Ian King

Your incompetence is killing you

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(Professionally and your lifestyle)

I recently met a young man whose chose to move into the personal training industry from a non-related industry by managing a team of trainers.  It didn’t work out (no surprises there) and he was to reduced to earning the income that his competence dictated. Very little. Now he is dealing with bankruptcy. He chose to sidestep the issue of developing personal professional competency for the highly promoted business model of hiring trainers.

Before you conclude that this story is simply an isolated extreme case, let me bring this home – there are so few people in this industry who possess competence that you probably haven’t met one. And that means you are most likely also incompetent.

Before you lash out take a moment and consider the following.

So what do most trainers to in the absence of competency? To solve this little problem? Market.

Again before you get to knee-jerk reactions, please don’t state I’m anti-marketing, as some have in conversation with me.  I want to be very specific – a service provider who needs to market is probably incompetent, and using marketing to compensate for this lack.  With only 24 hours in a day competent service providers don’t need to market. They need to hide.

I ran a seminar in Los Angeles recently on business building for physical preparation coaches. There some interest from prospective attendees on how to market via social media.  I let them know very quickly that I not only will not be teaching them how to market their services, I would definitely not be endorsing them getting into the same stinking marketing pond as the masses in their industry.

Some what is the result of your incompetency? I don’t really need to tell you, but here are a few of the symptoms:

  •       Not enough clients.
  •       Not enough great clients.
  •       Clients failing to turn up for appointments.
  •       Clients not staying with you for very long i.e. high attrition rate.
  •       Low hourly rate.
  •       Worry about where your next client is going to come from.
  •       Time poor.
  •       Working weird unsustainable hours.
  •       Financial struggles in life.
  •       Wondering if you should change professions.
  •       Latching onto the latest shiny object in certification (mostly trend based) and wondering why nothing changed.
  •       Inability to support a dependent adult. Forget about having kids.

Now you’ve either resonated with what I have said so far or your values have been so threatened you have got poisonous in your mind and started texting nasty things about me to your buddies. That’s okay, I used to the latter…

For those who are still with me, let me help you.

Want to get out of the crab bucket where 99% of the industry is struggling?  Choose competence. So what is competence? Here’s my working definition of competence:

In the absence of marketing; and in the absence of an association with a gym, sports team, sports institution, commercial company, or professional organization, you are able to generate an endless demand from A class clients willing to pay you triple figures per hour.

[Thanks to the April intake of the KSI Time, Money & Happiness 21 Day Mentoring Program for showing me how you prefer to shape this definition!]

In other words, sitting in your garage gym at home, high paying enthusiastic clients line up to see you.

Fairy tale? Not al all. This is one of the performance criteria we achieve through out now 18 year old KSI Coaching program. This is what we create.

So what’s the downside? It takes time and commitment, and the right vehicle. It might take 5-10 years to achieve this.  However once you have it, no-one can take it away.

So what do most do? Look to marketing instead.

In the early 2000s a young Los Angeles resident wrote to me with. They really, really wanted to work with athletes:

“…I have read [your book] “so you want…” thoroughly. While I agree with your statements it is easier for you with an established record to attract new clients than it is for an “outsider” like me to break in… I’d like to move out of the personal training field and train athletes exclusively but bills need to be paid…”[i]

They didn’t possess the delayed gratification required to achieve competence. So how did they create the perception of having a

“…stable of Olympic level athletes….’

…a few years later? Marketing.  Marketing mixed with a dose of deceit.

You see this, and you are encouraged to model this behaviour.

So what’s wrong with marketing? Firstly it doesn’t solve your problem. You are still incompetent professionally.  Secondly it wears off. You are going to need to keep on doing it, and that’s really time consuming. Once the clients find your limits professionally they are out of there. And you will never get off that marketing merry-go-round.

And then how do you give yourself a unique marketing position (USP) in a world where everyone is marketing the same claims? You don’t. Unless you go to telling lies, which is tragically not only the norm in this industry:

“…The reality is that the lies in fitness far outweigh the truths….” [ii]

…it’s encouraged:

“… It’s OK to tell a lie if you know that it’s a lie… Once a personal trainer or performance specialist knows the truth then, they can tell a little white lie to make the sale or to get the client on board. The key to selling fitness lies (clever play on words) in knowing the truth but, also knowing when to lie….” [iii]

Is that who you are? A liar? For the most part, I don’t believe so. It takes a special person to bullshit year after year and still feel comfortable with themselves.

Now for those who are driven to action to improve their competence remains the challenge of selecting an educational path where you truly will achieve competence.  As the late Jim Covey would say:

“Before you lean your ladder up against a building, make sure it’s the right building!” [iv]

If you tie your cart to the wrong horse your time and money invested will be of little to no use in changing your competency

If you are attracted to my definition of competency, and you would like some of that yourself, before you select a mentor or teacher, ask yourself – how do they shape up against this definition?

Now before I wrap some of you might have been wondering why I said:

“…and in the absence of an association with a gym, sports team, sports institution, commercial company, or professional organization,…”

They all offer great opportunities – if you like depending on others for your future.

If you open a training studio, locals will come. You will have clients. However would they travel to you if you closed the gym and moved 30 minutes drive away? Probably not. They are simply clients of convenience, not really making a massive effort to get to you.

If a sports team – especially a high profile team – employs you you can get some extra clients by marketing this fact.  For as long as this marketing fact is relevant. In other words, you might expend a bit of energy wondering and worrying who will give you your next contract, as you depend on this.

The same goes for a sports institution.  And the same for an association with a commercial company – it’s great whilst you are their seminar spokesperson, but what if they find a new, younger and better model? Where will your income come from?

So they are all great short-term income options. However I suggest that for the most part, any clients you attract are because of your association with these organizations, not because of your competence. And you probably don’t want to find out whether you have stand-alone competence – so you are going to hang on to the organizations with desperate dependency.

If you truly want to be in control of your destiny, competency is the solution I recommend.  We’ve been giving physical preparation coaches the best option to achieve competency, and we’ve been doing it for 18 years as the time of writing this article. Yes, we are not the best at marketing. But on your side, have you been doing what everyone else is doing? Being attracted to the bright, shiny objects? Empty vessels making the most noise? How’s that been working out for you….So yes, our web site and marketing are sub-par. But we just happen to produce physical preparation coaches with the greatest competency, who attract an endless demand of A class clients lining up to pay triple hourly figure for their service.

You decide….marketing or competence. If you chose competence, here’s where you can get started: http://kingsports.net/Coach/courses/menu.htm

[i] Personal communication, details reserved to protect the message.

[ii] Reference reserved to protect the message.

[iii] Reference reserved to protect the message.

[iv] Wow, imagine that! Giving credit! I trust my solitary habit of doing so has a positive impact on you to adopt what industries with higher integrity deem normal..

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

Time, Money & Happiness for the Physical Preparation Coach  

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I was sitting having dinner in North America in October last year with a large group of industry professionals, all accomplished in their own right. One of them was talking about the conference he had presented at during 2016 and I asked the question ‘What was one of the key things that stood out to you about the conferences or the trends evident?’ I didn’t expect the answer.

He said ‘The number of how to make more money presentations. At one of them there were 20 presentations, and 16 of them were about how coaches and trainers can make more money.’

This got my attention, as whilst I don’t believe in the blind following or need to conform to trends, I find value in studying trends to understand human behavior and direction of thinking.

There is no other way to say this – physical preparation as a profession is a relatively low income earning profession. Statistics suggest the average western world income is about $50,000, and the stats I have been exposed to suggest that the average physical preparation coach (all disciples) earns less than $50,000. (Remember this is not gross income, this is take home pay).

So it’s no surprise that the industry has gravitated towards solving this problem. I certainly did, back in the 1990s. More on this later.

So I became more focused on this trend towards the teachings of ‘how to make more money in this industry’. I came upon enough web sites to support the trend, and enough ‘trend spotters’ who were ‘fat loss guru’s’ in the early 2000’s and have now morphed into the dominant trend of financial and business educators for the physical preparation industry.

And I came upon an excellent article from a professional organization who seek to be one of the dominant go-to bodies for professional development. An organization with its fair share of peer-reviewed editorializing. I have concluded that this article is an fair reflection of the dominant thinking of the industry. That there is a need to earn more money, that there is a growing interest, and that the solutions suggested were indicative of the current solutions offered industry wide.

I might be a bit old-fashioned but there is nothing like a written article to provide clarity and confirmation about dominant thinking, as opposed to attempting to objectively assess the message in say internet marketing. So I am thankful for the author of this article for his efforts, and stress that any comments relating to this article should not be interpreted as being critical of the person or derogatory of their work. I am truly grateful for their efforts.

But at the same time I have serious concerns for the receiver of the message.

Back in the 1980s when I took on athletes as clients the majority of them had never done any physical preparation work before – they were for the most part clean skin and easy to shape in their values and beliefs about what they needed to do in training, as well as easy to shape physically.

Now most athletes have not only had prior training experience, the majority are broken physical and in some cases mentally by the time they are in the late teens. In the spaced of 3 decades I have gone from picking up ‘clean slates’ to doing damage control. I believe that the contemporary elite athlete (my market) would be better off if had they had kept out of the physical preparation training they have done during their teens and so on. Just like the 1980s and earlier athletes.

It can take years to salvage the bodies of these athletes. If they can be salvaged. The majority of talent identified athletes who have been in ‘high performance’ training squads from their early teens will be injured and out of the sport by around the age of 20 years.

So how does this relate to you?

The athletes I refer to have been trained by physical preparation coaches whose influence has included the post 2000s period, where unsubstantiated yet highly marketed training information and influences dominated the professional development landscape. I say this from a unique perspective. I watched too many key board warriors, who have never trained with any success, never trained anyone else with any success – in fact some downright failed to attract any client base of athletes at all (don’t believe me – I can show you emails….) – reinvent themselves with skillful internet marketing sprinkled with the license to create a perception of their ‘experience’ and ‘success’ that, well, was simply not true. And people bought it.

I have one such physical coach in a professional development course with me in the mid 2000s. I had them write a program for an athlete, and then analyzed the program. I could see the influences – it was after all the ‘most’ were doing at the time’ and I asked them – ‘Why did you write this?’ I followed this up with ‘Have you ever done these exercises?’ To which the answer was ‘No I haven’t’. Once the student coach acknowledged his source, I said ‘Guess what – the ‘author’ hasn’t done these exercise either!’.

The 2000s witnessed an explosion of made up crap, aimed to give a leg up to those seeking to become ‘experts’, for personal ego and financial gain. Some who bought into this said ‘Well what’s wrong this with?’ Let me say this – if you adopt and share methods that are a product of a desperate yet creative individual lacking in integrity, how do you have to add value to the life’s of others in a meaningful and substantial way? Your influence failed to and therefore turned to bogus and oft-times plagiarized content through they usual e-book delivery method etc.

If you need any further help understand why selling things that lack value or have less value than claimed, study the sub-prime driven financial crisis in the US between 2006 and 2010. The world was left with absolute clarity that selling fraudulent overvalued mortgaged backed security that really didn’t have the claimed value will result in collapse.

From what I have seen the ‘financial education being taught currently in the sport and fitness industry has the same absence of value and integrity that the post 2000 internet-guru based information has. And the risk shifts from damaging your body, to wasting time and effort seeking ‘financial freedom’. It’s one thing to arrive in your golden ages physically broken. Its and additional burden to reach the end of your working life to realize you have been led down the garden path.

So what are the alternatives? Let me share with you a time-tested perspective, from a person who reputation has been established on under-promising and over-delivering, straight shooting, to hell with marketing, no bullshit, tell it as it is.

In the early 1990s I realized the limitations as outlined in the article I refer to (reference below). I became a student of money, time and business. Nearly a decade later, in the late 1990s, I wrote a book on the subject (Paycheck to Passive – Going from working for a living to having a life) and began teaching anyone who would listen about money. This has helped a lot of people financially. I won’t make the claim as one of our Internet gurus has – (“…we’ve been helping millions of men and women.…”). Suffice to say there are people who have publicly credited us for moving their financial education forward substantially. What I am saying is its real.

I also provided some excellent business development guidance in my book ‘So you want to become a physical preparation coach?’ (2000), again which served a lot of industry personal.

From 2000 we set out to mentor our coaches and other business partners in financial education. We did so quietly and personally, as opposed to loudly and mass-produced.

However now that financial education for physical preparation coaches in now a trend subject, with our strength experts one day, fat-loss gurus the next, and business and financial educators the next – the message stands to be lost amongst the bogus claims of rags to riches, multiple 7-figure income business etc.

Now I know there will be some who say ‘So what Ian, any information being shared is good; leave them alone’, as was the typical response to previous alerts to the bogus ‘bibles’ of training. My message is not for you.

My message is for those who firstly realize there is a problem surrounding money in their working lives, seek a solution AND have the intuitive realization that the market is full of land-mines full of bogus ‘experts’.

Now let me clarify – the article I referred to above contained excellent, fundamental concepts. I was actually impressed and happy to see these concepts being taught, such as the limitation of selling your time for money. My concerns go beyond the accuracy of the fundamental.

In relation to anyone teaching financial freedom to our industry, my questions include:

1. What level of mastery in financial freedom does the ‘teacher’ have?
2. What reproducible by others business success do they have?
3. What is the true long-term upside of the strategies they are teaching?

Lets touch upon these three briefly.

1. What level of mastery in financial freedom does the ‘teacher’ have?

For example, how long could this person walk away from their business and not experience much of a downturn of income? Do they typically spend a few months a year on holiday, travelling and enjoying their ‘financial freedom?’

2. What reproducible by others business success do they have?

Who are some of the ‘millions’ of people they have helped transform their life financially – what is the answer to these same questions to their students?

3. What is the true long-term upside of the strategies they are teaching?

Do the strategies they recommend really result in ‘financial freedom’? How many people have you met in your lives that have achieved financial freedom from these strategies? E.g. selling e-books and other information on the internet?

Lets ask this simple additional question – how many first generation, self-made multi-millionaires from physical preparation have you met in your life? (not the internet perception – the reality)

Now I appreciate that at different stages of your career you have varying levels of interest in this subject. In my ‘Money and the Physical Preparation Coach Course’ (2016) I dedicated a unit to identify and discussing the concept of ‘stages of career’, sharing the following ‘stages’:

Phase 1: Blinkered and gullible – Years: 0-10 years into their career
Phase 2: At the crossroads – Years: 5-15 years into their careers
Phase 3: Embracing or denying change – Years: 10-20 years into their career
Phase 4: Living with or without the fruits – Years: 20-40 years into their career
Phase 5: Retiring in comfort or destitution – Years: Last 10-30 years of life

I go into more detail about these phases in that course. None-the-less, I imagine that only those in Phase 2 are still reading, and have concerns on this subject.

However, rather than assume this, I have some questions for you:

1. Firstly, do you believe there is a problem, at least in your life, as it relates to your financial future?

2. How many years have you been in the industry?

3. What are the frustrations or challenges you experience?

No I know it’s tough (especially for us males and our alpha sisters), to acknowledge we have a ‘problem’. Let me share a key paragraph outlining some key ‘problems’ as identified by the article I referred to earlier (1):

“The life of a personal trainer can be great, but trading time for money inherently limits income possibilities with only 24 hours in any given day. Furthermore, only so many of those hours are even available to work with clients. In an effort to make more money in that limited time, personal trainers are often forced to sacrifice personal priorities, service quality, and relationships. This can sometimes lead to frustration, burnout, and ultimately, career changes. 
The average personal training income in the United States is thought to be between $35,000 – $45,000 per year… These numbers seem great for passionate personal trainers starting out, but what about years down the road? Those who want to support a family, retire at a decent age, or create freedom in their career must take steps to rise above these industry averages.” (1)

Does that help? Great, here’s what can happen. Participate in this ‘survey’ and see where it can lead. Send your responses to info@kingsports.net with ‘Ian, here is my MTH&TPPC survey response’.

References

(1) Drake, J., and NSCA Personal Training Quarterly, 2016, The training trap – building financial freedom in an appointment-based career, NSCA December Issue Member News

Ian King

Trump or Clinton?  

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How the 2016 USA Presidential elections will affect you – no matter where in the world you live

There are few key things that I feel many may be missing the point on about the current 2016 USA Presidential elections. Firstly there is too much focus on the messenger and not the message. Secondly there may be an assumption that is just about America, not about non-Americans living elsewhere in the world. And thirdly, a lack of forward thinking about the implications of the outcome.

Firstly – the message vs. the messenger. Granted it’s been a campaign that may have taken gutter politics to a new high (or low). And I can understand how anyone could be distracted by that. But let me bring you back on focus. It’s not about the messenger. Take Donald Trump. I see a lot of commentary on his personality, or on the allegations of his treatment of women, or on his own word selection about treatment of women, and so on. Or take Clinton, with focus on her email management or Benghazi or her husbands track record with women.

Firstly, let me be politically correct – what I am about to say is not endorsing the values or behaviours that either person has been criticises for. What I believe is however that the point is being missed. Go beyond the individuals – consider the bigger picture. This is the first time, to my knowledge, and in my lifetime, a complete political novice has been a front-runner for Presidency of the United States.

This is the message – that enough Americans are fed up with or frustrated by or disillusioned with the solutions offered in their adult lifetime by career politicians that enough of them are supporting an alternative. I suggest this is more about people power and one of the greatest shifts in political and social patterns in my lifetime that it is about Trump or Clinton.

And why? I suggest that a growing number of people in the US (and potentially other countries around the world) are concerned enough about their future that they are willing to endorse change. And that means they must be really disillusioned and questioning main-stream to-date accepted ways of governance. And that, for me is massive. There is a message in this, a ‘huge’ (no to paraphrase Donald!) message. We are possibly witnessing one on the most significant shifts in social and political thinking of the masses, based on I suggest financial realities. The system is just not working for a growing number of people.

In summary on this point, I suggest take your gaze off the personalities involved (the messengers) and look at the message – a proposal be the people, even it is only the Republicans to date in this pre-election (11 days away) moment – that there is a viable alternative that they are willing to support other than a career politician.

Now for the second point. Perhaps too many of us – myself included at times – have considered this an ‘American’ thing, that it doesn’t really matter to or affect those who are not US residents or citizens. Perhaps this is not so. What if the outcome of this election affected every country in the world and every citizen of every country in the word? And how might this occur?

In the first instance, considering the size of an impact of the US on other countries globally, it would be naïve and short-sighted to assume that there would not be a flow on affect to every other country. Now just how much impact may depend on many variables including the extent to which your country trades with the US. However there is a second potential impact. What is the same social wave of unrest, as I have called it, sweeps your country and impacts major decisions such as national elections? This is a very strong possibility, that the world may be moving into a different phase.

Thirdly lets talk about the post election impact. No, I am not talking about whether Donald jails Hilary if he is elected. Or if Hilary has retribution for Donald if she is elected; or whether Donald’s accusers will prevail; or whether the FBI will bring criminal charges against Hillary. I am talking about how our lives may or may not be impacted post election. Have you considered that?

I have, and I believe it’s something you should consider, and form your own opinions on before I share my thoughts on this with you – which I plan to do.

So there you have it. I trust I have stimulated you to give serious reflection to this moment in time, and perhaps have given you a new perspective on what may be happening – to us all, currently, in the US.

Ian King

Knee injuries – How can you hope to solve the problem using the stimulus that caused the problem?

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As a student of sports training and competition I took up the opportunity to watch the exercise selection from the waiting room at the physical therapists. I was surprised at the amount of quad exercises used over the weeks of my observing.

Later as I lay on a table in the therapy clinic I listened to a young male client answer the question from this physical therapist.

Therapist: Okay what have we done so far?
Patient: Squats.
My mind: That’s one.
Patient: Wall squats.
My mind: That’s two
Patient: Lunges.
My mind: That’s three.
Patient: Walking lunges.
My mind: That’s four.
Patient: Step ups.
My mind: That’s five.

So far, the workout was 100% quad. I shook my head and said a prayer for the patient. Now to be fair I did see one non-quad exercise being done later. But the first five and the overwhelming majority of exercises being used in the rehab program for what I believe was an ACL surgery patient were quad exercises.

I found this ironic, because it was this very profession some 30 years ago that brought me attention to the risks of ‘quad dominance’ in muscle balance and its relationship with gait and joint integrity. And here I was, some three decades later, and they were creating that exact same condition.

I took this quad dominant concern, along with my own observations, quite seriously and spend a decade or so developing and refining before publishing a concept I called ‘Lines of Movement’ in 1998. You might not recognize the concept title I gave it but you will recognize the terminology by virtue of the prolific unreferenced and uncredited publishing by people who knew better.

In relation to the lower body, I developed the concept to ‘hip dominant’ exercises to counter the concern I learnt from my therapist colleagues about ‘quad dominance’. Now, nearly 20 years after I first published this concept, my theories about the risks of quad dominance have become greater and clearer. I rank the muscle imbalance presented by quad dominant training as one of the highest correlates with ACL ruptures and similar.

If I am track, then the question can be asked:

How can you hope to solve the problem (ACL rupture risk) using the same stimulus that contributed to the problem?

Now I understand that there are many reasons why most will disregard this message. Firstly, and most importantly, because the majority of ‘performance’, ‘injury prevention’ and ‘injury rehab’ strength training does just this – create quad dominance. And to accept this and change would take the emotional intelligence to conclude one is off track and needs to redirection one’s training programs. That’s the biggest reason the message will be ignored.

I understand this. I understand others are waiting for ‘evidence’. I say look at the changing injury landscape. This injury was extremely rare in the 1980s, and even after the surgery became available there was not an instant increase in ACL incidence – so the low incidence was not because the surgery was not available. It was just a rare injury. It is not any more. So what changed? Why are so many athletes suffering from this injury now? But this would take again a degree of commitment to excellence and a detachment from ego that few are committed to.

Evidence is, I suggest, another way of saying I will only do it when I see most others doing it, and when I am doing what most others are doing, I feel ‘right’ and ‘safe’.

What I do say is this – not withstanding the frequent medical claims I here quoted by patients all too often about how their graft will be stronger than the one their Maker gave them – 50% of all ACL patients will have repeat knee surgery, and 100% will have premature degenerative changes such as osteoarthritis. I would not wish this on anyone. If it was your child would you want this?

So while the masses wait the quarter to full century it may take for the ‘evidence’ to ‘allow’ them to take note of my conclusions, another generation or more will suffer from life changing injury and surgery such as the ACL.

It does not have to be this way for you and those in your care, however that is up to you.

Ian King

Ian King

To be a student – or not  

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A physical preparation coach enrolled in a financial education course with my company. Initially his quiz responses were typical – acknowledging that he was in a financial position that he was not happy with and felt a strong need to change. But within a unit or two his responses began changing, showing more agitation and anger. After Unit 4 he quit, and demanded a refund.

Here is an exchange with lessons for all.

Subject: Course Refund

Hello, I purchased your course on “money”. I’d like a refund of that purchase. I do not think you should be giving any financial advice based on the content that I’ve just seen. This is just the start of my issues with this so-called course. Any means at your disposal to issue a refund is highly appreciated. If you have any questions please call me. Thanks you,
–xxxx

Now I didn’t really need this email – after reading the course quiz submissions, the refund was inevitable!

Xxxx – Ian King here. I just called as you asked but only got your voice mail After my team shared your quiz responses including

* this course fucking sucks dude you are a fraud
* This is terrible – maybe you should sell your services to wall st mr king
* The world’s best economists can’t predict with relative accuracy as to what may happen in the future so how can you

I would have refunded your money irrespective of your request below, for many reasons. We have strong desire to help anyone, such as yourself who is less than excited about doing business with us, move on to service providers more suited to their needs.

We were excited to give you your money back, so you should see that refund come through. I trust you find service providers more suited to your needs to achieve your financial goals, or any other aspect of your professional development. Thanks.
–Ian King

Now you would expect a subsequent response, but you never know, and you never know what shape it will take, and here it is:

Hi Mr. King, I just finished playing basketball, so I missed your call.

Firstly, I’d like to apologize for the vulgar feedback. As a coach in this industry I appreciate and respect your longevity and wisdom as it pertains to physical preparation. So with all due respect, I regret and I apologize for my reaction.

That said, I do stand by my assessment of the course. Here is my attempt at constructive feedback.

• The delivery of the course is laborious – I believe it’s a 6 step process to read your pdf and take unit test. Way too many steps. Also, some of the links don’t work.
• The content, well, is haphazardly pieced together and the message is one of gloom and scare, and just not very good. In a course like this I think it better to discuss the following strategies: Elements of a Business Plan. How to raise money and the elements of equity and valuation (selling a business, multiplier and ebita. Taxation strategies. I can go on…. I thought I was going to get this from the course or at least a little more insight from this angle given your industry success.
• I also believe mindset is highly individual phenomenon. I think it’s dangerous to talk about this unless you know an individual on a personal level. Remember, we are all snowflakes…generalizations just don’t work. Thank you for your professional response to my very unprofessional reaction. Best,
–xxxxx

This showed enough humility to warrant reaching out and teaching I shared the following:

xxxx – thanks for your email. I have been around long enough to know that everyone deserves a chance to be emotional in their response in the heat of things, then typically calm down afterwards. Been toe to toe with some of the biggest egos in the sporting world so seen it all, so I understand where you were coming from and you have shown a lot more positive character traits in your subsequent email than your initial responses! That didn’t do you any favors but you are big enough to realize that in hindsight so good on you.

I’m also used to pushing peoples buttons in the industry. As a leader in training concepts, I almost always get abused when I released my ’new’ theories. (not new for me because I put things through a 10 year minimum testing period before I put publish them). What I have learnt from watching reactions is those that kid and thrash the most are those who are not doing what my ’new’ training method suggests, and to save face in front of their peers and clients they typically make the most vicious attacks. Then are those who take it one step further and start teaching my methods as if they originally innovated them, hoping no-one hears about their unprofessional initial responses.

So this is the price I know I pay as a person whose life works has changed the way the world trains, even though many in the world don’t know the origins due to the phenomena described above. So I have had a lot of practice being the target of vindictiveness!

One lesson I learnt from one of my may influences was a lesson from one of the worlds best platform speakers from the end of the 20th Century and a man whose cassette (yes, cassette) sales still hold the world record – Mr Denis Waitley. Denis transitioned from being a warrior (fighter jet pilot) to being a teacher of personal development, and he says “Anger is threatened values’. From this clarity I understand that when someone’s values are threatened they get angry.

When I taught that functional strength is more appropriately developed through a sequence of bodyweight unilateral to loaded bilateral movements, I felt the anger of those who were not doing this, and whose value set were the most threatened. When I taught that speed of movement in strength training can be measured, communicated using a digit timing system, and varied, I felt the anger of those who were not doing this, and whose value set were most threatened. When I taught that static stretching should precede lifting, and that control drills should precede lifting and that abdominal exercises should be done by most people most of the time as the first exercise, I felt the anger of those who were not doing this, and whose value set were the most threatened. When I taught that balance is needed in strength training and one could use my Lines of Movement concept (horizontal push and pull, hip and quad dominant), I felt the anger of those who were not doing this, and whose value set were the most threatened.

To be clear, I teach holistically and have done from the early days (that alone will be a trend in itself one day in this industry!) and therefore I also teach on the subjects of personal development, business development, financial development and spiritual development, in addition to sets and reps.

Now there are two things that could cause an industry professional to push back on me as you did. Firstly, the heresy of daring to teach ‘outside my little box’. I get the same from sports coaches when I teach technical and tactical development – I feel the anger of the coaches who were not doing the strategies I taught, and whose value set were the most threatened. Secondly the fact that I raise points that are downright confronting to individuals and the stark reality causes a defensive reaction.

I will never forget this happening in a seminar in Boston in the late 1990s. There was one particular strength coach who started out calmly in the audience, but as I unrolled my ’new’ training concepts to the audience, the steam rose in his head! I knew he was not doing any of the things I taught, and his protégés and all whom he had positioned to see him as the local ‘guru’ were in the room. It was not going to end well! He couldn’t wait to the of the day to change his ways so he did what most do when fear creates the desire to attack. He gathered his followers at the mid-morning break, convinced them the content was terrible, the delivery was terrible, and the only possible salvation was for them all to leave right then and there. They did, but to this day I am sure he knows that the only salvation was of his ego. I could have overlooked this act, as I did with yours, but his subsequent act of creating a publishing and seminar stream based on the very work he walked out on, without a single measure of the source, placed him as a lessor man than you.

You see you ‘fessed up and apologized. He just kept acting without integrity. Now where is the lesson in this? I share this with you for a number of reasons, including with the intent to help you understand that the most successfully self-promoted gurus in this industry are not the role models that I would endorse, yet they succeed in way-laying well meaning industry professionals looking for direction. As a result too many in this industry are never empowered to fulfill their own potential.

I genuinely feel for the majority misguided individual in this industry, whose role models leave them with an impossible to resolve scarcity mentality affecting all aspects of the live and family. Money is one example of this. The ego, as a colleague of mine by the name of Michael Callejas likes to say (see, it’s not difficult to give credit!) – is not your amigo!

Before I do allow me to comment on your statement:

That said, I do stand by my assessment of the course.

You have found rational reasons to support an emotional decision. That’s okay, but you don’t have to. You can let go of being right and move forward. I don’t mind too much about right and wrong. There’s a great saying – you can be right or rich. So you won’t see too much (hopefully none!) dogma in the following because I happy for anyone to be right, because my focus is elsewhere!

Now if you are still reading, I will also take time to respond to your effort of providing feedback.

1. The delivery of the course is laborious. Yes, that is right. And for the most part, that is my intention. You, had you read deeper into the course, would have learnt about my concerns about the information collecting nature of this industry. When I first released the Level 1 KSI Course as it now is, I was shattered that my life work was for the most part going to form a badge of honor – on the library shelf! I could see that most were just printing off the units and not bothering to read it. I made a decision that even if it costs me money – and it does, because as you have done, the current crop of industry professional want to be wowed with bullshit, and given a whole heap of ‘information’. I refuse to be part of that, to endorse this.

So I make you work for it. If you are not committed enough to take a few steps, you don’t deserve to get the next unit. This provides a pre-qualification filter to sort out who deserves my information, who will use it in the manner intended I.e. Apply it in a practical real world sense, where the real learning is taking place; and who is going to treat it as if most sellers do – whose primary intent is to wow you will flashy made up shit and make it as easy as possible for you to be motivated to give them your money.

So the laborious part is not going to change, although we are always looking at ways of smoothing the action steps, so this will get better with time.

Now another reason I don’t like to just ‘give’ the information but rather pre-qualify the user, is to weed out those who have the post 2000 value promoted by a certain little group who self-servingly promote its okay to lie, cheat and steal – who have no hesitation in changing the copyright symbol to their own and change the front cover! Now of course I would never be so gross as to use those words, but you get the message!

2. The links don’t work: Now let’s talk about the links not working. They actually work – they just don’t work on all computers all the time. Clearing the cache helps, but I take responsibility for this as much as I can, and we are looking to refine this over time.

3. The content, well, is haphazardly pieced together: Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But I can’t say yet whether the sequence or content will change – I would rather allow time in the hands of the readers who complete the course to help guide this.

I’ve only been a student of this subject with intensity for about 25 years so I am a bit green, and I will get better. I published my first book on financial education in 1999, but that might have been haphazard in your eyes also, and again I would say – maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.

4. The message is one of gloom and scare: I appreciate this concern and from memory I not only apologized for this perception but stressed that (you might have quit the course before you got to this) that it’s bad news for those who refuse to change, take action; and good news for those that are willing to face up to it, learn new habits of the mind and habits of the body. The money is not leaving the market – its just changing hands.

But yes, I can see why the majority would think what I focused on was doom and gloom. I maintain that what I have done is my best to forewarn and prepare my industry colleagues for a changing world, irrespective of whether we experience a major economic downturn during 2016 or 2017.

Perhaps you and I do not share the same views on the world – I see a world where there are too many people living one economic mishap away from economic ruin. I see a world where to many have no assets, no savings and no hope of supporting themselves in retirement. I see a world where too many children’s parents compromise on the health and time spend with them due to their economic circumstances. I think that gloomy. What I seek to do is to give people education as a lifeline to get out of these circumstances. Of course not everyone wants it. Some find id offensive, or not good enough in delivery, or haphazard or any other reason to stop the train of possible change and stay where they are.

5. You have better ideas on appropriate content: I read what you said were better ideas and content. Now let me do this as gently and as humbly as I can ‘Dude (now I don’t normally talk like that but I am using your words!) – are you the teacher or the student?!’

One of the greatest challenges in learning is being willing to empty your cup, be the student, put on the white belt.

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
—Stephen Hawking

Let’s be really brutally honest and with no disrespect, but calling a spade a spade because life’s really do depend on this – are you really in a position, based on your financial position, to be the teacher? Now I don’t make that decision. You do. It would appear you have already done so, as you fired me as your teacher.

In summary to this point, and with as much care and respect as I can muster, I am going to pass on your pointers on content. There’s a bigger lesson for you in this, but lessons are taken by students, not determined by teachers.

5. What you thought you were going to get from this course: I get this. From my double major in sociology I understand that the conditions for a revolt are set when the expectations and reality don’t meet. Having said that let me get out of theory mode and into real world talk. I don’t give you want you want, I give you what you need. If you knew, really knew what you needed, you would not be where you are today. So get over this discrepancy between what you expected and what I gave you, or stay where you are.

In the early 1990s I was just like you in this regard. I sat in a multiple thousand-dollar seminar (not a $47 one like you spat the dummy about) and expected to get days of sales and marketing. So when it was obvious that I wasn’t going to get that, rather days of personal development, I had to make a decision. Spit the dummy, demand a refund, and go home bitching and whining about the rip-off fraud that guy was. Or to say to myself – okay Ian, you tried it your way and it didn’t work. So maybe you will be better off shutting up, emptying your cup and being a student. And that, ‘dude’, was one of the great turning points in my life. So I know where you are coming from. I just can’t be on your cheer squad.

6. It’s dangerous to talk about mindset in general terms as its dangerous: Now xxxx, I think you may be scraping the barrel now but I’ll honor it as I have done the above.

Firstly, is it better to individual rather than to provide group training? Of course it is. But no-one does it. We are in an industry where more people sell group training than individualized programs!

Now on the subject of individualization. Its strange getting a lecture on this because I have been one of the strongest advocates on this subject over the last few decades. In fact one of my greatest criticisms of the industry is that the competence to individualize training is so low, it would barely move the arrow on a meter!

I’ve written often about how much angst I experience providing a generic program for what was called T-mag back in 1999. Anyone who was around then would recall the ‘Limping Program’ you know, the one where I recommended unique bodyweight exercises be integrated into conventional strength programs, and everyone thought I was a lunatic – until it became apparently popular and let to many books on the subject written by the leader of the Boston seminar walkout.

Now I went through the same pain writing programs for my four book sequel Get Buffed! As well as the Book of Muscle. Now in hindsight, did I do the wrong thing? Did I ‘damage’ anyone? Or did I help more people than hinder by this act of generalization?

xxxx you know the answer. And you probably know you are using the time-tested technique of false fear attached to an at may stop people doing stuff….Like when I was a kid and they said if you go swimming you will get a cramp and drown…but I didn’t…and then when I was a teenager they said if you do ’that’ you will go blind….and I still can see….and then in the 1990s they said if you massage someone without having a certain costly certification you will damage peoples nerves…but I didn’t….and then post 2000 the world was told that if they statically stretched they would injure and when that scare mongering wore out it was switched to ‘if you static stretch’ you will go weak…

I guess you can see what I really think about your last point!

Now for a belated conclusion. As a student, I have learnt I can shoot the messenger, or I can study the message. The more you do of one, the less you do of the other.

Yes, I responded with more than you expected, but I confess is as much for anyone who will read this as it is for you, and I don’t determine who becomes the student. I can give student tips, like leave your ego at the door, put on white belt, empty your cup, don’t preach to the teacher until you have solid evidence that you can do better….and so on. But I don’t determine who starts the journey of the student, nor do I pick who stays the path and who quits. You know what I am saying first hand!

Ian King Want to do this course? http://bit.ly/moneyandtheppcoach-prequalify

Ian King

You don’t want to be the best you can be  

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You want to be just like everyone else

I am sure if a survey was taken of physical preparation coaches the majority would say there goal was to be the best they can be. From my perspective, I suggest that is not the dominant focus. I suggest that the desire to be like everyone else is far greater than the desire to be the best one can be. And I suggest that the price paid for this default is lost opportunities for both the professional and the client.

During the 1970s very few people participated in the exercise know as the squat, or double knee bend. The belief was squats were bad for your knees. Did the majority come to that conclusion based on their personal experiences, or did they simply accept the dominant beliefs and habits?

During the 1980s the majority of mixed energy sports athletes participated in a higher volume aerobic training block in their General Preparatory Phase. The belief was that it was neither safe or optimal to expose the athlete to other training modalities without first gaining a level of aerobic fitness. Did the majority come to that conclusion based on their personal experiences, or did they simply accept the dominant beliefs and habits?

During the 1990s the majority of physical preparation coaches included Swiss ball exercise in their program design. The belief was that performing an exercise, any – actually vertically all – exercises. This was based on the dogma that the additional balance challenges produced a superior training effect, and that this was definitely going to transfer to all sport and life activities. Did the majority come to that conclusion based on their personal experiences, or did they simply accept the dominant beliefs and habits?

During the 2000s the majority of physical preparation coaches selected almost exclusively from the so-called ‘functional exercises’ (although I am not really sure what that is) in their program design. To do any exercise sitting on a bench or lying down was heretical. This was based on the belief that standing and multi-planar movements were superior in their training effect for all people at all times, and would definitely provide a superior transfer to sport and life. Did the majority come to that conclusion based on their personal experiences, or did they simply accept the dominant beliefs and habits?

During the 2010s the majority of sports coaches and physical preparation coaches refuse to use static stretching, replacing what little stretching time is dedicated to stretching with ‘dynamic’ stretches. This is based on the belief that static stretching makes you weak and leads to injury and dynamic stretching is safer, more functional and effective. Did the majority come to that conclusion based on their personal experiences, or did they simply accept the dominant beliefs and habits?

The one question I asked throughout the above is – Did the majority come to that conclusion based on their personal experiences, or did they simply accept the dominant beliefs and habits? I suggest they did not come to these conclusions based on any form of personal experience. I also suggest that they didn’t even think. They just accepted and did.

So what would I need to see to believe that a physical preparation coach was making an attempt to be the best they can be? The most important criteria I am looking for is evidence of thinking. That the key questions have been asked, including but not limited to;

• What is the best way to train?
• What can I do to fulfill my potential as a coach?
• What can I do to fulfill the potential of my client/athlete?

Now call me simplistic, but I am skeptical as to whether the majority has applied this approach. Here are a few considerations.

Let’s take squats for examples. Prior to about 1990, when a slew of ‘research’ was published extolling the benefits of stretching, did the did the majority of physical preparation coaches have collective personal experiences that squatting was bad and then collectively and coincidentally post 1990 have personal experiences to the contrary?

Let’s take the Swiss ball for example. Prior to about 1990 few knew the word Swiss ball and exercises upon it. Up until this time did the did the majority of physical preparation coaches have collective personal experiences that Swiss balls and exercises on Swiss balls were useless and then collectively and coincidentally post 1990 have personal experiences to the contrary?

Let’s take stretching for example. Prior to about 1995 it was okay to statically stretch, and commonly done. Post 1995 it wasn’t. Now did the majority of physical preparation coaches have collective experiences prior to 1995 that static stretching was the most effective way to stretch, and then post 1995 all reach personal conclusions to the contrary? I suggest not. Now I respect that for many of you my proposition is flawed as I place a premium on thinking, at a time in the world and in our industry where the dominant belief that what you think is irrelevant – just read the research and see if ‘research supports it’. This is essentially not only the antithesis of thinking, I also suggest that this don’t think just believe in the research mentality is actually contrary to the intent of the origin of science.

For me objectivity is the key.

Scientific objectivity is a characteristic of scientific claims, methods and results. It expresses the idea that the claims, methods and results of science are not, or should not be influenced by particular perspectives, value commitments, community bias or personal interests, to name a few relevant factors.

And even though science claims this I don’t believe it is always the case.

Science in theory is intended to provide objective analysis. I believe this way has been lost in many cases, where the research conclusions are influenced by the researcher, who in turn may be influenced by the provider of the funding.

For all the lip service we pay to science, everyone knows that it is commerce that runs the show. As the Spanish proverb goes, ‘He who gives the bread lays down the law’. Science today typically serves the large corporate interests that fund it. In a world conceived by the financial and corporate leadership who effectively rule it, the purpose of the human being is to contribute to the economy as an increasingly efficient unit of production and as an increasingly efficient unit of consumption. The financial and corporate elite establish effective social policy, and commercially funded science gives them the technological wherewithal to execute it. –Laurence G. Boldt, 1999

I believe you can be more objective than certain modern ‘scientific’ conclusions:

Now I admit it’s not easy being an objective thinker. Throughout history thinkers have been subject to a variety of suppressions and restrictions by authorities.

Take Roger Bacon (c. 1219/20 – c. 1292) for example, the 13th Century English philosopher. He is sometimes credited (mainly since the 19th century) as one of the earliest European advocates of the modern scientific method inspired by Aristotle

• After 1260, Bacon’s activities were restricted by a statute prohibiting the friars of his order from publishing books or pamphlets without prior approval. • The Condemnations of 1277 banned the teaching of certain philosophical doctrines, including deterministic astrology. Some time within the next two years, Bacon was apparently imprisoned or placed under house arrest. –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bacon

Here are some of the thinking that Bacon and others were ‘not allowed to engage in’ at various times in the 13th Century:

The banned propositions included:

• “That there is numerically one and the same intellect for all humans”.
• “That the soul separated [from the body] by death cannot suffer from bodily fire”.
• “That God cannot grant immortality and incorruption to a mortal and corruptible thing”.
• “That God does not know singulars” (i.e., individual objects or creatures).
• “That God does not know things other than Himself”.
• “That human acts are not ruled by the providence of God”.
• “That the world is eternal”.
• “That there was never a first human”.
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condemnations_of_1210–1277

History is littered with examples of suppression of freedom of thinking. Now if you are still reading this article, and if you resonate with the belief that you should reach your own, objective conclusions, then here is one phenomenal role model to guide and inspire you. Buckminster-Fuller, considered one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century, wrote:

I jettisoned all I had ever been taught to believe and proceeded thereafter to reason and act only on the basis of direct personal experience … Exploring, experiencing, feeling, and – to the best of my ability – acting strictly and only on my individual intuition, I became impelled to write this book… –Buckminster-Fuller, referring to his book ‘Critical Path’, 1981.

I am not alone in my encouragement to you to temper your compliance with the dominant ‘scientific’ theories:

I think that in modern Western society, there seems to be a powerful cultural conditioning that is based on science. But in some instances, the basic premises and parameters set up by Western science can limit your ability to deal with certain realities. For instance, you have the constraints of the idea that everything can be explained within the framework of a single lifetime, and you combine this with the notion that everything can and must be explained and accounted for. But when you encounter phenomena that you cannot account for, then there’s kind of a tension created; it’s almost a feeling of agony. –Howard C. Culter and the Dalai Lama, 1998

Again I share I am not seeking to be disrespectful of science as it currently is.

Research is nice and I’m definitely not critical at all of the contribution of academics. But my decision to train a certain way is not based on the latest research. It’s based on the conclusions I’ve reached on cause and effect relationships in the real world. People can become too infatuated with the concept of science.

For me, success in sport is about winning. Athletes aren’t going to get offended if I don’t comply with the latest research. They just want to win. So the research is nice, but it’s always going to be limited. We’re not dealing with a college age volunteer in a six week program; we’re dealing with a human being that’s been working for fifteen to twenty years to take his body beyond where it’s gone before. –Shugart, C., 2000, Meet the press: Coach of Coaches – An interview with Ian King, t-mag.com 29 Friday 2000

I also acknowledge that the easiest thing to do is to conform. However I encourage you to reflect on this perspective on conformity:

The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity. –Rollo May

I have been encouraging you to resist the pressures of conformity for:

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

It is rewarding to see individuals chose to be objective, to trial training methods and reach their own conclusions, even if they are contrary to the dominant beliefs:

“…from young, I was led to believe that an individual’s level of flexibility is determined by genetics. As I grew older I got stiffer and when I started my formal education, I was educated that flexibility is not a vital determining factor in sports and that dynamic stretches were more than sufficient to both warm-up the joint and muscles, as well as to improve flexibility.

To be honest, with all the research papers and articles being put through my mind at that time, it did seem logical for a naive mind that was easily convinced. However, I am glad that I was shown the art of stretching…I have never experienced such levels of flexibilities in my life and I’m thankful that I chose to open my mind to a concept that was challenged by the origins of my knowledge in this field. I spend close to half or on some days, more than half of my time stretching my frontal muscle groups & performing tension releasing work with my ‘poor man’s masseur’ as it has significantly improved my overall health. Stretching will also and always be a main training tool/stapler in the programs that I design, due to it’s massive benefits that I have attained and am still experiencing.” -Tze, KSI L1 Student Coach

In essence I am suggesting that if you do what everyone else is doing, you are not only failing to fulfill your potential, you are failing to fulfill the potential of your client:

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? –King, I., 1997, Winning and Losing, p. 30

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. –King, I., 2003, Ask the Master, (book) p. 32

Conclusion

I am going to be straight – if you find yourself doing what the majority are doing, and your goal is to be the best you can be – you should be very concerned. I see this as evidence that you are not thinking for yourself, rather that you are conforming.

Now this is not bad or good from one perspective – even Master Sifu in the movie Kung Fu Panda will tell you there is not such thing as good or bad! If you have no desire to fulfill your potential, if your personality is such that you would prefer to conform, then keep going. The world needs all kinds, and the statistical reality has a pattern of talking about the 90-95% that just want to be average, the same as everyone else.

But if you are seeking to be the best you can be, to give you clients the best opportunity to be the best they can be – to be in the 5 to 10% of high achievers – then you need to stop seeking to be like everyone else and think for yourself!

Ian King

Show me your mentor and I will predict your future  

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When we start out in the industry its unlikely we fully appreciate the impact of those who we model. The late Stephen Covey, the author of the best-selling book ‘Seven Habit’s of Highly Successful People, spoke of making sure that was the building you want to climb before leaning your ladder up against it.

I have sat and heard the sadness of too many who some ten plus years later have confided or inferred their regrets of how they have spent their time, money and emotions during key phases of their career.

When a coach is new and young and starry eyed it’s understandable they may be attracted to the newest, latest or loudest or shiniest object. It understandable that their perceptions are shaped by the dominant industry trends when they arrive at the scene.

However no matter how understandable this is, life is too short to spend pursing empty paths. For the last few decades I have suggested that young coaches check out the life behind the marketed images of individuals before seeking to model them.

Everyone has different interests and goals, and my hope is that some decades into your time in this industry you can look back with pride and satisfaction about how you choose to invest your time, money and energy.

And remember – the mentor you choose may be an excellent predictor of your future. So choose with wisdom.

Ian King

The illusion of knowledge  

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Imagine if you came upon someone with a lifetime of experience supported by an incredible success in helping people fulfil their potential. After a period of communication they offered guidance based on this experience. What would you do?

I can tell you what most do. About 90% plus of the population will seek to analyze the ‘information’ based on their existing paradigms.

Let me say this as gently as I can – if you knew the answers now you would be have all the success you seek. And in reality, you don’t know the answers and you would benefit from letting go of the ‘information’ you have to filter the guidance from those who you benefit from following and modeling.

Even when I place a disclaimer along the lines of ‘I will only give you my time and experience if you demonstrate your willingness to be a student and take action’, the point is often missed.

Recently, following a complimentary profession of low level professional guidance via private messaging, I made the following offer:

“…yes, life changes and you need to adapt. You also need to get more serious about things like xxxx and xxxx for the xxxx and xxxx. the latter of which I have pretty clear guidelines for but only for those who will act on my advice, not for those who want opinions…”

To which ultimately the response was:

“Thank you Ian…I would like, of course, before committing ….to know what these xxxx are, by whom are they produced, and to find out more about their production and, consequently, their respective effects/mode of action…I am sure you can appreciate my reticence and my need to find out more about xxxx, for the very same reasons.

xxxx (and ever more so, given their isolative nature) and xxxx potential accentuation effects should be carefully considered, especially their effects on overall balance when used concomitantly, so I would certainly like more info before going down that route…’

This is a lost opportunity. The guidance will not be forthcoming because the student was not ready. I would not work professionally with this perspective and therefore would not do this in a complimentary sense either.

Here’s a quote that offers guidance on this point worth reflecting on:

“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance – it is the illusion of knowledge.”–Daniel J. Boorstin