Should you consider coaching?
A great place to start is with the question…
What is a coach?
I think a lot of people have different ideas about what a coach actually is.
To me…
Coaching is an art form.
It’s an interaction between 2 parties…
One being the coach and the other could be a specific person or a team …
This interaction is a 2 way street.
Here lies a key difference between a coach and an instructor.
An instructor is there to pass on information and basically tell somebody what to do.
Think of a driving instructor…
“press the clutch, indicate, change gear”
This is a very 1 sided relationship.
However…
To me, the role of a coach is to work with someone in order to draw out the best from within them.
At times… That may involve challenging them, perhaps pulling them up or pushing them.
But most of the time it involves standing side by side and acting as a mirror to help draw out the best from somebody.
Usually this is done by asking tactful questions and sharing experiences.
A coach is a vehicle to change
Another way to think of a coach is as a vehicle to help someone get from A-B.
Like a literal Coach / Bus does.
It takes you to where you want to go… usually faster and more efficiently than you can get there yourself.
Navigating that journey for different people, with different backgrounds, abilities, starting points, and obstacles is a challenge…
This is where coaching becomes an art form.
No 2 journeys are ever exactly the same.
Think of your commute to work.
Even though you’re going to the same place everyday, something is always different…
Maybe it’s the weather conditions, the other road users or perhaps there is even a diversion.
A skilled driver, can adapt to these subtle changes easily, especially because they’ve done the journey many times before.
Coaching is like this…
People will have similar goals and be going on a similar journey, perhaps it’s to lose weight.
But there are subtle differences in how each person will achieve that goal, even though fundamentally it is the same!
Having someone who “knows the roads” like an experienced coach, will ensure you get to your goal efficiently and without getting lost along the way.
What are the benefits of having a coach?
We’ve started to touch on it already…
But I wanted to outline what I believe are the 3 main benefits of having a coach.
I’m going to talk through them in the context of health & fitness, because that’s the coaching that I provide and am most familiar with.
Knowledge / Skill acquisition.
Especially In the beginning, when someone wants to improve how they look, move and feel. Acquiring accurate knowledge is the first step.
Now, anybody with internet access can create a social media account and start providing fitness advice, without any qualifications or real-world experience.
This is even further muddying the waters of how to actually get results.
I find in many of the initial consultations I have with people, they are sincerely confused and don’t know where to turn to start getting results.
A good coach will not only have the theoretical knowledge of how to get somebody results..
But will also have tried and tested it over and over again to see what ACTUALLY works… so you can be confident that the information you get from a good coach is reliable.
As an example,
I could sit with somebody for a consultation and they may wonder what the best exercise for fat loss is… perhaps they saw an instagram post that said burpees will torch fat.
However there isn’t a “best exercise” for fat loss.
No single exercise is going to cause the body to burn fat, it’s a combination of various exercises, alongside good nutrition and recovery that will cause body fat levels to reduce over time.
I wouldn’t just say…
“yes burpees are the best… buy my 30 day burpee programme, it’s usually £599 but just for today I’ll do it for £200”
2. Application
Knowledge without application is useless.
Staying with the theme of training.
I might continue to sit with someone and discuss their training.
I could highlight all of the benefits of resistance training.
The fact that increases metabolism.
Enhances fat loss.
Builds strength.
Improves posture and joint stability.
Increases energy levels.
Improves hormone regulation.
etc.
I could then show them transformations of clients who do resistance training and share their stories.
At this point the person could be totally bought in to the fact that they need to do resistance training.
But if we were to end the conversation there… they might go and join a gym, full of equipment and not know how to use any of it.
A good coach is not only going to give you the knowledge, but show you how to apply it.
At Fitness Studio 46, we pride ourselves on helping ANYBODY to effectively resistance train.
This involves:
- demonstrating and explaining the exercises well in the first place.
- Being able to coach that individual person how to get into position and execute the movement.
And then tailor it to that specific person, perhaps navigating past injuries or mobility restrictions.
We can have a room full of people performing a deadlift.
And coach every single one of them in a different way.
This is application.
This is also the difference between a great coach and an exercise instructor.
3. Accountability
Knowledge is good.
Applying that knowledge is great.
Consistently applying that knowledge week in week out… is where the magic happens.
Coaches help to keep you accountable.
There are days where people don’t want to train… a good coach can help get the most from a workout.
There are also whole time periods where someone can be really struggling, losing all motivation and perhaps even want to quit on themselves.
A good coach can help get them back on track.
Working on your health and fitness isn’t something that you should do for a few weeks or months at a time.
It’s a life long endeavour.
And that is very hard to do alone.
… especially as life throws up many challenges and changes in circumstances.
Having a coach to stay accountable to and help you navigate getting results is often priceless.
When don’t you need coaching?
Over time a person can acquire the vast majority of the knowledge needed to get results.
They can also get incredibly good with applying it to their lives and staying consitent.
Does that mean that a coach no longer has value?
I often think of elite sportspeople, like Roger Federer.
He is perhaps the greatest tennis players of all time.
Yet, he still has a coach.
… In fact, Roger is probably a lot better at tennis than his coach.
And yet he still has a coach!
Why?
Because even though he is already exceptional, he knows he can’t continue to improve alone, a good coach will be able to draw out the best from him.
Consider my example,
I’ve been into health and fitness for 12 years.
I’ve been resistance training for 10 years.
I’ve been coaching other people for 5 years.
It’s safe to say that, in that time, I’ve learnt a thing or 2 about training.
And yet I still get coached by my uncle Rich “the guru”
Not only does it save me time and energy because I don’t have to create my own workouts.
It allows me to be totally objective about my own training.
Even if we think we can remain neutral, we are only able to filter our choices through our own biases, so it’s impossible to be totally objective when it comes to ourselves.
Outsourcing to a coach saves time, energy and ultimately leads to a better result.
Therefore I don’t believe you can ever outgrow coaching.
If you feel you no longer need to be coached, you’re essentially saying you no longer want to improve.
What should you look for in a good coach?
It’s important to know that, not all coaches are created equal.
I know first hand that a good coach can quite literally change your life.
But, there are also bad coaches.
They can seriously stunt people’s growth and sour a persons attitude.
I hear lots of horror stories about other trainers and coaches…
Perhaps they’ve injured clients.
Burnt them out.
Or even caused health issues through poor coaching.
This can really set somebody back on the pursuit of looking, moving and feeling at their best.
If this has happened to you, just know it’s not because coaching is bad, it’s just that you had a bad coach.
A good coach will have the qualities needed to embody the essence of coaching as I’ve been describing it…
Look for a coach who is:
Empathetic - they understand what you’re feeling and aim to provide solutions, not just tell you to get on with it.
Curious - they spend more time asking questions than giving answers. A good coach will explore things deeply before just giving a blanket solution.
Passionate - They should be excited and fired up about what they do.
Transparent - If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. A good coach will manage expectations, and won’t over promise something that can’t be delivered just to secure business.
If you’re considering hiring a coach, you need to be able to spot the differences between a great coach, a bad coach or an instructor.
Coaching is a profession.
There are some tell-tale signs for if someone is good at their job.
You wouldn’t have surgery from a surgeon who:
- Didn’t have any qualifications
Didn’t take time to talk to you and assess you properly
Wasn’t staying up to date on the latest techniques and practices.
Hadn’t really done much surgery before, but had cut open a few mates in the past.
Take the time to look into your coach before hiring them.
(a good coach won’t mind)
In summary
I wanted to share a quote from Martin Rooney, that I feel encapsulates my view on coaching and coaches.
Coaching isn’t something you do TO someone… It’s something you do WITH them. Great coaches don’t light fires UNDER someone… they light fires INSIDE them. And great coaches aren’t BORN… they’re MADE”
Coaching done right… has the power to get the results you’ve always wanted.