IDENTIFY AS USEFUL

Identify As Useful

Gains are the real bragging rights.

By Eric Bugera

• Certification hoarding is rapidly becoming the standard in the fitness industry.

• Recency bias of acquiring new qualifications can dilute the holistic potential of a trainer. 
• The desire to become a title, qualification, or certification should be secondary to actually providing value. Integrate, don’t isolate.

Letters, Acronyms, and Titles

The fitness industry yearns for credibility. It continuously searches for some form of standardization – a way to establish the good from the bad. One could argue that the incessant desire to stand out from the crowd has raised the baseline level of quality; however, upon closer inspection, has it? Stockpiling certifications, qualifications, and titles is slowly becoming the norm in absence of genuine skill and ability. The illusion of quality propped up by an overwhelming amount of new courses, techniques, and “self-investment”. The end result however is a long list of words that effectively amount to nothing. Coaches, practitioners, and fancy sounding designations with more acronyms next to their name than actual clients on their roster.

You Are (Probably) Not Your Title

It seems like human nature to attain a new designation and immediately morph to the caricature of that thing. Mobility specialists, strength coaches, and yes – even “scientists” strive for recognition of the position they just recently acquired – but to what benefit of their prospective clients? How much of the curriculum or lived experience attaining a new fangled rank amongst the internet-elite coaches actually finds its way meaningfully into your next program?

To invest a good chunk of time and money into acquiring a new skill should be celebrated, but centering your entire business model after a specific modality undermines your progression as a coach. All information, perspectives, and skills should be additive in nature – not isolative. To immediately identify yourself as a singular practitioner instead of an amalgamation of all accumulated knowledge is a mistake. Limiting your potential market share and even worse – potentially viewing all problems through a singular lens is a huge disservice to you and your clients. Yet, titles are addicting.

Nutritionist, kinesiologist, personal trainer, strength coach, blood flow restriction specialist, published researcher, published author, “certification-of-the-month” qualified – these are all resume pieces that contribute to the whole of your offering, not a singular mode of coaching moving forward. To be rigidly attached to any one title detracts from the synergy of each one as they interact for the benefit of a client.

Remember To Coach

A client first perspective is the way to move the industry forward. Peer pressure to perform specific training styles that clash with your interests, acquire new “skills” that collect dust, or parade around letters, acronyms, and titles that never see the light of day is misleading at best and a total waste of time at worst. The number one reason to be in the fitness industry is to provide value, not confuse the issue by needlessly muddying the coach-client lexicon. This isn’t a complete impeachment of continued education – quite the opposite. It is a call to action for reclaiming your pride for what you actually are, a personal trainer. All other titles, acronyms, or pretentious “qualifications” are secretly meant to prop up your self-esteem. The fastest and most effective way to earn the credibility your certifications are meant to instill is to put them into action. Distinguish yourself by being effective, not by having a long list of credentials that translates to exactly no gains.

• You are a trainer and coach. Own that.
• Seek to provide value, always.
• Integrate your qualifications, don’t isolate yourself into a singular category.