On January 1st, 2013 I will open up to 5 more spots for my Fitness Coach Mentoring service. This is a first come, first serve service offering. For those interested I will try to clarify the expectations of the service, some general outlines of the service, the variance in approaches taken, as well as the initial homework prior to the first meeting between you and I (either in person or via Skype).
This service is sold out. Next openings will be May 1st, 2013. E-mail to be placed on list for next openings.
Expectations
*You will have homework/assignments that must be completed prior to our next meeting.
*The goal of the service is to have you develop your own system or framework for training design and analysis.
*You will be asked to design training programs and/or assess individuals of varying abilities, varying goals, varying ages, and varying sports/endeavours in order to get a true appreciation of the individualization process.
General Outline
*During each call we will discuss your recently completed homework/assignment(s).
*Each call will last between 75-90 minutes, unless we are meeting twice per month, then each call will be half the time.
*Generally, you will be asked to design training sessions for all levels of individual ability and for all energy systems (ATP-CP, Anaerobic, Aerobic, and their variations). Once I feel you have a solid understanding of this, we will move into designing weekly, monthly, and yearly training templates, as well as the training sessions that go along with these templates (i.e. periodization and planning).
Variance
*Meetings are typically arranged once a month. However, if your situation would benefit from more frequent meetings, we can move to 2 meetings per month (i.e. 35-45 minutes each meeting).
*If your focus is to design training for a certain group of individuals (i.e. specific sport, age, ability, etc.) then the focus of the service will be entirely based on that.
*Many individuals utilize the service as a means to improve the program design for their own fitness facilities, typically for group classes.
*Many individuals utilize the service as a means to upgrade their own knowledge and understanding in order to put it to use for themselves because they are not coaches or facility owners.
*Coaching experience and training knowledge varies greatly amongst all of the clients. Generally, no matter what level you are at in your coaching journey, we will create a path to lead you to success.
Commitment Length
*There is no commitment length. As with all of my services, if you are unhappy with the service or feel you need a change, you are not held to anything.
Initial Homework
*MUST be submitted via e-mail prior to our first meeting.
*Respond to the following to the best of your knowledge and based on YOUR beliefs (i.e. wear your heart on your sleeve). Please be prepared to justify your decisions:
1) What is fitness? Give a few main points. No examples needed. Do NOT copy and paste from somewhere else, use your OWN words.
2) Design a 3 day fitness competition to establish who is fittest based on what YOUR definition of fitness is. Assume there are no limitations on equipment, space, judging, etc. Describe in detail what the point of each event was (i.e. What were you trying to test, why you selected the movements. How valid, reliable, and repeatable is the test?).
3) Provide an example of a "Yearly Periodized Training Cycle" for a Fitness athlete. Describe the progression throughout the year, the adjustment of training goals based on the time of the year, and an example of a peaking phase pre-competition. I am not looking for anything specific to any particular athlete, just a general idea for a "Regional" level competitor looking to make it to the Games.
4) Design a 6 week training program for a 10k runner. This person's goal is to do a 10k time trial at the end of the 6 weeks (i.e. peak). This person is able to run a 5k in 19 minutes, a 10k in 40 minutes, and a half marathon in 85 minutes. Assume no injuries or movement limitations. Is able to train once per day, 5 times per week, Monday and Friday are off days. Please provide all of the training sessions for all of the 6 weeks. As well, be sure to prescribe intensity with each of the running training sessions.
Feedback
Here is some of the feedback from this service from some of my Fitness Coach Mentoring clients. If you have a question about the service that was not stated above, please e-mail.
(Current Fitness Coach Mentoring Client, Brad Forbes and myself)
(left to right: Current Fitness Coach Mentoring Client, Kevin O'Malley, myself, and a solid dude, John McEvoy)