As personal trainers and owners of Staggs Fitness my wife and I have coached 100’s
of individuals to their fitness goals. The question I get a lot is what do you actually do
for people as their coach? The most important thing we do for people is give them
peace of mind. As a competitor or even just the average person trying to lose some
weight one of the biggest stresses is not knowing if you are doing things right. What
to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, is the training right, are you on schedule, how
much cardio to do, what supplements to take, etc. As a competitor you also have the
worries of stage presence and posing, stains, oils, peak week, traveling, board shorts
style, and a hundred other things to make sure you get right in order to be better then
the next guy. Having a good coach will take most the guess work out and steer you in
the right direction so that all you have to do is eat, train, and recover. It will also make
sure you don’t have to go through the learning curve and make all the mistakes a first
timer makes. The one thing I have seen time and time again is someone put in all the
hard work just to get on stage and look bad. Many times it wasn’t the diet or training that
needed to be fixed but their color, posing, or their peak week. You can do all the hard
work and have the best physique, but if you can’t show it to the judges then it means
nothing. Bottom line you invest years training, months of extreme dieting, hours of
cardio, and a lot of hard earned money for 5 minutes on stage. So why would you do all
that without a coach? Even professional athletes need coaches.
So how do you find and hire a coach. Sometimes you don’t need to even hire a coach
at all. A coach can be anyone who knows how to coach you to be your best. I was lucky
when I got started over 10 years ago to have a 2 friends who knew what they were
doing. I basically let all my decisions be made by them and put all my trust into them.
They became my bodybuilding coaches. I placed 3rd out of 16 middleweights at my first
show and actually beat one of my coaches that competed in the same class as me!
Ironically about 10 years later I placed 2nd to a client that I coached for the Southwest
Michigan Bodybuilding Championships. What if you have no friends or gym partners
that have the knowledge or that you trust to get you to the stage? First thing you do is
ask around the gym and your friends if they have any recommendations. If you get a
referral then check them out. Go online and check their website out, see before and
after picks, and see how they are doing as a competitor. Not only is it important to find
someone living the lifestyle, but to find someone that also has an impressive portfolio of
competitors with before and after picks. After you feel like they are qualified give them a
call and talk about your goals and find out more about them. When you hire a coach you
must have good chemistry with them because not only are you putting all your trust into
them but you are also needing them to be there for you 24 hours a day for 3 months or
more. You need to know that you can call or email with questions and that they will get
back to you quickly and politely. After talking with them you should have a good feeling
if they are right for you. You should expect to pay them upfront and you should expect in
return an agreement stating what they will do for you and how long.
If you don’t receive any referrals from your gym partners then go online and see who
is winning or doing well. Most likely they may be coaches themselves or they have a
coach they will recommend. Don’t be afraid to spend the money for a good coach. You
already invest so much time and money it’s worth the few extra dollars to look your best
and to place the highest you can. Ask yourself what it’s worth to you to be victorious on
stage. The answer I always end up at, Priceless!
Tim Staggs CPT & Wellness Coach
www.staggsfitness.com
www.facebook.com/staggstim
www.facebook.com/staggsfitness
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