Throughout this strength sport journey I've encountered some wonderful people. From coaches to athletes to doctors and everyone in between. The one thing they all have in common aside from their love of the sport is the fact that they are respectful towards other coaches, athletes and humans. They exude respect and in return receive it from almost everyone they come into contact with.
However there are those out who don't know to spell respect let alone give it. This may or may hit be intentional. To save them embarrassment & being black listed I've put together a few pointers:
Don't Poach
It's just tacky. Don't scout another gym's facility, staff or members for your own. Put your product out there and if someone wants to join you in their professional or athletic journey, so be it. But if you act like a weasel then you are going to get a bad reputation.
Don't Step On Toes
I'm an olympic weightlifting "specialist." All I do is analyze movement day in and day out. That being said I have a lot of supplemental clients from different facilities. Key word is "supplemental": in addition to, also. I'm not their primary coach and most have another sport they participate in but use weightlifting to get better at it.
If this is you, make sure you reach out to the gym owner or if nothing else have the athlete do so before they start their program. This is crucial if you are doing this locally. I make it a point to contact the gym owner thanking them for allowing the athlete to do my program. It's just common courtesy.
Don't Give Unsolicited Advice
If you are at a meet or a competition, and someone has a coach, do not offer your advice to the athlete. It makes you look like a jerk (and not the kind we like in weightlifting). It can also confuse the athlete.
If you are in a gym, don't shout out cues to someone in a class if you don't know the coach and haven't established that kind of relationship. With the coach AND the athlete. If you aren't certified then you definitely shouldn't. Visiting a facility? Definitely don't do it! It's disrespectful beyond belief.
Even when we are in training with the team if Tyler is cuing an athlete I keep my mouth shut and let him take the reigns. He does the same for me. Too much cuing from too many people, even if both are right, can lead to confusion. Let one voice be heard at a time.
Don't Ask For Free Stuff
My biggest pet peeve is when people message me asking for a program for free or expect me to analyze their movement pattern. It's flattering in some regards that people seek me for advice, which I will gladly give, but don't disrespect what I do for a living. I have paying clients and if I just sat around giving out programs I spent a long time on creating then it devalues their product. Video analysis take me anywhere to 7-15 minutes to just talk over, not including watching it before hand, slowing it down, uploading it, typing the message and sending it. Lord knows how many times the program had an error and decided not to save after a 16 minute monologue.
Anyone who knows me knows that I will give the shirt (or singlet) off my back for someone (I literally have done both). If you sincerely want help and approach me properly, I'll gladly give it you. I have many students and people that just couldn't afford help but came to be professionally and with good intentions; their sessions may have been $20 when they could afford it, some food dishes when they had extra, whatever.
We traveled for six months to different CrossFit gyms offering weightlifting training and had blog access for free. I'm not a Grinch in the slightest & I've been in those shoes before and I know what's it like. I know the difference between "Do I buy groceries" or "Do I pay for my membership/program/meet fee" (you can guess which always won out; Sup Ramen Summer of 2013). Even when I was flat broke and a mentor reached out to offer advice, not once did I ask them to do so for free. I offered to pay & if they didn't accept I sent shirts, beer, or gift cards. Something to say thank you.
The point is: the people who I help never came to me asking for a discount or something for nothing. And at the end of the day, you get what you pay for.
Don't Ask Me About Another Person's Programming
This goes hand in hand with "Don't Ask For Free Stuff". If you have a program you probably got it from one of two places: (1) For Free Off The Interweb or (2) From Another Coach.
When people ask me about a program I tell them to ask whomever wrote it for them or whatever site they got it from. If you are a coach then you sure as heck wouldn't want someone's else idea of what your athlete should be doing messing up your program. If you found it online then 9 times out of 10 there are glossaries, indexes or video tutorials on that website to guide you.
What's even worse is when someone asks me when I'm clearly working with someone on a paid session or at team training. Just don't do it. Especially don't do it if you've never spoken to me before and this is going to be your introduction. Especially don't message me on facebook and when I don't respond text me (or vice versa); respect the craft.
As with everything else, I know not everyone has bad intentions and typically I still answer the question. But if you are a habitual offender then all I have to say is "Bye Felicia".
Don't Degrade Another Coach
With the creation of social media I've seen some "coaches" bash legendary coaches in the sport. One incident involved one of my mentors and it it immediately made me loose respect for the person posting it. You can disagree with someone but at the same time respect where they have been and what they have done for the sport. Without them you wouldn't be able to do what you do. Not every day is Festivus so keep the airing of grievances off the internet.
This goes hand in hand with "Don't Ask For Free Stuff". If you have a program you probably got it from one of two places: (1) For Free Off The Interweb or (2) From Another Coach.
When people ask me about a program I tell them to ask whomever wrote it for them or whatever site they got it from. If you are a coach then you sure as heck wouldn't want someone's else idea of what your athlete should be doing messing up your program. If you found it online then 9 times out of 10 there are glossaries, indexes or video tutorials on that website to guide you.
What's even worse is when someone asks me when I'm clearly working with someone on a paid session or at team training. Just don't do it. Especially don't do it if you've never spoken to me before and this is going to be your introduction. Especially don't message me on facebook and when I don't respond text me (or vice versa); respect the craft.
As with everything else, I know not everyone has bad intentions and typically I still answer the question. But if you are a habitual offender then all I have to say is "Bye Felicia".
Don't Degrade Another Coach
With the creation of social media I've seen some "coaches" bash legendary coaches in the sport. One incident involved one of my mentors and it it immediately made me loose respect for the person posting it. You can disagree with someone but at the same time respect where they have been and what they have done for the sport. Without them you wouldn't be able to do what you do. Not every day is Festivus so keep the airing of grievances off the internet.
That doesn't exactly get you treasures in . I'm all about drinking some Haterade with my friends. But don't walk up to my athlete and say "Is Amber really that good?" What do you expect them to say? "No she really isn't. I just give her money and get my butt handed to me because I'm bored." Again I think this is supposed to be a compliment but there are better ways to go about it than this.
Don't Program Hop
It makes you look like a pansy and like you can't make up your mind. Grow a pair & finish something you started whether it's for a cycle or not. Nothing beats consistency and hard work. If you don't trust your coach or your program, move on.
Iron Lesson: The barbell may not care if you're disrespectful but those in the sport do. Pay your dues, hone your craft, and be the bigger person.
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