Over this weekend I had the honor of presenting at the Hypertrophy Optimization – theory and practice conference in Poznan, after Dr. Brad Schoenfeld summarized the state of the art in hypertrophy research. The topic of my talk was „Minimal Equipment Personal Training for Women“. Here’s the gist of it:
- Understand gender differences. Women are not simply small men
- Understand the equipment you’re working with. Everything has strengths and weaknesses as well as unique limitations.
- Still, if you understand the concepts behind training, you can pick and choose the most appropriate methods from a plethora of possibilities. Methods are many, principles are few – methods may change, but principles never do.
- Base your approach in science, but understand that science can not and will not give you definitive answers for your unique situation. There’s an art to coaching.
- Cater to your audience. Don’t expect successful people with a real life to spend six, two hour sessions at the gym every week. Personal training is not pro sports.
- Have a contingency plan. Sessions will inevitably be missed sooner or later, so use proper risk mitigation strategies.
- Be creative!
I really enjoyed the event and look forward to doing this more often in the future. Watch this space.
So long, don’t get hurt
The Performance Engineer 