Have you ever had a fitness coach? Have you ever considered working with one?
A good coach can make a huge difference in shaping your path to success, enjoyment of the process and perhaps most importantly making sure the changes are sustainable.
Consider the analogy of a chef, her restaurant, the staff and your dining experience. Yes, you can make a meal at home, perhaps even an amazing meal. Yet, a chef and her staff can create an experience that goes well beyond the food. A good meal prepared by a chef can sometimes make you feel inspired when you are feeling a little uninspired. Same goes for a good coach.
A good coach can more or less seamlessly put all those things together. The goal of this write-up is not to convince you to get a coach. I think most people decide that option is right for them when they are ready.
Rather, we want to help you determine what a good coach looks like when the time is right.
Our mission here at Core Principles is to provide the system and structure to shepherd you to the lifestyle change you want to make. The goal is to create experiences and a community that lead to lasting change. We need to be part engineer and part artist to do this well.
What really matters is that you move closer to living the life that you want to. You could do that here with us or at so many other places across the globe. What seems to be key, is having a fabulous coach and support team to help get you there.
If you are considering partnering with a coach to help make the changes you want to make, here you will find a list of skills and qualities I think a good coach should possess.
I have compiled this list from a few sources, what I have learned after 9 nine years in the industry, and things other coaches that I have great respect for have written or said to me directly or indirectly.
I think what stands out, is that all of these qualities are less about being coaches and just about being a good person. It may be hard to find a good coach but it is easier to identify a good person.
#1… Good coaches ask you lots of questions about you and actually listen to what they tell you.
#2… Good coaches teach and don’t just tell you what to do, but also tell you why we are doing it.
#3… A good coach is ok with letting you fail to a degree, failure is the language of learning. How many times does a baby fall before it actually walks. With each fall they learn something new. A few shitty reps of a squat let will allow to feel what a good rep is like.
# 4…A good coach should be able to tell what their principles and values are and describe the system they use to help people.
#5…. A good coach can admit they have made a bunch of mistakes and tell you specifically how they improved from those mistakes.
#6… Good coaches bring out your potential by figuring out what drives you and patiently encouraging you. The can be a cheerleader, a shoulder to lean on, a teacher, an associate and a call you on your bullshit kind of person and seamlessly move from one to another.
#7… Good coaches individualize the support process, such as nutrition or mobility, according to who you are, your goals, your life, and never give you a “one size fits all” approach to fitness or life. You may workout as part of a team, but how you eat and how your body reacts to the workouts is unique.
#8… Good coaches ask for feedback, ask for it often, demonstrate that they are comfortable receiving it and take action on the feedback.
#9… Good coaches tell you that your nutrition is way more important to how you look and feel than exercise, but exercise and strength training is essential to how you look, and feel physically and emotionally.
#10..Good coaches help you discover what drives you and keep you focused on why you want to makes changes, but they aren’t your mama. If you expect the coach to call you at home to make sure you show up, you have a problem the coach can’t fix.
#11… Good coaches help you set goals and project your fitness, or life, into the future. If you work with this coach, where will you be in 90 days from now, 6 months from now or a year? Every workout should be a part of a long term plan with an expected outcome. If the coach can’t, or won’t, do this, get a different coach.
#12… The coach you should have has a lot of experience solving the type of problems you bring to the relationship. A middle aged woman needs a bodybuilder coach like a ferret needs a trampoline. The coach has to fit you, not the other way around.
#13… A good coach should help you get out of your own way pointing out the behaviors that aren’t working for you. It is good to be challenged and it is good to get an outside dose reality, aka call you on your b.s. when necessary.
#14… A good coach should challenge you to your limits, but never destroy you. They should help you embrace the idea of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable but not feel like you just got hit by a train.
#15… A good coach should have the depth to keep you challenged in your progress. In other words, as you get better, he or she have more left to help your progress.
#16… Good coaches understand that your goals are your goals and should never impose their personal standards onto you.
No matter who you are, and what kind of shape you are in, there is a coach out there who can inspire and lead you to a better you over time… and this is also what motivates a good coach to get up every day and get it done.
