Are your clients succeeding because of you, or in spite of you?

In bodybuilding, coaching is everywhere.Every athlete has someone in their corner. Every prep has a plan. And every coach claims to be “evidence based.” But here’s the uncomfortable question that separates good coaches from great ones:

Are your athletes improving because of your coaching or in spite of it?

It is easy to take credit when an athlete wins a class, earns a pro card, or nails a peak. But success does not always mean the process was sound. Sometimes athletes progress in spite of mismanaged fatigue, poor communication, underfeeding, or programming that only worked because the athlete had the genetics or grit to survive it.

If we care about the long term development of the people we serve, we need a higher standard than outcomes alone. We need a framework. And that framework is the three pillars of evidence based practice.

The Three Pillars of Evidence Based Coaching

Evidence based practice is not “copy the latest study.”It is not “my anecdote beats your anecdote.” And it is not rigid, algorithmic coaching. Evidence based practice relies on three pillars that work together:

1. Best available research

2. Coach experience and clinical expertise

3. Client values, preferences, and lived context

   
   

When these pillars are integrated, coaching becomes both grounded and adaptable. When any pillar is ignored, coaching becomes fragile. Let’s break down what this actually looks like in the bodybuilding world.

Pillar 1: Best Available Research

Being evidence informed means understanding the physiology of training, nutrition, recovery, and the demands of physique sport. It means keeping up with current literature on:

• Contest prep nutrition

• Peaking strategies

• Sleep, recovery, and stress physiology

• Resistance training progression

• Energy availability

• Post-show health restoration

  
  

It does not mean memorizing abstracts. It means using research as a starting point and a guiding frame rather than a rigid rulebook.

What this looks like in coaching:

• Continuing education beyond a weekend course

• Reading new literature and revisiting older foundational research

• Learning enough physiology to explain the “why” behind decisions

• Understanding why a strategy works, not just copying someone else who used it

  
  

If your athletes are improving, but you cannot explain the rationale behind your decisions, their progress may have nothing to do with your coaching.

Pillar 2: Coach Experience and Expertise

Research provides direction. Experience provides wisdom. No study can teach you how to manage a stressed athlete four weeks out who has not slept well in days. No randomized trial can walk you through the psychology of a first-time competitor who panics every time the scale ticks up. This is where expertise matters.

What this looks like in practice:

• Pattern recognition developed through years of coaching

• Knowing what strategies fail before they fail

• Understanding when to push and when to back off

• Knowing which variables to adjust and which to leave alone

• Recognizing red flags quickly

• Having the humility to admit when you need to consult a peer

  
  

Experience also means knowing your blind spots. The best coaches do not stop learning simply because what they have been doing “works.”

Pillar 3: Client Values and Individual Context

This is the pillar many coaches forget. You cannot be evidence based if you ignore the human being in front of you.

Athletes bring their own:

• Psychology

• Lifestyle

• Training history

• Digestive needs

• Stress load

• Preferences

• Recovery capacity

• Non-negotiable constraints

  
  

Coaching that works with these factors is sustainable. Coaching that works against them feels like a battle the athlete eventually loses.

What this looks like in real life:

• Customizing a peak based on how an athlete historically looks, feels, and responds

• Modifying training when life stress is high rather than pushing harder

• Tailoring nutrition to digestion, satiety, hunger patterns, and real world schedule

• Listening when an athlete tells you something feels wrong

• Prioritizing communication over rigid scripts

• Building plans around adherence, not ego

• Allowing athlete feedback to shape the strategy

  
  

If you ignore this pillar, you might still get short term results. But you will lose trust, and eventually, you will lose the athlete.

What Evidence Informed Coaching Actually Looks Like

It means you:

• Continue your education

• Seek mentorship instead of pretending you know everything

• Network with peers who challenge your assumptions

• Change your mind when new information emerges

• Adapt your methods when the athlete’s context shifts

• Treat each athlete like an individual

• Use research as a framework, not a cage

• Are willing to say “I do not know — but I will find out”

  
  

And most importantly, You are willing to examine whether your coaching is the reason your athlete is improving, or whether their success is occurring despite your process.

Elite athletes deserve elite coaching. Elite coaching demands humility, curiosity, and a commitment to evidence based practice. The bodybuilding industry needs fewer gurus and more professionals. Fewer rigid rules and more intelligent frameworks. Fewer coaches who take credit for outcomes and more coaches who take responsibility for the process.

If you want your athletes to reach the next level, start by asking the hard question: Are my athletes getting better because of me — or in spite of me?