There are hundreds of different professions in the sporting field. Sports coach, sports manager, sports conditioning specialist – the list is endless! (Learn more about Trifocus Fitness Academy’s Sports Management Courses.) Although sports coaches help their teams get fit, this type of coach is not a personal trainer.
Every one of these professionals serves a different purpose and goal. From the sports coach standing next to the field, helping the players get ready physically and mentally to the sports manger who organises everything that the team needs to be successful.
Two of the most popular and sought-after professions in the health and fitness industry are sports coaches and personal trainers. Although some of the functions of both professions are similar, there are important key differences.
Sport Coach vs Personal Trainer
Personal Trainers Focus On One-On-One Training Sessions
They take various clients a day and can see up to ten different people on a daily basis. Each client has their own goals: training for weight loss, increasing muscle mass and cardiovascular fitness, competition prep or just overall health maintenance.
Personal trainers specialise in specific areas such as strength training, cardiovascular training, high-intensity interval training and plyometrics. They use these different kinds of training to help their clients reach their goals.
The Personal Trainer And Motivation
Another very important responsibility that a personal trainer has is to motivate their clients to keep working hard to reach their goals. Personal trainers need to be infectiously positive, energetic, motivating, inspiring, encouraging and patient. They need to know what to say and do to push their clients past their limits. As health and fitness writer, Jessica Bell, says: “Working with a trainer that matches your personality and inspires you can create a driving force toward your fitness goals.”
Personal Trainers Are Sometimes Seen As Unofficial Therapists
This is because some clients share a lot of their anxiety and stresses from their personal life. In some cases, personal trainers will also advise their clients regarding their eating habits. (Check out Trifocus Academy’s accredited Life Coaching Course that will equip you with the skills to handle situations like this.)
Personal trainers run on tight schedules and often have their days filled with clients from early morning to late at night. They are also a business on their own as they control how many clients they see and train every day. Essentially they are a personal brand and they need to market themselves as such.
Sports coaches Are Similar to Personal Trainers
However, there are some key differences:
- Sports coaches usually work with professional athletes. This means theyu have a smaller client base.
- Personal trainers see many clients on a daily basis.
- Sports coaches see two or three athletes, if that many, every day. They work very closely with their athletes to help them reach their full potential.
Sports coaches are responsible for training athletes in specific sporting fields, like soccer, rugby, swimming – whatever the sport may be. They help athletes reach their full potential within their sport by analysing their performance, making changes to their training regimes, instructing them in relevant skills, and encouraging them every step of the way.
Sports Coaches Need To Be Specifically Qualified In One Kind Of Sport
This is in contrast with personal trainers who focus on general health and wellness. In many cases, sports coaches also act as role models for their athletes and it is therefore important that they live the way their athletes should live.
There is a lot of mental coaching going on between a sports coach and their athletes just the same as there is between the client and his or her personal trainer. In some cases the coach will become a very close friend to the athlete, advising them on big decisions in their professional sporting and personal lives.
Sports coaches need to have sound knowledge of the respective sports of their athletes. They need to educate and motivate their athletes, know how to motivate them mentally, and get the best out of them at all times.
The distinct difference between a personal trainer and sports coach is that personal trainers are there to help the general public reach their respective fitness goals, while sports coaches usually work with professional athletes on a more personal level.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
However, the fact still remains that there is an extremely close link between a personal trainer and a sports coach. They are both concerned with others’ health and fitness. To be the best personal trainer out there means that you need to have one of Trifocus Fitness Academy’s accredited personal trainer courses under your belt!
