5 Signs You Should Get A Coach

No matter how knowledgeable, skilled, or talented we are, to reach our goals we all need help occasionally. Even the best athletes in the world have coaches. Sure they could probably create their own training programs, break down their own technique, and address their needs but they also realize the importance of having someone they trust to guide their path. Besides, we all understand that no matter how much we know, we never follow our own advice! In this article, I’ll discuss 5 signs that you should seek out a coach to help you achieve your goals, whether they are business, academic, or fitness-related.

1. Endlessly switching to new workouts (shiny object syndrome)

Problem: In an age of endless content pulling out our attention in every direction people can find themselves constantly swapping workout programs in the hopes of getting the latest and greatest training secrets that your favorite Instagram model has “discovered.” This can often lead people to believe that they have tried everything out there and conclude that none of them work, leading to massive amounts of frustration. The problem with jumping ship so often is that we don’t give our original programs enough time to see the results. It takes time for physiology to change, especially when it comes to structural changes such as muscle growth and weight loss. These types of changes take smart progressive overload from week to week. Completely overhauling your plan probably isn’t necessary, and at worst, could be interfering with your ability to progressively overload since you need to essentially relearn different movements each week or the training is targeted at different adaptations altogether.

How a coach can help: A skilled coach can help layout a structured program that provides an appropriate progression of overload from week to week. They can also keep you from freaking out (well mostly, sometimes we panic too) when things aren’t going as planned and make adjustments to get you back on track.

2. Lack of accountability/consistency

Problem: As mentioned above, physical changes take time to achieve (way longer than we’d like). And not only does it take time, it takes consistency across extended durations of time (months and years) to make the kind of changes we truly dream about. Staying consistent for that long when we are only accountable to ourselves makes this extremely difficult for most people. Simply put, motivation is great and is needed to get you over the hump but it simply doesn’t have the staying power that accountability has.

How a coach can help: It’s much much easier to make excuses to ourselves when we don’t feel like training or fall off the wagon with our nutrition. Giving these same excuses to someone else is much more difficult, especially if you’re paying that person.

3. Specific health issue or injury has held you back in the past

Problem: One of the biggest factors that hold people back from getting out there and being active is pain or injury. This ranges from osteoarthritis that causes knee pain or hip pain preventing someone from hiking their favorite trail to an old football injury that has led to chronic shoulder pain stopping someone from training in the gym. Unfortunately, the solution that is often adopted (and often advised by physicians) is to stop activities like running, lifting, or playing recreational sports. Having pain or an injury isn’t the problem, letting it stop you from living your life is!

How a coach can help: A coach, especially one who has sufficient knowledge of the rehab process (such as a DPT), understands that most of the time rest is not the solution. These coaches understand that movement can be medicine and empower individuals to live fulfilling lives full of adventures. Coaches are experts at modifying exercise variables such as intensity and volume as well as selecting the correct exercises for you. This allows you to still train, be fit, and be amazing!

4. You find trying to figure out what you’re supposed to do and therefore you do nothing

Problem: For many people, especially those with high-stress lives, working out is a means of maintaining their sanity. Training allows them to shut their mind off for an hour and focus solely on getting through the workout. They don’t want to think during this time, they just want to move, sweat, and get after it! So if these same individuals have to utilize precious time and mental energy to create their own workout plans they will typically do two things. They will either do the same program day after day after day or they will try to come up with new workouts, get mentally tired, say “screw it,” and not train at all.

How a coach can help: Coaches love programming workouts, so let us take the thinking and planning out of it for you. We write the program, you focus on getting after it. Simple as that.

5. You have a specific goal/event you’re training for

Problem: When it comes to our health and fitness journeys having specific goals are important for keeping us motivated and staying on track. However, having a goal is not enough to get the job done. When our goals are audacious (completing your first marathon when you have never run before) or unfamiliar (competing at a local strongman competition with no prior knowledge of the sport) creating these plans are extremely difficult to put into place.

How a coach can help: If your goals are huge and unfamiliar the training process will inevitably be a long one and you’ll need to be diligent and consistent if you want to succeed. As mentioned above, being accountable to yourself is hard and your coach can help you stay on track to achieving these goals. Additionally, hiring a coach that is familiar with the event or goal that you're trying to achieve can help you layout a structured plan that will progress you at the proper rate and prevent you from getting injured from doing too much too quickly.

If you fall into one of these categories and feel like you need the help of a coach, click HERE to apply for the Reclaim Online Coaching program and get started today!