Jose Raymond shares the biggest red flags when choosing a bodybuilding coach.
Jose Raymond has been a competitive bodybuilder since 1993. While he had to step down for a few years due to an injury, he has been actively involved with bodybuilding for nearly 3 decades. So it stands to reason that his advice on what to look for in bodybuilding coaches should be taken seriously. In our latest GI Exclusive, Jose Raymond warns of the biggest red flags to look for when choosing a bodybuilding coach.
Jose Raymond didn’t start working with a bodybuilding coach or guru until he was 37 years old. That’s because he wanted to exhaust every single one of his own resources to see how far he could climb before turning to expert help. That kind of mentality showcases how rigorous and serious Raymond took his own role in bodybuilding. It’s his first tip for young bodybuilders today looking for advice on finding a bodybuilding coach.
Far too often, a bodybuilding coach is seen as a necessary key to success in pro bodybuilding. While a coach can be extremely helpful, they are not a catch-all tool to instantly make a bodybuilder better. At the end of the day, the bodybuilder does the work and follows the plan. So before turning towards a coach, Raymond suggests that a bodybuilder does the work to ensure they have exhausted all personal resources. This way – the bodybuilder will know they are ready to put everything in to working with a coach and succeeding.
Of course, when starting the journey of looking for a coach, the biggest question is who do you trust? There are certainly famous names in bodybuilding with proven pedigrees. But not all bodybuilders will have the luck or opportunity to work with them. In today’s internet landscape, it can be hard to tell the tried and true coaches from the hacks looking to make easy money.
Check out our GI Exclusive segment with Jose Raymond above!
That’s why Jose Raymond shares some red flags that bodybuilders should look out for when choosing a coach. These are key factors that should give the bodybuilder an immediate warning to stay away and find someone else.
His first tip is to look for a coach that still embraces the basics. While it’s certainly okay for a coach to bring in some groundbreaking material into their practices – they should also respect the basics that work. Science does evolve and opinions on fitness do change but certain fundamentals will always be true. If you find yourself with a coach who is trying to reinvent the wheel and throw away tried and true basics – that should be a warning sign.
Secondly, Jose Raymond believes that a coach who focuses too much on drugs is a red flag. Raymond admits that drugs are always going to be a part of any professional sport. It will be an element for top tier pro athletes. But Jose Raymond believes that more recently, the importance of drugs has become overstated. Many bodybuilders go into a coaching relationship only looking for a drug protocol. That is not the main thing a coach should be doing.
So Jose Raymond’s advice is to turn away from any coach that claims he can provide a drug protocol that will make you successful. More is not always better when it comes to drugs. Moreover, drugs are not the most important element in bodybuilding. Any coach who tells you that is not the right coach.
So ultimately there are two key takeaways Jose Raymond hopes to convey for up and coming bodybuilders. Don’t look for coaches that throw away the basics. And don’t look for coaches that act more like drug dealers than trained professionals. If you avoid those two things, do your research, and find a credited trainer – you’ll find yourself getting the help you need for success.
You can watch Jose Raymond break down his advice for bodybuilding coaches in full by watching our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!