I had an epiphany the other day on something so simple that I questioned whether or not I should even write this.
HINT: I wrote it.
I spent the week in Boston at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning and had the pleasure of shadowing some groups led by those fucking awesome sorcerer-like great coaches.
There was a moment in watching Coach Kenny Whittier where the aforementioned epiphany took place.
Kenny posted up in front of his group, mentioned that the next 3 exercises are going to be Goblet Squat, Elbow Plank, Bear Crawl, and then…
…he demonstrated perfect form while explaining basic cues yep that’s the epiphany. Simple, huh? Let me explain.
I asked Kenny how long some of the clients in the group have been there. He said that most have been in this group for over a year. I asked him why he demoed (demonstrated an exercise. Keep up, Sparky) such basic things for veteran clients in hopes that he would have the answer that he did.
Kenny looked at me and said, “Because if I don’t, it’ll look like shit.”
SIMPLE THOUGHT ALERT: When form is poor, people get hurt. Hurt people don’t get in shape or tell their friends to come see you. Also, when form is poor the proper muscles don’t get strong. Client’s who don’t get results, don’t tell all of their friends about you. Again.
I thought deeper…
This made me think of a book that Boyle likes a lot called The Slight Edge. The gist of this great read is that the small things that seem irrelevant turn into something big over time. So, if Kenny were to let even the veteran clients just start training without a proper demo to help them focus, they would end up doing some jacked-up squats over time.
The shit that you should probably do main takeaway: Don’t get lazy with your demos. Ever. Develop the habits that will make you great.
Thanks for reading and Kaizen on, Beast
Featured image photo credit: MadisonLaprePhotography