Google “fitness coach near me” and prepare to be overwhelmed by the results. If the definition of a coach is to train or teach an individual in a particular skill, then anyone can slap a label on and call themselves a coach. But what makes a good coach? What are the qualities of a coach that make them exceptionally qualified to instruct?

What are the qualities of a good Coach?

First, and most important, it is imperative that a coach has a strong background in and comprehensive knowledge of the basic science behind the movements they are teaching. For a barbell or a swim coach, that background includes anatomy & physiology, physics, biology, chemistry, and nutrition fundamentals. 

Additionally, a good coach will have experience coaching a lot of people, whether it’s working under a mentor, or using knowledge and study to grow his or her base of clients. The goal of any dedicated coach is to accumulate thousands of hours. Hours spent not just actively coaching, but reading, studying, and developing the skills, knowledge, and expertise necessary to make people more proficient over time. 

Communication 

Strong communication skills are also essential to be an effective teacher. The ability to get your client to understand and correctly perform the necessary movements depends on your ability to communicate. Positive commands, application of the growth mindset, and proper encouragement techniques are all vital to good communication. Finally, after the movement pattern is taught, cues are employed to perfect the execution of the movement as it is performed. 

“The coach’s cue is some form of communication that the coach employs during a lift, or part of a lift, that is designed to produce a physical response from the lifter, usually in the form of an adjustment or correction to the lifter’s movement.” – Starting Strength

For barbell work, utilizing the Starting Strenth method (currently offered as a training program by One with the Water), these are primarily in the form of verbal communication but can be visual and tactile. Starting Strength offers a theoretical approach to developing the coach’s cue, from both the lifter and the coach’s perspective. Effective cues come from both the strength coach and the lifter’s shared understanding of the lift, knowledge that comes from training, experience, and trust. As a lifter, make sure you choose coaches (not trainers) that exercise an in-depth comprehension of appropriate cues, used in a manner that effectively supports the lifter.

In the end, knowledgeable, experienced coaches will always find ways to make the process simpler rather than more complex for the trainee. This approach, in particular, is a telltale mark of a great coach and his or her willingness to pursue professional development. 

Besides offering premium swim lessons to the greater LA community, Coach Rippetoe is also a strength training coach, utilizing the Starting Strength method to help clients become fitter, stronger, and faster. If you are interested in safe, professional one on one coaching, contact us today. 

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post What are the qualities of a good coach? appeared first on One with the Water.

“As a coach, teaching a lifter to perform potentially complex, multi-joint exercises correctly and consistently is a skill.”

Besides offering premium swim lessons to the greater LA community, Coach Rippetoe is also a strength training coach, utilizing the Starting Strength method to help clients become fitter, stronger, and faster.

We’ve discussed Starting Strength methods many times before on the blog, but if you aren’t familiar with the tenets of the program, here is a quick refresher.

“Starting Strength System makes use of the most basic movement patterns that work the entire body as a coordinated system, gradually increasing loads that make the whole body stronger, in a logical, understandable, time-tested manner – the way athletes have gotten stronger for millennia.” – About Starting Strength

The foundational exercises of Starting Strength are the Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench Press, and Power Clean/Power Snatch. (Below is a list of articles on our blog discussing the various exercises and proper techniques). Unfortunately, if these exercises are not done correctly, you can end up with injuries, muscle imbalance, and loss of flexibility.

Are you squatting correctly? 
How to train for a chin-up?
The number one way to burn fat faster. 
Wonder Women Strength Training. 
From Weight to Weightlessness. 

“The coach’s cue is some form of communication that the coach employs during a lift, or part of a lift, that is designed to produce a physical response from the lifter, usually in the form of an adjustment or correction to the lifter’s movement.” – Starting Strength

These are primarily in the form of verbal communications but can be visual and tactile as well. Starting Strength offers a theoretical approach to developing the coach’s cue, from both the lifter and the coach’s perspective. Effective cues come from both the strength coach and the lifter’s shared understanding of the lift, knowledge that comes from training, experience, and trust. As a lifter, make sure you choose coaches (not trainers) that exercise an in-depth comprehension of appropriate cues, used in a manner designed to support the lifter effectively.

Coaching requires building a program that will accomplish a fitness goal. The best way to do that is to use a proven system used for over 40 years. Build your strength, and you’ll meet your goals. Use the Starting Strength system, and you’ll build your strength. Call Coach Rippetoe to schedule your first lifting session.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Does your strength coach communicate effectively? appeared first on One with the Water.

The short answer is this: It’s about keeping your spine rigid and aligned throughout the full movement. Thrusting your hips forward at the end of the exercise takes your spine out of alignment and reduces the productive work on muscle mass. The forward thrust movement creates an arch in your back, breaking the plane of your spine and making your movement inefficient and ineffective. It’s all about the angles.

Squat Mechanics

How do you keep your spine rigid and aligned? According to Starting Strength (the method in which I coach my clients), and contrary to popular opinion, the squat utilizes a non-vertical back and neck angle (generally accomplished by fixing your gaze at a natural point on the floor in front of you.) Your squat should be a hip-dominant movement, and this is only accomplished with the correct back angle. Keep the angle of your hip flexion the same as the back angle to keep the spine rigid, and your back an efficient conveyor of force.

In short,

• Use your hips when you squat. This involves a more horizontal back angle than you are probably used to using.
•  Keep your spine rigid, and aligned, not necessarily vertical.
• The angle of hip flexion has to equal your back angle to keep your spine rigid and the components working together correctly.
• An easy way to ensure correct angle is to point chest at the floor or utilize your natural gaze at a point on the floor.
• Don’t look up. You are just fighting the correct angle.
• As you come out of the squat, drive your hips up while maintaining the proper angle until about halfway up, then simply stand up straight.

Interested in learning more?  Barbell strength training provides you with the most efficient way to gain strength, lose fat, and increase your conditioning. Focused on just 5 exercises, you can work the body’s most muscle mass at one time per exercise, using your body as the beautiful system it was created to be. Sign up for your personalized fitness coaching utilizing the Starting Strength method.

Kenneth Rippetoe

Kenneth is a Life-time member of the American Swimming Coaches Association and holds certifications as a Level 4 Disability Coach & Level 3 USA Swimming as well as US Masters Coach. Coaching since 1985, Kenneth specializes in Swimming, Strength and Conditioning coaching.

The post Are you squatting correctly? appeared first on One with the Water.

Recently, one of our international Paralympic swimmers asked about ways to become a stronger swimmer, as getting under the bar isn’t an easy option. We always recommend push-ups and chin-ups. What’s the best guide on training yourself to do chin-ups? Glad you asked. There is a Starting Strength protocol for that, too! Read on for the basic exercises and a link to programs for both beginners and expert chin-up champions. 

(For a quick reference on the chin-up versus the pull-up, check out this video from Starting Strength founder Coach Mark Rippetoe.)

Starting Strength Chin Up Training 

Before starting your training, there are a few key points to remember. 

• First, your progression looks different than it will using a bar. Because you are lifting your body weight against an external immovable object, and your bodyweight fluctuates, you won’t be starting every workout with the same weight. 
• And second, the programs linked to below assume that you are regularly lifting weight from the floor – i.e. – deadlifts, power cleans, or the barbell row. The chin-up exercises should come at the end of your regular workout or on a rest day. 
• And third, because most dryland exercises for kids are a waste of their time and ours, we recommend doing chin-ups to become stronger when getting under the bar isn’t an option or if your child is too young to lift. Scroll down on this website to find out when they can start lifting. (https://startingstrengthonlinecoaching.com/online-coaching/)

Whether you can do an unassisted body weight chin up or you can barely hang from the bar, there are three primary exercises used in various combinations to develop your strength, and these particular exercises were chosen because they offer a complete, consistent range of motion when done properly. 

1. The band assisted chin-up:

“Start by standing on a box or a bench close enough to the chin-up bar that you don’t have to jump to it. Loop the band into itself around the chin-up bar. Place the band under the arch of one of your feet. Grab the chin-up bar with one hand on either side of the band and hang off the bar with straight arms. Straighten both legs and cross your other leg over the banded leg to keep the band in place. Pull yourself up to the bar”

2. Negatives. (Essentially the second half of a chin up.) Stand on a box, holding onto the bar with straight arms, and jump up to get your chin up over the bar. Then slowly lower yourself down to the standing position.

3. Lateral pull downs. These are standard lateral pull downs on a machine, using your chin up grip.

If you are starting at zero, unable to do a single unassisted body weight chin up, then these three exercises will constitute the base of your chin-up training. For more details on the full programs to add into your existing workout, check out the links below!

https://startingstrength.com/training/training-the-chin-up (For the beginner.) 

https://startingstrength.com/training/training-the-chin-up-pt-2 (Start here if you can already do an unassisted bodyweight chin up.)

For more questions, nutritional tips, and strength training wisdom, give us a shout and Coach Rippetoe will help you out!

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post How to Train for a Chin-Up appeared first on One with the Water.

First, any movement is better than no movement at all. At One with the Water, we try to get our clients started by simply moving. Sometimes it’s from the phone to the pool, other times, it’s going a few yards farther than the last swim. There are, however, several exercises that will make you feel like you’re working out, but you’re just sweating, elevating your heart rate, gasping for air, and ultimately cheating your body.

5 Exercises that cheat your workout.

Exercise 1 – Nautilus or other brands of a pulley and weight system machine: the majority of the population that uses exercise weight machines to workout are cheating themselves from becoming as strong as they could be, and they are very likely to cheat the process by not including weight increases. They will get on the machine and just do a set with enough weight that requires a little effort and therefore that they’re working out. Isolating muscles groups only builds that muscle group, but it doesn’t make you stronger overall. It can even be dangerous to do this if your body is not properly adapted to the exercise.

Exercise 2 – Cycling/Spin Class, elliptical machines, walking, running, jogging – When you go out for a run, or go to a spin class, how do you know if you’re really benefiting from the exercise? Yes, your heart rate increases because you’re moving more than just walking through the grocery store, but is it really building your cardiovascular system and conditioning healthily? You’re probably not doing anything more than breaking a sweat. These exercises directly compete for the muscle resources to maintain size and strength.

Exercise 3 – Yoga and Pilates. I cringe every time I hear someone say that they go to yoga because it makes them stronger. Why? No matter what exercise you’re doing, whether it be running, swimming, playing tennis, yoga, basketball, etc., it’s not going to make you stronger. It’s literally going to make you weaker. Your body will adapt so quickly to these exercises that you’re only going to be as strong as it takes to swim across the pool, run around the block, or hold a pose for two breaths. The good thing about yoga, pilates, and swimming is that at least your body is actively moving while reaching farther and elongating your body.

Exercise 4 – Stretching. Tendons and ligaments do not stretch. It’s been proven that stretching is like pulling a rubber band and letting go – it comes right back to the shape it was before. This is probably the easiest way to injure yourself and cheat your workout. Stretching before a workout will not do anything to prevent soreness and stretching after a workout will not alleviate soreness. The vast majority of studies on stretching not only support this but also indicate that stretching prior to either training or performance produces a significant decrease in power production.

Exercise 5 – Any cardio for an extended period. Corporations, like Coca-Cola, or a company that sells exercise equipment such as treadmills, elliptical or Stairmaster machines, pay for studies to tell you that you’re only going to build cardio by elevating your heart rate for an extended period of time. That’s dead wrong. The heart is a muscle, and the more you stress it, the weaker it will become. This is why we teach all of our clients the “Invincible Athlete” conditioning program. It allows you to perform cardiovascular-stressing activities over an extended period while maintaining the lowest heart rate you possibly can. It’s the safest way to breath while exercising. Doing any cardio for an extended period leads to tendonitis and other repetitive motion injuries. It’s the entire reason that “Sports Medicine” exists.

Here are a few more tips as to what else might constitute as cheating in workouts and why it happens:

Cheat 1 – If the force required to complete a run or weight set isn’t increasing, you’re cheating yourself. If you’re too tired mentally or physically, listen to your body, you might need a day of recovery.

Cheat 2 – If you’re not adding barbell training into your cardio workout routine, you’re cheating yourself. Having incorrect information has led to the fact that people are afraid to get stronger. Measure your results. If what you’re doing isn’t measurable, you might be simply going to through the motions and cheating your workout.

Strength Training 

We recommend the Coach Rippetoe Barbell Training program. Strength training builds strength. It builds your cardiovascular system because of the breathing technique required to lift. Your balance, coordination, and agility are a function of your ability to control your body weight. All increase as you become stronger. Increasing your strength increases your ability in just about everything. Your physical and mental well-being are greatly enhanced through strength training, and you will see an increase in your personal confidence and changing into a growth mindset, allowing you to achieve your goals and face all challenges.

Kenneth Rippetoe

Kenneth is a Life-time member of the American Swimming Coaches Association and holds certifications as a Level 4 Disability Coach & Level 3 USA Swimming as well as US Masters Coach. Coaching since 1985, Kenneth specializes in Swimming, Strength and Conditioning coaching.

The post Are You Cheating Yourself When You Workout? appeared first on One with the Water.

One of my clients transferred to a personal trainer for 6 months. She started with me to learn the lifts in the Starting Strength Barbell Training Program and stayed for two months and then decided to start training at one of those fancy cross-fit places. (To learn more about Cross-Fit, read this article: https://startingstrength.com/article/strength-training-crossfit-and-functional-training).

They had better time options that fit her schedule. She sent me a photo of her squatting and kept telling me her new trainer said, “Whoever trained you on technical aspects of the lifts did an excellent job!” That’s because I attended the Starting Strength seminar twice, and have read the book multiple times. The other Coach Rippetoe knows what he’s talking about!

Starting Strength

I took her from squatting 30 lbs to 70 lbs in two months, deadlifting 55 lbs to 110 lbs. It’s always great to be a novice because the linear progression looks great on a chart, and it builds your confidence like nothing else will. (https://startingstrength.com/article/programming/who_wants_to_be_a_novice_you_do).

So, after a hiatus from July 2017 to December 2017, she comes back in for a technical tune-up. No problem. I am always happy to make sure clients continue to lift safely and efficiently. I figured she would be capable of lifting much more after 6 months. Per the program, we start her on squatting. She was able to do 15lbs more than when she left, that’s at least an improvement, albeit a small one. And it wasn’t easy for her as she came really close to failure. We went on to press; that was only a 5 lb increase from when she left. Still an improvement. And then the deadlift. We had to go backwards, a 5lb decrease which should have been more but I wouldn’t let her get away with it. After all, she told me she had implemented Power Cleans, the 5th exercise, into the program, usually brought into the workout rotation once a lifter is able to deadlift their own bodyweight, so I figured she could deadlift her body weight at least. I was “dead-lift” wrong.

What was this Cross-Fit trainer doing with her? She knew a new squat style – Sumo Wrestler stance, and after hearing that I didn’t care to know any more. But I think what’s more important here is that a trainer isn’t a coach and has very little education and next to no experience in coaching. Coaching requires thinking, planning and developing a plan that will achieve a goal. Granted, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a great goal if you are predominately a couch potato. But this client swims multiple times a week, walks her dogs multiple times a day, and has to appear on the Hollywood red carpet several times a year. She can’t just be maintaining, she has to look great and be thin for the cameras! Trainers just aren’t going to be able to do that long-term, maybe for 6 months or less, but after that you’re most likely starving your body of nutrients or you’ll start to see that fat creep back into your arms, usually in your triceps area, and around your thighs. Two places which you don’t want the camera to see. The fashion industry just loves making clothing to hide those two areas.

The Program Works

I guarantee my female clients that they’ll lose weight, rid their bodies of fat in those two places (and just about everywhere else) if they stay on the program. Leave for 6 months though, and all guarantees are null and void.

Trainers are great at watching you and cheering for you as you do the exercises they pull out of a hat for that day – “What should we do today to make you sweat?” Coaching on the other hand, requires building a program that will accomplish a fitness goal. And the best way to do that is to use a proven system used on a multitude of people for over 40 years. Build their strength and they’ll meet their goals. Use the Starting Strength system and they’ll build their strength.

Kenneth Rippetoe

Kenneth is a Life-time member of the American Swimming Coaches Association and holds certifications as a Level 4 Disability Coach & Level 3 USA Swimming as well as US Masters Coach. Coaching since 1985, Kenneth specializes in Swimming, Strength and Conditioning coaching.

The post The Difference in a Coach vs. a Trainer appeared first on One with the Water.

I know that there have been some controversial articles about it, but the main point is that a woman can be feminine, beautiful, compassionate, empathetic, a goddess, princess, nurturing, maybe not all at the same time, all the time, but at least when she needs and wants to be. Mama Gena and Lisa Haisha are my favorite life-coaches for women. They’ll teach you to manage your time and wear different hats. Me, I can help you to become Wonder Woman – a strong independent woman – through  swimming and strength training.

Barbell Strength Training

Barbell strength training provides you with the most efficient way to gain strength, lose fat, and increase your conditioning. Focused on just 5 exercises, you can work the body’s most muscle mass at one time per exercise, using your body as a beautiful system as it was created to be.

One of my clients was featured in an article in the Huffington Post article, “9 Women On Why They Switched From Cardio To Weight Training” by By Stephanie Hallett. 

You can read it for yourself as it speaks about a lot of women that are switching to weight training, or at least adding it into their exercise programs. I don’t coach people for exercise, I train them for life. There’s a difference and until you’ve taken a few sessions with us, you’ll start to understand the difference, too. For our client,

“… the weightlifting is literally cutting through the fat. I am being trained by Kenneth Rippetoe of One with the Water. This is all foreign to me and I have tremendous resistance. My attitude doing it is not very good. But afterward, I feel really good.”

I always recommend a weight lifting program that is progressive in nature, efficient in accomplishing it, and uses the most muscle mass in your body for each exercise. Isolating your muscles with curls, or on silly machines just isn’t going to accomplish the same thing and will not give you the overall outcome of becoming Wonder Woman. Spoiler Alert: In the movie, Diana trained for decades, starting at a very young age to become strong enough to kill a god. Granted, she too, is a god, but without the long-term training and coaching, she would not have saved the world.

The world needs women to be strong, loving and nurturing. Adding barbell training to your workouts, will help you get there. Just be ready to face the gods when you get out of your comfort zone. No other exercise or tool can do that better than a barbell.

Kenny

Kenny is a baby Bottlenose dolphin, of the genus Tursiops, one of the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphin. He is very playful and friendly and loves to frequently leap above the water surface. Kenny plays with water toys, enjoys making bubble rings, and plays well with other dolphins or other animals.

The post Wonder Woman Strength Training appeared first on One with the Water.

For some folks, though, strong and brave isn’t just a tagline or an  ideal, or even an effective way to feed your children healthy food.

For those living with Type 2 Diabetes, strong and brave is a life-saver.

WHAT IS DIABETES

Diabetes is a metabolic disease occurring when the body is unable to process food to use as energy. The pancreas, an organ located close to the stomach, makes insulin to help sugar (glucose) enter the cells of the body. Diabetes prevents the body from making enough insulin or using the insulin it has correctly. As a result, sugar builds up in the blood. Complications from diabetes range from heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, and amputations. According to the CDC, it is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

Pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and PCOS, are all conditions that progress to Type II diabetes, a process that can be halted with diet and exercise.

About 90% of all diabetes cases are Type 2, or adult-onset Diabetes. There are a variety of risk factors that make a person vulnerable, including age, weight, race, and family history. The usual treatment of Type 2 involves home monitoring of blood sugar, diet, exercise, and sometimes insulin injections and oral medicine.

At One with the Water, the exercise is where we come in!

BENEFITS OF STRENGTH TRAINING

While aerobic exercise has always been prescribed to help manage the disease, the American Diabetes Association also recommends that adults with Type 2 Diabetes start strength training to better control blood sugar as well. But that isn’t the only benefit! Studies completed over the last 20 years show clear benefits of strength training for diabetics. They include:

• Improved sensitivity to insulin – most important!
• Also, reduced risk of heart disease and lower blood pressure
• Weight loss
• And finally, stronger bones

This is applicable to pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and PCOS, all conditions that progress to Type II diabetes, a process that can be halted with diet and exercise.  Also, mismanagement of glucose leads to high cholesterol levels which can contribute to heart disease.

Did you know that One with the Water provides private or semi-private barbell workouts using the Starting Strength training program? We’re not in the business of building bulk, only to make you a stronger person, inside and out. Barbell workouts will build your confidence and strength like no other exercise in the world. We guarantee it!

And P.S. – Check out this graphic from Positive HealthWellness for more activities beneficial for fighting diabetes

If you or someone you love is living with Type 2 Diabetes, contact us today to start your journey of courage and strength.

*Always check with your doctor before starting any strength training program to monitor your success.

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Want more details? Visit our foundation page to be a hero.

Sources:
http://www.diabetes.org
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/strength-training-diabetes
https://www.cdc.gov/media/presskits/aahd/diabetes.pdf

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Strength Training for Diabetes appeared first on One with the Water.