Étude
(noun) /āˈt(y)o͞od/
An étude is a piece of music that is not meant to be performed; it is a method of focused practice meant to develop the skill of the musician at a particular technique.
Training Philosophy
Étude is built around the meeting of two minds — athlete and coach. Regardless of the obstacles or constraints along the way, when an athlete’s diligence, effort and dedication to mastery meet with a coach’s insight, experience and adaptability, great things are bound to happen.
About me:
Sebastian Bailey, founder and head coach of Étude, is a lifelong athlete and student of human performance. He has trained and competed in many different disciplines over the years - from whitewater kayaking to strongman to U.S. Marine Corps selections to ski mountaineering, running, and sport/trad climbing. Throughout his time learning these disciplines, he learned/developed these skills and discovered a passion for helping other people do the same/accomplish their goals.
In 2020 he started Étude to help develop athletes who are similarly interested in the complex, varied and often novel demands of mountain sports. His experience pursuing performance in multiple sports while also working a demanding job has made him particularly skilled at balance competing training objectives, adjusting training to accommodate a busy life and navigating the layers of complexity surrounding performance to focus on the components of an athlete’s performance that truly make a difference. His training philosophy of developing athletes’ curiosity, tailored and focused approach, and focus on developing long-term coaching relationships have led Etude athletes to success in sport and trad climbing, alpine routes and big walls, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering, and mountain endurance and trail running.
As an athlete, he practices what he preaches - climbing 5.13 trad, standing on the podium in local running and ski-mo races, and skiing almost as many big faces as he wants to each winter.
If you’d like to benefit from Sebastian’s years of knowledge and insight into cultivating long-term progression and understanding, you can reach him at coaching@etudetraining.com
Testimonials
“I signed on with Étude because I was having I was having problems motivating myself to train for my second Ironman and the pre-made training schedule I’d bought wasn’t working for me. As a Marine Infantry Officer, fitness was a habit and a job requirement, but I’d lost the passion I’d had for training when I was younger after a few lower body injuries. Sebastian helped me identify my goals and is now helping me train for MMA and multi-day back country ski trips while still maintaining perfect fitness test scores. Thanks to my customized plan I’m spending less time per day in the gym, seeing better results and have even stopped attending physical therapy. I’d recommend anyone with atypical fitness goals try Étude.
— Charles Simpson
“Working with Sebastian has fundamentally changed how I approach preparation and performance. Whereas in the past, I was sloppy, disorganized, and weak, Sebastian has helped me reach my goals [5.13d, V8] with meticulously designed training plans that systematically address my weaknesses. Sebastian is thoughtful, diligent, and responsive to my needs, and with his help I’ve managed to crush every objective we’ve programmed for. I can’t overstate how valuable his services have been.”
— Atherton Phleger
“It’s easy to overthink myself into the ground with training, especially in climbing because there are so many different disciplines, styles, rock types, etc. Having what I needed to do laid out was huge and super motivating to keep at it each week.
The plan was written around my strengths and weaknesses from the initial assessment so I knew just doing what was prescribed consistently would be what needed to be done to improve. And it worked.
As I got into the training cycle, something about training hard and knowing the numbers just boosted my confidence like I haven’t experienced before in climbing. This confidence had me knowing that I could find beta and be strong enough to climb whatever I was trying.”
— Nate Williard
Coaching
Haphazard planning leads to haphazard execution, which leads to haphazard performance. I’m here to provide detailed planning from the macrocycle down to the individual day. Every drill, exercise, progression and adjustment in an Étude plan has a purpose, and everything is tailored specifically to the athlete.