We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sean Nguyen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sean below.

Sean, appreciate you joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

The strength world has long been male dominant and most methods of training developed around male athletes, thus leading to most coaches having a male-biased view of training. So a pretty cool U-Turn that I experienced in the Fitness industry and sports, is that men and women should train differently, mainly due to women having a menstrual cycle while men do not. When I’m talking about training differently, I’m referring more to the timing and programming of certain phases of training and not men and women should focus on different exercises from each other. Previously, it was pretty standard to program for both men and women identically as long as the workout programs followed the basic principles of timing periods of over-reaching (pushing training volume slightly beyond an athlete feeling fully recovered) with timed de-loads (reduction in training volume) dosed as needed. While many female athletes have succeeded under this male-biased system of training, many female athletes have also wondered why during certain phases of their menstrual cycle do they suddenly feel less coordinated, have trouble focusing, or feel less powerful when based on where they are in their training cycle they should be performing much better. My wife is one of those many female athletes who for years would wonder why all of the sudden she would have bad training days. Experiencing this U-Turn in the industry together really gave us context into her training and managing expectations during a training cycle which in turn helped make her training more productive. For example, during the end of the luteal phase in the week leading up to menstruation, women may experience lack of coordination, reduced power output, and weight gain mostly due to bloating and fluid retention. By being cognizant of this, you can feel more at ease as to “why a diet doesn’t seem to be working since all of the sudden you’ve gained weight despite adhering to your diet” or “why does every time I seem to have to perform my best or compete can I never execute how I want” and can more easily maintain consistency longer with a diet or training or whatever sports or fitness goal you’re working towards. Coaching with this in mind has definitely improved my programming for my female athletes and timing and picking opportune moments to hit a max or for timing weight loss around a specific competition they have to weigh-in for. Although, more and more coaches are learning there is a difference in training male and female athletes, I don’t think it is wide spread enough and wanted to take this time to let more people know in the event it may help their athletes or themselves. If they’re interested in learning more about the differences in training they should check out Janet Alexander’s works on the menstrual cycle and training women or Molly Galbraith’s works or certification on girlsgonestrong.com as those two are at the forefront of the fitness industry U-Turn.

Sean, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a dual sport athlete, a coach, dancer and model. I’ve been blessed to have had great coaches and mentors in all that I do and would not have been able to get as far as I have in each field on my own. As a result, I’ve always wanted to become a coach to help guide others in the same way I have been guided. I first started coaching general fitness while I was living in NYC – inspired by my own weightlifting coach (Russian national record holder Vasily Polovnikov) at the time, whose focus and attention to detail helped me really understand lifting mechanics and made me want to learn so much more. Over time, I diversified my coaching to track athletes, weightlifters, powerlifters, and dancers. I think there are several factors that set me apart from other coaches: my diverse background of movement, learning how to overcome my own struggles with movement & coordination, and working through several injuries over time. Being naturally coordinated is not something I was born with, so I spent many years learning and relearning basic movements – from walking, to posture, to weight distribution and more. This forced me to really problem solve in order to improve my performance and I was able to learn so many cues to help achieve those “A-ha” moments. Additionally, my exposure to so many modalities of movement, different coaching styles, and rehab systems have really allowed me to develop a more well rounded lens in coaching and I’m able to connect missing dots in understanding movement for both myself and my clients. As a coach, I’m most proud of helping my client Rod not only get back to lifting, but to achieve a lifetime PR deadlift at 600 lbs (for 2 reps!). Rod came to me after having several tumor reconstructions which resulted in a lot of pain, instability, and imbalances. Luckily, due to what I’ve learned from the advances of rehab & training principles, I was able to get him moving again pain free which was a huge win! And from there we were able to build on strength and athleticism in order to get him further in his sport.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think most active people can relate to dealing with an injury at one point or another. For me, as a dual sport athlete in my mid 30s, I’ve had to overcome severe back pain and limitations due to having 3 herniated discs. Over the years, I’ve had doctors and chiropractors tell me that I could never lift again, and would likely need to get a spinal fusion procedure. I eventually discovered an orthopedic surgeon who taught me that 90% of people can actually overcome these types of back issues through physical therapy and it is absolutely possible to live pain free with herniated discs. Learning this made me dive deeper into rehab methods & explore modalities that are at the forefront of the industry. Through a lot of trial and error, I was eventually able to fully resolve my back pain without any flare ups. This injury became a blessing in disguise as I learned a vast amount of information regarding rehab and therapy and I’ve been able to infuse that into my training programs to help my clients overcome injuries and avoid future ones while still progressing to their goals.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think the most helpful skill to have as a coach or trainer would be the ability to relate to your client or athletes and meeting them in a way they understand. Not everyone learns the same idea the same way, and each client or athlete comes to you with many different background experiences. For example, if I’m teaching someone who is new to dance, but has a background in running, it is much more productive to help them understand the rhythmic swinging of your limbs in dance is similar to the arm swing in running and takes advantage of all the time they’ve spent developing the skill of running rather than starting from square one and just showing arm swings in a vacuum as is often taught. By being able to relate to your client’s or athlete’s background or learning style you can increase the number of “A-ha!” clicking moments and greatly improve their progress and results.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: shnreardon
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits

Squatchez Media, Johnshootsit Photography, Torian Ugworji