The 6 keys to choosing a health coaching program
When considering any coaching program, it's important to understand the 6 main factors that will determine your success. Here are some of the top factors to keep in mind when evaluating various programs or gyms.
Program Approach: It's important to understand the approach taken by the program. Is it focused on fitness, nutrition, and accountability? Is the program just fitness and accountability, or perhaps only one of those? It’s important to understand what the program is built on to understand what it can help you achieve.
Additionally after the pillars, is the program one-size-fits all, somewhat personalized, or completely customized to you?
There are many reasons to choose one option over another, but a side-by-side comparison is better served in a different blog post. Regardless, our recommendation would be to ensure the program you choose aligns with your goals and is designed to meet your specific needs.
The Experience of the Team: The professional, unique experience of the coaching staff is also an important factor to consider.
A coach with a proven track record of helping people just like you get to the outcome that you want is the first thing to look for. The collective, professional experience of each coach can give you a better picture of the team’s knowledge and application to help you determine the right fit.
Inquire into the specialties of each member on staff that you’ll be working with while in the program. Are they focused in a health niche, such as weight loss postpartum, non-pharmaceutical stress management, or nutritional intervention for chronic disease treatment? Albeit these are hyper specific, you’ll want to make sure that there is alignment in outcome and direction, so that you don't accidentally hire a professional bodybuilding coach for MCL rehabilitation.
To avoid mismanaged expectations, thoroughly examine the coach's experience and area of expertise when choosing a coaching program. You won’t regret it.
Length of Term: Programs, both remote and in person, are of varying lengths. For example, the 6-week challenge for weight loss is much different than a 52-week, year of change membership.
Here’s the questions we use to evaluate the length of term of a client program
What is the client goal?
How fast is the client looking to achieve the goal?
Has the client achieved this goal before?
Has the client implemented habits/processes to reach the goal before inquiring about joining the program?
How committed is the client to reaching this goal?
In our team’s experience, how long has it taken in our programs to help clients achieve similar results?
Is the client going to be remote or in-person?
Is the client looking for a single, double or 3 pillar program?
Does the client already have experience in the pillars of the chosen program?
Ultimately, the length of term depends on the overall client commitment to goal, format of fulfillment, as well as previous program client wins.
Format: The format of the chosen program is another important factor for success. Generally speaking, health and wellness coaching programs are split into 3 main categories of fulfillment: Remote, in-person, or hybrid.
Fulfillment 1: Remote
Remote coaching is completely digital, however this is not immediately synonymous with group zoom workouts, as seen during the global pandemic of 2019-2022.
Remote coaching could be single, double or all 3 pillars.
1 pillar remote coaching is coaching only on one of the following: fitness, nutrition, or accountability/mindset.
2 Pillar remote coaching is a combination of ⅔ of the pillars, i.e.: nutrition & accountability, fitness & nutrition, fitness & accountability
3 Pillar remote coaching is a combination of all three pillars: fitness, nutrition & accountability.
The fitness pillar of remote coaching, which refers to the exercise or physical movement portion of the program is typically fulfilled in 3 main ways, whether combined with another pillar or not:
The ‘community feel’ by mirroring group classes, personal training, or small group training with scheduled live zoom sessions and a community chat.
Through remote fitness coaching, there also exists the opportunity to opt for personalized program design in lieu of live fitness calls, which enable a client to utilize the fitness programming at any time during the day or night that best fits his/her schedule.
However, the most utilized fitness pillar fulfillment model in the coaching space is subscription programming. This is workout programming that is not personalized from client to client, but instead normally written as a “track” for a potential client or athlete to achieve a certain goal. This is something especially utilized in the CrossFit and Functional Bodybuilding space with companies such as NC Fit, PRVN, Chalk Performance, CrossFit Mayhem, CompTrain and Marcus Filley’s Functional Bodybuilding program.
The nutrition pillar, whether standalone or not, varies greatly in depth. Simply put, a client could expect any health program to have anything from zero nutritional guidance to generalized shake/bake/meal guides to medical nutrition intervention from a Registered Dietitian (R.D.) to treat and/or manage chronic illness or disease. The program that you select should have the desired level of intervention and personalization to help you reach your goals.
Remote nutrition components are typically delivered in digital format to clients initially. This could be protocols, habits, task lists, baking guides, shake guides, supplementation recommendations, ‘science behind’ documentation, analysis of blood work ups with video feedback, recipe guides, meal plan, food lists etc.
Outside of tangible assets delivered, coaching from a trained professional can come in many formats such as zoom video, imessage, google meets, MyAccountability+, TrueCoach, Trainerize, PT Minder etc.
The depth of the coaching and the recommendations will be dependent on the program chosen and should be inquired about before signing up.
Last but not least is the accountability piece. For three pillar programs, this is commonly referred to as the glue that holds it all together. However, for a program that doesn't have it, I guess it wouldn’t be glue at all.
With respect to remote coaching, this is typically fulfilled via a client education success portal, engagement in a facebook/community group, video check-ins with coaches and/or R.D., and/or via the 2-way messaging functionality on any communication platform, public or private.
Fulfillment 2: In-Person
Fitness: Similar to the remote coaching, the fitness component could be group classes, personal training, or small group training with the only difference being that the sessions or classes are in-person in a public or private facility.
Nutrition: Again similarly to the remote fulfillment - the same support/guidance/intervention would be presented, but in person instead of via a piece of technology
Accountability: This component is something that when utilized in person will require the client and coach to be at a facility or designated meeting place to complete.
Fulfillment 3: Hybrid
Fitness: The exercise component of the program has the possibility of being 100% remote, 100% in-person, or a mixture of both throughout the week.
Nutrition: A hybrid nutrition model would typically look like digitally delivered assets with usage of technology for the majority of the daily coaching with the larger nutrition check-in meetings throughout the program being at the facility with the coach.
Accountability: A combination of in-person and remote accountability and 2-way messaging between clients and coaches.
The hybrid model is essentially one that best suits an individual that wants to mix and match the in-person and remote components of programs.
Cost: There is a big cost swing from program to program, so it's important to consider your money situation when choosing a program. Typically speaking, cost is going to be dependent on the customization and personalization of the program. Another fact that usually increases the cost is the chosen fulfillment format of the program. In-person and Hybrid programs are usually more costly than a fully remote program. The same is true for a 3 Pillar program compared to a traditional, single pillar program. 1-on-1 coaching is also typically more expensive than large group format coaching (16-20 people per session).
The cost for the program chosen should reasonably be the money you’re willing to invest into solving your problem. This number may go up or down with your changing emotions, but my recommendation is to simply keep the goal the thing that your eyes are fixed on when considering all options. Is the cost of any program an investment? Yes. Should you also perhaps not be counted in the homeless population from entering the program? I believe our answer at TruCapacity would be a resounding, “yes.”
P.S. The cost is usually most expensive in the ‘1-on-1, 3 Pillar, In-Person’ programs over the rest. Expect to pull out the checkbook here! (:
Client Success Stories: It's important to consider the results other clients have achieved with the program you choose. Not only should you look at the track record of success and testimonials from the programs’ most satisfied clients, but also investigate the bottom 20% of program finishers and their results. Most programs and coaches do not advertise their bottom 20% of clients because they feel that it will negatively impact the programs’ chances of being selected by the client.
However, doing and/or asking about this will give you a better understanding of what you can expect from the program in the ‘worst case scenario’ and help you determine if it's a good fit for you even if you don’t “succeed.”
P.S. The client testimonials can be better trusted when they are in video format, and even better if you can see both the coach and the client in the video.
In conclusion, when choosing a wellness coaching program, it's important to understand the 6 key factors of success. As a client, consider the program approach, experience(s) of the team, program length of term, fulfillment & pillar format, cost, and client success stories. With clarity around what you’re looking for across the 6 key areas of success, the right program and coach should jump out to you.