Aron writes:
“Hey Ben,
My name is Aron and I’m a recent kinesiology graduate running a small personal training facility in Oklahoma. I’m looking into starting online personal training as well.
I love what you preach, you’re an inspiration for me. I would love any tips you have to staying focused on yourself as well as being an online coach.”
It’s a great question, because the strength and conditioning industry is notoriously life-consuming. That’s because most people who get into the field do so because they’re hugely passionate about strength: after all, there’s not a lot of money or glamour in it.
That said, I don’t believe it’s possible to be a great strength coach (or a great anything, really) without some sort of work-life balance. Coaching is a high-touch field, so your clients are probably going to be able to tell when you’ve had a rough day or you’re feeling frazzled. And usually, people don’t like to work with people who are often frazzled.
So, how do you find that balance?
Physique balance is hard to find, too.
Set Boundaries and Expectations
When it comes to coaching, communication is key. In fact, communication skills are probably just as important to effective coaching as technical knowledge: it doesn’t matter how much you know if you can’t convey that information to someone else.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty difficult to communicate in the modern world – not only despite of how many different ways we have to talk to each other, but because of that same fact. As a “part-time” coach (I’m a doctoral student at the University of Texas), I’m extremely selective about how many clients I’m willing to work with, and it’s still extraordinarily easy to get overwhelmed by how many messages I receive on so many different platforms: email, text, social media… it’s too much to keep track of. You absolutely must have a unified, comprehensive system of communication, or information will get lost. And you must consistently require that clients adhere to that system, because otherwise, that lost information will undermine your effectiveness as a coach.
On the other hand, it’s even worse when you can’t convince clients of the absolute necessity of communication. When you don’t know what your clients are doing, you’re working in the dark, and if you’re working in the dark, then you’re not working well. This is a tricky one, because it’s so easy to assume that if you’re not hearing anything from your clients, then everything must be fine and dandy, but that’s rarely true. Be proactive: if you’re not getting the information you need, ask for it, clearly and directly, and do so sooner rather than later.
Develop Workflows
I’m no fan of cookie-cutter programs, and it makes me sick when “coaches” just send the same damn program out to all their clients. Everyone is different, everyone has different goals, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and, in my opinion, that should be reflected in programming.
So, if you’re a coach, you can’t skimp here: you need to put time and care into every program you write. But you can develop workflows to make that process easier. For example: I like to use Excel for writing my programs. When I first started coaching, I tried to format every program I wrote differently, so that it would feel more unique, and I wasted dozens of hours trying to find the right fonts and colors. But it doesn’t take a world-record deadlift to know that a prettier program isn’t a better program, and I quickly realized that if I just used the same styling for all my clients, I could put more time into making the content of their programs better.
Focus on the Present
You’re probably tired of hearing this by now, but the secret to success in any endeavor – whether it’s hitting a big PR, recovering from an injury, or balancing your work as a coach – requires focusing on the present moment. If you’re distracted by reliving the past or imagining the future, you’re not working effectively right now. And if you’re not working effectively, you’re just digging yourself a bigger hole that will make it more and more difficult to find the time to have the balance you need in your life to work effectively. It’s a dangerous cycle of inefficiency and stress, and it’s so easily avoided. If you have trouble living in the moment, there’s an easy solution: start meditating, right now, and keep it up every day until it becomes not just a habit, but a part of your life.
Have your own strategies for finding work-life balance as a coach? Share them in the comments. Both Aron and I would appreciate it!
One thing that helps me is explicitly asking folks what their motivation is for training. Once I'm aware of that, then I don't have to "waste" time trying to figure it out. And, once I know what the motivation is, I can better communicate with the client in order to be more effective, which can really reduce frustrations.