This blog post is going to be a rant, but feck it, its my blog! I love Strength and Conditioning and all other things that go with. I love all types of therapies and rehab. I love nutrition, even though this along with business are my weakest areas,but my knowledge getting better. Sometimes though it can be so frustrating. It is so hard to get the respect that we deserve as Strength and Conditioning Coaches. Take for example a meeting I had during the week with two members of a GAA club. I gave them a presentation, and we discussed about setting up and putting in place Strength and Conditioning System within the club. Now all that’s fine but what really pissed me off was the two guys who frankly have not got a clue about Strength and Conditioning or the role of a Strength Coach, or who are not Manual Therapists, and know nothing of functional anatomy, started telling me that they designed and implemented strength workouts (not a programme) for the players last year!!
OK, so you might be like so what? Will let me ask you a question. If your kitchen sink was badly leaking water, would you try to fix your sink? No. You would get a Plummer in to fix it, because 1). You are not a Plummer, and 2). It is his JOB. This is the exact same thing. The two guys that I was talking too, thought just because they had attended something shitty workshop on weight training for their players put on by the county board that they didn’t need to get someone in to work with their players. No they decided that they knew enough after that workshop (heavy sarcasm here), to design a Strength workout (they didn’t design a programme, because a programme to me means that there some sort of periodization involved)! Instead they should have got a Strength Coach in to work with their players because 1). They are not Strength Coaches, and 2). It the Strength Coaches JOB!!!!
Who the hell do they think they are? YOU ARE NOT STRENGTH COACHES!! What will you do if Johnny cant squat, and you cant figure out why he cant squat, because you don’t realise that his ankle mobility is shit! What about when Brian does a chin up and his scapula keep going into anterior tilt, but all you see is him getting his hyperextended cervical spine over the bar. Not knowing the damage he is doing to himself ever time he does a chin up. What about Joe’s push up form? What are you going to do to fix that? What cues will give him? There are so many examples that I could use! But do you want to know why you have no answers to these questions - BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT STRENGTH COACHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You DO NOT spend EVERYDAY reading, watching, listening, e-mailing other coaches, therapists, etc, being on well respected forums, visiting other coaches, therapists, doctors, and nutritionists. As well as spending all your hard earned money on more books, dvds, seminars, courses, and internships to further better yourself to be the best you can be. Plus you have never trained yourself, and DO NOT know what it feels like to be under the BAR! So Please I am asking you, at very least give us the same respect you would give the Plummer that fixed your sink. Let us do are jobs.
One day, one day, we will get the respect we deserve. But for now we will just keep fighting the good fight! Rant over!
Stay Strong,
RB
good stuff!
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