Welcome back to Frameworks. This is a place for coaches who want more than just reps and sets. We dig into the principles, philosophy, and stories that help you coach with clarity, design with purpose, and keep chasing mastery. Today we’re wrapping up our 3-part series on Smarter Program Design. If you missed the first two episodes, The Macro and The Meso, start there. They’ll give you the full context for what we’re building today.

This episode is Part 2 of our Smarter Program Design series. If you missed Part 1 The Macro, go back and start there. It lays the foundation for long-term planning, defining your client’s story, building direction, and thinking in seasons instead of weeks. Now, we move one layer deeper: the Meso, or short-term planning. This is where your story becomes a strategy. Where long-term vision turns into tangible, trackable progress.

Coaching smarter means coaching longer-term. The Macro Layer is where you step back and tell the story of your client’s development not just for this cycle or this month, but for the year ahead. If you can’t explain where your client’s headed over the next 12 months, you’re not programming, you’re just writing workouts.

This is a place for coaches who want more than just reps and sets, who want to build their craft on principles, not just tactics. Today’s episode is a personal one, because this is a trap I’ve fallen into myself. We’re talking about the myth of the “do-it-all coach.” The coach who programs for a full roster of clients, runs the business, manages the team, replies to every message, posts daily content, wears every hat…and still feels like it’s never enough.

Today we’re talking about one of the most misunderstood parts of coaching, assessment. Most coaches think assessment is about collecting numbers or showing expertise. But assessment isn’t about data. It’s about truth. It’s how we see where someone truly is- physically, emotionally, behaviorally, so we can meet them there. In this episode, I’ll walk through a framework for assessment that goes beyond tests and templates.

Science helps coaches, but worshiping it can hurt your craft. This episode breaks down science vs scientism, why principles should lead your decisions, and how to blend evidence with experience to get real results. Use these frameworks to coach with clarity, design smarter programs, and serve people first.

Today, we’re tackling what I call the messy middle—the space between where clients need you and where they can finally lead themselves. That’s where Habits-Based Coaching lives. In this episode, I’ll walk you through the six-step pathway I use to move clients from external reliance to internal regulation: Intention, Assessment, Prescription, Strategy, Time, and Success Markers.

In this week’s episode of Frameworks, I share 3 lessons from Poliquin that still hold true today: Why structural balance is the foundation of performance, How training age should guide every prescription, And why short loading cycles often produce better results than long ones. If you’re a coach who values clarity over complexity, and longevity over hacks, this one’s worth a listen.

Fatherhood shapes the way a family lives, grows, and stays healthy. In this episode of Frameworks, I’m sharing three simple, powerful frameworks to guide health as a dad. Hear honest stories, get tips on setting family values, learn why being a real example matters, and find out how to make daily health a normal part of life. No fluff, just straight talk about what helps families thrive. Whether you’re a dad, future dad, or just someone who cares about raising strong kids, there’s something useful for you here.

Today we’re tackling a myth that creeps into both coaching and life: the idea that if something is simple, it must also be easy. The truth? Some of the simplest things are the hardest. Simplicity strips away distractions. It leaves you face-to-face with the work, with nowhere to hide.

Get an inside look at why the OPEX Method was built and what drives the passion behind it. In this video, you’ll hear about stepping back from day-to-day coaching, launching a new fitness concept, and returning to lead coach education at OPEX full-time. Learn how the course and community are evolving, why the fitness industry needs stronger principles, and what sets OPEX apart in the world of coaching education. If you’re ready to reconnect as an OPEX coach or looking for a new direction in your coaching journey, discover how you can join a supportive, thriving community focused on helping you make a difference and build real value as a professional coach.

Today, we’re stepping back from the tactics of program design and nutrition to talk about something deeper, the foundation beneath it all. Inspired by C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, this episode explores what I call Mere Fitness: the fundamental truths about health and fitness that every coach and client must recognize. Because here’s the reality: you can’t talk about training cycles, macros, or recovery hacks until you acknowledge the ground all of it stands on.

We’re breaking down the OPEX motto: Teach. Learn. Move. Create. This wasn’t just a slogan. It was born from James Fitzgerald’s vision of what it really means to be a coach and it’s become a guiding framework for how I approach coaching, leadership, and even life.

Ready to help your clients become truly independent? This episode takes you through the key coaching framework for building lasting autonomy. Learn why teaching your clients to think, not just follow instructions, leads to real results and sustainable habits. Discover the step-by-step stages your clients move through, from not knowing what they don’t know to becoming fully confident and self-sufficient. If you want to make your coaching stick, this one’s for you.

Make real change with your clients by focusing on habits that actually last, not just checklists and rigid plans. In this episode, you’ll learn how to coach nutrition and lifestyle habits your clients can stick with, inside and outside the gym. Get step-by-step strategies for building habits, real talk on what actually works, and practical examples you can use right away. See how to treat habit-building just like training design, break down your own coaching roadblocks, and find out how to get buy-in from every client. If you want to go beyond surface-level results, this episode is for you.

If you’ve ever felt like your programming is solid but your clients still aren’t progressing, it’s probably not the exercise selection that’s holding them back. It’s the prescription. Any coach can build a workout. But professional coaching isn’t about throwing together exercises. It’s about delivering the right stimulus to create a specific adaptation.

In Episode 12 of Frameworks, Carl Hardwick sits down with OPEX & CoachRx CMO Kandace Dickson to unpack how coaches should market themselves in 2025. Kandace, brings over two decades of hands-on digital marketing expertise and breaks down essential insights specifically tailored for fitness coaches.

This week, Carl is joined by physical therapist and OPEX coach Frank Tardi to take on a topic that’s long overdue: the overcomplication and overcorrection of movement in the fitness industry. The truth? The corrective exercise world has become a minefield of pseudoscience, fear-based assessments, and paralyzing protocols. We’ve turned normal human movement into something to be afraid of.

In Episode 10 of Frameworks, we’re getting into the overlooked engine behind long-term success: the systems and behaviors that make showing up inevitable, not optional. This episode isn’t about motivation. It’s about what works when motivation fades.