Regardability: Support Without Judgment
At Grit City Health, coaching is built around support, empathy, honest conversation, and thoughtful guidance. That is why I often use the word “Regardability” instead of, or alongside, the more familiar idea of accountability.
Accountability asks:
Did you follow the plan? Did you complete the workout? Did you stay on track?
Those questions can be useful. A plan, a deadline, and knowing someone will check in can help create structure and momentum. But accountability can also begin to feel like external pressure. When that happens, a missed workout, a difficult week, or a change in priorities can feel like failure rather than useful information.
Regardability shifts the conversation and asks:
How are you doing? What changed? What did you learn? What kind of support would help you move forward from here?
What Is Regardability?
Regardability is the experience of being genuinely seen, considered, and supported as you work toward something that matters to you. It does not remove responsibility or suggest that every choice is equally helpful. Instead, it creates enough space to look honestly at what happened without immediately assigning guilt or judgment.
I often describe the difference this way:
The difference between experiencing a hand on your back as someone pushing you forward and experiencing it as a supportive hand moving with you comes down to perception and intention.
Both hands may be encouraging movement, but they do not feel the same. One applies pressure from behind. The other reminds you that you are not moving forward alone.
That distinction is at the heart of how I coach!
Regardability Does Not Mean “No Accountability”
Accountability is not inherently negative. Structure can be helpful. Commitments matter. Sometimes we all benefit from knowing that another person is paying attention.
The problem comes when accountability is reduced to compliance:
Did you do what the calendar said?
Did you hit the prescribed numbers?
Did you have a “good” week or a “bad” week?
Did you disappoint your coach or yourself?
A completed workout does not always mean the plan was appropriate. A missed workout does not always mean someone lacked discipline.
Training happens within a life. Work becomes demanding. Children get sick. Sleep disappears. Bodies hurt. Motivation changes. Grief, stress, travel, illness, and unexpected responsibilities do not wait for a convenient place on the calendar.
Regardability allows us to acknowledge those realities without losing sight of the direction you want to go.
Sometimes progress means following the plan exactly.
Sometimes it means adjusting the plan.
Sometimes it means taking a rest before your body forces you to.
And sometimes the most useful question is simply: How do we come back from this?
How Regardability Shapes Your Coaching Experience
Regardability is not just something I say. It influences how we communicate, make decisions, and respond when circumstances change.
We Start Where You Are
Your training should reflect the person who is actually showing up—not an idealized version of you with unlimited time, energy, and motivation.
That means considering your goals alongside your work, family, health, stress, experience, available equipment, and current capacity. We begin with what is real and build from there.
You Retain Ownership
Your goals remain yours. My role is not to want the outcome more than you do or pressure you into following my version of the “right” path. My role is to help you understand your options, recognize patterns, make informed decisions, and build confidence in your ability to guide yourself.
Good coaching should not make you increasingly dependent on your coach. It should help you become more capable, curious, and self-aware.
Communication Is Open and Judgment-Free
You should be able to say:
“This does not feel right.”
“I do not have the capacity for this today.”
“I want to change the goal.”
“I am excited and want to do more.”
“I have no idea what happened this week.”
That information is not an interruption to coaching. It is part of coaching.
Honest communication allows us to make better decisions than pretending everything is going according to plan.
The Plan Can Change
A training plan is a tool, not a contract.
It gives us direction, structure, and something to learn from… but it should remain responsive to the person using it. When your needs, priorities, or circumstances change, we can adjust the plan without treating the adjustment as failure.
The goal is not perfect adherence. The goal is to keep finding a workable way forward.
Success Is More Than Completion
Completed workouts and measurable improvements matter, but they are not the only evidence of progress.
Progress can also look like:
Recognizing when you need recovery
Adjusting an effort before it becomes a setback
Returning after a difficult week without punishment
Developing confidence in your own decisions
Understanding why something worked - or - why it did not work
Building a more sustainable relationship with movement
Learning that one missed session does not erase everything you have done
Regardability creates room to notice and value those changes too.
Support That Moves With You
Whether you are preparing for an event, rebuilding strength, improving your health, returning after an injury, or trying to create a more sustainable relationship with movement, you do not necessarily need someone standing behind you and pushing.
You may simply need someone beside you… helping you understand where you are, decide what matters now, and find a realistic way forward.
That is the heart of Regardability.
It is support without judgment, structure without rigidity, and guidance that respects your ownership of the process. It is the kind of coaching relationship I work to create at Grit City Health.
Ready to explore what supported coaching could look like for you?
