This article is very near and dear to my heart and is coming from pure experience and also emails from other competitors sharing their stores with me. And as they have reached out to me I have tried to help every single one of them or at least point them in the correct direction and putting them in good safe hands.
I will go 
over warning signs or red flags that you could be headed in a very dangerous direction with a coach. I will also talk about what a good coach will do for you. I plan on sharing as much information as I can to help fellow competitors and save as many people as possible from people who should not be coaching in the first place.
Speaking from personal experience and being new to ever letting anyone coach me other than myself, I will start by saying that the reason I chose to hire a coach was I do believe it is helpful to have someone look at your progress pictures. It can be hard for us to be a judge of ourselves. Also, a coach can help you on things that maybe you don’t know.
Starting out working with a new coach things are fine at first, usually always okay, I think. But then as time goes on you start to question things if they don’t seem right. Of course, that’s natural and I am here to say that YOU SHOULD QUESTION THE PERSON IN PUT IN CHARGE OF YOUR HEALTH with whatever questions you have or feel! You should be able to question them or go to them and be able to talk to them.
You should not just take orders from them because they say they are a “Guru” or even just because they are an IFBB Pro. ALWAYS, ALWAYS question! And make sure these people have real credentials or have them at all! Most don’t; they just decide to be coaches, I think.
So, since one of my last articles was “How to recover from over dieting” I have gotten numerous messages from girls asking for my help and sharing their stories with me. One woman’s story in particular really touched home to me. This woman should be competing for her pro card right now but she can’t because the last TWO coaches really did a number on her body.
One coach had her eating only a few almonds for her daily fat intake while doing two hours of cardio every day, weight training, and eating 900-1200 calories day (sounds familiar). Believe me, there are WORSE stories from other competitors. Then the next coach took all her fats and carbs away and INCREASED her cardio above what she was already doing because her body wasn’t responding anymore (which is what happens)… again sounds familiar.
She is now thankfully in great hands, but her recovery will be a tough road. As competitors, we are strong natured people so I know she and anyone else that has gone through anything like this will come out on top shining brighter than ever before!
It’s the same story over and over I hear and it is so sad to me now that I know the TRUTH! If you are reading this and its sounds anything familiar please don’t hesitate to QUESTION YOUR COACH or even contact me. I am walking proof that you can overcome something and head in the most positive direction of your life after falling hard. Never give up on something you set out to do and learn from the negative things. Show yourself YOU CAN.
Things that should be a red flag to you while working with a coach in my opinion would include, for instance, you say you tell them you want to do a show in 10 weeks so they just automatically put you into prep mode and without finding out any of your history. They automatically put you on some crazy cutting meal plan where you start out by having zero carb days and very little fats at all or, heck, even zero fats, too, and let’s throw in close to two hours of cardio a day also.
In my opinion, a good healthy prep takes longer and YOU EAT MORE AND DO LESS CARDIO! More is NOT BETTER. If you go to them about any concerns and they get defensive or just give you some motivational spiel instead of addressing the actual problem, it is most likely because they do not know the answer. If they send you a meal plan with no nutrition facts – like the total amount of macronutrients you are eating daily (CARBOHYDRATES, HEALTHY FATS, and PROTIEN).
If they do not help you reverse diet after a competition or have no clue what that is. If they don’t work with you in the off season or improvement season( is WHAT IT SHOULD BE). If they never let you speak and, if you do, they get mad and blame you saying you have a low self-esteem or “problems” and that’s why things aren’t going well; it’s all you.
If they basically bully you into being quiet and doing what they say and making you feel like you can’t ask questions. Or if you do get to ask them questions and they have no logical answer. If they accuse you of cheating on your meal plan because your body isn’t responding enough or say that people who can’t eat 800-1100 calories a day do two hours plus of cardio and weight train are lazy when their body finally breaks down landing them almost in the hospital.
If they say the reason you feel so bad during your prep is because you are depressed. Or, here is a good one, and NO OFFENSE to anyone – a competitor is a competitor – but if a coach tries to load you up on tons of ENHANCEMENTS and makes you feel you have to or everyone else does it (NOT TRUE). Some of these things that can really mess with your hormones, especially being a female, my advice is to BE CAREFUL! But to each his own.
If they ask you to wear a squeem (waist clincher). Again, I am speaking from personal experi
ence and other girls’ stories. The squeem issue is a whole different subject but bottom line is it is ridiculous and could be very harming to your internal organs… not safe, in my opinion, at all! Also, listen to how they speak about other people and their other clients. Literally, I could go on and on… but I would like to get to the next subject and paragraph and speak about more positive things.
Now, I would like to touch on how you SHOULD and SHOULD NOT feel during your contest prep. I believe any competition prep should be a good journey where you really become more in tune with your body and become a better and stronger athlete. However it is NOT EASY work and you will get tired and run-down at times. THAT’S NORMAL! We are athletes pushing our bodies to extremes and that’s what makes us so special.
However, you should not be so tired that you can’t sit down without passing out or not be able to stand or walk during your depletion. You shouldn’t have to stop lifting weights because your joints feel like they are on fire or your muscles feel like they are literally going to tear because you are so depleted and not even close to being in depletion yet for peak week.
In my opinion, I don’t believe in much fasted morning cardio either. Or even at all if you can’t function properly while doing it because you are so hungry you feel sick (which will be the next article). Or doing more than one hour of any kind of cardio a day (there are different circumstances, but if you can get away with less do it).
You shouldn’t feel extremely weak or even get to the point where you just aren’t even hungry anymore or have terrible moods swings. And I have even heard of girls losing partial eyesight or getting black spots in their eyesight and hair falling out due to MALNUTRITION! Flat out SCAREY!
You should not be miserable period. Yes, going into it is a CHOICE and you have to realize and expect that it will not be easy, but there comes a point where too much is too much and your body will eventually let you know – trust me! It can literally shut down and stop you right in your tracks. Then really the nightmare with your body has just begun at that point. No competition will be worth what you are about to face.
Now onto a more positive note… these are some of the things a GOOD and truly KNOWLEDGEABLE coach will do. They will do things like actually do a consultation with you and ask questions to get some sort of a background from you. A great coach will actually get all your history and have you fill out and sign paper work with all your history and your goals on it. If you have had a bad prior experience and may have health concerns, they will have you go to a doctor and have blood work done to see exactly what they will be working with and how to work with your issues if even possible.
They will leave taking enhancements up to you and not make it mandatory. They will LISTEN to you and take things you say into consideration. They will be careful and strategic with things they give you to follow. They will give you a blueprint that is designed FOR YOU AND YOU ONLY to help you reach your goals. Your plan should include EXACTLY what you are eating in calories, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates and THEY WILL BE ABLE TO TELL YOU WHY. They will schedule check-in times with them so you can discuss your goals and how to safely and properly get there. And they will give you honest and thorough feedback.
Bottom line? A good coach will be t
here and support you and have your best interest in mind. If you pay attention and listen closely enough you can see the truth. My advice to all my fellow competitors is to please, please, do your homework before you hire someone and then, even after, question and research everything and learn your own body in the process.
Find someone that makes you feel at ease and that you can actually WORK TOGETHER with. There are good coaches out there, I promise, but in my opinion maybe more bad than good, so please just be careful. We are given one body, so take care of it! Until next time, be smart, friends, and keep kicking butt on the stage and stay healthy and SAFE!
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