Train Smart vs your club’s program
If your club has a strength and conditioning coach and a real program, you are in a small minority and you should use it. This page is about the far more common situation.
What the alternative does better
What a club program has that an app does not: the coach is there, in the room, watching. It is done together, which is worth a great deal for attendance. And a coach who knows the squad knows things about your season and your fixtures that no software does.
Where Train Smart is different
The structural problem is that a squad program is one program for forty people. It has to be written for the middle of the group, which means it is too much for some and not enough for others — and it cannot account for the fact that one player is 16 and one is 34, one is coming back from a knee and one is trying to add ten kilos to a bench.
It also usually stops at the door. What you do in the three sessions a week you are not at the club is your problem, and that is most of your training.
The comparison
| Club squad program | Train Smart | |
|---|---|---|
| Individualised to you | Rarely — written for the group | Yes |
| Covers sessions away from the club | Usually not | Yes — the whole week |
| Adapts to your injury | If the coach has time | Yes |
| Coach visibility | Yes, in the room | Yes, via the club console |
| Conditioning targets | Squad-wide | Individual, goal-driven |
| Cost to the player | Included in fees | Free when the club pays |
When Train Smart is the wrong choice
Every comparison page on the internet ends with the author winning. Here are the people who should not buy this.
- Your club already runs proper individualised programming. Then you have what this replaces. Use it.
- You would not follow a program on your own. The group session is doing something for you that an app will not.
If you help run a club: the club console is A$8 per player per month, the club pays, and every player gets full Train Smart membership at no cost to them. There is a free month to see whether it changes anything.
Common questions
How much does Train Smart cost a club?
Can our coach see what players are doing?
Other comparisons
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OpenStart training properly
Pick your sport, answer a few questions, and your first week is built before you leave the kitchen.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.