My First Session

My strength and conditioning journey started when I was in junior high looking to get stronger. I would lift and run as much as I could whenever I could. When I started to create my own programs for myself I would see something on TV or hear about something a famous athlete was doing and mimic their workout. When I began to train with friends and teammates I would want to impress them with a cool exercise or workout that left me gassed at the end. It wasn’t until I took a strength and conditioning class in college that I began to learn more about program design and the variables involving a great program. However, I soon got caught up in trying to create the perfect program for my first clients. I remember thinking it would set the tone for the rest of my life and my career was on the line. First of all, this was a school project in which the clients volunteered; there was no guarantees on either end and it was the perfect setting for a trial program. But of course I stressed myself out and I spent the entire week before my first session changing my first workout a hundred times. I thought “There has to be something that will make my program perfect and I can’t seem to find the exact exercise or the exact order or recovery that I need”. Thankfully I had a few mentors who were able to guide me in the right direction and allow me to trust the knowledge that I had. Once I was able to leave my program untouched and go with what I had, I was able to find some calmness going into my first session with my new clients. I soon found out that my program would be altered from the start. I remember having this elaborate complex of exercises that would surely make my clients stronger on the first day. My first client told me he had rolled his ankle two hours before the session and could not put a whole lot of pressure on it. And there went my program out the door! I had to quickly think of alternative exercises for my client to do while still focusing on coaching the additional exercises for my other client. This was a blessing and a curse.


Many coaches may claim to have the perfect program, but it is more of a template than a permanent design. We are all uniquely created and respond to any set of variables different from the next person. This is why we must be intentional about our coaching and learning as we work in this profession. Being able to recognize and correct movement patterns should be our main focus, rather than making sure our athlete hits all of the repetitions and sets. We are coaches who work with people, and not people who read numbers and words to others.


Remember that even the greatest strength coaches had to start somewhere and the only way to get better is experience. I have learned so much by observing all different types of classes: elite performance, women’s fitness, youth play time, senior core conditioning and many more. Do not be afraid to ask questions because this industry is always growing and adapting. If you are in the beginning of your coaching/training journey start with this idea: create a program with several movements that you understand and can coach well. It is ok not to have the most elaborate training programs with 50 plus exercises on them. You will find better results for your clients and athletes if you stick to what you know. As you ask questions and learn more you will be able to piece together your workouts in a more effective way. I am still learning to do this every day and am thankful for working in a place where my superiors are willing to teach me and help me along the way.

In the end my first session did not go as I had planned. However, when the session had ended my clients were very happy with the way things went. So I semi-camly asked, in what way they thought it went well because in my perspective I had not gone through every single exercise according to my "perfect program!" They told me they appreciated how I was able to give alternative exercises to accommodate the injury, but more so enjoyed my personality and willingness to work with them. There is much more to coaching and training people than a well thought out program. You must show people you care, before they care about what you know.