Trust The Process

​In this episode I explore on of THE most important things you need to be aware of when working with a coach, trainer or following a structured training plan.

​Chapters

0:00:00 Introduction to the importance of trusting the process
0:01:23 Lack of clear roadmap and trust in the coaching process
0:02:20 The analogy of a jigsaw puzzle and trusting the coaches
0:03:16 Advice to trust the process and focus on the present
0:04:05 The payoff of trusting the process in the final weeks
0:05:20 The importance of trusting the process for hikers
0:05:59 Consequences of deviating from the prescribed training plan
0:07:01 Requirement to trust the process when working with a coach
0:07:46 Advice to fully commit and trust the process for best results.
0:09:24 Evaluating Training Plans for Hiking Goals
0:10:04 Assessing Coaches' Long-Term Plans and Clear Explanations

Transcript

Introduction to the importance of trusting the process

[0:00] Hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. So, in today's episode, we are covering episode number 10 of this 20-episode mini-series, 20 Lessons Learned Through 20 Weeks of Training.
And today, we are talking about a really, really, really important subject for any hiker who's following a training plan or who is working with a coach, and that is trust the process.
So, let me tell you the story and kind of where this came from. So, basically, you know, through this training process, we had 20 weeks of intense training, taking me from an absolute beginner to actually stepping in a ring and competing at the end of the 20 weeks, at the very, very start of that process, it was all pretty overwhelming.
Just purely to think, you know, starting from absolute beginner, day one, completely out of my comfort zone.
I didn't even literally know how to stand, you know, properly in this situation or how to hold my posture or whatever it may be.
I was a complete newbie, completely out of my comfort zone.
And initially in the first, you know, day and weeks or whatever it may be, it was kind of feeling pretty overwhelming just to think, look, in 20 weeks time, I've somehow got to learn all of these things.
I've got to learn all of these different disciplines, all of these different bits and pieces.
I've got to build my fitness, my strength. I've got to learn how to do X, Y, and Z, a hundred different things.
So ultimately, the final day, I could kind of step into this ring and this competition and feel confident that I was in a good position.
It was ultimately really, really overwhelming initially.

Lack of clear roadmap and trust in the coaching process

[1:23] And from the get-go, when we first started up in the first week or so, we were given some general instructions on how the process was going to work, what was expected from us, kind of how the weeks were going to work, and what sessions were going to fit in, and all of that.

[1:37] But in all honesty, we weren't given a clear roadmap. It wasn't like, hey, over 20 weeks, week one, we're doing this, week two, we're doing this, week three, we're doing this, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. These are the ways things are going to break it up.
These are all the elements we're going to be learning. These are all the techniques we're going to be learning and all of that. We weren't given a clear roadmap around them.
And it was honestly really, really intentional. But in the moment, it was kind of a little bit overwhelming because things weren't just laid out for us.
Like we were kind of in a bit of a question mark about how things were going and this and that.
And in the early days, in the first week and multiple times through the process, our coach kind of brought this up and said something that was really, really, really important because this was, yeah, it was just so crucial.

The analogy of a jigsaw puzzle and trusting the coaches

[2:20] He basically sort of said, look, you know, this process as you're coming through the training, it's going to be like a jigsaw puzzle in the sense that we have a hundred different pieces that we need to put together to ultimately get to the end result but the tricky thing with this.

[2:35] Jigsaw puzzle is you as a trainer are trying to do this puzzle blind you cannot see the end result you don't know what's happening you cannot see how many pieces there are to come together you have no idea what you need to be doing or how you're going to get this end result whatever that that may be.
But you have to trust that your coaches know.
You have to trust that we have a plan for you, that we've done this numerous, numerous, numerous times.
And even though you personally cannot see the puzzle or even understand it at this stage, that's fine because we can.
And you have to trust that we will lead you where you need to be.

Advice to trust the process and focus on the present

[3:16] Now, ultimately, what he was saying here was, you know, you just need to trust the process.
Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't start worrying about things which you're not doing right now, which you've seen on TV or seen on social media.
Don't start questioning why you're doing things a certain way.
Maybe a friend said, do this like this. Maybe you read in a magazine, do something like this, but we're doing something a little bit different.
Or start worrying about when we're going to incorporate certain things that you kind of think are important, but we're not doing that yet.
Just focus on what we're asking you to do in the moment.
Trust that them as coaches, they knew what they were doing, that you came to them for a reason, that they were the experts.
And they just put our attention, our time, and our energy into what really mattered, the things that they were asking us to do, and just do the work that was laid out for us.

The payoff of trusting the process in the final weeks

[4:05] Now, this was really, really, really resonated with me, because this is something, and I'll go into in a moment, but this is something I tell my clients and my hikers all the time.
So I was like, you know what? Yes, this is what I'm going to do.
I'm just going to trust the process.
I'm going to to put my hair, do what they sort of said. And ultimately this paid off. Week after week after week, things slowly kind of came together.
All coming to a head where it almost sort of just fell together perfectly in the final weeks.
We had 20 weeks of getting ready. It wouldn't have made any sense just overwhelm us and give us everything we needed in the first five, six, seven, even 10 weeks.

[4:39] Because we needed to peak, we needed to get to the point where we had a particular end date in mind, and we needed to be ready there.
And ultimately, about two to three weeks out from that, everything kind of fell into place. And I was like, ah, I know why people did that.
I know, you know, all of this, you know, this is how this works, and all of that.
And ultimately in hindsight after competing in the event and also watching back all the all the different uh you know competitions and thinking about the training for me in hindsight it was really clear why certain things are being done and and how the whole process came together as a whole even though during the process there was a bit of a question mark i was like i'm not really sure what's going on here or why we're doing this or whatever may be but it all came together because because our coaches had a plan.

The importance of trusting the process for hikers

[5:20] And this, for me, was really, really important. But for any hiker who is listening to this, who is following a training program or working with a coach, this is such an important subject.
Trust the process.
Ultimately, if you have hired someone to help you, either to work directly with a coach or follow a specific training plan, you need to trust that they know what they're doing.
You need to trust that they have a plan. You need to trust that they're kind of thinking as a whole to kind of cover all the things you need and bring it to a head at a certain point.

[5:55] You need to trust it. Because ultimately, if you're working with a coach or

Consequences of deviating from the prescribed training plan

[5:59] following a structured training plan, and you just kind of start changing things randomly, maybe they ask you to do a workout a certain way, and you're like, I don't really like that. Maybe I'm just going to do something which kind of seems similar.
Or maybe they're asking to work you at a certain intensity saying, hey, I don't want you to go too difficult on this.
And you decide, you know what, that's too easy. I'm just going to absolutely flog myself.
Or maybe you're like, you know what, I'm going to replace this session with something else or whatever.
Or just start picking and choosing what you're doing out of the kind of, you know, what's going on, ultimately, you may never really complete that jigsaw puzzle in the end.
Ultimately, you may miss out on crucial things, or you may skip out on what's important, or you may not spend enough time in certain areas, or a dozen other things.
Now, ultimately, this is something I tell all of our hikers, and this is literally one of the requirements that we have of all hikers who want to work with us. and we ask every single person on our first phone call before we even start training if this is doable.

[6:56] We tell people, we say, you know what? You may have a particular way of going

Requirement to trust the process when working with a coach

[7:01] about things. You may have sort of something that's worked for you in the past.
But if you're going to come and work with us, you have to try your best to put that aside and trust our process.
Because ultimately, we are the experts in this particular field.
Our systems have been tried and developed with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of success stories.
There are particular reasons why we do every single thing in our program the way that we do.
Yes, you can absolutely ask questions. Yes, we can absolutely adapt things around your personal needs and your situation.
But ultimately, you're going to have to trust our process.
And if you can trust what we're giving you, follow the instructions that are laid out and consistently do that, that's when we're going to see the best results at the end. And we ask all our hikers this.

Advice to fully commit and trust the process for best results.

[7:46] Such an important thing. So ultimately my advice to you listening today, if you are working with a coach, a personal trainer, if you're following a structured training program or whatever may to get the best results of it, ultimately just go all in, follow the instructions to a tee, do it the way it's laid out, really trust the process is there.
And this is where you're going to see the best results for you.

[8:09] Now, one caveat to this, and I do have to mention is, you know, Now, obviously, if you're going to trust someone's process, you need to be confident that your coach does have a plan for you or that your training plan is relevant for your goals.
Because, you know, there's a tricky thing in the fitness industry where a lot of coaches, they don't really do much planning.
They're just doing random sessions here and there and just kind of giving people good random workouts.
Or there's a lot of training plans out there where you'll download a plan and ultimately it's for someone, it's more relevant for someone who's bodybuilding than hiking or whatever it may be.
So, you know, it can often be hard to tell these things. So, I'm not going to go into massive detail on this, but, you know, to give you a couple of ideas to kind of figure this out. For a training plan, it's kind of pretty simple.
Just ask yourself, you know, was this training plan designed for a hiker who's doing a similar goal for myself?
If you're working off a training plan which is for bodybuilding, if you're working just a generic training plan you got from a gym, if you're working off a training plan that's maybe for runners or swimmers or cyclists or whatever it may be, you know what, they may not be super relevant for you.
The same thing for a similar goal to myself. Are you training for a day hike?
Is this training plan asking you to get ready for a mountaineering expedition or whatever it may be?
Just make sure you're following a plan which is designed for a hiker and something that's relatively similar for yourself.

Evaluating Training Plans for Hiking Goals

[9:24] If so, you know, that should be good enough. Obviously, there's a few other things you have to look in there. Not all plans are created equal, but that's good enough.
Now, for a coach and for a personal trainer, this can be a little bit trickier because, you know, in the moment, you kind of, you trust that they do have a plan.
But as I said before, a lot of coaches, a lot of trainers, they don't even plan the sessions in the day, let alone a long-term plan. So, a lot of, something a lot of people do.
So, really, it can can be a little bit trickier, but probably what I would say is just ask them, just casually, like what's the one long-term plan to get you towards X?
So your hiking goal or getting on top of your knee or whatever it may be.
Just ask them that casually. And it doesn't have to be like, you know, obviously not grilling them on the specifics, but it's just a bit of a broad strokes idea.
​
Assessing Coaches' Long-Term Plans and Clear Explanations

[10:04] And then this is where it does get a bit tricky because good coaches, they'll be able to give you clear, concise explanation here around, okay, you know what, you know, we've got 20 weeks to kind of get you where you need to be.
You know, over time, we're going to slowly ramp up your intensity we're going to make sure we incorporate some elevation around this week we're going to you know slowly build up your hiking ultimately peaking with you know getting you to this pack weight and this distance and with our strength training and you know bit by bit by bit we're going to build it up so everything's support you know you'll get the broad strokes they won't go into specific details but if it's clear and concise happy days now the tricky thing here is average coaches or coaches who don't really have a plan they are really really really good at just spewing a load of bull together in all honesty and they'll just talk and talk and talk walk around the thing.
And as you, as a trainer, you may not be able to tell if that makes sense or not because personal trainers are really good at this.
So, I would sort of say, just listen to the explanation.
You know, if you finish with their explanation and it seems clear and it makes sense, then, you know, it should honestly be good enough.
But if it ends up being like they talk for five minutes, you're like, that was just a bunch of random things thrown together.
I don't really see us doing any of that right now or whatever it may be.
You know, then the question's like, like, oh, you know what, you know, maybe they don't have a plan for me.
And then I'm going to kind of, you know, have a decision whether I'm happy just doing what we're doing or maybe take another route or whatever, maybe.

[11:21] But ultimately, when it comes down, you know, if you do have someone you can trust, please, the message of the story today is trust the process, commit what they're asking you and ensure by the end of the journey, you really put that jigsaw puzzle together properly because they have a plan.
They've been doing this. They know what, you know, how it's all going to come together. And you just kind of need to trust that that is, it's all going to come come together if you just do what they ask you.
So, with that being said, I hope that makes sense. I hope this kind of helps a few people who may be working off a plan or working with a coach and just chopping and changing a bunch of things.
Like, yes, that's fine for general fitness. Yes, that's fine for general health.
But if you're really looking to get the most out of a process and you're really trying to get the best possible position for your hiking, you probably want to be trusting the process.
So, with all that being said, I hope you've enjoyed today's episode.
I hope you got a bit out of it and we'll talk to you very very soon.

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