What Does Your Perfect coaching Day Look Like?

If you’re a coach, have you ever asked yourself that question? 

What does your perfect day look like? 

Or your perfect week? Or month? Or lifestyle in general?

You probably know what it doesn’t look like… 

If you have been coaching for a while, you know spending 30-plus on-floor coaching hours a week isn’t feasible. At least not in the long term. 

Or maybe you have discovered coaching 20 group classes a week, sometimes four a day where you administer the same workout over and over, becomes tedious in a hurry. That’s certainly not your perfect day. 

And maybe you’re tired of having to search for new clients each month with massive marketing efforts and have grown exhausted of working with brand new people all the time. This certainly isn’t how you want to spend all your time. 

Or perhaps you have come to realize personal training isn’t as fun as you thought it would be, as after a while it starts to feel like you’re babysitting adults.

This is exactly how Kayla Smith felt.

“I was so over babysitting adults,” she said.

And it’s how Brandon Burchfield felt. 

“It got to the point that I was so unfulfilled. I felt like a clock starter. You know, ‘3, 2, 1 Go.’ I wasn’t really making a difference in people’s lives,” he said.

And how Jesse O’Brien felt.

“I’d wake up at 5 a.m. to coach the 6 a.m. class, and then make a push through to 9 or 10 o’clock. When I’d finally get a chance to breathe, I’d try to train, but I’d be tired. Then there was a dead part of the day, where I’d do administrative work, and then I’d push through to the evening hours and coach all evening,” he said.

Knowing what they didn’t want led them—and dozens of other OPEX coaches—to pursue a path that would work for them: To pursue a lifestyle that allows them to live their perfect day as a coach for life. Learn the basics of that lifestyle in this free coaching course.

What Does an Ideal Day of Coaching Look Like?

In order to live good days as a coach, it’s safe to say you probably want the following:

• The opportunity to truly help people see results by getting fit and staying fit so they can live the lives they dream of (aka fulfillment because you’re making a difference in your clients’ lives)

• The chance to earn a good living in the fitness industry and pursue a lifelong career (aka financial security so you can do things like own a home and raise a family)

• A schedule that doesn’t burn you out working 40 on-floor hours a week, and where you can never take a day off, let alone take off on vacation for a week (aka freedom and work-life balance).

• Time in your day to work out yourself (aka motivation to continue to prioritize your own fitness)

This is exactly what OPEX coaches have and it starts with taking the OPEX Coach Certificate Program (CCP) to develop both the business and the technical coaching skills to build your own book of clients, and then to learn how to use OPEX systems to service your clients properly via assessments, program design and monthly lifestyle consults. 

The results of being an OPEX coach:

• Your clients get fit and stay fit because their unique needs are being met via individual program design. As a result, they stick around for the long haul and the coach isn’t left searching for new clients each month. Learn the basics of individual design here.

• Experienced OPEX coaches have the ability to earn a professional wage once they earn their way and have a book of 50-plus clients. Read more here.

• OPEX coaches spend two or three hours a day on the floor coaching (10-15 hours a week on average), meaning they don’t burn out. This also means they have the freedom to do the rest of their work on their own terms, freedom over their schedule and time (and money) to take a vacation from time to time.

• More free time means it’s much easier to take care of their own fitness, too.

All of this ultimately means OPEX coaches have the opportunity to live the perfect coaching day day-after-day, week-after-week, month-after-month, and establish a true career.

So what does this day actually look like in practice?

A typical OPEX coach’s perfect day (hypothetical day) includes a couple hours of programming, two hours of on-floor coaching, maybe a 30-minute consult with a client and a bit more time communicating with clients. This still leaves plenty of time for their own training sessions, and often, time for continued educational pursuits. And the beauty of being part of the OPEX community means constant continued education is at the palm of your hand. 

The above is pretty much how OPEX coach Thomas Madden spends his days: His mornings are devoted to programming and communicating with clients. Three days a week, he coaches on-site for a couple hours. Then he breaks for a workout and lunch and ties up loose ends in the afternoon. Generally, he takes weekends off. 

“Because of this freedom, I can also pursue other things I’m interested in, which I didn’t have time for before,” Madden said. “I call this time in my life my renaissance. I’m reengaging with things I haven’t done for six years because my business had a stranglehold on me.”

He added: “I’m so grateful for OPEX Fitness and James (FitzGerald) because I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for them.”

Without OPEX, he wouldn’t be living his perfect day over and over again. 

As coaches, we all imagine our perfect day. Take the first step towards living your perfect day and download this free Coach’s Toolkit.