There is an evolutionary process in the strength and conditioning field that when nourished provides growth, insight and direction. This “growth” not only comes in the physical form (bodybuilder phase, power lifting phase, functional training phase), but also from our mental and personality traits. Unfortunately, this is an area where most coaches fail. I’m not suggesting that we meet with Dr. Phil to iron out our issues, but what I am suggesting is that many of our attitudes need adjustment (including my own at times).

As Strength Coaches our job is three fold: prevent injuries in the weight room, reduce sport related injuries, and enhance performance. Unfortunately most coaches focus on the last two and ignore the MOST important! I don’t care if your athlete can back squat 400 lbs if he has a stress fracture and herniated disk and can’t participate in his sport. Bottom line: injuries in the weight room are the fault of the STRENGTH COACH….PERIOD! Coach Dan John, who has been coaching before I was born, most recently reinforced this concept in a lecture at MBSC in Boston. He emphasized, “DO NO HARM!” We need to reassess this concept, as exercise selection and protocol are the responsibility of the coach. It’s a simple concept, yet we make it inherently difficult. Below are four ways to assess/implement the “Do No Harm” philosophy.

Get a large group of athletes’ ages 15-18 in a strength and conditioning facility and you’ll have a testosterone level higher than the sales of Jillian Michael’s new Kettlebell training DVD (hopefully not).   Through my experience-training athletes, this can lead to the “one up” mentality where form and execution are compromised in favor of heavy weights.  The “next biggest plate” philosophy where the athlete thinks, “hey I’ll just add another 25lbs to each side” is a humble lesson that no well-instructed athlete should learn in the presence of an educated coach.  As a coach, I have personally learned this lesson and now consistently remind my athletes of “progressive overload”, five pounds at a time.