My business is health and fitness, with a passion for improving sports performance. Many of London’s leading personal trainers will have come from a sporting background. There isn’t too much difference between the personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach roles. After all, the human body is fairly similar whether it belongs to a stay at home dad or an elite athlete. The key difference between Mr and Mrs Average versus Performance Athlete is the end goal. The athlete is training specifically to improve sporting performance. The non athlete is looking to optimise life performance! Despite different goals the process is very much the same in both cases. I therefore argue that there isn’t too much difference between an S&C coach and a personal trainer.
Importance of a performance mindset
Athletes, clients and personal trainers must all be working towards a genuine goal – this is what puts them in the performance mindset. On a personal level I had lost my own performance mindset a long time ago. The sports boots were hung up a long time ago. Many middle aged former athletes also have a long list of injuries that prevents a decent level of sports performance. Competitive sports is therefore the preserve of the young in many sports. However, I have recently entered the CrossFit Games Open competition.
Open to everyone, literally everyone across the globe, the Open comprises of five workouts published weekly over 5 weeks. Each workout comprises a demanding combination of strength and conditioning exercises. Measures in place ensure that exercise standards are maintained. Scores are entered online and every competitor has the opportunity to see how they did against everybody else. This includes the best CrossFit athletes in the world. What other sport enables you to do that? The Open has given my own fitness training a genuine focus, like my clients and athletes.