ABOUT FOUNDATION

To apply for this program please email me at coaching@couchtothesummit.com if you are interested in joining the Couch to the Summit Performance Coaching stable of athletes, or if you have any questions or comments.

I am located in Vancouver, Canada and I'm available to chat on +1 778-229-8230. I work with athletes anywhere in the world.

• OBJECTIVE: The FOUNDATION program is a "back to basics" foundational coaching service tailored for people new to endurance training, endurance athletes learning to run, or athletes grappling with training challenges such as biomechanical, fatigue, bodyweight challenges or plateaued fitness. I utilise best practice training science across both endurance and strength training paradigms (among others), to help set you on the pathway to become the endurance athlete you've always dreamt of being!

  This program focuses more on education, low intensity training, building strength and resiliency in the body, and less on intensity, performance, rapid fitness building, or race outcomes. If you focus too heavily on these performance areas before you have developed resiliency and correct training habits, it's quite likely you will experience many setbacks and failure to thrive.

• INNOVATION: A strong focus of FOUNDATION is identifying your shortcomings using benchmark testing and setting in motion a 1-2-year plan to develop the right foundation and training habits for successful long-term development. This program utilises an innovative approach to test your abilities across all 20 unique and comprehensive attributes of my FAST-PROTOCOLS training method that was designed by Couch to the Summit to develop resilient and high-performing multi-dimensional athletes.

  Over ten years of research - and five years of practical refinement coaching athletes - has gone into the construction of this program. I am excited to offer this unique service to people of any ability who want to grow and develop their athletic potential by getting the basics in place first alongside thorough testing of their present abilities.

THE PROBLEMS SOLVED BY FOUNDATION

• Fast Tracked Endurance and Fitness Development in the Long Term: Many inexperienced athletes spend years barely making much fitness progress. Don't waste your time making mistakes and learning the hard way trying to figure training out on your own. It can take many years of dedicated interest and research to figure out correct training principles and approaches. I've put in the leg work for you over the past 15 years. It's knowledge I wish I had when I was an emerging athlete.

  FOUNDATION has been uniquely developed to fast-track you through the foundation phase and get you successfully building fitness year upon year as you enter the BUILD coaching program after a year or two. BUILD emphasizes consistent multi-year aerobic base-building development to progress an athlete to intermediate and elite categories in the fastest time period possible, but it can only happen once the correct foundation is laid. Athletes who cannot be consistent with training will not make progress in BUILD or any other training program. Constant multi-year progress can only be achieved once you build a resilient foundation and are habituated with suitable lifestyle and training practices.

• Developing Biomechanical Resiliency: Traditional coaching services typically focus on aerobic training only, while providing little or no assistance in improving biomechanical function and teaching you the right way to train all attributes that are important to fitness. At least 50% of novices face injury each year trying to run because athletes overestimate their capacity to withstand strenuous events or simply don't understand they are doing too much too soon. Endurance sports usually demand multiple years of training for optimal performance and to minimize risks, such as fatigue or injury. There's little point to being extremely fit or ambitious if your body can't keep up with the demands placed on it.

  It's crucial for beginners to understand correct training methods and set realistic expectations about the time needed to foster bodily resilience, which often develops far slower than aerobic capabilities. There is a lot more to endurance training than just aerobic fitness, and this program works to also address those other areas, which tend to hold athletes back over the long-term.

• Eradicating Training Errors through Education and Mentoring: Many novices train too hard with the "no pain, no gain" mentality which is the wrong training philosophy to make consistent multi-year progress, especially when it comes to building metabolic fitness and health (both crucial to long-term performance). Fatigue and overtraining issues are very common among amateur/recreational athletes who make assumptions on what's right, or mistakenly apply training advice they find off social media, internet articles, or simply trying to copy the training programs of other athletes, including elite athletes they idolise.

  It's crucial to learn the proper ways to train that are appropriate for your level of progression and first establish consistency and volume before introducing intensity. Racing, inherently intense, may not be suitable for beginners or those prone to injury. Instead, spending a year or two focusing on resilience and optimizing metabolic fitness sets you on a path for successful long-term progress and will get you to your end goals faster than any other method. Regrettably, many coaching services prioritize short-term race prep as their only method to coach athletes - beginner or experienced - potentially exposing athletes to unsuitable training approaches they're unprepared for, leading to injuries or burn out and years of failure to thrive.

THE FOUNDATION DIFFERENCE

• Tailored Focus to the Beginner: FOUNDATION is tailored specifically for beginners and is vastly different to the programs used for training intermediate and advanced athletes. This means training is more specific to the needs of a developing athlete, leading to a faster and more tailored outcome for their needs.

• Knowledge You Learn for Life: You will learn the principals of endurance training that you can use for life. FOUNDATION teaches you how to do it right from the start and get started on upgrading both health and fitness that lasts a lifetime.

• Intelligence Over Intensity: You will learn how to prioritize smart training strategies over merely working hard. This helps to stop athletes wasting time and facing frustrating setbacks. Your best possible race performance outcomes and the chance to attain your endurance potential as an athlete is going to come from putting the right foundation in place first. This is how you can successfully step up a level (from beginner to intermediate or from intermediate to elite).

• Multi-Dimensional Athleticism: FOUNDATION ensures a science and process driven approach to develop resilient and high performing athletes by continually testing and training your strengths and weaknesses using my innovative FAST-PROTOCOLS training principles. The program focuses on developing key attributes like: Stability, Strength, Mobility, Flexibility, Balance, Agility and others across 20 different training attributes… Developing these wide range of attributes early in the training journey, helps to fast-track athletic performance and minimise the risk of training setbacks. You can learn more about the FAST-PROTOCOLS here.

  The FAST-PROTOCOLS are built with the "You're only as strong as your weakest link" motto in mind, actively addressing many of the common setbacks I've identified in inexperienced or regularly injured/fitness plateaued athletes. Many attributes of these protocols are often absent in other training approaches or coaching programs that focus heavily on aerobic fitness training only. I offer a more comprehensive and well-rounded approach that looks at lifestyle factors, training habits, health and tests biomechanics and strength across multiple variables.

• Complex Training without Overwhelm: Most people find training all the areas of multi-dimensional athleticism training too complex to integrate into their training programs, even though they can understand the importance of the advantages they provide - usually due to lack of time, knowledge, or a way to effectively organise and manage it. Everyone knows having a stronger core, more balance and greater leg strength is helpful, but how to implement this type of training consistently is a challenge for many.

  I have designed the custom built FAST-PROTOCOLS training platform to make this side of training easy to manage without overwhelm. The platform has multiple intelligence and administrative aspects built in to adjust training based on your schedule and your recent application and consistency to training. These other training attributes are seamlessly integrated into the entire training process, so they benefit off each other in a comprehensive integration.

ABOUT THE COACH

Begin your endurance journey with mentorship, guidance, and specialized coaching from Performance Coach and Endurance Educator James Stewart, a 15-year endurance veteran with experience adventuring and racing all over the world in some of the harshest mountain environments and events. James has coached athletes from all levels (beginner, intermediate and elite) with a mountain sport focus since 2019 and you can learn more about his background here.

FOUNDATION IS APPROPRIATE FOR

• No experience? No problem! Whether you're starting from scratch or facing training challenges, FOUNDATION is tailored for you! It is suitable for anyone, even complete beginners.

• Athletes of Any Level who are dealing with training plateaus or struggling to make meaningful progress. FOUNDATION can help you to refocus on the basics and rebuild your foundation for future power and performance.

• Athletes of Any Level who are facing biomechanical issues can benefit greatly by taking time away from racing to improve their body's resiliency. Building multidimensional athleticism can help to improve your weaknesses and also improve your strengths, helping to take your performance to the next level in future years from increased power and stamina.

• Transitioning Runners can benefit. FOUNDATION is specifically designed to help athletes participate safely in IMPACT related endurance sports such as road or trail running. Becoming a resilient and functional multi-dimensional athlete is important not only for endurance, but also health and longevity helping you to avoid conditions such as osteoporosis, which are common for aging athletes who focus only on non-impact endurance training like cycling. If you have a history of injury with trying to run - no matter what your age - this program will help you get functional and moving again and allow you to progress into running safely if you desire to do so.

FOUNDATION INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING

INITIAL ONBOARDING PROCESS

• Answer athlete's initial enquiry/questions about the coaching program. Athlete decides to proceed.

• Athlete fills in an initial questionnaire to provide information on their training history and future goals.

• I perform a review based on the results of the questionnaire and athlete is provided educational material to understand results of their review, the plan for moving forward, how the training process works (how to pace your training, pick and plan your training routes etc…) and how to use the training platform. It will take several days for an athlete to digest the required educational material.

• Athlete conducts various tests across attributes of my FAST-PROTOCOLS training process to determine your strengths and weaknesses as an athlete. Tests include areas relating to Balance, Mobility, Flexibility, Strength, Agility, Skill, Power (and others…) to give a wholistic overview of an athlete's athleticism and abilities.

• Upon completion of tests and when all the educational material has been read by the athlete, we will begin the training. Athlete fills in their upcoming schedule and availability for the first week of training. Training is then programmed.

ONGOING WEEKLY TRAINING

• Athlete fills in their upcoming schedule and availability prior to 6pm on a Sunday for the upcoming week.

• On the training platform, each Sunday after your schedule for the upcoming week is uploaded, you will be scheduled your weekly training tasks which will be based off of your previous training outcomes and how your body is responding to recent training.

• On the training platform, you'll have insights into your functional strengths and weaknesses based on your test results. The platform's intelligent design crafts daily workouts tailored to target areas you need the most improvement, aligned with your available time. If you lag in areas like mobility training - for example - the system proactively reminds you, ensuring you stay on track. The platform adjusts your regimen considering the equipment you have, your weekly schedule, and your recent training consistency. For instance, if you're missing sessions or falling short on time, it recommends a more manageable program until you regain your momentum.

• Regular mentorship, monitoring and emails from Coach James Stewart where applicable based on your training outcomes, questions and so on. Unlimited contact between you and the coach is provided over email. Athlete is offered a maximum of one voice/video call per week for 1-hour as required.

OTHER BENEFITS

• Endurance and Biomechanics Training Library Access: Gain access to an extensive library of training information that you can download and keep for life!

• Discounted Products: If you complete 12-months on FOUNDATION, you will receive a 20% discount off all Couch to the Summit Products and Educational Materials for life.

• Free Ongoing Mentorship*: If you complete 12-months on FOUNDATION, you receive lifetime access to emailing me for training advice/help/mentoring (within reason). The goal of my coaching is to teach you how to train yourself in the future. For any past clients, I'm always available to answer any further questions you have and to ensure some level of mentorship once you're out on your own. This serviced is provided over email only and responses will be provided when time permits.

  *Athletes who don't make it to 12 months in this program are not eligible for lifetime mentoring access but are more than welcome back to the coaching service to try again at any time in the future.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do you have any testimonials from current or past athletes?

Yes I do - please click here to read them

How many hours per week do I need to commit to with this program?

My recommendation is a minimum of 10 hours per week at the low end, but 15-20 hours per week is highly recommended for the best results. At least half of this time will not be spent endurance training, but working on other attributes such as strength, mobility, balance training etc… either at home or in a gym. Usually, it works best if you can spend 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening during weekdays, and one day on the weekend where you can spend 3-4 hours or more. If the time commitment is a problem, usually it can be addressed through improved scheduling in your daily life, which is often lacking in athletes who fail to thrive. This is one of the key areas we address initially in the program.

What equipment do I need?

I tailor the program to what you have available but I encourage some affordable purchases that may greatly benefit you. Most of the program can be done without any equipment; however, a gym membership or purchase of some home equipment like exercise mat, bands, step up box or bench, some dumbbells will highly benefit an athlete who is serious about building fitness, resiliency and strength. Regular access to mountains/hills, stairs or treadmill is important, but if not available, I can find many approaches to get the required training stimulus.

What is the difference between your FOUNDATION and BUILD coaching programs?

FOUNDATION prioritizes the FAST-PROTOCOLS, dedicating more training time to these methods than to aerobic development and high-performance aspects involve intensity and racing. Essentially, it serves as the base upon which BUILD is constructed. Not all athletes will be accepted into BUILD but all athletes will be accepted into FOUNDATION. It depends on your training history. Athletes with advanced skills or a demonstrated history of training excellence can choose to skip FOUNDATION and move directly to BUILD. While BUILD also incorporates all the FAST-PROTOCOL attributes refined in FOUNDATION, athletes will spend comparatively less time on them.

Due to the additional time required to manage athletes in the FOUNDATION program with complex issues or training inexperience, it carries a slightly higher cost.

How long will it take to progress from FOUNDATION to BUILD?

It should usually only take one year before an athlete can safely progress to the more advanced and more affordable BUILD coaching service, but some athletes with complicated training/health histories may require more than one year in this program. Your abilities and commitment to training dictate when the progression can occur.

What kind of fitness improvements should I notice in the first year or two?

Emphasis on long-term growth may slow immediate gains. Sedentary athletes may notice immediate improvements simply by virtue of moving more and developing greater strength, but established athletes may need to be patient to resolve their underlying issues holding their fitness potential back.

Athletes will be moving often in this program, but at low intensities - so we are building a different type of fitness (metabolic fitness) than just pushing as hard as possible when you exercise, but this is the type of fitness you need to be a strong endurance athlete. Don't expect to be powering fast in your activities or setting new personal bests until the right foundation is in place. Personal bests will come in bucket loads in years 2-3+. It's about delaying gratification and ensuring foundational training for significant performance improvements that typically yield outcomes that will eventually come in future years.

Can I still race under this program?

Racing is permitted within reason but not recommended at all. I understand its motivational importance to athletes; however, racing before foundational training may risk significant injury and setbacks. Please discuss with me your goals so we can come to the right compromise here.

What happens if I get sick, injured, or go on vacation during BUILD and cannot train for a while?

Reduced or temporary pause of training fees may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

What if I eventually want to peak my fitness for races like in your PEAK coaching program?

PEAK is designed for experienced athletes seeking to maximize their performance for a specific race or season within a single year. In the FOUNDATION program, once the foundational base is established after the first 1-2 years an athlete can switch over to the more advanced and affordable BUILD service and begin to race regularly benefitting from all the methods used in both the BUILD and PEAK programs. This ensures that races and performance peaks are strategically layered into an effective periodized training plan, ensuring there's no undue compromise to the foundational aerobic base development. Athletes in the FOUNDATION program are typically not ready for racing yet, the point of the program is to get athletes into shape so they can race successfully in the future.

What is the Onboarding Fee for?

Onboarding covers the fee for access to the library of educational materials provided to you upon signing up (this includes PDF training manuals and video tutorials) along with the additional time required by me to understand your training journey and set up your training customised for you personally. A lot of time and thought is put into planning your training progression and getting you ready for the next steps.

What is the Minimum Commitment, Costs and How Can I Pay?

FOUNDATION is about long-term training and therefore I enforce a long-term commitment to ensure you maintain your commitment due to any early resistance or "growing pains" with commitment to the program in the opening months. Nothing in the world of endurance is going to be handed to you, you'll need to work hard for it, and that may involve some initial discomfort. By ensuring there is "skin in the game" it begins the journey for developing a strong mindset for pushing through difficulties that is an important trait for an endurance athlete.

COST

I accept payment in virtually any currency. Here are the four most common, but please contact me for rates in other currencies if you cannot pay in CAD, USD, EUR or AUD.

CAD $150 onboard fee (covers initial discovery week(s)) then $55 per week (when training begins) with a six-month initial commitment.

Upon signing up, an athlete must pay the $150 onboard fee and also the 26-week minimum*, which can be charged in 6 monthly instalments of $240 (credit card or funds transfer) each month or a one-time payment up front of $1430 (applicable only via funds transfer).

After the first 26 weeks, you can then pay on a week to week or month to month or lump sum basis and can exit at any time without any further penalty.

*Early exit in the initial 6-months incurs a penalty charge of $200 with a refund of the remaining fees that have been paid if a lump sum was paid upfront. This fee is designed to hold you accountable to the process but may be waived in exceptional circumstances after all avenues of keeping you in the program are exhausted.

USD $120 onboard fee (covers initial discovery week(s)) then $45 per week (when training begins) with a six-month initial commitment.

Upon signing up, an athlete must pay the $120 onboard fee and also the 26-week minimum*, which can be charged in 6 monthly instalments of $195 (credit card or funds transfer) each month or a one-time payment up front of $1170 (applicable only via funds transfer).

After the first 26 weeks, you can then pay on a week to week or month to month or lump sum basis and can exit at any time without any further penalty.

*Early exit in the initial 6-months incurs a penalty charge of $160 with a refund of the remaining fees that have been paid if a lump sum was paid upfront. This fee is designed to hold you accountable to the process but may be waived in exceptional circumstances after all avenues of keeping you in the program are exhausted.

EUR €110 onboard fee (covers initial discovery week(s)) then €40 per week (when training begins) with a six-month initial commitment.

Upon signing up, an athlete must pay the €110 onboard fee and also the 26-week minimum*, which can be charged in 6 monthly instalments of €175 (credit card or funds transfer) each month or a one-time payment up front of €1040 (applicable only via funds transfer).

After the first 26 weeks, you can then pay on a week to week or month to month or lump sum basis and can exit at any time without any further penalty.

*Early exit in the initial 6-months incurs a penalty charge of €150 with a refund of the remaining fees that have been paid if a lump sum was paid upfront. This fee is designed to hold you accountable to the process but may be waived in exceptional circumstances after all avenues of keeping you in the program are exhausted.

AUD $175 onboard fee (covers initial discovery week(s)) then $65 per week (when training begins) with a six-month initial commitment.

Upon signing up, an athlete must pay the $175 onboard fee and also the 26-week minimum*, which can be charged in 6 monthly instalments of $280 (credit card or funds transfer) each month or a one-time payment up front of $1690 (applicable only via funds transfer).

After the first 26 weeks, you can then pay on a week to week or month to month or lump sum basis and can exit at any time without any further penalty.

*Early exit in the initial 6-months incurs a penalty charge of $225 with a refund of the remaining fees that have been paid if a lump sum was paid upfront. This fee is designed to hold you accountable to the process but may be waived in exceptional circumstances after all avenues of keeping you in the program are exhausted.