You might have been shopping around for the right person to help you get in shape, and throughout that process, seen a ton of job titles. Ranging from personal trainers to holistic wellness coach, from healthy lifestyles expert to sports performance specialist, there are dozens of monikers that are used in the health/wellness/fitness industry. Ultimately, a professional can put anything on their business card to best represent the service that they offer, but in general, there are some notable differences in the positions.
Often, individuals in the aforementioned industries pick their titles in a few ways. The first way is the safest, in terms of liability. If they are a Certified Personal Trainer, through a certain organization, they’ll generally call themselves a Certified Personal Trainer. They might even add the organization, such as NASM Certified Personal Trainer. For those that have multiple titles and are really trying to use their business card or title to attract customers, they might decide on something that stands out more, such as Health Expert.
While the responsibility ultimately falls on to you as the customer to decide who is the right person to help you reach your goals, we want to give you some advice to narrow your search. If you are training to perform more efficiently in any role, whether that means playing professional sports or getting more done around the house throughout the day, consider working with someone who advertises their primary title as Sports Performance Coach, or Specialist.
When you meet that individual or reach out to them, ask about their specialty and who they prefer to work with and why. If they tell you that they enjoy seeing people live better through becoming more efficient, you’re off to a good start. The interesting thing with a lot of professionals who identify closest to performance coaches is that they have a fascination with efficiency. They want to figure out how to make you better at what you do, or want to do, every day, without wasting time or energy. They won’t care as much about aesthetics (looking good) because their focus is function.
We’ve talked about Sports Performance a lot since Hungry is one of those people who (despite all his certifications and qualifications) identifies closest to a Sports Performance Coach, specifically with sports that he played at a high level. Basketball would be one of those sports, and this article shows you just how important the right training is, in an effort to maximize your ability to perform a certain task. Many players on this list are All-Stars, even though they lack an essential skill in the sport. Nate Robinson defied all odds in his career; he decided to make up for his lack of height by being one of the fastest and strongest players in the league. It worked for him and it can work for you, in whatever your application may be.
When it comes to Sports Performance training, the question ‘why?’ is always taken into consideration. Your trainer or coach might have you do something that seems completely absurd, but be prepared when you ask for an explanation, because it might be a little more complex than you expect. Usually, they’ll work with you in a progression where your body is doing work that your brain doesn’t necessarily understand, because the muscle memory needs to be developed through repetition. Find someone you can connect with or relate to and trust their process. Ask them for reasonable expectations and give them 100%. You won’t regret it! Use a sports performance coach to stay hungry and fit!
