A little coaching experience this summer

[dtarrence]

Greetings,

I'm a graduate student and the summer is probably going to have more downtown time for me so I think I want to try to get some coaching experience over the summer. I have access to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville students recreation center. It has a good Weight room with legit equipment lots of platforms and racks. The thing with this is that I'll have to be careful since they don't technically allow outside trainers to work there. I also have a gym close to my house in the sleepy town of Middlesboro, KY. Also a quality facility but the issue here is that its a small town where everyone is poor and nobody knows what SS is. The upside is that they have a very lax policy on Trainers training there as long as the client pays to use the gym as well. Since I started training at the university gym I've had the occasional bro ask for technique advice. This gives me hope that I might finally be entering the earliest stages of "become the strongest guy in the gym and people will ask". I had tried to start coaching a couple years ago, but it ended in an epic flop. This was probably a combination of inexperience and me being 325 lbs at 6ft 2in. Now I've lost 40 lbs and have access to thousands of university students who need to get strong.

1) How do I sell myself effectively? What is the best way to advertise?
2) How many clients should I aim to coach? I was thinking start with 1 and work my way up, but how many max?
3) How much should I charge for a session of coaching? If the answer is 0 then that's fine.
4) Any other tips, thoughts, or advice?

Thanks

[Nick Delgadillo]

I've gotten around the "outside" trainer situation by training with the client. So depending on how many people you're coaching this can be done easily. You and three other people workout together. You just happen to be the one who knows everything.

If you're actually running a business and coaching a bunch of people, find a place you can rent space from.

You sell yourself effectively by offering good advice, helping people correct their form efficiently, and getting strong yourself. As people start asking you questions, tell them that you'll coach them x times a week for x dollars. Start with the people who are in the gym at the same time as you.

If you want to get good, you should aim to coach as many people as you possibly can. The first 3 will be hard to get. Once that happens, things will get a little easier provided that everyone likes you, you're not hurting them, and they make good progress.

Find out what the trainers in your area charge. If you're better than them, charge a little more. If you're not confident that you're better than them, charge a little less. If you're just getting started you may have to coach a couple of people for free at first. If they're not paying, they won't last long. Move on and charge the next person.

Others will chime in with more advice. If you want to be a coach, you need to coach. If you want to be a good coach, you need to coach a TON of people.

If you want to go an easier route, find out what it takes to work in the college gym. If all you need is an ACE certification or some other bullshit, get the books and pass the test and get a job at the gym. Teach all your clients how to barbell train.

[dtarrence]

Solid, Thanks

[Nick D'Agostino]

Nick did a great job answering all your questions but before you embark on this and start taking action, I would get clear on why you're doing this and where you want it to go. In other words, what is the purpose of doing a little coaching during the summer? When you start up again in the fall are you going to continue to have time reserved to continue coaching people? You don't have to answer these questions here but thinking about them may provide some insight into your next steps. If the goal is to just gain coaching experience I would start coaching anyone that has showed a little interest for free. If the goal is to find a summer job to make some extra money but don't plan on working when you are back in school, I'm not sure coaching is your best bet. Coaching is more of a long game thing. As Nick noted above, getting your first few consistent people can be tough. If you can work at the college gym that may be the way to go, even if you have to do floor hours. When I first started barbell coaching back in 2009, working the floor basically taught me how to talk to anyone about anything which is a surprisingly rare and valuable skill these days. Even though you will be taking a pay cut, the gym will also supply you with clients. It is also highly convenient location when you are back on campus completing your degree. Just some ideas to think about, hopefully they are helpful.