A quick tour of the World through the eyes of the PICP
7/6/2010 7:35 AM
My profession has allowed me to see pretty much the whole Western World and all of Australasia. I will give you some insight on the field of strength and conditioning throughout the World. These insights come from frequently asked questions in seminars, meals, and vary forms of informal gathering.
Who are the hardest workers in the weight room?
The Norwegians, quite outstanding, male or female. No wonder they win so many medals in the Olympics per capita. Close second, the Dominicans.
Who are the strongest in the weight room?
The Dominicans, Finns, and Quebecers.
Where do the personal trainers have the best physiques?
In the corridor between Montreal and Quebec City. No wonder hat is the area of the World where you will find the highest concentration of well equipped gyms in the World. Any of my foreign students will attest to that.
Worst country in the Western World for personal training and strength coaching?
France. Gyms suck. Big time. Want to be a eternally a skinny fat weak person? Move to France, and hire one of their personal trainers.
The best French trainers, train Belgians, Swiss or Canadian clients. They move out of their native country because they stand out too much.
Who has the most catching up to do?
The Aussies and the Hungarians.
Regarding Australia, there are some people in Australia there that have very high levels of knowledge, yet the average is quite poor. One fat trainer of trainers is probably the one most responsible for that. He has shown too many dumb program design centering around horse stances with broom sticks, and inferior exercises on Swiss Balls. As Nick Mitchell would say, if he ever decided to get in shape, the New South Wales government would have to issue a flood warning. Their knowledge of anatomy and basic physiology is also poor.
Concerning Hungary, I have seen no few male personal trainers, only female personal trainers. Not only they were quite pathetic, they were FAT, real FAT!. With an attitude to match their ponderal index. The bitchyness factor also matched their percentage body fat. At the entrance of the gym, they post their pedigree. It only looked like the cheesy “before” pictures of some of the trashiest tabloid.
Who are the most enthusiastic students?
The Irish. The Aussies following right behind.
Who are the biggest underachievers?
The American college strength coaches. Great facilities, zero methodology. It is not because they don’t have access to great material. The US is loaded with great exercise physiologists: Fleck, Kraemer, Antonio, Stout etc… and there is a lot more!
At the Eleiko Strength Summit a few months, I could not believe how many NCAA Division 1 strength coaches did not know how to squat, deadlift or bench press properly. Let alone teach them.
Their saving grace is how hard it is to get a work permit in the U.S. If the American government opened his immigration laws for strength coaches, quite a few jobs would be lost.
Which country has improved the most in the last few years?
The Brits, for sure. I have a one word answer for that. Rugby. Rugby teaches work ethic. The Brits that come to our classes tend to have great work ethic. I have seen many of them going from poorly paid employees of major gym chains, to successful gyms/studios owners. I find they are better at discerning what is good than what is bad. You can always tell by someone’s questions where they will end up. The Brits ask the best questions.
Who are the best prepared when they come to class?
On a general standpoint, the Swedes and the Canadians. Probably, because the United Nations always ranks in the top two in the World for education.
For training purposes, probably the Quebecers.
For nutrition, the Danes, unequaled.
Who are the upcoming strength coaching/personal training stars?
I get this question a lot. I will name the ones who made the most progress in the last six months, and add what they need to work on.
I have a lot of very dedicated students. Jonathan Wong for Singapore has probably made the most progress overall. Hours training the athletes is his limiting factor.
Wolfgand Unsöld is right up there.. A guy that calculates that shaving his head saves him enough time and water to read 42.67891 books a year is driven, to say the least. The day that he discovers that there is a right brain, he will be on his way to conquer the World. His dedication just landed him a job as the strength coach for the Hungarian short track speed skating team.
Luke Leaman has all the talent, he is putting in the work now. Best potential: strength coaching and nutrition. He only needs more experience, and he his attracting the right clients and opportunities.
Daniel Knebel, very bright,needs to spend more time on education.
Nick Mitchell (U.K.) and Ben Prentiss (USA) have made the biggest inroads in properly dominating their respective markets in the personal industry. Ben as for Daniel, has to make more time for education. It is easy for them to forget what got them there. Nick, more time with his son. Nick, your banker and lawyer won’t be there on your death bed.
Kelly Martinovich and Marty Williams from Perth, are certainly are driven. I am very impressed with their drive and progress curves. They will take over Australia’s personal training market by leading through example. Need to set aside more time to enjoy life, it will make you stronger.
From a pure business sense, Damien Maher. For sure, he is the one with the best rags to riches success story. Best tip to him: cut 10 hours of work, to eat and train.
For the young trainers out there, any of the above are worth hiring for “brain picking sessions”. They are some short-cuts to success that you can learn from them. One thing though, they are all beasts of work; smart work nonetheless.
2 comment(s) so far...
Re: A quick tour of the World through the eyes of the PICP
Thakyou for a great insight to successful trainers around the world. It is always good to see fellow Poliquin students doing well. It is a privaledge to have met and know some of these guys and to realise that through application of knowledge and hard work it is possible to acheive so much. In particular Jonathon is steaming ahead, Wolfgang's knowledge and Luke's enthusiasm is unsurpassed, and Marty and Kelly are on their way to great things too. All amazing people and wonderful to have rubbed shoulders with them (so to speak) very well deserved :-)
By Tracey Walker on
7/24/2010 10:09 AM
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Re: A quick tour of the World through the eyes of the PICP
now I understand why the Finn girl shows the most impressive (to me) results:
www.precisionnutrition.com/20k-female-winners
By Anna on
7/28/2010 11:24 PM
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