A PhD in Psychology?! Why the hell are you a fitness instructor?!
I have been the owner and head coach of a CrossFit club for 8 years now. As a big believer in the power of community I strive to have a close relationship with all my members.
At some point during the beginning of this relationship there is always a moment where the members learn that I have a PhD in Psychology. At this exact moment I always receive a bewildered look followed by the question:
“You have a PhD in psychology?! why the hell are you a fitness instructor?!”.
Sometimes, before I can even answer a very Israeli (in your face, no boundaries) remark follows: you don’t want to have a proper career and make “real” money?!
I won’t go into depth about the career and money aspects because it is non of anyone’s business. I’ll just say that with great passion you can build a great career and the money will follow.
The why are you a coach question frustrates me: The importance of exercise for physical health is well known, and to not to even consider that as a reason for my choice upsets me time and again.
What frustrates me even further is that people do not understand the importance of exercise for mental health. Indeed, the separation between physical and mental is fictional. There is none without the other. A person’s physical state always affects their mental state and vice versa.
Exercise has amazing affects on mental health, for example, it reduces anxiety, mitigates depression and can even delay the onset of dementia! Exercise has such positive affects that it can be prescribed in adjunct to medicine and psychotherapy in many cases or even replace them all together!**
As a coach I couldn’t care less about body toning and weight reduction, those are merely superficial side effects of training. If you train and eat well you will inevitably look good. What I care about as a coach is to create workouts that would have the most positive affect on the mental health of my clients. These training sessions will not only make my clients look and feel good but will also make them more resilient to psychological adversity.
So yes, I may not be a clinical psychologist, but I see myself as a mental health professional nonetheless. My biggest advantage over “regular” clinicians is that they mostly work with people who already feel unwell, while I usually work with individuals who are ok and make them more resilient to adversity.
So why the hell am I a fitness instructor? because I get to strengthen and protect the mental health of my clients and that makes me feel great!
** Disclaimer- Do not under any circumstances regard the content of this article as a treatment recommendation.
