Coaching remotely can be a nightmare at times. Its difficult to know if the client is truly taking care of all the things you are asking of them, and honestly some are just a pain in the ass. That is not the case with Jenna (really anyone I coach from Hellbent Barbell). I have not been coaching Jenna long, in fact this was our first meet together. We worked through a full offseason and rolled into prep for the Woman’s Pro Am.

I think its best to let Jenna describe her experience with my coaching and using 10/20/Life as a training style.

“I just finished my biggest meet to date, the Womens Pro/Am held at Laura Phelps gym in Cincinnati, Ohio. In preparation for this I realized with being a mother of two, being in school full time and working a full-time job, I needed a more balanced training philosophy. With that being said, I reached out to Jonathan Byrd who had been coaching my boyfriend with great success. Jonathan and I started working with each other in November of 2017 initially in an off-season cycle to prep me for a 10-week pre-contest prep. Within that 5 months working with Jonathan, we were able to add 125lbs to my total. Going from a 450lb squat to a 510lb squat, a 240lb bench to a 260lb bench and a 370lb deadlift to a 415lb deadlift. Totaling 1185lbs, placing 1st in my weight class and taking home best lifter out of 75 other very strong women. I was able to keep myself healthy both mentally and physically with more frequently programmed deloads, along with training my CNS to handle heavier weight. Also, incorporating a “fluff and buff” day into the program helped me with my accessory work and active recovery. Jonathan as a coach was there for me every step of the way. I sent him my training videos of every lift, so he could critique them. He helped me figure out the best way for me to set up for bench when I was struggling to figure out what worked for me. He told me to stop being such a girl and stop over thinking everything and just lift. When I did what I was told, my lifts got better and stronger every week and my confidence in myself came back. Finding a good coach these days is hard but when you do find a good one listen. Being coachable is just as important as finding a good coach. I don’t know where I would be without the knowledge and guidance of Jonathan Byrd and the 10/20/Life philosophy but I do know I will be continuing my training with him as I push on to the WPO in November.”

Jenna has a ton of potential and pairing her with a solid program that is targeting her weak points has really made a difference in her strength levels. Not only did she put up a massive PR, but did it traveling across country on a big platform. That is a piece that most people miss in this sport. It is much easier to perform at a local meet with little to no competition. The return of the WPO is going to be great for the sport and I cant wait to see how Jenna compares to some of the best to ever lift!