It is not uncommon to hear of personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches who do not wish to divulge their secrets regarding their methods of training. This is often understandable since many newcomers (and often people who have been in the game for many years) want to know what someone who is successful is doing and then copy it.
These individuals don’t care about understanding the details or fine points of the training. They simply want to know what they should do so that they too can be successful. In such cases, it’s not surprising to have strength and conditioning coaches and trainers keep secrets from those who merely wish to copy, especially when they do not give credit to the work done by the other person.
However, a truly successful training program cannot be copied. A successful program must be understood and then elements of the program incorporated if they fit your situation. A great program must be understood because it is usually based on the key principles of training as for example, individuality.
The training program must be adapted to a particular athlete at a particular stage in his development. The exercises, sets and reps, length of time on a particular program, the type of exercise program used, etc., must be based on the individual and his needs, not on a set number of exercises, sets, reps, etc.
And When a coach, trainer, or strength and conditioning coach understands the different types of training and how they should be applied to a particular athlete, he or she will find great success. Merely doing a set program and having everyone on the same program may bring success to a few, but many will not get the results desired.
It is for this reason that there are no secrets to a successful training program. It is not like blueprints for building a particular structure. These can be copied as they are finite factors. Training an athlete is much different. It is in a constant state of flux.
A successful coach or specialist in a particular sport must know the most effective technique for executing the sports skills as well as the specialized exercises that the athlete needs for correcting and enhancing his technique. He must know not only the gross elements of the program but also all the fine points that are needed to make the necessary adjustments as the athlete progresses in the program.
More specifically, he or she should know which specialized strength and explosive exercises are needed, how they should be done, how long they should be used, when they should be changed or modified, which workout regimes are best to use, how long to stay on each regime, when to make modifications and how they should be made and when to initiate new workout programs.
This is where one’s expertise lies, not in simply knowing one or two programs and administering them in basically the same manner year after year to all athletes.
Secretive coaches or those who do not wish to share their information do so with the knowledge or belief that whoever copies their program will be able to achieve the same success that they had with the same program and the same type of athletes. Thus, they have cause for worry if they wish to maintain their present status.
However, the truly successful coach does not have such fears as he knows that the other individual will never be able to implement his program in the same manner because they do not have the understanding needed. In addition, they will not have the ability to make the necessary program changes when and how they are called for.
Another factor that must be considered is the level of talent present on a team. Often a successful team will excel if it has excellent players, superior to their opponents and/or peers. In such cases the team excels not so much because of their program but because of their talent. This is substantiated by the results achieved by many athletes.
For example, because of the training done by the team, some of the athletes may have become slower, not faster. But they may still be capable of outdoing their opponents in sports such as football and lacrosse and soccer because of their better cutting actions.
If the team copied the speed training program they may end up making their athletes slower and poorer players when their cutting abilities are not as sharp. Copying the training program in such cases will not make teams better!
For more information on this topic read Build a Better Athlete and Secrets of Russian Sports Fitness and Training.