One of NASM’s newest educational courses offers students the opportunity to perfect their skills and receive immediate feedback from an instructor
Job Outlook Projections for Fitness and Wellness Professionals 14% increase By 2032, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) will launch two new courses based on its Certified Wellness Coach (CWC) program: The Wellness Coach Simulation and the Wellness Coach Business Blueprint.
Kristen Carrico, Journal of the National Medical Association’s chief business officer told Athletech News that the new courses offered in the NASM Wellness Pro Bundle are designed to address a gap in the industry.
“While the concept of health coaching has been around for some time, we saw a need for comprehensive tools that coaches could apply directly to build their business or enhance their current practice,” she said. “This bundle provides health coaches with the necessary skills and strategies, such as emotional intelligence, effective communication and client engagement techniques, to thrive in a competitive and evolving field.”
Courses to gain advantage
These two courses address two different but equally important areas of need:
- NASM’s Health Coaching Business Blueprint gives coaches the tools to grow their business and provides resources and guidance on brand building, marketing strategies, client retention, and day-to-day operations.
- Health coaching simulations allow coaches to fine-tune their techniques in a virtual environment and receive real-time feedback from a virtual mentor.
“Research shows that experiential learning improves skill retention, which is why this simulation is so effective,” Carrico said of the simulation sessions. “Coaches can practice how to respond to difficult client situations, improve their motivational interviewing techniques, and develop personalized wellness plans, ultimately improving client outcomes and fostering professional growth.”
NASM certified health coach Darlene Marshall likens the health coaching simulation to a sandbox for coaches.
“When you’re first learning coaching skills like motivational interviewing or reflective listening, practicing these skills can feel clunky,” Marshall notes. “It’s a very different way of thinking and speaking than how most people grew up, so practice is critical. You don’t want the first time you try these skills out on a paying client.”
Health coaching simulations can also help address common issues such as imposter syndrome or difficulty finding “practice clients.”
“Mentors are expensive, and even then, mentors can be intimidating,” Marshall added. “All of this makes health coaching simulations very useful. Even better, coaching skills need to be constantly refreshed to stay sharp. That way, they can easily fade. Even as an experienced coach, I can keep coming back to simulations to practice my skills. Great coaches want to keep growing, and simulators allow them to get instant feedback on how they can do better.”
Health Integration
Both Carrico and Marshall have been watching the industry closely, and they’ve seen a shift toward wellness and holistic health, with fitness professionals eagerly embracing health coaching as an extension of their services.
“By integrating wellness into their practice, fitness trainers can address a wider range of client needs, such as sleep, stress management and nutrition, leading to deeper relationships and better overall results,” Carrico said, adding that she’s seen professionals from the fields of healthcare, psychology, nutrition, and fire and police forces also incorporate wellness training for new fitness trainer recruits.
Overall, both Carrico and Marshall noted that the need for health coaches is greater than ever, especially in the modern era.
“Our digital world leaves many people exhausted and overwhelmed,” Marshall says. “They are fed so much meaningless information by the social media feed that they don’t know how to put it into practice. A great health coach is someone who can break through that rut and create sustainable change. The more a coach can target their content, messaging and practices to the specific needs of an individual or group, the more they will stand out, the better their business will be and the more impactful the changes they help people make will be.”
