You know the type. It’s the fitness and nutrition coach who seems to have to it all together. They have a super long waiting list of eager prospects and their client results are always impressive. Fitness and nutrition coaches make great money doing what they love doing. And, just to get us all a little bit more jealous, they make it look easy. Welcome to the fitness and nutrition coach.
What Is It That Makes Fitness And Nutrition Coach So Special?
Is it their training that they undergo? Their diligence as well as their dedication and commitment? Their passion? Or do fitness and nutrition coaches know something most others don’t?
The response to all of these queries is… yes.
Fitness and nutrition coach coaches do know something most don’t. However, it’s not just knowledge. It’s a set of practices which they work on daily. And this set of practices assists them with getting better at forming strong relationships with their clients, fostering change, and improving their craft.
Read more: How Body Shaming Affects Mental Health
What Are The Benefits Of Working As A Fitness And Nutrition Coach?
One of the many advantages of working as a fitness and nutrition coach is witnessing any or all of the incredible changes in clients, no matter who they happen to be. A fitness and nutrition coach can even choose to specialise with certain populations, for example athletes, post-partum mothers or – alternatively -overweight executives.
Many individuals enlist the services of a fitness and nutrition coach in order to help them to sift through all the baffling information that’s out there. Between all the disputes surrounding gluten, carbs, proteins, etc. There’s a lot to keep a fitness and nutrition coach busy.
Fitness And Nutrition Coaches Practice The Art Of Human Connection
Better fitness and nutrition coaches aren’t just better at customising exercise and nutrition plans. They’re better at working with people.
Fitness and nutrition coaches don’t limit conversations to “here’s what you have to do”. They speak to clients in a way which nurtures real human connection. By asking genuine questions, voicing compassion and being a steady source of support, fitness and nutrition coaches help to guide their clients around hurdles so they can achieve their goals.
To practise this approach ask leading questions which help clients to open up and explore, imagine, or build on previous successes. For instance:
- If things were clearer with your eating/exercise plan, what would be changed in your life? What would you do a lot more of? Less of? Be proud of?
- Imagine that you have the body as well as health you want. What did it take for you in order to achieve this? What did you need to give up?
- What have you had accomplishments with in the past? How can we do more of that and apply it to your health and fitness?”
Supporting Behaviour Change
In order to support positive behaviour change which will persist in the long term, fitness and nutrition coaches must view their clients’ wellness as a bigger entity with many moving parts. Exercise as well as nutrition are only two (albeit two of the most powerful) of these parts. Fitness and nutrition coaches should focus on helping clients to make lasting lifestyle changes.
After all, attaining health- and fitness-related goals is not a swift fix or a one-time event however, rather a lifelong journey. Fitness and nutrition coaches can provide their clients with the knowledge and skills that they need in order to make positive behaviour changes which last a lifetime.
