Holistic health and fitness takes wellness to a new level by looking at the bigger picture to bring mind and body together for physical and mental health benefits. When someone wants to increase their personal fitness, there are other factors outside of their workouts that can affect their ability to reach their goals. Health and wellness coaching programs considers things like daily stress, demanding jobs, amount of free time to work out, hours of sleep each night, and daily dietary habits when planning a holistic health and fitness plan.
A holistic health coach will help the client identify fitness goals while taking into consideration other aspects of that client’s life. For example if a client has a lot of stress, the body naturally creates higher levels of cortisol which affects sleep, metabolism, and the body’s ability to lose weight. If you address the stress and lower the body’s cortisol levels, the body is able to respond better to a fitness plan without adding extra stress to the client if they don’t reach a fitness goal with fitness alone. Holistic health and nutrition recognize the connection between proper nutrition and the impact it has on personal health and fitness. Top trainers often say that you can’t out run a bad diet. There is a lot of truth in that! If you work out for many hours each day and eat poorly all day and every day, you will most likely see very little results if any at all. It is surprising how many individuals view a failed fitness goal as a need to work out longer or harder. This mind set usually leads to burn-out or injury and can have a negative impact on mental health when the client gives up all hope of reaching the original fitness goals. Making small changes to help bring life back into balance can have a bigger positive impact on personal health. Each person is unique in their individual needs. For some, it may be going to bed one hour earlier each night so that they can get up one hour earlier to have time set aside for working out. For others it might be preparing healthy lunches the night before so that they do not eat fast food. Incorporating yoga or breathing exercises to deal with daily stress would be beneficial for individuals with high stress jobs. Taking a holistic approach towards health and fitness can help the client benefit from their personal training plan better and can help the trainer build referrals and their career.
