Doing What Works...for YOU.

I recently had the incredible opportunity to meet with some of the best coaches in the fitness industry at the Endurance Coaching Summit in Boulder, Co. earlier this month. It was a two and a half days packed full of incredible information about everything endurance fitness related;  from cutting edge technology, to the latest and greatest from the world of performance nutrition, to what the best in the business do to motivate, inspire, and develop their athletes. Of course, the goal of the entire conference (and every coach and fitness professional there) was to find out how best to improve performance in their athletes. Seasoned athletes and weekend warriors alike want to get the best out of themselves and perform up to their potential, whether that means qualifying for the world championships, or simply giving their best effort in the gym twice a week. We all want to see positive results. We want to see improvement.

So, while attending the conference and listening to some of the best fitness minds in the world, I was hoping to find some nugget, some silver bullet, or take-away that would be the end all be all to help others improve their performance. And I found it...sort of.

After listening to 22 of some of the most accomplished coaches and athletes in the endurance world cover all sorts of topics, from nutrition to technique mastery to coaching theory to performance psychology,  there was one salient theme that resounded: DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.

Some might think, “Wait a minute! That’s it?! That’s all?’Do what works for you!?!?’ What does that even mean?!” That’s a fair question. The answer is simple: there is no ‘one-size-fits all’ approach to fitness or to exceptional performances. There is no ‘best’ approach to nutrition, diet, measurement, periodization schedule or any other aspect of fitness.

A prime example was related by legendary 6-time Ironman World Champion and master endurance coach Dave Scott as he gave his keynote address at the summit. He spoke about having coached both 3-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander, AND undefeated (14-0) Ironman phenom and 4-time World Champion Chrissie Wellington. Having the same coach, one might think that each of these two multiple-time world champions would have a similar approach to training and racing. As it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth. Chrissie trained and raced by feel. And clearly it worked for her, remaining undefeated in her career at the Ironman distance. She didn’t watch her heart rate, her wattage on the bike, or any of the many other metrics that other coaches and athletes use to calculate performance over time. However, Craig Alexander was the polar opposite, pouring over every piece of data he could gather, paying attention to every calorie, watt, and heartbeat to ensure his optimal race performance. Yet both were career world champions and dominated their competition. Over the years, they had each found a winning formula that worked for them, yet those formulas were nothing alike.

Over the course of the conference, we heard case studies about high carb vs low carb diets, arguments for and against different training techniques, and debates around why or why not to use different coaching metrics. The reasons for each approach were all compelling and certainly had their merits, yet my takeaway was simply that everyone is different- and my role as a coach is to help people figure out what works for them. So, here are a 3 keys to help figure out YOUR best approach to fitness goals:

1. Don’t just follow the crowd. Jumping to a trendy diet because someone else had weight loss success using the Whole 30 or going Paleo doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the best for you. Maybe you’re attempting your first half marathon, and a friend got a free training plan off the internet and you’re thinking of using the same one. Or you could be the experienced triathlete looking to end up on the podium or qualify for nationals or Kona, and you want to use the new performance metric your training partner swears by. Tempting as it may be,  jumping on the bandwagon my end up ensuring you DON’T meet your potential. Don’t JUST follow someone else’s lead because they’ve had past success.
2. Get help. When trying to find out what works for you, seek out an objective, knowledgeable, and qualified source to help you map out which strategy will be best for you. Relay your past performance to a coach, trainer, or other fitness expert, and he or she can give you a few options to try.
3. Track your progress and change course if needed. Try out your strategy and track your progress. Take a look your past performances, whether that be race and training performance, your gym activity, or results with previous weight-loss diets. See what has worked in the past. See what’s working now, and report back to your coach, mentor, or trainer. Use that feedback as a starting point to see if your new approach is working. After considerable time, if that approach isn’t yielding results, change things up and see if another direction would be better.

So going forward, as you consider a change in direction in your training, nutrition, or other aspect of your health and fitness, remember these keys to help maximize success for YOU! Avoid the bandwagon, seek help from someone qualified, and go forward without fear of changing course. Good luck and watch those race times and extra pounds drop, and energy motivation levels climb!