When you signed up for your "avenue" of fitness or a class that you just wanted to learn something from, did you hope that the teacher/instructor/coach/etc. would just give you the basic instructions and you would spend the next hour trying to figure it out on your own? Or did you sign up thinking they would give you step by step instructions then coming around critiquing your work, giving you tips on how to make it/yourself better?
You probably did not even realize you had this thought in your head. It may have been an underlying reason when you chose the class you wanted to learn something from or the place you chose to workout. Some people do not want to be "coached" but from what I have learned over the last year is that most people do. Most people do not want to walk around doing something that is not the norm. You probably just want to know (at the bare minimum) that you are doing it right and you are on the right path to success.
I spent most of my life in sports or fitness related activities. I have been coached pretty much my entire life. My coaches were tough on me. They never gave me the easy route. They always pushed me to be better than I was before I started. During workouts, practices, meets, etc. I was never mad that they were hard on me but grateful for their desire to make me better. I find myself itching for that feedback even now and realizing how important it was to me.
I have also been a coach for majority of my life. Starting with gymnastics coaching when I was maybe 14 years old, cheerleading coach throughout high school, and now where I coach CrossFit and yoga. It never dawned on me that as a coach I have a responsibility to give you the best feedback I can give you. If you are doing something that is not right, as a coach, I should tell you! I should correct it and help make you better.
When you wake up in the morning before your crazy day begins or if you drag yourself to the gym after a long day of work, I am assuming you came to get the most out of your hour. I know you may not be trying to win a competition BUT you have just spent your precious time at a place that is not your home. Therefore, you are probably there to get something out of it rather than just showing up and doing the basics.
If this is not you and I am completely off, please let me know! But as a coach, I want to make a promise to you that I will call it like I see it. I will kindly tell you that you are not doing it right and make a correction to better your movement/pose. If you are doing it correctly, I promise to encourage you to keep doing what you are doing. Pushing you to get stronger, faster, or better at whatever it is we are working on.
Thank you for spending your extra time with me! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey. Thank you for taking my critics, applying them, and seeing the change in yourself. That is all I really want; is that you are better than you were before you walked through that door. Thank you for your dedication to showing up continuously and working on improving yourself with or without a coach.
You are the real MVP!
Cheers,
Coach Kayla
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