Most of the people I know love dogs and hate cats.

Sure, there are exceptions to everything. I know there are a few odd ducks out there who aren’t crazy about dogs, and we certainly understand that the world has its share of cat people. But if I took a poll of everybody I meet on a daily basis, I would venture a guess that the majority of them would favor the puppies over the felines. Personally, I love them both, and one of the things that never stops interesting me is watching the personality differences between the two.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. Imagine for a moment what happens when you bring one of these animals into a new house that it’s unfamiliar with. First, think about what the dog will do. As soon as that pooch gets through the front door, he will start running around the house to check everything out. He wants to jump on every couch, sniff every plant, investigate every room, and just generally have a wild and crazy exploring session with his tail wagging hard enough to knock over every picture frame in the place. He’s excited, and he has no fear of anything.

Then, I want you to think about what happens when you do the exact same thing with a cat. For those of you who haven’t brought a cat into a new house, let me tell you how it goes. Most of the time, the kitty is going to get pretty cautious as soon as he realizes that he’s in a new environment. He will walk low to the ground, move slowly, and most likely look for a bed or something that he can crawl under and hide as quickly as possible. It will probably take at least a few days for the cat to start getting comfortable with exploring the house and being sociable with new people. Cats are just like that, plain and simple.

The thing that I really find fascinating is how these basic differences in behavior can also be applied to athletes. When you work with people in a setting of athletic training and competition, you can definitely see which ones are "dogs" and which ones are "cats." Some people have character traits that are more similar to Fido, while others are the walking, talking versions of Garfield. As a coach, these differences become more and more clear as time goes on. The behaviors you see in this regard will determine how the athlete approaches daily workouts, competition and every other aspect of what you do in the gym. If you want to be a successful coach, you need to know how to handle each one effectively. Coaching is not a one-size-fits-all profession. Athletes have to be talked to and handled differently if they’re all going to reach their maximum potential. Failure to comply with this notion can leave you with an empty gym, so let’s take this month’s article and see if we can come up with some useful information about how to manage the pet population of your training world.

Bow Wow Wow, Yippee Yo Yippee Yay

The first athlete personality we’re going to examine is the dogs. When we talk about athletes who fit the dog temperament, we’re talking about the ones who are high on aggression and low on fear. These are the lifters who will go 100% hell-bent-for-leather in every single workout if you let them. They’ll attack their workouts the same way that dog will attack his new house investigation. Typically, the dog athletes have a fierce enthusiasm for training and are willing to do anything you tell them to do...and more. If you want them to attempt a personal record six or seven times in a workout, they’ll do it. In fact, they’ll probably keep attempting it until you tell them to stop, and even then they’ll argue with you because they just KNOW they can hit that snatch on the fourteenth try. You often have to run them out of the gym at the end of the day because they’ll keep going until you shoo them away.

Dog athletes aren’t scared of much. The idea of failing in an attempt or possibly getting injured just doesn’t seem to enter into their minds. They view their whole training experience just like a golden retriever going to a dog park for the day with a master who has tons of tennis balls and all the time in the world. And like the dog with the tennis ball, these athletes like to challenge you. If you’ve ever played fetch with a dog, you’ve probably noticed how the dog brings the tennis ball back to you after you throw it, but he also makes you fight to take the ball out of his mouth before you can throw it again. He likes to battle you a little bit. You have to grip the ball and really pull to get it out of his teeth, and he’s not giving it up easily. He’s not doing this because he wants to keep the ball and end the fetch game. Believe me, he wants you to take the ball away from him because he wants you to throw it again. He just likes the playfulness of grappling with you. Dog athletes are the same way. They’re going to scuffle with you in the gym sometimes.

For example, there might be a situation where the athlete wants to work up and try a max attempt in the back squat because he/she is feeling good that day, but you (the coach) don’t want him/her to do any max squat attempts because you’ve planned some near-maximum snatch attempts for the following day and you don’t want his legs to get too fatigued. This might bring about a little back-and-forth exchange between you and the athlete about who is going to make the final decision. At this point, you have to make the decision on how stern you want to be with your treatment of the athlete. If you blow a gasket and verbally explode on him, it might cause your entire relationship to take a turn for the worse. The athlete might walk away from the tongue-lashing like a dog would walk away from being kicked, and you don’t want that. When it’s all said and done, you still want both the dog and the athlete to feel empowered and enthusiastic. Of course, there is always a chance that you might be working with a turbocharged headstrong athlete who simply won’t obey your instructions unless you verbally explode on him. These athletes are exhausting to work with because they make you ride them like a pack mule day after day. You have to practically beat them with a hammer to get them to obey, and you have to make your own call about whether it’s worth it to you to keep butting heads with them over and over. If the constant combat is wearing you down, tell them to get out of the gym for a while and decide whether they want to train on your terms or not.

However, there are plenty of obvious positives about dog athletes. If you can get them under control, they have a much better chance of becoming successful because of their natural intensity and willingness to work hard. Laziness won’t be much of an issue here. And as with dogs, these athletes will often develop a powerful loyalty to you as they grow and develop. Through smart discipline and intelligent treatment, you will wind up with a lifter who is not only a well-trained weightlifting machine, but also willing to chew somebody’s leg off if they give you any trouble. It’s a good feeling when you reach this stage.

Hello Kitty

In my opinion, most of the athletes you work with in weightlifting will be dog athletes. This is simply because a person has to have some dog in them to even give weightlifting a try in the first place. This sport requires a lot of courage, even if the lifter isn’t planning to compete. Most people in the world jump out of the way when they see a heavy iron weight falling towards the ground. Weightlifters jump under it and try to catch it. That tells you something about what kind of people they are.

Still, regardless of the basic principles of weightlifting and what kind of personality they lend themselves to, there are going to be plenty of potential trainees coming into your gym who have a little more of the cat qualities we hinted at earlier. First and foremost, cat athletes will be much more cautious than dog athletes. I hesitate to use the words "fearful" or "scared" because these terms both carry a negative connotation, and it’s important for a coach to always see athletes in a positive way. However, cat athletes will be very hesitant about stepping out of their comfort zones. They will often have a particular amount of weight that they are comfortable attempting in workouts, something they know they can make consistently with very little chance of failure. And it won’t be easy to get them to load a few more kilos on the bar and take a shot at it. You (the coach) will have to push them to attempt new personal records. They won’t instinctively go for it on their own. Also, they will often take a long time to warm up to you or demonstrate any loyalty, much like cats.

These athletes instinctively avoid situations that could result in pain, embarrassment or failure. It is worth mentioning that many coaches simply won’t bother working with athletes who demonstrate cat qualities in the early stages. Coaches will dismiss these athletes as cowards and simply conclude that they just don’t have the mental disposition to be weightlifters. This is where it would be wise to step back and examine some more productive ways to work with the cat athletes. Weightlifting is a small sport, and it’s not easy to find people who are willing to seriously pursue it. If you’re lucky enough to train somebody who has legitimate enthusiasm and the desire to snatch, clean, and jerk, then it is worth your time to think of some interpersonal techniques that will keep this person around and give them a chance to be successful. Even if they are timid and hesitant about taking risks, there are still ways to work with them. Mainly, the coach has to find a way to push the athlete while still providing a sense of safety. Often, the cat athletes will be reluctant to attempt personal records simply because they feel like they will disappoint the coach if they fail. As a coach, you have to make it clear to the athlete that you are supportive of them even if they don’t always succeed. Basic expressions like "We’ll get it next time" or "I’m proud of your effort" can go a long way. Cats don’t come out from under the bed when they get screamed at. They come out from under the bed when they’re confident in their surroundings.

Now, is it also possible for an athlete to be such a basketcase personality that they’re basically impossible to work with? Absolutely, and I’ve seen a few of these. There might come a time when you (the coach) have to tell an athlete to hit the bricks in order to avoid losing your other athletes because they won’t train in the same gym as the wacko. My personal experience is that these types are few and far between, but you never know. Some cats have lived in a dysfunctional home for so long that they’re beyond socialization. They just need their own cage, plain and simple.

It’s also worth mentioning that cats can be very dangerous when they feel trapped or defensive. Try dealing with a cat sometime when its ears are pointed backwards, its back is arched, and you can hear it making a growling noise. If you try to pick that cat up and scold it at that moment, be prepared to walk away with some scratches on your face.

Species Identification

Where do you fit in this discussion? Look at yourself from the outside and think about which animal you most closely relate to. How about your coaches? Would they say you’re a dog or a cat?

Looking back at myself as a young weightlifter, I think I was a pretty direct example of a dog athlete. I grew up in a small town where the high school weight room was the only place to train. It was a free standing building behind the football stadium, and it was always locked during non-school hours. I didn’t have time in my schedule to take a weight training class, so I used to go there at five o’clock in the morning and pick the lock on the back door so I could get inside and train by myself with no heat, almost no lighting, and no coaching. Then I had to get out of there before the teachers showed up and busted me for breaking in. I wanted to be a lifter, and nothing was going to stop me from doing it.

When I finally hit the big time and moved to a gym where I had a coach, I was not easy to handle. I wanted to go as heavy as I could every single day, and I had no problems with trying a personal record twelve times in a row. I also had a defiant attitude and a short fuse, which didn’t make me the world’s most endearing young trainee. In retrospect, I have to thank God that I had a coach who didn’t get fed up and kick me out of the gym. He certainly had reason to. But as I’ve mentioned in this article, he found a way to condition me to his way of doing things. To use some dog terminology, he had to swat me in the nose with a rolled up newspaper and rub my snout in my own mess a few times. And he did it in a way that let me know he didn’t hate me and that he wanted me to be successful. As time passed, I learned. I learned who the boss was, and I learned that following his instructions was going to put me in a better position to be a champion. After a few years, my loyalty to him was so strong that I would have chewed broken glass if he told me to.

You have to learn the same methods, and then you have to develop your own style of conditioning your athletes to follow your methods. It takes time, believe me. Coaching is a skill that takes a long time to develop, just like athletic prowess. But you’ll be okay if you remember that people have differences, and they require different treatment. If you don’t believe me, put your cat on a leash and try to take it for a walk around the block the same way you would with a dog. See how that works for you.