How to Become a Fitness & Nutrition Coach

A fitness and nutrition coach helps people get in shape and learn healthy eating habits. This type of coaching offers the flexibility of working with clients in a sports clinic, health spa or even a private fitness studio. By 2018, jobs in the fitness industry are expected to grow by 29 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages, which depend on education and experience, range from $44,000 to $60,000 annually. Fitness and nutrition coaches who work with specialized populations, however, can command higher salaries. 

Instructions

1. • 1
     Get certified. Both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise offer on-line courses ranging from $300 to $500, including certification exam. One way to save money on certification is have a health club sponsor you in exchange for employment services.
     
   • 2
     Take college coursework in nutrition and meal planning. Mastering the principles of healthy eating and how body metabolism works provides a solid framework for counseling on healthy eating. It also gives you credibility and knowledge in evaluating diet trends and vitamin supplements.
     
   • 3
     Affiliate with a health club. Finding clients will be difficult until you establish a reputation. Offer to volunteer your services at a health club in exchange for use of space and equipment. As you build your clientele, you can negotiate a percentage fee with the club or meet clients in a private setting.
     
   • 4
     Build a portfolio of success stories. Take before-and-after pictures of the clients you helped. Show them diet and exercise plans that worked for others. This will help sell your service and give new and referred clients confidence to work with you.
     
   • 5
     Consider working with a specialized population. Obese children, senior citizens, diabetics and heart disease sufferers are all examples of specialized populations. Some fitness associations such as the ACSM offer certification in working with these groups. Experienced coaches can command higher fees because fitness and nutrition planning is more complex for these people.
     

How to Start a Fitness Blog

You can create a web log or online journal about literally any topic of your choosing. Starting a fitness blog can be a way to record your own progress or give readers tips and information to use for their workouts.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Decide what sort of fitness blog you want to start, a personal or informational blog. Many people just want to have menus, thoughts and progress, while others have knowledge and want to share medical and nutritional information with workout plans and tips.
     
   • 2
     Search online for possible blog host sites. Look at websites like fitnessjournal.org for a low-cost pre-made health and workout journal, or free general sites such as blogger.com to sign up for an account and start your fitness blog.
     
   • 3
     Log your daily, weekly, monthly and overall goals. Discuss how you feel about each goal, what you still need to do to achieve it and how you feel once you've accomplished it.
     
   • 4
     List your workouts. Write about the workout plans you've already tried, what has worked, what hasn't, and what you would like to learn more about in the future. Leave yourself notes and progress reports to keep you motivated.
     
   • 5
     Take your stats. Blog about your weight, body fat percentage, hours of sleep, resting pulse, measurements, endurance and pounds and inches lost. List your current dumbbell weights used, the number of miles ran or any other workout statistic that can help you track your progress.
     
   • 6
     Keep track of the food you eat and the water you drink. Most workout plans suggest at least 8 8 oz. glasses of water per day, and if you're heavily training or are an athlete you may need much more than that. Use your blog as a way to track your nutritional facts to stay healthy and fit.
     
   • 7
     Communicate with other fitness bloggers to give and get new ideas and tips to keep yourself motivated. One of the great things about having a blog is instantly belonging to an Internet community filled with others interested in health and fitness.
     

How to Sell an Article to a Health and Fitness Magazine

The health and fitness magazine area is a huge market; so they are always looking for articles. You don't even have to be a doctor or physical trainer to have an article accepted by one. All it takes is some research and the proper writing skills to make some money from multiple health and fitness magazines. Follow these steps to learn more.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Choose a health and/or fitness magazine for which you would be interested in writing. Call or visit their website to get access to the writer's guidelines. This will provide you with everything you need to know, from querying the editor to submitting an acceptable article.
     
   • 2
     Review the editorial calendar if there is one. You may find something which will give you an idea for a great topic. If there is no calendar, review the types of articles they publish.
     
   • 3
     Buy the magazine for which you would like to write. This will give you an idea of what type of voices and content is generally used in the publication. You should use caution though to make sure you do not make your article to too similar.
     
   • 4
     Pick a health and fitness topic that you are knowledgable and familiar. Don't pick anything which is too technical if you are not an expert, as it will take you long to do the research and write the article.
     
   • 5
     Begin the research and writing for the article. Contact a health and fitness expert to get quotes and their point of view on a specific topic. This will give your article credibility.
     
   • 6
     Revise your article. Make sure there are no spelling or grammar errors. Use a spell-checker and grammar checker and have someone else edit your article for mistakes. Grammar and spell-checkers do not catch all mistakes and often times you do not see mistakes that will be obvious to someone else.
     
   • 7
     Write up a query letter for approval of the article when you are finished. A query letter is a punchy, irresistible one-page letter proposing an idea for a feature piece. Most of the time it is best to send the query letter after writing, so that you can be specific in your query regarding article length and content.
     
   • 8
     Submit your article once the editor has given you the go-ahead, then reap the benefits of getting published and paid from a health and fitness magazine!