Quite often I get emails and interview questions asking what a young coach should do to begin to establish themself in this field.  While there are certainly a lot of possible answers, one of the best pieces of advice I can give is to follow the path of guys like Sam Leahey.

 
While barely being old enough to grow hair on his chest (sorry Sam), Sam has already spent time working alongside some of North America’s best strength coaches and has already made productive friendships with many others.  Recently I was fortunate enough to interview Sam to discuss some of the things that he’s done to get to this point in his career.  Young coaches…listen up.

 
Sam, thanks for taking the time to do this interview.  Can you please take a second to tell my readers a little bit about yourself?

 
Thanks, Mark! As much as I appreciate the gesture, I don’t think I’m anyone special—just someone who cares more than most and works hard. Like most my age, I have my CSCS and CPT. I double majored in Exercise Science and Physical Education and received a minor in Sport Coaching as well. After college, I intend to earn a MS in Strength&Conditioning from Springfield College. As far as experience goes, I’ve done a number of internships at the following places while working as a personal trainer on the side:

 
Michael Boyle Strength and Conditioning (Michael Boyle)

Cressey Performance (Eric Cressey)

Boston University (Michael Boyle)

College of The Holy Cross (Jeff Oliver & Jeremy Frisch)

Middlesex Prep School & Needham High School (Bruce Cohn)

In addition to that, I’ve had some written works published on various websites. But at the end of the day, just because you’re an internet author doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about! At this point in my career, if I had to pick a “specialty” I would say that even though I’m prepared in a variety of bodies of knowledge, I particularly specialize in applied exercise science and biomechanics as they relate to program design for athletic performance enhancement as well as prophylactic exercise.

Great stuff Sam!  As a young coach you’ve really worked your way in with some great names in the industry.  Obviously this must have been intimidating at first.  Can you talk a little bit about the value of networking with other trainers and coaches for a young guy like yourself?  What were your experiences like?  Was it as hard as you thought?

 
Rather than “intimidating,” I think a more accurate word to describe my experience was “awestruck.” When I first met the “big timers,” it was a surreal experience given that I had idolized these folks for some time now. However, it didn’t take long before I got over the shock and awe and starting trying to drain all the knowledge from their brains. Not sure why, but I didn’t mind harassing them at the cost of being “annoying.”  I just wanted the truth. I desired answers to questions that kept me up at night, and wanted to satisfy the desire for high quality knowledge. I guess people call it “having a passion for something?” To answer your question more directly, Mark, I’m not sure if that was “hard” per se. I was just being my natural self – a determined, self-driven,passionate person.

What is “hard” and the part too many young coaches are afraid of, is opening yourself up for criticism, admitting your faults, and biting the bullet to admit you screwed up here and there and have room to grow.If you’re pursuing greatness in the profession the one principle that goes without saying is “the higher up you go, the hotter the air gets.”  For example, Eric Cressey is NOT afraid to tell you what he thinks. This is a good thing. He and Coach Boyle have had to put me in my place when I performed less than optimally, both professionally and personally. What’s most important was that I could handle the constructive criticism, and because of that they helped me find solutions and built me back up again. That is a true mentor – someone who’ll put you in your place when necessary and then help you back up only to be better than before. “Haters” are simply folks that want to bring you down all the time because most of the time they have something against you, and they choose to focus on the negatives in your life.

The same goes for the rest of those I call mentors – Coach Jeff Oliver and Coach Bruce Cohn. All these men are over 50 years of age, and it’s been an honor to stand on their shoulders and look into the future. They have so much perspective in life to offer; it’ll really get you thinking about what’s important in the end and what matters most during your professional journey. I’ve made mistakes with these individuals, too, and they’ve never held it against me. Rather, they shed light on it and helped me not to make that mistake again whatever it may be.

 
 I choose to talk about these “negatives” because I think when many people learn of my story, they often inaccurately think it’s some kind of glory ride to greatness. Not even remotely true! In fact, there have been HUGE bumps along the way. If my life journey was getting easier,  I would take it to mean I’m going downhill! Remember, the higher up you go the hotter the air gets. I’ll never forget when Eric first told me that. I thought about its implications for a long time. Everyone will make mistakes, but what separates you from the rest is what you DO about those mistakes afterwards. How do you fix the problem so it doesn’t happen again? Do you have enough humility to take criticism well? You should, especially if you’re young, because I can’t see why a young coach would have any pride in the first place!

 
Getting to your “value” question, yes, networking is critical and very valuable indeed. All I can say about this piece is to be yourself. Don’t pretend to be someone or something you are not. If you are genuine, sincere, and passionate in your efforts and communication, then it will show and people will want to connect with you. Bad people with ulterior motives always get exploited. Be a good person!

Outside of talking with other coaches and your formal education, what do you do to stay on top of the field?  Resources?  Conferences?

 
 This is a relative question as I feel certain people need different things. In the beginning, I read everything I could get my hands on. Now, I mostly read more science related material like research. After that, my go to is “high yield” things like books, ebooks, DVD’s, manuals, conferences, seminars, and webinars. And after that comes everything else – podcasts, websites, blogs, etc. As time goes on you’ll have to decide what is more “high yield” for your own situation, depending on the setting you work in. Sometimes a certain direction in one’s educational path is necessary.

Does all this networking and learning get expensive?  How do you justify the cost?

 
It absolutely does. I have much debt financially, but I’m richer in knowledge and intangibles because of it. One day it will pay off in the tangible sense. Anything you put high value on is expensive! To what lengths and at what costs (literally) are you willing to go to attain what you perceive at “greatness?” Enough said!

 
At the risk of sounding overly confident I’ll defer and quote Dr.Charlie Weingroff. This is something that I’ve written permanently in my mind and refer to it often. It will either motivate you or intimidate you after you’ve read it:

 
 ”Many people say they want to be good at what they do or help people or this and that. The better folks will say they always want to be the best they can be. Very few people look at their lives and walk out the front door every day and say to themselves I want to be the best at what I do that has ever walked the Earth. That will never happen of course, but when you have that intensity and live your life towards that end, you will by default be the best you can be and serve those that have come before you and those regularly around you. I think this is what has made me “successful,” and again success is decided by others, not me. I actually don’t think I am all that good at what I do. I think everybody else just sucks.”

 
I love that quote!  As a guy who has done very well for himself thus far, what recommendations would you have for an aspiring trainer or strength coach who wants to make a place for themself in this industry?

 
Essentially, my answer is – GO OUT AND TAKE WHAT YOU WANT! Seriously, if you want to be “big time,” then go out and create your own experience. However great you want to be will dictate how much effort and thought you put into your preparation process. There’s really no “secret to success.” It’s merely a matter of effort directed in the right way. I’ll never forgot my dad’s words to me in high school – “your effort has to be as big as your dream.”

If anyone out there reading this is looking for some specifics, I’d direct you to the page located HERE. There you’ll find some really good resources and practical advice if you actually take the time to read through the whole thing.

 
Other than that I’ll touch on a smaller subject that I believe is indirectly related to one’s success – degrees. While it’s true you don’t need degrees in a related field, I would highly recommend getting a bachelor’s and master’s degree! If we want our field to be respected the way it should be then we need to meet some sort of societal standard like a college degree. Just having a high school diploma is not good enough. As is with a DPT, MD, ATC, Chiro, S&C coach, etc. the degree itself means nothing, but that credential gives you some credibility in the public’s eyes because they don’t know how to differentiate the good from the bad at all until they actually get to work with you and see results.

 
Furthermore, I’m a firm believer in formal education simply for the sake of the experience that will come along with it. If you’re an S&C graduate assistant you can do your own research study while simultaneously coaching your own varsity teams, having complete control over program design and implementation. Furthermore, there are actually some classes that offer you a learning experience you cannot attain outside the classroom. Classes like cadaver anatomy come to mind. For each profession (S&C, Physical Therapy, etc.) there are a few “high yield” classes that are exclusive to school itself, not many though.  In addition, you’ll meet many individuals along the way that you might not have otherwise.

 
Great points Sam!  I’m not sure that I agree that everyone needs a degree, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.  How do all of your experiences so far play into the personal training that YOU do?

Absolutely Mark, definitely not 100% necessary. I see degrees, and the piece of paper you get at the end, as an extra kick or slight edge that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Most everything else comes from outside the classroom.

 Getting to your question though, my answer to this has certainly changed over the last year. While it’s true that many professions are after the same thing, Strength & Conditioning can be VERY different than personal training often times, especially, if you are working for a big corporate chain commercial gym. Your communication skills in the personal training setting are paramount. You’re not in a situation where people show up with expectations and will just do what you say because you’re the coach. General population people will want to know why you’re telling them to do this and that more than athletes will. Also, while some athletes on your team will ask why something is important, general population people are much more skeptical of your methodologies.

 
If you learn how to communicate at the level the person in front of you then you should be all set. Explain to them the science behind your methods but be sure to concluded with “lay person” talk and use terms that the client understands, whether it’s a meat head phrase like “getting jacked” or what females want to hear most like, “getting toned.” Don’t be afraid to “speak client,”  it does not degrade your own professionalism and certainly doesn’t label you less intelligent. It actually shows you’re aware and don’t live in a box!

 
How does this affect your perception of the personal training industry as a whole?

 
As a specific industry, I would say I certainly share the same sentiments as Coach Boyle conveyed in his article An Apology Letter to Personal Trainers. I’m totally convinced that if one is to encounter difficulty in the inter-personal skills department, it will become obvious in the personal training setting much quicker than in the S&C setting. This is a generalization of course and I am only comparing the two full time professions when separated (collegiate S&C and commercial gym PT).

 
What are the biggest things you see going wrong in the personal training industry?

 
Let it be said, I have much to learn on the business side of things that come along with personal training. I also see the personal training experience as an opportunity to sharpen your abilities in handling multiple personalities at once. You need to be able to morph your approach at a moment’s notice with regards to how you interact with certain types of folks. In other words, how you deal with one person, both personally and sometimes even professionally, might be the polar opposite of how you deal with another. This is the nature of the personal training profession, generally speaking, and especially in the commercial gym setting.

 
I am still sharpening my skills in those areas. However, in terms of training services provided, we have a LONG way to go. The average commercial gym trainer is still thinking under the bodybuilding paradigm and asking what exercises build the upper hamstrings more than the medial ones. The joint-by-joint approach has yet to be a program design principle. There’s only beginning to be a care for “corrective exercise.”  Delivering aesthetic results to clients is more important than training the body as a functional unit (because apparently it’s written down somewhere you can’t do both simultaneously). A lot of trainers care more about selling PT packages than they do about providing optimal results. In some cases you’ll even have a trainer straight out lie to a client and tell them that twice a week is optimal even though the client expresses coming four times a week. Why? Because they want to fill their schedule tighter with more clients. They’ll couple this attitude with the program design approach of “just do the same thing with everybody but tweak it a bit here and there.”

 
What is worst of all, on so many levels, is when a trainer hears the truth in an appropriate manner with the answers given to them on a silver platter, yet at the end of the day they end up not applying it. Why? Because they just don’t care! They are happy getting a pay check, and ignorance is bliss!

I wholeheartedly agree.  Thanks for the great interview Sam!  Is there anywhere my readers can contact you?

 
Anytime Mark! My fellow young ones, and old ones too for that matter, can reach me at Sam.Leahey@gmail.com.

(Note that I also met Sam through the forums on StrengthCoach.com and, if I haven’t mentioned this before, there is no limit to the number of great folks you can connect with on there.)

As many of you know, I’m a huge advocate of reading (or learning) for at least an hour per day.  Since my beautiful daughter was born almost 8 weeks ago she and I have been putting in our time reading and watching some great stuff.

Outliers – By Malcolm Gladwell

This book provides a very insightful look at what makes people successful in their respective fields.  Despite what you might think about working hard, Gladwell suggests that this is only part of the equation.  Although I’m not 100% sold on every single assertion that was made, it certainly was enough to open my eyes to the possibility that there are other factors at play.

More importantly, Gladwell’s writing style is interesting and easy to read which is refreshing if you’re looking for something thought provoking, but not overly intense.  If this isn’t enough to convince you, consider that I’m now reading another Gladwell book called The Tipping Point and have his other books Blink and What the Dog Saw on my bookshelf already.

Fast Food Nation – By Eric Schlosser

Honestly, I could probably tell you all about this book and how it explains the production, flavoring, and marketing of your food, but it really wouldn’t do justice to the vast amount of information that is covered about the effects of corporate power on our food supply.

Consider that companies like Nestle make baby formula (Gerber), food (Cheerios, Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s), coffee (Nescafe), chocolate (Kit Kat, Smarties), and then when you get good and overweight they can sell you food replacements like Boost, Powerbar, Jenny Craig, and even the medically managed weight loss product called Optifast.  Need some water for that shake?  No worries, they sell that too.  Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, and S.Pelligrino are all Nestle products.  And by the way, they are also feeding your pets.  Nestle makes Alpo, Friskies, and Fancy Feast.   Once they start making caskets they’ll have us covered from cradle to grave.

Imagine what would happen if the goverment tried to mandate changes to the foods we eat to make them healthier.  Imagine the power of corporations to resist.  Although the observations about Nestle are my own, I’m sure you get the idea.  Fast Food Nation is well worth the read.

Note that this book led me to investigate further the treatment of animals during the commercial production of the food we eat.  Check out the galleries on THIS SITE if you’re interested.  Consider this fair warning that the images there are graphic and disturbing.  They also are not intended to convey that I think all industry operates like this…but it certainly opens your eyes.

StrengthCoach.com

Recently I’ve spent a fair bit of time on Strength Coach.com and I really enjoy the content.  The weekly articles are great, but I have to admit that the forum is really where it is at.  

Unlike many other web forums that are chock-full of nonsense by written by any idiot with a keyboard, here you can often read and participate in discussions bright folks like Mike Boyle, Bret Contreras, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove,  Nick Tumminello, Charlie Weingroff, and many others that I’m probably forgetting to name.

Personally, I’ve read some people’s responses in the advanced forum and had to look stuff up or ask questions just so I could understand what they’re talking about.  As a result I’ve learned a ton of new stuff in a short period of time.

I think this is an incredible resource and totally worth checking out.  It’ll cost you a buck to try it for 14 days and if you don’t like it you can bail.

Oh yeah…while I’m on the Mike Boyle front I should also mention that I just watched Functional Strength Coach Volume 3 and think this is a great resource for any up and coming coach.

Fat Is Not Your Fault

After interviewing Dr. Bryan Walsh a few weeks back I decided to check out his Fat is not Your Fault Program.  Frankly, I’ve grown a little tired of the overhyped rapid fat loss programs that are basically just some variation of a low carb diet which is why I think this program is so interesting.  Dr. Walsh not only emphasizes the importance of diet, exercise, and mindset, but he also identifies several other possible roadblocks to fat loss success that you’re not going to see in your typical fat loss program.

I’ve already read the manual and am currently about half way through watching the videos and am loving the information so far.  Never have I really given as much thought to adrenal health and gastrointestinal function as I have since seeing this product.  If you’re successfully navigating the fat loss world, I’m not sure you’re absolutely in need of this program, but if you or a client have ever had difficulty losing fat despite being totally on plan, this would be a worthwhile investment.  Personally, I’m thinking of making Dr. Walsh’s screening questionaire (which is included) as part of my battery of forms for my clients.

Z-Health R Phase Manual

At the persistent enouragement of Mike T Nelson I’m checking out the Z-Health system.  To be honest, I have yet to start reading/watching this, but it is next on my list so hopefully I’ll steal a few pearls of wisdom from this as well.

What great stuff are you reading right now?  What’s next on your reading list?  Drop me a comment and let me know.