The Importance of Trainers
by Mike Tuchscherer

All great athletes have coaches. Olympic champions, pro ball players, and pretty much every successful athlete gets advice from somewhere. Even high level iron sport athletes get advice from somewhere. Even I have other coaches who I bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with. Why? Because it makes me better. It's that simple.

But let me back up for a second. Iron Sport athletes have long thought of themselves as little more than winches and jacks. We just pick up heavy stuff and nothing more. But what might seem like a subtle shift in attitude can make all the difference. I'm talking about thinking of yourself as an athlete. If you think of yourself - and more importantly treat yourself like an athlete, you will get much more mileage and performance from your body. How do I know? Because I coach it in my athletes.

Having a good coach gives you perspective on your training. It's easy to get bogged down by details or miss the forest for the trees. And everybody thinks that they're doing it right, which is perfectly logical. If you thought you were doing it wrong, you would do something else! But working with someone else gives you the advantage of a close third party perspective. They can make sure you get the little things right - and the big things too. For example, I used to struggle with squat depth - particularly when using equipment. This was a recurring problem with me until I brought it up to an advisor of mine. We brainstormed about it for a while and tested a few solutions. Eventually we found one that worked - it was both a technical and training fix. Without help, I may have eventually come to a working conclusion, but I'm sure it would have taken me much longer to figure it out.

That brings me to another benefit of having a coach - accountability. Sometimes we find it just a bit too easy to make excuses for ourselves. If you cut a squat high in training or didn't push a set hard enough… or if you pushed too hard… it's easier to make excuses for ourselves than it is for other people. If we have a coach who will call us out for failing to execute the work properly, we're much more likely to pay a bit more attention to the work that needs to be done.

Another thing a great coach will do is help you become a better competitor. This is of obvious importance for those of you who actually compete - it's the whole reason you train hard to begin with. Putting in hard work is one thing, but putting it together in such a way that it maximizes your contest performance is another. It's more difficult, and as with other difficult tasks, it's nice to get some help. But what if you don't compete? Well if you don't compete, you likely fit in one of two other categories. If you just work out to have something to do, I would say you need a coach maybe most of all. This is because this type of athlete is not likely to put much effort into their programming and if they want results at all, they should probably have help. My guess is that not too many of you fit in this category. Most of you are probably students of your sport to some degree or another. Even if you don't compete, you work hard and are interested in self improvement. These athletes can benefit from the knowledge a coach can offer just the same as a competitive athlete can. It's really got to do with one's mind and their pursuit of goals rather than their actual competitive status.

Then again, we all tend to be control freaks to one degree or another. We don't want someone else mucking around with our training. And for good reason, too! We've been training ourselves for the past X number of years and who is going to know us better than ourselves? And you'd be right. But a good coach will be open to those kinds of inputs from his athletes. At the level where most of us are at, it's more of a partnership rather than a superior-subordinate relationship. This is essential because a coach that doesn't take your inputs into account is more interested in their own program than they are in your success. That said, a key to a good working relationship is a mutual respect for each other's experience and a realistic viewpoint of your knowledge level. If you find a coach who is much more knowledgeable than you are, then take his advice! Conversely, if you tend to be on an even plane, then you should have a greater input in your training process. It makes perfect sense, but it would amaze you how many people cannot simply let go of the details of their training program!

If you've been around RTS for any length of time, you know we don't like to leave you out to dry. We provide an ever-expanding array of resources available to help you reach your goals - many of which are free. Training bLogs and forums are a great place for general advice and commentary. You will find that there are many knowledgeable people on the site who are happy to help. We also have a free training log app that can provide automated feedback on the training that you enter. The training log app is undergoing a revision at the moment. Once the new app is released, it will be even better for allowing you and your coaches to make training decisions.

And then beyond those tools, we have both TRAC and Custom Training programs. TRAC is designed to give you day-to-day training advice based on how your body is recovering. Custom Training programs cover the whole process. You can read about them more here. Keep in mind that Custom Training is on sale for the month of August! Anybody who signs up for custom training in the month of August gets 30% off of their first training cycle! We've never run a sale this big and who knows… we may never do it again. If you're interested in whether or not custom training is worth it, just ask these guys.

RTS plugs aside, having a good solid coaching support team is essential to reaching your potential. It doesn't matter if they are there with you in person or online. It doesn't matter if they play a major role in your program or only a minor one. The point is that you get other people involved and invested in your training. It will make you better, which is ultimately why we're here to begin with!

Mike Tuchscherer is the owner of Reactive Training Systems, a company dedicated to individualized physical training. The goal of RTS is to help you become a dominant force in your sport! Learn more by visiting www.ReactiveTrainingSystems.com. Mike himself is an accomplished Powerlifter. He has over 12 years of experience training and researching the best training methods in the world. Mike has competed in raw and single ply competitions. He recently won the Gold medal representing the USA at the 2009 World Games; becoming the first American male to ever win this distinction. His best lifts in IPF competition are a 903 squat, a 644 bench press, an 826 deadlift, and a 2342 total in the 275 pound weight class.

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