What its like to Train with Tribesmen

The pathway to becoming a client of Tribesmen Training and achieving your goals!

1. Consultation

First impressions matter and it is important you know who you are talking to, so I typically start while a little story about myself to start the conversation off and explain my background. This is to ensure you know I am well experienced with a broad background.

I have worked in gyms since I was 17, while primarily as a cleaner and as administrative staff, I also helped with providing induction sessions to new clients. Over the last 6 years I have worked primarily with Rugby teams including Old Crescent RFC (2019-2021, and ongoing so far!)

where I am the head of Strength and Conditioning for the club, and the Ladies Munster Rugby team and temporarily the academy teams (u18 & u19) as an assistant in the role of Strength and Conditioning. I have worked with athletes individually preparing them for Paralympic events, field hockey and soccer, while consulting for a Hurling team.

While it may seem that I work almost exclusively with athletes, this is not true almost 40-50% of my work is with the general population, with the clients goals being to improve their health, strength or physique.

I have a diploma in community health and alternative therapies, a First class Honours Bsc degree, and I am currently pursuing international industry accreditation for nutrition (MNU) and a CSCS certification in the coming months.

While the introduction is largely about my background in education and experience, I will ask about some relevant factors in your life, including some basic health questions, your goals and your preferred approach if any in achieving them.

My questions are rather obvious, including injury history or any underlying health conditions, last trip to the GP, and anything that might impact your ability to exercise safely.

I will also ask about eating and sleeping habits, and if you have any existing routine for exercise or activity. This is to set the stage for our training journey, as your goals success is not solely determined by working out but also how you recover.

2. Assessment

While an assessments content can be changed based on what is relevant or what is desired there are a few things that I may typically include.

2.1 Weight, Height & Bodyfat Percentage

Harpenden Skinfold Calipers and measuring tape.

Harpenden Skinfold Calipers in conjunction with the collection of different measurements of girths of the body, including chest, waist and arm, can be used to determine an estimated bodyfat percentage.

This is not something I will do for clients under the age of 18 or for those that do not request it / need it as part of their goals. This requires clients to be partially undress and provide clear access to the arm, chest, waist, hips and shoulder blades (which may require female clients to adjust their bra or wear a bra which facilitates the measurement process).

Bodyweight will be measured in the gym with an electronic scale, height will also be determined off of a measurement set up in the gym

2.2 Blood pressure & heart rate

Blood Pressure Monitor

A clients blood pressure is a good indicator of their cardiac fitness and will help determine the rate of progress through the initial stages of training. The primary concern is that you, the client are trained appropriately and not overwhelmed with your health put at risk.

2.3 Grip Strength or Jump Performance

Takei Grip Strength Dynamometer

Grip Strength can be a quick and convenient measure of upper body strength and also a monitoring method of accumulated fatigue during a training block.

Grip strength is not a highly reliable measure of fatigue as it can be acutely affective and may not represent the true fatigue built up in the body, whereas a jump performance test has been shown to been highly reliable and correlates to fatigue accurately.

Chronojump Jump performance mat

A scientifically validated method for measuring performance and accumulated fatigue. Which can be used pre-season, in season or during testing sessions to set new baseline performances.

New equipment is added consistently either to upgrade, replace or completely add to the number of factors monitored, as they say "if its measured, its managed" and all of this is to ensure your training is effective and tailored to your individual goals, ability and managament of training stress or recovery-ability.

2.4 Movement Screen

An Adapted Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is used to identify potential areas of restriction or imbalance and most importantly highlighting assymetries which may lead to injury. We will video record and analyse these movements to later compare against your retesting to demonstrate improvements made and areas for continued progression.

Not all the movements we will do will be part of a standardised testing protocol, some movements are exercises but can be utilised as a test or baseline measure of ability , such as a Deadlift where the person may not be able to move through their hips or appropriately engage their core and maintain their posture.

3. Starting Slow

Even after a consultation, assessment and movement screen it is important to start at a level with which we are sure you can manage and positively adapt. The initial week or two will be spent setting up our habits in how we approach and start training, this is very simple in terms of practising our warm up, mobilisations, correctives and activations.

The duration of this stage of training is completely dependent on the issues, the person and their goals. Some people feel best when they are sure their range of motion is completely unrestricted before progressing into the next stage of training.

3.1 Movement Technique

While starting slow, and increasing gradually, the emphasis is on learning the basics and understanding the importance of strong fundamental technique, such as squat, hip hinge, pressing and pulling patterns.

Many of these act as the basis for many exercise variations and are typically included in their simplist form in the first block of training.

3.2 Progression

After the journey has begun it takes on a very individual pattern completely different on a client by client basis, some people have stayed on with me for years others have finished up in a matter of months.

Understanding that working with Tribesmen Training you are provided the tools with which to understand how to warm up, address your current movement restrictions, mobilise in preparation for certain lifts, and then exercise confidently with the knowledge that you have come as close to mastering the fundamental patterns as possible.

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