3 Things I'm Doing During This Stay At Home Period

30 Days Later… the Corona Virus version of the zombie thriller 28 Days Later.

Maybe? Maybe not.

30 days at home has opened my eyes to a whole bunch of new things.

Pants? Optional.

Netflix vs Hulu debate? Very real.

Tiger King? Must see TV.

Sports? I don’t even remember what that looks like.

All joking aside, the career path of someone in the fitness industry just got gut punched and as I write this there isn’t a clear path to return to work or at least the in-person coaching 99.99% of Personal Trainers and Coaches alike are accustomed to earning their living on. The pivot to virtual coaching and remote programming has been easy for a few but terrifying for most. All in all, like we keep saying, we’re in this together.

But what about 3 months from now? 6 months from now? a year?

This period of self-isolation can be insanely productive if you’re focusing on some key elements for long-term success.

Disclaimer: Like everyone else on the inter-webs, I don’t know shit about pandemics, or what the world will look like in the future.

Disclaimer #2: What I am writing about today is simply just three things that I have been self-auditing to ensure that I can maintain my job title as ‘Personal Trainer’.

Now that we’ve cleared that up…

1) Assessing what elements of virtual coaching fit with my current online model.

If you’re a Trainer/Coach/whatever you call yourself right now and you’ve never coached in a virtual landscape or programmed for a client remotely then you should be doing a daily/weekly audit on what works.

(side note- when I say virtual, I think of a video communication platform hosting you with your client in a live session. When i say remote programming, I think of writing an individualized program for a client to perform on their own, without you).

Chances are right now it all works because you need something to service clients. But keep in mind you are not servicing in-person sessions so you have some additional time to dedicate to this new delivery process.

What I am getting at is you need to be assessing what aspects of virtual/online coaching can stay once in-person resumes. The last thing you want for your personal business is for this new revenue stream to be so wildly inefficient that it causes a disruption in your overall business once other aspects can be phased in.

Look at your business plan, see where this new-new fits, and constantly reevaluate.

2) Revamping my communication strategies.

This one is a little vague so let me explain.

I’ve written more emails in the last 30 days than I had in all of 2020.

Yeah, the digital world is real.

What I’ve learned is that i need to ask very specific questions. Give very specific expectations. Engage in feedback conversations multiple times a week. Assess how I cue movement. And my favorite, provide an outline and a plan for every training session and at the start of every week.

This all comes from two thoughts. One, people have a ton of shit going on right now, the more concise I can be in my communication, the less work it is for my client. Two, without the luxury of being face to face, I no longer have the ability of physical touch or the visual read of body language. Two elements of communication that I personally rely on in conversations.

3) Taking advantage of the free content online.

This has two aspects to it as well. One, I want to see what other trainers and businesses are putting out. What does it look like? How is the quality? Is the coaching any good? Should this be free or paid? All of these assessments come back and help me with my own products and content and definitely sparks some great ideas, but also tells me what I should avoid.

Second, from a continuing education standpoint, I am loving the virtual content. Living in northern Vermont I’m always having to travel to various clinics/conferences/workshops to gather credits towards my certifications. Having the ability to enjoy the education from my couch is awesome. Some are free, some are paid, but because I don’t have to pay for gas, food, travel, tolls, etc. I am coming out with a major net-win. I’m hoping more companies see the reach the virtual world can have and keep this going in the future.