Athletic Journey – Simplified

As an athlete, professional coaching provides perspective, encouragement, as well as the understanding of the path that needs to be followed to maximize your athletic potential. IMCoach.ca offers depth and breadth of coaching knowledge and experience, and above all, personal attention. Sport-specific skills acquired around the world, enables an objective analysis of athletic performances, leading to the identification of specific areas of improvement.

IMCoach.ca maintains and continuously improves on the level of knowledge, proficiency and experience expected by organizations regulating the coaching practice, through professional development activities and maintaining applicable certifications and designations. Currently a member in good standing of Coaching Association of Canada, Triathlon Canada, Ironman Coaches Association and Certified Professional Trainers Network, IMCoach.ca also abides by their codes of ethics and professional conduct.

IMCoach brings attention to what is relevant. There is an endless amount of information out there, sometimes to the point of confusion. IMCoach believes that technology should be used as a means to an end, not an end on itself. There is no magic bullet in the sport, results are achieved through focused and purpose driven workouts, drills, tests and rehearsals.

An informed and knowledgeable athlete develops a sense of self-awareness and mindfulness that sets the stage for success. IMCoach leverages physical observations, videos and data to monitor the athletes’ progress, determine patterns and uncover areas of improvement. IMCoach helps athletes understand what the data is telling them about their physical performance, correlating qualitative -perception-, and quantitative -numerical- data to develop an understanding of themselves.

Every athlete, and the circumstances surrounding him / her are unique. The first priority is to understand the person, including background, life stage, and motivations driving the desire to take part in the sport of choice. After obtaining an initial baseline, and further consultations with the athlete, a periodized seasonal program that addresses all aspects of the sport is created: from developing endurance in each discipline and gaining general conditioning aimed at ensuring the athlete is prepared to undertake the planned progression in volume, to establishing nutritional, fueling and hydration parameters, to working in mental and tactical readiness, to addressing improvement opportunities.

The time available to an athlete is limited and valuable, achieving an athletic objective requires prioritization and making informed choices. IMCoach will do the planning, research, analysis, correlation and trending necessary to develop and adjust all the dimensions of an athlete’s program, throughout the duration of the engagement.

Timely and targeted communications are key to a successful coaching relationship. Once the program is in action, data captured during workouts is reviewed and combined with subjective feedback provided by the athlete throughout the week (microcycle). Once a week, a complete progress review is made, and all aspects to the program are adjusted accordingly. Areas of concern are identified and discussed, a plan to address them established. Changes in time availability are also taken into account at this point, as well as other events impacting the ability to follow the activities identified in a given microcycle. The result is a specific sequence of workouts, drills, activation and stretching exercises, as well as a series of dietary guidelines, race nutrition, rest/recovery protocols, guidelines and recommendations uniquely tailored to the athlete’s developmental needs, for that week.

On occasion, coach and athlete need to work together in defining novel approaches to address specific areas of improvement. An open and clear dialog is paramount in assessing the efficacy of a given solution, and in making adjustments along the way.
In certain circumstances, the coach will refer the athlete to obtain a professional opinion in a specific field, in order to address specific areas of improvement.