What’s one thing every single athlete in the Olympics has in common? (Except for better genes than me.) No matter if they’re weightlifters, long-distance runners, swimmers, or wrestlers, you can be damn sure they all have a coach.
Coaches help transform raw natural talent into extreme levels of performance. They make top-level athletes out of potential.
However, coaches are not reserved for the elite. Everyone can benefit from having one in their corner, no matter if they’re a competitive athlete or an amateur trainee. And we can all reap some massive extra benefits from the work we already put in.
Before we look at the why of coaching, though, let’s define the what.
Athlegan offers online coaching for vegan athletes of every level and we help you improve what’s important to you. If you want to lift heavier weights, lose fat or build muscle, run faster, improve your health, or take your sport to the next level, we can help.
Jut to make sure we’re on the same page, this is what we offer:
You get a training and/or nutrition plan specifically designed for you. No cookie-cutter program or one size fits all template – this is a bespoke one-on-one service where we tailor everything around your unique circumstances. From what equipment you have access to and which injuries you’re training around, to what foods you dislike and what foods you like a little too much.
As you progress, we tweak and adjust your plan accordingly. If you get stuck, we analyze the problem and find ways to overcome your plateau. If you make rapid progress, we capitalize on that by pushing harder. This means we easily work around problems when life gets in the way and you have to travel for work, go on holiday with your family, have to work late nights, etc.
You have continuous access to us and we help you straighten out whatever question pops up. Just send us a message and we’re there for you.
Injuries, overtraining, and demotivation can all get in the way for long-term progress but we work hard and proactively to avoid all of that before problems even arise.
Benefits of coaching
The basics aren’t hard. Anyone can lift weights, eat well, move fast, and get their heart pumping. That’s the beauty of fitness – everyone can participate!
If you want to optimize your training and diet, however, things get trickier.
How do you track your performance? What progression model do you follow? How do you best train concurrent modalities? High bar or low bar, potato or sweet potato?
A good coach will know the ins and outs of training and diet and have the skills to properly apply it to your training. This translates to some very powerful benefits:
You are forced to do things you don’t want to. This might sound like a bad thing but it’s human nature to avoid what we’re not very good at – whether that’s sprinting, squatting, long-distance running, or heavy lifting. Strengthening our weaknesses gives us the best bang for our buck.
You are held accountable. Even if you know exactly what to do, it’s not always easy to do so consistently over a long time, which is the exact recipe you have to follow for maximum results. A coach not only lays out an optimal plan for you, he or she also makes sure you follow it.
You can draw on the experience of hundreds instead of just one. An experienced coach has seen your challenges and struggles many times before and knows plenty of solutions for them. That way you don’t have to make the same mistake someone else has already made, but can gain from their experience.
You are taken a step up, so you can see the whole picture. Often the difference between results and stagnation isn’t whether you run 20 km per week or 25 km, or whether you lift a weight for eight or ten repetitions. Often you simply have to go to bed earlier, clean up your diet, take a deload week to let your body recover, etc. A coach will help you approach training more holistically.
You can save a lot of time by being more efficient in training, freeing you for more recovery time. Walking into the gym and doing what seems fun for the day or throwing together a meal you happen to have a craving for isn’t how you get results long-term. With a coach, you always know exactly what to do.
Running the same routine year after year gets boring (and ineffective!) before long. A good coach makes training fun again and keeps motivation high. This helps you push hard for longer, which in turn gets you way better results.
You get someone with whom to celebrate victories and share challenges. Even if you train with others, no one is on the same journey as you and it can get lonely sometimes. A coach is always there with you and knows exactly what you’re going through – which can be the difference between pushing through hard times or throwing in the towel.
I might be biased but I think those are some significant benefits to having a coach!
But if coaching is so good, why would you hire an online coach specifically, instead of just grabbing any available personal trainer in your gym?
Online coaching
Despite my praise above, online coaching isn’t a silver bullet. There are some downsides you should know about and everyone must determine for themselves whether they would work better with in-person or online coaching.
For example, some movements – like the Olympic lifts or a proper squat – might be easier to learn with someone standing by your side, pointing out errors and cueing improvements in real-time. It’s still possible to learn technique via online coaching but, if you’re struggling with that, it might be quicker to get in-person coaching.
It can also sometimes feel nice just to meet someone and talk face-to-face, instead of communicating over messages, emails, and video chats.
On the other side, there are some big benefits to online coaching specifically:
Comfort. You train whenever you want and wherever you want. If you have to work late or want to sleep in, it doesn’t matter, as there are no appointments to reschedule – you do the work when you can and want.
Finances. You pay WAY less for online coaching, simply because they don’t have to waste time doing things you can easily do yourself – counting your reps, entertaining you between sets, etc. Instead, you only pay for their expertise and actual results, which is a huge win-win for both you and the coach.
Availability. Questions and doubts pop up now and again and you don’t want to have to wait till next training session to sort it out. With an online coach, you simply send a message, 24/7, and your coach gets back to you as soon as possible.
Convinced yet?
There’s so much to gain from having an online coach and if you’re already putting in a lot of work in your training and food prepping, you owe it to yourself to get the most out of it.
We simply want the most bang for our buck.
But if you’re still hesitant whether online coaching is for you, fear not. We’d love to just have a quick chat and talk about your training and goals, to see whether we are a good fit.
Apply today and let’s see how far we can take your fitness!