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Velocity-based training (VBT) is growing exponentially at all levels of strength and conditioning, especially as reliable equipment becomes more available financially and analytics technology becomes more user friendly. Still, the data on athletics-wide use is limited, as nearly all published works are team or club level, as opposed to 13 sports teams in a single athletics department. However, the signs are currently present to see the full integration of using VBT athletics-wide at all levels of strength and conditioning both as feasible and viable.

While most research will emphasize methods, subject populations, and a slew of coding and analyses, this article will be more focused on our “real life” experience adopting VBT athletics-wide in a high school athletic setting and follow the course of:

1. Here is the gap in knowledge and the problem we identified.
2. Here is the information and interventions available to fill the gap and fix the problem.
3. Here is what we did and what worked for us, this is what did not work for us, and here is what we will adjust going forward.

We did not reinvent the wheel. Rather, we have just taken a different approach in an endeavor to make the wheel turn more efficiently. All in an attempt to keep it simple and transparent to move the field forward, instead of how elegant and complicated the topic can be made and challenging to replicate.

1. The Gap in Knowledge

We are very fortunate to have a strong support staff, including two athletic trainers, two full-time strength and conditioning coaches, and many coaches and athletes that are weightroom literate. We had what we believed to be a good handle on many aspects of strength and conditioning—so much so, that we scratched “strength and conditioning” and transitioned to “performance training.” Not that we reinvented that wheel, but more of an omen for a new, forward-looking mindset of developing and evolving into the future.

One aspect that was missing was while we felt our program to be effective at developing strong and well-conditioned athletes, we thought we could be more athletic and explosive overall. We came to this conclusion as we had solid performances on the field, but other teams seemed just a bit more explosive—so, we made the move to VBT to fill that gap to have strong, well-conditioned, and now optimally explosive athletes. 

What’s Out There to Address the Gap?

One key aspect that we could improve on was transitioning away from traditional strength and conditioning and evolving into a VBT program. We wanted to get better at moving and producing powerful, explosive movements that we could more accurately measure beyond one repetition or plyometric maxes and percentages.

We wanted to get better at moving and producing powerful, explosive movements that we could more accurately measure beyond one repetition or plyometric maxes and percentages, say @KyleSouthall1 & Summer Jones. Share on X

We trialed four different types of VBT and ultimately chose Vitruve due to the ease of use—both by athletes on the floor and for us on the coaching side in downloading and analyzing data, easy integrations into our athlete monitoring system, and price point. Thanks to many donors who believed in our vision and contributed on our annual day of giving, we were able to purchase 16 Vitruve Encoder Units, one for each weight rack in our main weightroom.

2. What We Did With What Was Available and What Worked for Us

The first thing we did was start small. We met with various entities, ranging from peer high schools to international level strength and conditioning coaches, performance staff, and sports scientists. We took in all the information and cooked it down to what we could handle with our resources and staff size.

What we quickly learned is that we could provide a great service to our athletes—all of them! We started with football and boys basketball as our experimental group. Delving into years of data, both objective and subjective, we boiled our foundation exercises down to 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that translate from the weightroom to the football field and basketball court. We took those and centered our training programs around maximizing their efficiency, using velocity-based metrics and scrapping maxes and percentages (see Table 1 below for the Top 10 KPIs that fit our situation the best).

Once we narrowed this down, we got to work using these exercises and their variations as the foundation of our performance training program. Our intention is to use VBT for two to four exercises each session in the weightroom (See Table 2 below for an example of our implementation and programming).

Key Context: For this workout, we had 16 racks of three to four athletes with a total of 68 athletes (four were rehabs with modified workouts). One athlete lifts, one or two rest/spot, and one does the auxiliary lift—then, rotate. This took 50 minutes to complete, including dynamic warm-up/primers, weightroom setup, workout, and clean up.

Once we felt good about the logistics and programming, we added volleyball, girls’ basketball, girls’ soccer, and boys’ soccer. We will continue to add sports until we get everyone who wants to be in the program fully integrated into the program.

One key thing that worked for us is to keep it simple and start slowly. Kids these days are very technologically savvy. Consequently, there was a minimal learning curve beyond becoming familiar with the program itself—but that time, one day, was very valuable in making it work smoothly. Another thing that worked out really well for us is creating leaderboards. The leaderboards brought out the competitive nature in our athletes and were instrumental in buy-in. We found multiple athletes in the weightroom between classes, etc., looking at leaderboards.

One key thing that worked for us is to keep it simple and start slowly. Kids these days are very technologically savvy. Consequently, there was a minimal learning curve beyond becoming familiar with the program itself. Share on X

What Did Not Work For Us

We had our share of aspects that did not work that were valuable learning lessons. Some are very simple, some very complex, and all valuable in the end.

1. We learned that while programming is important, it’s especially important in VBT. Our first day we planned to keep the workout the same as before, but measure two KPIs in a superset. Sounded great in theory…until we learned that moving the encoders and on the fly changing the programming was challenging. An easy fix: rearrange the order of super sets. Hindsight is often 20/20.
2. We ran into the technological issue of the program being on iPads at each rack but our analytic programs, such as SPSS and MatLab, being on HP systems. Our workaround for that was simply exporting the data into Google Sheets and creating the leaderboards referenced above.
3. The mass of data we get. On top of already having 80 Catapult Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors, injury epidemiology, and operational data, this system gave us a lot of data! Any given week at Briarwood, we max out an Excel sheet (roughly 1.05 million data points). In three years, we’ve collected 3.21 billion performance and medical related data points on 811 athletes. The first step is management—what is important? Luckily, we were able to see everything we needed to see from a coaches’ and athletes’ perspective in Google Sheets. That is a huge testament to the user-friendly upside of Vitruve.

Lastly, not so much what didn’t work for us, but rather something to help us going forward is identifying standards or baseline requirements within our performance training program. To be an athlete in “X” program within our athletics program, an athlete should be able to do W-strength, Y-mobility, Z-speed, and A-agility. Once the athlete can achieve these minimal standards, you “graduate” into the full-blown VBT program.

In the meantime, you address those deficiencies and work on foundations to allow you to safely experience the forces and other demands VBT places upon the body that are unique. We already have a similar process of teaching our young, junior-high-aged athletes the proper form, etiquette, and terminology, and we assess these before they are fully integrated into the performance program. VBT offers a more objective measure to a process that we institute starting in the seventh grade.

What’s Next for Briarwood and Velocity-Based Training

Now that we’ve found a system and it is working, we are in the wait part of “hurry up and wait.” Our plan is to let the system run for a month using boys’ basketball and football as our guinea pigs. Then, we’ll thoroughly evaluate all aspects of the program in respect to improvements, obstacles, and the wants, needs, and values of our stakeholders. Following that, we’ll repeat in three-month cycles, doing all we can to adjust and provide an elite service to our clientele.

Now that we’ve found a system and it is working, we are in the *wait* part of *hurry up and wait.* Our plan is to let the system run for a month using boys’ basketball and football as our guinea pigs, says @KyleSouthall1. Share on X

Like all good research, thus far we have more questions than answers in our time using Vitruve. For example, we have four years of very highly detailed injury data. How will VBT affect this aspect compared to traditional training over the next four years?

Another thing we have seen is asymmetry in single leg exercises using VBT as a measure. This is a promising technique we are exploring to be able to quantify asymmetries if force plates, motion capture, and other technologies are available. One more unexpected insight was how valuable it is for our advanced-phase rehabilitation athletes. We are able to prescribe exercises that expose them to more realistic athletic forces while keeping the loads in a safe range. Not that this is new—late-stage rehabilitations are, or at least should be, common in the weightroom. VBT allowed us to quantify a historically subjective aspect beyond weight on a barbell.

We’re learning the translational skills and tools that are preparing us for techniques and technologies that have not even been invented yet, say @KyleSouthall1 & Summer Jones. Share on X

Regardless, we feel that this will benefit our athletes, be a great learning tool for our students, coaching staff, and interns as we grow into the future of performance training. We’re learning the translational skills and tools that are preparing us for techniques and technologies that have not even been invented yet. Listen here for a brief overview of our adoption of VBT into training and a coach’s perspective on the shift.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Summer is a six-month strength and conditioning intern at Briarwood Christian Schools, where she assists in all aspects of the performance training program while finishing her Bachelors of Science degree in Exercise Science from Samford University. She has been instrumental in the development of programming and the implementation of Velocity-based training at Briarwood Christian Schools.

I know what you are thinking: “Who is this kid writing about lessons he’s learned after only five years in the field? Doesn’t he know Michael Boyle recently wrote one from 40 years of coaching that has WAY more wisdom packed into it?”

Yes, in fact I have read several articles in that type of style and enjoyed them so much that I wanted to write my own—so, shoutout to those coaches for inspiration! Obviously, this won’t be as impressive as Coach Boyle’s, but on the bright side for you, it’ll be MUCH shorter. While Coach Boyle has more wisdom to share than I do, I hope that my unique situation coaching at a small Canadian university can resonate with many readers and provide some takeaways.

I recently celebrated my 5^th year of being the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Trinity Western University, and in that short time I have learned MANY lessons. I wanted to boil it down to just five—so, while this won’t be as wisdom filled as a “40 years in the field” article, hopefully it can help those of you just getting started and make those early years a bit smoother.

1. Relationships Trump ALL

This one might seem obvious, but it still needs to be stated. As S&C/Performance Coaches, we work with people. They might be high school kids, student athletes at the college level, or professionals. Doesn’t matter—people are people, and being able to work with them is the most important part of your job. I have heard so many of my colleagues say that it is better to be a good person first (or a “certified nice person,” as Coach Boyle puts it) and then learn the science of training second. Way easier than trying to nerd out on the science and pick up the people stuff later.

I recently reread the principles from “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie (which is the best book on this topic), and they all still ring true. Smile, don’t criticize, give praise—these are all staples in my coaching, because I have learned that being a “good guy” is the easiest road to being a “good coach.”

How so?

Well, early on in my career I had good mentors show me the ropes. Plus, when I was an intern, I struggled with showing how much I cared and often started by spitting science at people.  Through the direction of my supervisors, I studied human behavior and tendencies, learned to communicate better…and lo and behold, it worked! Results are important, of course, but you are better off spending the first part of your career developing good relationships so that people know you care and know you want the best for them, and then you can get blood from the stone.

Results are important, of course, but you are better off spending the first part of your career developing good relationships so that people know you care and know you want the best for them, says @chergott9. Share on X

After all, it’s true… “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

2. Study. Hard.

One of my favorite ways to sum this one up is this: We all talk about athletes that are difficult to deal with and just throw up our hands and say “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.” My response is then: “Is the water you are leading them toward going to give them the nourishment they need?”

Yes, it is crucial to be a nice guy/girl (as I just finished saying), but it should also go without saying that you need to know your stuff when it comes to athlete preparation. The best way to get buy-in and build trust is to deliver results.

I got caught with this early in my career. Athletes would question the why of our training and I would throw out stock answers that would suffice for the time being, but then when sport coaches demanded more results and I had no answer to give them as to why we were failing to get them, I knew I needed to step up my game.

So, I went back to my university study habits and started creating a study schedule by creating “Reminders” of things I wanted to touch on each day. That way, I don’t get to check them off until I’ve done them—and as a Type A personality, this works for me (very well I might add). Things I have on my daily reminders list include:

1. Study a sport
2. Study sport science
3. Read an article
4. Reach out to a colleague/friend

These have helped to ensure I take time each day to learn, to grow and get better as a practitioner, and to go on countless Zoom calls and make site visits asking all my questions. This has not only led to better results for my athletes, but providing better explanations as to why we are doing certain training methods and exercises instead of just relying on doing what my mentors did. Plus, it has helped me develop a critical thinking brain, so I don’t just fall for the latest trend—I can stick to my guns because I know what we do works and I also know why (and how to communicate that effectively to my athletes and coaches).

3. Be a Role Model

I don’t mean you need to have an eight-pack, go for 10km runs every morning, and never get less than 8 hours of sleep—but, it helps to at least be a healthy person (or at least push yourself to be better in this area) so you know what it is like.

Get under the bar and train yourself, hard. Do conditioning work. Try out things you plan to have your athletes do before just throwing it at them. Sleep as much as you can and eat healthy. I know these are super general suggestions, but that is because it will look very different for everyone and in every context.

Get under the bar and train yourself, hard. Do conditioning work. Try out things you plan to have your athletes do before just throwing it at them. Sleep as much as you can and eat healthy. Share on X

As a dad of two girls under the age of three, I know what it is like to lose sleep—so, I can relate to my athletes and chat with them about strategies I use to maximize what I get, ideally helping them to do the same during paper/midterm season. I used to compete in Olympic Weightlifting, so I know what it was like to do exercises you hated that your coach programmed.

Now that I’ve retired from lifting competitively, I’ve really taken a dive into different training and conditioning protocols and have found that it makes it way easier to communicate the why and the how when you have personally done and experienced it. For example, over Christmas break I was experimenting with some bodyweight/low-equipment circuits for our athletes to do over similar breaks where they might not have access to a training facility or equipment. It sucked, but was doable so I knew I could give it to them with success. Yeah, they hated it too—but it got results!

Video 1. Bench Press.

Video 2. Loaded Chin-Ups.

I train myself and post some of those clips (especially PRs) on social media and YouTube (see above). When your athletes know you go through the ringer too, that helps them trust you as you hopefully know what they are feeling when they do a brutal set of 10 squats. It is much easier to trust someone who is willing to do what they prescribe instead of just reading what the research says from your ivory tower.

4. Write Plans in Pencil

This one can be summarized in one word: COVID. I started my tenure here at TWU during the spring of 2019, with the tail end of my first year being cut short due to the pandemic. Now, if I didn’t already do so before that, I learned to hold plans loosely and plan in pencil, not pen. Basically, just meaning that you need to be ready to adapt at any time, each and every day.

This could come in the form on an injured athlete needing a modification, a team being bagged in training right before lift due to poor performance, or obviously a global pandemic.

What I found the best to be able to help with this one is the first two lessons I mentioned: If you study hard and know your stuff and your why for programming, it is much easier to find alternative solutions based on injury or load management. And by having those great relationships, you can easily communicate why we are making the adjustment or maybe why we aren’t going to. But it all has to come from that level of love and trust you have built.

If you study hard and know your stuff and your why for programming, it is much easier to find alternative solutions based on injury or load management, says @chergott9. Share on X

Another strategy that helps with this is realizing that you are not the center of the world—most athletes don’t like lifting weights, and they came to this school to play the sport, NOT work with you. When I put all that into perspective, it helps take off some of the pressure I put on myself to be the best and for ME to be the one to make my athletes better. At the end of the day, running one recovery session on Squat Day ain’t gonna hurt.

5. K.I.S.S.

In my second year I thought I was really starting to get the handle on programming here. I was learning so much (see point two) and was incorporating as much as I could into my programs. We were hitting ALL the prehab, ALL the sport specific work, and ALL the niche things I learned.

Guess what was missing? A large enough dose of the basics that actually work.

It took one of our older athletes to have a meeting with me to explain how he felt about the program for me to realize that I had gotten away from the main thing for athletes at this level, which is usually just getting bigger, faster, and stronger so they can stay healthy and play their sport at a higher level.

Since then, I changed my laptop background to “KISS” (Keep It Simple, Stupid), trimmed my programs down and stuck to the basics that work. Sure, there are times I add new stuff and venture out, but those times become the exception, not the rule. “Master the box before you leave it” is a concept I now hold dear when I think about adding in something. Since then, my programs have gotten great reviews! No, they are not perfect and there is still tons to learn, but I have found that most athletes…

1. Don’t want to do a bunch of fluff but just train hard.
2. Don’t have time to do all the fluff.
3. Benefit WAY more from just keeping it simple.

So, I have developed a simple program template that I follow 90% of the time, with some deviation of course to try new things as mentioned. But, by keeping it simple (stupid), our results have improved and as mentioned, been enjoyed way more—which has vastly improved buy-in and effort.

By keeping it simple, our results have improved and as mentioned, been enjoyed way more—which has vastly improved buy-in and effort, says @chergott9. Share on X

Onward

So, there you have it, short and sweet (until I get to 40 years, like Coach Boyle).

Build relationships. Study. Be a role model. Be ready to adapt. Keep it simple. All helpful tools that I have learned, and I now you have too! At the end of the day, being a Strength & Conditioning Coach is the best job in the entire world (I mean where else can you work in shorts and sneakers every day while listening to rap music?). So, enjoy the journey and remember that you will make mistakes along the way. Those mistakes are what will help you correct your course and become the best coach you can be.

Good luck.

Peace. Gains.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Many exercise science students do strength coaching internships, hoping the experience will help them land a full-time job. Unfortunately, paying jobs in strength coaching rarely present themselves quickly, particularly at the college and professional levels. Until that big break comes along, they often resort to Plan B: Personal Training. Things don’t always work out as expected.

One issue with Plan B is that health club managers expect their trainers to get clients by walking the gym floor and pitching their services to their members. This task is especially difficult because they must compete against other trainers who are going after the same members. Rather than “Welcome to the team!” the message may be more like, “It would be so nice if you were not here.”

Mike Carroll was a sales manager for several commercial health clubs, eventually owning a gym and coaching a weightlifting team that hosted the National Championships. He told me that the typical personal trainer at his health clubs “would last six months, so for a year, you would turn over your entire department.” When asked what characterized his job as a sales manager, Carroll replied, “More pressure! Now, I was responsible for not only my financial goals but also the financial goals of an entire department.”

If you survive the “initiation” period and recruit a significant number of clients to appease your boss, it may be quite some time before you earn the big bucks promised by many of the popular personal training certifications. Health clubs often start their trainers with a 60/40 split, with the gym taking 40 percent of the client’s fee. So, that $25 training session at 5:30 a.m. turns into $15, which in California is $5 less than the starting wage at McDonald’s. Further, many personal trainers work as independent contractors, so they lose out on health insurance and other benefits. Then there are the hours.

There is no such thing as working 9-to-5 in personal training. Just ask Nikki Gnozzio.

The Education of a Personal Trainer

Gnozzio was a scholarship field hockey player at Ohio University, earning First Team All Mid-American Conference honors. Sonny Sano was OU’s strength coach then, and Gnozzio’s work with Coach Sano inspired her to follow that path. Gnozzio got her chance in 2010 when she became an assistant strength coach at Providence College in Rhode Island under the direction of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Ken White.

Providence College was unique in that it had two women strength coaches at a time when an estimated 85 percent of D1 strength coaches were men. The outlook is better now, but typically, their jobs are limited to “Olympic sports.”

Providence College was unique in that it had two women strength coaches at a time when an estimated 85 percent of D1 strength coaches were men, says Kim Goss. Share on X

While in Rhode Island, Gnozzio joined my weightlifting team and achieved respectable success for being new to the sport. A few years later, she moved to New Jersey and became a personal trainer. Those early years were rough.

Gnozzio trained clients six days a week in three locations, commuting up to three hours daily. “The hardest thing was learning to deal with people who had never actually pushed themselves and had very little body awareness,” says Gnozzio. “I never had to teach an athlete how to breathe or engage a muscle to use it. The general population requires so much more coaching for things athletes don’t have to think to do—their bodies naturally do it.”

After paying her dues on the road for five years, she opened The Junction Bodyworks, a massage and personal training facility in Livingston, New Jersey. Gnozzio made it, but the challenges associated with making a living wage in the personal training industry often cause many former strength coaches to quit the industry and seek employment elsewhere.

The challenges associated with making a living wage in the personal training industry often cause many former strength coaches to quit the industry and seek employment elsewhere, says Kim Goss. Share on X

If you’re a strength coach and want to improve your chances of not just surviving as a personal trainer but thriving, I have some practical advice. Why should you listen to me? I was a D1 college strength coach, ran several private gyms in the public sector, and was a writer for several companies that offered certification courses for personal trainers. Along the way, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to many of the world’s most successful gym owners and personal trainers, along with many who failed miserably. That’s my sales pitch—let’s get started.

How to Grow a Personal Training Business

Many personal training certification organizations promise big bucks to personal trainers who take their courses. Unfortunately, these courses often focus on training and offer little insight into how to succeed in the business. Below are ten suggestions to put your PT business in the black.

1. Look Like a Personal Trainer

You are a walking billboard for your business and your credibility will be questioned if you are not fit and dressed professionally. When I first met legendary Canadian strength coach Charles R. Poliquin in the early 90s, I asked him why he paid so much attention to arm training. He said he believed in “walking the talk” and shared a story to prove his point.

Poliquin told me about a time early in his coaching career when he was hired to consult with a pro hockey team. When he arrived at their training facility, Poliquin said the athletes appeared apathetic about anything he had to say…until he took off his coat. That’s when they saw a pair of monstrous, bone-crushing pythons bursting out of his shirt sleeves. Their attitude changed immediately because, after all, someone with arms that huge and freaky must know what they were doing in the weightroom. I’m not saying you must look like the Incredible Hulk (or Wonder Woman) to get clients, but be lean and look athletic.

You must be well-groomed and dress appropriately even when training, as you will always be selling yourself. Also, don’t dress like a pirate or a scrub nurse—and don’t even think about those psychedelic clown pants!

You must be well-groomed and dress appropriately even when training, as you will always be selling yourself, says Kim Goss. Share on X

2. Know Your Target Market

Several years ago, I audited a seminar attended by dozens of successful personal trainers, many earning six-figure salaries. The instructor began by asking each participant to describe their typical client, and most responded with “Affluent women, ages 29 to 49.” No one said, “20-year-old Olympic hopefuls” or “5-star high school basketball players.”

When asked their primary reasons for seeking a personal trainer, many women answer surveys with “getting toned” and “building confidence.” However, the preponderance of surveys I’ve seen conclude that the primary reasons most women seek the services of a personal trainer are to lose fat or maintain their bodyweight. The takeaway is that much of your continuing education as a personal trainer should be on nutrition and exercise protocols to lose fat. Also, study corrective exercise and stretching methods, particularly when training older clients who often have postural issues and past injuries.

3. Network with Healthcare Professionals

Cross-referrals are incredibly effective for getting new clients and expanding your value. In Utah, Colorado, Texas, and Rhode Island, I developed relationships with sports medicine facilities and would refer my clients for their services. In turn, they would refer their clients to me. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Cross-referrals are incredibly effective for getting new clients and expanding your value, says Kim Goss. Share on X

Networking also includes attending personal training conventions—not just listening to lectures and seeing all the new cool training gizmos, but mingling with other trainers about how to improve and expand your business. Unlike your coworkers, you’re more likely to get good advice from someone who does not directly compete with you for clients.

What about franchises? Having the marketing power of a large organization behind you might help you attract new clients, but there are franchise fees and you often have to follow their business model and purchase equipment from their suppliers. After working under a franchise for several years and building a strong clientele, I’ve talked to many trainers who dropped the franchise tag, changed the name of their business, and ran their business their way.

4. Stay Abreast of Fitness Trends

Billionaire Warren Buffett is credited with the saying “The more you learn, the more you earn,” and it was one of Poliquin’s favorites. Again, walking the talk, Poliquin read at least 100 books annually and had a remarkable (perhaps even photographic) memory.

Poliquin learned German to study the research of the top German sports scientists and built an extensive library of all things muscle and strength. When I first met him in the early 90s, I saw his nearly foot-high stack of research papers. Poliquin would pay grad students to collect these papers and then would study them on flights. Beyond reading, Poliquin also spent at least 24 days a year attending seminars to learn from others. In December 1994, he told me he had achieved his goal of making a million dollars in a year—learn more, earn more.

Along with studying scientific publications about health and fitness, reading trade journals and books on the personal training business is invaluable. One journal I found especially helpful for personal trainers (now online and free!) is Certified by the American Council on Exercise. You won’t find hardcore research papers discussing oscillatory isometrics for improving knee stability in alpine skiers, but you will find practical, readable articles on business management and how to attract and retain clients. I also believe you should pay particular attention to articles on how to write business and marketing plans, as I found these can be valuable tools for running your business.

Along with studying scientific publications about health and fitness, reading trade journals and books on the personal training business is invaluable, says Kim Goss. Share on X

Many years ago, I passed the NSCA exam along with several certification programs from personal training organizations. Two valuable benefits of these organizations are that, after you pass their exams, you can access their trade journals and they put you on a trainer/strength coach contact list. If someone in your area is looking for an ACE-certified trainer and you have that credential, they will have your contact information.

What about all those YouTube ads that promise six-figure salaries by following the “proven money-making strategies” in their personal training business courses? Having looked at a few, I found they can offer valuable advice, but probably nothing you wouldn’t find in the trade journals. 

5. Develop Fair, Consistent Policies

Time is money in personal training, so you must develop policies that don’t cut into your bottom line. Insist that your clients tell you 24 or 48 hours ahead if they plan to cancel, as often you can fill that time slot if given notice.

Clients may take advantage of you if you don’t set strict policies. They might call just before their training session to delay it by 15 minutes so they can pick up some items from a local store or perform some other errand. If a client is late and you have an appointment immediately afterward, their session needs to be cut short—the tardiness of one person shouldn’t inconvenience your other clients. And this policy works both ways. If you must cancel at the last minute, compensate the client with a free workout.

6. Use Surge Pricing

Just as movie theaters offer discount matinees, establish separate rates for the most popular training periods. This approach is called surge pricing, a method Poliquin told me about in the 90s. For example, distinguish your training sessions as “red” and “blue” hours. The red hours are when most clients want to train, particularly between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., so you charge more. When you fill all the time slots for the red hours, if a client quits, you charge more for the new clients taking that time slot.

A colleague in Canada told me he had clients prepay up to three weekly sessions for six months or more to reserve their favorite time slots. He also had the gym set up a service with a bank that would automatically withdraw money from their account every month for their convenience (plus, this system doesn’t remind them how much they are paying).

7. Sell Training Packages

Giving away a free training session to attract new business is fine, but your business should be based on packaged programs. Why? With pay-as-you-go single training sessions, you give your clients more opportunities to say “No,” and you have to keep reselling your services.

Giving away a free training session to attract new business is fine, but your business should be based on packaged programs, says Kim Goss. Share on X

Let’s say you just started your personal training business and established a rock-bottom price of $25 for a session, which can be anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. After a free training session, offer multiple training session deals, such as the following packages that decrease from $50 per session to $25.

• Bronze: 5 sessions for $250
• Silver: 10 sessions for $400 (save 20%)
• Gold: 20 sessions for $500 (save 50%)

When potential clients see this price list, they might get excited to see they get half off when jumping from the Bronze to the Gold package. If a new client is a hard sell and settles for a Bronze package, you could offer them an upgrade to the Silver or Gold package after their first training session.

8. Expand with Online Training

The hottest trend in personal training is online training, which has seen a big boost after COVID-19 forced many gym goers to invest in home gyms. I have a few online training clients and I know two colleagues earning a six-figure salary from this business.

The hottest trend in personal training is online training, which has seen a big boost after COVID-19 forced many gym goers to invest in home gyms, says Kim Goss. Share on X

Poliquin offered online training in the early 90s, charging $350 for six-week workout packages—you had to commit for a year. The arrangement included two in-person assessments, and clients would pay in full for an entire year or give him post-dated checks of $350 each. He increased his fees significantly in the intervening time, increasing his rate by $5 every time one of his athletes won a medal in the Olympics or World Championships. In 1994, he told me he had 120 of these distance clients. Poliquin also did phone consultations, and one of his clients was Ben Patrick, the Kneesovertoesguy.

Canadian strength coach and Posturologist Gagné was featured in Freelap Friday Five and is shown in the lead photo coaching Justine Dufour-Lapointe, 2014 Olympic Champion in moguls skiing. Gagné was forced into online training with COVID-19, and now his daily schedule is packed with online clients. Gagné has given seminars in 22 countries, and this exposure enabled him to attract online clients from other countries.

Finally, before COVID-19, one personal trainer who worked in a gym where I trained athletes combined in-person and online training. She would train several athletes in a group session while training one client online with her webcam. When COVID-19 hit, this approach gave her a head start for online training as she already had clients online and her former in-person clients knew she offered this service.

9. Supplements and Merch

Selling merchandise such as T-shirts, jackets, and water bottles with your company logo can provide a nice revenue stream. Unquestionably, the most significant way a trainer can increase their non-training revenue is by selling supplements.

Unquestionably, the most significant way a trainer can increase their non-training revenue is by selling supplements, says Kim Goss. Share on X

While working for companies that offered personal training certifications, I’ve met many trainers who earned $10,000+ each year selling supplements. I know one personal trainer with a private gym in a small town with maybe three dozen clients, but his yearly profit from supplement sales exceeded $20,000! “Hey, everyone could use a good multivitamin, right? And have you heard about the many benefits of fish oil and Vitamin D3?” Yes, the money is tempting, but you must also be careful about supplements.

I know one personal trainer who faced a significant lawsuit because of adverse reactions to the supplements he sold the client. There is also the risk that a supplement, unless it is an NSF Certified for Sport® supplement, can be tainted and cause an athlete to fail a drug test. My understanding is that NSF-certified supplements are the only ones many professional sports teams will endorse. There is a risk in selling supplements if you are not a nutritionist—especially if you claim those supplements have specific benefits.

10. Buy Insurance

We live in a litigious society, and a personal trainer is in a risky business if they don’t have personal trainer’s insurance. Dr. Marc Rabinoff is a sports liability consultant who has worked on over 600 litigations in the fitness industry. I’ve written dozens of articles with Dr. Rabinoff, and he will tell you that a waiver or assumption of risk form is no guarantee that you will not get sued if you injure a client, especially if that injury is due to negligence. Basic insurance plans are only a few hundred bucks a year, but it’s a must-have investment.

How about one bonus suggestion: Don’t Get Cocky! A colleague of mine had a successful personal training business and a private gym, often giving 30+ training sessions a week. He charged $35 an hour but figured he could dramatically increase his income and work less by charging everyone, even current clients, $65. He figured wrong.

He promptly lost two-thirds of his clients. Not only did his income take a horrific hit, but so did his ability to attract new clients, as his gym was in a remote area. He relied on word-of-mouth marketing to attract new clients, and doubling his rates so abruptly didn’t get him any new referrals.

In another case, I know a D1 strength coach who was part of a college football team that went undefeated the previous year. He left the school to spend more time with his family and thought his reputation as a college strength coach would put him in big demand as a personal trainer. It did not, and after a few months, he went back to teaching high school, a profession he had worked in before becoming a strength coach.

The ultimate goal of many strength coaches is to work with athletes, but the market is saturated, especially at the college and professional levels. The solution may be to earn enough money from personal training to open a gym where you can train athletes and the general population. Who knows, maybe after spending time in the private sector, you might find that personal training is your true calling.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Goss, Kim. “Confessions of a Hardcore Gym Owner,” BFS magazine, July/August 2005, pp 18-22.

Hennessy, Kristin. “AB-5 Law Requires the California Fitness Industry to Convert 1090 to W2.” Band of Hands, ND.

Carrasco, Laanna. “Breaking Barriers: Women in Strength Coaching.” BFS magazine, July/August 2012, pp. 44-47.

Goss, Kim. “Lawsuits: Give Yourself a Sporting Chance.” BFS magazine, September/October 2004, pp. 62-65.

In a unique field that can be just as giving as it is—at times—draining, coaches need equally unique solutions. In the same way there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution for training athletes, there’s also a lot of nuance that comes with each next level of progress as a professional. Although traditional advice you’ve probably heard before does apply in this professional pursuit, real-life application and learning from personal experience is how you take general advice to a an always-changing field.

I’m not here to act like I came up with this advice myself or that this is the first time these pieces of advice have been spoken into existence. I’m just here to say from being in the field since 2016, from the countless conversations I’ve had with knowledgeable and selfless coaches, learning from my own mistakes and failures, and from feedback I’ve gotten from sharing this advice with coaches younger than me, I believe it’s valuable to pass along.

Although the core concepts of these three pieces of advice might be a little cliche, hopefully the phrasing and application are not. And let’s be honest, cliches are only cliches because they’re overused, and they’re only overused because they’re true; no one would be perpetuating inaccurate advice. Let’s dive into three simple ways that you can start setting yourself up for more professional success.

1. Be a (Respectfully) Savage Texter

The challenge we run into is two-fold: odds are, if you’re doing great things and trying to get ahead in this field, you’re very busy. And on the flip side, odds are, if someone is interesting enough to stay in touch with and provides a lot of value to you, they’re just as busy—if not even more so. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been given time by many smart and kind people, sometimes 45 minutes and sometimes up to 3 hours. But in the unusual and almost-always-extended hours we work in this field, carving out an hour to hop on the phone might not always be the most feasible or respectful use of someone’s time.

In the unusual and almost-always-extended hours we work in this field, carving out an hour to hop on the phone might not always be the most feasible or respectful use of someone’s time, says @CoachBigToe Share on X

There’s plenty of advice—like commenting on everyone’s Instagram posts to show you see it—but nothing makes me roll my eyes harder more than receiving 3 fire emojis on an Instagram post. Or how I used to tag all the relevant people in my tweets to try to spark discussion, which, even as the creator of these discussions, I found the notifications very annoying.

So, what’s just as simple and actionable, but still genuine and not annoying? How do you maintain somewhat frequent contact without blowing up a colleague’s phone, respecting their time, and keeping it personal? Insert texting.

Here’s a story of when this first hit me:

The first few years of my full-time coaching career, I went very hard in the proverbial networking paint. Intentionally reaching out to people, hopping on the phone, connecting with the people they then connected me with, keeping track of it all in Excel (obviously), and so on. It got to a point where I had a solid base of people whom I had 3rd and 4th interactions with. I was sharing these experiences with Steve Breitenstein, a colleague and mentor who inspired much of this article (and my other articles as well), and I said, “I feel like I only text these people when I want to hop on the phone, I don’t want it to feel like I’m just using them for that.”

“When’s the last time you texted them about anything else besides that?” he replied. Cue the awkward silence and instantaneous self-reflection.

Steve then gave examples of how to stay in touch beyond just hopping on the phone:

• Stay up to date with their sports team and send a congratulations text after big wins.
• Genuinely comment on a social media post of theirs that you enjoy (not every single one).
• If they come up in a conversation that you’re having with someone else, send a text saying ‘hey, I thought about you and referenced a prior conversation of ours with someone else, thanks for that.’

That’s how you turn professional relationships into more personal ones, slowly and consistently over time.

And, admittedly, there have been many times in the past that I’ve thought about someone like an athlete or colleague or parent but didn’t send a text, and I wish that I had. Would it have had a gigantic impact on our relationship? Probably not. But would it have improved it compared to not sending the text at all? Absolutely.

Main Lesson: Don’t be obnoxious or abuse having someone’s phone number, but be genuine in sending a simple text when you think about someone or something relevant to your relationship/previous conversations. It’s a simple way to help your professional relationships turn into more personal ones over time. If you’re thinking about sending someone a text, send it.

2. Keep a ‘Problem Solving’ File

Training principles are the same for all athletes, everyone is given the same textbook for the CSCS exam, and everyone’s journey probably starts out in a pretty similar fashion (as an intern, fingers crossed that it’s paid). But one thing I believe is that although the correct answer is usually “it depends” when talking about the art and science of coaching, true expertise lies in nuance and being able to explain that. Your ability to say, “It depends and here’s why,” followed by a personal experience or two to show how you’ve developed your spin on that topic is huge in showing your value and knowledge.

Your ability to say, ‘It depends and here’s why,’ followed by a personal experience or two to show how you’ve developed your spin on that topic is huge in showing your value and knowledge, says @CoachBigToe Share on X

A classic job interview question I’ve faced multiple times is “tell us about a time you handled adversity in the workplace.” And that’s definitely a common format of an interview question: “share a story about” then insert anything like “dealing with conflict” or “having a tough conversation with a head coach” and so on.

For this anecdote, I’ll talk about adversity. As I was preparing for it a few days prior to an interview, a few stories immediately popped into my mind. The two examples I had ready were a little outdated and didn’t feel strong enough to demonstrate my problem-solving abilities. Then, fortunately, a fantastic example I forgot about hit me the night before the interview. I was saved at the last moment by recalling that more impactful story, but imagine how much less nerve-wracking my preparation would’ve been if I thought of that one right away? Had I already had a catalog of examples written down, how much more efficient that process would’ve been?

Additionally, being able to recall previous experiences is valuable in other situations, such as mentoring others. Being able to say to a colleague or younger coach, “I totally understand where you’re coming from, I’ve actually been through something similar (insert your own story).” Imagine how much more receptive that person would be compared to just saying, “That sucks, here’s some unsolicited advice.”

Spend a little bit of time on the front end to save yourself time on the back end (and save a headache) by writing down your stories as they come. It should be more detailed than it is not, but 5 to 10 bullet points of each big experience in your journey will set you up for a lot of success. Either as a note on your phone or a Word doc on your computer:

1. Introduction/background
2. When it happened
3. How things progressed
4. Thought process when evaluating your options
5. Setbacks (if any)
6. How the situation was resolved

Combine this with a general category of “adversity,” “training philosophy,” “difficult conversations,” or any traditional interview question and you’ll have a great ‘problem-solving file.’

Lastly, this catalog can be valuable to yourself personally. Being able to reflect on your journey puts things in perspective and helps you appreciate all the moments, big or small and positive or negative, that have brought you to this moment right now.

Main Lesson: Every few weeks, spend some time recalling, categorizing, and writing down your important stories and experiences to help out both yourself and others.

Every few weeks, spend some time recalling, categorizing, and writing down your important stories and experiences to help out both yourself and others, says @CoachBigToe Share on X

3. It’s About What People Know You For

Going back to my hardcore networking days, it’s crazy to reflect back on the literal networking tree I had and all the branches of how people got there. The tree was so impressive it would come up in conversation, and after showing it to someone to demonstrate how I got connected with them, that would be followed up with something along the lines of, “You must be a good person if all those people kept passing your name along…”

And at first, it was very flattering. But that comment was always followed up by “…so I’d be happy to connect you with my people, but I can’t speak for you as a professional because I just haven’t seen you work.”

We’ve all heard it before when first getting into the working world and receiving networking advice: “it’s all about who you know.” Although that’s true, that’s only part of it. The product of even more conversations with Steve led to the rephrasing instead to: “it’s all about who knows you.” It’s about who knows you well enough to vouch for you, to toss your name out there and recommend you—not just personally, but also professionally.

But there’s a third iteration of this advice that recently hit me…let’s say you do get to a point where people in your network are willing to vouch for you and say, “I know Matt, he’s a great guy” to their colleagues or whoever it may be. Odds are that sentence will be followed up with the context, such as “we had a few great phone calls” or “he was super helpful on this one Excel problem” or “he connected me with a few of his colleagues with similar interests.”

Once someone knows you, that’s followed up with what they know you for.

I know what you’re thinking next, “But how do I ‘work’ for those people to show myself as a professional if they’re far away and I already have a job?” or, “How do I get someone to ‘know me’ just through the phone and computer?”

The answer? Creatively. It starts with a genuine phone call, then a few thoughtful texts (like I talked about above…woah…), having a thoughtful social media profile (as a “living, breathing resume,” another Steve quote) so they can see you as a “professional” from a distance, then offering your time/help whenever you can. It can be offering to solve an Excel problem they said they’ve been having, or opening up your network to them if they’re looking to connect with a specific type of person you know, or simply acting on their advice and following up with how it went (I talked about this relative to being a good mentee).

Main Lesson: Pivot from “it’s all about who you know” to “it’s all about who knows you.” Be creative in finding ways to show your value and getting others to know you for both being a good person and a great professional.

Pivot from “it’s all about who you know” to “it’s all about who knows you.” Be creative in finding ways to show your value and getting others to know you for both being a good person and a great professional, says @CoachBigToe Share on X

Now It’s Just Action

I love a good quote, a good metaphor, or a complex topic boiled into a simple phrase. But at the end of the day, if you want to improve yourself, you need to take action and make it happen. Hopefully it was obvious how each of the three pieces of advice have simple action items that you can do starting tomorrow (or even today…) to start creating better connections and setting yourself up for more professional success in the future. Good luck, be genuine, and do these things over a long period of time.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Endurance cycling can be addictive, driving athletes to push their limits constantly. In my case, the moment I started beating my own records and times, it left me hungry for more. This pursuit isn’t just for adults—even teenagers are drawn to the challenge, often adopting strict diets and workout routines to excel. However, the pressure to perform better can lead some to obsess over their body image, which can result in a cycle of underfueling.

Various factors contribute to underfueling, including intense workouts without adjusting food intake and anxieties about weight and performance. Regardless, this behavior can hamper athletic performance and pose health risks. Coaches should prioritize ensuring young endurance cyclists get adequate nutrition to prevent underfueling and safeguard their future well-being. Learn more about the long-term consequences of underfueling and some strategies to help young cyclists reach their full potential.

Underfueling Translates to Higher Risk of RED–S

Proper nutrition is vital for athletes but most crucial among still-growing teens. Those with suboptimal energy intake may be at greater risk of underfueling, which happens when total caloric and macronutrient intake is low.

Inadequate energy intake poses a higher risk of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), which is defined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as “a syndrome of impaired physiological and/or psychological functioning experienced by female and male athletes caused by problematic low energy availability (LEA).”

LEA can be intentional or unintentional. Intentional LEA happens when athletes restrict their dietary intake to control body weight or composition. Pervasive issues around body image and traditional beliefs—such as “eating is cheating”—can result in intentional LEA. One study suggests cycling is a sport with a high prevalence of eating disorders, such as binge eating, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa. Furthermore, cyclists perceive leanness as vital to their success and can thus manipulate their nutritional intake.

Regardless of the sport and sex, a team’s culture can also contribute to intentional LEA. A culture where people insult other athletes’ body weight and shape can push victims to overexercise and eat less.

Unintentional low energy availability (LEA) happens when cyclists fail to meet the energy requirements of the sport due to a lack of knowledge. Share on X

Consequently, unintentional LEA happens when cyclists fail to meet the energy requirements of the sport due to a lack of knowledge. It can be quite common for young athletes to underfuel since they’re unaware of training demands. Financial problems and low appetite can also contribute to this condition.

Long-Term Implications of Underfueling

According to Rebecca McConville RD, LD, CSSD, CEDS, RED-S-related problems can happen when the body has 250 calories less than its daily requirement over five days. Young endurance cyclists who don’t have enough energy intake could face long-term implications.

Significant fatigue during training sessions conducted after proper rest can indicate inadequate energy levels. According to Jessica Crandall, RDN, CDE, feeling lethargic, weak, and sore are signs of improper fueling, which may lead to a weakened immune system. Coaches can also detect signs of fatigue through body language and other non-verbal communication cues, including mood changes and a lack of willingness to train for long periods. 

Underfueling can delay muscle glycogen replacement and repair of muscle tissue, hindering training. Not getting enough energy requirements may also lead to decreased immunity, increasing susceptibility to injury and illnesses. 

Severe calorie deficiency among women can cause estrogen levels to drop, delaying the menstrual cycle and the onset of puberty. This symptom is a sign of a subcategory of RED-S called “the female athlete triad,” which describes the three interrelated issues of irregular menstruation, bone loss, and disordered eating. Someone can have one, two, or all three parts of the triad. Signs to look out for include missed periods, weaker bones, and low BMI.

Figure 1. Recommended daily carbohydrate intake by weight. Data Source: Gatorade Sports Science Institute.

Most bone density is formed during the teenage years. Reduced bone formation in early adulthood can lead to long-term issues with osteoporosis and bone weakness. The loss of estrogen can lead to a lack of bone density and may put female endurance riders at a higher risk of stress fractures and osteoporosis.

Though the majority of research on underfueling and LEA has been on females, the IOC now recognizes its negative implications among males, including reduced testosterone production. A study shows male endurance athletes who have LEA are at risk of insufficient testosterone production, which may lead to decreased bone mineral density. However, more research is necessary to understand the effects on men better.

Nearly one in three adolescents ages 13 to 18 will experience anxiety disorder in the United States. The pressures of staying fit can affect the mental health of athletes. Stress levels and mood are also affected if the body isn’t fueled enough. For instance, 90% of serotonin is synthesized by enterochromaffin cells in the intestinal epithelium. This chemical is crucial for mood regulation, appetite, and sleep cycle.

Poor energy intake can backfire on the athlete’s performance through decreased endurance, training response, and motivation. Unfortunately, they may respond to decline through more extensive training, which can deplete more of the energy they need to function.

Poor energy intake can backfire on the athlete’s performance through decreased endurance, training response, and motivation. Share on X

Identifying and Managing RED-S

According to a study conducted by Cycling Weekly, 30% of female respondents and 15% of males have RED-S symptoms. Among female cyclists who were not on hormonal contraception, 39% cited menstrual problems.

Athletes and coaches can monitor RED-S if the levels of metabolic hormones and substrates—including 3,3,5-triiodothyronine (T3), growth hormone, leptin, cortisol, and glucose—have been altered. Validated tools such as the RED-S Clinical Assessment Tool can also be used by a trained sports medical physician to assess a young cyclist’s risk of this condition.

This instrument features biochemical markers and functional issues because of LEA, such as recurring bone stress injuries. While physical qualities such as body weight and fat are also assessed, some individuals with RED-S may have standard body mass.

Strategies for Optimizing Energy Balance

Optimal energy intake should be the cornerstone of every athlete’s diet. Nutritional and calorie requirements depend on age, sex, and activity. Since adolescent cyclists are still developing, their consumption should match their activity level and support their growth.

Active teenage males need 2,600–3,200 calories daily, while females in the same age bracket require about 2,200–2,400 calories a day. However, the more active adolescents are, the more calories they need. The body’s required energy is known as basal metabolic rate (BMR), ranging from around 1,200 to more than 3,000 calories per day.

A BMR calculator can help coaches personalize an athlete’s daily caloric requirements for various activity levels. However, this tool only guides coaches when creating a diet plan, not as a prescription for health and nutrition. The BMR formulas for men and women are as follows:

• Men: BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight in kg) + (4.799 x height in cm) – (5.677 x age in years)
• Women: BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x weight in kg) + (3.098 x height in cm) – (4.330 x age in years)

After identifying the BMR, coaches can help combat LEA by ensuring an athlete’s diet is enough to cover their needs. They can achieve energy balance by computing energy availability (EA) using the equation:

• EA(kcal/kgFFM/day) = [EI(kcal/day)−EEE(kcal/day)] / FFM (kg)

EI = energy intake, EEE = exercise energy expenditure

Nutritional Strategies

Adolescent athletes need appropriate food to fuel their bodies. When creating a nutritional plan, consider including sources that help boost performance and recovery. For instance, one cup of blueberries offers 24% of an individual’s daily value of vitamin K and 22% of manganese, which help boost bone density and reduce proneness to muscular strains. Choosing nutrient-dense foods can help athletes manage a healthy weight and enhance muscle strength.

Carbohydrates are the most essential fuel for an adolescent cyclist. Because carbs are stored as fuel, cyclists need them before training. On the other hand, fats usually get a bad reputation because they are about twice as calorie-dense as carbs and proteins. However, fats are essential for nutrient absorption and hormonal production.

According to exercise physiologist Dr. Tim Podlogar, athletes must utilize fats and carbohydrates efficiently since glycogen stores are limited. Fat stores are larger but only work in aerobic activities, so the body requires oxygen to translate fat into energy. Stores of carbohydrates are smaller, but the body can utilize them in anaerobic processes, meaning it can get energy even without oxygen.

The body needs time to adjust breathing when cycling. During this anaerobic process, the body requires glycogen, so it must get energy from sources that don’t need oxygen.

Figure 2. Recommended carbohydrates in relation to exercise. Data source: Gatorade Sports Science Institute.

Carbohydrate intake should range from 7 to 12 g·kg-¹ body mass (BM) to ensure optimal muscle glycogen availability during competition and intense training. For exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, it is recommended to consume carbohydrates of 1 to 4 g·kg^-1 BM one to four hours before activity.

Endurance athletes should ensure half of their plate consists of carbohydrate sources—rice, bread, oats, and tortillas—on heavy training days. The standard carbohydrate recommendation for high school athletes is 360–500 grams daily.

Junior athletes can struggle to identify thirst during a ride, so starting hydrated is always recommended. Share on X

Good hydration is also crucial for optimal performance and recovery. Junior athletes can struggle to identify thirst during a ride, so starting hydrated is always recommended. Less than 2% dehydration of total body weight can significantly reduce skill, exercise, and mental performance.

Fuel Well for Optimal Health and Performance

RED-S can impact anyone, but its effects are more pronounced in young athletes who are still developing. As a coach, it’s essential to understand cycling is not just a sport—it’s a lifelong pursuit for teens that requires sustainable habits on and off the track.

Help the future generation of cyclists achieve their best health and performance by prioritizing proper nutrition, adequate rest, and long-term health over immediate results. Along with a personalized nutritional plan, regularly monitoring food intake and performance can help ensure proper caloric balance and instill self-care habits that will benefit teens throughout their lives.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Injury prevention programs (IPPs) have been shown to be effective at reducing the risk of injury. The 11+, for example, has been shown to reduce hamstring injuries by 60%, hip and groin injuries by 41%, knee injuries by 48%, and ankle injuries by 32%. It reduces the risk of all injuries by 39% (Thorborg et al., 2017).

According to Arundale et al., 2023, the components of effective injury risk reduction programs include:

• Implementation at the youth level.
• Beginning in the pre-season and continuing through the regular season.
• Being performed multiple times for an overall time of at least 30 minutes per week.
• Being multifaceted and including a combination of strength and plyometric exercises.
• Having a high level of compliance.

Even the best program in the world won’t work if it doesn’t get done.

Unfortunately, implementing IPPs has proven to be challenging. Barriers to implementation are varied and context-dependent.

In elite women’s footballers from the 2019 FIFA World Cup, players identified player motivation and the attitude of coaches as the primary barriers to implementation (Geertsema et al., 2021). A review of IPPs found that motivation, time requirements, skill requirements for program facilitators, compliance, and cost were all barriers to implementation (Bogardus et al., 2019). In my own experience as a youth soccer coach, a lack of confidence in delivering the program, a lack of field space, and limited time seem to prevent coaches from implementing IPPs.

In my experience as a youth soccer coach, a lack of confidence in delivering the program, little field space, and limited time seem to prevent coaches from implementing IPPs, says @NSurdykaPhysio. Share on X

As physical therapists, athletic trainers, performance coaches, and sport scientists, we have access to scientific knowledge on IPPs. However, we are not always the people best positioned to deliver these programs, especially at the youth level, where it is crucial to begin their implementation. While 59% of physical therapists worldwide are aware of IPPs, only 37% actually implement any in their current practice (Al Attar et al., 2021).

Outside of professional academies, how many of us are ever consistently present at training sessions at the youth level? How many of us have access to youth athletes for the recommended 2–3 times per week? To make the most impact and deliver IPPs to the largest number of athletes possible, it has to come from the people who are actually there with them on a regular basis: their coaches (Bizzini and Dvorak, 2015).

Coaching the Coaches

As we all know, it can take years for scientific knowledge to be translated into practice. However, I believe there are ways that we can begin educating coaches on IPPs. Ideally, youth soccer leagues and national federations would mandate that training on IPPs be part of coaching education courses and a requirement to obtain a coaching license.

Outside of governance and policy at the macro level, healthcare and performance professionals can run off-season or pre-season clinics and symposiums to teach local coaches how to run an IPP with their teams. Instead of focusing community outreach on individual teams or clubs, promote a one-day training course for as many youth coaches as possible. Social media can also be a powerful tool for disseminating information to the general public.

If coaches are to be the primary stakeholders responsible for the delivery of IPPs, then the challenges they face in implementing them need to be addressed. One barrier to IPP implementation by youth coaches is a lack of resources and education on what IPPs are, why they’re important, and how exactly to deliver them. Our role, then, as healthcare and performance professionals, needs to shift away from strictly the delivery of these programs to the education of coaches. If we can effectively educate them to deliver IPPs, then more youth athletes might get access to them. When we educate coaches on IPPs, it’s important to highlight their effectiveness in reducing injury risk to increase motivation and buy-in.

In order to enhance buy-in from coaches, the IPP needs to be easy to integrate into the team’s normal training structure. At the youth level, teams might have access to half a pitch for 60–90 minutes twice per week. Coaches perceive that IPPs take too much time (Minnig et al., 2022) and can feel pressure to jump right into the training session to maximize their time on the pitch. There are a couple of ways that we can address this barrier—perceived or real—and help coaches implement IPPs in their training sessions.

Strategies for Implementing IPPs

In 2019, Whalen et al. found that moving part 2 of the 11+ (strength, plyometrics, and balance exercises) was still effective at reducing injury risk while also improving compliance at the semi-professional level. This might be an effective strategy at the youth level because it reduces the time spent performing the 11+ before starting the training session. Coaches can have the athletes perform part 2 of the 11+ while they are wrapping up the session and summarizing key coaching points. They can also perform this part of the 11+ off to the side of the field so they don’t have to worry about going beyond their allotted time slot or being in the way of another team starting their training session.

Another possible method of addressing this time barrier is to integrate components of an IPP more seamlessly into the session. Most youth soccer training sessions begin with some type of technical warm-up, consisting of anything from passing patterns to dribbling in a grid. Why not try to integrate aspects of an IPP into this technical warm-up that coaches are already doing?

Why not try to integrate aspects of an injury prevention program into the technical warm-up that coaches are already doing? asks @NSurdykaPhysio. Share on X

If the team’s technical warm-up is dribbling inside a 20x20m grid and working on individual skills, you can add in the exercises that are part of the 11+. So instead of having the athletes do the running exercises down a straight line of cones, they simply perform them within the 20×20 grid, mixed in with the technical skills. Below is an example of a dribbling and individual ball control technical warm-up performed with components of an IPP for youth soccer players:

Each player has a soccer ball inside a 20×20 grid.

Instructions: Dribble your soccer balls. The only rules right now are don’t stop moving unless I say “freeze,” don’t bump into anyone, and don’t leave the grid unless I tell you to.

Have them do this for about a minute. Then tell them to freeze to listen to the following instructions: Now, every time I say the number 1, I want you to leave your soccer ball, go find another soccer ball, do 10 toe taps, then go back to your ball and start dribbling again. When I say the number 2, I want you to stop your soccer ball, side shuffle to another soccer ball, box the ball 10 times, then side shuffle back to your soccer ball and dribble again. When I say the number 3, I want you to leave your soccer ball, run as fast as you can outside of the grid, and then run back to your soccer ball as fast as you can and start dribbling again.

In this part of the warm-up, the players are getting additional technical work on the ball and have also been introduced to high knees (via the toe taps), side shuffling, changing direction, and scanning the environment for a free soccer ball. I usually do 3–5 rounds of each number randomly before mixing it up again.

Here’s an example set of instructions for the next round of the warm-up:

Now, every time I say the color purple, I want you to stop your soccer ball, jump over it with both feet together, turn around and jump over it again, and then start dribbling again. When I say yellow, I want you to stand on one leg, hop sideways to land on the other leg, hold it for two seconds, then hop back to the other leg and hold for two seconds, then start dribbling again. When I say green, I want you to do fast feet forward for 10 steps and fast feet backward for 10 steps, then start dribbling your soccer ball again.

Again, I’ll randomly call out colors and try to hit 3–5 rounds of each color. In this section of the warm-up, they end up doing double-leg hopping, skater hops, quick changes of direction, and some single-leg balance. In this entire technical warm-up example, the athletes not only perform movements often seen in effective IPPs, but they also get touches on a soccer ball, which helps with their technical skill development and coach and player buy-in.

If the team’s technical warm-up consists of passing patterns, you can also add in the exercises that are part of an IPP. For example, a common passing warm-up in youth soccer is to have four players in a triangular shape with two players at one point (point A) and one player each at the other two points (points B and C) of the triangle.

One of the players at point A has a soccer ball and passes to the player at point B. Player 1 then follows their pass and runs from point A to point B. Player 2 receives the ball, passes to player 3 on point C, and then runs from point B to point C to follow their pass. This continues with players passing the ball to the next player and following their pass on the jog.

Instead of jogging, though, the players can be instructed to perform movements that are part of an IPP. The path from point A to point B can be a jog, point B to point C can be a side shuffle, and point C to point A can be a backpedal. After a couple of rounds, have the players change directions with their passes and change the movements. So now, point A to point C is bounding, point C to point B is a single-leg hop, and point B to point A is a high skip.

The passing pattern can then be varied to mix up the technical component and introduce further IPP movements. Now, have discs set up in a diamond shape with players lined up across from each other at points A and C.

Player 1 has the ball at point A and passes the ball to player 2 at point C. Player 1 then runs to point B and cuts inside to the middle of the diamond, while player 2 passes the ball to player 3 at point A. Player 3 does a short pass to player 1 inside the diamond, who passes it back to player 3 in one touch and then spins out and runs to the end of the line at point C. Player 3 then plays a long pass to player 4 at point C and repeats the same process that player 1 had previously done.

Meanwhile, player 2, who had initially received the ball from player 1 at point C and then played a pass to player 3 at point A, will run to point D, backpedal to point C, and then sprint to the end of the line at point A. From a technical perspective, this warm-up includes one-touch, short, and long passes. From an IPP perspective, it includes changing direction, multidirectional running, and sprinting.

While the athletes do the exercises, I explain which parts of the body the exercises address and why they’re so important to help decrease the risk of injuries in those areas, says @NSurdykaPhysio. Share on X

I mentioned earlier that part 2 of the 11+ can be moved to the end of practice to help with buy-in and still be an effective way to reduce the risk of injury. I also try to do these exercises with the athletes while the parents are there so that the parents can see them, too. While the athletes do the exercises, I explain which parts of the body the exercises address and why they’re so important to help decrease the risk of injuries in those areas. This helps to increase player motivation and gets the parents bought in and educated on what they can potentially do at home as well.

These are the exercises I typically do with the athletes at the end of the session and how I coach them:

• Squats – Keeping your feet flat on the floor, lower down like an elevator, and stand back up. If I notice that athletes have their feet really close together or really far apart, I’ll tell them to stand with their feet on either side of the soccer ball (most kids don’t understand the concept of putting their feet hip-width apart).
• Lunges – Take a step forward, bending both knees, then step back again. Usually, a demonstration works best for a lunge. I also tell them to pretend there’s a laser beam coming out of their kneecap, and I want them to keep that laser beam pointed right in front of them the whole time.
• Heel Raises – Go up onto your toes and then slowly lower down again. I often have them do this while holding a partner’s hands for balance.
• Planks – Make your body as straight as a board and try to freeze in that position. I’ll go around while they do this and kick a soccer ball underneath them to make sure they aren’t sagging their hips down, or I’ll tap on their lower back if they have their hips up in the air too high.
• Copenhagens – Lift the inside of your shoe up to the sky. I always start with Level 1 Copenhagens, in which they are lying on their side.
• Nordics – Make your body as stiff as a board, kick your heels up into your partner’s hands, and lower yourself down to the ground as slowly as you can. It takes kids a couple of sessions to understand how to do this exercise correctly, and they usually need some hands-on guidance. Don’t get discouraged—they can and do learn how to do this pretty well with enough practice.

Where Does Dynamic Stretching Fit In?

So, I covered running exercises, changes of direction, and plyometric exercises within the technical warm-up. I also discussed that strengthening exercises can be done at the end of the session to help improve implementation and explained how I typically do that. One thing I have not yet addressed is stretching.

Some IPPs include dynamic stretches, but they have not been shown to be a vital aspect for effectively reducing injuries. However, there are times that I’ll include a few dynamic stretches if time allows. When I do include some dynamic stretches, I always make sure I add some player education simultaneously. Usually, I’ll include a walking quad stretch, walking calf and hamstring stretch, and lateral lunges.

As the athletes do the stretches, I tell them what part of the body we are focused on (quads, calves, hamstrings, and adductors/groin) and explain that those are the areas used most in soccer. My intention in doing this is simply to educate the athletes on their bodies. Most kids won’t actually feel any stretch, and that’s okay. These are still good movements for youth athletes to do whether they feel a stretch or not (single leg balance, lunging, reaching, etc.).

Most kids won’t actually feel any stretch, and that’s okay. These are still good movements for youth athletes to do whether they feel a stretch or not, says @NSurdykaPhysio. Share on X

The warm-ups I just used as examples are simply that—examples. The exercises that are done are representative of some of the components in IPPs, like the 11+. They can (and should) be varied and progressed as the athletes become more adept at performing them.

Coaches should be educated on how to progress and coach these exercises. It’s helpful to teach principles instead of scripted progressions because coaches can feel comfortable varying and progressing the exercises to suit their team. Here are some general principles that might help coaches progress the exercises in an IPP warm-up:

• Start double leg and progress to single leg.
  • Double-leg jumps over the ball to single-leg jumps over the ball.
• Start with lower hops and progress to higher jumps.
  • Hops over an invisible line on the ground → hops over a disc → hops over a ball.
• Use the first section of the warm-up for running-based movements such as jogging, side shuffling, and some change-of-direction tasks. Use the second part of the warm-up for jumping, hopping, and more challenging change-of-direction activities.
• Simple → Complex
  • For younger kids or novice players, start with simple, one-step instructions. “When I say the color green, jump over the ball.” With older or more experienced athletes, you can add some complexity to the instructions. “When I say the color green, stop your ball, run to a different ball, do five juggles, and then backpedal back to your ball.”
  • Note: You can also add a bit more of a cognitive challenge in your instructions. “When I say something that is the color green (like celery or grass), do five squat jumps.”

It’s also essential that the athletes are not simply given instructions on what to do but are shown and told how to do the movements as well. It’s important for kids to be able to explore various movement patterns and come up with their own solutions to motor challenges, so we don’t want to overcoach them, but we should still give them some cues.

Here are some of the cues I typically use with youth soccer players:

• Jumping and landing exercises: When you land, I don’t want to hear a sound.
• Changing direction: Get low to the ground and look up to make sure you can still see the ball and players around you.
• Side shuffling: Don’t click your heels.
  • Note: I used to say, “Don’t click your heels; you aren’t Dorothy trying to go back to Kansas,” but I’m finding that many kids these days haven’t seen “The Wizard of Oz,” so this cue has been less effective.
• Single-leg balance: Freeze like a statue.

Making a Difference at the Youth Level

In summary, IPPs like the 11+ effectively reduce the risk of injuries, but only when adhered to. It’s important to start IPPs at the youth level; there are, however, several barriers to implementation. Coaches should be the ones delivering IPPs at the youth level, which means our roles as healthcare and performance professionals need to shift away from the delivery of IPPs and toward the education of coaches. The barriers facing youth coaches need to be addressed, including the lack of confidence in knowledge and ability to deliver IPPs, session time, and field space.

Coaches should be the ones delivering IPPs at the youth level, which means our roles as healthcare and performance professionals need to shift toward the education of coaches, says @NSurdykaPhysio. Share on X

Integrating aspects of a successful IPP into a technical warm-up and moving the strengthening exercises to the end of the session are two tactics to help reduce the real and perceived barriers faced by youth coaches. Teaching coaches principles rather than scripted warm-ups might give them more confidence in their ability to program and progress IPPs into their sessions based on their team’s needs and abilities.

Lead Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire

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