Random Thoughts on Health and Wellness, July 24
In the past, I’ve shared my random thoughts on health and wellness on Facebook and always have been humbled by the response, therefore, I’ll continue to do it, albeit from now on, on medium.com. Note that these thoughts aren’t necessarily well-researched or filled with evidence, instead it’s an amalgamation of ideas, opinions, and theories that have been marinating in my head or that I’ve recently expressed to clients, this past week. With that said, here are Random Thoughts on Health and Wellness for the week of July 24:
- On the norm of an 1-hour coaching block —
This opinion, subsequently, brought me to writing a full article on it, since I now realize that I have a lot more to say on it than previously thought. However, until then, here’s some quick thoughts on the aforementioned subject:
Here’s my problem with the norm of 1-hour training blocks. Although, it makes total sense that it came to be, considering many professions allocate their time in hour blocks and the client expect it, in practice it doesn’t make sense in the health and wellness world. Sure, some individuals whether training privately, in groups, or in therapy, can use the full hour, however, many don’t need it, nor should practice it. The reason being that in most situations the client can’t sustain the intellectual capacity for the full hour, nor practice physically with sufficient technique and habits for the total duration of a session. Seriously, try and bike without excessive forward head posture for the full hour, I doubt you can.
Furthermore, in referencing therapy, a renowned professional in that domain would explain to you that an hour isn’t always needed. The therapist would posit this because there is only so much coaching, technique, and release therapy that a client can handle in a single-session. Any more will be doing more harm than good. That being said, there is a sect that will ignore this, in order to please the client that has paid for the full-hour. Therefore, these are my thoughts on how a coach should go about dissociating from this expected norm.
How do I go about it? At the beginning of the session, or more so, at the first introduction with the client, I’ll explain this — your needs supersede everything. Therefore, if I think 30-minutes is enough, we’re done, if I think 45 minutes is enough, we’re done, if you can last an hour, you’re a champ, you’re quite the athlete, but you’re done.
Do what’s best for your client, don’t just fit your thoughts into a preconceived idea, if they’re done, they’re done.
2. On the Farmer’s Market —
The Farmers’ Market is awesome.
This past weekend I went with the men in my family to the one in Val-David.
See: Instagram — @matthew_golt for the video.
Not only was it an amazing family experience, but the health implications were fantastic too. Our group scoured the market for fresh produce, locally sourced meat, and enjoyed a few waffles and coffees.
I think as an introduction to healthy eating or even plant-based nutrition, the farmer’s market is a great idea. Furthermore, if you’re looking to inject some health into your weekend — a breakfast or lunch there is an awesome decision too, especially if you’re heading out on the town that night.
In due time, I’ll take a group up to the Val-David Farmers Market — we’ll grab some healthy options, eat a decadent brunch, and have a great time, while high off too much caffeine. Seriously.
In the meantime, here’s a list of the Farmer’s Market’s in Montreal:
3. On Trusting the Process.
Coaches need to have plan and system. The client needs to investigate the former, and once satisfied with their research, commit to the process. Here’s how this should look:
The coach: One of the prominent goals of any coach should be communication and transparency, in order facilitate long-term growth.
As my mother would say,
“The key to any good relationship is communication.” — Benita Golt
She’s right, because without it you’re building off of a shaky foundation.
Therefore, upon the first introduction amongst the coach and client, the former should lay out their process, their expectations, and the client should reciprocate this with their wants, needs, and concerns. The result of this shared vulnerability is that the lines of communication are open, easily accessed, and the coach is able to solicit feedback, and the client won’t hesitate to provide it.
The client: Before the lines of communications are open, the client has a decision to make: whom do they want to train with? Now, popping into a group class here and there is one story, however, buying a training package is a separate one, with monetary, physiological, and psychological implications, and what I’ll focus on.
My advice to you is this, before paying for the sessions, do your due diligence. Make sure that the coach is not only knowledgeable but also, open to feedback. As much as I’m on the side of evidence-based training and the scientific aspect, trust and growing together is at the top of the pyramid between coach and client. However, once this is done, and you’re satisfied with your choice, commit to their process.
See it as a piece of art, it may not look fantastic or organized at the beginning, it may even confuse you a little, however, at the end it will all come to together into a beautiful masterpiece.
Here’s the plan this week.
- As of now, I’ve just been doing house-calls and doing personal and group-training outdoors, that being said, I’ll have some news as to where I’m going to set up training shop come the end of August and into the winter :)
- I’ll be releasing articles this week on (subject to change):
Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness.
On Running.
On What the Health, the documentary.
Cheers :)
