Adding value without breaking the bank
“You’ve already got it. Everything you need to know. Now you can lean into who you are, the things that make you special and unique in the industry and go for it.” - Ericka Thomas
Transcript
Episode 115
Adding value without breaking the bank
Fitness. It’s a great career for many reasons. One of them is the low cost of entry. Most fitness certifications are fairly inexpensive compared to a 4 year degree. But all of them require some kind of continuing education to maintain. If you’ve been in the industry for any length of time you’ll find that a lot of what’s offered for cec’s while excellent information may not align with the kinds of things your clients need. And the reality is they can be very expensive so you want to invest wisely in education that’s going to add value for you and your career. Today, I want to talk about the value you can add to how you teach by seeking out non-traditional sources of continuing education.
I’ve heard a lot of my colleagues talk about the wellness industry like a snake eating its tail. We get certified in something by some agency or school and then in order to stay certified we become a perpetual customer of that agency or school. It’s true of all of them, especially yoga teacher training and schools. I’m not judging. I don’t necessarily see that as wrong. To me if I was going to open a studio I would want to offer teacher training too so I could find like minded instructors to teach with me and be confident in their training. Business wise it’s smart.
Culture wise though I think it’s a recipe that sustains a thought bubble.
Take Health coaching as an example. When you get a Health Coaching certification there's usually a nutrition piece to it. Now to stay within your scope as a health coach all you are allowed to do regarding nutrition is to pass along the latest information from the government. Those guidelines are only updated every 5 years and I’m personally skeptical about the transparency and accuracy of the recommendations because they aren’t without political influence. If we’ve learned anything in the past 3 years it’s that there is value in radical self responsibility when it comes to health information. As a health coach there may be value in looking into more current science regarding nutrition to share with clients. Especially when perhaps they aren’t seeing the results they want.
Last week I spoke with Nate Sleger about what’s wrong in the fitness industry and we touched on several things but I wanted to highlight 2 for you today.
The first is that teaching and training experience carries more weight in a successful fitness career than the letters after your name. And the second is that after you know what to teach, you need to focus your continuing education on how to teach. That’s where you can expand your professional credibility.
Luckily, this kind of continuing education doesn’t have to cost a lot.
As a new instructor you look for CEC’s from official pre approved sources. I used to do that and then I would struggle to find things that I felt were meaningful to my clients and applied to what I was teaching. I used to have a NSCA-CPT. That’s a big one in the training industry. But all of the CEC’s they offered were sport specific and almost all of them at the collegiate level. NONE of my clients are collegiate athletes. Maybe they were at one time but not now. Most of my people are women, middle aged moms, and what I would call weekend warriors. So when I would go to NSCA conferences I’d have to translate all the latest data on 2 a days for football players and getting linebackers into ketosis out into the real world for women. It was ridiculous.
So while you still have to fulfill certification requirements I would encourage you to look outside the box to fill in the gaps.
One of the things Nate recommended last week and I totally agree with is reading up on psychology and the science of motivation. Personally I like to read and listen to anything on nutrition and food and how it affects the metabolism.
I have a few go to podcasts that are very current and cover a range of health science topics that give me a well of knowledge and understanding to draw from for the students I work with. Some I have mentioned before but I’ll give you my favorites here.
The first is The Huberman Lab podcast. He's a neurobiologist and ophthalmologist from Stanford.
I like the Better podcast with Dr. Stephanie Estima. She was a chiropractor. And I like that she brings a strictly female perspective to health and wellness.
I listen to The Successful Mind podcast. Now this one is technically sort of a business podcast but they mostly discuss how you think. Which is really important in any area of growth or change.
So podcasts are free. And if you trust the hosts they can give you a huge amount of background information to share and support what you already know.
Books can do the same. I love to read but for non fiction I prefer to listen so I got myself an inexpensive audible subscription so I don’t feel like I’m wasting valuable time when I’m driving. Some recent books I’ve read/listened to are…
Brain Energy by Christopher Palmer
The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
I also have quite a library of yoga philosophy and trauma related books both on audible and on the shelf. Too many to list here.
These are just a few of my recent interests. They have sparked great conversations in my classes but more importantly self directed education like this fills in the gaps and gives me a tool kit filled with ways to add value for my students. This is the kind of thing that can set you apart from other instructors. When you can sprinkle in tidbits of information about the mythology of a pose or science behind the breath or why sleep is so important you tell your clients that you see them, and you’re with them beyond the work out. That is more valuable than any calorie burn you can get anywhere.
There are other ways to make yourself indispensable in the fitness industry. One of those ways is by engaging your students and creating a community. You might do this through challenges or games, workshops and retreats, both within and outside of your time together. Anytime you can add fun to what you’re doing also adds value. In order to have fun people need to be in a calm, activated state. That state happens to be ideal for learning and connection. So up the fun factor in some way. And Things like workshops and retreats allow you to take a deeper dive into topics specific to the populations you serve. Teaching is always a great way to learn for yourself too. These are all excellent ways to set yourself apart.
Yes you need to know what to teach because on the surface people come into a gym because they think they want someone to tell them what to do. But if you know how to teach then you can also guide your students into the driver's seat as well so they understand how to get the most out of what they're doing.
You’ve already got it. Everything you need to know. Now you can lean into who you are, the things that make you special and unique in the industry and go for it. Don’t worry that they don’t want to hear what you have to say. Trust me, if you feel like it’s important enough to say, someone in that room needs to hear it.
Thanks for listening to the work in today. I hope this was helpful
What you do and who you are is important, the world needs you in all your glory. Whether you’re a fit pro or a student of health and wellness if you’re looking for trauma informed resources I have a free guide to holding space it applies to all humans. This guide is one of the first steps into safe co regulation, so check it out along with our show notes at savagegracecoaching.com.You’re going to want to get that guide because once you’re on my email list you’ll be one of the first to hear about the next run of Kinetic Grace integration. The full online course that goes deep into all the concepts we are touching on here. Not only will you learn the whole Kinetic Grace trauma-informed framework, but you’ll get hands-on experience, practice with all the communication skills, and live support as you begin to use these things in your classes. Stay tuned for more information and details to come.
In the meantime, stop working out and start working in.
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
Savage Grace Coaching is all about bringing resilience and burnout recovery. Especially for overwhelmed entrepreneurs, creators and coaches in the fitness industry.
Schedule a free consulttation call to see if my brand of actionable accountability is right for you and your business.