When you are unwell you see the doctor; when you need legal advice, a lawyer. Like these professionals, coaches are absolutely fundamental for starting out or progressing to the next level of performance – from athletic coaching to business mentoring!
Guidance, professional expertise, and encouragement are absolutely key if you want to be the best version of yourself and make the best use of your workout time. It’s no coincidence that many of the high-achievers and prominent personalities in Bangkok are coached by the team at Body By Beast. From international athletes, to successful business-leaders, famous TV and movie celebrities, high-energy rockstars and active supermodels.
People work out with a strength and conditioning coach for a variety of reasons – including: weight control (fat loss), developing a more attractive and balanced body shape, building muscle definition, preparing for an athletic event, recovering from illness or injury, and building self-confidence.
There are many reasons that people are more likely to reach their fitness goals with a fitness coach or personal trainer – the Internet is full of articles that present the 15, 10 or 7 reasons why this true. The reasons are encapsulated in three core rationales – fitness coaches provide: DIRECTION, EDUCATION, and MOTIVATION.
1. DIRECTION (PLANNING):
- A fitness coach will help you start if you have never exercised before, or haven’t trained in a long time, developing a program that is unique and specifically personalized for you.
- Your coach will give structure to each workout, and to the progression of your workouts over time – so your body continues to be challenged by the training, and to evolve into the shape and functionality that you want.
- Your will understand your starting point, through a thorough assessment. From your body-composition (water/ muscle/ bone/ fat), to various fitness components – including aerobic endurance, strength, power, speed, agility and flexibility.
- Based on the results of your assessments, and with your goals defined, your fitness coach will devise an exercise prescription. This will determine: how often you should train, at what intensity, how long and what forms of exercise you will benefit from, including exercise modalities such as: HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), cardio or aerobic exercises, weight training, and sports specific drills.
- You will be given guidance on how to track your exercise – such as using heart rate and your level of perceived exertion to determine intensity and recovery.
- Your weekly plan will show the extensiveness of the program and recommended exercises. This may include activities that you do alone – such a swim, run, a stretch routine, or a bodyweight program devised for you to do at home.
- Your coach will lead you through very specific training when you attend your private coaching sessions at Body By Beast. Making sure that:
- The exercises and overall program is challenging for you, but you have sufficient recovery planned into your training
- You are performing exercises with a focus on movement quality, skill development, and safety.
- If you have a specific illness, injury or condition, such as diabetes, heart disease or persistent pain, your coach will determine the most appropriate activities AND support. They will be able to reach out to their contacts in the Health and Fitness Industry and put you in touch with excellent professionals in other fields who will support your coaching regime – such as with a physiotherapist or pain counselor.
2. EDUCATION (LEARNING):
- Your coach at Body By Beast will have 3 to 5 years of university education in Sports Science and Exercise Physiology. Using science-based, fundamental principles that make sense and can be effectively applied and understood, one of their goals will be to impart some of that knowledge to you, so that you understand what you are doing and why.
- The knowledge, expertise, judgement and experience provided by your coach will help you to filter the information around you. To determine what might be a promotional tactic or fad, and what is appropriate for you to apply to your level of training. For example, a nutrition plan you should follow, and how to make healthy eating a part of your daily living, rather than follow a specific ‘diet’, which you can’t live on forever.
- Understanding your program and some of the key principles in Exercise Science will enable you to integrate it into your lifestyle. This means in 5, 10 or 20 years’ time you will still be able to apply your knowledge to the effortless continuity of exercise as part of your healthy lifestyle.
3. MOTIVATION (INSPIRATION):
- Your fitness coach will act as a mentor for you, helping to examine your goals and motivation for exercise – to facilitate you to get more from your exercise, and to create greater meaning in what you are doing. This can often have much more wide-ranging effects in your life. Find your discipline in exercise and you will create greater mastery throughout all aspects of your life. With exercise you are the holder of the key, and it’s often easier to practically apply than in relationships, or managing a complex business.
- Although your coach is not going to admonish you for not attending a session, you will be charged unless you cancel in advance; so there is of course a financial incentive to attend your session. But the real essential element to your attendance to training is that you hold yourself accountable.
- Your coach will challenge you more than if you work-out alone. Pushing you a little bit extra when you need it, but also helping you to appreciate your accomplishments.
- Your coach may bring in the element of competition. Encouraging you to go beyond your comfort zone and to reach inside your conscious and subconscious mind to realize achievements that you may not have considered before you starting coaching.
- Your coach will inspire you to more readily apply your exercise motivation to other areas of your life. To enhance your mental wellbeing, your relationships and your general outlook on life.
- You will get guidance in creating a healthier lifestyle for you and for those around you. With this, we highly recommend that you share your inspirations with your family and friends – especially with your parents, they will benefit greatly from your insights.