A few years ago I had a conversation with one of the top footballers in the world about starting to strength train. The staff had told me he never liked weights and he did not believe it would benefit him. They told me “good luck” and I walked into the meal room. THREAD

The most important thing I did was approach this athlete OUTSIDE OF THE WEIGHTROOM.

This was a neutral site, not my turf or his. Plus something about breaking bread with someone opens doors.

Early in the conversation I was CLEAR about my intentions to support him and help him continue to perform well on the field.

I did not want anything to feel like it was snuck into the conversation or create confusion about my goals.

Next, I told the athlete I appreciated his diligent and consistent core routine. He said he had started that when he was younger after a back issue and that it helped him feel good post rehab.

This was extremely important to see how he valued that program as some peace of mind

Instead of changing the program or adding anything, I made one move.

I told him it looked difficult and asked if I could join in each day. He said sure and the journey began.

BOOM: I now had skin in the game

Over the next month I joined in with no daily agenda, but to complete the core session each day. I’m sure my mentors and other coaches were confused why I would encourage the large amount of crunches and twisting in this program. I questioned my approach as well at some point

However, one day the athlete asked if I could add in 1 exercise that he saw me do with some of his teammates. A simple Tall Kneel ARP. I said sure and it became one of the 6 movements in his routine.

This routine would continue to adapt over the next few months where he would ask for other movements and continue to feel better each week. It was a long route to get to this point, but my investment was paying off.

KEY Points:
- Be CLEAR, don’t confuse
- get SKIN in the game
- value the relationship over the program
- do not instantly eliminate movements that provide security for them. Down the road find variation if need be.
- do they feel better?