# In response to all the coach or no coach threads



## Sonomasnap (Feb 10, 2010)

I have had a coach for the last 7 months. I went from being a couch potato to somewhat fit to ..... well you be the judge.

My first LT Power has gone from 275 to 290 to 325 as of this morning. A structured training program aided by strong commitment and great feedback from my coach made this possible. Could I have done it on my own? Not sure but doubt I could have done it so quickly.

BTW I am 49, 5'11" 174lbs. looking to drop about 9 more lbs. for peak racing season.

So IMHO if you get a coach and put in the effort it is well worth it.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

Sonomasnap said:


> Could I have done it on my own? Not sure[.]


And that's the whole problem with observational data.

Almost anybody who goes from not hiring a coach to hiring a coach will see improvements, but the underlying cause of those improvements is impossible to determine. It may very well have been the _decision_ to hire the coach that was the true underlying cause.


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## MontyCrisco (Sep 21, 2008)

pretender said:


> And that's the whole problem with observational data.
> 
> Almost anybody who goes from not hiring a coach to hiring a coach will see improvements, but the underlying cause of those improvements is impossible to determine. It may very well have been the _decision_ to hire the coach that was the true underlying cause.


Right. All (?) elite athletes have coaches but that doesn't mean that everyone who hires a coach is going to become an elite athlete.

I do think there's something to be said for a) having someone checking your form and giving you constant feedback about where you're at; and b) knowing that there's someone else who will be tallying up how hard you worked at the end of the week. The first helps keep you focused on the right things (assuming coaches can agree on what the right thing is, which from what I can tell they can't always). The second is a heck of a strong motivator especially when life throws you a bunch of excuses for why you just can't do that workout today.


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## 86Sierra (Nov 17, 2005)

Sonomasnap said:


> My first LT Power has gone from 275 to 290 to 325 as of this morning.
> 
> 
> > How many hours per week have you been training?


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## Sonomasnap (Feb 10, 2010)

During the winter 12-14 hours a week. About 8 of that on the weekends.


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