Whether we’re talking about personal trainers, strength & conditioning coaches, physical therapists, athletic trainers, group exercise instructors, yoga & pilates instructors, or, I don’t know, bomb sniffing dolphin trainers, conventional wisdom tells us that in each example every single one of those professionals would have a strong background in anatomy, kinesiology, exercise physiology, assessment, exercise prescription, exercise execution, manual therapy skills, human movement, and on the 0.001% chance that someone who trains dolphins is actually reading this…mammalogy.
Also, I am assuming you also need to be a proficient swimmer.
Needless to say, sure, in order to separate yourself from the masses it makes a lot of sense to accumulate a base level of education in myriad of topics to become a bonafide fitness professional. On top of that, other things that come into the foray include (but are not limited to):
- Interpersonal and communication skills
- Social and emotional intelligence (empathy)
- Behavioral and motivational psychology (cough, cough, nudge, nudge…Psych Skills for Fitness Pros Vol I and Vol II is the “go to” source. Check them out HERE).
- Nutrition (although, it’s important to respect scope of practice)
- Active listening
- Being an voracious proponent of Wu-Tang Wednesdays.
Being well-rounded in all of the above can come across as having some sort of super power given a vast majority of fit pros out there today – especially your run-of-the-mill commercial gym personal trainer – can barely name a rotator cuff muscle let alone have the ability to confidently program for someone who has chronic low-back pain. What’s more, and maybe this is the cantankerous, grumpy, old and bald strength coach – (waves his invisible cane in the air) “MEH, kids nowadays” – in me talking…
…but I find that more and more young fit pros fail to grasp the one quality that will undoubtedly impress potential clients.
No, it’s not how many letters you have next to your name or how many certifications you have.
No, it’s not your ability to quote Zatsiorsky.
And, no, it’s not having washboard abs or glutes that can crack adamantium.
The real (and forgotten) super power that separates a sub-par coach from an S-tier coach is…
…adaptability.
Possessing the ability to pivot or change course on the fly when a client shows up to a session late (time constraint), divulges a new injury (jacked up their knee playing pickleball), has an inability to perform a given exercise prescribed (an endless assortment of eye-wash I see on Instagram), or has explosive diarrhea (good luck!) is a true super power.
I have never written a perfect program. Meaning, it’s not uncommon for me to divert to plan B or C or even D in a given session because a client’s shoulder is pissed off. Sometimes, due to extenuating circumstances, I’ll need to scrap an entire program because a client decides they no longer have the same goal(s), or maybe I was overzealous as a coach and overestimated someone’s ability level.
It’s on me to figure it out and to do it quickly.
I truly believe that if you can seamlessly and effortlessly roll with the punches and not get flustered when inevitable curve balls are going to happen, provide a fun and practical training experience (even with the shit hits the fan), and demonstrate to clients that there is almost ALWAYS a way to get a training effect despite perceived road blocks…you will be a rock star in their eyes.
