Ian King

A financial reality check for physical preparation coaches

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Irrespective of the motivations that drew you into this industry, there’s a probability that at some point in time you are going to reflect upon the low incomes that constitute most roles in this industry. Put simply this is one of the lower paying ‘professions’. Not totally surprising considering one of the more popular roles within the industry, that of a personal trainer, is the current go to for anyone who is not sure what they want to do with their life, or a waiting for a break in another industry.

Physical preparation coaches who work as gym instructors[1] or personal trainers[2] typically earn below the poverty levels, between $20,000 to $40,000 per year. Physical preparation coaches working with athletes as ‘strength and conditioning coaches’ typically earn $30,000 to $50,000 per year[3] at the college level. Some can earn $75,000 to $150,000 a year in the professional sports ranks.[4] A few earn higher.

Where does this place the physical preparation profession relative to the rest of the work force in developed countries such as America, Europe and Australia? Here’s a statistic from the United States.

Based on the Internal Revenue Service’s 2010-2014 database below, here’s how much the top Americans make: [5]

Top 1%: $380,354

Top 5%: $159,619

Top 10%: $113,799

Top 25%: $67,280

Top 50%: >$33,048

If we were to make a median income in physical preparation, I believe it would be below $33,000 US/year. In other words, the majority of physical preparation coaches are in the bottom 50% of income earners.

For those who plan to make a life long career, and in particular for those who plan to or do support a family, there’s a real challenge with income.

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![6]

Yes, the average incomes within the industry are a factor dragging the sector. However another factor holding back incomes in this industry is the lack of financial education.

Based on the responses I have received from physical preparation coaches (personal trainers, strength coaches, strength and conditioning coaches etc.) to a ‘financial health’ questionnaire I have developed it really clear that some clarification would benefit those in the industry.

I appreciate that it all comes back to definitions and it’s not appropriate to use the right and wrong approach to how a person defines themself, what they do or what they have. So I will provide the definitions I subscribe to in each point. I also appreciate the sensitive nature of money and the ego, so I am going to be as gentle as I can.

Here are at seven things about your financial position that I believe deserve ‘attention’

1.  You don’t own a business!

One of the questions in the survey where the answers really shocked me were how many physical preparation respondents ticked yes, they have business. Now from where I sit I am going to assume they are self-employed, and or have a trading name or entity, and that gives them the belief they have a business. (Yes, I appreciate that the small minority actually do own a business, and we will touch upon that shortly)

I thought like that once. Until I was exposed to some simple but powerful concepts that helped me understand that being self-employed is not being a business owner.

Firstly lets look at it from the perspective of Robert Kiyoski’s cashflow quadrant. On the left hand side of the quadrant you find the employee (E) and self-employed (SE). What they have in common is they both sell their time. On the right hand side of the quadrant you the business owner (B) and the investor (L). What they have in common is they have leverage. The business owner typically leverages off other peoples time (OPT) (e.g. services) and or the sale of products, and the investor typically leverages off money, including other peoples money (OPM). I will discuss what ‘leverage’ is shortly.

Now before you talk yourself into the possibility that what you do places you on the right hand side of the quadrant not the left, I want to introduce a second perspective on the definition of ‘business’, one I learnt from Brad Sugars.

A business is a commercial, profitable enterprise that works without you.—Brad Sugars

The key word is without you. You are not at work and you are making money. You can potentially receive income whilst you sleep from efforts other than your own (ironically another question in the financial survey where the typical answers give were the catalyst for this article!) . And yes, I understand some of you ‘have trainers’ and believe this describes you – give me time, I will address that.

So unfortunately, based on the definitions I rely upon, you don’t have a business!

2.  You don’t have leverage

Leverage is typically used to describe the phenomenon of achieving a greater result than the effort put in. When used to describe income, leverage is one of three types of income – earned, leveraged and passive.

Earned income occurs when you sell your time for money. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid, and once you have done the hour and been paid, there is no more money for that effort. This is what the majority of physical preparation coaches do. They don’t have leverage.

Their income is limited to the hours they can work, and is non-existent if they don’t or can’t work or if the client does a no-show.

Leveraged income can be defined as doing something once and getting paid for it over and over again. Minorities within the industry have leveraged income and the methods typically used to achieve leverage warrant further discussion. Suffice to say, how many physical preparation coaches do you know retired early and living permanently on the beach in Hawaii or similar because of their success in leveraged income?

Bottom line – without leverage, your ability to substantially increase your income is very limited, and your ability to have time freedom nearly non-existent.

Leverage is the reason some people become rich and others do not become rich.–Robert Kiyosaki

3. Your income does not rise faster than the rate of inflation

One of the biggest financial challenges we all face is the impact of inflation or rising cost of living on the value of our dollar. Is your income rising faster than the rate of inflation.

This is tougher for the relatively younger person in the workforce to answer as they have not been around long enough to assess the tradeoff between the increase in cost of living and increases in their earnings. More experienced physical preparation coaches are in a far better position to comment on this.

Now keep in mind we are not talking about the changes that will occur in the demands on your income if you are supporting another per

son/persons, as is the case if you were to start/or have a family.

The chart provided shows the cost of living rises in the US since 1997 – almost 30%. So what was the change in minimum wage in that time? 0%.[7] The table below that goes back to 1990. [8]

You can do your own sums on this – do you have more or less disposable income than you had 5, 10, 20 or 30 years ago? Which raises the next question for you – do your current income streams have the ability to increase your income at a rate that exceeds the rate of rise in cost of living? I suggest it does not and will not – unless of course you change.

4. You don’t have sufficient retirement savings

If you stopped work today, by circumstances or choice, could you support yourself financially for another few decades at a standard of living you would be happy with. Here are some 2016 stats relative to the US on retirement:[9]

  • One-third of Americans report they have no retirement savings.
  • 23% have less than $10,000 saved.
  • This means that 56% of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement!

If you calculate a very, very basic cost of living for a single person at say $25,000 per year, and expected to live an average of twenty years in retirement, you are going to need at least $500,000 in savings, placing you in the top 13% of all Americans regarding their retirement savings currently.

If you were spending the savings you could survive at that standard of living for 20 years (not withstanding any extra medical costs – which are going to be inevitable if you live to the full term of your natural life); or you could hope to invest your 500k in an interest-bearing instrument producing 25k a year.

How many years could you support yourself in retirement on your current savings or investments?

How many years could you support yourself in retirement on your current savings or investments?

 5.  You are not immune to being replaced by a robot

Another answer to a question in my financial health questionnaire related to a person’s confidence that their income was future proofed, devoid from threat of being made redundant by robots (or other technology) or shifts in global trends such as certain labor going ‘off-shore’.

Some believe that they were immune to this. Let’s talk about technology first. If your decision making in your service is limited i.e. no high level discernment or creativity is involved, you are very replaceable by technology.

I am going to be perhaps hurtfully blunt – what most physical preparation coaches do is lacking in the high level thinking that would prevent a robot from taking their place. The only real attraction for most clients is that you are a person with a heartbeat not a robot. However that will not save any profession at risk of being replaced by robots.

6.  You’re not unique

Your lack of uniqueness means a number of things. Firstly a robot can replace you. Secondly you are just like everyone else, leaving you wondering why you can’t get standout demand for your services.

The challenge for many is to understand the concept of UMP – unique marketing position (or USP, Unique Selling Position). Dying your hair or wearing dreadlocks or flashing your guns does not make you unique in the sense of UMP. Nor does a twist in your marketing.

The kind of uniqueness I suggest pays is most effective in the physical preparation industry (in fact in most of not all service industries) is your level of competence and subsequent ability to make a massive difference in people’s lives.

This I suggest comes from the higher levels of competence, you with a focus on being the best you can be. Not being like or liked by everyone else.

Here’s the irony – most prioritize being liked by others, and to do this you need to be ‘like’ others. How do you expect to get a superior outcome if you train people like everyone else does?

My reality is that competence threatens. As my coaches progress through and up the levels of competence, their former work colleagues will turn on them. They are typically ejected from their workplace, some with the use of police called in by their previous colleagues. Certain things happen when your competence gets to a certain level. I celebrate them as signs of greatness!

When you stop being like other people, other people will stop liking you!–Darren Hardy

If you haven’t been kicked out of your former working environment, you haven’t raised your competence level to the extent that you could!

7.  You’re not an entrepreneur

Put simply and generically, you are not an entrepreneur. The most poignant use of the word ‘entrepreneur’ that I have seen in my four decade career in this industry was a young man who had recently left the security of his employment in a non-related industry to take up his long held dream of being a full time self-employed physical preparation coach.   Shortly after that live move he was diagnosed with cancer. In his online fund raising page he talked about how his life collapsed upon his diagnosis, and his lack of income and medical insurance was because he had chosen to become ‘an entrepreneur’.

No he had not become an entrepreneur. Rather, he had simply moved from the E quadrant to the S quadrant. Not that I felt it was responsible to share that with him at that time. At that, as I do with many life-impacting conclusions I reach, committed to in the future helping physical preparation coaches be forewarned and educated, before they were put in these serious situations.

Sorry, but you are not an entrepreneur.

Conclusion

As I said at the start money is a tender topic intertwined with pride and ego. I have sought to be respectable and gentle yet at the same time straight with you. Yes, I have made generalizations. Yes, I may have upset a few. All of this is worthwhile if I have helped a few reflect upon any misguided conclusions they may have reached about their financial future.

To help you I have developed a short course providing vital much-needed entrepreneurial education. The next program starts at the beginning of next month. If you are interested, email us at question@kingsports.net.

This industry is already one of the lower earning industries in the developed world.   Continuing to operate in an environment devoid of financial education is not helping. If you truly want to become more entrepreneurial and are willing to empty your cup (figuratively speaking) this course presents a great starting point!

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[1] http://www.fitnesscareers.com.au/newsview/fitness-salary-guide-38

[2] http://www.fitnesscareers.com.au/newsview/fitness-salary-guide-38

[3] by Rick Suttle, Demand Media, http://work.chron.com/much-strength-conditioning-coaches-make-average-19363.html

[4] Careers in Sport, Fitness, and Exercise, By American Kinesiology Association, Human Kinetics         http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/strength-and-conditioning-coach

[5] http://www.financialsamurai.com/how-much-money-do-the-top-income-earners-make-percent/

[6] King, I, 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach, p. 165

[7] https://buffalogrumblings.wordpress.com/tag/minimum-wage/

[8] https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/05/speedup-americans-working-harder-charts/

[9] Kirkham, E., 2016. 1 in 3 Americans have saved $0 for retirement, Gobankingrates, 14 March 2016, http://time.com/money/4258451/retirement-savings-survey/

Ian King

Technology and training

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On Dec 3 2017 it was 25 years to the day since the first text message (SMS) was successfully sent. [1] [2] The message required a computer. They could be received on a hand set mobile phone, but could not be responded to.

Twenty five years ago athletes – pro and amateur – were trained on programs that were not individualized, using crude assumptions that what they were doing would make them better, and because they for the most part typically didn’t start the strength training seriously until they were in their late teens or early twenties, the injuries that occurred towards the end of the first decade of strength training were masked by ‘retirement age’.

Twenty-five years later, post 2017, technology is moving to messaging apps such as Facebook, whatsApp, etc. Texting continues, with 800 million a month in Australia on the Vodafone network alone. [3]

Twenty-five years later, post 2017, athletes – pro and amateur – are trained on programs that….are not individualized, using crude assumptions that what they were doing would make them better.

Nothings changed? Yes, there is a change! The starting age for athletes commencing serious strength training has dropped by a decade, which means that the typical injuries caused by strength training that appear within the first decade are appearing a decade before ‘retirement’ age – and are therefore no longer masked.

And this is a problem. Not so much for the coaches with a big talent pool, because there will be someone to take the place. But for the individual athletes, whose hopes and dreams are crushed – when this situation was both predictable and preventable….

Oh, I forgot to mention – if you are really lucky, your coach might change the name on top of your program sheet!

Does this absence of masking of injuries by retirement cause any changes in the way humans act or respond? Apparently not.

There are a few additional technological impacts on physical training.

Firstly, the surgery techniques to repair damaged connective tissue has really advanced, in that the surgeries are less invasive, and the healing time is shorter. Does this mean that surgery no longer comes with further collateral damage? I suggest not.

Secondly, technological advances in measuring training. GPS units to track movement patterns, forces platforms to measure power output, timing gates for displacement speeds etc.

And thirdly advancements in equipment, positively impacting performance.

But what about program design? Is that important? Obviously not important enough for the masses to expect advancement in the ability of ‘professionals’ to provide individualization in program design, because in this regard nothings changed.

Oh, and there is one more change worth noting – the increase in incidence and severity of injuries appears to be constantly rising…..

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[1] https://news.sky.com/story/first-text-message-sender-neil-papworth-celebrates-25th-sms-anniversary-11154491

[2] http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/03/worlds-first-text-message-sent-25-years-ago-today-7127957/

[3] https://www.vodafone.com.au/red-wire/text-message-25-years

Ian King

If only they knew….

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….what has been in print for over 20 years…

The sport specific technique session was coming to a close when I heard my fellow coach refer to a prior knee injury in one of the athlete.   Let’s call that athlete Billy.

Intrigued, at the conclusion of the session I asked the young athlete:

IK: What was the knee injury?

Billy: I had meniscus surgery on my left knee.

IK: Let me ask, were you doing off-field training at that time? Strength and conditioning?

Billy: Yes.

IK: Mmmm…And what age were you when this happened?

Billy: 15.

IK: Mmmm….

So I decided to provide some general guidance in the hope of helping to reduce the damage that was already done.

IK: So you need to keep away from strength training.

Now I know what you are thinking – Ian, does that mean you have changed your mind, that strength training is no longer important and relevant to sport. No, that’s not the case. But what I have got to realize from four decades of professional observation is that what most athletes are doing is damaging and most would be better off doing nothing. Especially those whose positions really don’t require high levels of size and strength, and especially those with prior joint injuries where (in my opinion) the injuries were caused or contributed to be the flawed off-field training).

Billy: Oh. I am doing a fair bit of strength training now.

IK: How much?

Billy: 4 days a week.

IK: Mmmm…Okay the next step would be to minimize your exposure to quad dominant exercises.

In the 1980s I saw first hand the phenomenon that physical therapists were calling ‘quad dominance’, and spend the next decade creating and refining a systems to categorize exercise, to help myself and any others who wanted to use the concept to avoid the damage caused by quad dominance. I called this concept ‘Lines of Movement’. [1]

So we’ve got many ‘professionals’ who can talk the talk – can word drop terms like ‘quad dominant’ and ‘posterior chain’ [2] – but have got no clue how, why or where it should be applied.

IK: You know, squats, lunges etc.

The look on Billy’s face told me all I needed to know.

IK: Okay, where did you get your program from.

The answer confirmed my fears.

IK: Let me see if I can help you. Show me the program and I will tell you the changes to make.

Billy showed me the program. Two days out of four were leg days. Nothing unusual there. And five out of the seven (5/7) exercises in each of those days were…..quad dominant exercises. The usual suspects – squats, lunges, step ups etc.

The boy was dead man walking. He had a challenged future in sport by virtue of what he was led to believe was ‘the right thing’ in his off-field training.

The only exception to this rule is those athletes with genetically gifted with load tolerant connective tissue.The kind that rise to the top in say US pro sport, from a base of millions. The eastern European philosophy – throw a lot of eggs at the wall, the ones that don’t crack – they will be the champions.

IK: Billy, there is possibly that for now you should do NO quad dominant exercise, at least for a few months.   The goal is to ideally reverse the imbalance the quad dominance you have created from years of imbalanced strength programs. Now you can move to a ratio of say 3:1 hip dominant to quad, etc. etc.7

Billy: What are some hip dominant exercises?

IK: Deadlifts, deadlift variations, Olympic lifts, Olympic lift variations etc etc. Single leg exercises where the trunk stays over (not that windmill bastardization of my single leg stiff legged deadlift though!

And then I left Billy to ponder the gap between what he had been led to believe was going to make him a better sports person, and those challenging thoughts provided by Coach King!

It’s always tough to walk away from an athlete left possibly to drown from incompetent advice. However I do my best to provide athlete and coach education. The challenge is the swell or rubbish education, at both professional, academic, and lay person level rises faster…..

Ah, the pro’s and con’s of the information age….

If only they athletes knew what damage they were doing to themselves in the way they trust those so-called experts and those in positions of authority.

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[1] Now despite (or because) this concept has been published more times by others in the absence of any connection to the source than by myself, one would have expected the message would have sunk in. But it hasn’t. Probably because those who published it didn’t really appreciate, value and understand the concept in the first place.

[2] Not the original title ‘Lines of movement’, because this was about the only thing the plagiarist’s changed!

Ian King

Stop lifting your leg!

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The former US NCAA Division 1 athlete started performing the exercise in their program, the single leg stiff leg deadlift, for the first time under my supervision.

As they bent forward their non-support leg began to lift backwards. I asked:

‘Why are you lifting your leg?’

They replied:

‘Because that is how I was taught to do it.’

I found this really ironic, as the exercise I originated the exercise from Australia, and now I had to correct it from American influence. I published this exercise in the from the late 1990s onwards [i] [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] [vi] [vii] [viii] [ix] [x] after a decade or so of testing.

I found it ironic but not surprising, as for nearly two decades now I have watched the bastardization of my innovation. I spend the most of the first decade post 2000 wondering how this ‘variation’ came about. How did my exercise end up being messed up so badly? Then I stumbled on the answer.

It was published in Men’s Health in 2000[xi], unreferenced and un-credited, by another ‘author’.

At the photo shoot I suspect the male model made up his own interpretation.

I understand how most photos shoots happen. The ‘author’ is rarely if ever on site. An unknown organizes the photo shoot, and the result in this case was an exercise where the subject lifted their back leg.

So the reason why the world now does this exercise with the back leg moving backwards is – because they are copying a misinterpretation done by a Men’s Health male model in a photo shoot!

A good enough reason? I don’t believe so….

Reminds me of the story about a trend in marathon runner. The story goes that Australia’s lead marathon runner in the 1982 Commonwealth Games was suffering from diarrhea as they ran. The solution they chose to reduce the embarrassment was to wipe their legs down with the face wipe cloths offered at regular intervals in the break. From watching this act, a new trend was developed – wipe your legs down with the wet face clothes.

Is this a good reason to wipe your legs down in a marathon? I don’t think so….(unless you find yourself with brown colored liquid bodily fluids running down your leg…)

So apart from the fact that the masses of coaches and trainers of the world are imitating a mistake, what is the problem with the exercise. Any movement is good movement, surely? Well, yes and no.

It’s great to be moving. However the general intent of an exercise is to fix one end of the muscle and move or stretch the other end. This makes the muscle work. When you lift your leg backwards, this stretch or strain intended for the hamstring is reduced because of the movement of the back leg. So you are doing an exercise with movement, but a significant reduction in the intended target muscle.

When you lift your back leg up it counterbalances the movement to the front, reducing the stretch and effort. When you go to stand up again, the lower of the leg back down does most of the work. It becomes more of a ballet like balance exercise than a strength exercise. For some that may be all they need, but please, stop masquerading it as a strength exercise!

Put simply you are doing less work.

Now I appreciate that not all can do this exercise full range due to lack of strength or flexibility or balance. However avoiding this challenge is not going to fix the limitations! Start with limited range, and place a premium on increasing the range progressively over time, rather than looking to increase load straightway. Just about every Google image of this exercise has a DB or similar in hand – don’t follow this! Most people cannot get range with their own bodyweight, so don’t add load until you have full range!!!

Just about every gym I go anywhere in the world I see this exercise being done, and it always reminds me of the oil well devices you see littered in the desert, where the lever is long and heavy to assist the oil to be pumped with less energy.

Now for the purists who remember the difference between a single joint and multi-joint movement, they know the single joint movement offers more isolation, and the multi-joint less. By moving the back leg you change the exercise from a (almost) single joint exercise to a double joint exercise.

Now I don’t expect to reverse this mistaken exercise option. It has gone too far. It’s been published without thought by too many well-marketed US ‘gurus’, especially as a key ‘functional’ exercise.

However, for those who would prefer to exercise for a reason better than copying the confusion of a male model at a US photo shoot….here is how I originally intended for you to do this exercise:

Single Leg standing Stiff Legged Deadlift: Let the fun begin! Stand on one leg – have the other foot off the ground, but kept roughly parallel with the leg doing the supporting. Bend the knee slightly, but that knee angle should not change during the exercise (get a partner to watch for this, as it will be tempting to do so!). Now bend at the waist, allowing the back to round and reach slowly towards the floor. If your range allows, touch the floor with the fingertips and return to the starting position. Use a speed of 3 seconds down, 1 sec pause at the ends, and 3 seconds up.

 You may struggle with balance, but persist – you will be developing the muscles in the sole of the foot! The first time you do this you may find you are touching down with the non-supporting foot regularly to avoid falling over. This is ok, but in later workouts, try to minimize this. When you have mastered this exercise, and touching of the ground by the non-supporting leg means terminate the set – this is your challenge.

Don’t be surprised if you can only do 5 reps on day 1! Look to increase the reps from workout to workout. Hold light DB’s in your hand ONLY when you get to 10 reps at the speed indicated. No warm up set necessary.   Remember the weak side rule.

Here’s what it should look like, performed by dual Olympian and Gold medalist (2000)!

The top position

The bottom position

Need more clarity?

Unfortunately a few select individuals in the US thought it was okay to publish this exercise innovation without reference or credit. And created a highly marketed mis-interpretation of my exercise.

So what makes me think the ‘author’ of this Men’s Health article was ‘copying’? Maybe it was their email…

From: name withheld  Sent: Saturday, 4 December 1999 5:18 AM To:kingsports@b022.aone.net.au Subject: Re: Between Sets Newsletter #6

Ian, …It’s funny ‐ I have bben doing your t‐mag leg workouts ( the first two). It seems such as hort workout a.. this is done in a half an hour. But ‐ the pain !!!!!!!!!!!! You weren’t kidding ‐ it is a deep muscle soreness ‐ real intense. Interstingly it is a great workout to introduce females to weigth lifting and training. (A lot of them are scared to lift heavy) Keep them coming…
‐name withheld

Maybe it was the way they re-publishing my content verbatim in multiple ‘publications’….[xii]

Single leg standing stiff leg deadlift: Stand on one leg – have the other foot off the ground, but kept roughly parallel with the leg doing the supporting. Bend the knee slightly, but that knee angle should not change during the exercise (get a partner to watch for this, as it will be tempting to do so!). Now bend at the waist, allowing the back to round and reach slowly towards the floor. If your range allows, touch the floor with the fingertips and return to the starting position.

The first time you do this you may find you are touching done with the non-supporting foot regularly to avoid falling over. This is ok, but in later workouts, try to minimise this. When you have mastered this exercise, touching of the ground by the non-supporting leg means terminate the set – this is your challenge.

Not even a conversion from Australian spelling to US spelling, or editing of the grammar or layout! Just a straight (one of thousands) cut and paste. So yes, the Men’s Health submission was an un-credited, unreferenced submission.

A ‘breakthrough’ in later years – same description, but a name change for the exercise![xiii] [xiv]

Single Leg Romanian Deadlift: Stand on one leg – have the other foot off the ground, but kept roughly parallel with the leg doing the supporting. Bend the knee slightly, but that knee angle should not change during the exercise (get a partner to watch for this, as it will be tempting to do so!). Now bend at the waist, allowing the back to round and reach slowly towards the floor. If your range allows, touch the floor with the fingertips and return to the starting position.

It’s tough to watch an otherwise potentially intelligent species of animal blindly follow a misinterpretation. And its tough to watch the potential of this exercise I developed over years be diluted to look like and exercise when it’s not really doing much.

So unless you think it a worthy use of your training to copy a misinterpreted Men’s Health snippet, STOP LIFTING YOUR LEG!

Returning to the NCAA athlete who received a much-needed correction in exercise interpretation, I asked:

‘So how did you feel about the exercise when you were throwing your leg back?’

To which they replied:

‘Well actually, I could feel the exercise doing anything, and I didn’t understand why I was doing it. I did ask the strength coach, but their answer just didn’t add up’.

Mmm. not surprising. At least some human beings are in touch with their intuition…

The key is this – if you have read this you have been given a chance to stop lifting your leg, hold it parallel to the other, foot just off the ground, and get a real workout – the way it was intended!

[i] King, I., 1998, Strength Specialization Series King Sports International, Brisbane, Aust. (DVD)

[ii] King, I., 1998, Strength Specialization Series, King Sports International, Brisbane. (Audio)

[iii] King, I., 1998, How To Write Strength Training Programs: A Practical Guide, King Sports Publishing, Brisbane, Aust. (Book)

[iv] King, I., 1999, Ian King’s Killer Leg Exercises, t-mag.com (DVD)

[v] King, I., 1999, 12 Weeks of Pain – Limping into October – Pt 1, t-mag.com, 17 Sep 1999. (Article)

[vi] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed!™, 1st Ed., King Sports Publishing, Bris. Aust. (Book)

[vii] King, I., 2000, How To Teach Strength Training Exercises, King Sports Publishing, Brisbane, Aust. (Book)

[viii] King, I., 2000, How To Teach Strength Training Exercises, King Sports International, Brisbane, Aust. (DVD)

[ix] King, I., 2000, Make your legs soar, Men’s Health, November, p. 28-29. (Article)

[x] King, 2001, Advanced Leg Training: Stage 1, Fri, Jan 19, 2001

[xi] Single leg deadlift, Men’s Health, June 2000

[xii] ‘Authors’ name withheld to reduce drawing attention to plagiarists, 2003, Marcocycle, CA USA

[xiii] ‘Authors’ name withheld to reduce drawing attention to plagiarists, 2005, Program Design Bible, CA USA.

[xiv] ‘Authors’ name withheld to reduce drawing attention to plagiarists, The Female Breakthrough, xxx.

Ian King

The decline of Australian sporting performances

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Australia’s sports performances are in decline.  Yes, it’s a generalization, and if this is not the case in your sport, I am happy for you. However. to showcase this suggestion, I have selected five sports or sporting events that possess a proud and long history of international dominance or success. Sports interwoven in the Australian cultural psyche. And then, more importantly, I will address the question why I believe this is happening.

The five sports or sporting events I will reflect upon include swimming, tennis, rugby union, cricket and the Summer Olympic Games.

The recent World Swimming Championships gave Australia, a proud swimming nation, the lowest gold medal count since the 1980s:

“The medal tally of the world swimming championships just concluded in Budapest makes disturbing reading for an Australian …Australia’s gold medal count may have slumped at this event, but on total medals Australia are still equal second with Russia and China. All trail far in the wake of the sport’s only superpower, the USA (38).

However the gold standard is gold medals and by that score Australia have not sunk so low since the 1980s.”[1]

Australian tennis is in a slump. That’s the title of a recent national newspaper article.[2] The article discussed the recent Wimbledon Grand Slam performance by Australian tennis players:

“The Canberran led Australia’s nine-player contingent at the All England Club, with only qualifier Arina Rodionova advancing to the second round.

Kyrgios’s opening-round retirement with hip injury, coupled with difficult draws, meant there were no Australian men in the second round here for the first time since 2012 and only the second time since 1938.”

In the top 100 men’s world ranking Australia has currently only three players. [3]

In rugby union Australia is currently ranked number four in the world. Whilst a slide from say second to fourth or even third to fourth seems minimal, it represents a significant decline in the nations world ranking. Australia hit its low point in 2015 with ranking of 6th, and is currently sitting in 4th. Not acceptable for a team that sat in 2nd place for most of the first decade of this century.

To reinforce this point, at a provincial level, if the guaranteed finals appearance to a conference winner was removed, Australia may not have had a team in the eight-team finals in the last two years.

In Test cricket, Australia has had more months in number one sport in the ICC world rankings than any other team since the inception of this measurement method in 2003. However Australia test cricket current sits at third place, a long way behind South Africa (2nd) and India (1st), with only a slender lead over England, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. [4]

What about Olympic Games performances? At end of the 2016 Sumer Olympic Games in Rio, Australia was ranked in tenth position on the medal table with a total of 29 medals (8 gold, 11 silver, and 10 bronze). This was Australia’s lowest medal tally and lowest rank since the 1992 Olympics.[5] Australia peaked at the 2000 Sydney Olympics with 58 medals in total, and has declined in a linear fashion every Summer Games since.[6]

So what’s behind this pattern of decline? Everyone’s got an opinion, however few have participated and observed professional sport at the elite level for nearly forty years as I have. My suggestions will be dismissed by most, and benefitted by few.

Understand this – misinterpret the cause-effect relationship for losing, and you will fail to win. That’s why it’s so easy to dominate in sport – few are on track with their interpretation and solutions. Everyone’s got an opinion, few are qualified by track record as measured by the scoreboard to give them.

I believe that in the top three reasons why Australian sport is in decline is the way physical preparation is being implemented in this country. Let me give you some history.

The word ‘strength and conditioning’ is an American term, coined in 1981 by the then National Strength Coaches Association of America, who following their 1978 origin, realized they wanted to add something more to the title than strength. This belated lip service didn’t and hasn’t changed anything.

The NSCA was begun for college strength coaches who were involved in American football, that is ‘gridiron’. Whether is it optimal for this sport is another question, however few athletes in that sport run far enough to find out their muscle imbalance, and even fewer touch the ball to find out their technical limitations.

I suggest, after many decades of observation and involvement, that the original intent of the NSCA has not changed, and that the training method proposed are not suitable to the majority of sports.

So in 1988 the NSCA came to Australia. How do I know? Because I was part of it’s inception. However up until about the mid 1990’s there was less than five (yes, 5) people employed full time in this industry. Which meant the impact of the arrival of this American influence was very, very limited.

This all changed in the late 1990s, and into the 2000s. Now, post 2010, nearly every high school in the country (as in the US) has its own ‘S&C’ program, and most private high schools have their own in-house ‘S&C’ coach. Every teenage talent-identification program, every late teens/early twenties development squad, and every elite and professional squad have their own service providers and programs. In fact, in most private high schools, about 50% of the total training time is given to ‘S&C’ activities, and failure or refusal of the young athletes to participate in these dubious activities results in non-selection.

Australia now has twenty plus (20+ years, 1995 to present) of formal, compulsory American ‘strength and conditioning’ influenced programs. Now the impact is being felt.

So what are some of the reasons I am adamant that the sporting decline in this country is due to the way physical preparation is being done, and laying most of this at the feet of the ‘strength and conditioning’?

In tennis all national programs have ‘strength and conditioning’ compulsory from the age of 12 years upwards. In my observations and from my discussions with players and coaches, about 80% of all these young athletes are injured at any one time such that their ability to train and play pain free is compromised. Stress fractures of the lumbar are common place prior to the age of 16 years, and surgery involving shaving of the hip is rising at a rate where the statistics are looking like over 50% of the elite nationally ranked tennis players in Australia will have this surgery during their career.

Quite simply, most elite talent identified tennis players in this country will have surgery prior to the age of 20 years (more likely 18 years), and will be forced into retirement due to their physical inability to play the game by or prior to the age of 24 yrs.

Currently Australia has three top 100 world ranked men’s players, and at least two of these cannot complete tournaments currently due to serious, chronic injuries (Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios). Tomic (ranked 93) is 24 and Kyrgios (ranked 20) is 22 years of age. Jordan Thompson (ranked 75) is 23 years of age. No Australian player in the top 100 men’s world ranking is over 24, and this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

On the basis of my hypothesis, Tomic at 24 years of age, is on the verge of fading out of the top 100. His ranking movement supports my hypothesis.

Now for rugby. The majority of talent identified young rugby players (>50%) will have surgery before they are twenty years of age. At least 25% will have surgery before they graduate from high school. The average number of surgery for a rugby player who plays into his late 20’s is about five.

Let me make this very clear – NO-ONE plays optimal sport on the background of surgery. It is physically impossible. There is a whole arm of medical and paramedical people really enjoying this situation. But the players are not benefitting.

I began preparing athletes in all these sports at the elite level in the 1980s, and have been involved in coach education at a state, national and overseas level from the early 1990s. I have a number of decades of involvement, contribution and participation. I have witnessed these changes first hand. This is not theory. You can argue it’s not science, but you can also put your head in the sand and say it’s not happening.

The trajectory is downwards. I have grave concerns for the physical (and mental) health of Australian athletes moving forward. Additionally, whilst I don’t advocate litigation in sport, the glaring failure of the duty of care by sporting bodies, institutions and schools towards the athletes in their care may only be addressed as a result of a civil suite.

In the 1980s strength training was an element of athletic preparation that was missing. The content that is being provided in ‘strength and conditioning’ in Australia, is in my opinion, inappropriate. Grossly inappropriate. Further exacerbation of the negative impact this training is having on sports performance is that it is taking the place of training that is far more valuable and important to long term athlete development – such as skill (technical) development.

In closing, is this just an Australian issue? No, I suggest, based on the Australian case study, that any nation will suffer the impacts of their nationalized application of American influence ‘strength & conditioning’ after if not before the 20 years anniversary.

I believe for example that the United Kingdom was about a decade behind Australia in embracing ‘strength & conditioning’. UK sport is currently out-performing Australian sport. In swimming, the media recognize that England is now ahead of Australia in swimming.

“The Brits are now better at swimming than Australia. Yes, you read that right.

The medal tally of the world swimming championships just concluded in Budapest makes disturbing reading for an Australian. Occasionally we have to accept that England will win the Ashes and the English rugby team will triumph but our superiority in swimming was a constant, until now.

A nation that has less than a dozen Olympic pools and is the world’s leading creator of head-up breaststrokers has been more successful at this year’s major championship than one bathed in sunshine most of the year round and, well, swimming in facilities.” [7]

In rugby England and Ireland are ranked ahead of Australia in current world rankings, and Scotland and Wales are not far behind.[8]

Rank Team Points
1  New Zealand 94.78
2  England 90.14
3  Ireland 85.39
4  Australia 84.63
5  South Africa 84.16
6  Scotland 82.47
7  Wales 81.73

In cricket England is only one close place behind Australia:[9]

•   ICC Test Championship
Rank Team Matches Points Rating
1  India 32 3925 123
2  South Africa 26 3050 117
3  Australia 31 3087 100
4  England 34 3362 99

And in tennis the UK have the same number of top 100 men’s tennis players as does Australia (3) however their rankings average is far superior to Australia. And they have players older than 24 years of age in this category, unlike Australia.

So this suggests to me that at around 2025 the UK may seem the same sporting decline Australia has, as at that point they will have had twenty or more years of American influenced ‘strength & conditioning’. Now I cannot say if they have applied this training to the teenage athletes in the same ‘enthusiastic’ and compulsory way that Australia has, however I suspect they may have.

What few appear to understand is that there are many ways to gain short-term advantage in sport, however few of these have long term advantages.

For example it is very easy to take a teenage athlete and accelerate the physical maturation process through say strength training, which is basically what ‘strength & conditioning’ is, despite the belated addition and presence of the word ‘conditioning’. So you can take a 14 year old and turn them in to the equivalent of a 17 year old on the following season. However there are many shortcomings with this, not the least the absence of high-level skill development, that will result in long term deficiencies. There is also the muscle imbalances that typically result from the poorly designed strength training programs that are epidemic in sport. So what looks good at the twelve-month mark sours quickly a few years later.

The failure to take a long-term approach to athlete preparation is a key factor in the decline of sports performance.

So why is not affecting the origin country? My hypothesis is at odds with the US dominance in world sport. I have battled with this question also. Here is my conclusion to date. America is blessed with a high population of what I call ‘load resistant’ athletes. A population of 300 plus million plus the gene pool of the whole world to recruit from. The question I also ask is ‘How good could America be if it had to optimize training, instead of getting by on its gene pool?’

So what are Australian sports doing about this decline? It’s early days and I don’t want to limit the possibilities. I will say this however – are they going to recognize the factors I do? Do they have the courage to make the changes to reverse these trends? These are the big questions. I could tell you what I think is going to happen (my coaching experience talking here), however I am going to remain open minded and optimistic (the humanitarian in me!).

However I can only guarantee that the challenge I have highlighted will be overcome and reversed by teams and individuals who share my vision and values on how to train athletes. Will that be you?

Note:

For those athletes and coaches who are concerned about the direction of training and want to believe there is a better way – congratulations. There is a better way. I have spend the last four decades discovering better ways to train, and we teach these better ways when we work with athletes or coaches. The KSI Coaching Program aims to provide you with the tools to train athletes and others in their highest and best interests, with no interest in what the dominant trend is or will be in the future. Learn more about KSI Coach Education here https://kingsports.net/courses/

References

[1] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/olympics/brits-are-now-better-at-swimming-than-australia/news-story/64f60fb04fdd0282ce057ee48b78c2ef

[2] http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/wimbledon-2017-australian-tennis-in-a-slump-with-only-nick-kyrgios-ranked-in-the-world-top-20/news-story/282426075bd0d235215433b9f07f2930

[3] http://www.espn.com/tennis/rankings

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_Test_Championship

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics

[6] http://www.topendsports.com/world/countries/australia/events/olympics/medals.htm

[7] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/olympics/brits-are-now-better-at-swimming-than-australia/news-story/64f60fb04fdd0282ce057ee48b78c2ef

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Rugby_Rankings

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICC_Test_Championship

Ian King

Guidance for the new physical preparation coach – Respect & research

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In 1999 I wrote the first edition of the book ‘So You Want to Become a Physical Preparation Coach’. It was the first and only book of it’s kind at the time offering professional and business guidance to physical preparation coaches. Twenty years later this guidance is as relevant as it was then. However little advancements have occurred in the ensuing 20 years in the professional practices in our industry – physical preparation.

There is a lot about the legal profession I don’t like. For example their example to ‘churn’ work, which means to generate unnecessary billable hours. But here are a few things that I like. For starters their professional rates. Even the lowest, least experienced lawyer is billed a triple-figure hourly rate. But the one aspect I envy the most is their respect of seniority.

Now I believe respect needs to be earned, and more years in the industry does not equate or guarantee competency. But what it does do is allow a young, inexperienced professional the opportunity to study the track record of the more experienced person, and at the very minimum communicate with them with respect to what they have learnt about their professional journey.

I just got off the phone with a young ‘high-performance coach’. I recently was hired by an athlete form within a team he is employed to service, and he had respectively asked me to call him. So I did. When he asked me to outline what training I was doing in the various physical qualities, I asked a few key questions.

How many years have you been in the industry? A year or two. Right.

Have you heard of my name before? Ah, no.

Have you read any of my published works? Ah, no.

Okay. Now this young man lives within a 30 km radius of where I reside for parts of the year. His professional academic training was probably done in the same city mine way. He is on his way to a PhD, God bless him. But this is not how you optimize the opportunity you get when you dialogue with someone with my experience.

In relation to the strength training I am doing, he felt the need to understand it. Was it corrective exercises, as he had been led to believe from the athlete. Now I don’t use that term, and I don’t believe in it. The impact of an exercise is determined by the result on the body, not by a pre-determined label. Now Paul Chek and others did a great job of popularizing this term and concept, God bless them. But I don’t use that term. You can be doing one the most ‘classic’ ‘corrective exercises’ and it could be damaging the athlete. So how can we dialogue on terms we don’t share common ground on?

Was my speed work maximal or technique-based? Now we are in the few week of training and he knows that. My training approach to speed is well documented, from my presentation at the original SAQ seminar in New Orleans in the early to mid-90s to my collaboration with the late Charlie Francis. To my development and championing of the concept ‘reverse periodization’ through to my well-published content about how I make substantial change to athlete’s speed with sub-maximal efforts.

Now I may not be the smoothest person to talk to in circumstances like this. SO when the young man began to justify his questions with the ‘I just have the best intentions of the athlete in mind’ I could not help myself. If you knew what I knew about the athlete, if you could read their bodies like I can, if you knew what you and your colleagues were doing to them by act or omission that was damaging them and decreasing their athletic – you would either quit really quickly or get better really quickly.

So we then went to ‘I need to know what the athlete is doing in training because if they get injured I will get blamed’. Great theory, but again, if you knew what I knew about their injury potential and the relationship between what is being done to them or not being done to them in training and their injury potential, you would not sleep at night.

Then the request to meet in person next Tuesday to ensure we are on the same page. Now I don’t know about how others operate but warm feelings don’t pay the bills. Who is paying for the meeting? Should the client be expected to pay for what is ultimately going to be a coach education meeting? Should this young coach have a free consultation whilst many around the world put their money on the table by attending seminars or enrolling in courses with their hard-earned cash? I don’t think so.

I raised this point – if I was a second-year law graduate and I was talking to a Queen’s Council (QC) or equivalent, would I be asking them to justify and explain themselves? Probably not! I expect that junior lawyers would respectively take the opportunity to learn – irrespective of who was the primary contact with the athlete (and it is usually the junior lawyer!).

Now maybe I could have done what most might do and submissively answered his question. But in my humble opinion the way this industry conducts itself, including the lack of appropriate respect and deferment to those who have paved the way in this industry, is simply not good enough.

Now I understand the Australian class structure mentally, inherited from our English roots – we are all the same, no one could have risen above. However, that is simply not the case. There are more senior coaches, and some of them actually have something to learn from.

If you want to fulfil your potential, be the best you can be, if you really care for the best interests of the athlete – stop being so average. Step up to a level of professionalism that whilst absent in our industry, is something that would serve our industry.

When I arranged to sit with one of the USA’s most successful ‘strength and conditioning coaches’ Al Vermeil for the first time in the late 1980s I had done my research, and I took respectfully the opportunity to learn. When I collaborated with him regarding an athlete in the Chicago Bulls, I didn’t ask him to explain himself, and I didn’t go to the clichés of ‘I just want the best for the athlete; or ‘we need to be on the same page’; or ‘I will get blamed if they injure themselves’. I could go on ad nausea of these examples. So I am not preaching from hypocrisy. I did exactly what I expected you should do.

Even if the industry doesn’t change, you can change. You, the new professional in physical preparation, can and should be better. And this is just one way to do this. However, the teacher is not likely to appear if the student is not ready….

Ian King

There is a better way – Part 1: Why are you ignoring the message from Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, and Novak Djokovic?

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More athletes are having their athleticism destroyed, their careers shortened, and their long term quality of life threatened because of the way they are being trained than ever before in my lifetime.  The athlete training world has lost the plot.  Not concerned or don’t buy into this statement?  Then you don’t read any further.  There are heaps of more valuable articles on the internet for you to read, such as how to create hypertrophy in the absence of skills, or the exact liquid temperature to consume your glutamine in the absence of any focus on foundational nutrition… For those that resonate with my concerns, I invite you to stay with me.

Is that my opinion or is it a scientific fact? It’s my opinion. Now those who don’t know or don’t appreciate (or don’t want to do either for various reasons) the depth of experience training athletes or track record in identifying limiting factors in sports training and performance and innovating solutions that have led to this opinion – you may be forgiven for discarding my opinion.

However, before you disregard my conclusions on the state of athletic preparation, I want you know you are also disregarding the opinion of a couple of athletes that have also to train differently to what most are doing – Tom Brady, Kevin Durant and Novak Djokovic.

The way we train athletes does more harm than good. That’s the message I have been sharing since the 1990s. And it is not just getting worse. It is reaching diabolical standards.

In fact, I believe that most injuries are actually caused by the way athletes train.  The only injury acceptable is an unavoidable impact injury.   Virtually all soft tissue injuries are avoidable.  But imagine that – training, during which focus is geared towards performance enhancement, may induce most injuries.  Isn’t this ridiculous! [1]

In fact, from my experiences and observation, the greatest effect that I have seen from most physical preparation is to detract from these five factors, not enhance it.  Imagine that – training and being worse off for it.  Well, how do you think the athlete would feel if he/she found out!  Yeah, they’re real fit – to sit in the stands in their team uniform and watch![2]

…from my observations, most physical preparation programs do more harm than good. They may give short term results or confidence to the athlete but result in significant performance restrictions and or injuries long term…. Quite simply, the majority of training programs are flawed from a physical preparation perspective and are causing the increased injuries. [3]

For those not familiar with these three athletes who share my opinion, allow me to provide a quick bio. Tom Brady is the most successful quarter back in American Football history with five Super Bowl Championship rings.  Kevin Durant just won his first championship ring with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA.  And Novak Djokovic has been dominating men’s tennis internationally during the ten years, frequently occupying the coveted No 1 world ranking. He is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, with a 80+% match winning rate (the second highest in the Open Era).

So what does Tom Brady have to say?

“I have been blessed to learn the right methods, through my nutrition, hydration, pliability and proper rest. It’s really not that hard if you do the right thing.”[4]

No mention of maximal loading or hypertrophy training.  In fact he apparently stays away from lifting heavy weights, and focuses on flexibility.[5]

What does Kevin Durant have to say?

“All the strength coaches were laughing at me and s—. They were giggling with each other that I couldn’t lift 185 pounds and I was like, ‘All right, keep laughing. Keep laughing.’ It was a funny thing because I was the only one that couldn’t lift it and I was struggling to lift it. I was embarrassed at that point, but I’m like, ‘Give me a basketball, please. Give me a ball.’….I was ranked the last person in camp, drills-wise. I was the worst player, and the first player didn’t get drafted. That tells you a lot about the significance of that s—.”[6]

What does Novak Djokovic have to say?

           ….And I know if I need to spend two hours a day stretching, I’ll spend that time, because I know that’s going to make me feel good.”

The following statement comes from his first coach, Jelana Gencic, who guided him between about the ages of 6 years through to his early teens.

“You know Novak was not too strong a boy,” Gencic said. “You know how he is now elastic and flexible. Do you know why? It’s because I didn’t want to work too hard with him.”…Gencic held up her racket. “This,” she said, “is the heaviest thing he had to handle. We only worked on his legs, his quickness, only fitness on the court, not in the weight room. We stretched and did special movements for tennis, to be flexible, to be agile and to be fast and with the legs. And now he’s excellent, excellent, excellent.”

Djokovic said Gencic’s approach was always long-term.

“Jelena was one of the people that had a huge impact and huge influence on that part of let’s say my profession, being flexible and taking care of my elasticity of the muscles,” he said Saturday. “Because she taught me and convinced me that if I stayed flexible, not only will I be able to move well around the court and be able to recover well after the matches, but also I’ll be able to have a long career……[7]

If you look at how the world is training athletes, its obvious that the majority are disregarding the messages from this dominant sporting icons.  Allow me to acknowledge one of the most likely criticisms. That the opinions of these three athletes do not override the fact that thousands of other athletes have trained more trend like – heavy load, excessive volume, to high levels of fatigue.  I acknowledge this counter argument.  You are right. You can always provide evidence to support both the for and against of any argument.

However allow me to share what I believe is one indisputable fact – that the evidence provided in the case studies of these three athletes confirms that you can become the best in the world without the training proposed by most coaches and engaged in by most athletes. The way most train is not a common denominator with success.  It’s not necessary,  its not optimal, and I suggest in most cases does more damage than good.

I suggest that conforming to the dominant trends will is a common denominator with injuries, reduced athleticism, shortened careers and a lower quality of later life.

The great thing about human life is we get to choose what we believe in. If you as an athlete choose to embrace the mainstream approach, fantastic and good luck.  If you are a coach and also choose to believe in and embrace the current dominant training methods, I trust in the future you take time to reflect upon the outcomes and be accountable.   Visit with your athletes 20-40 years after they have retired and see how they are going. And take responsibility.

For those athletes and coaches who are concerned about the direction of training and want to believe there is a better way – congratulations. There is a better way.  I have spend the last four decades discovering better ways to train, and we teach  these better ways when we work with athletes or coaches.   For example, the KSI Coaching Program aims to provide you with the tools to train athletes and others in their highest and best interests, with no interest in what the dominant trend is or will be in the future.

The training world is now one where you will get a job whether you are great or incompetent – there is simply demand for services. However, if you want to go beyond simply ‘getting a job’, if you want to do the best by the athlete, to fulfill your potential – you are not going to achieve these goals training the way everyone else is training.

What is happening is not good enough, and the athlete is paying the price. The good news is there is a better way. The question remains – will you go there?

 

References

[1] King, I., 1997, Winning & Losing, Ch 5, p. 25

[2] King, I., 1999, So you want to become a physical preparation coach, p. 30-31

[3] King, I., 2005, The way of the physical preparation coach, p. 66-67

[4] http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2686534-in-better-shape-than-ever-at-age-39-heres-how-tom-brady-does-it

[5] http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tom-brady-says-hurting-time-162548454.html

[6] http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/kevin-durant-calls-nba-combine-waste-time-top/story?id=47338234

[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/03/sports/tennis/djokovic-bends-and-twists-but-doesnt-break.html

 

© 2017 Ian King & King Sports International. All rights reserved.

Ian King

Be part of the solution

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On a Saturday morning, I watched a group of girls aged approximately 6-8 years old performing walking lunges in their warm-up for club sport. It was early morning on a winter’s day, and every single one of them was using both hands on their lead knee as they struggled to come out of each rep. Heart breaking.

Tragically I can see this in all sports of all age groups in the fields and playing arenas in any city in the western world. At least anywhere with internet connection, where dominant trends spread more rapidly.  A predominance of misguided, non-effective, career killing and quality of life damaging training methods.

I’m sure the coach, a middle aged and enthusiastic man, was well-meaning.  In the same way the misguided physical coaches globally are for the most part well meaning – for some reason they don’t ask the question and dig deep enough to understand there is a better way.

In the case of walking lunges in the warmup its potentially life-changing knee degeneration being created in group of unsuspecting and trusting minors.

If you share my vision that the direction of training in this world is heading in an inappropriate direction you can be part of the solution, rather than being part of the problem.  Because as KSI coaches we are very clear in our vision – there is a better way, athletes and clients training to be better deserve that better way.  We are committed to giving them the best so they can be their best. This is measured by zero injury and superior outcomes in training and competitive. Podium performances.

However, if you, like the coach that winter Saturday morning with his group of 6-8 year old girls, leave your training decision inquires at the level of ‘well EVERYBODY is doing this’, then I’m confident you shouldn’t bother reading any further. On the flip side, if you share my beliefs that what is being done is simply not good enough, then read on.

I appreciate that possibly the vast majority of sports and physical preparation coaches care more for conformity than about the results. That’s normal. That’s average.  It’s not going to change. 90% of every group is committed to conformity and being ordinary. 5% are drive to be good. 5% won’t rest before greatness is achieved.  You choose your group, your tribe. You can be ordinary and average. Or you can be good. Or you can be great. At KSI we are driven to be great. You can share that vision, not just in lip service but in the same metrics we use to objectively confirm the superiority of the KSI way.

I appreciate that possibly the vast majority of physical preparation coaches care more for the perception of popularity, how many hits on their website, how many social media followers, than their ability to positively impact the lives of the end user.  Or how low their body fat is, or how big their biceps are. How much ‘knowledge’ they have, or how many certificates they have. However there will also be some of you that are drawn to the impact you have on the end user, more than the perception you create with your peers.

Throughout my professional career I have solved problems the world faces in training through disruptive innovations that ultimately path through the ‘three stages of truth’ – first they are rejected, then ridiculed and then adopted and claimed by a trend-spotting marketer from the north-east or the south-west!

KSI Coaches are taught these innovations at a level of excellence not imaginable to the rest of the world. And they are taught innovations that have not been released into public domain, as they rise through the levels and become trusted teachers of the KSI way.

We put the athlete/client first. We let impact determine our results. We let our results do the talking. We under promise and over deliver.  We prefer the marketing that comes from the way we change people’s lives over the marketing most use on social media to create a perception of themselves.  We are humble and solution focused.  We make a difference in the lives of others, and in doing so make a difference in the lives of our coaches. Our coaches live a lifestyle most can only dream off, as  a result of giving athletes and clients training results more can only dream off.

It’s your choice. You could be part of the solution, the KSI way.

 

© 2017 Ian King & King Sports International. All rights reserved.

Ian King

The four stages of the physical preparation coaches career

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In my fourth decade of professional involvement in the sport and fitness industry I have reached many conclusions. I acknowledge they are generalisations, however these hypothetical models help all of us understand human behaviour.

Based on both my own personal experience and my experience seeking to help, educate and guide others professionally, I have formed the following model.

Stage 1:  Blinkered and gullible

Years: 0-10 years into their career

The first phase I see occurring is when a newcomer to the entrant is simply in awe of the opportunity they have been given, which is nice to see. However this often comes with tunnel vision on what is needed for long-term success, and this phase is characterized by an exclusive and what I believe is an unbalanced prioritization of professional development. Sets and reps. How may grams of glutamine per quantity of liquid and what temperature should the liquid be. The longer it goes on the less productive it becomes.  However they are blinded to this and the typical mentor they choose is not helping them develop a more balanced approach.

In this phase the young or new coach is so easily impressed with the shiniest, loudest objects that they are not really ready to be students of what I call a balanced life and true success.  They are more likely to do what ‘everyone’ is doing than make wise choices as to what’s best for them.

Stage 2: At the crossroads

Years: 5-15 years into their careers

This is the period during which the newcomer is no longer a new comer, and has been involved long enough for the shine to come off their experience, and some home truths to settle in.  At this stage the physical preparation coach is at a critical point or crossroad in their career. They are aware of certain frustrations and limitations and now they are deciding – will they do anything about it?  This is a critical point in the career.

There is some discussion in the human potential industry that if significant changes are made here for the better prior to the age of 28 year, there is much hope for their future.

State 3: Embracing or denying change

Years: 10-20 years into their career

In this phase and path, coaches have chosen not to embrace change, and retreat to what is easiest – doing nothing. They accept that the way is has been is the way it has to be and close off all options to change. This is the path taken by the majority, whose desire to confirm is greater than their courage to create change. You can see human potential shrinking as the years pass.

In this phase and path, coaches have embraced change and are challenged by developing the new values and skills required to succeed in the direction they have chose to solve their frustration and fulfill their potential. This is the minority.

State 4: Living with or without the fruits

Years: 20-40 years into their career

For those that chose to deny the possibility of change, of learning new skills, of fulfilling the potential, the final stage of their working life is one of silent desperation. A life of ‘if only’ but often unspoken. This is the lot that most face or will face. That is human nature.

For those with the courage to make the changes, they spend this life phase enjoying the fruits of their willingness to take risks, to learn new skills, to change.

To complete the cycle of life you could say there is a fifth stage –

Stage 5: Retiring in comfort or destitute

Years: Last 10-30 years of life

Those greater majority who choose the safe, unchanging, what everyone else is doing path will live in a standard of poverty never expected or seen in modern history, due to the demographic changes and lack of social security funds available to support the aging population. It will not be pretty.

The minority who chose change and had the determination and courage to break the stereotype will live with a level of comfort not enjoyed by their less courageous peers.

Conclusion

There are a few points I want to stress here. Firstly the above categories are arbitrary and intended to provide a message.  Secondly I don’t believe you need to accept any stereotype. You determine your own path. Thirdly, it is never too late. I like the saying ‘It’s better late than never’. So don’t feel you have missed out, or ‘missed the boat’, so to speak. There is always opportunity.

Having said that, if you are not driven to change, then get comfortable where you are.  Its not about what you have, its about what you are willing to do to improve and change your circumstances.

The KSI Coaching program is aimed to give coaches a life where they have choice. Choice with where they live, why they work, where they work, who they work with.  It is a path that has been available for nearly twenty years. During this time we have been able to reach a number of conclusions, as we continually refine the path.

Firstly this is a path that typically takes a decade to master.   You may have heard the saying:

“It takes 10,000 hrs of practice to achieve mastery in a field”

–as popularized by Malcolm Gladwell.

Sounds daunting. Where does it begin? By taking action

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

— Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching ascribed to Laozi.

Footnote:

In June 2017 we are offering a special 21-day KSI Orientation program for those who are seriously considering starting that journey.  There are some pre-requisites. We ask that you send us an email at question@kingsports.net describing :

  1. How/where you fit into the four stages of the physical preparation coaches career;
  2. Why you believe there must be a better way.
  3. Why you believe KSI may be that better way
  4. What exposure to our teachings you have had to date (you will need to have made a step of studying our material other than what’s on the internet)

This is a free program however you will be expected to meet the above criteria and you will be expected to work and keep up with the 21 day program.  There will be one webinar weekly and other mid-week tasks competed in your own time. During this program you will get to look under the (motorcar) hood (to use an American car analogy) and we will get to look at you and determine how committed to change and suitable you are for the KSI Coaching Program.

Ian King

To think or conform?

/by

I received an email from a young man on the subject of stretching, a classic case of humans choosing conformity over thinking. The email went like this:

“Recently I purchased your Legacy book. The book is full of training gold, especially important information is about stretching. You should spread the truth about stretching. I can`t believe how everybody is wrong with this dynamic stretching B.S. Static stretching rules. I´m more flexible than ever, feel great, and it does transfer to dynamic motions.” [i]

I was really impressed that this young man sought to gain a personal experience about stretching prior to reaching a conclusion. He thought for himself, in the face of dogma to the contrary, and reached a conclusion contrary to the dogmatic teaching.

As for spreading the ‘truth’ about stretching, that’s what I have been doing for nearly 40 years now. The challenge is most people don’t want to think independently. The famous Dr. Albert Swcheitzer when asked in about 1952 reached the same conclusion.  Earl Nightingale tells this story in his 1956 audio ‘The Strangest Secret’. (A must listen to!)

Here is the transcript:

“Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t think!” [ii]

Now as far as the truth or wrong, I tend to avoid these words where possible. To ignore the value of static stretching and replace it with dynamic stretching – or to leave your static stretching till after the workouts. These are mistakes.

However, I understand how static stretching is promoted, and I understand most people are more committed to conformity than fulfilling their potential.

I have watched many of those who have achieved marketed position of influence in this industry promote their values on stretching. I know personally that the minority of these influencers who actually train don’t stretch, and never have.  To acknowledge they have missed the point in training as regards stretching is not going to happen in their lifetimes. And the influencers who don’t train have no chance of knowing personally the best alternatives or combinations.

As for conformity, I again refer to the best-selling (in the true sense of the word, not in the way current industry marketers use it) for one of the best comments on conformity:

“Rollo May, the distinguished psychiatrist, wrote a wonderful book called Man’s Search for Himself, and in this book he says: “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice … it is conformity.” And there you have the reason for so many failures. Conformity and people acting like everyone else, without knowing why or where they are going.” [iii]

[Imagine if referencing and crediting were the norm in this industry? wouldn’t that be amazing! instead of this encouragement to lie, cheat, steal and plagiarize…]

Now concepts are promoted with great dogma, which is why I have historically encouraged people to challenge and ignore the dogma:

“Not only are you taught with a degree of dogma in formal education, you are often taught not to think – rather to accept ‘this is the way’.  Certain informal education teaches you to think for yourself (as we do at KSI) or teaches you a different perspective to the one you were taught to dogmatically adopt in your formal education. Exposure to this can cause some initial unease.” [iv]

I don’t suggest knowing the truth, however I have reached conclusions and encourage others to do the same, even if they are contrary to the dominant paradigms:

“I don’t know about truth, but I can say that blind and dogmatic teaching of this by personal trainers and others has contributed to some serious misconceptions…” [v]

My strong recommend has been to:

“Resist the temptation in program design to conform to mainstream paradigms simply for the sake of conforming, no matter how dogmatically they are presented, or how much you may be ridiculed or ostracized for trusting your intuition over conformity.” [vi]

Not to be confused of course with a thinly paraphrased paragraph that followed a year later in an article at t-nation.com from another ‘author’….

“When designing training programs, resist the pressure to conform to any tradition or system of beliefs, no matter how dogmatically that tradition or those beliefs are presented, or how much you get “slammed” for not conforming.” [vii]

My message to the young man who wrote to me, and to you to, is have the courage to think for yourself! And if you need help, I wrote the book ‘Barbells & Bullshit’ to help you. If nothing it will shock you into realizing that your own conclusions will be far more accurate and ethical and better for your than the self-serving dogma dished up by many who seek to exert their influence for reasons other than a pure intention to serve you. You can get this book in hard copy or e-book.  If you email me at question@kingsports.net sharing your commitment to think for yourself, I would love to give you a free copy of the e-book.

So, the choice is yours – to think or to conform. Just don’t expect the masses to be so brave!

 

References

[i] Personal communication, name available on request, 26 April 2017

[ii] http://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-strangest-secret/

[iii] http://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-strangest-secret/

[iv] King, I., 1999, So You Want to Become a Strength and Conditioning Coach

[v] King, I., 2001 (?), Q & A, T-mag.com, Issue #10

[vi] King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach, p. 17

[vii] xxxx 2006, xxxxx, T-mag.com, Feb

 

© 2017 Ian King & King Sports International. All rights reserved.