Why are you a good trainer? What makes fitness your passion?
Such an interesting question o the source of passion.
I always had a love for dance and music, choreography and teaching, so it was very natural for me to move into teaching fitness after I graduated from college. The reasons I loved it then were the pure joy of movement and seeing others have fun while I led.
That was 25 years ago.
Now, I still feel the same joy, but the substance behind the passion has grown as I’ve matured. It can be as simple as teaching a joyous dance class, but it can also mean larger and more lasting improvements to individuals’ health. It’s not any one thing, it’s hundreds of little things, every day. The connections with my clients and the connections I help them foster with each other.
How are you? Let’s cut to the chase. Everyone says being a good personal trainer is Patience, Communication, Professionalism, Education and our personality. Lets be honest, education in the Personal Training world is huge question mark. I can name 10 coaches right now who have “street education” and not one minute of class time or one certification and could out train 90 percent of the so called trainers out there. What gets some of these guys over and some of the “educated” trainers over is their passion for what they do. Speaking for myself, I studied hard but was blessed to have had a fantastic sports career life. I also came from a home with people that loved to help others. My Grandparents had that old school diet and ended up with diabetes and or obese in the process. Being surrounded with unhealthy environments will either pull you towards and push you away. Well, it pushed me to the far reaches of the earth. I wanted health. However, There is some luck involved if you happen to get in a locale that likes being fit. Unfortunately, Passion can also bite you in the butt. I have found myself discounting people to help them because I want to help them achieve their goal but did not realize that the sob story was so they can save money to buy that new car or go out and party on the weekend. All in all, If I train the person, the fitness will come. Same thing with an athlete, … train the person and you will find the athlete. I am a good trainer because anything that requires study, I can accomplish, and I internalized this years ago and try to help my clients understand, the body knows two things, stress and effort. Our minds will convince us that there are a ton of other obstacles, but the bottom line is this: Obstacles are the things we see when take our eyes off the Prize. Passion what you do… as if the impossible is possible and then WORK as if it is inevitable. In short, I am good and passion what i do because I did not choose to be a trainer in fitness, being a trainer in fitness chose me!
Peace and Love
Thank you Jabez, for the kind words today. As I was looking at all these amazing answers, I realized I haven’t shared my answer.
I got into fitness after recovering from a back injury that almost put me in a wheelchair. If it hadn’t been for an incredible Neurologist in St. Louis, who put his faith in me (after I had signed the surgery consent forms) and told me, in his heart he felt I was too young and if I was willing to work and fight like I had never fought before than we could try to do this the conservative route. It was something that hadn’t been done much before, and I literally had to learn to walk all over again. My motivation was my 6 month old baby girl. I didn’t want to raise her from a wheelchair.
This is where I got my first real taste of fitness. My parents were not healthy by any means. They ate poorly and did absolutely no physical activity. So, this was all new to me!
I found each new day that I felt stronger, happier and more confident than the day before. Not only was I surpassing what all of my Doctor’s thought I would ever be able to regain but I was becoming a force to be reckoned with. People started stopping me and asking, “What’s going on? ” either in a positive or negative way. Human nature, but that’s another story! It started snow balling for me! I started making all new friends at the gym I was starting to spend a lot of time at. So, this one girl and I decided to get our fitness training certification with ACE. I did it, she did not. At the same time, I also discovered Spinning. Point being, fitness literally saved and opened a whole new life for me.
From the day I received the letter that I passed my certification, and that was the proudest day of my life, I wanted to pay back the miracle of my second chance to anybody I could possibly help. I feel so fortunate to be given the opportunity to be able to give back.
The Doctor’s told me that I would never be able to do anything high impact. I have been sky diving, taught kickboxing, parasailing, rock climbing, horseback riding and zip lining in the rain forest in Costa Rica! They have my picture in their office and when someone tells them they feel it’s impossible, they tell them my story! That’s why I get up every morning with passion.
I LOVE this answer! You have put so much thought into it and I can tell that you put the same passion and thought into your clients as well.
ALL of your points are RIGHT on! We need so many more of you in our industry, but you know that! Please keep doing what you are doing Jabez! The fitness world needs you and there are SO many trainers novice and experienced that could learn from you.
Thank you!!