Beyond Personal Training
Personal training is not just for those with expendable income anymore. Training to reach optimum health is for EVERYONE! There is a difference, however, between finding someone who will TRAIN you and finding someone who will COACH you. And if you are going to invest in your health, make sure you know whether you have a trainer or a coach! To keep costs down, you can find a great trainer who also teaches group classes, or offers small group training where you can share sessions with friends or others with similar fitness goals. Trainers offering 30-minute sessions or who design workouts for you and share them remotely also make access to training more affordable. If health is your top priority, a great personal trainer will give you a lot of value with your own private session anywhere from once a week up to three or more times a week. The rules are not one-size-fits-all. My preference for working with clients is to meet them where they are at and customize a solution. We are problem solvers and life-enhancers. Attaining fitness, strengthening your health, and finding time to exercise are not things that can be done when you have time, but they are necessary to be done to ENHANCE YOUR TIME! There is no quick-fix; it is a life-long process. A lifestyle.
The truth is anyone can train anywhere. As you experience "trainers" and "coaches" the difference will become obvious. It is simple. THE COACH WILL ALWAYS WIN IN THE GAME OF CARING. For the sake of understanding and simplicity, the label "personal trainers" is often used. But for those who know better, "personal coaching" or "certified coach" will get you to where you want to go. They won't always give you what you want, but they will give you what you need.
What is more, a great coach will BELIEVE IN YOU. And to make a change, that seed of belief and hope is all it takes!
What was once thought of as a luxury, is now, for many people, a necessity. When I first became a personal trainer, I stumbled across this quote, "The greatest wealth is health." ~Virgil. The more I work with people, the more I know this is true.
Two years ago, I wrote in regards to "Why a Personal Trainer?":
Why a personal trainer? Because every body is different and the same exercise protocol, routine, and workout is not right for every body. It’s a fascinating study in to the human body and what it is capable of, or not capable of, based on history and experience. Each one of us comes with a story, and as that story unravels, so do our bodies! In the end, the only thing we can count on is our health. And a healthy body can move. It can glide, it can dip, it can twist, it can run, it can jump and it can soar. One of my favorite sayings however, is “where the mind goes, the body will follow”. This means the body will only be capable of what the mind allows it to be. If the mind is not right, the body will not be right either. This changes everything when it comes to training. If you are trying to “muscle” through movement and if the mind is not right, chances are very high that the body won’t respond well and usually injury or pain will occur. One of the biggest reasons for having a trainer who is educated is that they will know “where the mind goes, the body will follow” and ideally they will be able to feel where your mind is to be able to direct it to offer you ideal movement from your body in return. It is a relationship.
Why a personal trainer? An appointment with a personal trainer provides you with accountability. Variability. Sustainability. Your body is an investment. Every workout or training session is like a credit into your account. It is the one thing you alone are solely responsible for. There is no one to blame but yourself and no one who can do it for you but yourself and no one to thank but yourself. Different from our medical system where we are offered medications with side-effects to treat symptoms more than causes, we can have direct treatment to the causes of pain or disease or injury with the help of an expert personal trainer. The best medication is our nutrition and our movement. We are solely in control of that. But we don’t always know the right things to do. A good personal trainer does.
Why a personal trainer? Our human nature is to take the path of least resistance. We are naturally lazy. Only the highly evolved of our species will recognize this and do something about it. When I see squats and lunges and breath patterns that are counter-intuitive to the body’s natural flow, and when I see shoulders set up into the ears due to our overworked stress reflex, and when I see people come in to workout after sitting all day, I know that there are certain measures we have to take to turn these patterns around so that the movement we put on top of them is productive and life-enhancing instead of destructive and painful. A good trainer will likely turn everything you knew about your movement and the body around, and guide you towards relearning it so that it will sustain you instead of wear you down.
But there is MORE. And that is how some trainers evolve beyond Training and into the realm of CARING. They become Coaches.
Today, I have something to add: Why a Personal Coach?
A Personal Coach because "I believe in you." We are in this together; this ride called life that pushes us and challenges us and changes us. As we grow up, we have to become our own cheerleaders or surround ourselves with others who not only see the best in us, but who are not afraid to call out the potential in us as well. As a trainer, I can help my clients reach physical capabilities. I can teach them to move in ways that will strengthen them and keep them balanced and maintaining good posture. But when it comes to overcoming obstacles in life, to being strong when strong is the only option, to exceeding their own expectations and even to dreaming, I am their coach. It is never a question of whether or not they can do something and accomplish a particular goal. It is a question of when.
A Personal Coach because each person's goals are unique. There is nothing more rewarding than attaining our goals. But not all goals are understood and interpreted with the same significance for each person. For some people, to have a place that takes the stress of everyday living away, even momentarily, is what matters most. For others, increasing bone density, decreasing blood sugar glucose levels, and other health measurements that are not visible from the outside, but are life-changing on the inside mean the world. Athletes finding joy in exercise instead of their "job" in exercise have different goals from others who carry self-limiting beliefs or through their lifetime have been told or had the experience that they "can't do" something. Many people's goals begin superficially and stay at that surface level with a trainer, but have the capacity to go far beyond anything they could have imagined for themselves with a coach.
A Personal Coach because we are on this ride together. Anytime two people work together towards a common goal, magic happens. It is chemistry when each person is giving the best of themselves. They become accountable to each other and a relationship forms. The relationship is based on trust and vulnerability, humility and compassion, commitment and desire; all leading to understanding and caring. CARING. I BELIEVE IN YOU. I see in you what is hidden from your own sight by filters that life has given us. Coaches look through different lenses, reveal a world of possibility, and life begins.
A coach's ability to CARE MORE can't always be learned.
A coach exudes passion. It is evident in everything they do and is done with intensity.
A coach will bring out the best in you to the point that exercise and fitness become metaphors for life.
When you find yourself living a life of health and balance, all the things in your life will fall into health and balance.
You become unstoppable!