One of the things we pride ourselves on at The Foundry is being able to provide all our clients with a Coach for Life.
What’s a coach for life?
Well, it’s something you won’t find at many gyms!
The majority of fitness facilities are marred by a constant revolving door of coaches, or as we call them, “coaches for now.” The average career length of a personal trainer is around two years. For the client, this means the moment you start to feel connected to a coach, that coach or trainer leaves the gym and is replaced by a new, unfamiliar face.
A Coach for Life, on the other hand, is a professional coach committed to being a fitness professional for his entire career. He/she wants to work with his clients for decades: Kind of like how many people have the same doctor, dentist and accountant for decades.
The concept of a Coach for Life is one of the things that sets us apart from our competitors. On the client end, this is what you can expect from your Coach for Life:
7. Regular check-ins
Even if you’re at the stage of your fitness journey where you’re somewhat self-sufficient in the gym and are attending multiple group classes each week, you should still expect regular check-ins with your coach. These “check-ins” can come in the form of weekly, monthly or quarterly private coaching sessions or individual programming designed for you to work on a particular weakness. These check-ins are necessary to ensure you’re constantly moving forward.
6. Why?
Understanding the concepts and reasons behind your training is important, and your Coach for Life will always be able to articulate WHY so you’re not left wondering about the intention of any given movement or training session.
Why is this movement useful?
How is this helping your fitness?
Why should you reduce the weight on your barbell for this conditioning workout?
Your Coach for Life understands the method behind the madness and will always take the time to help you understand WHY.
5. Even if it hurts your feelings…
Your coach will always be up front with you, even if it’s not what you want to hear.
“No, you’re not ready to learn a muscle-up yet,” might piss you off, but it should anger you less if he/she can provide a solution to help you become ready to learn a muscle-up.
While some people want their coach to be their cheerleader, the best coaches—the ones that will bring you results—focus less on motivating and cheerleading and more on providing you with honest feedback and a plan of attack, even if it hurts your ego.
4. Veteran love
If you have been around for five years, your coach for life won’t take your business and loyalty for granted. He will continue to be involved in your fitness journey even after 10 years of training.
3. Education
Like any other profession based on science, you should expect your coach to continually educate himself—be it formally through seminars or courses, or more informally and independently.
Stagnation kills when it comes to something as ever changing as theories about fitness and the human body, which is why you can breathe easy knowing your coach for life is constantly learning.
2. Push and pull
Your coach for life should know you and your abilities as well, or even better, than you do. Because of this, you should expect him/her to push you to do things you didn’t think you had in you—to help you conquer fears you didn’t know you could.
Because there is nothing like the satisfying feeling of doing something you didn’t think you’d ever do…
1. Emotional support
While the gym is a place you go for physical workouts, what’s going to keep you around to work on your fitness for years to come aren’t the workouts themselves, but the way the gym makes you feel.
Working with a coach who is able to provide not just physical, but also emotional support will go a long way in making you feel comfortable and keeping you here for life.