Coaching certification has been the obvious tactical play for us, for years. I've always resisted it because it seemed to me that USAT filled that void (which it does). Now Ironman is filling it (or overfilling it). In any case, yes, we teach bike fitters and I think we have a pretty good track record of generating a world-leading fit protocol and curriculum that sets, in broad strokes, a standard that other fit schools use as a template.
But our fit workshops are WORKSHOPS, that is, you spend very little time sitting for a lecture, and a lot of time up, on your feet, fitting. It has always been important to me that the fitters we train not be tied to or lured by the gravity of a brand that has a separate agenda. If a class is put on by a company that has as its main revenue stream a tool or a bike to sell the fit protocol will bend toward that tool or bike, corrupting the output. My goal was (and remains) to teach fitters the art of fitting, and equip them with the knowledge of how to use any of a set of conforming tools and software
Nobody else does that. We - F.I.S.T. - are unique in that.
What would make us unique in coaching certifications and instruction? As I watched the triathlon coaching industry grow up from its start, roughly 25 years ago, it seemed to me a lot of coaches were very well schooled in HR zones, periodization, nutrition and so forth. These coaches have become very good at planning your seasons, your schedules, your workouts, and monitoring your progress.
What they are not - and I'm just speaking in the aggregate, as a group, as an industry - very good at is telling you how to properly swim, bike or run. Should you ride up a hill in your aero position, out of the saddle, or hands on the pursuits? If the latter, where ought your pursuits be in space to grant you a proper position? How do you descend fast yet safely? Do you know what late apex means? Do you know what causes speed wobble and how to inoculate against it? What tires do you recommend for your athletes and why? What is the appropriate cadence for a particular athlete for a particular race, and what gearing grants that cadence? Do you know the basics of how a bike ought to fit? What are the best product strategies for executing the nutrition plan, in terms of front, rear and frame hydration and storage? Can you instruct your client on how to change a tire; what sealant to use in a butyl or latex tube; what valve stem lengths are appropriate for the various race wheels a rider might own?
Pardon, I sound like I wrote the 39th chapter of Job: "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Who let the wild donkey go free?"
I think a lot of coaches would feel more equipped if they could answer these questions with confidence. Likewise, how to fix stroke problems in the swim. The techniques and pathways used to teach these skills to adult-onset swimmers, which are different skills than those used to teach kids.
Are coaches equipped to help you with your swim strategy? Where to line up? How to draft in the swim? The etiquette of drafting in the water? How to sight, to swim in straight line, to swim safely in a mass start, to know how to choose the right goggles and anti-fog, how wetsuits ought to fit, how they should go on and come off, proper warm-up for the race, how wetsuits change and ought to change your stroke versus no-wetsuit swimming.
This is the practical side of triathlon and it's the practical side of coaching. We have video now. It's easy to take video selfies. Coaches have the capacity to practically coach virtually, if that makes sense. Once you start sending your coach videos of you aboard your bike on a trainer, or of you swimming, or running, or GoPro/Sony videos of you climbing/descending on the bike, is the coach prepared to extend his or her instruction to include technique instruction?
This is the only kind of coaching program I'm interested in. We do not, will not, are not interested in, teaching coaches how to plan workouts. We don't want to teach the ABCs of physiology. Not that it's not important, just that there are a number of places to go for this already.
Our coaching workshops are merit badge style. We bite off a silo of the sport, and specifically teach that. Such as how to teach proper comportment aboard the bike: climbing, descending, pedal stroke, cadence, gearing, basic fit, and so forth. Our first workshop will take place at the Interbike Trade Show, at the Mandalay Convention Center, for the very specific reason that this workshop - how to coach using power as the performance metric - grants us the ability to take coaches to the convention floor, exhibit to exhibit, and hear from every maker of power meters the specifics of why and how his power meter works. Why do we have this Interbike privilege? I'm heading up Interibike's Fit Symposium and I suppose Interbike took this opportunity to pay this in return. In any case, it's a terrific opportunity for coaches.
Pardon the long way 'round. My interest in this is not because we could; or because we have a constituency; or that it's another way to extend our brand reach. I think there's a hole in the industry; it ought to be filled; I don't see anyone filling it; I had an opportunity to leverage some very talented people into a merit badge I think triathletes will value.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
But our fit workshops are WORKSHOPS, that is, you spend very little time sitting for a lecture, and a lot of time up, on your feet, fitting. It has always been important to me that the fitters we train not be tied to or lured by the gravity of a brand that has a separate agenda. If a class is put on by a company that has as its main revenue stream a tool or a bike to sell the fit protocol will bend toward that tool or bike, corrupting the output. My goal was (and remains) to teach fitters the art of fitting, and equip them with the knowledge of how to use any of a set of conforming tools and software
Nobody else does that. We - F.I.S.T. - are unique in that.
What would make us unique in coaching certifications and instruction? As I watched the triathlon coaching industry grow up from its start, roughly 25 years ago, it seemed to me a lot of coaches were very well schooled in HR zones, periodization, nutrition and so forth. These coaches have become very good at planning your seasons, your schedules, your workouts, and monitoring your progress.
What they are not - and I'm just speaking in the aggregate, as a group, as an industry - very good at is telling you how to properly swim, bike or run. Should you ride up a hill in your aero position, out of the saddle, or hands on the pursuits? If the latter, where ought your pursuits be in space to grant you a proper position? How do you descend fast yet safely? Do you know what late apex means? Do you know what causes speed wobble and how to inoculate against it? What tires do you recommend for your athletes and why? What is the appropriate cadence for a particular athlete for a particular race, and what gearing grants that cadence? Do you know the basics of how a bike ought to fit? What are the best product strategies for executing the nutrition plan, in terms of front, rear and frame hydration and storage? Can you instruct your client on how to change a tire; what sealant to use in a butyl or latex tube; what valve stem lengths are appropriate for the various race wheels a rider might own?
Pardon, I sound like I wrote the 39th chapter of Job: "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Who let the wild donkey go free?"
I think a lot of coaches would feel more equipped if they could answer these questions with confidence. Likewise, how to fix stroke problems in the swim. The techniques and pathways used to teach these skills to adult-onset swimmers, which are different skills than those used to teach kids.
Are coaches equipped to help you with your swim strategy? Where to line up? How to draft in the swim? The etiquette of drafting in the water? How to sight, to swim in straight line, to swim safely in a mass start, to know how to choose the right goggles and anti-fog, how wetsuits ought to fit, how they should go on and come off, proper warm-up for the race, how wetsuits change and ought to change your stroke versus no-wetsuit swimming.
This is the practical side of triathlon and it's the practical side of coaching. We have video now. It's easy to take video selfies. Coaches have the capacity to practically coach virtually, if that makes sense. Once you start sending your coach videos of you aboard your bike on a trainer, or of you swimming, or running, or GoPro/Sony videos of you climbing/descending on the bike, is the coach prepared to extend his or her instruction to include technique instruction?
This is the only kind of coaching program I'm interested in. We do not, will not, are not interested in, teaching coaches how to plan workouts. We don't want to teach the ABCs of physiology. Not that it's not important, just that there are a number of places to go for this already.
Our coaching workshops are merit badge style. We bite off a silo of the sport, and specifically teach that. Such as how to teach proper comportment aboard the bike: climbing, descending, pedal stroke, cadence, gearing, basic fit, and so forth. Our first workshop will take place at the Interbike Trade Show, at the Mandalay Convention Center, for the very specific reason that this workshop - how to coach using power as the performance metric - grants us the ability to take coaches to the convention floor, exhibit to exhibit, and hear from every maker of power meters the specifics of why and how his power meter works. Why do we have this Interbike privilege? I'm heading up Interibike's Fit Symposium and I suppose Interbike took this opportunity to pay this in return. In any case, it's a terrific opportunity for coaches.
Pardon the long way 'round. My interest in this is not because we could; or because we have a constituency; or that it's another way to extend our brand reach. I think there's a hole in the industry; it ought to be filled; I don't see anyone filling it; I had an opportunity to leverage some very talented people into a merit badge I think triathletes will value.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman