Why Most Strongman & Powerlifting Coaches Fail at Long-Term Client Retention & Programming
The Saturation of the Coaching Industry & The Retention Problem
The coaching industry in powerlifting and strongman is more saturated than ever. Every week, new coaches pop up offering programming services, online coaching, and training templates. Social media is filled with lifters branding themselves as experts, selling programs, and marketing their coaching to athletes at all levels.
Yet, despite this massive growth, many coaches struggle to retain clients long-term.
Signing an athlete up for a program isn’t difficult—getting them to stay engaged, continue progressing, and avoid injury over years is the real challenge. Many lifters sign up for coaching, follow a program for a few months, and then either stagnate, get frustrated, or move on to another coach.
The issue isn’t a lack of demand. Powerlifting and strongman have exploded in popularity, with more athletes than ever seeking expert guidance to improve their lifts and prepare for competition.
So why do so many coaches fail to hold onto clients long-term?
After 15 years of coaching lifters from complete beginners to world-class strongmen and powerlifters, I’ve seen why most coaches fail—and more importantly, I’ve figured out how to avoid those mistakes. The best coaching isn’t just about writing programs—it’s about developing athletes over time, keeping them healthy, and ensuring they stay motivated for the long haul.
This article breaks down the three biggest reasons why most coaches struggle with retention and how to fix them to build a sustainable coaching business. Why Most Strongman & Powerlifting Coaches Fail at Long-Term Client Retention & Programming
Poor Periodisation Strategies: No Long-Term Vision
The Mistake:
Many coaches write short-term, block-based programs that might deliver some results in the first 8-12 weeks but fail to build strength over years. The issue? There’s no long-term vision.
This leads to lifters:
🚨 Plateauing after a few cycles with no clear direction.
🚨 Getting frustrated when short-term progress stalls.
🚨 Dropping off coaching entirely in search of better long-term guidance.
Common Periodization Failures:
❌ Over-reliance on cookie-cutter templates – Pre-made programs might work for a few months but fail to address individual weaknesses and long-term development.
❌ No structured progression plan – Many coaches don’t map out how a lifter will progress over multiple years, leading to inconsistent gains.
❌ Ignoring individual variability – Every athlete is different in terms of recovery, adaptation, and weak points, yet many coaches apply one-size-fits-all training models.
❌ Failing to plan for post-competition training – Many lifters burn out after a meet or comp because their coach hasn’t structured the next steps properly.
Too many coaches focus on the next 8-12 weeks instead of thinking in terms of years. The result? Clients make solid progress for a cycle or two, but without a roadmap beyond that, they either stall or leave for another coach who appears to have a better plan.
The Solution:
The best coaches don’t just think in short bursts—they build a multi-year roadmap for their lifters. Here’s how:
✅ Think in years, not weeks – A great coach should have a 1-3 year vision for their clients, ensuring long-term strength development rather than just short-term PRs.
✅ Use a Conjugate-style approach – Linear periodization eventually fails due to plateaus and diminishing returns. By rotating max effort, dynamic effort, and weak-point training, Conjugate-based systems allow constant progress without stagnation.
✅ Plan for plateaus before they happen – Instead of waiting for a client to hit a sticking point, a coach should predict when progress will slow down and make preemptive adjustments.
✅ Use markers beyond PRs – Progress isn’t just about one-rep maxes—it includes technical improvements, volume tolerance, bar speed, and movement efficiency.
Post-Competition Retention Strategy:
One of the biggest reasons lifters quit coaching is that they don’t know what to do after a competition.
Most lifters, especially beginners and intermediates, view competition as an end goal—and without a structured post-meet plan, they feel directionless after the event.
A proper post-competition roadmap should be in place before the meet even happens.
This should include:
✅ A structured recovery phase – Deloading while maintaining momentum.
✅ Weak point analysis – Identifying key areas to improve for the next comp.
✅ Goal setting for the next phase – Keeping lifters engaged with new challenges.
By ensuring athletes have a clear plan post-competition, they stay committed rather than dropping off after a big event.
Lack of Client Engagement: Treating Athletes Like Transactions
The Mistake:
Many coaches treat coaching as a transactional service, where the only thing provided is a training program.
This leads to stagnation, frustration, and eventually, lifters quitting coaching.
Common Engagement Failures:
❌ Minimal check-ins – Some coaches only send a program but don’t actually coach.
❌ No individualised feedback – Lifters feel like they’re just another client rather than a valued athlete.
❌ No education or explanations – If lifters don’t understand why they’re doing certain movements, they won’t fully commit.
❌ No sense of community – A lack of group engagement leads to lifters feeling isolated.
❌ Over-reliance on automation – AI-generated templates and templated responses remove the human connection from coaching.
Red Flags That Drive Clients Away:
🚨 A coach rarely checks in or only messages when it’s time for payment.
🚨 No video reviews or technical feedback—just sets, reps, and weights.
🚨 No individual adjustments—when an athlete stalls, there’s no plan to fix it.
🚨 The coach doesn’t engage beyond selling—they provide a program but not a real coaching experience.
The Solution:
✅ Regular, personalised check-ins – Lifters should feel like they have a real coach, not just a spreadsheet.
✅ A structured feedback loop – Clients track performance metrics, submit videos for technical review, and receive adjustments based on data.
✅ A coaching environment that fosters engagement – Private WhatsApp groups, Discord communities, and weekly Q&As can massively improve long-term retention.
✅ Educating lifters – The more an athlete understands why they’re training a certain way, the more committed they’ll be.
Business Model Failures: No Path from Beginner to Advanced
The Mistake:
Many coaches fail to scale their services based on an athlete’s experience level.
🚨 Beginners often outgrow generic programming after a few months and leave.
🚨 Intermediate lifters need more customisation, but many coaches don’t offer structured programming beyond templates
. 🚨 Advanced athletes require highly individualised coaching that most coaches aren’t equipped to provide.
The Solution:
A successful coaching business should have a clear progression model:
🔹 Beginner Tier – Lower-cost, template-based guidance with video form reviews.
🔹 Intermediate Tier – More hands-on coaching, individualized programming, and direct feedback.
🔹 Advanced Tier – High-touch coaching with competition planning, weekly calls, and detailed tracking.
Additionally:
✅ Offer mentorship services for lifters who want expert guidance but not full programming.
✅ Develop long-term progression frameworks to retain athletes beyond their first few cycles.
✅ Stand out by building a coaching identity—your brand should be synonymous with a specific training philosophy and proven results.
By structuring a coaching business for long-term athlete development, lifters stay for years instead of months.
How I’ve Built a Sustainable Coaching System Over 15 Years
How I Ensure Constant Adaptation to Individual Needs Through Conjugate Principles
One of the biggest reasons most coaching programs fail lifters in the long term is that they follow rigid periodisation models that don’t account for real-world variables—fatigue, injury, technical limitations, or even life stress.
That’s why my approach isn’t built around linear progression, traditional block periodization, or cookie-cutter cycles that eventually lead to stagnation. Instead, I use Conjugate principles to continually adapt training based on real-world feedback, ensuring that athletes are always progressing, always developing, and never stuck in a plateau.
The Three Pillars of Conjugate-Based Adaptation in My Coaching
1️⃣ Rotating Max Effort Variations to Address Weak Points in Real-Time
Most lifters hit plateaus because they do the same main lifts over and over, hammering their strengths while ignoring their weaknesses.
I use rotating specialty bars, partial ranges, and different loading strategies to systematically improve specific sticking points in the squat, deadlift, log press, and strongman events.
Every 2-4 weeks, I adjust these variations based on progress tracking, technique reviews, and competition/event demands, ensuring consistent improvements without overuse injuries.
Example: If a lifter struggles locking out heavy axle deadlifts, I’ll cycle in block pulls, reverse band deadlifts, or heavy frame carries to directly address that weakness.
2️⃣ Dynamic Effort & Speed Work to Continuously Improve Explosiveness & Efficiency
Speed work isn’t just about lifting fast—it’s about technical refinement, improving force production, and reinforcing movement patterns.
Every three weeks, I adjust DE waves using accommodating resistance (bands/chains) and bar weight progressions, ensuring that speed training evolves alongside maximal strength development.
Example: A lifter struggling with leg drive on log press might shift from standard log speed reps to log push press against bands, improving both power output and force absorption.
3️⃣ Individualised Accessory Work to Continuously Reinforce Strength & Stability
Most programs fail because they don’t evolve with the athlete. The same assistance work won’t be relevant after 6-12 weeks, so I ensure that accessory movements change based on athlete-specific needs.
Every 4-6 weeks, I rotate supplementary work, adjusting for recovery, movement deficiencies, and competition timelines.
Example: If a lifter’s yoke carry is too slow due to poor bracing, we’ll introduce belt squat marches, SSB Zercher good mornings, or long-duration sandbag holds to address core endurance.
The result? Consistent, measurable progress across all strength qualities—maximal strength, speed, endurance, and technical execution. No plateaus, no wasted training blocks, just continuous adaptation.
Engagement Strategies That Keep Lifters Invested in Their Own Progress
One of the biggest reasons coaches lose clients isn’t the programming—it’s engagement.
Athletes don’t just need a training plan—they need a coach who actively supports their development, makes them feel like part of something bigger, and ensures that progress is consistently tracked, refined, and improved.
Here’s how I make sure my athletes are fully invested in their own success:
1️⃣ Regular, Personalised Feedback & Check-Ins
Unlike mass-market coaches who just send a spreadsheet every month, I provide weekly or bi-weekly check-ins, ensuring that each athlete’s program evolves based on real feedback.
Technical analysis: Video reviews and form breakdowns to refine execution.
Performance discussions: What’s working, what’s not, and what we need to adjust.
Data tracking: PRs, bar speed, recovery metrics, and competition readiness are all logged.
2️⃣ Teaching, Not Just Telling—Building Autonomous Athletes
Many lifters fail long-term because they don’t understand their training—they’re just following a plan. I educate my athletes on why they’re doing each movement, so they can make intelligent decisions in training.
Every lifter learns how to analyse weak points, assess fatigue, and adjust training accordingly.
Example: If an athlete is over-fatigued before a competition, they’ll already know how to adjust event work, tapering strategies, and recovery modalities.
3️⃣ Community & Support—Lifters Stay Longer When They Feel Part of Something Bigger
Coaching isn’t just about sets and reps—it’s about building an environment where lifters thrive.
Through private coaching groups, direct access for Q&A, and engagement-driven platforms, I ensure that lifters aren’t training alone.
The result? A coaching experience that feels dynamic, interactive, and genuinely supportive—not just transactional.
Why My Coaching Model Has Worked at All Levels—From Beginners to World-Class Strongmen & Powerlifters
Success in strength coaching isn’t about coaching a specific type of athlete—it’s about understanding progression at every level and being able to take any athlete from where they are now to where they need to be.
That’s exactly why my system has worked for everyone from absolute beginners to top-level strongmen and powerlifters.
1️⃣ For Beginners: Establishing a Long-Term Foundation
The biggest mistake beginner lifters make? Jumping into overly complex programming without mastering the basics.
My coaching ensures that novice lifters build technical proficiency, movement quality, and structured strength development from day one.
By using Conjugate principles adapted for beginners, they:
✅ Learn how to rotate movements while still progressing key lifts.
✅ Develop joint health, durability, and movement efficiency before maxing out strength.
✅ Build consistent training habits that lead to long-term success.
2️⃣ For Intermediate Lifters: Bridging the Gap Between Strength & Skill
At the intermediate level, lifters often struggle with plateaus, weak points, and inefficient training structure.
My coaching addresses this by:
✅ Rotating ME variations to develop missing strength components.
✅ Structuring DE waves to ensure continued explosiveness.
✅ Using event-specific work to prepare for competitions without burnout.
Example: An intermediate strongman struggling with log press stability will receive structured rack work, strict press drills, and triceps overload movements to systematically improve their weak points.
3️⃣ For Advanced Lifters: Peaking for Competition Without Overuse or Burnout
The best lifters in the world succeed because they have structured progression that keeps them competition-ready year-round.
At the elite level, my coaching ensures that:
✅ Peaking cycles are structured to maximise readiness without fatigue.
✅ Event-specific programming is refined for technical precision and efficiency.
✅ Recovery, mobility, and injury prevention are built into the plan.
Example: A world-class strongman preparing for a log press max event will follow a hyper-specific peaking cycle, adjusting pressing variations, volume tapering, and neural priming strategies leading into the comp.
The result? Athletes at every level—from their first competition to international-level strongman—have a structured, scalable coaching system that ensures continuous progression.
The Difference Between a Good Coach & a Great Coach
The reality of strength coaching—whether for strongman, powerlifting, or any other strength-based sport—is that programming alone isn’t enough. The best training methods in the world are useless if clients aren’t engaged, if there’s no long-term vision, or if the business model doesn’t support lifters at every stage of their development.
This is why most strength coaches fail at long-term client retention—they focus too much on short-term programming and overlook the bigger picture of coaching. As we’ve covered, there are three primary reasons why coaches struggle to retain lifters over months and years:
✅ Poor periodisation strategies – Writing short-term programs without any long-term progression leads to plateaus and stagnation, leaving lifters feeling directionless.
✅ Lack of client engagement – Treating coaching as a transaction rather than a relationship causes lifters to drop off when motivation dips or challenges arise.
✅ A flawed business model – If your coaching doesn’t evolve with your athletes and provide a structured pathway from beginner to elite, clients will eventually outgrow you.
Coaches who fail to address these issues will always struggle to build a sustainable coaching business, regardless of how well they understand training methodologies.
But for those who get it right, retention becomes effortless. Clients stay for years, their progress continues indefinitely, and your reputation as a coach strengthens with every successful athlete you produce.
What Sets Elite Strength Coaches Apart?
If you want to be a high-level coach in strongman and powerlifting, you have to master three things:
🔥 Structured, progressive programming that looks beyond the next training block and ensures lifters have a 1-3 year roadmap for progression.
🔥 Genuine client engagement that makes athletes feel like they are part of something bigger than just another training plan.
🔥 A scalable coaching system that offers long-term development, not just a one-size-fits-all approach that lifters outgrow after a few months.
At the highest level of strength sports, coaches are not just programmers—they are problem solvers, strategists, and educators who can adapt, refine, and keep athletes progressing for years.
How I Built a Coaching System That Works
Over the past 15 years, I’ve structured my coaching business with one core principle: long-term success requires an adaptable, intelligent system—not just another training template.
That’s why my coaching services are built around Conjugate principles, ensuring that lifters never stall, always have a clear progression plan, and can integrate event-specific work while developing every strength quality needed for strongman or powerlifting success.
But coaching isn’t just about the lifter-coach relationship—it’s about mentorship, education, and ensuring lifters can eventually think like coaches themselves. That’s why I offer three key options for strength athletes and coaches looking to level up:
1️⃣ Coaching for Strength Athletes (Powerlifting & Strongman)
If you're a lifter looking for a proven, structured coaching system, my 1:1 coaching services are designed to keep you progressing long-term.
💪 Fully personalised programming, built for YOUR needs.
📊 Progress tracking, ensuring every phase builds towards long-term success.
📹 Video breakdowns & technical analysis, so you refine skill alongside strength.
🏆 Competition prep & strategy, so you peak at the right time and avoid burnout.
I work with lifters of all levels—from complete beginners to world-class competitors—using the Conjugate framework adapted for strongman and powerlifting success. If you want serious, structured training that ensures long-term results, this is where you need to be.🔗
Apply for Coaching here: https://www.teamjoshhezza.com/product-page/online-coaching
2️⃣ Mentorship for Coaches Who Want to Improve Retention & Results
The biggest gap in the coaching industry isn’t just programming knowledge—it’s understanding how to retain clients, scale a coaching business, and structure long-term success.
That’s why I offer mentorship for strength coaches who want to:
✔ Improve their programming structure and apply Conjugate principles to powerlifting & strongman effectively.
✔ Develop better engagement & retention strategies, ensuring clients stay for years, not months.
✔ Build a coaching business that lasts, scaling services from beginner lifters to elite competitors.
If you’re a coach struggling with retention, business structure, or programming refinement, my 1:1 mentorship gives you direct guidance on how to fix these issues and build a sustainable coaching career.
🔗 Apply for mentorship here: https://www.teamjoshhezza.com/product-page/mentoring-and-consulting-services
3️⃣ The Coaches & Athletes Compendium: Your Strength Training Resource Hub
For coaches and lifters who want access to ongoing programming resources, training templates, and educational content, my £14.99/month Coaches & Athletes Compendium is built to provide the tools, knowledge, and frameworks to master Conjugate-style training for strength sports.
📚 Full programming templates for powerlifting & strongman.
📊 Spreadsheets & tracking systems to refine your training process.
🎥 Educational content & breakdowns, ensuring you understand the why behind every method.
🗣️ A growing community of strength athletes & coaches, so you always have support.
If you want structured programming, exclusive training content, and a deep dive into Conjugate principles, this is where you get it without committing to 1:1 coaching.
🔗 Join the Coaches & Athletes Compendium here: https://www.teamjoshhezza.com/plans-pricing
If You Want to Be a Better Coach or Athlete, Think Long-Term
Most coaches fail because they don’t think beyond the next training cycle. They treat coaching as a transaction, not a partnership. They don’t evolve with their lifters, and they certainly don’t offer a structured path from beginner to elite.
If you’re a lifter looking for coaching that actually works long-term, my 1:1 coaching services will keep you progressing, injury-free, and competition-ready year after year.
If you’re a coach struggling with retention, business structure, or programming beyond the basics, my mentorship program will help you fix these issues, refine your coaching model, and build a sustainable career in strength coaching.
And if you just want access to high-level training resources, templates, and structured programming, the Coaches & Athletes Compendium is the best resource available for learning, applying, and refining your strength training methods.
🚀 So the question is—are you ready to level up? 🚀
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