What is Remote Coaching?

Fitness has always been defined by end games and results.

“Work hard and eat well and you can achieve your wildest dreams.”

It is fascinating how deeply ingrained that thought is in today’s society. Now, we aren’t saying that those statements are wrong on a global level but, let’s be honest, you need to think about yourself as you go through this fitness equation.

In reality, if you are working toward very specific results you need to do these things well:

Work out hard…but not too much
Work out smart
Eat well…and enough
Rest and recover

In a world that has been thrust into the “work out till you bust” mentality, the notion of working out smartly starts to look increasingly like it is highly important in your own fitness journey. But, most people don’t want to or don’t understand how to work out smartly so that they achieve their goals and most people don’t want to or can’t pay for personal training at $100+ per session.

What do they do? They go generic. They either get into a group training template or they pick and choose from a myriad of examples of what may work for them.

What does that lead to? In most all cases it leads to a small increase in fitness up front but then stagnation and potentially burn out in the long run. There must be a smarter, more trusted way of reaching your bigger goals.

That is where individual design remote coaching comes in. For over 20 years OPEX has pioneered this method of delivering highly personalized coaching in a way that creates far more autonomy and is far more cost-effective than traditional personal training. We teach coaches how to use this method in the OPEX Coaching Certificate Program (CCP).

How does remote coaching actually work?

sTEP oNE: cLIENT iNTAKE

Through the professional coaching software CoachRx you will send your new client an intake form and equipment list to gather initial information. The client intake is the first chance you will have to gather information about your client. It should be sent to the client before the assessment and consultation takes place.

This form will give you insight into how much experience the client has with exercise and their current behaviors. By sending the intake prior to your first consultation, you will be better prepared to guide the conversation and can identify behavioral red flags to ask further questions on.

You should leave the initial consultation with three concrete things:

Background information on theiprior exercise, nutrition, and behavior experiences.
The client’s goals
An understanding of what their average day looks like and their current behaviors.

Step Two: Initial Consultation

Next, you'll meet with your prospective client for an initial consultation on Zoom. The consultation is an opportunity for you to get to know the client better and figure out their values and beliefs. The initial consultation should not be overlooked as this is a chance to make a good first impression and start your coach/client relationship off right.

STEP THREE: ASSESSMENT

You will prescribe your client assessments and testing to complete over the course of a day and up to a week or two for very specific goals. For most clients we recommend using the OPEX Body, Move, and Work Assessment taught in CCP.

The OPEX Body, Move, and Work Assessment is a systematic approach to gathering information directly from the client. This comprehensive client assessment evaluates body composition, movement limitations, and work capacity.

The OPEX Body assessment is an analysis of the client’s height, weight, lean body, fat mass, basal metabolic rate, and other health biomarkers.

The OPEX Move assessment involves taking the client through a variety of movements. The goal of this assessment is to establish what the client can and cannot do in terms of movement.

The OPEX Work assessment is an initial test of the client’s work capacity. It is important to test work capacity as it gives you insight into what the client is capable of and what you should prioritize in their training program.

When you are finished you will have a full picture of client data to help you design a personalized fitness program.

STEP FOUR: PRIORITIES, PLANNING AND PERIODIZATION

Defining priorities is the first step in transitioning from assessing to designing a program. This begins with analyzing the assessment and deciding what is most important to focus on first within the program.

Planning is the act of creating a road map for the client. In this phase, you and the client must decide exactly what it will take for them to reach their goals. Planning can include but is not limited to the days needed to train, the nutrition needed, what equipment they will need, and lifestyle components.

Periodization is the act of building out training blocks that fit within the long-term training plan. When you periodize, you plan in blocks of time relative to the client's goals, abilities, and training schedule.

By thinking ahead and having a long-term plan in place, you’ll remove the guesswork from your program design and will always have a clear understanding of the characteristics and focus of each training cycle.

Learn how OPEX Coaches conduct planning, priorities and periodization in our free guide: Long-Term Exercise Programming and Planning.

STEP FIVE: PROGRAM DESIGN

Now it's time to build the initial program design inside the client's workout calendar in CoachRx. We won't go into all of the nuances of exercise and nutrition program design in this short blog. Rather, to learn how to write individual program design and design workouts with confidence, we recommend start with our Program Design Essentials Playlist.

STEP SIX: ONGOING COMMUNICATION AND COACHING

Clients can send you videos and results through C oachRx so that you can watch specific movements and workouts to ensure that they are moving, breathing, and pacing properly and to ensure you are moving them in the right direction with your program design.

It's also recommended to meet for a monthly video consultation so that you can discuss the major themes in training as well as look at the big picture of the program. These calls are great places to answer questions, build rapport with your client, and dial in their nutrition and lifestyle plan.

Becoming an online fitness coach

Are you interested in a career as a remote fitness coach? The OPEX Coaching Certificate Program (CCP) can provide you with the knowledge, tools, and systems you need to build a sustainable career as an individual design coach.

Taught by industry leaders, CCP is the most comprehensive online coaching education and mentorship program. This course teaches you how to effectively and efficiently design long-term training programs for any client, so that you can grow your coaching business. You’ll stop wasting your time, under-delivering, and churning clients, and start programming with confidence.

On top of learning a scalable system of coaching, all CCP coaches can utilize our premium program design and coaching software, CoachRx.

Click the button below to download the CCP Curriculum Guide to learn more.