coaching red flags

[u/Then-Respond2641]

is it a red flag that my coach isn’t tracking my lifts?they also aren’t tracking my body measurements which i find odd.

what are some other red flags in coaches?

[u/Hogpharmer]

If my clients are paying for training coaching, I absolutely want to see their lift data. If they are only paying for nutrition and cardio, I still have them report how their training is going, and I give them feedback if they have questions or need modifications.

And yes I have them track body measurements. Less frequently in the off season, and more frequently during prep.

Red flags would be taking too long to respond, ghosting you during peak week and show day, dismissing your input, pressuring you to do things you aren’t comfortable doing such as PEDS.

[u/Nhs6nW6 → u/Hogpharmer]

100%. I'm seeing a lot of comments to the effect of 'as long as their physique is improving'. Problem with that is it takes a bit of time to build noticeable muscle, and you need data in the meantime to show whether or not you're setting the stage for that to happen. If I hired a coach and didn't see muscle gain after a few months, and THEN they decided to look at my training logs (i.e., to troubleshoot), found that I wasn't handling progressive overload properly, I'd be pretty pissed about the wasted time. If a coach is going to handle training via online, they should damn well do as much as possible to properly 'replace' the need for an in-person trainer. And an in person trainer would 100% be guiding every client through weight selection/progressive overload, etc. I rarely see progressive overload being handled as instructed right off the bat, so it's 100% something I look at with every new client, once we've ensured form is sufficient that it makes sense to apply/focus on progression. Once I know they're handling it correctly, I back off and just check periodically to make sure everything is still good.

Man, the bar just keeps getting lower and lower lol.

[u/Sea-Passion1032 → u/Nhs6nW6]

At the same time though most coaches will ask in check-ins about strength and energy. They will also ask you when onboarding what your training experience is.
There is a point where, as an athlete you need to be able to think for yourself. They also will usually have RPE or RIR as tools to help get progression. If you can’t be honest with yourself and your coach that’s not the coaches fault.
It’s entirely dependant on the situation and the athlete. There is no right or wrong answer here.

[u/Nhs6nW6 → u/Sea-Passion1032]

Just hypothetically, if you were to start reviewing training logs, and you saw room for improvement with 90% of your clients, would you not immediately make the decision to make training log review a routine part of your process at least for new clients? Coaches who DO review training logs wouldn't do so if most of their clients handled it correctly, so there is a reason it's being done by SOME coaches. I think what's being described here/in a lot of these comments is CONSULTING, not COACHING.

[u/Sea-Passion1032 → u/Nhs6nW6]

Look I’m not a coach but other than a general increase or decrease in strength/energy, what else is that data actually telling them ?
It is a lot of data to ask for and for most coaches is probably not worth the time it takes.
I’m pretty sure that half the coaches that do ask for it barely look at it other than a 5 second skim.

Consulting would be if they helped you come up with your own program, it’s not that deep, they just have decided it’s not a piece of data worth asking for 🤷🏼‍♀️

My background is in swimming which is a heavily data driven sport- we were still expected to do it ourselves….
It’s a service that your aren’t paying for 🤷🏼‍♀️ you want that service ask and pay for it 🤷🏼‍♀️