PICP level 1 and 2 – Meet the coaches

Last week I completed the Charles Poliquin Level 1 and 2 courses in Southampton England with coaches Derek Woodske and Mary-pier Gaudet. I learned a tonne of stuff from the coaches but I also had a great time with some of the other guys on the course. Below are a few videos of the guys in action and a few thoughts about where these guys are headed in the big wide world of S&C!

When I arrived to the hotel tired from my marathon trip from the south of France Diego Cocchetti was the first guy I met. We made friends straight away and I could soon see that he is sure to be the number one trainer when it comes to BMX and cycling preparation. He’s one of the most passionate genuine and thorough coaches I’ve met over the years. His website http://www.dctraining.it/ is a great resource that will become a point of reference for all Italian speakers. He’s a biosignature coach whose ability to apply what he’s learned makes him unique not only as one of very few Italian’s with such a high level of education but as a strength coach who can convert theory to practice. Diego has also completed extensive training with the Tudor Bompa Institute. He’ll no doubt be a guy for me to bounce ideas off and follow in the future.

Cristian Kuhn lived up to the german reputation of being hard-working and maybe just a little too intense at times! He worked really hard in the sessions and I’m sure he’s going to be a great coach for brining athletic training to Dusseldorf. He’s already had some great improvements with just a short time on the weights. I can’t wait to see him again in a few months time to see the progression he’s made!

Rasmus Thorø Thomsen was a late addition to our group because he’d already completed the PICP 1 course and joined just for the lower body component. He’s a gymnast that loves his weights so I can’t wait to see what that combination can come up with. I wish him luck on his way to a medal in the Danish national championships. I think that by the next time we meet I’ll be able to do some decent tricks and he will be doing some world-class strength feats! Anyone with Thore in their name has to be strong!

Andrzej Wodyn Roszkowski was by far the strongest, most knowledgable and most eccentric character at the course. He had a never ending collection of well thought out questions. Most of them demonstrated that he knows both the Poliquin system and other conflicting ideas in the world of strength training. He was my training buddy for the whole week and he encouraged me on a number of occasions to put some weight on the bar if I want to be a good coach. I enjoyed his company and his ideas. Andrzej is a successful powerlifting coach with a few world class Polish lifters working under him. You can see his lifts along with 189 other subscribers at http://www.youtube.com/user/WODYN99

Marcel Seidscheck has a marketing background and it showed with his bubbly character and jokes. He ripped into the training and should do well with his combination of being easy to get along with, knowing his marketing and being keen to learn whatever he needs to in order to become a quality coach! I hope that he has some ideas for us here at KeeganSH.com

Having a week away from the Dragons was tough. In season it’s hard not to see the guys and knowing how things are ticking along. On top of that it was a marathon trip to get there and get home and Southampton was fairly grey. In spite of all that I made a bunch of new friends and got inspiration from all of them as they work towards their dreams in the fitness industry. To top it off I made it to back at half time with the score at 6-16 down. We came back in the second half to finish 28-20 and take the Catalans Dragons record to 2-0 to start the 2012 super league season.