EVEN COACHES NEED A COACH

 

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can offer to those getting started in the fitness industry is to get yourself a coach. This could be somebody whose skills you admire on social media, somebody who has inspired you in some way, somebody who has a skill set you want to learn or just somebody more experienced in a particular area than you.

When you train to be a personal trainer, you’re usually told to walk the gym floor and engage with members to try to recruit clientele. You’re invited to endless expensive weekend seminars to learn everything from boxing to spinning. Of course, you will gain some valuable knowledge from these courses but perhaps you might get better value for money by employing a coach who can give you individual, tailored knowledge and lived experience of working in the fitness industry.

I have had multiple coaches over the years ever since I first qualified as a personal trainer. Slowly building my client base, I was working in a pub part time to supplement my coaching income, so I didn’t have a huge amount of disposable income to spend on ‘luxuries’ such as a coach for myself. However, I changed the way I thought about this. I was paying £20.00 per session, twice per week so £40.00 in total. Rather than seeing this as a luxury or an expense, I looked at it as an investment, both in myself and in my career.

I found a coach on social media. He was focussed on calisthenics at the time, and I was in awe of his skills. The word calisthenics comes from the Greek kallos which means strength and sthenos meaning beauty, and this is what drew me to it. It is beautiful and it takes an enormous amount of strength to perform some of the movements. I trained with this coach for four years and this is where I developed the skills required for my specialism in calisthenics. It is an area I developed and continued to work with my clients and is something I will continue to focus on and advance throughout the remainder of my career. It has now become my niche within the fitness industry as I am so passionate about it. I am not the most skilled of calisthenics athletes admittedly, but I am committed to my development in the area, and helping my clients develop in the same way.

That initial investment I made gave me a huge return for both myself on a personal level as well as my business. As calisthenics is bodyweight based, you do not need a well-equipped gym to be able to perform many of the movements, so it has been particularly easy for clients to maintain both online and in the park throughout the pandemic. I still do calisthenics classes outdoors on a Saturday. As it is a form of fitness which requires discipline and consistency to build an initial strength base before working on each movement, it has helped me to create longevity in my client base. I now have clients who have trained with me for up to eight years because there is always something new to learn. It has also helped me to develop a community of great people who are both clients and friends who cheer for one another when they hold a handstand or perform their first pull up.

Since working with my first coach, I have had multiple coaches along the way and have learned new skills from each of them. Some have specialised in calisthenics, but I have also sought coaching in other areas. I recently undertook a strength and conditioning qualification but in addition I also hired a coach who specialises in Olympic weightlifting which myself and some of my clients have also become interested in.

I sought help from a running coach for a while and this resulted in me starting my own running club. I learned how to structure sessions to help maximise clients’ development and help them work towards their own goals whether that be their first 5km or 10km race or to improve their time. The running club has been a huge part of my career, again helping me to build a community. It was this running club which resulted in me getting awarded a Stockport Community Hero Award because this is a free community helping people in the local area get fit. This resulted in getting publicity in the local area’s press. Aside from recognition and joy, running club generates new clients every year so this is another example of where employing a coach has helped to build my business.

For anybody new to an industry, I recommend hiring a coach. Train with them, learn from their knowledge, skills, and experience. You can absorb this knowledge, adapt, and apply it to yourself, your clients, business, and community. This is how I have developed and established my business and created a secure and consistent client base. When I first came into the fitness industry, I didn’t have a high skill set and I struggled for a while. Getting a coach not only helped me gain training skills but each coach I have worked with has shown me how they operate their business and I have learned from this too. This is what has helped me to build and maintain the business I have today.

The fitness community I have built has brought me financial stability, which is great for my career, but it also has obvious benefits in my personal life. I have a girlfriend and two children, and it is important that I am financially secure for my family. It’s a challenging industry where people struggle to remain in the long term but by getting a coach and learning the skills required to develop my niche while also enjoying the coaching, I deliver to my clients has created longevity in my career.