How to Choose Your Coach

Joel Younkins

Physical Preparation Coach

Let's just cut to the chase and end your dilemma on who to hire as your next coach (trainer) and choose us at JYT LOL. Obviously, we love to think we can help everyone, but we're ultimately not for everyone. WE focus on the few, not the many. And because we're not for everyone, we're still here to help YOU find your next coach that you're looking for. So I'm going give you my professional opinion on a few things to look for when shopping around for your next coach of your choice to help you get to where you want to be.

The first thing you need to know about any sort of fitness related training coaching...

In the private sector of Fitness Training, it's literally the wild west. Anything goes!

The industry is not overseen by any governing body. There's no regulations on who can coach and how you can coach. You reading this right now, even if you have zero experience training or coaching, you can literally become a "trainer" tomorrow if you'd like and start trying accumulating clients. Congratulations, you're now a coach too haha! 

And honestly, this is how coaches are created in the industry far too often. Someone gets themselves into shape, they do some "research and learning," and want to start helping people because they've helped themselves. Their heart is in the right place, but their experience and knowledge isn't yet. I mean, I cut my own hair and my sons hair, but it 100% doesn't mean that I'm capable of being a barber by any stretch! But in the world of fitness, it doesn't seem to matter to people as much.

I suppose you can say I'm writing this Lifestyle Blog  for your sake and for our industries sake as well...

You may be asking yourself, "well Joel, don't you need to go to college and at the very least, or be certified with some sort of fitness training certification?" The answer is also no you do not have to have either in the private sector of the industry. And even if you went and got certified, it doesn't mean you're ready to start training clients in all fairness either. It means you paid some money and passed a test. That test may have also have been a daily/weekend/online course that you signed up for. There's some learning materials and a test, but nothing to do with internship experience or hours/years working.

There are few reputable certifications out there for sure, abut majority hold very little to no merit at all and they're just a money maker course for trainers to buy into unfortunately. I have a 4 year degree, coached at the college level, but yet I never even did any of these certifications...Why? Because 1.) 99% of people don't care if/what you're certified. 2.) Insurance companies don't care to insure the business. 3.) Nobody is overseeing my work to tell me otherwise in the private sector. My clients have the ultimate say so. The fact I have a 4 year degree and that I can help them is all they ever care about. They probably can care less about a college degree to be honest, because it's not about the coach it's about the clients needs and if they're getting the help they need.

So as you can see, the prerequisites to becoming a coach a extremely low. This reality makes it convenient for professionals to get started and to be flexible, but honestly, overall it's not good for the industry. It over populates the market with a million unqualified "coaches" like how we discussed earlier with a low barrier to entry. 

As you can see, this makes it even harder on the consumer while browsing the market for their fitness coach.

• Should I got with the person who works at the gym down the street?
• Should I work out with the person who looks like they're in great shape on their social media?
• Should I work out with the cheap person who trains people out of their garage?

There's a lot to choose from. Not to mention the style of training that you'd be into.

But I also do not want to sit here and scare you out of even hiring a coach LOL...There are a bunch of really great coaches available all over and in all disciplines, whether it's Strength & Conditioning, CrossFit, Yoga, Triathlons, etc. that have taken the time to earn their experience, done the real learning and actually "know their stuff" and work day in and day out on helping their people by doing some really great things! These are the kind of coaches that you will want to hire for yourself!

Lets get into the 3 Tips that I have for you. As someone who has over 10 years of coaching experience in the industry, and as someone who does this full time as a living, let me give you some details to look for to consider your next coach.

1.) What type of training do you want?
Above, I mentioned that we aren't for everyone. At JYT we focus on traditional training methods and we offer small group individualized training as well as private training too. We cater to Athletes, Racers, and Motivated Individuals. But we're not CrossFit, we're not a fitness class, and we're not kick boxing. So you want to get clear on what type of training you want and need. So whether that is part of your shopping around process or you already no what you're looking for, start narrowing down your search into which category of fitness are you looking for. This may sound obvious, but I found more often than not, a lot of people are not clear on what they even want to do!

2.) Does the coach have a good reputation?
Beyond certifications, does this coach have a good reputation with success rates? Do their clients refer people to them? Do their clients stay long periods of time or do they only stay a couple months? Has this coach been in the industry for at least more than 3-5 years? Does this coach work full time or is coaching only a part time gig for them? These are the qualifications that you want to be looking for when looking for a coach. All the new "instant coaches" love to flex their latest certifications, but the real coaches in the game are practitioners putting in the hours actually helping people. The reputation really does matter and it will/should matter to you as well!

3.) Does the coach seem like a decent person?
When you meet with your potential coach for the first time, use your best judgement to asses if you even like the person. Once you hire them as a coach, you will be spending a lot of time together. You will see them multiple times a week. When you're under duress from a hard workout, having a bad day, or need some advice, is this the type of person you want to try to connect with? Do they seem like a good leader? Do they have that "I got you vibe?" For your next coach, you should feel like you know, like an trust them!

Bonus Tip: Price Traps
DO NOT hire based on who is cheaper. Have your price point on what you can and cannot pay. But a lot of new and bad trainers/coaches will purposely undercut their competitors to persuade you into choosing them. Remember, what they say, "you get what you pay for." Also to be fair and noted, just because someone is really expensive, DOES  NOT always correlate to their coaching skills and knowledge. So what should you do with this information? Easy, just circle back to the 3 tips above and you'll be okay!

I don't mean to overwhelm you with the cluster of industry that is called the Fitness Industry. But now you know that when hiring a coach, on what qualities to begin looking for. If you stick to these 3 things (and the bonus tip), you will and should definitely find the a really good fit for you, at the very least narrow down 1 or 2 options in your area. Coaches have track records for a reason. Find out the details about them and even ask their clients if you have the opportunity. If their clients (and their past clients) speak highly of their coach and especially if they've been with them for a long time, it's a really good sign you'll be in good hands. The rest is up to you and your gut instincts to determine if it's the right fit or not.

​Best of luck!