Holding the athlete back vs. pushing them along

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King, I., 2005, The Way (book)

Spend more time holding the athlete back than pushing them forward.

Athletes are, as are children, naturally competitive. They are driven to success, and are more likely to do more training than is optimal – as opposed to less. You should be spending more time holding them back, and very little time pushing them on.  However select your times of pushing them on, because these are critical and effective moments.

Shugart, C., 2005, Lucky 13 – Interviewing Alwyn Cosgrove, t-nation.com,

December 2005

Cosgrove: More than most people would realize. The main difference is psychology. You tend to need to pull an athlete back to do less, and push a "regular" person to do more. The exercises don't change too much – everyone squats, everyone pulls. Obviously the loads change, but to be honest, the relative intensity doesn't change too much.

Only results matter

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Only results matter.

It doesn’t matter what you, another person, text book or research article thinks/claims should happen as far as the training outcome – all  that matters is what is happening, what was the outcome. Value this above all else and respond accordingly, with no attachment to your prior perceptions where the message is to the contrary.

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 10 things I’ve learnt, t-nation.com

1. In training, the only thing that matters is the result.

It doesn't matter what used to happen, what you think should happen, what a textbook tells you is happening, what the experts say, or what a bunch of borderline-retarded pencildicks on a forum post about.

What matters is actually what happens! Once a coach really understands this and can let go of any preconceived notions of what "should" have happened, he can really get results.

King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 10 things I’ve learnt, t-nation.com

Only results matter.

In training, the only thing that matters is the result.

It doesn’t matter what you, another person, text book or research article thinks / claims should happen as far as the training outcome

It doesn't matter what used to happen, what you think should happen, what a textbook tells you is happening, what the experts say, or what a bunch of borderline-retarded pencildicks on a forum post about.

– all  that matters is what is happening, what was the outcome.

What matters is actually what happens!

Avoid dogma – resist the temptation/pressure to conform….

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

 … Resist the temptation in program design to conform to mainstream paradigms simply for the sake of conforming, no matter how dogmatically they are presented, or how much you may be ridiculed or ostracized for trusting your intuition over conformity.

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 10 Things I’ve Learnt, T-mag.com, Feb

 When designing training programs, resist the pressure to conform to any tradition or system of beliefs, no matter how dogmatically that tradition or those beliefs are presented, or how much you get "slammed" for not conforming. 

Resist the pressure to conform

King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 10 things I’ve learnt

Resist the temptation in program design

When designing training programs, resist the pressure

to conform to mainstream paradigms simply for the sake of conforming,

to conform to any tradition or system of beliefs,.

no matter how dogmatically they are presented,

no matter how dogmatically that tradition or those beliefs are presented,

or how much you may be ridiculed or ostracized for trusting your intuition over conformity.

or how much you get "slammed" for not conforming

Make our own minds up based on a combination of respect for your intuition, the athlete/client’s intuition, the results, and in respect of the body of knowledge available.

This applies to training and life

Knowledge, experience and intuition

King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 10 things I’ve learnt

I don’t know how to design a program for anyone – until I receive more information from/about that person.

So just make sure you take any advice and tweak it based on your own experiences.

I combine my knowledge, experience and intuition

A good coach will use all his knowledge and experience to help you;

with their knowledge, experience and intuition

when you add in your own knowledge and experience,

– then we have information to create a program.

then you've got something

Who to take advice from

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Don’t take advice from people who can’t touch their toes.

Due to the significant absence of flexibility training in training programs to date, most athletes, coaches and other ‘experts’ have never been involved significantly in a stretching training program.

Pick the fruits

...However if you are a practitioner – someone who puts food on the table through the quality and success of the professional personal services you provide, I recommend you pick the fruits. 

Cosgrove, A., 2006, 10 things I’ve learnt

3. Take training advice only from guys who've trained themselves to a reasonably high level or make their living from getting results with real people. Be aware though that "doing" and "coaching" don't always exist in the same person!

The game changes when it's "put up or shut up" time and you have to actually get a result in order to put food on the table. A lot of people writing and talking about training have never had to do that. The same is true for business and life in general.

Combine their input with your input to create the program

King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Cosgrove, A., 2006, Developing a Training Philosophy, t-mag.com,

Idea #12: Tweak, Tweak, Tweak

I don’t know how to design a program for anyone – until I receive more information from/about that person. I combine my knowledge, experience and intuition with their knowledge, experience and intuition – then we have information to create a program.

If you hire me as your trainer, I'm constantly asking for feedback. Our goal is to use both our minds together to develop a strategy to help you reach your goals.

I don’t know the answers to how to train – at least I don’t know as much as the individual I train does. Between my abstract ‘scientific’ knowledge, my empirical observations (you know, those secondary to research!), my willingness to form a hypothetical potential cause-effect relationship – only then, when married with the individuals information, can I even go close to individualizing a training program!  And even then it is nothing more than an educated guess based on experience and my ability to draw out the information from individuals who in most cases don’t know or understand how they could possibly have the answers!

I don't know you. Everything I decide to do with you is a guess. Granted, it's an educated guess based on several years experience, but it's still just a guess. You have to tell me if this routine hurts your knees, isn't working for you, or leaves you too tired to do anything else all day and we will adjust it. Training is a process, not a prescription. A good coach is always interested in what his clients have to say.

The keys to the program direction are within the athlete. Through a process of self-discovery teach them how to discover the answers and solutions to the questions of how to train.  Teach them how to recognize and respect their intuition and conclusions, and combine this with your own knowledge to create the training plan. Value, respect and include the contribution in every training decision made. This has been called the conscientious participation in the training process.

The idea is to use your experience plus the coach's experience to reach new heights. You came in with a problem and together we're looking for a solution. But I need to know what you've tried in the past — what's worked and what hasn't.

Right and Wrong

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Now this philosophy cuts deep against the teachings many of you have been conditioned to accept. That there is right and wrong, good and bad. And this teaching goes way beyond physical preparation but returns to impact how you think as a physical preparation coach.  The teaching of fundamental right and wrong is evident in areas of life from religion to morality to research.

Cosgrove, A., 2006, Developing a training philosophy, t-nation.com

My Philosophy

Warning: Keyboard warriors take note — these are based on my experiences. If your experiences are different, you will, based on those differences, have come to a different conclusion. That doesn't mean you're right and I'm wrong, just that we have different experiences that have influenced us.

Seek role models

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Seek role models.

The quickest way to achieve success in your chosen endeavor is to find someone who has gone before you and done what you want to do – and model them.

Cosgrove, A., 2006, Developing a training philosophy, t-nation.com

Idea #7: Stand on the Shoulders of Giants

Don't ignore the lessons of those that have gone before you. This can save you a lot of time and effort and help "fast track" you. You don't have to start from scratch….

Training is a process not a prescription

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Training is a process not a prescription

The training outcome cannot be predicted with absolute certainty. It is not possible or appropriate in the optimal sense to give a training program for a period of time with no further daily modification, and expect the result will be known.  A training program is nothing more than an educated guess, and relies on the feedback of the outcome to guide the refinement of the training program.

With program design experience, and with greater familiarity with the athlete, the program and the expected outcome can be matched more closely, but not fully predictable. Therefore monitoring of the program and (ideally) daily modifications will be required to optimize the result.

Cosgrove, A., 2006, Developing a Training Philosophy, t-mag.com

I don't know you. Everything I decide to do with you is a guess. Granted, it's an educated guess based on several years experience, but it's still just a guess. You have to tell me if this routine hurts your knees, isn't working for you, or leaves you too tired to do anything else all day and we will adjust it. Training is a process, not a prescription. A good coach is always interested in what his clients have to say.

Only results matter

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Only results matter.

It doesn’t matter what you, another person, text book or research article thinks/claims should happen as far as the training outcome – all  that matters is what is happening, what was the outcome. Value this above all else and respond accordingly, with no attachment to your prior perceptions where the message is to the contrary.

Cosgrove, A., 2009, Straight Talk about the Fitness Biz, t-nation.com

The only thing that matters is the result. It doesn't matter what the sign says, what the magazines say, what you think should happen. What actually happens is the only important thing.

King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Cosgrove, A., 2009, Straight Talk about the Fitness Biz, t-nation.com

Only results matter.

The only thing that matters is the result.

It doesn’t matter what you, another person, text book or research article thinks / claims should happen as far as the training outcome

It doesn't matter what the sign says, what the magazines say, what you think should happen.

– all  that matters is what is happening, what was the outcome.

What actually happens is the only important thing.

Avoid attachments to ideas

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

Detach from the outcome.

This final point or mantra reinforces that we should not get attached to the way we do things today. If we find a better way tomorrow, we should feel no attachment to the limitations of our current way, and be willing to replace any aspect of our thoughts or actions with more effective thoughts or actions

Shugart, C., 2009, Interview with Alywn Cosgrove, Pt 2 – Straight talk about the fitness biz

If someone else got results faster than I did, I would copy them. I don't have a religious attachment to my ideas. I'd steal their ideas. I'd have to be an idiot to not evolve my training over time.

Less is more

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King, I., 2005, The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach (book)

Less is more.

This training principle extends from the above, and reinforces that in many cases, you will get a better training effect from doing a smaller amount of training.  That is, that you will get more results when you do less training.

90% of people use high volume training and get the result they seek 10% of the time. 10% of the people use low volume training and get the results they seek 90% of the time.

Uniquely, when the high volume people do get the result (usually for other reasons) they tend to say ‘See, this method does work!’

Cosgrove, A., and Cosgrove, R., 2009, Program Design Bible

#5: Less is more

Training hard does not necessarily equal more return.  Performing more challenging exercises does not mean faster results….Select the LEAST challenging variation for the client – that’s where the best return on investment is going to be….Keep it simple.  Less is more.