Most fitness coaches are like you. They’re not elite athletes, they’re everyday people who understand that health and fitness are essential elements of a healthy lifestyle.
Let’s debunk the myth that all fitness coaches are in their 20s and 30s and sport rock-hard abs. The truth is, fitness coaches can be all ages, genders and body shapes. Fitness coaches attract clients based on their interests and their niche. Your ideal client wants you to coach them. Whether you’re over 50, under 30, male, female or LGBTQIA+, have muscles like Arnie or not so much, it doesn’t matter. As long as you’re relatable to your target audience, they will want you to help them reach their fitness goals.
If your passion is to help your clients move better, build strength and enjoy their fitness, then it’s up to you, to arm yourself with the skills and knowledge to help them achieve their fitness goals. In this post, we’ll explore our top 5 reasons why becoming a fitness coach is the best choice for you.
What Is a Fitness Coach?
A fitness coach mentors and guides their clients towards their fitness goals using a series of strategies including:
- Teaching movement techniques to prevent injury
- Developing personalized programming to keep fitness fun and engaging
- Motivating and encouraging clients to achieve their goals
- Tracking progress
- Providing accountability to keep clients focused on the long game
Fitness coaches work in gyms, functional fitness studios, health clubs, recreation centers, yoga studios, in private practice and online.
The job outlook for fitness professionals is promising. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the fitness industry is projected to grow 39 percent from 2020-2030; well above the average for all occupations in the United States.
Fitness coaches currently find employment in a wide variety of areas within the fitness industry, including:
- One-on-one coaching
- Group fitness classes
- Online coaching
Fitness coaches can also be referred to as fitness instructors, and they work with their clients to achieve an array of different goals, including:
- Weight loss
- Injury rehab
- Enhanced performance in elite athletes
- Stress management
- Increased strength
- Improved cardiovascular fitness
- Greater general health and fitness
If you’re interested in a career change, or looking to up-skill with a fitness certification, now is the perfect time to explore what a career as a fitness coach would look like for you.
Top 5 Reasons You Should Become a Fitness Coach
There’s so much more to being a fitness coach than simply teaching your clients how to squat with good technique. Here are our top 5 reasons you should become a fitness coach:
1. Earn Your Living Doing What You Love
Wouldn’t it be nice to actually enjoy going to work. To spend your days in your happy place and making a living out of it? If you’re someone who loves working out and helping others, then being a fitness coach would be a fantastic career choice for you.
Sharing your love for fitness with your clients feels pretty amazing. There’s nothing better than hearing that your client’s favorite hour of their day was working out with you.
2. Accountability for Your Own Training
Motivation has its ups and downs, even for fitness coaches. When your clients show up and put in the work. it gives you extra drive to exercise when your motivation is low.
As a fitness coach myself, it would feel unauthentic to expect my clients to get their heart pumping when I’m not doing it myself. Knowing that my clients look up to me provides me with the accountability I need to put in the work and prioritize movement into my life.
3. Flexible Work Hours
If you’re looking for flexible work hours, then fitness coaching may be a great fit for you. Many coaches work “out of hours” to accommodate the standard 9-5 work schedule held by their clients. This often involves working early mornings and late nights, with large periods of “free time” in the middle of the day. You can use this time to work on your own fitness, or you may fill it with other commitments, such as family time or working another job.
4. Boost Your Earning Potential
Holding a fitness certification alongside a health or wellness credential is likely to boost your earning potential.
Potential clients are looking for a coach that has a well-rounded knowledge-base to help them achieve sustainable lifestyle change. Having credentials in both health and fitness coaching gives you credibility in the eyes of your prospective clients, and should give you the confidence to charge accordingly.
5. Being a Fitness Coach Is Fulfilling
As a fitness coach you build a unique rapport with each of your clients. They confide in you, they share their fears and their dreams with you, so when they smash their own goals, there is no other feeling like it. When you help your client break through their own perceived barriers it feels pretty awesome.
Fitness Coach Credentials
We’ve discussed our top 5 reasons why you should become a fitness coach. Now it’s time to explain how you can become one.
Many fitness coaches hold a fitness credential (often more than one). These certifications can be in the broad field of “fitness” or they can be a specialized qualification in a niche area of fitness such as:
- Yoga
- Strength and conditioning
- Weightlifting
- Senior’s fitness
- Aqua aerobics
- Gymnastics
- CrossFit
- Children’s fitness
A fitness coach certification does not make you a personal trainer (which is a separate qualification, usually an associate and bachelor degree). This is not to say that a fitness coach does not also hold a personal training qualification (I do). In fact, many fitness coaches also hold other health, fitness and wellness credentials in fields such as:
- Personal training
- Health coaching
- Nutrition coaching
- Massage therapy
- Exercise science
- Physical education
- Kinesiology
When deciding on what fitness coaching course to invest your time and money into, it’s important to choose wisely. Ask yourself the following questions:
“What type of fitness do you enjoy?”
“Who would be your ideal client to coach?
Answering these two questions will help you define your coaching and client niche, which will help you decide on the direction of your studies and your coaching practice.
Primal Fitness Coach Certification
If you’re passionate about ancestral health and wellness then we have some exciting news for you. We, at the Primal Health Coach Institute, are thrilled to announce that our new flagship fitness course, the Primal Fitness Coach certification is open for enrollment.
The Primal Fitness Coach course underpins the 10 Primal Laws first introduced by Mark Sisson in his bestselling book, The Primal Blueprint. Our comprehensive course will cover all the fitness essentials including:
- Fitness for health
- Everyday movement
- Human posture
- Movement fundamentals
- Breathing
- Stretching
- Mobility
- Balance
- Injury prevention
- Cardiovascular fitness
- Endurance training
- Resistance training
- Sprinting
- Jumping
- HITT
- Achieving peak performance
- Avoiding burnout
- Recovery
This course has no prerequisites and is suitable for all fitness levels. Are you ready to take the next step towards becoming a certified Primal Fitness Coach? Find out all you know need to know and more here.
Recap
To recap, fitness coaches are in the business of making fitness inviting, fun and accessible to their target audience. It’s a myth that all fitness coaches are young and ripped. The truth is, fitness coaches are everyday people, looking to make an impact in their clients’ lives, just like you and me. It’s time for you to become the fitness coach you dream to be!
