Red Flags In Coaches

Today I have a bit of a laugh as we talk through some 'red flags' you will often see in the world of coaching.

Episode Chapters: 
0:19
Introduction to Red Flags in Coaching
1:40
Red Flag #1: Talks in Absolutes
3:42
Red Flag #2: Barriers to Entry
8:09
Red Flag #3: Misuse of Scientific Studies
10:05
Red Flag #4: Trademarks and Copyrights
11:53
Red Flag #5: Jerks in the Industry
14:24
Red Flag #6: Inconsistent Training Ideas
16:44
Red Flag #7: Making You Feel Broken
19:44
Summary of Red Flags
20:02
Conclusion and Next Steps


Episode Transcript:

[0:00] All right, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. So in today's episode, we are talking through red flags in coaches and red flags in trainers and certain things that if you see online, if you see this trainer portraying, you know, maybe a little bit of a cause for concern.

[0:19] Now, this episode was inspired by literally what I was doing this morning or at lunchtime before I recorded this episode, where I was mindlessly scrolling through social media, as we sometimes do.

[0:31] And I came across probably about three or four of these different things I'm about to talk about in the space of about 10 minutes. And it just boggled my mind. I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this person's saying this. Oh my gosh, I can't believe that person's saying that. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is just disheartening. And I was like, you know what, this is actually probably a good subject to cover because a lot of people struggle with this. And a lot of people may not be aware of certain things which can sometimes be possible to distinguish between potentially the good and the bad trainers or whatever it may be.

[1:06] And on top of that, at this time of recording, we are just around the corner from New Year where a lot of people will be reinvigorating their fitness journeys, reaching out to local personal trainers to get help, and hopefully this episode may be well-timed. Now, before you sort of think like, oh, Rowan, you're just having shots at different coaches, you're just having a dig and just trying to make yourself look good. And there may be an element of that, I'll be honest. But in the next episode that I'm going to release after this, I'm actually going to talk through the red flags that I personally portray as a coach.

[1:36] So I'm not just trashing other people, but I'm also trashing myself a little bit. So with that being said, let's talk about these red flags in coaches and different things that you should potentially keep an eye on. And if you do these things, it doesn't mean automatically this coach doesn't know what they're talking about or automatically this coach is going to be an issue, but it's a warning sign and something saying, look, I want to look a little bit deeper in.

[2:02] So red flag number one is talks in absolutes, meaning the coach, when they're talking about things, talking about training, talk about exercise, talk about nutrition, they use absolutes. Now in the world of training and exercise.

[2:17] Almost nothing is black and white. There is so much nuance to every single topic. There is so much context that goes into every single thing. And when you see coaches who are talking in absolutes and they're saying, this exercise is terrible, or saying, this will hurt you, or saying, if you do something like this, you are wrong, and they're talking in absolutes, this is a red flag, purely for the fact that everyone has their own individual context and everyone has their own individual situations. And what may be good for one person may be perfectly fine for the other and all of this. So a typical example of this is the common one, the one that we always talk about is when people sort of say deadlifts are bad for you or deadlifts are bad for your back. Now, this is a terrible statement because if you do deadlifts in a way that isn't right for you, in a way that's a little bit too much for you, in a way that you're not prepared for, it can be bad for your back.

[3:14] But if you do deadlifts in a way that is right for you, in a way that you are prepared for you, and you do intentionally, it can be one of the best things for your back. You know, absolutes just have very, very, very no place in regards to the world of training. And, you know, I've been guilty of this in the past, and I have sort of said certain things when I'm trying to get a point across. And I think that's what a lot of people do. It's not so much malicious. But if they've been using these absolutes for years and years and years, you know, that's definitely a red flag. So that's number one.

[3:42] Now, red flag number two is a coach or trainer who puts barriers to entry in regards to your exercise. Now, what I mean by that is when it comes down to it, training in itself, in all honesty, it doesn't have to be complicated.

[3:59] Training in itself is pretty simple. Like, yes, there are levels of complexity that goes into training. Yes, there are certain ways of going about things that are a little bit better than the others. Yes, having a little bit more organizational planning in certain areas can go a long way. But in all honesty, a lot of coaches out there make training and exercise way more complicated than it needs to be to ultimately sell your product. And if you are just a general, everyday person who wants to improve their strength, their fitness, or whatever it may be, training doesn't have to be too complicated. Now, a way that a lot of coaches will do this to kind of sell their product and get you invested in this and that is a lot of coaches will put barriers to entry around certain types of exercise and training. So what I mean by this is, you know, I see the statement, a few people talk about this weird thing. I don't understand it, but I see it all the time.

[4:47] And they'll sort of say, okay, strengthening is going to be important for you. But before we can do any strengthening, we have to make sure your mobility is right. We have to make sure your flexibility is right. So we have to focus on this before we can start strengthening. And that's just weird to me. Like, you know, that's just putting a barrier before doing something that's really, really simple. Or someone will sort of say, hey, you know, you have to learn how to activate this thing, this muscle before you go and do this. Or you have to learn how to walk correctly and get your glutes working when you're walking before you can actually go out and do a hike. Or you have to learn how to do this before you can run or whatever it may be. In all honesty, this type of stuff where they say you have to jump through these hoops before you do certain things, it's a bit crazy to me. In all honesty, almost anyone out there can do almost anything.

[5:35] In the worlds of training and exercise. I'll say that again. Almost anyone can do almost anything, and there are obviously outliers in certain things. But for the most part, and 99% of the time, you can pretty much do anything as long as you do a level which is appropriate and comfortable for you. So as opposed to us sort of saying, hey, I want to get stronger, I want to do strength training. As opposed to us saying, okay, well, now we got to focus on mobility for two or three or four weeks, and then we can start doing things? Well, we can do strength training, regardless if you're completely off the couch, if you haven't done any exercise in 20 years, whatever it may be. We just need to find exercises and a level of intensity and a level amount we're doing, which is appropriate for you. Just adjust around that. It's very, very simple. If you want to go out and hike, absolutely fine. Maybe you haven't done hiking in ages. Maybe you still got certain limitations or whatever it may be, but we can just find a level which is appropriate for you. Want to go out and run this is another one like you know you don't have to do months and months of strength training or whatever it may be to build up to running.

[6:34] But if you haven't run in ages, maybe you just need to start with doing 30 seconds or 60 seconds at a time or a minute or two or something like that. Fine. There's always a level that is doable. And when coaches ask you to kind of jump through hoops to be able to do certain things, yeah, it's a bit of a red flag.

[6:48] Now, I will sort of say on this point is there are a couple of situations where it does get a little bit tricky. When you're going through a rehab journey and particularly the early stages of rehab, yeah, there will be probably hoops you need to jump through. And yeah, there will be probably barriers to entry. And that's fair enough. If a physio or a surgeon or someone's telling you stuff in early rehab, yeah, absolutely. In the longer-term pain and injury, this is kind of where the confusion comes and it ends up being this really, really great area when we're talking about longer-term pain and injury prevention because it can be tricky to define. Because if someone's got longer-term pain, saying, hey, we want you to run may not be a great thing. But in all honesty, most of the time, we can adjust things. The simplest way of looking at it is you're a hiker listening to this podcast. In the hiking context, if anyone says, hey, you have to do something before you get out and hike, no matter what distance, they're not even talking about distance, but they're saying you have to do this before you can go out and hike, that's a red flag. Because realistically, you could go out for a 30 minute hike. Almost anyone can do that. It could be flat. It could be gentle. It could be easy. It's kind of like just walking. Very, very doable. In the hiking context, if someone says, hey, you have to do something before doing any type of strengthening, that's a pretty big red flag as well. Because even if you are going through dealing with pain and injury, there is more times than not something you can still do. Whether it's a super low load strengthening, whatever it may be,

[8:08] there's always something in there. So that's red flag number two, puts unnecessary barriers to entry to your exercise.

[8:15] Number three, red flag. And this is one, I think I'll do a full podcast on it in all honesty, because it drives me mental, but I'll briefly mention it here, is when coaches quote single scientific studies to try and prove a point. And what I mean by this is they'll basically come online and they'll sort of say, hey, this study shows that yada, yada, yada, yada, yada. Or on the flip side, saying this study debunks or disproves yada, yada, yada, yada, yada. And in all honesty, anyone who is quoting a single study and saying that is definitive proof on something, saying it will work or not work or whatever it may be, it doesn't work like that. You know, essentially when we're looking at studies, looking at scientific studies, we never use one as clear cut evidence one way or the other. We need a body of evidence saying there's a bunch of different studies which point towards this because there's so much nuance, there's so much context, there's so many different variables that goes into this type of stuff. And I'm not claiming to be a crazy statistician or anything like that. You know, I'm not big into quoting studies anymore or anything like that. But typically, if someone's just saying one study says this, yeah, it's a bit of a red flag. And even worse, and this is an even brighter red flag, when people don't even quote studies and they just sort of say, science shows this or recent evidence shows this or whatever it may be, and they've got nothing to back it up.

[9:33] Because more often than not, when someone says that and you ask them for the studies they're quoting, they'll either not be able to give you a study, or even worse, they'll sometimes give you a study and it doesn't say anything related to what they're claiming. So these are red flags. If someone's talking about scientific evidence, absolutely fine. But typically, we want to be looking at making sure they're not saying proves or debunks. That's usually something to look out for. Making sure they're not just using a single study at a time to prove something, but that should explain the context a little bit more and saying that there's a body of evidence behind things. Okay.

[10:05] Now, red flag number four, this is a funny one, is when a coach trademarks or copies their training methods. Like, I don't know. I just don't understand this, in all honesty, because there's nothing new under the sun in regards to training. All the stuff we talk about training has been around for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. Methods change. And when someone trademarks or copyrights their approach, I don't understand it because they're not that special, in all honesty.

[10:38] The beauty of coaching comes from the personal connection you come from the coach, comes from their relevance of knowing your particular situation. It isn't coming from their magical systems. For example, our training systems through Summit Strength, we call it the Summit Strength Method. That's just a nice way of just saying, this is kind of the rough approach we take. I would never think to copyright it or trademark it because I'm not doing rocket science. I'm not doing anything that's out of the norm. I'm applying smart strength training. I'm applying smart conditioning, which is relevant to hikers. I'm giving them programming for their cardio, and I'm giving them recovery mobility work. On top of that, I'm educating them and giving coaching and accountability. None of this stuff is copyright material, and I don't understand why coaches think they need to do that. There's another level, which is, I guess, more of an amber flag when coaches start copywriting or trademarking certain pieces of equipment. I don't know. I can see a little bit of justification around that, but a lot of the time, people are just making these pieces of equipment to help them stand out from the crowd, and then they're like, hey, now I'm going to copyright and sell this and this and that. I don't know. That's a whole other topic in itself. But generally, someone who's copywriting or trademarking their stuff is.

[11:47] You know, they're not that special and it's a weird thing. Whether it's a red flag or not, I don't know. It needed to be said.

[11:53] Now, the next one, and I've got a few more to go through. The next one is if this coach or this trainer is a jerk. This is a funny one, but I don't understand why people don't see through this so much. Now, in me, as my career, a lot of my friendship groups over the years have been other trainers because we have the same hours, we work in the same places. Over the years, I've connected and networked with a lot of trainers through different education courses. So, you know, I'm safe to say I know a lot of trainers out there.

[12:23] And there are a lot of coaches out there who are just jerks, in all honesty. And you just see them online. You're like, oh my gosh, why are you acting like that? Or whatever it may be. People being jerks, people being rude, people treating their clients like trash, people treating their followers like trash, or whatever it may be. This, in my eyes, is a red flag. Like, in all honesty, there's probably a lot of people out there who don't really like my ideas. And that's fair enough. There's probably a lot of people out there who don't like me for one reason or another. A lot of people just don't like me because, I don't know, the way I sound on my podcast or the way I portray ideas or whatever it may be. That's fine. But in all honesty, I don't think there's that many people out there in my professional realm, if any, who would call me a jerk. As a coach, you know, you have to be in this situation where you have to expect people are going to be rude to you.

[13:12] People are going to be a pain in the arse. People are going to sort of be, you know, their worst self in front of you in one way, shape or form or another. And I've had people do some nasty, rude things to me and my staff and whatever it may be. But in all honesty, through it all, as with any other profession, you have to stay a professional. If you see a coach out there in the public sphere fighting people on social media, like going back and forth and really, really fighting people or calling people out or making fun of their clients or like, you know, whatever it may be, to me, that's a red flag. Like, you know, it doesn't always mean they're like a bad knowledge or anything like that. But if they're acting like that and they don't have, I guess, the, I don't know how to phrase this, maybe the emotional control or whatever it may be. And they're supposed to be looking after your journey when they're supposed to be supporting you through your ups and downs. I don't know. It's a bit tough. Now, unfortunately, when it comes down to this, this isn't always possible to tell because I do know a lot of coaches out there who look perfect online. They've got great professional demeanor, but I personally know they are just not very nice people or whatever it may be. So it is hard to tell from the outside. However, at the very least, look at what they're doing on social media. If you see them being rude or being a bit of a jerk, you know, that's a bit of a red flag.

[14:24] Another one to cover is people who just change their mind all the time in regard to their actual training ideas. So with social media, this is a little bit easier to have a look at. Look at a coach or a trainer that you are familiar with. You don't have to like them, but just familiar with. Look at what they're promoting now, the ideas, the strategies, the methods they're promoting now. And then scroll back on their feeds on their profile six months ago and see what they were promoting now. Then go back 12 months ago, see what they're promoting now. and keep on scrolling back and just sort of see. Just ask yourself, looking at those sort of time snaps, are things dramatically different? Are they talking about completely different methods of training or whatever it may be? Are they jumping between all these random things? Because over a long time, like, yes, training methods will typically evolve as we learn and grow and adjust. Trainers will learn new things, try out ideas, discard them, adjust their methods, whatever it may be. And small changes in evolution of things and addition of things can be good. Absolutely. But if someone is just swinging between these extremes and different approaches every 6 to 12 months or something like that, which you do see a lot of time, it's a bit of a red flag. You know, for example, I've sort of seen people go between these extremes of like, all of a sudden they're like, one stage they're getting everyone to do powerlifting, heavy strength training. Everyone needs to do that. Then six months later, everyone's jumping around on BOSU balls and doing this crazy dance training. Or maybe next six months, everyone's doing calisthenics and this and that. You know, when people are just swinging around all the time, it's a bit of a cause of concern.

[15:54] Now, the same thing is sort of like very, very similar to this. Well, people changing their niche all the time. So their actual population that they work with. Now, I don't know if this is just more of a red flag. It's just sort of people just trying to figure themselves out, figure out their business or whatever it may be. But, you know, for people who, you know, now they're promoting, let's get strong. Six months ago, they were promoting, let's build everyone's glutes and get the biggest bums in the world. Six months before that, they were promoting trail running. Six months before that, they were working on this. and they just keep on changing their population. It's not saying they're a bad person, not saying they don't know what they're talking about, but it is a bit of a red flag. And hopefully these people will settle, but you do see some people who just go through their entire, maybe their entire careers, but like 10-year spears. I've seen people do this every single 12 months, and it's weird to me, and I don't think it's a really, really good sign for a trainer.

[16:45] And then basically the last one I want to cover before I wrap up this podcast is the last red flag, and this is a massive one. And it's so big for the hiking community, and it needs to be kept top of mind, is if a coach or trainer makes you think you are broken, or makes you think your body doesn't work, or makes you think you're doing things completely wrong. Because a lot of coaches out there make a living by ultimately convincing you're broken, and then offering you solutions. Now, the way they do this is very, very simple. They will do a random assessment on you. They will either do this in person or they'll give you a video online or something like that and they'll get you to go through an assessment you'll do certain things and then essentially they'll pick apart your results from your assessment and they'll say say things like you are dysfunctional here.

[17:36] This body part doesn't work or doesn't activate or you don't walk right or you don't do this correctly or whatever it may be and you know they use this really really strong verbiage and just basically saying, you're broken. You don't do right things and this and that. And then they're like, well, we can fix this. We can fix this. We can fix this. You see it all the time. It's just a way of selling programs and this and that. And this is a tricky one because it's obviously a fine line to dance because there's nothing inherently wrong with assessments themselves. I use assessments for my clients. I've used them for years and years and years. And there's nothing wrong with identifying areas which need to be worked on. But if a coach or even a health professional, and you see this all the time from masseuses, Pilates instructors, yoga instructors, and a bunch of other things. This is just off the top of my head that clients have actually had issues with. If these people are saying, you're wrong, you're broken, this isn't working, they make you feel bad, they make you feel broken or whatever it may be, this is a red flag.

[18:36] Because coaches need to be very intentional around their verbiage with these types of things.

[18:43] Because any good coach will know what you say to a client can stick with them for a long time. And I've had clients who've gone through assessments and someone's told them something 15 years ago and they've gone through 15 years of them thinking this doesn't work or this is wrong. And then I look at them like, well, no, it's not. It's got nothing to do with that. It doesn't matter. It just wasn't strong enough. You just want to get it stronger. You're not broken. You're going to have nothing wrong. you just need to work on it. Verbiage is important with these things. So just wrap this up. Let's recover them. Red flags, just to summarize up. Number one, if you see a coach talking in absolutes, that's pretty funny because I am talking in absolutes today, I just realized. But anyway, moving past that. Number two, puts unnecessary barriers to entry to your exercise. Next one, quotes single studies to prove or disprove a point. Next one's trademarks or copyrights ideas. I can't say that without laughing. Next one is just a jerk. Next one, change their mind or change their niche all the time.

[19:41] Or final one, they tell you that you are broken or dysfunctional. In my opinion, they are all red flags when it comes to coaches. And in all honesty, if you see these things, you should at the very, very, very, very least look into them in a little bit more detail or potentially find someone else. And I know a lot of hikers coming around the New Year's time,

[20:00] they're going to be searching out their local gyms for trainers and this and that. So now's your time to start doing your research. Start sussing them out, look at them, see who you want to work with and make the best decision for you.

[20:10] So with that being said, I hope you've enjoyed today's episode. I hope this helps a few people. And if it doesn't help a few people, it was fun making it either way. A couple of things I'll sort of say before I wrap up this episode. Number one is if you did have any other things and you're like, oh, I'm curious about this. I'm not sure about this. I want some advice. Like, is this a good thing or a bad thing or whatever it may be, I'm always happy to help with this type of stuff and give you a bit of direction. Probably best place that we can sort of talk about these ideas is in our new training for hiking community group. Inside that group, basically, if you do have any things, you're like, hey, what do you think about this? Or, hey, I saw someone saying this and I'm not sure, or whatever it may be. If you want to come into that group, post it up, I'm happy to have a look at it, give my advice, or whatever it may be. So if you want to check that out, that's our new training for hiking community group. I'll leave a link for that in the show notes below. Completely free, awesome group, awesome community we've got going. And then number two, just wrapping this up, the next episode, I'm going to be talking about my own red flags as a coach and talk about my own journey as a coach a little bit and just dive into some of the things I've done in the past, which haven't been great, haven't been amazing. And ultimately, if you see a coach doing this or a trainer doing these things, they are also red flags as well. So, you'll be making fun of me a little bit. So, with that being said, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Hope you got a little bit out of it. And we'll talk to you very, very soon. Bye.

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