My Approach and the Great Teachers I’ve Learned From
If you’ve known me or have been following me for any length of time, you’ll know that I prioritise working hard at the basics, being consistent for a very long time and being patient with the process. This approach has served me well for the past 18 years in my own training and I’ve been blessed to be able to pass this onto my training clients for the last 10 years. In this post, I want to share with you the coaches that I’ve learned from who’ve helped me mould my own training style. At the bottom of this post, I will share all relevant links if you are interested in learning more about each individual.
I was very lucky as a teenager to stumble upon coaches like Joe Defranco, Jim Wendler, Luka Hocevar, Zach Even-Esh and Ross Emanait. They stressed the importance of building a solid foundation of strength by focusing on mastering the basics and consistently working hard for a very long time. They stressed that this isn’t a 3-month or 6-month endeavour - it’s a lifelong journey. That’s why taking the time to do things right, building good habits and being consistent has always been my main priority.
Consistency is the goal and hard work is the standard. Stack weeks, months and years of good habits and you will be happy when you look back on all of the time and effort you’ve put in. It rarely has to be 100% perfect in every aspect and it rarely will be. Life will always happen so we just have to try our best with what we’ve got. If we are doing the right things 80% of the time, we’ll be okay when the other 20% of life presents its challenges.
In more recent years, I have learned about kettlebell training from Pavel Tsatsouline and the Strongfirst organization. Lastly, I’ve learned from Paul Chek who has helped to shape my views on holistic living. Before Paul Chek, training was always just about training and the nutrition to support it. After taking his courses and learning from him, I have expanded my consciousness in regards to living a healthy lifestyle in all aspects - emotionally, spiritually and physically. Following the ‘4 doctors’ principles has shaped how I approach my life. The four doctors are Dr. Happiness, Dr. Diet, Dr. Movement and Dr. Quiet. I will write a separate post on this topic.
Lastly, I want to mention something that isn’t directly related to training but has similar underlying concepts. I was very lucky to learn basic personal finance skills as a teenager. I remember reading David Chilton’s ‘The Wealthy Barber’ and ‘The Wealthy Barber Returns’ and learning about living within your means and “paying yourself first” - this meant setting aside at least 10% of your paycheque and investing it into your future self. I mention this because it’s similar to the training principles that I follow - be consistent, focus on your own journey, practice discipline and keep the long-term vision in mind.
My goal by restarting this blog is to write and post regularly to share what I’ve learned and what I’m doing from a training standpoint, my personal life, my coaching life and my life as a husband and father. I believe that we each have the power to become the person we want to be and to create the life we want to live based on the choices we make every single day. It doesn’t have to be perfect - we just need to keep showing up every day.
Links:
Joe Defranco: Podcast Link / Website / Youtube Channel
Ross Enamait: Youtube Channel / Blog / Never Gymless Book ($1)
Jim Wendler: Blog / Youtube Channel / Books
Pavel Tsatsouline: Simple and Sinister Book / Strongfirst Website
Paul Chek: How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy Book / Chek Institute Website / Youtube Channel
Luka Hocevar: Youtube Channel / Podcast Link
Zach Even-Esh: Website / The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning Book
David Chilton: The Wealthy Barber Returns Book