Michelle’s Coaching Philosophy

My coaching methods have evolved over the years as I’ve gained insight into my body’s response to training, observed client responsiveness, and refined my perspectives on the fitness industry. I emphasize mastering traditional lifts with strict form, like squats, deadlifts, pulls/rows, and military presses, as essential components of any strength program. However, the specific training I impart varies based on individual client goals and biomechanical limitations. I prioritize one-on-one coaching to tailor programs to each client’s needs, offering various complex lift variations as appropriate. Main lifts are supplemented with assistance exercises and rotated frequently. I predominantly utilize bodyweight and free weights, minimizing reliance on exercise machines.

In the pursuit of sports performance, additional exercises are selected to directly enhance the sport’s key movements, ensuring a more targeted strength and power transfer. It’s crucial to train the specific direction of force required in the athlete’s sport. Various forms of single-arm/leg, rotatory, cable, dumbbell, resistance band, harness, assisted, and bodyweight exercises can accomplish this in a sport-specific manner. Explosive exercises like Olympic lifts, plyometrics, medicine ball drills, kettlebell exercises, leaping, and sprinting activities are incorporated to foster the athlete’s competitive edge, with careful attention paid to avoiding overemphasis on explosive, speed, and power training.

Where a client has been referred for exercise rehabilitation, the initial focus will be to restore and enhance original joint mobility and stability. I believe it is imperative to focus on relearning and developing fundamental movement patterns that require optimal levels of mobility, stability, and strength. Such movement patterns include squatting, bending, twisting, pulling, pushing, crawling, walking, hopping, lunging, climbing, and running. If a client is proficient in foundational lifts and movement patterns, my aim is to challenge the body with a diverse range of movements. For me, the emphasis lies not in how much one can squat, but rather in how smoothly and efficiently one can move.

I believe that training programs should incorporate heavy, low-rep work, moderate, medium-rep work, and light, high-rep work for maximal progress. It’s essential to manipulate variables such as speed, rep ranges, sets, rest, target angles, overall volume, intensity, and frequency of training. Cardiovascular fitness training should encompass a variety of movement modalities. Enjoying your training makes it easier to maintain consistency, so I encourage finding activities you love. I teach what I believe works best for each client at a given time and remain open to constantly learning new techniques.

– Michelle.