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Best Content of the Week

You’ll notice a theme running through much of this week’s best content: You need more than technical skill to succeed as a personal trainer, especially as we struggle to make it through the pandemic.

Therapist Lisa Lewis explains why mental agility is just as important as physical strength, especially at a moment like this. Brett Bartholomew advocates for more focus on interpersonal skills in coaching education programs. And Sumi Singh’s interview on the Cool, Calm, and Chaotic podcast reminds us that we’re more than just our jobs.

And we’ll get to all that. But first, a word from our sponsor.

— Esther Avant

Please Take Part in Our Survey

We all know the pandemic has upended the fitness industry. But how has it affected you? What has it done to your income? To your career? To your future plans?

We really want to know. Please take a few minutes right now to complete our salary survey.

It’s completely anonymous, and the information you share will help us understand what we can do to help you get through this crisis and come back stronger than ever.

Just click here to participate:

–> The 2020 PTDC Personal Trainer Salary Survey

Best Article

Building and Sustaining Resilience — Lisa Lewis, tonygentilcore.com

Most of us can handle a stressful day or two. But when those stressful days turn into weeks, and stressful weeks go on for months, even the most optimistic trainers can lose hope. But as Lisa Lewis explains, there are ways to thrive, if you’re willing to put in the work. “Working on your mental agility could help you to think more objectively, effectively, and productively,” she says. 

— Shane McLean

Best Video

Training Mistakes We See All the Time — BarBend

Know anybody who’s frustrated by their lack of results but blind to the role they might be playing in that? Send them this video from BarBend! Based on an article from our own Shane McLean, it uses humor to drive home the importance of taking responsibility for your own results, admitting your mistakes, and doing better.

— Esther Avant

Best Social Media Post

Posted by Brett Bartholomew on Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Coaching education and development programs focus almost exclusively on programming and exercise technique. But it’s interpersonal skills that differentiate the best coaches from the rest, Brett Bartholomew writes. Those are the skills you can implement with your clients and athletes, and they’re the ones too few coaching programs focus on.

— Christina Abbey

Best Podcast

Our Cows Are the Most Delicious — Mark Zarate with guest Sumi Singh

Sumi Singh talks about the many hats she wears, and how hard she worked to “luck” into a great fitness career as a trainer and author, all while maintaining her most important role as a mom. She also takes us through her training en route to setting impressive strength records.

— Mike Howard

More Great Fitness Content 

[Podcast] The Art and Science of Staying Injury-Free — Mike Matthews with guest Paul Ingraham

[Video] Body Neutrality and Inclusive Fitness Spaces — Kate Solovieva with guest Chrissy King

[Article] Why the Strategies that Helped You Lose Weight Might Not Work for Weight Maintenance — Julia Malacoff, Precision Nutrition


[Article] Eight Must-Have Personality Traits for Trainer Success — Nick Tumminello, nicktumminello.com


Tired of training clients at 5 a.m.?

We all have to pay our dues. For many fitness pros, that means training clients or teaching classes or opening your gym long before the sun comes up.

But if you’ve been paying those dues for years on end, maybe it’s time for a change. Time to try something different. Time to consider another way to make a living while still doing what you love.

That’s why we created the Online Trainer Academy.

Since 2016, we’ve helped thousands of personal trainers, nutrition coaches, and gym owners—serious, passionate fitness professionals like you—launch online training businesses.

Some now do all their coaching online. Others do a combination of in-person and online training. Still others work part-time with online clients to supplement their income from another business.

They all have one thing in common: What they were doing before wasn’t working for them.

They needed a change, and their Online Trainer Academy Level 1 Certification gave them the knowledge and skills to make it happen.

If you love coaching but hate doing it on someone else’s schedule, maybe it’s time to try online training.

Consider this your wake-up call.

The Author

Dani Singer is a nationally certified personal trainer and nutrition coach based in Baltimore, Maryland. As CEO & Director of Fit2Go Personal Training, he specializes in helping busy professionals make fitness practical. Dani also serves as a fitness expert for national publications such as Reader’s Digest, Muscle & Fitness, and SHAPE Magazine. Keep up with Dani and his team on Facebook and the Fit2Go website.

Esther Avant is a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach, mom, and military wife who coaches women online. As the owner of Esther Avant Wellness Coaching and founder of the Gone For Good weight loss program, she specializes in helping do-it-all women lose weight and keep it off by making exercise and nutrition fit their lifestyles, not the other way around. You can find her at www.estheravant.com, on Instagram, and on Facebook.