In the book Extreme Ownership by retired Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, the prevailing message is that great leaders take ownership of every situation they’re in and never point the finger at others. Even in situations where outside people or events may have affected the outcome, true leaders reflect on how they could have been better prepared and how they won’t make the same mistake twice.
I’ve tried to take this same approach to coaching. I often wax poetic about the importance of collaboration between lifter and coach rather than taking an authoritarian approach because I believe it leads to better lifter buy-in and skill retention (i.e., exercise technique). But even though I truly believe in the value of the lifter making many of their own training decisions, the results still always fall back on me. I believe any shortcoming on the lifter’s part could have been mitigated by me with better communication, clearer expectations and/or stronger accountability. MAYBE it’s the lifter’s fault the first time they mess up, but every time after that is absolutely the coach’s fault for not remedying the situation.
With that said, far too often I see lifters throw up their hands in frustration and shout that a program “doesn’t work” or a coach “doesn’t know what they’re doing.” I suppose it could be true. But in the spirit of extreme ownership, lifters need to ask themselves a series of questions before making such bold claims. Upon reflection, if ANY of these areas are lacking, the lifter needs to think twice about if it’s the program or coach that’s the problem, or if it’s something within the lifter’s control that could be the weak link.
How Many Training Sessions Have I Missed?
The first thing I ask a client when they approach me with concerns about a lack of progress is, “How many training sessions have you missed in the last month?” Almost always, it’s more than zero, which is probably too many if you have serious training goals.
This quote from legendary powerlifting coach Josh Bryant puts it perfectly:
“Consistency is key. If you work out five times per week, that’s 20 times per month. If you miss just one workout, you miss 5 percent of all your workouts. You would get fired at most jobs missing 5 percent of your work. As an elite strength athlete, you have to think like a business owner, not an employee.”
Josh Bryant
If you just train to be healthy and improve your quality of life, missed training sessions aren’t a big deal. Shit happens, life gets in the way. But if you’re serious about competing in anything strength sport related, you have to plan ahead and find a way to execute as close to 100 percent of your planned training sessions as possible.
How Closely Have I Stuck to the Program?
Showing up every session isn’t enough. You have to execute the plan with precision and intent. That means staying true to the RPE/load assignments (i.e., not maxing out off program or going lighter every time you feel a little tired) and RIR assignments (i.e., not leaving too many reps in the tank OR going to failure every time). That means holding yourself accountable to technique (e.g., squatting to depth, pausing your bench presses on your chest, etc.). And it means communicating with your coach when you need to make changes to the plan.
No training plan ever goes perfectly. The job of the coach is to course correct when the plan inevitably blows up. If the lifter goes rogue without consulting the coach, and then things fall apart, it’s hard to blame the program for that one.
How Present Am I During My Workouts?
When it’s time to train, are you THERE? Or are you texting, scrolling through social media and taking phone calls the whole time? The more present you are while you train, the better results you’ll get.
At times, I’ve been as guilty of this as anyone. I train at the place of business that I own, so I am constantly distracted. I struggle to stay present and often get caught up checking emails, making to-do lists and interacting with clients who happen to be training at the same time. My best training sessions are always the ones where I put my phone away and be where my feet are.
You’ve gotta shut out the world for 1-2 hours and get your training done. If your training isn’t important enough to you to do that, then reconsider how serious you are about your goals.
How Many Hours of Sleep Do I Get Per Night?
Sleep is the most important aspect of recovery. You get bigger and stronger when you’re recovering, NOT when you’re training. If you’re not sleeping enough, your current program isn’t gonna work.
One might say that it’s the job of the coach to adjust the program to fit the athlete’s ability to recover. I’ve tried this so many times and I can confidently say it doesn’t work. If someone doesn’t get enough sleep either because they have poor lifestyle habits or something else in their life is eating into their sleep (e.g., a new baby, work schedule, travel, etc.), you can try your best to make the program easier so they can recover, but I can promise you that the “proper dose” will be so minimal that they’re not going to make significant progress.
If you’re not getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night (including the weekends), don’t blame your program or your coach for a lack of results. And that’s just for general fitness and health. If you want to be extraordinarily strong and jacked, you’d better aim for 8-10 hours a night.
How Has My Nutrition Aligned with My Goals?
After sleep, what you eat has the next biggest impact on your recovery. Food provides energy for intense training and the raw materials to build your body bigger and stronger. If you’re not eating in accordance with your goals, your training will suffer.
If your goal is to get bigger and stronger, are you eating like it’s Thanksgiving every day? If your goal is to get shredded, are you tracking your calories and macros? Maybe you just want to feel better and look better. Have you nailed the basics, like drinking enough water and eating enough protein?
Performance-based nutrition requires planning ahead: frequent grocery shopping, preparing meals ahead of time, and bringing meals with you to work, school or wherever your day-to-day takes you. If you’re “too busy” or that’s “too hard” then perhaps you need to curb your expectations for what you’re gonna get out of your training.
How Do My Extracurricular Activities Affect My Progress?
Everything you do outside of training affects how you recover from training, either positively or negatively. We often think about recovery as being proactive in terms of eating right, getting enough sleep, going for long walks, getting a deep tissue massage, etc. But if we get carried away with extracurricular activities, we can inhibit our recovery and sabotage our results.
If you like to party, that’s cool. Most of us do on occasion. But remember that drugs, alcohol and a lack of sleep can set your recovery back substantially. And once you’re 30 years old and/or have kids, one night out can have you feeling like you went on a full-blown spring break bender. If letting loose and socializing are important to you, make sure you’re honest with yourself about how that will impact your goals.
It’s not just the party animals that get themselves in trouble. If you have exercise-based hobbies like running, hiking, swimming, martial arts, etc., you have to consider how these things factor into your overall recovery from heavy strength training. Way too often in my early coaching career (when I didn’t ask my clients enough questions or hold them accountable), I’d have a client struggling to keep up with their training due to fatigue or constant overuse injuries, only to discover they’d taken up a substantial amount of extra exercise: running dozens of miles a week to lose some extra weight, hiking mountains every weekend during the summer, a surprise Spartan Race they got peer pressured into doing, or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu three times a week because getting their ass kicked by powerlifting isn’t enough torture.
All these things add up. If an activity isn’t enhancing your recovery, it’s detracting from it. There is no net zero. More activity means you need more sleep and more calories, and most people already struggle to get enough of those things. If you’ve got big strength training goals, consider subtracting activity rather than adding more.
Own Up
Before blaming the program, the coach or anything else for your lack of results, ask yourself: how can I take ownership of this situation? No matter how dedicated you are to training, chances are you can improve upon one of these six things. It illustrates the idea that all programs will work to some degree, as long as you cover your bases in terms of training adherence, sleep and nutrition.