Category: Uncategorized

Giving advice instead of asking thoughtful questions

Problem: Clients ask me for health and fitness advice daily. While well intentioned advice, like “add 2000 steps per week,” often follows, it seldom leads to action or results. Either the advice didn’t fit the person’s lifestyle and current time priorities, or the advice was only one small part of all the actions that the client would need to take to achieve the goal they envision.

Try instead: Instead of automatically sharing an answer that works for some people some of the time, try asking questions about the client’s vision, outcome, and current habits. Use an inquiry-based series of questions to move from the vision, to outlining action steps, to selecting ONE small change to begin with consistently.

Talking at someone instead of having a mutual conversation

Problem: Fitness professionals that have had many coaches, mentors, and wonderful educators often love to share and help. This leads to too much information flow for the receiver to take in. Smiling and nodding follows, but the recipient doesn’t act on all of the great pearls of health and wellness wisdom.

Try instead:  Focus on listening first. Ask a question to understand the other person’s starting point. Then ask strategic questions to see what the client thinks the next action step would be. Finally, ask the client to pick one action step they can take today. Then, set an accountability plan to that step.

Trying to accomplish too many things in too short of time

Problem: The Internet-focused era is here, and this has made people think they can have instant results, or results by taking an action only once, or not at all. For example, a client asked me why his flexibility wasn’t improving. I asked him how many days he practiced stretching. He responded “do you mean this year?” “Sure,” I responded. “Maybe once,” was his response. I could see the perplexity melt from his expression as he realized “maybe once,” and the result he was asking about were inconsistent.

Try instead: Only allow your client to pick ONE change. Once your client has been at least 80% consistent with that one change in the past month, then allow your client permission for additional changes.

Telling instead of coaching

Problem: Have clients ever asked you how to do something? You tell them how to do it, but find yourself met with only resistance, excuses, and lack of action? The challenge lies in that you provided the “how.” We all have our own unique ways of accomplishing tasks and goals. Clients are not completely identical to you, and they will have their own ways that work with their lifestyles too.

Try instead: Help your client understand the “what,” and ask them for their ideas on the “how.” If their “how,” is inconstant with what they are trying to accomplish, bring the discrepancy to light and see if they can come up with alternative steps and processes. If the client generates the “how,” success is more likely.

Being a cheerleader instead of a coach

The problem: We want our clients to succeed. As very caring professionals, we often want our client to achieve his/her goals more than the client wants if for him/herself. This leads to our own professional frustrations and even career burnout.

Try instead: Ask your client how important his/her goal is on a scale of 1-10. For each behavior change your client wishes to enact to move toward the goal, ask your client their willingness to make that change each day on a scale of 1-10. Match your clients effort and rating with your level of cheering for them. In this way, you are truly helping to meet your client where he/she is at.

Summary

Use these common mistakes to audit your own coaching practices. We are all in the practice of continually developing new awareness and refining our skills. These self-audits keep your coaching fresh and interesting, as well as allowing you to resonate with more audiences at deeper levels.

Ready for the next step? Join one of the Fitness Comeback Coaching Certification cohorts. The online certification is worth fitness certification 16 CEUs to help you renew current certifications. It is also appropriate for those with degrees related to health/wellness looking to earn their first certification. Learn more here.

What do I wish a fitness professional told me earlier in my career? What mistakes did I make in fitness that I don’t want you to make? Sharing my top 5 experiences (and how to avoid them): 

Mistake 1: Forcing full intensity workouts, even when tired. 
Do instead: Decrease the intensity, while still honoring the time you have carved out for your workout. This might mean simply walking or stretching instead. 

Mistake 2: Following a nutrition coach’s advice to take out foods without offering a replacement.
Do instead: If you take foods out, ask what will replace them so you don’t feel ravenously hungry. 

Mistake 3: Getting muscle cramps from not enough water. 
Do instead: You generally need at least half your body weight in ounces as a starting point. For example, if you weigh 200 lbs, you need 100 oz of water or more each day. Find a water bottle and measure its ounces. Calculate how many times you need to refill it to get your minimum water for the day. 

Mistake 4: Thinking that cardio and crunches would lead to 6 pack abs. 
Do instead: Focus on minimally processed foods from each food group, and build up to heavy resistance training (unless you are a competitive endurance athlete). 

Mistake 5: Doing the same types of workouts each day. 
Do instead: The body needs variety to make progress in weight loss, toning, strength, or performance goals. While your month to month programs should follow a planned progression, your weekly workouts need variety. Be sure to include cardio, strength, and mobility work every week. 

Need inspiration? Here’s my weekly split:

• Monday: Legs
• Tuesday: Chest/triceps
• Wednesday: Legs
• Thursday: Back/biceps
• Friday: Barre or yoga
• Saturday: Obstacle course racing
• Sunday: off
   

I hope that these mistakes and alternatives help you audit your fitness journey too. I love hearing from you, so please email or reach out on IG or Facebook with questions that I can help you with! 

Winter is here! If you are planning to take your workouts outdoors, take a moment to prepare to enjoy your activity safely with these 5 tips.

1. Perform a dynamic warm up

Stretching is not a warm up. Think back to school physical education classes. How did you begin the class? If your class warm up included neck circles, arm circles, jogging, and jumping jacks, you are already familiar with dynamic warm ups. Dynamic warm ups gradually increase your heart rate and ease of movement for your joints and muscles. Set aside 5-10 minutes pre-workout for your warm up. Begin by moving each body region through its range of motion; start small, then increase the size and speed of the motion. Here’s a sample dynamic warm up. Perform each movement 10 times:

• Neck: Circles
• Shoulders: Arm circles
• Arms and upper back: Torso rotations
• Low back: Sidebends, reaching overhead
• Lower body: Air squats and multi-directional lunges
• Total body heart rate elevation: Light jogging, shuffling, carioca, and burpees

2. Layer clothing

While it is tempting to dress in a complete snowsuit, be sure to layer it on. As you warm up, your core temperature elevates too. If you begin sweating, your clothes will get chilly. Dress in layers so you can shed layers as you warm up, then add them back as you cool down. This helps prevent heat illness, dehydration, and hypothermia.

3. Stay hydrated

Just 2% dehydration impairs performance, as muscles will not stretch or contract as easily. This increases the risk for muscle strains, ligament sprains, and even fractures.  In cold weather, we often forget to hydrate. Drink at least one sip of water for every 15 minutes of activity. If you are participating in intense sport for greater than an hour, consider using beverages that include both fluids and electrolytes.

4. Cool down

The most overlooked opportunity for injury prevention is the cool down. Cool down brings your breathing, heart rate, muscles, and nervous system back into balance. Skipping cool down can lead to blood pooling in the legs, which can lead to a risk of passing out and falling. An easy way to get started with designing your own cool down is to repeat your dynamic warm up with two key differences:

• Instead of working from small to large motion, work from large total body motion to more isolated, smaller joint motions.
• Work from faster motions to slower motions, focusing on bringing your heart rate down.

The end of your cool time presents an excellent time for static stretching or yoga sequences to work on your mobility and flexibility.

5. Start small

Your body needs time to adapt to new environments, especially if you are trying new activities like a winter ski trip or marathon. Start with 15-20 minutes of cold weather conditioning 3x/week to allow your muscles and bones time to recover. If you are planning a ski or hiking trip, train for it as you would train for a sport: Create a plan and gradually work up toward the desired durations and intensities in the 1-3 months prior to the event.

What questions do you have about outdoor fitness, warm ups, or cool downs? Post in the Fitness Focus Fuel Facebook Page, or DM me on IG @dr.meredithbutulis 

Let’s have a wonderful new year together!