Takashi Isobe: Personal Fitness Coach

What is Personal Fitness Coaching?

Since personal coaching is new to many people, it takes a while to understand how to work with a coach. Is she like a trainer? Is he a therapist or a consultant? Or maybe something like a psychic healer!? No, not quite. A coach is a person who works with you so that you can clarify for yourself who you are, where you are, what your actual goals are, and what the real obstructions are. If you need, a coach will walk with you, encourage you, and listen to you.

A coach is not a therapist who listens and analyzes your problem; she listens to your problems, but asks you to solve them by yourself. A coach is not a consultant who finds a solution to your problem; he helps you to find a solution. A coach does not set a goal for you; you set own your goal. She just clarifies things if you have some uncertainties. A coach does not take any responsibility for your problems, actions, or results. They are all yours. If you succeed in your life while you are working with a coach, the success is totally due to your effort, not that of the coach. If you fail to achieve a goal due to inaction on your part, a coach is not responsible. It is up to you to take action.

How should you use a coach? Although it depends on the coach, here are some basic guidelines;

Before you call your coach, prepare what you want to discuss during the session. If you can reach your coach via email or fax, send the note before the session. The note may contain:

  1. The main goal
  2. Goals for this week
  3. What has been accomplished so far
  4. What the problems are, if any
  5. What the next steps should be, if you know
  6. What you wish to discuss with a coach during this session

During the session, you may want to :

  1. Explain more details about each item on the list.
  2. Tell him how you feel about your progress, goals, and problems
  3. Listen to what your coach says. Tell him if you do not agree with what he says. Be honest about it. The coach is not perfect, and he is not you.
  4. Negotiate the amount of your work for the week. It’s you who does all the work. If you can do more, ask for more. If you he recommends too much, cut something from the list.
  5. Ask questions. A coach may not be able to answer your questions, but he could rephrase them so that you may be able to answer the questions yourself. A coach is your sounding board. If you ask more questions, you get more back.

Remember that the coach's job is done when you hang up the telephone. He does not have any responsibility beyond that point; so use him as much as you can during the session. If you need some reminders and encouragement during the week, however, you can ask your coach to send you a short email note during the week.

What you can expect from a coach during the session;

  1. She is a good listener; however, she won't accept your complaints too long. You have only a limited amount of time per session.
  2. He gives you an honest opinion based on his experience, intuition, and analytical thinking.
  3. He may not know what you want to know and may answer "I don’t know" to your questions.
  4. She won't decide anything for you, but will support you in whatever you decide to do.

After the session, it is good idea to summarize your discussion with your coach, and send it to him so that your coach can put some comments on it and send it back to you. This way, you are actually doing the work, and your coach assists you if you miss something from the discussion. The coach may have afterthoughts, and add more comments on them, too. The note may contain:

  1. New goals that you set in the session
  2. Assessments of the previous accomplishments
  3. Any new possibilities
  4. Questions that arise during and after the session

Remember that you need to do all the work. Don't ask your coach to summarize what you discussed in the session. Otherwise you are following someone else’s objectives, not yours. Although it may not seem much different, your mind gets a totally different message from these two. If you initiate, you take ownership, and take responsibility. If you are given something, you do not take ownership, and hence you do not take responsibility.

Before the next session, you need to work to meet the goals for the week.

  1. Set a time to work on the goals
  2. Carry the note around so that you can remind yourself of what you need to accomplish for the week
  3. Write down anything you think is related to the goal so that you can write the next memo to your coach
  4. SSend an email to your coach, or call her, if you need some quick clarifications or answers. A coach usually accepts a short unscheduled (emergency) telephone call (up to 5mins). But it’s better use email, since the coach can address it when he has time. But don't abuse the right. Solve your problems yourself as much as possible.

Although many people underestimate their ability to accomplish things in a specified time, once objectives are clear, they may be surprised. There are also people who put too many things on their plate. A good coach can tell when she can push her client more, and when she should limit work for the client, but if you feel like you are overwhelmed, don't hesitate to tell your coach even between the sessions. It’s you who need to do the work and ultimately you are the person who decides how much you can do.

I hope this helps you understand what you can expect from your coach and how to maximize your use of a coach. If you have any further questions, you can always ask your coach. We coaches are glad to answer questions.

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