March, 2008
A Few Words with Damien Maher
This Irish strength coach has taken the road less traveled to learn his trade
by Kim Goss
Coach Damien Maher is a coach who, to paraphrase country singer Johnny Lee, has ‘...been looking for knowledge in all the right places.'
Working out of the Westwood Gym in Leopardstown, Dublin, Ireland, Maher has taken dozens of advanced seminars and certification programs in the areas of strength and conditioning and soft-tissue work. NeuroMuscular Therapy, Rolfing, Active Release, Olympic-style weightlifting, kettlebell training - you name it, he's taken it, even when fulfilling this thirst for knowledge required him to visit several countries in the process. Maher has also reached Level II in the Poliquin International Certification Program and has attended more than 20 internships or seminars given by Coach Poliquin. The result is a coach who knows the best ways to prepare athletes for competition.
Initially, the majority of Maher's clients in Ireland were mothers of young children, who would train with him early in the morning, and businessmen. As his clients started transforming their physical appearance and making rapid strength gains, serious athletes began to inquire about this training. Now Maher lists among his clientele numerous professional footballers. One such notable athlete is Paul McShane, an Irish player who has made two successive transfers in the last two years, each time stepping up a division into a higher standard into the English Premiership. McShane's success parallels Maher's own rising reputation.
Maher started with a number of sprinters in 2007, and their rapid success has led to even more opportunities to work with athletes from other sports, such as rugby and Gaelic football players. This past year Maher was asked to give several presentations on physical fitness to corporations, which resulted in him and two of his associates taking on several corporate fitness programs. Maher has been featured on television, radio and newspapers, and he writes a weekly, full-page article in a national paper. He has also been the fitness expert on a reality TV show for the past two years.
Maher believes that one of the most serious problems with those in his profession is that they stop educating themselves when they achieve a bit of success. In Ireland, Maher says that the standards of the profession are relatively low because there are very few coaches in that country who have achieved international success with athletes. To help improve this situation, Maher agreed to share his training philosophy and offers practical advice on how strength coaches can achieve the highest standards in their profession.
KG: How valuable is formal education in doing your job?
DM: Not very - I learn more in private practical internships in one week than I learn in five months of courses in colleges on fitness. I am a practical person, so I learn from those who have "walked the walk" and have achieved results from living life in the field, not from theorists who "talk the talk."
KG: What are some favorite books that have helped you in your profession?
DM: I've read all of Charles Poliquin's books, which increased my understanding of the science of training and enabled me to manipulate the variables in training to continue improvement. I coupled this "heads-down" learning of training methods with "heads-up" learning on personal and business development, such as Steven Covey's First Things First, for clarity on what is important; Superself by Charles Givens; The Success Principles by Jack Canfield; The Richest Man in Babylon, for finance-related areas; and the Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale.
KG: What was your first seminar with Charles Poliquin?
DM: I attended a Level 1 Technical in London and a week later attended the Biosignature and Practical Level I and I in Dublin. I realized that I had so much more to learn so I book an internship in the Phoenix Poliquin Performance center that weekend.
KG: What sets Charles' programs apart from others?
DM: They get results! Each seminar I attend I leave with information and methods I can apply on Monday. Charles' training systems teach you assessment tools that get the information for your program design in less than one hour. This gives you the points where you show the client areas that they need to improve. By conducting the different strength tests you obtain a reference point of measurement that can be retested to show the effectiveness of the program design to the client. Previous courses I have attended had four-hour assessments that would leave you with very little information with which to write a program, and the programs they offered would never alter anyone's physique. Charles' programs change physiques, and they get results. I have taken photos of my clients before I used Charles' methods, and then after, and their results in pictures tell a thousand words. When people get results, their friends want the same, and this generates more referrals for my business - this is how my business has grown.
KG: Has being certified by Charles helped improve your earning potential?
DM: Since I started learning under Charles, I have more than quadrupled my earnings! In fact, one tip during an hour invested picking Charles' brain saved me more than €15,000 in just one year.
KG: Where do you start with a new trainee? That is, what type of assessments do you make?
DM: The assessments I make with a new trainee are primarily based on Charles' structural balance tests taught in Level I and Level II. For example, for males I will conduct an upper body- and lower body structural balance test. For females I will test the stabilizers of their shoulders and perform a lower body structural balance test, unless they have previously been trained.
KG: Do you focus a lot on nutrition, and do you find that athletes are more careful about their eating habits than in the past?
DM: The world is full of people who train hard but don't get results. Nutrition is a missing key for a lot of people, and I've found that many of my clients are confused by the promotion of a food pyramid that is designed to change your body shape in all the wrong directions. Training and nutrition are a marriage that cannot be broken - you need the right fuel to get the right performance. When I was playing soccer, the team bus would stop at a hotel for a full Irish, heart-stopping breakfast as a pre-match meal. On the way home the team bus would stop at a chipper for deep-fried chicken and chips. Is this supposed to be the food of champions?!! I had to bring a packed lunch for every game and eat my own food, rather than what the team ate.
KG: What are the major problems you see with the diets of your athletes?
DM: In general, the athletes I meet have great intentions about improving their diets, but they have poor mentors. They are seriously deficient in proteins, and they overconsume highly processed grains with a limited vegetable intake. They are encouraged to eat foods that will make them fat, rather than teaching them nutrition methods to help them get big and lean. Also, their knowledge about supplements is based on the best marketing and not on what is essential to improving their sports performance.
KG: What are the major weaknesses of the athletes you work with?
DM: It varies from sport to sport. I've found that soccer players have never understood the importance of weight training, being led to believe it would make them slower. The training programs of Gaelic football players used to revolve around four cones and a whistle! In the last few years they have started weight training, but they are encouraged to only do partial movements, and the weights they are lifting are very low. Likewise, the semiprofessional rugby players I coached are tested in half presses and half squats, a training approach that compromises their flexibility and increases their likelihood of future injuries.
KG: What is your philosophy on preventing injuries in sport?
DM: "If you're not assessing, then you are guessing." Implementing Charles' structural balance tests is a simple way of predicting weaknesses and imbalances in muscles that could lead to injury. In addition to this, I test the flexibility of the athletes I train. Based on the results of the flexibility, they may have stretching included as a training unit, or I may do ART on them or refer them out for soft-tissue work.
KG: Are certain types of injuries more common to today's athletes?
DM: It depends on the sport, but a number of players I have played soccer with have paid a visit to a surgeon for ACL surgery. Charles will explain that a number of these injuries are influenced by an imbalance between the strength of the quads and the hamstrings.
KG: Is it hard to motivate yourself to train after working in a gym all day?
DM: No. When I did my first internship with Charles in Phoenix, I was a skinny, waiflike model at 73 kilos. After the slagging I got about my "11 teen" inch arms and being surrounded by large American footballers, I set about practicing the principles Charles teaches. I have since hit 97 kilos while still remaining very lean. When I read Steven Covey's book First Things First nearly two years ago, I decided to prioritize my training for 8:15 a.m. every weekday and 10 a.m. on weekends. That is a schedule for myself that is booked like any other appointment.
KG: What is the attitude of the strength coaches you associate with?
DM: The coaches I surround myself with are hungry for success. We encourage each other to keep learning, because you can't be sitting on a barstool reminiscing about past glories even if you have achieved success. In the past year I have been fortunate to have met Pierre Roy and Milos Sarcev - they are great role models. You become whom you surround yourself with.
KG: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a strength coach?
DM: Work to learn, don't work to earn. I started in fitness when I came across a quote by Malcolm Forbes that said, "The biggest mistake someone can make is not making a living out of doing what you most enjoy." Find something you enjoy and make your hobby or pastime your livelihood. When you become more proficient in training methods, devote time to learning about personal and business development, and learn how to market and promote your business. You can't make a living being the best strength coach if no one ever hears about you!
KG: What are your future goals?
DM: One of my written goals is for my personal training studio to be in operation by Sept 2008. I have focused on putting some structure in place, and I am lucky to be surrounded with great staff who will work with me to increase the popularity of strength training. My business will skyrocket by 2009 through many sources, personal training, corporate health, and information products. On a personal note, I will continue to develop my strength through honest endeavor and I will savor and enjoy the experience. On an educational front, I will be relentless in my pursuit to continue to learn, and I will continue to devote at least six weeks a year on courses and internships. I look forward to increasing the number of athletes I train and helping them achieve success. I will be a role model for young people to show them that you can be fit, regardless of age, once you have the burning desire to continually improve.