"But according to my CSCS textbook..."
Training hard is all you know. You follow the top "instafamous" people in the fitness field. You do chest on Monday's & arms on the weekend. Arnold is your hero. You memorized your anatomy & physiology textbook. You just graduated college and now you're applying for jobs/internships.
First off congrats! You obviously have a burning desire for health and fitness and look forward to helping others become healthier as well. With your fresh college education you now know everything there is to start your career right?!
..ehhh
I get it.
"Who are you to talk? You're brand spanking new too buddy!"
Yes I am. Admittedly, I continue to make ton's of mistakes already & they are fresh on my mind. Below are some mistakes myself and new trainers tend to make.
1. Not Understanding that you're in the service industry FIRST.
"No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."
You will NOT succeed if you don't give a genuine shit about the people you are working with first. The people your are working with NOW matter most. Make the effort to go out of your way to show people you really do care about them and you're not just after $$$. Ask about their family, what they like to do, share an article with them or just send them a text asking how things are. If they cannot afford your services anymore do not shun them out of your life. Still continue to grow your relationship and let them know that they can still come to you for advice at anytime. Remember, you got in this field to help people.
2. Book Smart vs Floor smart.
I fell into this trap. I think we all do early on. During my undergrad, like many, I spent hours trying to memorize every page of my Anatomy and exercise physiology textbooks. I was able memorize a ton of valuable information and could talk about it and perform well on exams. This is important but...
3 years ago I was asked to take a team through a workout at Next Level Rochester after shadowing for just a week. After months of studying exercise science, I failed to actually learn how to..well..even warm up a group. I legitimately did not have the confidence or knowledge on how to do accomplish this small task. (I laugh at this now considering this is something I do multiple times per day!)
Learning to balance what you know in books and how you can apply it to the floor is a subtle art.
Learning to master and see the floor, get a coaching voice, adjusting on the fly, bringing the energy etc...are what really matter one the session starts.
Need some experience? Check out our internship program :)
3. Dogma is the enemy.
This field is not absolute yes vs. no. It's maybe and depends. You cannot be ignorant to think your way is the only way. Be open minded and realize that the more you know, the more you learn you don't know.
This also leads into your continuing education.
If you not learning every day, your dead in this field.
We are fortunate to live in such a modern era in which we can instantly get FREE educational resources via articles, youtube, Instagram, journals, libraries, etc...
You don't always have to spend $$$ to learn. The internet is a powerful tool if used correctly. In addition, make an effort to consistently read books outside the field on professional development to become well rounded. Yes, learning how to communicate and connect in front of large groups of kids you just met, over loud music in a hot and sweaty atmosphere is important.
I forgot where I first heard this quote but "we only retain about 10% of what we learn, so we better learn a lot to retain anything."
*With so much information out there it is easy to get paralysis by analysis. You dont need to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING. Focus on learning something small each day and become 1% better. Over many years, you will have a strong knowledge base.*
4. Using social media to blow up your ego.
I 100% fell into this trap early on. Daily pics/videos of myself working out only to showcase the weight I was lifting with absolutely no agenda to help others.
I am going to be a bit of a hypocrite because on the other hand, I think it's certainly fine to post videos/pics of your workouts. I just dont think that's all you should post.
IF you're going to use social media, the posts should circulate through consumer education, recognizing clients/athletes accomplishments and then yes, sprinkle in your own training, because it's what you're passionate about.
Have a why for everything you do.
With that in mind, I try to use social media in efforts to educate, inform and possibly motivate/inspire others. I truly believe in the ripple effect. If I post something and it can help someone in their journey, I am still living out my mission. If it can help a coach help one of their athletes, then again, I am accomplishing my goals as well as theirs. It's cool being able to help athletes, I never physically trained.
Early on, I focused on being "known" and posting only about my accomplishments while training zero people. Who was I really helping? (Back to point #1) With a change of focus and clarity of WHY, I know now that my posts have the opportunity to help people as well as learn and my posts are tailored to accomplish that.
I could probably go on and discuss more mistakes I have made, but sometimes I have to just spare you all. I think these are a couple good things to work on if you're new in the field.
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