When to Shift

Inspired by TBB mentor group


Like a lot of gyms around the world Torque was forced to shut down for a few months in March due to the pandemic. We had to make the pivot to online coaching in just a matter of hours, and the Coaching staff did it. We divided clients into programming groups or avatars based on the equipment they had access to and their training goals.

With spring in the air, we developed a RUN+ Avatar for a group of our clients as most of them were runners or wanted to work on their running with their new found spare time.

Amanda was grouped into this avatar. She is strong as an ox, but struggles like a lot of people with finding the enjoyment in running.

With schools closed and her work shifted to home she figured she had no better time to run her side roads and see if she and running could fall in love.

She put in a great effort, the Run+ avatar had clients doing Weightlifting and CrossFit 3 times a week and running twice a week.

For the first two months Amanda was killing it! She wasn’t LOVING the running but she was doing the work and seeing improvements in that area.

Over the next few weeks I started to notice that Amanda was only doing one of the run workouts, then none. Then the CrossFit workouts began to suffer as well.

In a check-in call she admitted to me that she was struggling with motivation. She felt that she had set a goal for herself and was failing. Because she felt she was failing at running she felt that attitude carry over to the rest of her workouts and couldn’t muster the excitement to do them at home.

As a coach I had to make a decision – do I try to make a square peg fit into a round hole, or do I switch gears?

I started my negotiation by taking running off the table and asking her what she LOVED to do. I already knew the answer but I wanted her to hear herself say it.

“Lifting heavy and rowing.”

Amanda’s programming changed immediately. I still sprinkled in some running, but I programmed for what she really needed – not to fall in love with running, but to stay in love with fitness and mental health.

Amanda’s workout completion scores quickly skyrocketed and didn’t come back down.

Here at Torque we do Goal Review sessions every three months at a minimum. What makes our coaches successful coaches is they make a habit of doing informal goal reviews more often as our metrics or gut feeling prompts us to do so.

We always ask. And we aren’t afraid to shift gears as needed.

Looking for accountability and online coaching to help you through this New England Winter ? Schedule a free call with us (no-sweat intro) to discuss how we can help!

people working out in a group fitness class

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