How to Gain Maximum Benefit from Coaching

Last week I found a picture that talked about how doctors won’t make you healthy, trainers won’t make you fit, teachers won’t make you smart and it got me thinking about this interesting statement. It’s very true, these people can all help but they’re limited by the depth of the relationship and if each person fills their side of the deal. This reminds me of when I was competing in Powerlifting. I was lucky to have the best coaches in the world. We would have people literally travel the world to gain some insight from the people I was being coached by. The interesting part was to see that their advice didn’t work for everyone. I saw this with many competitiors in the sport. They couldn’t stick with a coach and would bounce around constantly seeking the secret sauce to their success. We would have people come in to train with us, but couldn’t make it through the first week because they couldn’t see or gain the benefit from the coaching. There were several limiting factors, but it builds a discussion that there is a skill to getting benefit from coaching. Lets take a look at how you can get the most out of your coaches to accelerate your progress. This could be in sports, your personal trainer, doctor, financial advisor etc. 

1. Clarify Your Goals: Before starting coaching, define your goals and what you hope to achieve. Be specific about what you want to work on or improve. Many times when people state goals, they don’t clarify the root of that goal. For example, if you want to lose 50lbs, it helps to state why you want to lose 50lbs, how it would change your life, and what is that goal worth to you. When we use things like number goals, we usually find that the number was never the magic we were seeking. Being clear on what we want and why we want it helps make it concrete to ourselves and then allows us to better relay the message to a coach. 

2. Choose the Right Coach: Select a coach who has expertise in the area you want to develop. A good fit between you and your coach is crucial. After coaching for 14 years, I can be positive when I say that I’m not the best coach for everyone. When seeking out coaches, I look for people who carry similar values to me. This will help us share common language when discussing the best path to take to achieve my goals. For example, my first visit with my current Doctor was different than with others. I was in his office and the first questions he asked me was “What are your goals, how is your happiness, how is your marriage, and are you happy in your career?”. This simple series of questions told me that he was viewing my health from a holistic approach which I appreciated. 

3. Be Open and Honest: Openly share your thoughts, feelings, and challenges with your coach. The more transparent you are, the more effective the coaching will be. This is difficult until the relationship has formed and trust has been built. If people can’t be honest with those that are coaching them, then the partnership will have trouble being successful. 

4. Act on Feedback: Be willing to receive feedback and take action on it. Change and growth require action, so implement the insights and recommendations your coach provides. If your coach wants to make an adjustment, you can’t simply push back. You can ask questions as to why, but there needs to be a willingness to do things differently than you have done before to get the results you haven’t yet achieved. 

5. Reflect and Self-Assess: Take time between sessions to reflect on your progress and self-assess your growth. What's working? What isn't? Share your insights with your coach. This will help to build a better communication path with you and your coach. Whether with my financial advisor, doctor, or fitness coach I always have things I’m working on and tracking between visits. 

6. Practice Patience: Change takes time, so be patient with yourself. Don't expect instant results; focus on gradual improvement. When I was competing in Powerlifting, there were times different lifts would stall, but my coaches always had a plan to work through these periods and they usually lead to large break through at some point. The first path isn’t always the correct one.

7. Measure Progress: Define key performance indicators or metrics to track your progress toward your goals. This can help you see the tangible impact of coaching. If your goal is weight loss, adding 20lbs to your max bench press doesn’t mean much. However, if you’re a softball pitcher you can easily measure things like speed of pitch, spins, and accuracy. These are great metrics to track progress and effectiveness of training. 

These are some of the different ways we’ve seen people get the most out of their coaching. I’m not a big believer in phrases like “Trust the process”. Sometimes, the process sucks and isn’t based on anything sound. A coach is a great asset because they help you speed up the process that you’re trying to achieve, they just can’t be your mover for 100% of the action you need to make the change.

Nick Showman

Showtime Strength & Performance