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Corrin Lemieux has always defined herself as an athlete. She’s never shied away from competitive athletics, in fact, she’s always excelled at it. Whether it was softball or gymnastics, Corrin always found a way to prove her athletic ability in her youth. However, life happened and Corrin slowly felt her fitness drift away from her as she became the mother and wife figure society expected her to become. However, all that changed when she discovered CrossFit in 2012.

Some say programming is an art and some say that programming is a science.  I tend to believe that it is a bit of both.  Think about how programs are created.  There must always be a sound reasoning for why you prescribe something, at least there better be!  But, within that program comes historic experiences of what has worked and what hasn’t, assessment of that specific athlete, consultation with that athlete that leads you to either include or exclude volume/intensity/specific movements.  What happens if you happened to catch your client after a tough day at work and your consult with them pointed you in a direction that they were over worked?  Would you over program them with work?  Of course not.  Without continued learning, over time, around your clients you will not be able to get them moving in the right direction immediately.  Sure, sometimes a program just hits the mark spot on right away, but the program should always organically improve as you learn about your client’s tendencies and as your client learns about his/her capacity for the training.  So, to be a great programmer you must think scientifically and creatively in unison.

“We have done a great job of teaching principles. But what we have found in the last 10 years is that this was the missing piece—a simple way to house and track data that helps coaches improve program design efficiency,” he added.

June has been a busy month for OPEX Fitness. We’ve traveled to Europe to educate coaches and are continuing to expand our reach with new content. Get in tune with latest from OPEX Fitness this June.

Have you ever looked at a day of programming and thought, “Are all contractions (repetitions of exercises) contributing to the priority?” If you are new to writing individual programs, this may not be an obvious question to ask.

High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT is probably the second biggest buzzword in the fitness industry behind Keto. HIIT is a style of exercising that focuses on high levels of effort for a short amount of time followed by a period of rest, repeated for a certain number of intervals. 

Sam Smith recently sat down to discuss the stages of athletic development as laid out in the Athlete Development Blueprint (download your copy here). Sam Smith is an OPEX Fitness Education Instructor and current Big Dawgs Coach.

It is not always easy to be confident as a new coach (especially without a proper education). And the kicker, clients can sense when a coach is not. But the only way to build confidence is by soldering on and practicing. James advises coaches who are not confident in their abilities to “not judge themselves with whatever direction the coaching relationship takes”. Every coach-client relationship is unique and will only add to a coach’s skills over time.

First, ask the client “does this pain you feel lead to a decrease in your function?”  If the answer is yes then a medical route should be pursued. But, if the pain does not decrease the client’s function than it is up to the coach to identify the cause of the pain and work around it.

By conducting a thorough assessment both the coach and the client get a clear understanding of what the client is capable of. This will quickly ground any fantasies goals the client may have and enable a focused conversation on goals, progression, and appropriate timelines and trade-offs. The assessment is the coach’s chance to help the client fall in love with the long game and the progress they will make over time.

The point is: Being a personal trainer or fitness coach is a competitive career. To a certain degree, trainers are a dime a dozen, and the general population has become more discerning when selecting a coach. Looking super fit on your Instagram feed might have worked for a little while, but that’s not the way to long-term success.

Functional fitness and bodybuilding are often described as two ends to a spectrum, but their relationship is more symbiotic than one might think. OPEX COO, Carl Hardwick, sat down with Athlete Daily to discuss the three reasons your athletes should prepare for the future — with bodybuilding.  

When it comes to program design, metcons are often treated like vegetables: A side dish. An afterthought. An opening act. The necessary accompaniment to the grass fed, dry-aged steak main event of the night.

The word “balance” gets thrown around a lot in both fitness and career advice as essential for longevity and growth, but it’s something that many coaches struggle to implement.

I agree that striving for balance is essential if you want to avoid burnout and have a lasting and fulfilling career as a fitness coach—but do you actually know how to create balance in your day-to-day life?

Rizzo began personal training, and dabbling in coaching group classes, in 2017 and found it challenging to build her client book big enough and charge enough money without burning out from working way too many hours a week. As a result, she kept coaching on a part-time basis and continued working a full-time job. 

It is fascinating how deeply ingrained that thought is in today’s society.  Now, we aren’t saying that those statements are wrong on a global level but, let’s be honest, you need to think about yourself as you go through this fitness equation.  

Cooking your own food is essential to reaching your fitness goals. Why? Because you have more control over the ingredients inside your food than if you ate at a local restaurant, also it’s the most economical and sustainable option.