Do You? 3 Skills You Need, To Drive Training Intent In S&C

20 years at university I was shown a video. Yes, on an old school VHS, on a big box tv that came out on a wheelie trolley.? The video was of a German athlete doing various training - max strength, ballistic, plyo’s, eccentrics, using various technology. Even back then, I thought:

‘Not much has changed, this stuff has been around for longer than I thought’.

This acts as a powerful reminder, as to how novel (or often un-novel) the various tools we use as strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches are. And, how some of the best tools can easily get overlooked. Today I wanted to share one of these…

You can’t buy it on Amazon…

You can’t simply learn it from a book or podcast…

You won’t find it in a university module or certification course.

And although coaches talk about it, it’s often overlooked in its power to positively influence your coaching performance, and the success of those you coach.

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The Flux Capacitor of S&C

Intent is one of the universally, most important technical attributes people need to deploy when training...

Max strength, hypertrophy, RFD, acceleration – results in all of these are hugely dependant on the ability to express consistent, high levels of intent. It’s a fundamental quality, that without, dissolves any degree of progress or results in many qualities we all coach . Sort of how the time travelling car in Back to the Future could only time travel, with the legendary ‘flux capacitor’.

So, do you just accept that and let the programme you’ve wrote just do its thing?

My experience from the last nearly 20 years across over a dozen sports, amateur to world class athlete, teacher to accountant, world champion to local champion, has definitively shown the answer to be – no…

If intent is so crucial in the success of the programme you coach, you have to look much more not only at the programme, but you as a coach and how you perform. How?

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Your Recipe Sounds Nice, But Tastes Bad

Before you even get on to the gym floor, does the recipe you’ve created get them going?

I love Bulgarian squats, many don’t. I love a chin up, one of my colleagues hates them.? Exercises are personal and being able to leverage someone’s 'likes', by using exercises which not only train what they need, but in a way that also they find engaging, is of primary importance.

No amount of motivational chit chat and thumping house music will allow someone to apply great intent consistently during an exercise they despise, don’t find relatable for their goals, or lack confidence in (maybe due to a prior injury).? The theoretical benefit of any S&C exercise, has to be considered within the context of the athletes personal characteristics. Yes, on paper that is a good exercise, but when considering their personal traits, does it give best net benefit if intent is compromised?

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Connecting the Dots

Relatability is a huge pillar of human motivation.? This often comes from explaining/rationalising the use of what you’re coaching them on, in relation to their goals.? The more relatable a task to someone’s motivations, the more likely they are to express consistently great intent when training.

The true coaching masters at this, do so simply, clearly, without jargon and with delivery which evokes confidence and enthusiasm.? To do all of these, in a way bespoke to the person you are coaching is a skill much harder than many think. The Achilles heel of this and the best tip is to always remember this blunt message:

‘Why should they give a toss? What are they here for?’

If their goals are about acceleration, agility and preventing a prior hamstring injury, then always draw everything back to this. Eliminate scientific jargon and waffle and in this example simply express how will it make them faster, more agile and limit the risk of another pulled hammy.

This isn’t to be confused with saying you don’t use science and theory, as of course you should, but the way you communicate that is concise, linked to their goals, simple and engaging (not an in depth recital of the video you recently saw on sprint biomechanics).

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I’ve saved the best to last…

Imagine you’re trying to push you’re car off somebody who’s leg is trapped, there’s the heat of a fire, the sounds of screaming.

Now imagine the same but there’s no fire, no person under the car, and you just have to push your car into a space as engines broke. Do you think your intent and performance would be the same in the two different environmental conditions?

While I won’t suggest you set fires in the gym or crush those you coach with barbells, research dating back to the 90’s shows how physical qualities like force, power, endurance and specific sporting tasks can improve when there is coach encouragement, versus non. So let me ask you this:

Do you create an environment conducive to allowing people to constantly apply great intent?

While things like music type and volume are worthy considerations, I would suggest firstly looking closer to home – at yourself. Body language, use of words, tone, pitch, all of the things which people see and hear from you will influence intent.

While the approach will differ between people you coach, it's easy to use intrinsic motivation as a cop out.? The vast majority of people you coach will, like research suggests, improve performance via intent, through your encouragement and cues which to fuel intent. Cues and encouragement can be simple, they don’t necessary need to be shouted every 2 seconds over a whole set and they can creative (nothing is worse than a coach who simply uses solely empty encouragement - 'nice, good').

I guarantee when considering this next time you coach, awareness of this will up your game and also those you coach. We all speak about intent, but do you conduct yourself and perform as coach in a way which maximises this week in, week out? I bet you can find at least one way to improve this, it can be quick, simple and won’t cost you a penny.

Thanks for reading and any questions, pop me a DM on here.

Dave