I’ve been a fitness coach for 20 years. At times I’ve trained two and even three generations of families. I could’ve told you when I was 15 years old that I was going to open a gym. It was my passion from a young age. So when I was asked the other day why I coach, I figured it was a pretty simple answer: I love fitness. It’s my passion. I’m good at it and I want people get healthier. 

But then my wife took the picture to the left. It’s me coaching my 6 year old’s flag football team. About 3 months ago the picture would have been me coaching my daughter’s soccer team. Before that, it would’ve been tee-ball. If you caught me this past Saturday it would have been me coaching my coaches. And last Tuesday it would have been coaching another business. 

When I looked at that picture, I realized it’s not really about fitness or sport. I coach because I want to help people win.

I’ve also figured out it’s not even about my expertise in the arena. I’ve coached two seasons of soccer and I know about just as much as I did 2 seasons ago, which is don’t use your hands unless you’re the goalie and…yea that’s it. 

Here’s what I do know. Coaching is less about skill and more about care. If you don’t care you can’t coach. When I look for new coaches to bring on our staff, evaluation of their physical skills comes way after we evaluate personality, core values, social skills, and attitude. The number one thing I want my coaches to do is love on our people. Care for them above all else. When you show our people love, encourage them, and just down right care, the coaching stuff is easy. 

You can be the most skillful coach in the world in any sport or industry but if you can’t connect with the client or athlete, it’s all for naught.

When you approach coaching from a perspective of “how can I help you win” you will seek and develop the skills necessary to do so.

In sports, winning is determined by the scoreboard, but I’ve often found winning can be defined in many ways. For my young kids’ sports where everyone gets a participation medal right now (a whole other post), I focus on helping them have fun, learn something new, and prioritize their effort on the field/court/ice. As they get older, and scores start to matter we concentrate on still finding a win when the score doesn’t go in their favor. 

In the gym, we do similar things with our clients. Sure, getting your goal body weight or hitting a new personal best on a lift can be wins, but so can showing up to the gym 3 times this week. When you reframe your mind on what a win is to you, it’s amazing how successful you can be. 

So why do I coach? 

Because I’m passionate about helping people win. So are my coaches. 

Yes, we know a lot about fitness and nutrition, but none of that matters if you don’t know first that we care. We do. We want to see you win at whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. If you need some help winning, the first step is a conversation. You can book that HERE.