The Habits Equation: Coaches + Clubs + Clients

Paula Bartis, the director of marketing at Trainerize, shares the importance of the habits equation, and what it means for your club.

Do the math — extending fitness beyond the gym is the next step in client engagement. The solution? Habits.

With habit coaching, healthy lifestyles become a daily practice. Clubs and trainers can empower members to make small changes that will have a big impact to their overall wellbeing.

Habits don’t stand alone — they integrate seamlessly into daily lives, improving fitness and nutrition efforts and building motivation. Habit coaching creates an all-new level of relationship between clubs, coaches, and clients — one that goes beyond the walls of the club and into individual lifestyles.

Habits + Nutrition

Nutrition tracking and meal planning is great — it enables clubs and trainers to monitor what members are eating. But by integrating habit coaching into the mix, fitness professionals can influence decisions about food in a more proactive, sustainable way.

With habits, the focus is less about what clients eat and more about how they eat, allowing trainers to teach their clients to make healthier choices. Guidance and repetition is essential —and habit coaching can support that.

Nutrition habits can focus on the types of food members eat, the approach they take to preparing meals, or abstaining from alcohol or other high-calorie beverages. Building nutrition habits into member lifestyle builds the opportunity for improvement — just 1% better every day — without fear of failure.

Habits + Fitness

What’s clear when talking with fitness professionals, personal trainers and club members is that all parties want coaches to be more integrated into users’ lives. Clients want to be more engaged with their fitness community and coach, and coaches want to influence healthier lifestyles beyond a few workouts a week.

For example, a coach may assign a certain set of workouts for the week — but in between those workouts, habit coaching can keep the client engaged and accountable. Those small actions, between workouts and meals, can have the biggest impact on getting results.

Activity habits will encourage club members to fit more activity into their lives. That habit might be choosing a move active transportation method, prioritizing family activities or developing a reward system for workouts. Building the habit into their lifestyle may just be the encouragement members need.

Habits = Client Engagement

Looking ahead to 2021, habit coaching can build a stronger tie between clubs and members. Using technology to connect to real humans, both coaches and community members, is going to be the key to that engagement.

Clubs can go beyond fitness and nutrition — with sleep and mindfulness habits offering another opportunity to support members. Self-care, building better sleep routines and celebrating successes are just a few habits that can open up the opportunity for daily improvement for clients.

During a pandemic, fitness and nutrition can feel difficult — but daily habits remain achievable. Habit coaching can help give members structure and keep them on track — even when other parts of their lives may be less normal.

The habits equation and habit coaching are the key to building engaged, dedicated fitness communities in 2021. Put the trifecta of healthy lifestyles — fitness, nutrition, and habits — to work for your club.