I have never had or used a visiting card in the last decade of running a gym. 

In my line of work, before a word is spoken, a pitch is made or any logic or reason expounded on, the most important visiting card happens to be my appearance. When I tell people I own a gym, they scrutinise me from head to toe. The same thing happens to dietitans, nutritionists and fitness coaches. There is an expectation that if you walk the talk, you will look the part. This is an inescapable judgement that will be made. Like an investor is judged by their returns, a business by its profitability, a doctor by their track record to heal, wellness and fitness professionals will be judged by appearance. The book maybe deep, but the cover has to convince people to read it. 

Now this runs counter to an earlier post where I argued strength is not fascia deep. 

But the unfortunate reality is unless you can walk around deadlifting, doing pull ups or displaying insane feats of strength or athleticism, you need to look the part. But looks can deceive. And for a client, looks alone do not guarantee a process or experience that is robust. 

IS THERE A RIGHT LOOK?

Not exactly. The science of nutrition and exercise is vast. Few professionals can claim competence over exercise science, nutrition science or human physiology. How you look tells the world very little about how much you know about these topics. But how you look does tell the world you take the knowledge seriously enough to use it everyday in your own life. 

Much like every athlete not making for a great coach, every lean person does not make for an effective coach. 

Not to mention, training journeys are long and variable. Appearances may not tell you what someone is working on or towards.

As a coach or fitness professional, you need to find a way to make training a non-negotiable part of your daily life. The volume, exercise selection and goals can change. But if you are asking people to be active and carve out time for activity everyday, you need to do the same yourself. Same goes for nutrition. You ask someone to include more protein and vegetables, you need to do some version of this yourself. You ask a person to pare back on screen time and spend more time in the sack, you do the same. In a crowded market, you need to communicate how much you know, how you use that information and how effective you are at helping others use what you know. 

As a potential client, a coach who enjoys training and eating as they ask you to, will be a more empathetic coach who will be able to put themselves in your shoes more comfortably.