Whether you are a sub or a regular instructor you never know who is going to walk into your room. Last week we talked about how integrating trauma-informed principles in fitness can help you hold space for you and your students to get the results they want out of your classes. Today we are taking that one step further with the practical application of those skills. Our work IN today are 3 next level instructor skills you can use in real time to help students get more out of their workout and for you as an instructor to move from performance into presence.

You’re subbing and there you’re at the front of the room. Finally you get a chance to show what you can do. The music’s rockin’, you’ve got your sequence ready to go, and you know it’s gonna be a tough workout. Not just tough but killer, like anyone who comes to this class is gonna get their ass kicked. And isn’t that what everyone wants out of fitness?  And then the unthinkable happens.  Someone walks out.

It’s crushing. What happened? Are they injured? Did they have an emergency? Did you cause it? That’s our Work IN today. How to read the room as a sub and still be yourself as an instructor. Why trauma informed instruction matters to successful fit pros and how you can make it work for you as you establish your professional credibility.

When we are looking to raise the bar for both ourselves and our students we have to start somewhere. And today's work IN we’re going to get into the nitty gritty, boots on the ground for how to integrate gold standard instructor skills that are so simple but they’ll take your craft to the next level, make you more comfortable in your own skin and inoculate you against the dreaded imposter syndrome. These are things you can apply to pretty much any area of your life where you come into contact with other human beings.

That skill is holding space. What does that mean? Safety, Predictability, Agency, Communication, Energy…

For coaches it is really easy to get that certification and then just ride it for a while. And if you’re not careful the ever changing world of wellness will leave you behind. Science changes, health recommendations changes, people and society change.  And what it means for you to be a good coach changes. And all those things are important because you never know who will be standing in front of you at any given time. And if you’re not big on self awareness and you haven’t cultivated any understanding of human nature, communication skills or holding space you risk your students.

In my experience there isn’t much certification or continuing education providers can do to guarantee any level of or standard of quality in their fitness professionals. Let’s face it, if you know how to take a test or can spend a weekend at a conference you can get certified in pretty much anything. The fitness industry doesn’t provide any professional oversight. It’s up to the individual fitness professional to raise the bar and perhaps for our students and clients to raise their expectations.

So the next few podcast episodes we’re going to focus on that idea. How to Raise the bar as a fit pro in any format, one on one and group setting, for yourself personally, your professional credibility and your clients. Today we’re starting at the top by challenging certification mediocrity.

The number 1 career killer in the fitness industry is burnout. Where does that come from? The pay structure for fitness contractors is one culprit. Another is the lack of employer support and understanding of overtraining for instructors. And then there is the failure of instructors themselves to integrate self care to avoid that burnout.

In part 4 of our fit pro success series we talk a bit about using team building to prevent some of those things and improve turnover and relieve burnout for long fulfilling successful careers.