This week me and Ant are back in the seat answering questions sent in from coaches, and there's a good mix in this one covering programming, overwhelm, business challenges, and a conversation at the end that had Ant pretty fired up.
We kick things off with client programming structure. How far ahead should you actually be planning? Ant breaks down his approach of working with a 12-week view but building out the first six weeks as a proper block from day one, with weekly check-ins to tweak based on client feedback. The point underneath all of that is about having a system and a method you can actually articulate. A lot of coaches react week to week intuitively, but when you ask them to explain why they programme the way they do, they can't. That gap matters for results, for confidence, and for how you present yourself when you're signing someone on.
We talk about what we find most challenging about running PTMA. For me it's the operational side right now, particularly the overhaul of our back-end systems and communication processes, thinking ten steps ahead, stress testing everything so it lasts. For Ant it's monthly review week, which he breaks down with complete honesty. Thirty clients, full attention to detail on every single one, and that runs across a full week. It's the most draining part of the job but also the part he's most proud of.
On overwhelm, both of us go into the exact process we use. Get it out of your head, separate what you can and can't control, then prioritise ruthlessly against what actually moves the needle. The honest bit in there is the battle between what you want to do and what you need to do. They're rarely the same thing, and the stuff you're avoiding is usually the stuff that moves you forward fastest.
We cover what your biggest advice would be going into a brand new gym, what to look for when choosing a gym for face-to-face PT, and the biggest personal obstacles we both faced as coaches early on. For me that was the contradiction of carrying insecurity while projecting authority, and learning that communication is probably the single most important skill a coach can develop. Knowing when to be direct versus reflective, and getting comfortable saying "I don't know" without it feeling like a threat.
There's a question on what actually keeps clients working with you long-term and Ant gives a clean answer across three areas: how you make them feel, the results and progress they can see, and constantly future-pacing them so they always have a forward view on what they're working towards.
We end with the call-out culture stuff. New and inexperienced coaches are being publicly targeted for their content, and in more than a few cases it's coaches with a platform using them for reach and clout. Ant has a very direct opinion on this. The point isn't that the coaching is always right technically. The point is that calling someone out publicly when a private message would do the same job is cowardice dressed up as quality control. We also touch on PureGym's role in this and whether there's a filter problem there too.
Time Stamps;
00:00 Welcome back and intro
01:35 Q1: How far ahead should you programme clients? Six-week blocks, 12-week view, and weekly adaptation
07:13 Q2: What do you find most challenging about running PTMA?
11:32 Q3: What do you do in a period of overwhelm?
14:37 Q4: How did you find the business restructure and managing time and boundaries?
16:33 Q5: Biggest advice going into a brand new gym
19:51 Q6: Biggest personal obstacles and struggles in your coaching career
23:56 Q7: Top three things that persuade a client to keep working with a PT
26:44 Q8: What do you look for when choosing a gym for face-to-face PT?
32:08 The call-out culture problem targeting inexperienced coaches online
