A Coach needs a Trainer?!
Crazy right? Why would a trainer need to hire a trainer?
It's not that we can’t train ourselves because we obviously can but it's just because of that same fact that we need a trainer. As trainers, we get a bit carried away with our art. We love to train and workout, I know crazy right? Who likes to workout?! haha. However, we can get a bit carried away at the gym because we are so passionate. We need that firm hand to tell us that’s enough. Have you ever heard “I need to follow my own advice”. Yup, that goes for trainers too. It's funny because you put us in front of a client and we know exactly what they need to do or stop doing in order to get results but we won’t listen to our own advice! It's pretty terrible.
I also come from a bodybuilding and pageant background so I am used to nitpicking my body (not something I am happy about). Although, I don’t compete anymore, I still really love the sport of it and training like I was. The reason why I stopped competing was not that, it's more about peak week and the extremes you have to put your body through. However, I love growing and improving every year. I personally train to look and feel good. I love the power I feel from lifting heavy and proving to myself that I am much stronger than what I think. I don’t train to lose weight and be thin, instead I train to feel strong, powerful and beautiful. Sometimes though, our minds can get in the way of that (mine especially) so it's just easier to put that in the hands of another coach. Plus, I can use that time to work on my clients.
Another reason why I believe trainers have trainers, or at least why I do, is to learn. I think it's important to learn from each other. That is the only way you can improve and grow. There may be an exercise that I have been performing a certain way, and my coach comes and tells me another way to execute it and I’ll be able to feel it much more on the targeted muscle and vice versa.
It's funny because when I hired my first coach, many years ago, I never wanted to let my clients know I felt like it was shameful. My mom would always ask me, “why do you need a coach? Can’t you train yourself?” I would always think to myself, “She’s right, does this make me less of a coach?” This way of thinking went on for years. Then one day, I saw a video of my former coach talking about how she has a coach and how it's nothing to be ashamed of. She basically put together the words I struggled to do. She spoke exactly how I felt. It was at that moment that I told myself I would stop feeling ashamed of having a coach. This does not mean I am less knowledgeable or less worthy. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what others think. What makes me happy and what is best for my business and myself. Hiring a coach actually saves me time that I really don’t have, to sit down and think about my workout. Instead, I am using that time to focus on my business and clients. If anything, it's the smartest thing a coach can do.
