SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
2006
Lifestyle Coaching
By Susan Cantwell
The ultimate challenge
for health and fitness professionals is filling the gap
between clients' intentions and their actions. Many people
say they want to lose weight, gain strength, have more energy
and lead healthier lifestyles, but, besides their workouts,
they are overeating, stressed out and only partially committed
to do what it takes to reach their goals. You probably know
someone who seems to be on the motivational roller coaster
of exercising and not getting the expected results because
other areas of his or her life remain unchanged.
Personal trainers often encounter clients who can't seem
to keep a food log or do any assigned exercise on their
own. They continue to make unhealthy food choices, often
citing a busy, stressful week as the reason. Ultimately,
your goal is to move the client towards self-responsibility.
That's where lifestyle coaching plays a key role. Many fitness
industry leaders predict lifestyle coaching will greatly
impact the industry and prepared fitness professionals will
flourish both personally and financially.
What is Lifestyle Coaching?
Lifestyle coaching focuses on creating positive results
by building self-awareness, supporting positive action and
facilitating a deepened understanding that opens the door
to new possibilities and choices. In a coaching context,
lifestyle addresses the whole person, including physical,
mental, social and spiritual well-being, depending on the
client's needs. Lifestyle coaching's goal is to help individuals
create healthy, productive and purposeful lives.
Lifestyle coaching enables clients to take responsibility
for their actions outside of personal training sessions
or the gym. One of the most profound benefits clients obtain
is clarity about their ultimate goals and what they are
willing to do to reach them. Many clients know where they
are when they start exercising (e.g. overweight, tired,
frustrated) and can see where they want to be (e.g. slim,
healthy, energetic), but get distracted by obstacles and
daily responsibilities. A major concern of personal trainers
is that although clients don't eat properly, are stressed
out and have lives that don't support their fitness goals,
they still expect results.
How Does Coaching Work?
During each coaching session, the client chooses the focus
of conversation while the coach listens and contributes
observations and questions. This interaction creates clarity
and moves the client into action. Coaching accelerates the
client's progress by providing greater focus and awareness
of choice. The key word here is choice. When a client is
stuck in a pattern of dieting or engaging in the same workout
routine he or she gave up last year due to lack of time,
personal boundaries or an overabundance of stress, simply
starting the process again won't work. Without creating
a structure to support the client's fitness goals, his or
her efforts will lead right back to where he or she started.
A lifestyle coach helps clients change the way they think
about their goals, which allows them to realize they have
more choices. From this point, clients choose the right
path for them. Lifestyle coaching helps individuals create
a life that will enable them to maintain a healthy lifestyle
on their own terms.
Clients like the convenience of lifestyle coaching because
it can be done in person or via telephone. A typical coaching
session is 30 minutes, once per week or two hours per month.
A lifestyle coach can charge from $250 to $500 per month
depending on the market, level of training, demand and personal
visibility in their market.
The Language of Lifestyle Coaching
Coaching utilizes a specific crafting of language. It is
usually in question form, which facilitates a deepened awareness,
understanding and shift in the way a client thinks about
a particular obstacle or goal, similar to the way a particular
sport coach influenced you. Did he or she tell you specifically
how to improve your performance or ask questions about your
performance and challenge your beliefs? Many great coaches
do the latter. People know they consistently need to exercise
and follow a healthy diet. "Telling" isn't always
the way to change unhealthy behaviours. When a client is
asked a question that causes him or her to analyze his or
her own actions, then, instead of voicing excuses, he or
she can move on to creating strategies that work.
This language crafting empowers clients to take responsibility
for their health. Remember the old saying, "give a
man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish
and he'll eat for life." The same is true with your
clients. They know taking a walk is probably a better idea
than digging into a bag of chips while watching television.
But since they haven't taken responsibility for their health,
they can justify their actions. The whole premise of coaching
is that clients are capable of change and accountable to
themselves, with the coach acting as a guide. The client
is responsible for his or her own actions and coaching supports
the process of self-responsibility.
The Core Competencies and Skills of Lifestyle Coaching
While many fitness professionals think they already coach
their clients, lifestyle coaching has specific core competencies
and skills which, once mastered, enable a fitness professional
to fully engage a client so that results are reached and
maintained for a lifetime. Anyone considering offering lifestyle
coaching should seek proper training. Below is a brief discussion
of two key areas from more than 20 core competencies and
skills.
Shifting Models
Shifting from an expert model to the coaching model is one
of the most challenging aspects for fitness professionals.
As a fitness professional, you relay a great deal of information
to your clients daily. You provide fitness appraisals, prescribe
exercise, direct their training as well as correct form
and technique. Conversely, a lifestyle coach gives clients
room to find their own answers and doesn't tell them what
to do. A good coach relays information and clients choose
how they can apply it in their lives. This helps clients
take responsibility for their actions and craft lifestyle
plans that suit their individual preferences and schedules.
In the coaching model, clients are the experts. The coach
is not there to provide solutions; that is the client's
responsibility. Although challenged by it, many fitness
professionals enjoy this shift because they can serve clients
in a more powerful way.
Asking Powerful Questions
The skill of asking powerful questions is another area a
lifestyle coach must be proficient in. "Well,"
you might be thinking, "I ask questions all the time.
How difficult can it be?" Asking questions from a coaching
perspective is different than what you usually ask questions
for: information. Masterful coaches ask non-judgemental,
non-leading and agenda-free questions. Often, you ask questions
that require a person to answer in a certain way; the way
you want them to. This is not coaching but manipulation
based on good intentions and will not help the client change
for the long term. These double-edged questions are judgmental
and when asked, send the message that the client is less
capable. Here are some examples of double-edged questions
compared to the coaching approach:
Double-Edged Questions A Coaching Approach
1) When will you start eating better? What are you prepared
to do?
2) Who did you talk to? What other resources, if any, do
you need?
3) Why did you do that? What else could you do?
4) Are you sure you really want this? What's getting in
your way?
5) How soon will you change that? Is that something you
want to commit to?
A trained lifestyle coach is a neutral sounding board who
uses his or her own experiences to develop non-prescriptive
questions. The way a question is phrased can make the difference
between directing a client to do something he or she isn't
committed to do and getting the client to take ownership
of his or her own path.
Enlightening Feedback
A trained lifestyle coach doesn't just ask questions, but
also provides feedback that helps the client examine what
he or she probably knows at some level but hasn't considered.
This skill is closely tied to listening, since a coach must
listen on all levels in order to pick up what's not being
said. Enlightening feedback promotes further learning when
it's free of the coach's bias.
A trained coach will:
• reflect what's heard to allow the client to sort
through the nuances of his or her own thinking;
• remain neutral to what the client takes from the
feedback;
• allow for silence so the client can process what
he or she has heard or said.
Typical feedback that we are used to receiving often contains
criticism, whereas enlightened feedback invites deeper exploration
and helps the client actively engage in problem solving.
Typical Feedback Enlightened Feedback
1) But, what about this? Here's what I noticed...
2) You're missing this. What I didn't hear was…
3) That's not what we are talking about. How is this related
to that?
4) Why are you having trouble doing this? You're very organized
in other areas of your
life. How can you apply that here?
5) You always seem to have an excuse. Obstacles seem to
throw you off track. What do you think the solution is?
Lifestyle coaching is a trend that is here to stay. Many
health and fitness professionals see it as a viable link
in helping their clients achieve lasting results. Fitness
professionals are currently adding lifestyle coaching as
a separate revenue stream to complement their services.
Many enjoy the non-physical coaching because it helps provide
balance in their lives and avoid burnout. If you are interested
in becoming a lifestyle coach, seek training in order to
provide the highest level of service to your clients and
enjoy the many benefits coaching brings to you and them.
For more information on lifestyle coaching, visit these
websites:
• Lifestyle coaching for health, wellness and fitness
professionals www.lifestylecoaching.ca
• www.coachfederation.org
Susan Cantwell is
president of The Lifestyle Coaching Institute which specifically
trains health and fitness professionals to become masterful
lifestyle coaches. She is a Nike Sponsored Athlete and has
presented at numerous industry conferences, such as IDEA,
Can-Fit-Pro, Club Industry and many others for over 15 years.
She can be contacted at (506) 459-2665 or susan@lifestylecoaching.ca.
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