What Makes a Good Fitness Coach?
I’d like to share with you today how to go about finding a good fitness coach. Now, right off, since I AM a fitness coach, this may seem like skeezy marketing ploy to describe myself. Well, that’s not what this is, although, of course, I do think it describes me, or I wouldn't consider myself qualified to coach! What I want is for you to be equipped with what you need in order to identify a good coach versus someone who passed a test and got a job, or who got a lot of social media followers and decided they’d better find a way to monetize that.
There are lots of good coaches out there. Here are the three things that they all have in common:
Knowledge: A good coach will understand how all of this works. They have an understanding of anatomy, workout programming, proper form, energy balance, eating for your goals, macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat), how to rest well, how to advise in regards to supplementation, what to do about soreness, how to help with motivation, and just about anything else that arises in a coach/client relationship. This can be difficult to identify without knowing someone, so stalk them online. Find things they’ve written and videos they’ve put out, find reviews of them from current and former clients. Do you own research on one fitness topic you're interested in, know the answers, and ask them the questions to see how they respond. Don’t be fooled by certifications, biceps, or glutes, make them show you that they know what they’re doing.
Experience: By experience, I do NOT mean that they are at an elite level of any sport. I just mean that they have some experience personally doing what you want to do, or that they have coached enough people with that goal to show that they know how to do it. If you want to lose body fat, you want a coach who has either done that themselves, helped others do it successfully, or both. If you want to get strong or build muscle, you want a coach who lifts and can do some solid work in the gym. Whatever your goals, they need to understand what it feels like to have dealt with it to some extent.
Ability: This piece is key. Someone can have impressive knowledge and all of the experience in the world, but if they take 6 hours to reply to your messages when you need help now, can’t communicate form corrections in a way that clicks for you, don’t offer proper feedback, aren’t encouraging, don’t hold you accountable, aren’t regular with check-ins, are unfriendly, are distracted, or just don’t mesh well with you, this isn’t going to be a very effective relationship.
Notice things NOT listed here. The coach does not have a quota of selfies to post each month, they don’t have to be a competitive powerlifter, bodybuilder, marathon runner, or triathlete. They don’t have to have dropped hundreds of pounds of body fat or gained 100 pounds of muscle, have a degree in a science, have a podcast, or anything like that. If they have the knowledge, experience, and ability to coach you toward and to your goals, then they are a good coach for you. Some of this you may, unfortunately, not find out until you’re already working with them. The one way you can potentially avoid this is to find people they’ve worked with in the past and ask them about their experience if you can. Look at their reviews on social media or approach someone at the gym who you’ve seen them working with. If you can’t find any of these people, this may be a red flag. And if they try to sell you a detox, please, for the love of all things holy, run.
Message me with questions, or, hey, if you need a coach!
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