The fitness scene has changed drastically over the last few months resulting in individuals scrambling to find alternative ways to get their workouts done. Due to this, “remote coaching” has exploded! Many trainers quickly shifted their in-person appointments to Zoom workouts or Instagram live sessions but have still ignored the power of the consultative process. Several weeks ago, Central Athlete, leaders in remote coaching since 2015, wrote an article on the five attributes of a professional and effective remote coach. (If you are a coach who has recently started training clients remotely or an individual interested in learning more, you’ll want to check it out!) In this article, I want to highlight one of our own remote coaching clients, Andy Lapastora, and share his success working with Central Athlete.

Andy lives in northern California and started working with Central Athlete (CA) in October 2019. He was looking for guidance and structure around training for a 50k ultramarathon.

“My wife had been working with a Central Athlete coach for about a year when I decided to join. I had been struggling to balance nutrition and fitness in a way that wasn't stressful. From my first conversation with Jesse, I could tell that he would be just as committed to my success as I would be and his genuine desire to want to see me succeed made me want to work with him.”

Andy had worked with a remote running coach in the past but was lacking the nutritional and behavioral support he needed to reach his goals. He was also experiencing burnout and hormonal setbacks that were not being addressed. His Central Athlete coach realized that although Andy was extremely vigilant about following his program and analyzing everything from his food intake to his recovery, his unrealistic pursuit of perfection was negatively impacting his health. After Andy’s assessment, his coach decided to take a softer approach and actually asked that he discontinue tracking various metrics.

“My approach to nutrition and fitness has undergone a complete transformation. Before, I was floundering on my own to strike a balance between my fitness goals and how I approached nutrition, and Jesse has been helping me work through what a good balance looks like by encouraging me to also consider overall well-being as just as crucial as exercise and food. I feel less stressed about nutrition and I'm starting to sleep better. This holistic progress has been what I am most proud of since starting with CA.”

Deeply understanding each individual through a consultative process is a core pillar at Central Athlete and is crucial in developing an individualized approach that leads to long-term success. Andy has been diligent in scheduling his remote consults with his coach every month and has been extremely communicative and trusting in the process; all of which are extremely important attributes of remote coaching.

“My experience has been fantastic. My goals have shifted a few times since starting and Jesse has always been willing to talk those through and remain flexible in programming my training. I have been immensely satisfied with the quality of workouts, doing movements that I never would have done before, and pushing myself well past my limits. It's so nice to have all of my workouts just waiting for me to do, and also to know that there's an overarching goal that I'm working toward. I also feel generally more healthy and resilient than I have in the past when I've overtrained or over-engineered my nutrition.”

Although Andy has improved many performance metrics including his lower body strength endurance, which is a necessary component of endurance running, his biggest accomplishment has been his openness to change perspectives.

“I believe one of Andy’s biggest accomplishment was shifting his paradigm about health. Being so perfect that it negatively affects your social and mental well-being is not a balanced approach to health and wellness.” - Coach Jesse O'Brien

For remote coaching to be successful, or any coaching for that matter, there needs to be a focus on the individual’s life outside of training. Successful coaching entails more than just delivering workouts week to week; it involves a desire to deeply understand the individual. This is done through ongoing consultations, which give the coach and client a dedicated time to build trust and have open communication around expectations, goals, prescriptions, and much more!

“My relationship with Jesse is great. He gives praise when it's due and gives constructive feedback on how I can improve. Our remote consults are always productive and I can tell how invested Jesse is in seeing me succeed. He's always open to my input and does a good job explaining the reasoning behind his vision for my programming.”

Success is so much more than a personal record in the gym! Andy is someone who transformed in mind, body, and spirit. He has embraced the process wholeheartedly, even when it was tough, and has come out a healthier and happier version of himself. Before Central Athlete Andy was unable to find the balance between pursuing his health and fitness goals and enjoying life; now he has the ability to do both while still seeing body composition, performance, and health improvements along the way!

“CA is fantastic and I get really excited whenever I can tell someone about it! I can't imagine approaching fitness any other way now.”

If you feel like you are struggling to put all the pieces together to achieve your health and fitness goals in a way that is 100% tailored to you, reach out to a Central Athlete coach today! We put the pieces together for you, in a personalized manner, to ensure you are moving objectively in the right direction.

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