If you prefer the written word, you can read the transcript below, which has been edited for clarity.
Wendy
Hi. We are here with my coach, Rose, from my local gym, Anytime Fitness. I have been coaching with Rose for a few years now. What I've realized is that we are both in coaching, and we coach different types of things. And oftentimes, when I'm here, I find myself physically being here, but I will wander off in my thoughts, thinking about the coaching aspect of what Rose is doing, how she approaches coaching, and how she interacts with people. So, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk with Rose and get some of her thoughts on coaching, what it means, and the mindset that you have when you work with people. So, thank you for taking a few minutes.
Rose
Yeah. Of course. Happy to do this.
Wendy
I'll do a little bit of a setup here: people have to make a decision to join a gym. And then once they choose to join a gym, they have to make that next decision of, "All right, now that I'm here, how am I going to interact; am I going to do this on my own? Am I going to engage in some type of class or engage with coaching one-on-one?" That's a pretty big decision. How do you see people approaching that?
Rose
Well, the first thing I'd say is everybody has to learn somewhere. So a lot of our people coming and doing it on their own have already learned from somebody in the past, whether they've had a trainer before, they were doing high school sports and lifting with that. Maybe they did group fitness in the past, or maybe they're just getting YouTube videos out and learning off of that, or that's how they want to do it now.
The cool thing that we do here is every single one of our members gets a coach, so it's already built into it. Now, we have our "do-it-themselfers" as well, but we have so many people who take advantage of that coaching, regardless of whether they're training with us or not.
Wendy
Well, I know I came in, and I was resistant to classes.
Rose
Yes. You tried out a few. You tried to do it alone.
Wendy
I tried to do it alone. And then you approached me one day and said, "Wendy, come on, just come join the classes." And I was like, "All right, fine, I'll come try the classes." And it was game-changing. It was absolutely game-changing to find myself in a group coaching situation, and I had no idea I was going to like it so much. Do you find that type of experience with people?
Rose
I do. I think there are a couple of things there. I find a lot of people who are hesitant to join a group and a coach in that setting. It's intimidating. They feel like they should know what they're doing in that setting, and everybody else is so far ahead of them, they're like, "Oh, I don't know if that's for me." And other people truly feel like they want to work out alone, and they think that's the way to do it. And that sometimes you get depressed, do this on their own. But the reality is if they don't know what they're doing, that's not going to go as well.
The other thing I wanted to add to this, that I really see all the time, is people will come in with this thought or impression that they should already know what to do in the gym. And I see it over and over again. And the reality, like I said earlier, is we all learn somewhere. Someone taught us before, we've watched others do it, we watched YouTube videos or whatever it is. We're not born with this innate knowledge of, "This is how I squat, this is how I deadlift," or whatever lift it might be. "Are these the movements I need to do to reach my goals?"
Anything like that, we don't have that knowledge, but there's almost that expectation I see from people all the time that they feel like they should. And so stepping away from that and just being open to learning and open to that feedback, I think makes a huge difference in being like, "Okay, well, my approach hasn't worked before. What else is there? What else can I do to grow?" And maybe it's worked, but not to the level they want it to. Okay, well, what's the next level? What's the next step to keep growing and progressing where they're at?
Wendy
So, as you talk, I listen, and I absorb what it is that you're saying. But I also think about so many things --as you were talking through that whole scenario, I can see myself being in the gym in those settings, and it's--whether we're talking about being at the gym or we're talking about coming into a business coaching setting, I think it's the same thing, that it's intimidating and it's intimidating to come in and to look around and to see people who know what they're doing and to think, "Gosh, I'm so far behind. And I don't know how I could possibly get ahead." And for me, at the gym, looking in the back room, in the weight room, it's like, "I have no idea how to do any of that. And I certainly don't want to hurt myself, and I don't want to be embarrassed."
Rose
I think some of it, they kind of just have to take that leap of faith with themselves too, in that jump, to get outside of their comfort zone and try something new, and then to accept that help and support where it comes, too.
Wendy
I think that's really big. So when you talk to people or when you're working with people in this type of environment, and they're in either a group coaching setting or they're in some type of one-on-one, what do you see as the people who succeed in those? What kind of mindset do those folks have?
Rose
Well, the first thing I'm going to say, and I tell this to every one of our members, every one of my clients that I meet with, is consistency is key. You can do just about anything in here. You can lift with the perfect form, be doing the ideal movement, optimizing things in that sense. But if you're not consistent with doing that, you're not going to go anywhere.
So, if you're coming in once a month or once a week, you might maintain where you're at, but you're not going to grow. You're not going to grow your skills. You're not going to increase your progress, increase your weight, any of it.
So, the first thing is always that consistency piece. With the group sessions that we do, I think one of the biggest things that I see benefit people is that they get to do more of them, and now they're able to train with us three times a week and have that taken care of where they just show up and get the help. It's way easier to be consistent because you don't need to figure out what to do on your own. Now, I have others who really like working out alone. Kind of like we talked about earlier, and they've been doing this before, but they're like, "No, I started to plateau," or it's like what you were saying, "I see the weight room, and I don't know what to do there, but there's more, and I want to learn more." That mindset is really impactful to work one-on-one, where they're already consistent on their own in some way.
Those one-on-one sessions help them learn these more advanced lifts and get things up to the next level. But they still need that consistency piece. And so much of my coaching is, "Hey, let's teach you some movements you'll be comfortable doing on your own and get that step down first." But they always have to be willing to take that leap and commit to doing it.
Wendy
We are in the health insurance space. And I have people comment about it being expensive to come to the gym, it being expensive to participate in classes or in the small group setting that I'm in. I had to do some thinking and some soul-searching about this beforehand. And the decision that I made was that it's a lot less expensive for me to put this time in proactively upfront than to spend time at the doctor and the physical therapist and other things to fix myself from all of the things that I wasn't doing consistently.
So it is an investment, and I chose to make the investment in myself. And when we talked to people in a business coaching situation, I think it's the same type of thing. You can continue doing what you're doing on your own and you might plateau, you might slip backwards.
And the money is—it's kind of tough to digest how much money you have to spend, but you have to think, "What's the alternative? If I don't spend the money, what am I going to do? Am I really going to get out and run on my own? Am I going to buy weights and have them at home and do the strength training on my own? Am I going to do the professional development in a business scenario, or do what—am I going to do better if I have somebody with me?"
Rose
Well, I love your mindset there. Honestly, I think that's half of the battle is helping others get that way again. How can we think proactively about this versus reactively? And we're in a very reactive society. We're also in a very much of a "right now." Like, "What can I do to change things right now?" And to be honest, training is something that—it's a long-term investment. It's a long-term commitment, and it's not something where you're going to come in today and see results tomorrow. You're going to come in today and see the results slowly build over the next year, and then you're going to start to look like a whole different person. You're going to feel better, you're going to be so much healthier, and you're going to be so happy when you are 80 years old that you're still independent, doing your stuff, and don't need that help, like so many of our people who are aging in our society do right now.
And so it's very hard to get people thinking that way, though. I see a lot of short-term thinking here, and I see a lot of people who, again, want that instant gratification. And so it's hard to get them thinking proactively in that sense of, "Okay, I'm going to do this now and make this investment now."
Wendy
And make the commitment for the long term. We will have people ask us, "How long does it take to go through your program or how long—what is the commitment?" And, of course, you need to know what the commitment is. But I think business development never ends. It's like health. It never ends. So you can be in it as long as you want, and maybe you find something else that becomes what you're going to focus on.
I've certainly shifted my activities over the years. I've had many different activities that I've done, from a physical fitness and activity perspective. But there has to be something. That's not an option to not have something.
One of the things that I have always noticed around here is how comfortable it is to be at this particular gym and how many women participate in this gym. I was telling Rose that it's very similar in our industry. It's a very male-dominated industry, and we have many more women now than we used to. When I come into the gym, I'm just always so delighted at what kind of an even balance it is. And, of course, it depends on the day and the time of day. But there are so many women here and of all varying ages, and people are comfortable. And that's something that I've always praised you guys about is what a fantastic job you've done of creating this community. And I'm just curious, any thoughts you have on how that has happened here?
Rose
Yeah, absolutely. Well, there are so many factors to that. Part of it's just our brand model from the start about how inclusive and welcoming we are to everybody. A lot of our niche, as far as people who come here, are those who don't do well in a traditional box-style gym. And so we're creating that welcoming space for them where they get that coaching and support. That's a huge thing.
Wendy
It really takes that edge and stress and panic off of it.
Rose
And then they know that they're going to get that support while they're here. That's huge and kind of gets people in general over here. But when we were starting up, we also did things like Women on Weights, where we would encourage our women specifically who have been excluded from the weight room and just many, many times in society.
And so encouraging them that, "Okay, let's get into this space that usually is male-dominated," is intimidating, scary, and show you some stuff that you can do here so that you're more comfortable."
I think a lot of it, too, is our staff. We've had a predominantly female staff. Now, we have some awesome male employees, but seeing females training and coaching is a healthy act, and that's relatively new in the industry. You've had personal trainers that were male and lifting, but the female coaches we're doing group fitness, teaching spin, and cycle or dance aerobics, or the cardio classes, the more fun group fitness style. But they weren't teaching people how to grow muscle. And so having those people there in the weight room leading things to spread that to other women as well, I think it just becomes more of an accepting space and something where we get to see that happening.
That's actually one of the areas where I think social media is really good for society is getting to showcase women who are lifting and other women getting to see that and be empowered by it.
Wendy
It's very cool. And Rose is so good at looking at people and recognizing where they need to push further, where they can push further. I have kind of burned into my brain: "More weight, Wendy. Get more weight."
I'm like, "Really? Think I should get more weight?"
She's like, "Yes, you should definitely get more weight."
I'm like, "Okay." So then you try it. You're like, "Oh gosh, I could do that. I didn't know I could do that." And it is, it's very empowering. That feels good.
Rose
Yeah, I love doing this and being here and talking about all of it. And this is what I talk about with people all day long. And so it's good to share and cool to see the similarities that happen between the two business models as well.
Wendy
We'll also touch on sales just a little bit here, too, because she's very good at it. She's comfortable approaching people and saying, "You should come in and join the classes, and let's talk about one-on-ones." Of course, it's sales. But as we always say, "Sales is just educating people to the point of a decision."
And that's what she does so well: that is helping people recognize what their potential is and helping draw them in and educate to that point of decision. She has taken me on a journey that has just really been incredible. I am in the weight room, and I am super comfortable, and I'm okay if I'm the only woman back there.
Rose
I think a lot of that, too, is just showing people the value of what they can get from that product of, "Okay, well, this is what I can get from doing the classes. This is what I can get from training one-on-one." Helping them understand that for themselves and when they can start putting themselves in those shoes of like, "Oh, this really could be me," they don't think about that being themselves; they don't see the value of how it's going to benefit them. As soon as you can get them to see that and see that value, then it just becomes a priority for them and something they really want to see happen. It's easy. They're going to commit. They're going to do it. It's just helping them see that value and showing them, "This really could be you."
You have exemplified very well being someone who came in as a do-it-yourselfer: "Okay, I'm going to go do our team session." Start with those. And then you're like, "Wait, I want to do more." Start in a small group and lift, and then you just keep wanting more and more and learning these things and getting really excited after you go and squat 150 pounds.
Wendy
Yeah. You feel so capable. So it's like, "Gosh, I didn't know I was so capable. Let's go ahead and do more." I know the first goal that I set with you was to want to come to the gym. That was it. I'm like, "I can't set anything specific." I've got to regain that desire to be here and to want to be here and enjoy the process of being here. And I actually had forgotten that that was my goal. And you reminded me of that during one of our check-ins. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, I blew past that goal."
Rose
You did. Well-surpassed it.
Wendy
Yeah, well, well surpassed that one. So then, it was time to go ahead and set some actual goals. Some numbers, and that's been fun. And then just doing things that I had no idea that I ever even wanted to do, doing the Murph the other day was not that all on my list of things that I was planning to do.
Rose
Even that week you weren't planning to do it.
Wendy
No, I really wasn't. Even that day when I came in to do it. I wasn't planning on doing the whole thing. And then I did it and it feels really good. I can't emphasize enough how empowering it is to have somebody who is--who's on your side, who is there with you, who is your wingman to help you figure out what it is that you want to do and where you want to go and to see more in you than you see in yourself, and to see what that potential is, and then to push you, to the point of being able to achieve not only those goals but other ones that you hadn't even thought possible. So thank you very much.
Rose
Yeah. Of course. You've been awesome to work with. And this is what I love doing. I love empowering everyone to see exactly what they're capable of, what they can do. And really, it's awesome seeing all the change and the difference in their lives when we do that.
Wendy
All right. Well, thanks Rose.
Content originally published on Q4intelligence
