Having A Great Fitness Mentor | Day #13 WellFit 365

The benefits and what to look for in a fitness mentor, personal trainer or coach.

Put simply, a fitness mentor is someone who is going to guide you to where you want to get to. Somebody who can support you in achieving your goals, whether they be for fitness, weight loss, strength, sporting achievements, anything.

Mentors are essential in many aspects of life. In relationships (friends & family), in business (business mentors), at work (bosses & managers), in sport (coaches or trainers), the list goes on.

Yet many people have never even thought of sourcing a mentor for their fitness goals specifically.

So why should you consider using a fitness mentor?

Benefits of Having a Fitness Mentor

1. Accountability – When we’re only accountable to ourselves, we tend to let ourselves ‘off the hook’ quite easily, lose focus and let ourselves slip up. This is because we have nobody else relying on us. For example, a social event comes up, so you attend and end up eating a mountain of unhealthy party food. If you had promised somebody else you would eat clean foods only, you’re more likely to make those healthier choices. Why? Because naturally, as people, we tend to not want to let others down.

2. No Emotion Towards the Small Challenges – When we’re outside our comfort zone, small things can seem like huge hurdles. When you have a mentor, they can help you see your challenges from a different perspective. It’s great to have the support of somebody who has made the same mistakes you’re making and has overcome them already. Learn from your mentor or trainer’s past mistakes and get past those challenges quicker.

What to look for in a fitness mentor, trainer or coach

My personal opinion is that a good mentor should “Walk the walk”. I don’t believe that somebody who has ‘read all the books’ on a certain topic, but not acted upon them, can really be an ideal mentor for you. (This is my personal opinion – Happy to be proven wrong on this one, in the comments below)

Ask yourself, does this person have experience in the area I need help in?

– Have they already done what I’m aiming to do?

– Have they been in a similar situation to mine?

– Have they helped other people in my situation in the past?

Your mentor does not need to be perfect. They don’t necessarily need to be a complete 100% expert in every area of fitness. The goal of a fitness mentor or trainer is to help bring the best out in YOU.

If you meet somebody that has a great energy and you feel motivated by them, think to yourself: Can this person help move towards my next fitness goal? Can this person help me lose weight, get fitter, get stronger?

And remember, it is OK and natural to switch mentors from time to time.

If you figure out that your mentor has done a great job getting you from point A to point B, but that is as far as they’re going to take you… Find somebody who can take you from point B to point C, and so on and so forth.

Great mentors or fitness trainers

For example, if a client comes to me at WellFit Personal Training and say “Brendon, I need help with my cardio fitness and I need to lose some weight”. We can help this person get from her point A to point B, because our experienced personal trainers have done this for thousands of people in the past so effectively.

Now let’s say this client comes to me 18 months down the track and says “Brendon, I need to learn some sports-specific technique training because I’m aiming to be an Olympic downhill skiier in 2 years time”. Sure, we have the knowledge at WellFit to help her strengthen the correct muscles for downhill skiing and we could help her gain the right kind of cardio fitness for downhill skiing, BUT we don’t have a great deal of experience in downhill skiing technique. So, this is an opportunity for her to source a specialist fitness coach to help her achieve that specific goal (Taking her from point B to point C).

See your fitness mentor as an authority figure

When you’re spending time with this person, make sure you feel like you actually have the urge to do what they say. This is a trust thing. You need to have faith & belief in this person and what they’re teaching you.

In summary, I believe that everyone can benefit from having a mentor at any stage of their life and in any setting. Whether it be for personal growth, business growth, relationship growth, it is always essential to have somebody supporting you who has been there and done that. Fitness mentors should be no different! 🙂

P.S. Here’s another interesting post about having a fitness mentor that we found online. Hope you enjoy it 🙂