What Should You Look For in a Coach?
By Anna Brown
I had a Facebook memory pop up today. If you are anything like me, these can be dicey in terms of invoking the happy or the sad feels… today I was on safe grounds with lots of the grateful feels.
About 6 years ago - just after having my mind blown at the CrossFit Regionals in 2011 - I walked into the only CrossFit box in Wollongong to sit in front of this lady (on the left in the photo above).
Imagine coming from 20 years where your only experience of training was in gyms run by bros and the only reason to train was to look good for the bros...to stumbling in to a gym run by this mother of 4, business owner, super intelligent, passionate, funny, generous, gorgeous, no bullshit lady.
Just fucking imagine.
To put things in perspective for you, the gym that I had come from was one where I could regularly walk into training and interrupt conversations guys were having about the strippers they went to last night. Where guys would talk about the physical attributes of all of the women in the gym to us, behind our backs and in front of us. A gym where I was told by my coach that “women just can't do pull ups”, we’re built different, and also that I needed to “slow up” on the upper body training because I was big enough...This kind of culture was in no way unique to this gym, in fact it had been consistent to my entire gym experience across the board since I was a teenager.
Deanne introduced me to real training, training for performance goals. She introduced me to good technique, quality of movement and programming. She also introduced me to the barbell. She cultivated a really healthy training focussed environment that was inclusive of all ages and both genders. Her children trained along side her. She was an amazing coach! And she set the bar incredibly high for what I’ve come to expect from a coach.
About 6 years ago - just after having my mind blown at the CrossFit Regionals in 2011 - I walked into the only CrossFit box in Wollongong to sit in front of this lady (on the left in the photo above).
Imagine coming from 20 years where your only experience of training was in gyms run by bros and the only reason to train was to look good for the bros...to stumbling in to a gym run by this mother of 4, business owner, super intelligent, passionate, funny, generous, gorgeous, no bullshit lady.
Just fucking imagine.
To put things in perspective for you, the gym that I had come from was one where I could regularly walk into training and interrupt conversations guys were having about the strippers they went to last night. Where guys would talk about the physical attributes of all of the women in the gym to us, behind our backs and in front of us. A gym where I was told by my coach that “women just can't do pull ups”, we’re built different, and also that I needed to “slow up” on the upper body training because I was big enough...This kind of culture was in no way unique to this gym, in fact it had been consistent to my entire gym experience across the board since I was a teenager.
Deanne introduced me to real training, training for performance goals. She introduced me to good technique, quality of movement and programming. She also introduced me to the barbell. She cultivated a really healthy training focussed environment that was inclusive of all ages and both genders. Her children trained along side her. She was an amazing coach! And she set the bar incredibly high for what I’ve come to expect from a coach.
The Barbelle Club often gets emails from women asking for gym recommendations. The fact that we can nominate a female owned gym or a gym where there are amazing female coaches in almost every city and regional area in Australia makes us supremely happy. But if you are going in blind, in a new area, what should you look for in a coach? What should you look for in a gym?
Chip Conrad is an American coach who I have admired from a distance for a long time. One of his rules is that he will not recommend a coach unless he feels 100% comfortable sending his own mother to them. His mother is in her 60s. He’s talking about quality of coaching, of movement and the appropriateness of the prescribed training.
As a mother, I would go further and say that I would not recommend a gym or a coach that I am not comfortable sending my 12 year old daughter to. And this criteria is not only about quality of coaching but about quality of CULTURE. For example, despite excellent coaching, I left my last gym because I caught dudes “checking my daughter out” and trying to guess how old she was…
I can’t even really think about how fucked that was.
"this criteria is not only about quality of coaching but about quality of CULTURE"
I think you should look for a woman.
I think that you should also look for a training space that has lots of women in it.
I think you should look for a gym that has a culture that is deliberately steered towards being female friendly. They should be supporting and up-skilling female coaches. They should be paying them.
I think you should find a coach that is older than you. A 20 year old woman giving a 40 year old woman nutritional advice is not ideal.
I also think that your coach should have a life and passions outside of training.
I think they should be passionate, educated and experienced. I think they should care about you but not sleep with you or try to touch your “bits”.
I think you should find a coach that has the qualities you aspire to have! As a human.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a good handful of men who can teach you a lot and who run very excellent gyms for women, plenty that look after their culture in a way that is incredibly supportive of the women they train. I do recommend them BUT… I still believe that you will be doing yourself a massive disservice if you do not find a way to stay connected with other strong women, with your community. This is especially true of women who have their coaching done remotely.
Being around women who live their life with the qualities I aspire to have is incredibly valuable to me. This is also why The Barbelle Club exists We offer an umbrella community that you can be a part of. One that is independent of your gym. We offer the guidance of advice from women who are further down the path than you. We help to tell their stories and encourage you in your endeavors to lift all of the things.
We are also incredibly proud that we can provide opportunities for female coaches to reach outside of their own gyms to educate and inspire. At the upcoming Strength Camp, we will be lucky enough to learn from Mel Corlett from the Women of Treign, Liz Craven from The Strength Syndicate, Amanda Hill from CrossFit Victoria, Jess Fraser from Vanguard BJJ, Merryn and Ciel from Strength and Mobility and Annie Short (formerly of Lifter’s League). All of these women bring the attributes of what I truly believe you should look for in a coach. Even if you are not coming to Camp, I encourage you to connect with them.
If you run an amazing gym yourself or if you train at an amazing gym with kick-arse women, please reach out to TO US and let us know so that we can send people your way.
I think that you should also look for a training space that has lots of women in it.
I think you should look for a gym that has a culture that is deliberately steered towards being female friendly. They should be supporting and up-skilling female coaches. They should be paying them.
I think you should find a coach that is older than you. A 20 year old woman giving a 40 year old woman nutritional advice is not ideal.
I also think that your coach should have a life and passions outside of training.
I think they should be passionate, educated and experienced. I think they should care about you but not sleep with you or try to touch your “bits”.
I think you should find a coach that has the qualities you aspire to have! As a human.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a good handful of men who can teach you a lot and who run very excellent gyms for women, plenty that look after their culture in a way that is incredibly supportive of the women they train. I do recommend them BUT… I still believe that you will be doing yourself a massive disservice if you do not find a way to stay connected with other strong women, with your community. This is especially true of women who have their coaching done remotely.
Being around women who live their life with the qualities I aspire to have is incredibly valuable to me. This is also why The Barbelle Club exists We offer an umbrella community that you can be a part of. One that is independent of your gym. We offer the guidance of advice from women who are further down the path than you. We help to tell their stories and encourage you in your endeavors to lift all of the things.
We are also incredibly proud that we can provide opportunities for female coaches to reach outside of their own gyms to educate and inspire. At the upcoming Strength Camp, we will be lucky enough to learn from Mel Corlett from the Women of Treign, Liz Craven from The Strength Syndicate, Amanda Hill from CrossFit Victoria, Jess Fraser from Vanguard BJJ, Merryn and Ciel from Strength and Mobility and Annie Short (formerly of Lifter’s League). All of these women bring the attributes of what I truly believe you should look for in a coach. Even if you are not coming to Camp, I encourage you to connect with them.
If you run an amazing gym yourself or if you train at an amazing gym with kick-arse women, please reach out to TO US and let us know so that we can send people your way.