I never quite understand why so many fitness professionals feel the need to announce their “grinding” or hustling. It’s as if their work ethic should be praised above the thousands of other coaches who get up early and go to work.
Those who constantly brag about how “busy” they are often have plenty of time to post dozens of reminders about it on social media.
That isn’t to say people don’t work hard or deserve to celebrate it. People like Eric Cressey, Joe Dowdell, David Dellanave, Molly Galbraith, Mike Reinold, Mike Robertson, Cassandra Forsythe, and many others I know who’ve built successful fitness businesses—and have unmatched work ethic—can do whatever they want.
Here’s the catch: they aren’t the ones on Twitter or Instagram overanalyzing the grind.
In my experience, those who go out of their way to market their hustling are usually working much harder to maintain the facade—a facade that masks what’s really going on.
They get up like everyone else, train clients 4–5 times a week, and take weekends off like everyone else. In short: nothing special.
That said, hard work—real hard work—does matter. The fitness industry is incredibly crowded, and everyone is vying for a piece of the pie. People try to separate themselves by worrying first about marketing themselves or “building a brand” before gaining real experience and skills.
Often they miss the truth that there’s a degree of paying your dues and putting in the time involved.
“Putting in the time” isn’t about setting up a dozen different social media platforms and posting videos about “time-saving hacks” or what you had for breakfast while you’re driving.
Come on! You’re not that busy you can’t sit down and talk without risking others’ safety on the road.
Don’t get me wrong: part of running a successful business today is staying on task with technology and using it to build a brand. I’m not a hypocrite.
But I’m talking about real work. Real interactions with real people during real training sessions. Building real skills.
It’s a lesson many up-and-coming fitness pros need to learn. It’s not flashy, but it works and it builds integrity, resilience, and character. And I’m starting to sound a bit preachy, which takes away from today’s guest post.
Recent Cressey Sports Performance coach (and intern), Ricky Kompf, had a similar message. I encourage young fitness professionals to read it below.
DOING YOUR TIME: THE VALUE OF A GOOD INTERNSHIP
Have you heard the line: “If you’re good at something never do it for free”?
When you’re aiming for a future in the fitness industry, the saying should be: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free—and the road to being good is paved with a lot of unpaid labor.”
When you’re starting out, it’s hard to rack up hours of experience. Often you’ll be in a commercial gym, building up your clientele to gain more experience. Depending on where you are, it can take a while to accumulate hours to become a good coach.
Internships give you those hours right away, helping you hone your craft, become a great coach, and build confidence under the mentorship of more experienced people.
I am a better coach now than seven months ago, and I owe that to my internship experience. The value of a good internship helps you make leaps in your career as an aspiring fitness professional. Internships give you the chance to gain experience, be mentored by top professionals, work with the population you want to serve, and expand your network.
I’ve been a personal trainer for two and a half years and have had influential people guide me along the way. This led me to take part in two internships that have been the greatest learning experiences in my early career.
My first internship was at Rockland Peak Performance (RPP) in Rockland, New York. For three months I worked close to 40 hours a week with a wide variety of clients, from youth and collegiate and professional athletes to general population clients of all ages and backgrounds.
After RPP, I went to Massachusetts for a second internship at Cressey Sports Performance. For the next four months I honed my craft, coaching 32 hours a week on the CSP floor and working alongside some of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the country. I totaled close to 1,000 hours of experience right after graduation. Not too shabby, I’d say!
Never underestimate the value of a good mentor. The people you surround yourself with have a huge impact on who you are and who you will become as a person and a professional. When you place yourself among successful, driven people, you gain a better sense of how you can get there too. Working with others who want to learn and improve is a major benefit of a good internship. A coach’s commitment to getting better may rub off on you; you may adopt the habits that make them successful.
One less-talked-about advantage of pursuing an internship you like is that you can choose the population you want to work with. Early in your career you have to build your clientele, which often means you can’t pick who you work with. But internships let you target the population you want to specialize in.
Note From TG: Conversely, it opens up the possibility you may dislike it and realize what you thought you liked isn’t what you want. In their book, Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath call this an “ooch,” a way to test a hypothesis with a small sample.
You may then use that experience to market yourself in the future.
Baseball players come to CSP because CSP is known as the go-to place to train if you’re a baseball player. When you have experience with a certain population, that population is more likely to pay for your services.
Finally, internships are a great networking opportunity. Building a solid network in the fitness industry helps you land jobs and attract clients. Knowing people who know people opens doors to where you want to be. For example, as a CSP intern, you become part of an alumni intern page where job opportunities are posted regularly. People in the field recognize how valuable the CSP internship is and may reach out to you when a position opens up.
If you have an internship opportunity and are hesitant because it’s unpaid, I highly encourage you to consider the doors it can open. If your degree requires an internship, treat it as an investment in yourself. Go for the internship that will challenge you the most, because it will lay the foundation for future success in this field.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Kompf is a SUNY Cortland graduate with a degree in Kinesiology and a concentration in fitness development. After completing his degree, he spent seven months in unpaid internships and is now a personal trainer for Trillium Personal Fitness in Syracuse, New York. He is also the founder of GainzTheoryFitness.com. Sorry, I can’t list everyone… but you know who you are.
