is not uncharacteristic in sport as very few athletes enjoy an injury free career for the same reason. I will share my vision for the athlete in this regard.

Thirdly I share another principle I have developed – injuries are predictable and preventable. But only if you can accurately predict them. If an athlete I injured, either they have ignored their advisors warning or their advisor failed them.

And fourthly and finally, what are some key steps a racer can take to avoid the arrival on the injury curse’ in their sport.

I told you so

I was going to name this article this ‘I told you so’. But I felt the perception that I am a smart-arse might leave the messenger targeted and obscure the message. The message is that the rise in injuries in the sport of moto/super ross was and Is predictable, and unless changes are made it will continue as the new norm. It has in most sports for their systemic failure to understand the cause of injuries, and there is nothing about off-road motorbike racing that leads me to believe they will rise above other sports in the similar situation.

Anyway, coming back to my prediction. On 8 Sep 2021 I wrote blog article titled A Lament for the Late Arrivals, where I spoke specifically about the relatively recent embracement of sports including moto/super-cross and the tipping point that has been passed in the relatively recent embracement of messed up popular dryland training methods. The lament was for the price they would pay – specially injuries and performance decrement.

I wrote:

I feel for the late arrivals, and I lament the collateral damage they are potentially walking into…. The outcome is increased injuries and decreased performance. The exact opposite to the proclaimed benefits of ‘strength and conditioning’.. Ideally, I should be saving I hope your non-specific (physical preparation) training helps you thrive. That would be nice. However, based on my experience and observations – what I know – if you do what the rest of your colleagues are doing in their interpretation of the best way to train, survive may be a more appropriate term.

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross class of 2023 walked into this collateral damage in this season.

I have a saying –

‘I take no delight in being right about my injury predictions.

I did tell you it was coming, but I don’t take any satisfaction from it. I said from the outset:

I feel for the late arrivals, and I lament the collateral damage they are potentially walking into….

Every athlete should be given the opportunity to fulfill their sporting potential, free from injury

I have been publishing this vision statement for many years now:

My vision is that every athlete should be given the opportunity to fulfill their sporting potential, free from injury.

For two reasons – firstly, performance and career results are inversely related to injury incidence and severity. The less injuries and or the less severe the injury, the higher the performance and career achievements.

I learnt this lesson unequivocally by the early 1990s and used this ‘zero-tolerance to injury’ approach to produce championship and podium outcomes in team and invidual sports.

The second reason I formed this vision was that it’s the right thing to do. Unlike the majority of coaches, I believe we can dominate in sport and provide optimal long-term health outcomes for the athlete concurrently. They are not mutually exclusive.

Other than the occasional regurgitation of my vision claimed by the usual authors unable to create original content, I don’t see many embrace my vision in the coaching decisions.

Which I why I expressed the following in my blog article titled A Lament for the Late Arrivals:

You deserve better. Our profession has failed to deliver safe training, let alone optimal training. Now it’s up to you to be more discerning. Don’t assume. Don’t imitate. Seek answers, dig deeper, objectively question and interpret the cause-effect relationship of what you are seeing and doing. Be more scientific in your review than our profession is.

Your future depends on it.

And not just your sporting future.

Injuries are predictable and preventable.

It appears that everyone has an opinion as to the cause of this injury rise in moto/super cross. And they are entitled to their opinion. What if their hypothesis as to the cause of the rise in injury incidence is wrong? You can’t prevent an injury if your hypothesis as to the cause is off track.

The most common ‘fail’ in injury explanation include:

  • It was a freak accident.
  • It’s just part of the sport.

This is a complete abdication of responsibility and ability to take control and prevent injuries.

Which is why I was shattered when I listened to and re-read Eli Tomac’s explanation for his season ending and championship denying Achilles tendon rupture in the 2023 season:

Basically at a loss for words right now over what happened and how it happened,” he said. “In my mind, it was just a freak deal and a racing situation, you know. I look back, I barely over jumped that tabletop and was just standing up into that ramp and I guess the high g load took a little too much for my Achilles there? I don’t know. I honestly just put it as a freak deal. I’ve over jumped into plenty of other jumps just as hard, if not harder, and have been totally fine before. I guess this stuff happens with racing.”[9]

You might notice some key words that I referred to above, including:

  • It was just a freak deal… I honestly just put it as a freak deal.
  • …a racing situation… I guess this stuff happens with racing.
  • … I don’t know.

I am not surprised he didn’t know what was going on with his Achilles before it tore off the bone. It would have taken a highly competent member in his support team to have provided this information. However, to not understand it better in retrospect – leaves a lesson not taken, and the probability of repeat injury.

He is a great athlete and dominating his class. This is the beauty of human performance. Even the best can be better. And one avenue available to Eli to advance would be to adopt a value-set towards injury more aligned with the philosophy described as the Serenity Prayer:[10]

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.[11]

I formed this saying many years ago –

Injuries are predictable and preventable.

However, if a coach lacks the ability to accurately and consistently predict an injury in advance – yes, in advance – then they have no chance of contributing to preventing them.

Let’s use Eli Tomac’s 2023 Achilles tendon rupture as an example.

It’s incredibly unlikely that there were no signs or messages that Eli’s Achilles was in trouble, and about to snap. Appropriate injury prevention screening would have picked this up.

If an athlete is injured, either the athlete has ignored their advisors warning – and that’s rare because why would they hire them only to ignore them? – or their advisor failed them.

Some key steps a racer can take to avoid the arrival on ‘the injury curse’ in their sport

It’s not good enough to be critical without providing at some solutions, so this section touches upon a few key, simple recommendations in the area of dryland training that will contribute to avoiding the collateral damage of mainstream training.

But before we go there let me clarity – my reference to ‘the injury curse’ was facetious. It’s the default go-to used by sports and coaches that want to abdicate their injuries to a source other than one within their control.

I have not seen it used in moto/super cross yet, but that’s only a matter of time…

Here are three simple considerations for racers to avoid injury, including crashed caused by training induced physical imbalances.

 

  1. Tissue length and tension.

I’ve been championing stretching and tissue manipulation for injury prevention, rehab and optical performance for decades. Then along came the abolition of stretching. I liken the attempts to scare individuals to avoid stretching to the many periods in history when reading or specific books were banned.  I suggest stretching has been pillared for the same reasons – because those who drive this paradigm stand to lose out (commercially) in the event you discover the benefits of stretching. Don’t became a victim to this. Stretch. Including static stretching.

As for tissue manipulation, the popularization of foam rollers is by the same interest attempting to ban stretching. Despite the economic gain for others of selling you a foam roller, the roller is innate. It can’t interpret your tension and adapt its work to address this. Whilst I do not suggest throwing out (or burring) your form roller, keep in mind it is just one of many modalities available to you to lower and monitor your tension levels. I suggest including some input from a competent human being e.g massage therapist or similar health professional with good hands and a sharp understanding of optimal tension.

Tip: If you spend more time on your bike than you do lengthening and softening your connective tissue, you will become an injury statistic.

  1. Reverse the damage of your sport before you seek to replicate it.

It shatters me to see athletes, including now off-road racers, performing ‘sport specific’ dryland training, especially strength training. A key principle I have developed and teach is that the primary goal of strength training in the first instance is to reverse any inappropriate adaptations that occur your specific sport. Let’s take the landing from jumps.. Let’s imagine that the calf and Achilles tendon increase in their tension and reduce in their length over time due to repetition of absorbing the G-forces in landing. Let[s pretend that if you don’t reverse this adaptation they become shorter, and weaker, dysfunction and inhibited, and finally experience a tear or worse a complete rupture. Actually we don’t need to ‘pretend’. That’s what happens and Tomac’s 2023 injury is a classic example of potentially failing to prioritize this ‘reversal’ work in dryland training.

Tip: Yes, you can do so-called ‘performance enhancement training’ by doing so-called sport-specific training – however if this is contributing to performance decrement because it is making the sport specific adaptations worse, you are creating performance decrement. On the other hand, if you enhance your muscle function by reducing negative sport specific adaptations through injury prevention/rehab training, you are going to enhance your performance. Sounds counter-intuitive but that’s my perspective.

  1. Challenge every adaptation.

 All training results in an adaptation. Is this adaptation truly serving you as a racer? I divide training into two simple categories – specific and non-specific. The only specific training is playing your sport, so that means when you are on the bike. All other training, no matter how much lip-service any gives that it is ‘sport specific’, it is not. It will give you specific adaptations. The only question is whether those specific adaptations will transfer to your riding.

Many athletes get a warm feeling from the muscle mass and strength increases from strength training. In part because of the social rewards placed on ‘getting buffed’, and in part because it gives them a feeling of being a warrior. There is no correlation between muscle mass and or non-specific (gym) strength that trumps optimal technical and tactical development. More likely, you will see a decline in technique if your dryland adaptations contest skill execution e.g., if you develop leg imbalances in the gym, which most do even if they are trying not to, you will load inapproachably over jumps and increase crash frequency. Just one of many examples.

Tip: Critically analyze, and in a futures sense, the adaptations your dryland training is and will give you, and question it’s transfer. If you a getting big and strong because of low-self-esteem, read a self-help book. And remember this – most of the current crop of riders leant to ride well before adding dryland training, after which they will experience a higher frequency of crashes and related injuries (because of the imbalances ij their dryland training).

Conclusion

I did intend to keep this article brief, however as I wrote my empathy for the athlete, in this case the racer, took over, and I sought to give a bigger lifeline.  (Lucky we restricted the focus to 450cc class injuries, and only over the one season!)

I don’t take any joy in saying ‘I told you so’, but it was quite ironic that what I wrote about 2021 came to be manifested within two years.

There are ways to train that can reduce a racers crashes and subsequent injuries, however it will take a fresh look at the options. Simply following the herd will not avoid this rising phenomenon of injuries that will be blamed on anything and everything other than the actual cause.

As an athlete you are not expected to solve all the problems and challenges of a long, injury free career by yourself. However, as an individual sport athlete the onus is on you to ask the right questions, and to appoint guides who have the best answers. That is you burden. Those appointments can make or break your career.

And if injuries do occur take the lesson. Avoid writing it off as a ‘freak accident’ or ‘that’s what happens in racing’.  The injuries will occur in conjunction with a crash so don’t rush to assume the injury was caused by the crash. The injury might have caused the crash. In the same way an equipment setup can cause crashes (e.g., inappropriate sag setting or similar placing too much weight on the front tyre and front washouts occurring more frequently), inappropriate body set up (e.g., imbalances in your musculoskeletal system) can cause crashes. If you don’t fully understand what causes crashes, you may never unlock the code of body-bike relationship and miss an opportunity to ‘tune’ the body in the same way your suspension mechanic tunes your bike to avoid you crashing.

Your physical coaches KPI (Key Performance Indicator) should be a reduction in crashes and injuries ahead of an increase in non-specific performance (VO2 max or load displaced in the gym or the size and strength of your muscles).

In my five decades of helping athletes fulfill their potential in a wide range of sports and in diverse countries through a double-digit number of Olympic cycles. I have seen that despite the challenges faced by athlete due to adopting misguided but dominant paradigm-based training programs, many athletes seem to want to cling onto the ego attachments of their choices. Others want to conform.

My hope is that you can do what the truly best I the world athletes do. Feel no desire to be like everyone else and find a way to train in a way that is best for you. This will need you to be willing to be different, and to make your own mind up. This alone will reduce your numbers of competitors. That’s the way of top performance. There are a few at the top so far ahead of the rest. There is a reason they are there, and you need to scratch below the perceptions to understand what sets them apart. Look beyond your sport for the best clues.

 

References

[1] https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/moto-related/current-2023-injury-list

[2] https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2023/04/26/adam-cianciarulo-aaron-plessinger-detail-injuries/

[3] https://www.fullnoise.com.au/fullnoise-news/the-emergency-department-2023-ama-supercross-championship-round-7-arlington/

[4] https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2023/04/10/christian-craig-timetable-for-return-uncertain-after-glendal-injuries/

[5] https://www.vurbmoto.com/joey-savatgy-injury-update-2/

[6] https://mxvice.com/injury-update-ken-roczen-10/

[7] https://www.supercrosslive.com/riders/450

[8] https://www.swapmotolive.com/2023-supercross-late-season-injury-updates-championship-changes/features/kickstart/

[9] https://www.vurbmoto.com/eli-tomac-on-future-after-achilles-injury-in-denver/

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer#:~:text=It%20is%20commonly%20quoted%20as,wisdom%20to%20know%20the%20difference.

[11] https://uscatholic.org/news_item/commentary-how-i-discovered-i-was-wrong-about-the-origin-of-the-serenity-prayer/

Ian King

The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

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The following is an abridged version of The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach.

Introduction

The content is written for those who seek a higher level of mastery of my approach to physical preparation. Several concepts deserve discussion at this point.

I seek not to teach you what to think, but how to think. Therefore, I choose not to use the word ‘system’ in describing my approach. Instead, I chose the word ‘philosophy’, and believe this is more accurate.

I have divided this book in to five sections. Each section is devoted to key philosophies as they relate to the ‘being’ or ‘thinking’ of a physical preparation coach, although I stress these divisions are arbitrary.

This book is about philosophies that I have arrived at. I trust they serve you as well as they have served me.

Part One – Professional Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Only results matter.

It doesn’t matter what you, another person, textbook or research article thinks/claims should happen as far as the training outcome – all  that matters is what is happening, what was the outcome. Value this above all else and respond accordingly, with no attachment to your prior perceptions where the message is to the contrary.

Do no harm.

The aim of physical preparation training is to improve the body in whatever specific way the athlete/client seeks. It is your responsibility to understand the impact of the training you provide, and ensure it does no harm. If in doubt, seek guidance or assistance. This may involve referrals to other health care providers.

Do the least amount of training needed to get the result you want.

Seek to identify how little you need to do to achieve your training and competitive results. This approach is less draining on the athlete’s recovery ability and reduces the wear and tear on the body.

The goal of a training session should be to do the amount that will result in the best improvement into the next workout of the same kind, not to do as much as one can.

The underlying deciding factor in how much to do in each workout should be found in the answer to the question ‘What amount done today will give me the best improvement into the next session?’

I don’t know.

I don’t know how to design a program for anyone – until I receive more information from/about that person. I combine my knowledge, experience and intuition with their knowledge, experience, and intuition – then we have information to create a program.

Transfer is far more important than specificity.

Whilst the principle of specificity is important, it is not as important as the principle of transfer. This principle reinforces training that, irrespective of its apparent specificity, transfers more effectively to the specific event.

Flexibility can be trained and expressed statically or dynamically, or a combination of both.

As with any physical performance, there is debate and misinterpretation of how to train for what is seen to be the way it is expressed.  Those who have been misled down the road of over-exaggeration of the role of specificity may see flexibility being expressed dynamically and conclude that this is the only way to train it for that event. This is not so. Remember, transfer of training effect is more important than apparent specificity.

There is very limited correlation between what can be lifted in the gym and the scoreboard.

The only sports where how much weight you can displace in the gym are fully correlated with success are the lifting sports themselves – power lifting and Olympic lifting. From there the correlation slides downhill quickly.  There is no place for justification of the success of the sports strength program based on the amount of weight lifted in the gym when there is no relationship between the two. Rather, the focus should be on the scoreboard.

A model of optimum movement in speed relevant to the athletes’ needs is needed.

The physical preparation coach should have developed a model of movement that is considered in a general sense optimal for each type of speed used by each position of athlete and use this as a guide on which to move the athlete towards.

Fatigue masks fitness.

When people judge performance of an athlete or team in a mixed energy system or endurance-based sport, they are seeing the work capacity. When the work capacity is low, the most common and erroneous knee-jerk reaction is that they are ‘not fit enough’, and the response is to do more endurance-based training.

The training effect is optimized when it is considered as a combination of training and recovery.

The training effect that happens to your body is not simply a product of your training. If combined with recovery, you can achieve a far greater result than the impact of training alone. In fact, the short-term impact of training is to reduce the work capacity of the body. It is the recovery from this that results in potentially rebounding to levels of work capacity in excess of your prior levels.  A new baseline.

Two major focuses of physical preparation coaches are injury prevention and performance or function enhancement. I believe injury prevention to be more important.

When training an individual, first seek to remove or reduce their injury potential, then shift the focus to performance/function enhancement. This does not mean that one needs to be done before the other is worked on. They can be trained concurrently. Simply prioritize injury prevention initially and ensure that any concurrent performance/function enhancement training does not interfere with the injury prevention focus and progress

Part Two – Personal Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Detach from the outcome.

This final point or mantra reinforces that we should not get attached to the way we do things today. If we find a better way tomorrow, we should feel no attachment to the limitations of our current way and be willing to replace any aspect of our thoughts or actions with more effective thoughts or actions.

When the student is ready the teacher will appear.

This is a fantastic little saying, but it is more than just a sentiment. I have seen the difference between situations where a person is interested, and where a person is truly committed to being a student. If you have a burning desire to learn, you will ultimately find a teacher appearing.  You may be surprised to know how many potential teachers are watching you, waiting to see you show the commitment to learning from them that warrants or motivates them to want to avail themselves as your teacher.

Trust your intuition

I don’t know the answers to how to train – at least I don’t know as much as the individual I train does. Between my abstract ‘scientific’ knowledge, my empirical observations (you know, those secondary to research!), my willingness to form a hypothetical potential cause-effect relationship – only then, when married with the individual’s information, can I even go close to individualizing a training program!  And even then, it is nothing more than an educated guess based on experience and my ability to draw out the information from individuals who in most cases don’t know or understand how they could possibly have the answers!

Part Three – Business Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Physical preparation coaching is a service-based profession.

Whilst it may seem a simplistic concept, that physical preparation coaching is a service-based profession, I believe the implications of this connection are often overlooked. The upside of being a service-based profession is that if you are suited to be a service provider, you can achieve great self-fulfillment and receive high financial rewards. The downside of being a service-based profession is that if you are not service oriented you may not achieve great self-fulfillment or receive high financial rewards.

The degree of giving you put into every service and product will be evident to the receiver.

It is a very subtle point, but the end results can be massively different – between just doing a job, writing a program – versus taking as much love and care you can in the shaping of a client’s program, in the focus on and achievement of exceeding their expectations.

I see physical preparation being more an art than a science, and in that reality, the provision of our services, the shaping of a program, akin to an artist creating a fantastic result from raw products. Like a fine sculpture from a block of marble. Or a beautiful painting from a collection of different paints and a blank canvass.

The number one marketing method you should use is word of mouth.

One of the reasons I believe you need less marketing in exclusively service situations is based on the proviso that you provide such a truly outstanding benefit to your clients that they become raving fans, telling all they can in totally committed tones about the ‘need’ for others to do as they have done – see you and receive similar benefits.

Yes, you can (and do) sell!

I am amazed at how many physical preparation coaches have the initial mindset ‘I can’t sell’ or ‘I am not very good at selling’ or ‘I am not a salesperson’.  I thought I was the only one who (used) to think that way! Whatever the cause of this belief, the response is the same – you can and actually do sell already anyway!

Competition comes from a lack mentality.

You can choose to operate your business with a mindset of competition, or in a class of your own. When you choose the mindset of competition, you fall into comparing yourself with another business/person, and this is an act of the ego.

Your business/profession does not define you.

Leading a balanced life begins with an understanding that you are not what you do to create income or seek fulfillment. You are you, and at this point in time that is how you are spending a lot of time. But how you currently spend your time does not define you. That is unless you choose it to do so. And I recommend you do not.

Busy is not optimal!

There is a perception in the business world that if you are busy (in business) you must be successful. My philosophy is counter to that. I believe that busy is undesirable. The people in business who I pity the most are those who lead the busiest lives!  Even highly paid busy people are just highly paid rats in the rat race!

Part Four – Financial Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Your beliefs about money will determine how much you receive and or retain.

No matter how much you strive for or desire a life without financial hardships, if you have limiting beliefs about money, your ability to create/attract income and or your ability to effectively retain that money will be limited by these beliefs.

Ideally, before you go and work in exchange for money or build businesses with the intent to create income and or profit, you should become intimate with your beliefs about money.

True abundant living can and needs to come before money.

The most effective path to creating more money in your life begins with losing the feeling of lack. If you strive for money from a position of ‘I don’t have enough’ or similar lack or scarcity perspectives, you will always feel this way.

This lack mentality can impede the flow of money to you, and may also leave you in a constant search for more. When is more enough?

Physical preparation coaches don’t need to be poor!

I have sensed a belief or perception with physical preparation that being a physical preparation coach means you need to forgo financial success, because we are little more than a community service. Granted the recent history of this industry has been volunteer-based, but those days are gone.

You don’t have to remain poor because you chose to be involved in physical preparation as a coach!

Financial offense is how you play the game to obtain money.

The analogy of money as a game is something we as physical preparation coaches can relate to.  Financial offense is the way we play the game of money and life to obtain money. The way you obtain or attract money is a direct reflection of your values on your worthiness to receive money.

Financial defense is how you play the game to retain money.

The analogy of money as a game was established in the prior chapter.
Financial defense is the way we play the game to retain money. As a custodian of money, you are responsible for the way you manage it. If you give it all away, you didn’t want it. The way you handle money once you have received it is a direct reflection of your values on your worthiness to have money.

Part Five – Spiritual Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Spiritualism versus religion.

The concept of spiritualism should not be seen to be the same thing as religion.  Religion can be described as adherence to and belief in a collection of beliefs, values and rules.  Spiritualism rises from the concept of the spirit, which Deepak Chopra describes as the source of all creation, and is not limited to the bounds of any one religion, nor does it typically contain as many constraints in perspective.

The concept of universal laws.

Universal laws involve ways of describing and defining outcomes or cause-effect relationships that affect all persons at all times, have always done so and always will. They can be considered ‘generalized principles’. The only variation is how they are labeled, described, or defined, but the concepts are the same. They are considered immutable, and applicable to all, irrespective of whether a person accepts or recognizes them. They relate human’s lives and actions to the universe and provide guidance for all.  The well-known spiritual writer Deepak Chopra (1994) describes these laws as the process by which the un-manifest becomes the manifest.

Spiritualism, universal laws of the universe, and the physical preparation coach.

It has been my experience in coaching physical preparation coaches to greatness that has forced me to confront and better understand the things that stand between each of us and our greatness.  There are many ‘keys to success’, evidenced by the number of texts on this topic. My goal in the following pages is to draw on aspects of spirituality that I believe can assist in addressing some of the common and foundational limiting beliefs and beliefs in habit in physical preparation coaches.

I have seen high achievers in other endeavors use all avenues available to them to fulfill their potential, spiritualism being one of them. I encourage you to investigate and master all of these areas on your path to fulfillment.

Conclusion

This content, as you now know, went far beyond the professional, technical know-how of being a physical preparation coach. It covered areas that truly touch upon every aspect of you, as a person, as well as a coach.

My approach to education is based on this holistic belief that building up only one part of you, such as professional development, is not optimal. Rather, it is far more effective to build balance in your knowledge and abilities, to best fulfill your potential.

I have also learned first-hand many of the factors that hold us back, as physical preparation coaches, from fulfilling our potential.  Between my own personal experiences and the lessons, I have been taught by the coaches in the KSI educational programs over the years, I am all too aware of the human frailties that turn the ease of succeeding into a struggle..

Whilst the mainstream chooses to teach professional smartness, I seek to teach each of the five areas covered in this book – professional, personal, business, finance, and spiritual development.

This holistic focus is just one of the unique features of our program. For everything you were exposed to in this book is integrated in the KSI educational programs at a higher level.

I trust you have benefited in one or more ways from studying this text, and should our paths cross, I look forward to learning of your movement towards fulfilling your potential in physical preparation.

What others have said about The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

I read the The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach – what a book!!! I think this is my favorite title of yours and I’m now going back through it taking some notes as there is so much wisdom in there.

In particular, I really valued the philosophical nature of the book. I liked that you included the core values of a Physical Preparation coach from your perspective.

I also really valued the holistic nature of the book and the time spent on the spiritual side of the philosophy.  I have been very curious about other perspectives and practices and had previously read the Tao Te Ching (which was very interesting to read, but my understanding was very limited!). Since reading The Way, I’ve just finished listening to the Tao of Abundance audiobook (which had been frequently referenced in The Way), which I must say is life-changing for me. It was fantastic. It has resonated and impacted me so much, that I’m starting to incorporate some daily meditation and also practicing reframing how I view the world (Eg. Life is a gift and acceptance of what is experience).

So in essence, I just wanted to thank you for producing such a great piece of work. It’ll be a resource to base my career around and a reference that I’ll continue to come back to. Cheers!— Mathew I., AUS

This book takes you ‘behind the scenes’. An amazing insight into the thought processes and philosophies Ian has learned and created in over two decades of physical preparation. The philosophies and methods contained in these chapters have changed the way many people train and perceive training around the world. The wisdom is timeless, powerful and provides life changing opportunity to the reader! –Mike Pimentel, USA

I was able to spend 13 hours of travel from Australia to Los Angeles last week reading Ian’s latest book, time really did fly! I received so much value and insight from reading and will receive more value each addition read. The first page of the first chapter (the training process) is incredibly profound, spoken from so much experience. The words on that page alone are worth the book’s investment! This book takes you behind the scenes of Ian’s thinking – it’s an amazing insight into the thought processes and philosophies Ian has learned and created in over two decades of physical preparation! –Mitchell Kochonda, AUS

Hi Ian, I read “The Way of…” and enjoyed it immensely. Mitch said you don’t sell many of these and now I know why; very few people are ready for such a holistic philosophy on life. Covering the 5 areas you do, allows readers to access to your philosophies on all aspects of a person not just one or two. I would say that your book is a practical guide to philosophy for people with physical pursuits. I found the book of great value and I’m also glad you inserted the references to other books you found valuable, as I can now chase these to read also. A great book; congratulations!!—George V., AUS

I was so touched by the concept you share in ‘The Way’ book. You did a fantastic job compiling all of that great stuff. Everyone should operate in that way! –Sandy Riedinger, Beverly International

The Way of the King Coach is a distillation of Ian King’s philosophies applied to achieving success as a Coach in Physical Preparation, while simultaneously achieving balance in life.

This is a fantastic works ó more of a treatise that will enlighten you to new ways of thinking, new ways of doing and new ways of learning. If you have been seeking answers outside of the traditional sets and reps approach, you will be pleased with the wisdom of the Master. These are powerful words and thoughts from the voice of over 20 years of on the field experience, that has resulting in Ian achieving the highest level of personal and business success.

Ian suggests you choose your mentors with care you will learn the truth from those who have accomplished what they teach, and Ian is the Master in the field of physical preparation and teaching abundance in building your business and achieving balance in life. If you have wondered how you can become successful in physical preparation, how you can earn more money, how you can attract clients that you can’t wait to train – then you need to read this book!

Trends, theories, and science have their place and use. Most coaches are blinded by theories or depend on trends to prove their own credibility or reason for program design and or methods of training they employ. Ian shows you why using your intuition, humility and having a long-term focus on the clients needs (ahead of your own) will ultimately provide the greatest impact on the success, injury-prevention and improved health of the athlete or client you work with. This approach will translate into your own personal and business success, with your clients referring you more business than you can handle!

If you are open to being inspired, to learning why great achievements take time and how personal development can create more income in your business, then the The Way of the King Coach will offer many avenues to pursue, and new ways of thinking that will set you apart from the rest of the pack!—David, USA

I was elated to read in Way of the Physical Prep Coach that you intuitively banned music from your training sessions with athletes. I felt the same way but you’re the first to discuss this that I’ve read. On the rare occasion that my local gym had sound system issues and cut it off, I’ve had my best workouts ever. Smoother technique, better energy replenishment between sets, better focus….I’m not sure my clients appreciated it when I told them there’d be no music in my facility though!! –Scott, UK

This is an excellent work! A master works in fact. As I read this book, I gain a greater understanding of the breadth of Ian’s mastery in that he can reduce complex topics and ideas to simple, short sentences. Ian, I congratulate you! There is nothing like this in the market in relation to Physical Preparation! –Darren, CAN

Ian does it again – another must have book for all physical prep coaches, trainers and those who want to get into the industry! It’s an excellent read and consistent with all his material. Read this book and understand why Ian’s approach to physical preparation leads the way!–Miguel., USA