In the last years, endurance sports — especially running, cycling, and triathlon — have become very popular; and millions of people started training to be a part of the endurance sports community. As a result, a more scientific approach to endurance coaching for coaches became of primary importance. Why? First and foremost, for the safe coaching of the novice endurance athletes and, second, for optimizing their performance.
Endurance coaching for coaches: a serious business
With time, endurance coaches (running coaches, triathlon coaches, etc.) became more and more evolved in their profession. So much so, that coaching today is one of the most sought after and fast-growing professions.
You might be thinking right now, “this is great news for the coaching industry”. Nevertheless, as an experienced coach, I can assure you that this could prove to be detrimental; that is to say, if coaching is not taken seriously — with everything this entails. Besides, the more science infiltrates endurance coaching for coaches, the more safe and efficient endurance training gets for athletes.
The average coach’s life before the “explosion” of endurance sports
Ten years ago, whenever I mentioned I was an endurance coach, most people looked at me like, ‘sorry, what?’; or, in the best-case scenario, thought that I was coaching Kenyan or Ethiopian athletes, on the fast lane. Oftentimes, begging me to tell stories about the Olympic games. 🤷♂️
Truth be told, people believed that participating in an open race was only a professional athlete’s privilege. Eventually, this general view changed dramatically; and, now, we live in the new age of endurance sports. Yet, this means that if endurance coaching is to be effective, it must adapt to this new reality.
The old-fashioned coach vs the modern coach
In human physiology, as with every change occurring in life, people respond either slowly or fast; or not at all, as it happens. In a parallel manner, there are traditional coaches who continue to coach according to old-fashioned coaching practices. To explain, they’re almost always physically present, typically carrying an old-school notebook and a timer in their hands; and, for the most part, monitoring their athletes based on hunches and lucky guesses. Experience does help somewhat, but one needs to get there, first.
On the other hand, modern coaches are fully adapted to the new trends in endurance sports; simply put, they monitor and analyze data from wearables, create training programs and coach their athletes online. These coaches can expand their coaching business without geographical limitations; as well as coach more athletes, at any given time.
Coach, we have a problem!
Paraphrasing the popular quote from the Apollo 13 spaceflight day, I can honestly say that the unprepared modern coach won’t be able to handle the increasing demand of incoming athletes, calling for guidance.
As I mentioned, the opportunity to coach online brings in a large number of potential clients. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing for sure, but, at the same time, it can create a bunch of issues; such as limited time for planning, monitoring, communicating, etc.
Coaching an athlete is a complex process on its own; and, on top of that, it requires multitasking. It goes without saying, you have to be flexible at all times. Among other things, you have to be able to juggle simultaneously:
- interacting with your athletes
- keeping them motivated — and on track
- encouraging them
- optimizing their training programs
- overseeing and monitoring
- readjusting
- studying to expand your coaching skills
In addition, when you sum the tasks to manage payments, you must also remember your last communication with every athlete; there might be important details to take into consideration. Also, you must see to it that they follow their plan, and re-adjust workouts accordingly.
In short, coaching can turn into a nightmare. So, what coaches need is an easy and affordable solution to save the day; which takes us to the next part of this article — the best part, if you ask me. 😉
Endogusto raising the bar in endurance coaching for coaches
I already know that there are many platforms out there that promise to solve coaches’ pains; and assure to streamline endurance coaching for coaches. Admittedly, they deliver; up to a certain level.
At this point, allow me to say that Endogusto was created by coaches, for coaches. We do not aim for the masses, and we don’t necessarily focus on the athlete’s pains; instead, we put all of our expertise and effort into bringing value to coaches — specifically, endurance coaches.
As a coach, I’ve had to struggle, to be able to coach more athletes, more efficiently; not to mention the effort put in keeping them happy — and myself free of complaints and turnovers. For these reasons, I can attest to the fact that Endogusto was created with one purpose in mind: to help coaches. Besides, the KISS rule was widely applied in the Endogusto platform; in other words, you don’t need a Ph.D. to use the app!
To wrap up, being a coach doesn’t mean that all you need is a calendar filled with workouts and a few monitoring tools. Managing your athletes is a stressful process, but stress no more; we’ve got you covered with Endogusto!