The Power of Coaching- Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Sports, Youth/fit | (0) Comments

Last night as I was driving to the gym with my training partner, we got on the subject of taking lessons from an expert instead of trying to “self-teach”. He wants to learn how to play the guitar and mentioned that several people he knew recommended taking a few lessons to get started. I told him of my experience learning to snow ski and how much you can learn in a one hour lesson compared to an entire weekend on the slopes by yourself. As it turns out, a couple of hours of lessons will teach you more than you can teach yourself in that entire weekend and it will be a much more enjoyable experience. The same is true in the gym. After 30 years of working out, I have most of the basics covered- and then some. But I learned the long, hard way. The first 10 years were at least 1/2 wasted- probably more. Such is youth. At any rate, it almost always pays to get good coaching and that is exactly what Andrew says in his post today over at MPF. So listen up dummy!

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When I took up triathlon back in 2005, I ran infrequently, didn’t own a bike, and could barely swim 50 meters without making lifeguards very nervous.  The fact that I needed coaching was painfully obvious.

So I joined a club that had pro coaches and learned tons in very little time, particularly about swimming:  how to keep my body level, how to get the most out of every stroke, how to keep my head down and stretch out, making myself hydrodynamic.  I learned how to pace myself on the bike and how to achieve and maintain optimal running posture.  And what do you know, I finished my rookie season with a handful of decent finishes.

I like to think, ah, I probably could have figured all that out myself without those meddling coaches.  What did I really learn from them anyway?