Ian King

Ban the band!

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During a workout the national league, former scholarship holding Div. 1 NCAA athlete from a championship winning team asked ‘Ian, I notice you don’t use bands with me in any exercises. Why do most strength coaches use bands and you don’t?’

I pondered a moment and then said ‘Because the world is brain dead.’

A bit harsh, but I wanted to get my point across.

Now this athlete is very cerebral and not only deserved a more complete answer, but had a thirst for knowledge. The lack of satisfactory explanations to similar questions posed to their previous strength and conditioning coaches had been a source of frustration.

So I took a deep breath, collected my thoughts, and begun one of those very brief but intense summaries you give to athletes with inquiring minds.

IK: ‘Okay, this is a bit of a longer explanation but you deserve it!…..Let me ask you – what exercises have you mainly used bands on?

Athlete: Oh, things like the exercise you call ‘External leg rotations’, but others call clamshells. Or the external arm rotations. Exercises like that.

IK: Okay, so mostly control drills, a concept I introduced to the world in the 1990s[2] to provide a pre-training activation of the muscles and an injury prevention insurance policy by increasing volume in small muscles.

The stretch should be followed by a series of control drills for the joints and muscles to be trained in the workout. [3] … I include 2-4 low volume/low intensity ‘control’ drills at the start of EVERY workout, aimed at reducing the muscle imbalance in the muscle groups to be trained on that day. This is part of my injury prevention ‘insurance’ policy… [4] Control drills by my definition include any exercises that focus primarily on selective recruitment and quality of the movement, as opposed to the load lifted or reps performed That is, a qualitative focus rather than a quantitative focus…[5]

IK: Let me ask you a question – when you start each rep in most exercsies, do you feel at your strongest point or not?

Athlete: Ah, no, most exercises I am not the strongest at the start of the rep.

IK: And that’s normal – it’s called the ‘strength or force curve’ – the amount of force you can produce at the start of the exercise is usually low, then what happens next?

Athlete: I feel a bit stronger as I come up through the rep.

IK: Excellent. Then what happens next?

Athlete: I feel I get a bit weaker towards the end.

IK: Wow, you are sharp! That’s a great explanation for most joint force curves – you start weak, get stronger, then get weaker. Now let me ask – when you start the rep with a band does the resistance start low?

Athlete: Yes, it’s at its easiest point at the start.

IK: Excellent. Then as you come through the movement what happens to the resistance?

Athlete: It’s get harder.

IK: Excellent. Then what happens next?

Athlete: Then I guess it gets really hard towards the end as the band is getting more stretched.

IK: Exactly! Now is this your strongest point or are you getting weaker towards the end of the movement in most cases?

Athlete: I am usually getting weaker.

IK: Great! So does the resistance offered match the force curve?

Athlete: No, it doesn’t.

IK: Can you finish off the rep with excellent technique or do you tend to cheat to get it done?

Athlete: I need to cheat to finish the rep.

IK: So how does that fit in with say my focus on technique and avoiding technique breakdown, especially with control drills?

Athlete: It wouldn’t! Okay, I see now why you don’t use bands!

With that, we went back to training.

Now I am going to extend the discussion for you, as I assume you are not working out as you read! Now of course I need to state that if you don’t like what I am about to say, you can stop reading. Or, you can read on. Now if you don’t have room in your mind for a different perspective, you can of course just ignore it and go back to doing what everyone else is doing – and we need the 90% to do what the 90% do because that’s just the way it is – or you can throw a tantrum and hurl abuse at me – the comment section is below – go for it, I’m pretty used to those affected with the ‘who moved my cheese’ phenomenon!

So for those still with me, I return to my insights….yes, just an opinion based on a little bit of experience….and a keen innovative mind that no matter how much the trolls are pissed off with me, chances are they are already using one or more of my innovations without even realizing it!

(That reminds me of Minny’s lines in the movie ‘The Help’ – “you just ate my xxxx….”[6])

In the 1960s and 1970s, either through a genuine desire to find a better way or for commercial purposes, some sought a ‘superior’ loading alternative to free weights, earlier referred to as ‘isotonic movements’ – the use of eccentric and concentric contractions with a constant load.

Universal released their lever machines, trademarked ‘Dynamic Variable Resistance’ (DVR), proposing the superior training effect. They failed to truly match the force curve and this fell by the way.

Arthur Jones came along in the 1970s and 1980s with the off-set nautilus cam shell shaped pulley system trademarked Nautilus. Really nice equipment, and the off-set cam pulley system got closer than Universal did to matching the joint force curve, but still fell short.

Arthur and his off-spring continued to contribute to the search for optimal resistance modalities, through Medex, Hammer Strength etc.

Isokinetic and semi-isokinetic devices chimed in, all providing alternatives to isotonic exercises, and variety in training.

So why did was it that took us back about half a century and sees athlete’s around the world using resistance options such as bands where the resistance rises in a linear fashion, arguably even less appropriate to the human force curve than isotonic fixed load resistance?

Now perhaps you have a greater affinity for my initial word selection regarding humans being brain dead? Okay, that may be asking too much!

So why are bands so popular? I have three possible answers.

Firstly they are undeniably convenient and cost effective. However when did training to be the best in your conference, best in the nation, and or the best in the world come down to convenience? In other words I can understand why some general population clientele may resort to them especially on road trips. However I don’t believe this is a solid justification for the proliferation of this resistance mode.

Secondly, they are well marketed. In the post 2001 recession response the US fitness industry market turned it’s attention to smaller devices, devices that not only carried lower risk for the manufacturer, importer, distributor and facility owners, but potentially had a higher percentage margin. The promotion of the concept of ‘functional training’ was not without coincidence, rather suggest driven by a market shift toward small cost equipment. And bands are simply part of this market shift. Suffice to say, the promotion of training methods connected to equipment (e.g. foam rollers, bands etc.) rose, whilst the promotion of training methods sans (devoid of) equipment (e.g. stretching) was suppressed.

Thirdly, I come back to brain dead humans. Humans not wiling or able to use the grey matter they were blessed with. Earl Nightingale in his must –listen-to 1956 audio record ‘The Strangest Secret’[7] quoted the wise Dr. Albert Schweitzer responding to a reporter when asked in a circa 1950 press conference “What’s wrong with men today?” After a brief pause he said, ”The trouble with men today is that they simply don’t think.” Not much has changed I suggest!

In conclusion, yes, there is justification for the use of all resistance modes in various cases. However I suggest the current use of bands is inconsistent with this justification. Whilst I was a bit cheeky with my title ‘ban the band’, I am comfortable suggesting you at least reflect on this resistance option before imposing it upon you trusting clients or athletes.

The challenge is not in knowing what is right and wrong. The challenge is to develop the ability to think, to be able to discern if an exercise or training method is appropriate for any given person at any given time, irrespective of and often despite it’s current popularity. This is my hope for you.

References

[1] You know, the ones who are 10/10 on bravery when they’re posting from their basement whom a psychologist would have a field day seeking to unravel the personal hurt they have suffered in life that leaves them in so much pain they want to pass that pain on to complete strangers

[2] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed! (book), p. 118

[3] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed! (book), p. 118

[4] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed! (book), p. 123

[5] King, I., 2002, Get Buffed! II (book), p. 137

[6] “Minny: “Eat my shit.”

Hilly: “Excuse me?”

Minny: “I said eat…my…shit.”

Hilly: “Have you lost your mind?”

Minny: “No ma’am, but you about to, cause you just did.”

*Minny eyes the pie*

Hilly: “Did…What?”

*Minny eyes pie again, Missus Walters gasping and laughing, Hilly eyes pie then gags and runs off*

Missus Walters: “And you didn’t just eat one, you ate TWO slices!”

*Minny runs off*

Missus Walters: “RUN, MINNY, RUUN!!”

*She says this while laughing*”

[7] https://www.nightingale.com/articles/the-strangest-secret/

Ian King

How Can I Get More Clients?

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Any service-based business is constantly looking for new clients and being a trainer is no different. If you Google search this subject you will find the usual solutions being promoted, as discussed in ‘What’s holding you back as a personal trainer’ blog article – ‘get more qualifications’, ‘build your CV’, ‘market yourself’ etc. Including the suggestion that if you buy ‘system in a box’ (e.g. email scripts) you can build your online business because ‘online personal training is the next big thing in fitness’.

Let me be straight – if you are incompetent and can’t fill your client list you are still going to be incompetent online.

Let’s talk about real solutions for increasing your client numbers. To begin lets understand why your current clients train with you.

Why do your current clients really train with you?

Here’s a reality check for you – ask yourself why current clients train with you. You can even ask them. Now put aside the answers and consider this.

Firstly, imagine telling them you are moving your training away by say 10 miles. How many are going to say ‘That’s no problems, I will just drive to you each session!’. Now imagine telling them you are moving your training base 20 miles away, then 30 miles away. How many clients do you have left?

Now start the game all over again, and instead of telling them (or imagining telling them!) that you are moving, tell them you have raised your rates by 10%.How many are saying ‘Good on you! You are worth it! I am excited to stay with you at that rate!’ Now imagine telling them you are raising your rates by 20%? Then 30%? How many clients do you have left?

Now you may be the exception to the rule, because when I have run this with most trainers they quickly realize that….people chose to train with you because you are convenient and cheap….

Now understand that if this reason for training you does not change, you are competing with the other 300,000 (or whatever your country numbers are) who are also perceived as convenient and cheap by their clients. Not much of a Unique Marketing Position (UMP)…..

What are some of the common mistakes trainers make that may be holding them back from getting more clients?

In addition to believing they certificate, CV or market themselves beyond their level of competence, here are some of the common mistakes trainers make in their attempts to raise their client numbers.

1. Talking features not benefits – the training profession is on that loves to associate with science, facts and figures, and big multi-syllable words. Very few clients share this love. Most of this infatuation with with science, facts and figures, and big multi-syllable words comes from the desire to and misguided belief in the importance of impressive colleagues. There’s some significant differences between impressing your colleagues and impressing your clients. For starters, your colleague is not hiring you – your client it.

There are on the other hand massive benefits of sharing the benefits for the individual of whatever you are talking about, as opposed to sharing the features. They have less interest in what happened to a group of under-graduate students in the research sample during an 8 week period, and a lot more interest in what it might do to them over years.

2. Buying into prescription not process – there is an academic and western-world belief that ‘we know’ how to train someone. This is called a prescriptive approach That if you do x, y will occur. How do we know? Because that is what the research said….. or because EVERYONE is using that training method/equipment/exercise (read trend) at the moment…

There are cultures fortunately that have promoted the ‘process’ approach to training. That a training plan is an educated guess that needs to be tweaked daily in response to lessons we learn about the cause-effect relationship of that protocol on that person. It is not assumptive, rather it is focused on objectively assessing the training effect and being willing to change direction.

Clients are not stupid. They can work out if you are treating them like an individual and applying the ‘process’ approach or if you are treating them just like an average and applying the ‘prescriptive’ approach.

3. Failing communication 101 – If you are going to go down the process path you need information. Information comes from the client – the words they say, the body they present, their history etc. The communication goal is to have them provide that information, initially through a series of well-constructed intentional questions.

This art of communication takes time and guidance to develop. What a competent coach can ascertain in a very short period of time will shock the average trainer – if they ever got into a position to hear the dialogue.

Once the questions are asked, the next challenge is to listen. To ultimately speak less than the client. To fulfill the saying  …you have 2 ears and 1 mouth – there’s a reason for that!

4. Generic programming instead of individualized programming – every person is unique, different. They know that. So why do trainers give everyone the same workouts when they should have totally unique programs? Now changing the name on the top of the program sheet does not qualify for individualization! Nor does changing the sequence of the exercises or even substituting one or more exercises out or in.

Programming is the plan your client will follow. It will shape their training effects. Will your ability to individualize programs be enhanced by higher qualifications? It would be nice if it did, but in four decades of professional observation that has not been what I’ve seen. Will building your CV help you individualize your programs? No. Will marketing yourself or marketing yourself more effectively enhance your ability to individualize programs? No.

So how do you get more clients?

Here’s my answer for you, and it’s got nothing to do with more qualifications, more marketing or CV building.

Without going out of your way, in the organic movements of your life, you will come upon people who have physical challenges, and who are looking to solve those physical challenges. Using your newfound focus on listening and communication, upon identifying these people you ask them if they would like you to help them.

No, you are not soliciting them as a client, so don’t get this confused!

If they agree work within their time frame. In a social setting you may have 5 minutes. In a more one on one chat you may have 15 minutes. Whatever you have, this is your time frame to do what I call a ‘show and tell’.

A show and tell is a window of opportunity you have to show a person how much value can add to their life by solving their challenges, by providing an effective solution. By giving them the clear impression of increase that you are able to do things no-one else can. That you are the only game in town.

Then you walk away. Figuratively, at least. You are not going to, I repeat, solicit them or look to ‘close’ the deal’.

If you are effective however, they will chase you, step over the line towards you. Now you have the foundations of a great client relationship because they have discovered your value. They are looking to hire you because of the value you an add, not because you are cheap and convenient!

Let’s say you go and do ten of these ‘show and tell’s’. And let’s say you get no or little client sign ups. There’s a message in that – you need to get better. Not get more qualifications, not get a better CV, not get better at marketing – get better at adding value in very short period of time. Get better at demonstrating the value you bring to the market place.

Conclusion

The ‘show and tell’ strategy is not only the NUMBER ONE client-recruiting tool; it is also the number one diagnostic tool on your progress in value added

So lets say six months ago you were converting one out of 10 of your show and tells. Now you are converting three out of ten. That’s progress!

So where are you going to learn how to master the art of adding real value in a short period of time? In addition to practice, the fastest way is to learn from someone who has mastered it and willing to teach it!

How many clients do you need to grow an incredible training business? One. Provided the value you add is so significant that this one person is compelled to refer their friends, family and colleagues to you. This is the power of the most powerful marketing method in service-based professions – world of mouth or referral-based marketing. Not only is referral-based marketing the best way to grow a business, it is the best way to qualify clients.

You just need two things – the willingness to identify people who are looking for solutions, and the competency to impress upon them that you are the one to provide the solution. And until you achieve the second item – the willingness to embrace any lack of competency and a willingness to find a way to change, to improve your competence.

Ian King

The Personal Trainers Challenge “How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market”

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This article is written for those personal trainers who want to stand out in the market place, who want to get ahead, rise above the masses, and reap the rewards from doing so.  It’s not an easy task. At least, not if you apply the solutions that most go to in attempts to create their Unique Marketing Position (UMP). It get’s a lot easier if you understand one key thing!

In the US alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,[1] there are over 300,000 personal trainers and gym instructors. And that’s not including the other disciplines within physical preparation e.g. strength and conditioning coaches.

After all, the role of a personal trainer (PT) is the current go-to for anyone not sure of what to do with their life, or waiting for that big acting breakthrough!

So how do you stand out in this incredibly crowded market? And do many succeed?

 

If we were to equate higher income with successfully standing out, you would have to say that few achieve this. Again according to the US BLS[2] only the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,980. That’s not much money, and not many people earning it.

So what are Personal Trainers doing that for the most part is contributing to their failure to stand out in the market, contributing to their inability to rise above their competition.

To sum it up simply – they are failing because their solution is to copy what the majority are doing!!

 

There is a saying in the Australian military about ‘monkey see, monkey do’. In other words, the average ‘grunt’ (infantry soldier) is conditioned to mimic whatever they see their instructors or leaders do.  Safe solution in war preparation, but how does it work out in a competitive capitalistic environment – when every a soldier, every step you take isn’t necessarily the last one you might take on two legs!

In other words whilst we owe so much to the military for it’s contribution to the physical preparation industry (ever wonder why the shoulder press is called a military press?) we are not bound to operate on their solutions. We can and SHOULD look to be different – especially if we want a different outcome!!!

 

Look at it this way. If you do it the way everyone else is doing it – all things being equal, how are you going to be better than everyone else?  Realistically changes do occur (albeit slowly) in sport training – because someone dared to do it differently.  These people gain the advantage, are at the cutting edge.  The sheep follow.  Which do you want to be? [3]

 

So what exactly are the majority doing?

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #1 – Abandon Individualized Program Design

What happens on day one for most personal training clients? They get a workout done.  How does that happen so fast? I mean at the longest most clients are into a workout within an hour.  At most a canned assessment, a generic program (or the more common go to – just make up the exercises as you go!)

I know, some of you want to debate this with me. You claim you and ALL the trainers in your facility go through an extensive program design session with each client! Let me ask it this way and see how respond – how much are and your colleagues being paid for your program design services? Now an honest response for the majority would be nothing, zero, nada. Say no more….

If you were highly competent and experienced (and that’s an if…) it should take you between one to three hours of interview, assessment and program design – all paid for by the client – BEFORE they got near a workout!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #2 – The 60 minute workout

Now I know there is a program on TV called ’60 minutes’, but why do the majority of personal training client workouts globally take 60 minutes? Is it possible that 99.9% of the clients have the same needs? Ah, I don’t think so!

So why are you using 60 minute workouts? I can only conclude that you are doing this because that is what everyone else is doing (and that is where the monkey see-monkey do cuts in!

And the other reason is because it is convenient for you to plan your billable hours. However it is in the best interests of the client? And how is it possible that all of them have such similar needs that they all end up doing a 60 minute workout?

In the KSI way, we take whatever time is needed for each individual on any given day!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #3 – The 7 Step Workout! 

Now in addition to every client coincidentally finding  a 60 minute workout ‘optimal’, how amazing it that the majority of the clients have such similar needs that they all end up on the latest dominant trend pumped out in the latest round of fitness industry seminars!

Lately it’s been the 7-step workout! Isn’t it amazing that everyone has the same needs? Now imagine if you as a trainer were to discover that everyone is different, and you were to break out (some would suggest break down!) and provide unique workout components to different clients!

In the KSI Coaching Program we teach you how to do this – train individuals as, well, individuals!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #4 – Multi-planar, multi-joint, closed kinetic chain exercises

Simplistic thinking where concepts such as ‘all your exercises need to be multi-planar and compound (multi-joint) and closed kinetic chain (feet on the ground) and killing the results for your clients! This subject is worth an article on itself – or maybe more than one!

Leave this simplistic brain dead thinking to the masses. You can and should think for yourself. It’s pretty scary to think that after we released this spoof we actually had viewers contacting us who took the skit seriously!

Now we recognize it may not be easy. After all, the commercial interests that pull the strings in this industry (e.g. equipment manufacturers and distributors) have some strong conforming measures in place!

The KSI Coaching Program aims to teach you to think for yourself!

 

Monkey-see Monkey-do Step #5 – Ban the good stuff!

 Its hard to fathom how anyone who exercised their ability to assess the cause-effect relationship of a certain type of training such as stretching would reach the current dominant paradigm that is so negative about this training method.

It’s no wonder injuries are skyrocketing!

 

But that is what EVERYONE else is doing!  Which makes it so simple for you to get superior results with your clients. Now thankfully they suffer less from conformity than you and the physical preparation community does!

This same ‘brain-dead’ conformity leads trainers to give band exercises out – which provide a form of resistance that outside of someone on a Himalayan trek really shouldn’t be doing!!!

That’s right – ban the good stuff, give them the crappy stuff! That’s how you stay ordinary and maintain the statistical average!

Our goal is to help you use your God given grey matter resulting in greater outcomes for your clients!

It’s so simple, so easy, to rise above your 300,000 colleagues!

 

Your Unique Marketing Position (UMP) or Unique Sales Position (USP)

Many in sales and marketing talk about your UMP or USP, basically what is it about you that stands you out in the market places, allows you to out-perform your competition.

It’s pretty tough to have a UMP (or USP) when you service your clients just like everyone else does!

 

Give you a hint – if what I teach is what the majority do, I would be very concerned. I want to do what few do, to get a competitive advantage. [4]

 

And no, getting your hair dyed, getting more ink, or getting more body piercings is not my idea of a successful UMP!

In the higher levels of the KSI Coaching Program we focus extensively on helping you develop your USP, and tracking the success of this over a multi-year period through markers such as hourly rate, client numbers etc.

One of the key personal development lessons we provide is the willingness to be different, to withstand the peer pressures to conform!

 

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. Make our own minds up based on a combination of respect for your intuition, the athlete/client’s intuition, the results, and in respect of the body of knowledge available. [5]

 

Conclusion

I would have liked to have called this article ‘If you want to stop getting paid peanuts, stop acting like a monkey’, but I wasn’t sure if the message would be lost by expressions ‘that’s offensive!’ in this politically correct world!

So if you want to rise above the other 300,000 plus of your colleagues (or whatever the number in your country) then you need to understand this simple concept – the majority receive what the majority receive because they are training their clients just like the majority.

Which is like what exactly? Brain dead. No thinking. Just blind imitation and a burning desire to be like everyone else.

And the importance of this theory? Quite simply, that if you do so little as be different – think for yourself, treat your clients like individuals, make up your own mind about what to do and what is best – you will succeed in rising above the masses, in standing out from your competition!

 

 

[1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/fitness-trainers-and-instructors.htm

[2] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/fitness-trainers-and-instructors.htm#tab-5

[3] King, I., 1997, Winning and Losing, p. 30

[4] King, I., 2003, Ask the Master, (book) p. 32

[5] King, I.., 2005, The way of the physical preparation coach (book), p. 17

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

Hoping to catch up to the other schools in strength & conditioning  

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At the end of a coaching session where I was giving back, along with a number of other of former elite athletes in a specific sport, the coordinator introduced me to a young man who he explained was a teacher at a private school who had been entrusted with the task of introducing ‘strength and conditioning’ to his school, with the specific intent of ‘catching up to the other schools in their association as far as strength and conditioning’.

I didn’t want to say anything to the young man, to spoil his eagerness, so I kept a straight face. But inside I cringed – ‘catch up to the other schools in strength and conditioning?’ Why would you want to do that? It should more accurately described as ‘catching down’.

Let me explain.

In the 1970s not many high schools had gyms and in the ones that did have, there was no formal programming and no ‘strength and conditioning’ service provision. Firstly because there was no such thing as a ‘strength and conditioning coach’, as the term ‘strength and conditioning’ was an afterthought by a professional organization with a strength focus that belated wanted to expand their focus without changing their acronym (you can read more about that in my original writings on this subject in ‘So You Want to Become…’). And secondly because organized physical preparation (as I prefer to call it) was not even provided to the majority of western world elite adult teams at that time.

In the early 1980s in Australia the majority of 18 year and older elite athlete that I worked with (and there were thousands) were what I called clean skins. They had never done formal physical preparation. I only had to undo the imbalances that their sport had created in their body. I summarized at that time it usually took three years of solid supervised and individualized training to clean them p to the level of being injury free for the most part for the rest of their career.

Fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century and what’s changed? I inherit broken athletes from the age of 12 upwards. ACL reconstruction, stress fractures of the lower back, shoulder and hip surgery – you name it. So what’s changed?

Many in the respective sports would tell you it’s just the sport – it’s inevitable. I don’t agree, and my experience doesn’t support this. Some will say the athletes are bigger and stronger and the impacts are greater. Really? Aside from non-specific strength tests, my experiences and observations don’t support this. A more recent trendy explanation is that the athletes specialize too early. Sounds good, and it may be a contributor, but for me this also fails to explain the difference. So what is my conclusion?

In the 1970s and 1980s athletes gaining exposure to formal physical preparation as they entered elite ranks around 20 years of age typically retired at about 30 years or age. So that’s about 10 years. What if that retirement was forced more by physical preparation inducted injury than age or their sport? Now holding that thought for a moment, what if take those same flawed training concepts and applied them to a 20 year old? They would be out of the sport by about 20 years of age!

And that’s my theory. In fact I go as far as to say if a young athlete is talent identified around 8-12 yeas of age, and has the (mis)fortune of being exposed to ‘elite strength and conditioning’ – they will be injured by 16 years of age, undergone significant sports-injury related surgery by 18 years of age, and unable to play their sport by about 20 years of age as a general rule.

So in summary when I see the same flawed training methods applied to adults being applied to young athletes, I fear for their future.

So what makes me conclude that most training is flawed? During my last four decades of seeking answers and excellence in how to train, I have reached certain conclusions and theories on what it takes to create or avoid an injury.

Are my conclusions the same as the masses? No. Should this be a concern? Only if you are a conformist. If your dominant need is to be liked, and to achieve this you need to be like others, then you would be concerned by the fact that I have reached certain theories that differ from the mainstream. On the other hand if you realize that to get a different and ideally better result than the masses, you need to train differently – then you would be excited.

In my opinion the only improvements we have seen in training is in the ability to measure it, the technology of equipment, and the technology of the surgery to repaid the injuries.

Could it be possible that what the majority – and that probably means you – are doing more damage to good in their training? That is my suggestion. Is it popular? No. Is it easy to discredit? Yes. Does this what ever else is doing approach to training result in the best possible sporting out comes? No.

So if I am on track, why do most continue on this path? The answers lies there. Because most do it. And the majority are so insecure about their actions they seek comfort in the masses. Will the get away with it? Legally yes, because the interpretation will be that is what is accepted practice. Should they be able to sleep at night? I suggest not, if they have a conscience.

Why I am I so firm about this? I speak for the athlete. My heart goes out to the legally minor young athlete who has an adult guide them to life-long, career threatening, quality of life threatening injuries. There is a better way – I teach it openly and have done for decades. I believe that perhaps in the next generation, after my time on this earth, what I teach will be accepted as the final stage of truth as described by 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer – ‘accepted as being self-evident’.

But what about the one or two generations of young athletes who paid the price in their ‘strength and conditioning’ training between 1980 and whenever a better way is accepted?

So did I get excited for the young man empowered to bring his school ‘Strength and conditioning’ program up speed with other schools in their association? Not al all. I felt sad for the by-products of this intent. The young, innocent and trusting athletes. They are not, in my opinion, going to ‘catch up’. They are going to ‘do down’ in their athletic development.

Ian King

A KSI coach in every town! Wouldn’t that be nice!  

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I was sitting enjoying lunch today in Melbourne, Vic AUST with a friend of KSI. They shared a challenge, seeking my assistance. A New York colleague of theirs had approached them to service a client of theirs who was visiting Australian from the US for a few weeks in association with the first tennis Grand Slam event of the year, the Australian Open, played in Melbourne.

So did I have any coaches I could refer to in Melbourne was the question,, and the challenges. I didn’t. Tragically we don’t have a KSI coach in every town!

Reminded me of a situation a few months ago where a US based friend of KSI was looking for us to refer a KSI coach in Spain for their client, a person associated with the band U2. Now we were able to find a coach however they were only a L1 KSI coach. We would have preferred a higher-level KSI coach.

I put out a call on our KSI Coaches private Facebook Page, and no surprise, no response. looks like we are going to have to throw our net out wider, something we’re reluctant to do – because with a coach that has a bit of this and a bit of that in their tool box (even if one of those ‘bit off’s is attempts to apply their interpretation of the KSI way), the training approach cannot be guaranteed, and nor can the outcomes. You can appreciate our reluctance to refer to the unknown…

So…. it’s our challenge – more KSI coaches, ideally one in every town! And the benefit belongs to the client getting a better and predictable training service, and to the coach getting the referral!

Ian King

Want to put your hand up for this? Respond in the next 48 hrs to info@kingsport.net

Ian King

Questions are the answer  

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I share the following exchange as a great example of and learning moment in the concept that questions are the answers.

Hello, I was curious about your products available and had some questions

1. Does your Legacy book contain the same content as your Legacy course (minus the audio and video)?

2. If I pay for and begin the legacy course, does this course include/cover content from your other books/audio/DVDs products or is it all separate ‘exclusive info’ and these all need to be purchased separate or does the course cover it all. For example, in the legacy course do you cover the concepts talked about in the endurance, flexibility, strength training, speed specialization DVDs, periodization and integration series, recovery methods series, bar bells and bull shit, foundations of physical prep etc.? If not at what point, if at all, is any of this covered throughout different level of courses, level 2? I ask because everything is pretty vague in description and makes it confusing on your site. as well I’m trying to figure out if doing the legacy course is the wrong way to go in that it just covers the concepts in general, and the better route is to purchase some DVDs/books etc.

3. I can’t find much if any info on what level 2 and up covers.

4. As well I see you have audio/DVD/books with the same titles. Does this cover the same content just in different formats? For example there is barbell and bullshit DVD, audio, and book. Do they cover the same info but are just in different formats??

Sorry for all the questions but i enjoy your work and would like to learn more but trying to figure out what exactly i am purchasing is a little confusing to me. –Brendan

Brendan – great to hear from you. And great questions! Here are sone answers:

Q1. Does your Legacy book contain the same content as your Legacy course?

A1 The Legacy books is a condensed version of the course. For example the course has 1,500 pages of text – the book as 200 or so. So the theme is the same, but he content depth is very different. This is the audio an video, also as as you are aware.

Q2. Does this course include/cover content from your other books/audio/DVDs products or is it all separate ‘exclusive info’ and these all need to be purchased separate or does the course cover it all.

A2. The Legacy course is a synthesis of my original concepts so you should see some overlap with most of my publications, as my works rely on my original works, not imitations or trends.

Can one course cover it all? I hope not. If I could condense my 35 years of experiences totally into one course I would be concerned about the brevity of the content I can share. So whether you see it as a positive or a negative, I have chosen to spread the KSI coaching course over 7 levels that typically takes 5-10 years to complete. And part of this curriculum or educational journey is studying from existing artifacts.

So I guess in summary, no, this is not a ‘one course covers it all’ As I seek to record my life works, I hope that my life has amounted to more than the content for one course.

I appreciate that few have the experiences I have had in coaching, or the gift to synthesize and innovate, so I understand it may be challenging to understand how my works are so different. I can only say that perhaps the few that truly appreciate the possibilities of this are those who have been through the journey.

To give further guidance, I believe that all professional should do the KSI courses first, and study the various artifacts as the stages of the course when prompted. When a person picks and choses which artifact and when this lacks structure and guidance, and in addition, we have taken a number of the artifacts (e.g. Specialization series) off the market in that they cannot be purchased until a certain stage of the KSI coaching journey.

Q3. I can’t find much if any info on what level 2 and up covers.

A3. Yes, we keep our content low key for a number of reasons. Firstly, I am over being copied by fitness industry marketers who fraudulently represent themselves as the author of my works and imitate my educational offerings from the name to the method of structuring delivery.

Secondly, I take the philosophy that when the student Is ready the teacher will appear, and until L1 in completed, L2 is a mute point. I appreciate that my approach costs signups and income, but that is not my focus. My focus is doing the best, doing the right thing by people, not having the most people in my courses. So giving up money and numbers is not an issue for me. I just myself on how my coaching changes lives, not on the number of friends on my Facebook page or the turnover of my business or any other popularity marker.

Q. 4. As well I see you have audio/DVD/books with the same titles. Does this cover the same content just in different formats?

Q4. Yes, typically it does

Conclusion

I trust my answers have gone towards answering your questions. Never apologize for asking questions. Questions are the answer, and when there is no questions there are no answers. For example many go to seminars and sit there like stunned mullets because they are so used to the speaker feeling obliged to impress them with an over-dose of ‘information’. I would prefer to say little, and if there are no questions the student is not ready, and I will go home and ride my John Deere tractor or train myself, something more stimulating than role playing as an expert to information collectors whose ability to really impact peoples life’s and change the world is missing because they have modeled perception creators, not true value adders.

I keep things low key and slightly vague to weed out those who do things because they are marketed sharply to from those who are on a genuine path of learning and self-fulfillment. You have shown early positive signs of being a student and now taking action in the first step.

Your questions are also a gift to use as we reflect on the impact of our communication through our web content on you and learn from this. It helps shape our direction, so thank you.

Ian King