The traditional view would be that a hands-on, regular coach is better. One would imagine that having your coach stand opposite you and appraise your physique daily, stand behind you and push you during the last squat set and shake your hand every evening is what is needed for success.
Well, in order to address this, let’ s look at IFBB Pro Marius Dohne. Everyone knows who he is – he represented this country at the Mr Olympia with aplomb and he is a well-known face in the bodybuilding establishment of this country and the world. However, there is another part of Marius that demands some attention. He is a bodybuilding coach, and specifically, he has a very successful online coaching business. Why talk about the merits of online training? Consider the following: His business, BTD( Born to Dominate), had 17 clients qualify for the IFBB SA Championships, and out of those 17 qualifications, two clients won their provincial overalls( Juan Bothma and Shanti Mitchell). Of the 17 qualifications at the SA Champs, BTD had 7 wins( 6 division wins and the men’ s overall title with Shanti Mitchell).
Juan Bothma went on to win the NABBA SA overall title and Raymond Nortje won the WPF SA junior title. Put another way, Marius coaches the IFBB SA champion bodybuilder, the NABBA SA champion bodybuilder and the WPF junior SA champion bodybuilder.
Clearly there are merits to online training, and specifically BTD, and therefore we would miss a trick if we did not try and get into Marius’ head regarding this rapidly growing industry in competitive bodybuilding.
M. E: How long have you been a coach for( personal and online)? Marius: I qualified as a personal trainer in 2001. I ' ve been working as a Personal Trainer on and off since then until about 2010, when one day a lady approached me to train her. She lived far away so she suggested we do it via email and photos, and that ' s how BTD online training started. Three years later I married that lady.
M. E: Wow, so Annelize was your first online client? That ' s amazing, and how did she do? Marius: She placed 4th at the IFBB SAs in the fitness bikini line up that year. They told her she was too muscular for the division so I convinced her to do Body Fitness and now she is SA Champ and she is part of the business doing online training, and has had huge success with her female clients.
M. E: For readers who may not know, please give a list of some of your online and oneon-one clients’ achievements. Marius: The following is list of SA titles and international placings of the athletes I’ ve coached. The provincial wins are too many to mention or remember.
I also need to mention I don’ t work with some of these athletes any more. I also didn’ t mention the exact years because that’ s also too much to remember.
• Tammy Jackson-( Bikini Athlete)- Multiple SA titles in multiple federations.- IFBB World Champs 4th,- IFBB Amateur Olympia 1st
• Vusi Njisane( bodybuilder)- IFBB SA Super Heavy 1st, IFBB SA Overalls
• Angie Snyman( bikini athlete)- WBFF SA Fitness Diva 1st
• Melissa Storm Glayser( bikini athlete)- Multiple NABBA SA bikini 1st
• Dylan Ridley( bodybuilder)- Multiple SA titles from multiple federations.
• Julian Lee Ramdhari( bodybuilder)- IFBB SA lightweight 1st
• Carlos Nunes( bodybuilder)- IFBB SA middleweight 1st
• Alex Maud( bikini athlete)- IFBB SA U / 23 fitness bikini 1st
• Nicolene Booysen( bikini athlete)- IFBB SA fitness bikini 1st
• Annelize Dohne( body fitness)- IFBB SA body fitness 1st
• Kiran Sign( bodybuilder)- INBA SA Physically challenged division 1st
• Shanti Mitchell( bodybuilder)- Multiple SA titles from multiple federations.- IFBB SA overall 1st
• Juan Bothma( bodybuilder)- Multiple wins culminating in NABBA SA overall title
• Raymond Nortje( bodybuilder)- WPF SA junior title
M. E: What is the real value, in your view, that a coach brings to a bodybuilder / physique athlete? Marius: It ' s always better to have a trained eye watch over you because sometimes, especially closer to the show, your mind plays tricks on you and you start doubting and veering off the original plan. Other times you have to veer off the original plan because things might not have worked out as you planned, so a coach will make the necessary changes to get you ready on time. Some people just don ' t have the knowledge to come in rock hard and dry, others don ' t know how to do it safely. This is why a knowledgeable coach is essential. Most of the top IFBB Pros have coaches.
“ It ' s always better to have a trained eye watch over you because sometimes, especially closer to the show, your mind plays tricks on you and you start doubting and veering off the original plan.” www. muscleevolution. co. za