The Power of Lifestyle Fitness Coaching
In a study done by Courtney Newnham-Kanas, Jennifer D. Irwin, and Don Morrow, all faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Western Ontario, for the International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, it was found that one- on-one coaching can have a positive impact on the waist circumference, BMI (body mass index), self-esteem, self-efficacy, physical activity, and functional health of adults (Newnham-Kanas et al., 2008). Men and women with a BMI equal to or greater than thirty participated in up to eight thirty-five minute sessions with a certified life coach focused on the exploration of desired changes and how to achieve them. At the conclusion of the coaching sessions, significant decreases in waist circumference and increases in self-esteem, functional health status, daily physical activity, better diet choices, optimism, and self-acceptance were evident (Newnham-Kana et al., 2008). In interviews subsequent to the study, clients reported experiences far more fascinating and promising than mere numbers. One client said,
that desperation has really been replaced with hope.
Another client shared that,
the coaching made me think more about my insides rather than my whole outside package…eventually youʼll love yourself [and choose] the right healthy foods.
On a more practical note, one client stated that,
[she] maintained [the] workout schedule…that was because of the coaching (Newnham-Kana et al., 2008).
So then this study would suggest that one-on- one coaching is a client-centered and grounded approach to weight loss and achieving health-related goals. What then could the possible method and application be?
The Lifestyle Fitness Coaching Method And Application
The methods and applications heretofore mentioned are specific to the guidance and facilitation of a lifestyle fitness coach. The difference between a traditional life coach and a lifestyle fitness coach is as follows: The life coach uses a process of powerful questioning and deep listening to discover with the client what the clientʼs level of awareness and sense of responsibility is, assists the client in identifying realistic goals, has a strong focus on action, and employs strategies, structures, feedback, and homework to forward the action (Gavin, 2005). The lifestyle fitness coach does the same as the life coach while adding the aspects of his physical training certification which includes giving directives, instruction and advice on fitness activities and exercise routines, offering skills in exercise science and training, and program planning focused on specific body change goals and outcomes (Gavin, 2005). What the lifestyle fitness coach offers the client then is a total package: the deep listening and co-creativity of the life coach-client relationship and the expertise of technical skill in physical training of the fitness trainer. The lifestyle fitness coach can then prescribe specific physical activity to not only address the clientʼs health-related goals but also to the clientʼs life goals affectively assisting the entire Wellbeing.
In his article “From A Fitness Client To A Wellbeing,” Jim Gavin, PhD claims that technical knowledge about exercise physiology alone and coaching alone are not enough in the approach to inspiring the clientʼs success with fitness goals. Gavin posits that understanding and anticipating the evolution of human beingsʼ consciousness, as they become Wellbeings, is the key to transforming lives. The term Wellbeing is defined as
a human being who engages the values and actions of healthy living in all its dimensions (Gavin, 2010).
Looking through this lens of consciousness is what the spiritual coach is proficiently trained in. The spiritual coach understands that in order to transform a clientʼs perspective and create lasting positive results, the coach must look beneath the surface of behavior patterns and thoughts into a fundamental way of being so that then the coach may “get” the core beliefs and values of the client. The intense interest in many eastern traditions such as yoga, tai chi, qigong and others show that the human collective is seeking and creating a shift in how one sees fitness from a practical body change standpoint to a more inclusive mind-body-spirit perspective. This shift in consciousness sets up the work of the lifestyle fitness coach beautifully. In order for the coach to affectively guide the client, the coach must be skilled at identifying the level of the clientʼs consciousness. To do this Gavin has introduced the Transitional Decision Matrix (Gavin, 2005) and the Four Levels of Consciousness (Gavin, 2010) as tools to assist the coachʼs investigation. The Transitional Decision Matrix refers to two client dimensions which translate in to four possible “quadrants” that is used to “decide” what kind of coaching, training, or combination of the two the client would most benefit from.
The first dimension is Behavioral Competency which is defined by whether or not the client has the behavioral capacity or self-efficacy to achieve their goals. The second dimension is Transitional Competency which is defined by whether or not the client is capable of managing emotional and mental obstacles as they come into view along the path to achieving goals. The four quadrants are separated by the clients skill or lack there of in each dimension of competency; Quadrant 1: skilled transitional and skilled behavioral. Clients in this quadrant have transitioned and achieved multiple times and would benefit from coaching. Quadrant 2: skilled transitional and unskilled behavioral. This group sees clients that are good at managing obstacles but require direction and knowledge benefiting more from a trainer. Quadrant 3: unskilled transitional and skilled behavioral. These clients will benefit mostly from the coaching of a skilled lifestyle fitness coach who can use the strong behavioral competencies of the client to leverage physical activity as a means to managing obstacles. Lastly, Quadrant 4: unskilled transitional and unskilled behavioral. These clients require the combination of skilled spiritual coaching, life coaching, and fitness training to instill structures and outlets that explore the desires of the client as well as the barriers to them all which the well-trained lifestyle fitness coach is capable of (Gavin, 2005). Using this matrix, LFCʼs (lifestyle fitness coaches) can quickly identify the level of the clientʼs competency adjusting how much more or less coaching or training will be administered.
The Four Levels of Consciousness are then used to determine the language and style to be used within the sessions between the client and LFC. The Four Levels of Consciousness and their labels have been adapted from the works of many notable and significant authors, scholars, scientists, and psychologists such as Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, Robert Kegan, Ken Wilber, Jenny Wade and many others.