To Overhead Press or Not to Overhead Press

I received this question from a friend of mine who is currently in physical therapy school and thought I'd share my response here. Q. Had a question. I know that at [X clinic he worked at] some of the therapists told me that overhead press was bad to do due to some impingement of the supraspinatus. This is also something we've learned in school but im not sure if this is specifically for those who just aren't strong enough or those recovering from injuries and such. Do you do overhead shoulder press w/ dumbells or BB and what is your take on the subject?

A. As usual, this is a question of contraindicated exercises versus contraindicated people. To make a blanket statement such as "no one should overhead press" would be both remiss and short-sighted. For example, if this is the case, should I avoid taking down and putting up my 5lb container of protein powder on top of my kitchen cabinet each morning? But I digress.

Getting to your the center of your question: Is the overhead press a fantastic exercise? Absolutely! Can the majority of the population perform it safely? Eh, not so much. In fact, this is a very similar subject matter to the back squat. The squat is arguably the greatest exercise to add lean body mass and increase athletic prowess, but may not be the wisest exercise selection depending on the person/situation. Chris actually addressed this very question in THIS post as to why he doesn't back squat the Division 1 baseball players he works with over at George Mason.

First things first: Look, I LOVE the overhead press. In fact, nothing makes me feel more viking-like than pressing something heavy overhead.In my personal opinion, the barbell military press is one of the BEST exercises to develop the deltoids, traps, serratus, and triceps, along with (if performing it correctly) the abdominals, glutes, low back, and upper thighs. HOWEVER, a lot of "stuff" needs to be working correctly in order to safely overhead press:

• Soft Tissue Quality
• Thoracic Mobility (specifically in extension)
• A Strong (and Stable) Rotator Cuff
• Upward Rotation of the Shoulder Blades
• General Ninja-like Status

Improved thoracic extension will positively alter your shoulder kinematics as you press overhead, a strong and stable cuff will help keep the humeral head centered in the glenoid (the shoulder socket) in order to free up that subacromial space (decreasing risk of impingement) , upward rotators will keep the scapulae in proper positioning, and I don't think I need explain how obtaining ninja status will help you overhead press like a champ.

If you can get all the things above up to snuff (via specific drills/exercises), then you're in pretty darn good shape. In reality, this comes down to ensuring you lay down a sound foundation of movement before loading up that very pattern. If the movement patterns and necessary kinematics are there, then chances are you get the green light to overhead press.

However, it doesn't stop there. A few other things need to be taken in to consideration:

1. Training Economy. If you only have X number of hours in the gym and Y capacity to recover, then you need to choose the Z exercises that will give you the most bang for your buck without exceeding your (or your athlete's) capacity to recover. Considering that the "shoulders" already receive tons of work from horizontal pressing movements (on top of horizontal and vertical pulling exercises), I really don't feel that most trainees - especially those that are contraindicated - need to overhead press if the primary goal is to further hypertrophy the deltoids and/or elicit some sort of athletic performance improvement.

2. Injury History. Partial thickness cuff tear? Labral fraying? Congenital factors? All these (and more) will come into play with deciding if overhead pressing will set you up for longevity in the realm of shoulder health.

3. Population. Are you dealing with overhead athletes? They're at much greater risk for the traumas listed in #2, and, not to mention, they already spend a large majority of their day with their arms overhead so you need to consider how mechanically stable (or unstable) their shoulder is, along any symptomatic AND asymptomatic conditions they may possess. Conversely, if you're dealing with a competitive olympic lifter, or an average joe who moves marvelously, then the overhead press may be a fantastic (or even necessary) choice to elicit a desired outcome.

4. Type of Injury. Ex. Those with AC joint issues may actually be able to overhead press pain free due to the lack of humeral extension involved (whereas the extreme humeral extension you'd find in dips or even bench pressing could easily exacerbate AC joint symptoms). Using myself as example, I can actually military press pain free, whereas bench pressing quickly irritates my bum shoulder. I don't have an AC joint issue (as far as I know...), but I've still found that my pain flares up when my humerus goes into deep extension (past neutral) in any press such as a pushup, barbell press, dumbbell press, etc. so the military press actually feels pretty good for me PERSONALLY. With regards to pushups and dumbbell pressing, I can usually do it fine as long as I'm cognizant to avoid anterior humeral glide.

As for pressing overhead with dumbbells vs. barbells, I find that, frequently, it's best to start someone with dumbbell pressing with a NEUTRAL grip (palms facing each other) as this will give your shoulder more room to "breathe" by externally rotating the humerus and lowering risk of subacromial impingement. From there, you can progress to the barbell as long as the items listed in the beginning are in check.

In the end, this comes down to how well you move, your posture, and your individual situation. With technology currently PWNING our society's movement patterns via increased time in cars, sitting in front of our computers, gaming, and overall sedentary lifestyle, we have to fight much harder than our ancestors to turn that "red light" to a "green light" in the sphere of overhead pressing.

Note: to conclude, feel free to watch the video below by Martin Rooney. Hopefully, you can read the central message portrayed:

Understanding Competing Demands, Part Deux: A Sample Workout

On Wednesday, I touched on competing demands and how these will affect the quantity, and quality, of the training stressors appropriately applied to athletes and general fitness enthusiasts alike. I used myself as an example of making a major mistake in attempting to obliterate a great athlete while not understanding everything he was facing outside the gym walls of SAPT. You can read it here in case you missed it. Getting right to it, below is a sample lower body workout I may use with an athlete who is performing sprints and change-of-direction training with his or her sports team, throwing/hitting two days per week, and maybe getting in a lift or two under the watch of his high school coach. There are obviously countless scenarios that would affect the individualized programming of the specific athlete, but the one below should at least give you an idea.

A) Trap Bar Deadlift

*

1x3, then 1x3@90% weight used in set 1

B1) DB Split Squat ISO Hold B2) ½ Kneeling SA Cable or Band Row

**

2-3x5/side hold :5

3x8/side

C1) DL Hip Thrust, Back+Feet Elevated

***

C2) Sandbag Walkover C3) Side-Lying Wallslide with Slider

2x8 hold :5 2x6 2x8/side

D) Sledge Swings or EASY Prowler Push

2-3x10/side or 3 Trips

*Work up to one "heavy" set of three, and then do one more set of three at 90% of the last weight used. **Even though this session would be considered "lower body," I added this because I really feel people can't get enough horizontal pulling. Especially with the unilateral version you receive a bit of added core stability and thoracic mobility to boot. ***Your butt cheeks should feel like they're about to fall off the bone if you do these correctly.

B1) Split Squat ISO

B2) 1/2 Kneeling SA Band Row

C1) DL Hip Thrust, Back+Feet Elevated

C3) Side-Lying Wallslide with Slider

D) Sledge Swings

The above program will provide plenty training stimulus to elicit positive strength adaptations, while at the same time not fatiguing the athlete to the point of sending him or her backwards. Also, while I didn't list them, there would also be plenty of mobilization drills to help "undue" the crappy positioning and imbalances that the athlete accrues throughout the week.

With the trap bar deadlift, you'll receive a solid dose of work for the entire posterior chain while still giving the quads plenty stimuli (as the trap bar deadlift engages the quads a bit more than conventional deads), along with some healthy compressive stress (which the spine tends to handle better than shear stress).

The accessory work will hit most of the things that athletes fail to receive from their other spheres of training, namely:

• Glute strength and endurance (which, unless you're first name is Don, and last name Juan, there's about a 110% chance you lack these)
• Scapular retraction and depression
• Serratus anterior work
• The lateral subsystem (QL, adductor complex, and glute medius)
• Light conditioning (with the sledge or prowler) that should "wake-up" the athlete more than anything as opposed to some insane glycolytic session

In all honesty, I tried to come up with a clever way to end this post but...I got nothin'.

Keep’um tucked…

Question:Do you have any research that says that elbows out pushups can cause injury or are less beneficial than elbows in?

Is it ever OK to do an elbows out pushup?

Jack

Answer:

Hi Jack:

Thanks for the question!  Yes, there’s a bunch of research out there that supports the importance of keeping the elbows tucked during the pushup, most of which is found in health-science related journals that you have to pay for…but why pay when we can give it to you for free; Steve does a great job diagnosing the pushup, HERE! 

My quick concise answer to your questions regarding the injury implications of performing pushups incorrectly is, yes, you’re putting yourself in a compromised position by letting the elbows flare.  Not only are you creating all sorts of torque around the GH joint, but your scapular stability is compromised as well.  It may not happen immediately, but over time, you’ll likely develop an injury from the repetitive stress.  Not to mention the countless other imbalances being created by absorbing and producing force incorrectly.  

Additionally, from a performance standpoint, it’s certainly not advantageous to the press with flare.  Case and point, the picture below of some Detroit Lions linemen jamming the tackling sled…no elbow flare there…

  But celebrate with flare…absolutely…

Finally, do I ever think it’s okay to perform an elbow flared pushup…not really.  The only circumstance that I’d turn my head is during a testing scenario.  Well, let me qualify that, a testing scenario that I’m not conducting.  This may be applicable to military personnel.  If they are going to let you flare, and you’re more accustomed to this style, I’d probably roll the dice.  Conversely, if I’m testing athletes or the general pop at SAPT, less is more in my opinion; I’d rather see 5 perfect reps than 30 crappy ones. 

 Just keep’um tucked…

Chris

Understanding the Competing Demands of Your Athletes

I'll never forget my first major lesson in programming for athletes. I had been writing training plans for the athletes and general fitness clientele at SAPT for a couple months at this point, when Chris told me to write the next wave for one of our baseball guys. Now, this particular high school senior definitely fell to the right of the athletic bell curve: he was on scholarship to play baseball for a SEC Division I university (which he is currently doing), was right on track to win the region in wrestling (which he did), and carried a general sense of "I'm gonna make you crap the back of your pants if you get in my way" about him when he pushed the prowler.

This being the case, my first thought when Chris told me to write his next wave was, "Sweet! I'm gonna get to have a lot of fun with this guy." I eagerly sat down at my computer, cup of coffee in my left hand, while my right hand performed arts of wizardry (that would be, using the mouse to spray excellence all over the programming template).

For his first lower body day, I gave him some loaded jump squats and med ball work, followed up by multiple sets of heavy squats, then some speed deadlifts, followed by some high volume unilateral work and core stability exercises, with a decent chunk of hip dominant accessory work to bring up the rear. It was the perfect program. "This kid was going to grow like a weed upon finishing this 3-week wave," I intoned to myself at my desk.

Or not.

The next day, Chris and Sarah gently pulled me aside to give me a little lesson of the SAPT dojo:

"Something you need to understand is most of these kids have countless competing demands outside of the SAPT walls. In order to continue to truly develop them as athletes, you need to understand what they're facing throughout the other 23 hours of the day"

As it turns out, this high school senior I was so eager to obliterate was, at the time, throwing multiple days per week, playing at showcases on the weekends, lifting in the afternoons with his high school baseball team, AND lifting every morning during a weight training class. (Yes, you read that correctly, he actually dropped out of one of his core classes to take not one, but two, different weight training classes so he could lift every morning in the block scheduling system). Suffice to say, this guy loved being around the iron, up to the point of it nearly being disadvantageous because of all the abuse his body was receiving.

And I wanted to give him 100+ repetitions of CNS-intensive lower body movements in one single session. Right....

Now, (slightly, but only slightly) to my credit, up until I joined SAPT, the large majority of experience I had training people consisted of working with the Division 1 athletes of Virginia Tech, along with personal training a wide variety of clientele in both the Blacksburg and Northern Va areas. In both of these scenarios, the time I had with the athletes/fitness clients in the weight room was the only resistance training they were getting each day. Not to mention, the VT strength coach was handling the programming, and he was in constant communication with the coaches of the teams we were working with (so he knew what the kids were doing outside of the weight room).

In fact, that's one of the greatest differences between training athletes in the private sector (ex. a place like SAPT) and the public sector (ex. working for a Division I,II, or III university). In the private sector, you often have little control of what the athletes are doing outside your walls from a resistance training standpoint, as local coaches often demand that the players attend team lifts, conditioning sessions, and technique training (which sometimes, unfortunately, means throwing a ball until you're blue in the face).

The point of the story above is this: One of the best things you can offer those training under your watch is to not only understand what they are going through outside of your doors, but also be able to effectively program around this. While there are obviously multiple qualities that chip in to the training effect you're looking for, the body can only handle so much stress and thus you must comprehend how to aptly apply, or reduce, each stressor.

Are the athletes in performing loads of sprints and movement training work with their coaches? Reduce the lower body volume and adjust the exercises accordingly.

Are your overhead athletes in a phase where their throwing/hitting volume is ramped up? Pump the brakes a bit on their upper body training.

Is their central nervous system fried from simply doing too much, too frequently both on and off the field? Maybe they just need a light "bloodflow day" when they come to see you.

And this doesn't just apply to competitive athletes. Many times, your general fitness client may show up after completing a 10-hour work day, fighting traffic in the car for another hour, and having received only five hours of sleep the night prior because they had to take their daughter to a 4 a.m. swim practice. Their body may simply refuse to allow them to work at 90%+ of their 1RM.

The program I wrote for the aforementioned athlete may have been appropriate if he was in some sort of accumulation phase of training, his lifting at SAPT was the ONLY lifting he was receiving, and he made a point to eat and sleep as much as humanly possible while outside the gym walls. But this clearly wasn't the case, and so I had to quickly amend the remainder of his program to give him what he needed. To give him what he wasn't receiving from his high school lifting instructor and baseball coach.

Sometimes just a simple understanding what goes on outside of your doors will go a long way in allowing you to provide your people what they are paying you for with their time and money.

Squat vs. Box Squat (+ Personal Update)

I just stumbled upon a study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research in December 2010 titled: “Comparison of kinetic variables and muscle activity during a squat vs. a box squat.” Basically, what the study found is that box squatting was measured to produce both more force and more power than a traditional squat at certain working percentages!

I’m sure many people assume the box’s only value is to ensure depth, but those of us who are familiar with old articles from Westside Barbell or EliteFTS know better:

• A pause on the box – with or without relaxation – takes away the stretch-shortening cycle and forces the athlete to generate all that speed and power from the bottom position. No relying on stored energy, this pays huge dividends when you finally get the opportunity to use a “bounce” out of the hole.
• The same pause that removes the stretch-shortening cycle is also the responsible factor for why box squatting or dynamic effort box squatting can be considered valuable supplemental deadlift work, too. Why? In the deadlift you start from the bottom with virtually no stored energy.
• A bigger squat and a bigger deadlift?!? Sign me up!

Below I’ve put in a repost of mine from last May. Maybe the big gains were due to the BOX? Eh, it was still the dynamic effort work, I’m certain. But, I've now found real science backing up that decision to use a box:

Dynamic Effort Training to Fuel Huge Strength Gains (from May 2011)

I had something wonderful happen last week: the George Mason Throwers – who just came off the season – retested in the squat and everyone PR’d. I’m not talking 5lb PR’s, we had HUGE PR’s of 55lb and even 60lb (that’s a 365lb squat moving up to 425lb and a 455lb squat moving up to 510lb)! The lowest PR was 20lb. This progress occurred over about 16-weeks. By the way, I called the depth on each attempt myself, anyone who knows me personally knows I’m a stickler for proper squat depth.

I will be (and that day I was) the first to admit how shocked I was at our new numbers. You see, we were retesting so everyone could be sure they are working off the correct percentages for their summer training program. Coming off the season, I figured everyone would be down around their old max (if we’re lucky) or even below… that’s how it works, right? Maybe not…In hindsight, my approach to this team (much like the sprinters and jumpers I wrote about last week) has been extremely conservative. So what was the catalyst for all these great PR’s? Dynamic Effort Squats (or Speed Squats as they’re sometimes called) are the key to their success.

What are they? Dynamic Effort squatting is a squat that is performed using relatively low percentages and performed as fast as possible through the concentric portion.

Why did we use them?The Throws’ coach communicated to me at some point in December or January that the group, generally speaking, needed to learn to accelerate through to the “block” portion of the throw. I suggested Speed Squats.

How do you use them? Don’t mess with success: There is a pretty tried and true method to speed squat success and you can work off of these parameters for YEARS. If you are new to speed squatting try this wave over a three-week period: Week 1 10x2@50% - Week 2 10x2@55% - Week 3 8x2@60% - stay strict with a maximum of 60 seconds rest between sets.

Can Olympic lifts take the place of Dynamic Effort Squats? Theoretically, yes. In practice, absolutely not! The problem with the Olympic lifts and their variations is the complexity of the movement – it is, after all, its own sport. You are better off taking a simple movement that an athlete is familiar with and squeezing out every drop of progress (which will last through 4-5 years of a college career, I promise).

It blows my mind how relatively unknown Dynamic Effort lifting remains to many coaches. But, then again, the only reason I know the ins and outs of the method is via my colleagues over the years. Okay, I NEVER do this, so since you’re probably already sitting down – stay there! I don’t want anyone injured… Below are a full 4 waves of lower body lifting I wrote for the throwers this past semester. You’ll see that we did a lot of speed squatting and very little heavy accessory work. Really take a close look at the last few weeks. Oh, and a note about Wave 3, the team’s CNS was trashed so I took the DE squats out to let the team recoup. Finally, in addition to this mandatory team session lower body training day, we had an additional Saturday lift that was to be completed on their own. It consisted of very basic movements to “clean up” what we couldn’t get to during the two days they see me.

Wave 1: Weeks 1-3

A1 High Pull

6x3@65%

5x2@75%

4x1@85%+

A2 Rocking Ankle Mob

2x10

2x10

2x10

Banded DE Box Squat

10x2@40-50%

9x2@45-55%

8x2@50-60%

B1 Band Pistol Sq

2x5

3x5

3x6

B2 Pallof Press

2x6

2x7

2x8

C1 DB Swing

2x12

3x10

3x12

C2 Plate Pinch

2x:15

2x:20

3x:15

Wave 2: Weeks 4-6

DE Box Squat

10x2@50%

9x2@55%

8x2@60%

A1 Oblique Deadlift

6x3

6x2

4x1

A2 Body Saw

3x10

3x10

3x10

B1 Bulgarian Split Sq

2x5

3x5

3x6

B2 St. Arm Walkout

2x6

2x7

2x8

C1 OH Plate Squat

3x6

3x8

4x6

C2 Plate Pinch Driver

2x10

3x8

3x10

Week 7: Deload Week – light DB and bodyweight work… step away from the barbell!Wave 3: Weeks 8-10 – Taper Begins

“Low” Bar Squat (1/4 Squat depth)

4x3@75%

3x2@80%

3x1@85%+

A1 Oblique Deadlift

4x3

3x2

skip

A2 Partner Plank

4x:15

3x:20

2x:10

B1 SL DB RDL

3x6

2x8

2x5

B2 MB Side Throw

3x6

3x7

2x5

C1 OH Plate Squat

2x10

3x8

3x6

C2 Hex Hold

2xFAIL!

2xFAIL!

2xFAIL!

Wave 4: Weeks 11-13 – Taper Continues to Conference

DE Box Squat

5x2@50%

4x2@55%

n/a

 “Low” Bar Squat

3x1

3x1

n/a

A1 SL ¼ Squat

2x5

2x5

2x5

A2 MB OH Throw

2x5

2x5

2x5

DB OH Squat

2x6

2x5

3x6

Lastly, here's a personal update from the weekend: Arabella "successfully completed" her first 1K race - I believe it was with a blazing fast time of 17:25. She made it on her own for a little less than half the race and I carried her the rest of the way.

In all honestly, the "Fun" Run was anything but fun. 1. It was super cold outside which wouldn't have been so much of a problem if they had started the race on time, not made everyone stand there for an extra 25 minutes. 2. Number 1 led to a fairly uncomfortable and cranky Arabella (finely tuned athletes can not be kept waiting!). 3. There was ice all over the place! Arabella slipped several times as she pushed for a PR.

1k_Arabella

The Goblin Gallop was well run, as always, and they certainly didn't have control over the weather. Regardless, I think this will be a wonderful memory for my family in the future!

1k_Victory

On the Other Side of the (Training) Coin

My wife and I just returned from an awesome honeymoon in Boston, where we enjoyed some much-needed quality time together, experienced the city of Boston for the first time, and also got in some (five, to be exact) sweet training sessions up at Cressey Performance. Upon returning from the Northeast, there are a few summarizing points that immediately come to mind:

• The food in Boston is outstanding. We tried a number of restaurants and ordered an eclectic assortment of food, and are yet to be disappointed with the food quality/taste. *Fist bump to Boston for making it hard-pressed to find bad food.*
• While the food in Boston may be outstanding, the drivers are not. I couldn't believe I was experiencing drivers more moronic than those in DC. I understand it's expected to find ridiculous drivers when you enter any crowded area, but, I mean, it was literally as if the lane markers, stop signs, and traffic lights were casual suggestions as opposed to, oh I don't know, RULES maybe? To their credit, there quite a few ambiguous lanes and intersections, but needless to say we put on our bulletproof vests every time we set out for a drive, and I'm surprised we ended each day unscathed.
• The city of Boston is my favorite city thus far. I've been to most of the major U.S. cities (Atlanta, DC, Philly, New York, Chicago, L.A., San Diego) and I have to say that Boston takes the cake. Walkable, plenty of beautiful scenery, people biking/running everywhere, lots of history, delicious food (see point #1)
• Training at Cressey Performance was awesome. The staff was friendly/knowledgeable, the training atmosphere was invigorating, they have a dog mascot, Tank, who frequents the premises (see picture), and it was an incredible learning experience.
• Tony Gentilcore consumes dead animal flesh faster than anyone I have ever met (we went to dinner with him and his girlfriend, and I think he was finished his turkey tips and double serving of broccoli long before I got my first bite of new york strip down).

Anywho, as previously mentioned, we trained at CP five out of our six days there, and it was well worth every minute/penny. Not to mention, we enjoyed staying active and getting after it far more than had we sprawled out on a sandy beach for hours on end somewhere in the tropics. Don't get me wrong, we love sunshine and beautiful beaches, but this was our version of spicing it up a bit and doing what we love.

We got to play with some new toys, too. I used the giant cambered bar for the first time, which rendered me able to posteriorly load myself (with a barbell) for the first time without shoulder pain. It felt pretty darn good:

Kelsey played with rope pullups for the first time:

We worked on our "yokes" with the farmer carry implements:

And we tried a variety of lifts using chains for added resistance. Deadlifts vs. chains, side planks vs. chains, hip thrusters vs. chains, and pushups vs......yep, chains.

Not to be outdone, my wife busted out a pretty impressive set:

(one of the CP interns made a pretty amusing comment to her - upon being shocked when she asked him to place 45lbs of chain on her - but I'll refrain from mentioning it here out of fear of offending a particular training camp).

I used to think people primarily used them (chains) for the general bada**ery obtained by doing any lift with them, but, after using them for the first time I can say that on top of the fact that while yes, you do automatically achieve mild superhero status when you add chains to a movement, they also offer a very practical loading tool. I'm foreseeing a trip to a marina sometime soon to pick up a few, and am definitely open for suggestions if anyone in the area knows of a good one.

Finally, getting to the central point of this post, I'd like to touch briefly on one of the bullet points I made at the beginning (specifically, that training at CP was an incredible learning experience). If I dug up only one golden nugget out of our experience up North, it was this:

Everyone, EVEN strength coaches, should be periodically coached and trained by someone else.

This was so invaluable for Kelsey and I that I can't even put into words all the benefits we received from this experience. Considering that Kelsey and I both spend 5-6 days a week coaching and helping OTHER people under our watch, it was a huuuge difference when we flipped to the other side of the coin last week and had the CP staff coach us.

From the assessment Tony gave us, to the program he wrote for us (working around the myriad injuries we both have), to the coaching cues and tips we received, to talking shop with the staff after our sessions, it was enlightening to learn from someone else (in person) for a change. It reminded me of what it's like to be corrected, to ask questions, and to have a coach oversee your every move. I've already seen how this experience will help me become a better coach myself (hint: A LOT). Furthermore, it was quite refreshing to have my form corrected or given tips on various set-ups (ex. I had never really been cognizant of rib flare during exercises and/or everyday life and how this negatively alters kinematics further up/down from the diaphragm).

Also, the program I was given FORCED me to work on the things I suck at:

• Hip extension and rotation (primarily on the left side)
• Hamstring strength (or lack thereof)
• Breathing patterns
• Pec length (or lack thereof)
• Deadlifts
• General mobility (really Tony? Three E-series movements, repeated TWICE,  at the end of EVERY session??)

This is great because these are all things I generally tend to skip/forget about in my everyday training as of late because of:

A) Rushing through training sessions either in between coaching sessions at SAPT and/or at the end of the night. B) Writing my own programs (and, as I've mentioned before, writing your own programs leaves you wide open to favoring your strengths and neglecting your weaknesses). C) In all honesty, failing to train myself (comprehensively) in the same way I train the clientele at SAPT.

Alright, it's time to wrap up this marathon of a post, so if you retain anything from this read, let it be that it will only be to your benefit to be coached by someone, and yes, this applies to strength coaches, too. If you're a competitive athlete or general fitness enthusiast, it is going to help you work on your weaknesses, reach your goals more efficiently, and give you a plan that will guarantee success. If you're a strength coach or personal trainer, it's going to give you all the benefits of the groups above but with the added benefit of allowing you to better serve your athletes/clients because you've walked in their shoes.

It's a win-win.