Training Superman

Michael Blevins considers himself a man who has always been trying to help people, it just took him awhile to find out how. Starting out as a hairdresser, finding the ability to change people’s lives through hair, he felt a need to have a long lasting impact on his clients. Fast forward 10 years, Michael became the personal trainer for the cast of movies: 300 and Superman.

Michael talks about the importance of getting clients into the right state of mind for training and setting expectations. He also offers some of his strategies for getting clients to overcome fears and to develop positive feedback loops. In addition, he shares some of his coaching strategies and programming he uses based on athletes’ goals and the expectation, that he as an expert, sees as part of their potential.

“You can lift all the weights in the world, you can do all the diets in the world that you want, but there is this underlying foundation of mindset and the ability to accomplish a task.” — Michael Blevins

Key Takeaways

• Know your Athlete  —  The job of a coach is not to be a an order taker. As the expert, the coach needs to know what his athletes are capable of and help them reach their potential.
• Training Actors: It is important to instill the idea of longevity in actors when they are preparing for a movie  —  Their mental and physical fitness should extend beyond the film and into the rest of their life.
• CrossFit: Do not blame and external issue on an internal problem  —  There is nothing wrong with CrossFit and it shouldn’t be blamed for injuries, when it’s the individual’s poor movement that is the reason for injury. We should pay attention to the group culture, because often times it can push people out of their comfort range, which is when an injury can happen.
• Mindset: Give tools, not goals  —  A coach’s shouldn’t strive to get his client a certain goal, such as a six pack. The idea is to instill tools to clients, so that they may apply them for the rest of their lives.
• Show up and be valuable  —  When you want to help someone, show up and show that you can help. Clean if you have to, in order to get the opportunity to learn. Being valuable will get you into situations where you can grow.
• Find a tribe  —  Go to a city who has one or two people who excel in your industry and be around them. See how they interact in real time and in an organic manner. Develop a relationship with these people and have them as your mentor. This is where opportunities happen. The best thing you can build in life is human connection.

“You are teaching people how to climb a mountain, so they can then pick and climb whatever mountain they want.” — Dr. Andy Galpin