I was about 18 months into my career when I realised that coaching was not about me. It was not about what I thought was best, or what in my opinion was most important for a client to achieve, but more so about the client’s priorities and their unique beliefs about health.
The health and fitness industry breeds egomaniacs; trainers and coaches that believe they have the answer- the magic solution everyone’s problem, should the client simply do exactly what they are told for a set duration, without deviation. And if they are to fail, it would be their own fault, not the program, because 100’s of others did it and “just look at the transformation” photos as proof.
Well the reality is, there’s no magic foolproof way of achieving great health and fitness results, no matter what coaches and the media would have you believe. And, its not just a matter of ‘hard work’ and ‘dedication’; of ‘not giving up’.
Health and well being is multi-factorial, and many aspects of ones life needs to be considered when developing solutions for clients. Each person’s body is unique and is a reflection of:
- genetics
- family dynamic and relationships
- religious and personal beliefs
- level of financial security
- movement and occupational habits
- nutritional status and dietary preferences, and
- level of emotional well being.
Therefore, any kind of nutrition or exercise program needs to account for all these factors and their level of contribution to one’s overall health status. Then, these factors need to be considered against the individual’s readiness to change.
This is why I do not ‘prescribe’ a single or specific diet or fitness program for everyone. Instead, I work with each individual person and take an understanding yet solutions focused approach to programming, and every single program ends up looking very different to the one before it.
I believe we are all in control of our own health outcomes, and we can all achieve great things, just everyone’s journey to the end result will be different.
Alana 🙂