By Shawn McQueen, Mentor for Two-Brain Group Coaching Course
Any Coach can just wing it when it comes to leading a class.
And while that may be fun and unpredictable, that level of inconsistency leads to doing a poor job.
And if you’re going to be great at anything, you’ve got to be consistent!
What do great coaches do?
Great Coaches take the time to create and write a lesson plan. For every class and or training session they perform.
So what is it? Simply – a plan for how you are going to run your class/session.
And by doing this small step you will begin to run CONSISTENT, more organized and EXCEPTIONALLY well led classes.
Your service delivery gets better and you can focus on adding more value not thinking of what to say next.
And I am going to teach you how to do it in 7 easy steps…
1 – Write out the workout of the day:
or the strength and workout of the day.
Look at or determine the time needed for each section.
You need to know how much time you’ll need for each of those pieces.
Start to ask yourself, what is the stimulus we are after?
What do the members need to know?
2 – Write out your adjustments for the movements:
This is an important step!
It helps you MEET EVERY MEMBER where they’re at.
Stay a step ahead and CUSTOMIZE FITNESS in a group setting.
As well as plan for any contingencies. I like to keep this black & white (1 to 2 adjustments only).
3- Develop your timeline:
Knowing and developing your timeline is a critical skill in running a smooth, organized and well led class.
Which you can feel confident about and your members always want.
When doing this I recommend working backwards from the end of class to the beginning at the whiteboard brief.
4 – Write out your movement specific Coaching:
To me, this is where all the magic happens and we want to get really good here!
How do you want to progress them today? What specific ramp up and movement focus will we go after today?
Thinking this way will allow you to communicate with a level of certainty to your members that will get buy-in and trust.
Movement progressions allow us to Coach & teach in a progressive manner, ultimately allowing them to become better.
People want to be safe, they want to see progress and improve.
And sure to speak their language, aka talk in a way that they understand.
(it’s great to know anatomy or all the ins and outs, but as we say at Two-Brain Coaching,
know it like a scientist but communicate it like a Kindergarten Teacher!)
When writing this section –
break things down into their easiest parts & use language they’ll understand
You’re after improving their movement efficiency because once 3,2,1 happens, fatigue sets in, the workout is underway and their own internal coach voice takes over, it’s harder to create the change at that point.
5 – Next write out your weighted warm up/and or mobility
Weighted warm ups are another great place to teach and layer in low reps that allow our members to progress,
not only in getting warm but improving their movement efficiency and their comfort with movement(s).
This will increase their confidence and ultimately allow them to move, perform and get better results.
If mobility is the route you go on a particular day, educate your members as to why you’re doing that particular mobility.
And make sure you’ve done some research on it. Again both places to add value.
6 – Write out your general warm up
Poor is no warm up,
Or
“Do your own warm up.”
Members don’t come for top level service to “create their own warmups.”
That’s lazy and unacceptable.
Good is getting them sweaty by taking them through something…
Example: “Okay go run a 400m…”
But GREAT is different.
Great is attention to detail.
Great is writing a slightly different 3-5 minute general warmup everyday.
Great is the Coach leading the group through this warm up.
Whether one movement at a time or one round at a time.
Great Coaches focus on the long term approach with fitness.
Knowing that it starts with our warm ups and how we take care of our members from the very beginning of class.
7- Rehearse your Whiteboard talking points
Everyone respects a good communicator.
We want to deliver a clear, concise and confident whiteboard brief!
Rehearsing allows you to do just that.
It gives you the necessary time to practice, refine and improve your communication delivery.
This will sky rocket your confidence in yourself when you consistently deliver a rockstar board brief.
In a nutshell, add your own spices here, but to feel confident in what you are doing, where you are going, how you’re going to lead a group of diverse people through movement – you need to prepare ahead of time.
If you’d like to personally work with one of the mentors on our team to better your coaching craft in the group environment, click here to do just that!