(6 min read)
This page was created so you understand what type of coach I am, my philosophies, skills, experiences and gain some honest education within strength and conditioning. If you do not classify yourself as an athlete please click here for the general population coaching page.
When working with athletes my coaching is focused on the following:
High Performance
Is the number one priority for athletes.
What is the smallest amount of work we need to do to get the biggest pay off?
How can we get you working with purposefulness, intent and effort that get’s you performing more efficiently within your sport?
My job is to answer those questions for you.
I have been fortunate enough to be on both sides of the coin. I’ve played at the collegiate level, now using what I’ve learnt to coach within the private sector.
What I’ve seen on both sides is so many athletes and “trainers” doing random exercises throwing shit at the wall to see what will stick.
I’m all for experimenting to test the validity of new methods of practice, but understand:
“Random actions produces random results”
An athlete doesn’t have time for random results. You need to turn up ready to compete and produce results day in and day out. Otherwise your ass will be on the bench real quick. I know the pain of this better than most.
My coaching consists of simplistic and specific periodisation that is not only based on science, but actual practical experience.
The focus is on mastering primal movement patterns / compound multi joint movements. Some very important one’s I coach through are:
Squat / Hinge / Horizontal Push / Horizontal Pull / Vertical Push / Vertical Pull
Operating exercises within these movement patterns will help develop full body strength and rate of force development so you can jump, sprint, change direction, push off with more power, speed and stability. Additionally this will assist you in building a strong posterior chain (primarily the glute/hamstring complex’s) which is a vital and massively under trained area for athletic development that I make sure to emphasise in my coaching.
If your coach is not currently doing the majority of these movements and/or you are not yourself, than your missing out on reaching your athletic potential.
The Theory Behind The Practicality
By Executing These 3 Principles You Will Become Strong, Fast & Powerful
The athlete who can push the the most force through the ground the quickest while utilising the least amount of energy WINS.
Simply put, the three main factors to maximising the amount of potential you have to generate force is.
1. The volume of the muscle / cross sectional size of the muscle.
2. The extent to which your nervous system can activate and effectively recruit high threshold motor units.
3. Motor learning: AKA skill acquisition. Understand: strength training is a motor skill.
The greater the strength = greater potential for power, speed, quickness and work capacity = the better you play.
An athlete first must be strong before they can be powerful.
Longevity / Injury Prevention
Everybody know’s the athlete who is constantly rolling their ankle or going in for yet another surgery.
While everyone has their own unique anatomy and physiological structure, these scenarios can be largely mitigated.
Years of sitting and poor positioning result in many postural abnormalities that limit the optimal functioning of your body in, and outside of sport.
You may not think much of ‘a tight sore back’ every morning or as your warming up but this is far from normal. A healthy functioning body does not wake up chronically sore.
The faster we can diagnose and address your musculoskeletal ailment’s the more efficiently you will run, sprint, jump and change direction. The more efficiently you can perform those movement’s the less energy you expend. The less energy you expend the longer you can perform at a high level.
You could have two identically talented athlete’s side by side in a ‘sprint to jump’. The athlete with the better biomechincal efficiency will win. You CANNOT reach your physical potential if you are not focusing on healing those niggling injuries and tightness’ in your body. That 1% is the difference between greatness and great.
Addressing these musculoskeletal abnormalities is something I place great emphasis on within warmups / in between sets / cool downs. Educating and empowering the athlete to understand how to execute different mobility movements and soft tissue work when I’m not there 98% of the time is a key cog to building a self sufficient athlete.
Why Hire Me? Knowledge, Qualifications, Experience.
While all the knowledge above is great. That does not make me, or anyone, a great coach. As Christian Wooford sais coaching is part ‘art’ part ‘science’.
Here are some of my real life sporting experiences and examples applications of knowledge in the real world.
High Level Sporting Experience at the Collegiate Level
Diploma in Sport Development (2013) – Australian College of Basketball
At age 18 I was accepted into the Australian College of Basketball.
(Currently known as the Australian College Of Sport)
I spent a year at this college where I graduated with a Diploma Of Sport Development and traveled overseas to compete in an multiple AAU tournament’s across Las Vegas & LA.
One of the most valuable lessons the ACB taught me is understanding the culture and habits of a professional sporting environment. One of their goal’s was attempting to mold us into professional athletes as our daily habits were fine tuned and nitpicked towards reaching our full physical and mental potential. A attribute ACB to setting the foundation to what I know today.
Diploma in Fitness Coaching (2016)
My graduating class was the first group in Australia to graduate with this specific diploma. In one line, it taught a holistic functional long term perspective to coaching people to better health and performance, instead of the narrow linear progression that basic personal training certificates teach.
Present: Internship at Woodfords Sports Science Consulting (2016) + Certificate IV in Allied Health (2016)
In my opinion one of Australia’s best strength and conditioning facilities in the country lead by one of the most passionate and educated coaches in the industry: Christian Woodford B.App.Sci (HONS) CPPS
The average personal training course teaches you very little to nothing aside from outdated information and high school level physiology. A university
USA Collage Level
Soon after graduating I received an opportunity to play overseas in Arizona, for one of Pima College’s teams. I traveled to many different cities that were absolutely unforgettable. It was an incredible experience that a couple of short paragraphs cannot do justice. It taught me a tremendous amount about myself and what it’s like to compete in another country against extremely talented athletes. It put me onto this path I am on today.
Strength & Conditioning
At ACB we were fortunate enough to have access to very high level professionals. I learnt more about strength and conditioning with them than nearly any other environment in my life.
This has allowed me to be confident and competent with all compound lifts and many olympic lifts. Through this process they taught us the fundamentals of how to tailor our own sport specific strength and conditioning program.
We’d conduct one rep max tests every 12 weeks under very strict conditions. Here is what I was able to get out of my body at age 18 over 3 years ago.
1 Rep Max’s (Feb 2014, 18 Years Old) @ 70kg (11-12% Body Fat)
Bench Press: 85kg | Deadlift (Trap-Bar): 175kg | Squat (Box): 132.5kg | Bench Pull: 77.5kg | Pull-Up: 18.75kg
177.5kg Deadlift PB / 2.4x Bodyweight (25th June 2016)
The Mark Of A Quality Coach
Regardless of any qualification I or anyone receives, I do not believe they are a mark of competency within the field of health and fitness. Anybody can go to college and graduate with a nice piece of paper that sais they’re “professional and qualified”
Don’t be fooled by half a dozen qualifications you’ve never heard of and don’t be dismayed by only 1 basic one. Please judge me by my application of knowledge and character.
One of the most important qualities I believe to competency in this field is that daily application of knowledge. Is this person you’re about to pay money for staying on top of research and constantly reading and learning from professionals in their field AND then applying and testing it’s validity? This is something I’ve been doing since I was 15 years old. Nearly every day is dedicated to learning, training and now coaching in one way or another.
Over that time I have gained a wealth of information on everything related to getting the best out my health, fitness and mind. More importantly, I have gained even more experiences from acting upon the information I acquired by conducting various health and fitness experiments on myself and others, precisely assessing what works best for me or other people I train.
Consultation / Cost / Free First Session
After you contact me I will review a brief assessment with you.
We will meet for a consultation so I can get a clear in depth understanding of your history and goals. This will NOT cost anything.
The first session we train will also be complimentary so you can get a feel for me as a coach.
From there you will most likely have a clear idea of whether I’m worth your time and money.
That’s when we will discuss cost. I avoid listing any one single figure here as I do not want price shopper’s looking for the cheapest coach. It will not break your bank, but it will also not be “cheap”. Prices are in line with my knowledge and experience. But if price is your first question, I am probably not for you.
If you are looking for any average trainer just to watch you squat in a commercial gym and spurt mindless motivation than I am not for you. But I completely understand how crucial money can be as a deciding factor. But to be honest, I do not want the type of person that thinks cost first before service. This is not entry into a theme park. This is setting a solid foundation for your sporting career to take you to the next level.
“It’s only when you stop using the word COST and start using the word INVEST do you start to recognize the value of growing yourself.” – Noah Kagan
Whose This For
Those who are serious about improving their mind and body and willing to commit and invest to take their performance to the next level.
Whose This Not For
1. Those who have diabetes.
2. Those who smoke tobacco.
3. Those who have any current mental illnesses or illicit drug use.
Assessment Form | How To Contact Me
If this opportunity sounds like it would be advantageous for you, you can contact me bellow.
If you are a little unsure, need clarity or have any questions, I am an open book. Any question. Any time. Feel free to text/call/email/facebook.
as@alexsandalis.com
0409 674 736
If there was anything about this application process that I could make simpler or more seamless please also let me know.
Alexander.
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