From Paige Waehner,
Your Guide to Exercise.
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The fitness industry is booming and lots of you are interested in starting a career in exercise and fitness. Being a personal trainer is a great job, but there are other options out there. Expand your horizons and learn about other ways to help people get healthy and fit.

Health or Wellness Coach

While personal trainers focus mostly on exercise, Wellness Coaching goes beyond personal training. Nancy Jacobson, a certified Wellness Coach says, "wellness coaches look at the big picture...The coach and client work together to develop a program that fits the clients needs, values, and visions while helping them over come barriers that prevent them from reaching their wellness goals."

A Wellness Coach offers advice and guidance about:

• Fitness
• Nutrition
• Weight nanagement
• Stress reduction
• Health risk management
• Barriers to reaching fitness goals

When meeting with clients, you'll get to know them--find out what it is they need help with such as weight loss, eating habits, exercise and fitness, stress reduction, smoking cessation, etc. You'll help people control conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes and you can even choose to work with special populations such as teens, kids, families, seniors, etc.

Benefits of Being a Wellness Coach

• Flexibility - You can work with your clients in person or by telephone, email or fax (or all three). Nancy does much of her consultation on the phone which, she says "takes the stress out of finding the time to meet the coach like one would have to do with a personal trainer at a fitness facility."
• Opportunities - You can work with individuals or in a corporate environment, write books or articles, teach seminars and classes and work with personal trainers, doctors, dieticians, and other health professionals.
• Income - How much you make will depend on where you live and your experience and background. Nancy mentions that most sessions run from $50 to $100 a session.
• Personal Satisfaction - You'll feel good about helping clients reach their goals and you'll form relationships that go beyond basic personal training.

Education

You don't need a special education to become a Wellness Coach, however at the very least, you'll want to get certified. There are many coaching certification and degrees available. For more info, visit Wellcoach.com to learn more about getting certified.

Next: More Fitness Career Ideas