GET FIT WITH A PERSONAL COACH FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME WITH THE KICKOFF APP

Exercising? Who needs that?

Have you ever dreamed of having your own personal coach?

I’m not much of a health fitness freak, probably because it isn’t part of my European culture.  Sure, I joined the Y before, took some Zumba classes here and there and even took taekwondo classes with my son.  But exercising on a regular basis was never my thing. This was ages ago.

My life has changed since then, much like everyone else’s.  Working from home has become my norm freeing up my time to take better care of myself.  For any working mom, with a spouse and not one but two dogs, finding personal time is not always easy.

It wasn’t after being bed-ridden for almost 2 weeks that I realized that not just me but my body as well needed more self-love.  When you are at my age, you might start experiencing premenopausal symptoms.  One way to help you get through it is by exercising.

The thing is, I did not want to go to a random class and be constricted to a schedule.  After all, some days are longer than others, sometimes you have less energy.  Shit happens that you couldn’t foresee. Also, you need to listen to your body.  I wanted to be held accountable for my actions or lack thereof.

For once, Google pointed me in the right direction and I got myself a personal coach using the Kickoff App.

How the Kickoff app works

It’s relatively easy to sign up.  You download the app, enter your information, answer some questions about what you are seeking.

You can pick the type of coach you want whether it is live exercises or virtual.

The cost is $125 a month (CAD).  You can put your plan on pause for which ever reason you have and then pick it right up from there.

Once you have found your coach, you’ll discuss with him or her directly what your intentions are.  How frequently you want to exercise, what your goal is, your lifestyle.  Anything that will be pertinent to him or her to set up your own personal exercise plan.

But the app is not just about exercising, it’s also about logging in what you eat.  It also provides meal ideas if you want to try something new.

Your coach will set up your exercises throughout the week.  Through the app, you’ll have access to your exercises on which ever day you said you want to work out.  Then, it’s up to you when during the day you want to do your exercise whether it’s live or virtual.

You don’t need special equipment to do the workouts.

Sign up HERE.

Benefits of having a personal coach

Having a personal coach forces you to be accountable.  Goals are set, new habits get created. It’s a lot more motivating to work out when you have someone in your corner.  In terms of daily habits, since you have to log in everything, you start paying more attention to what you eat and drink.

Your personal coach is your friend, not your enemy.  He or she is here to help you achieve your goals whether it is to be more fit, loose weight, etc. It’s best to be sincere to achieve the best results.  If anything is going on in your life (stress, anxiety, illness, depression) you can let your coach know so that he or she can adapt to your life situation.

Together you work as a team.

My own experience with my personal coach

My coach is Julia and from the get go we really hit it off.  She doesn’t do live training which suits me fine.

We text everyday and we’ve spoken on the phone a few times. She encourages me daily and has been able to install new daily habits in my life such as drinking water as soon as I get up.

I often get a text saying: “More protein please” or “Great job on the no coke day”.  Bless her.

I log in my nutrition every day either by sending a picture of what I ate or just writing when it is short and sweet.

Since I’m not a creature of routine, I wanted my workouts to be different.  They vary daily from zumba, pilates, yoga, dance, and a special ab-work routine created just for me.  I follow the videos and do my workout from the comfort of my own home.  They range from 15 minutes to 40 minutes.

That’s the beauty of working from home.  With my 2 extra hours a day not spent on getting ready and commuting, it was easy for me to install exercising on a regular basis into my life.  I know not everyone has the luxury of working from home.  Yes, I do consider it a luxury, even though I do go into the office twice a week.

Her words of daily encouragement really benefit and motivate me.

But whether you work from home or not, having a personal coach at home will save you time.  You don’t have to rush out the door in the dead of winter with all your fitness gear to head over to your dance class and it saves you time.

While classes and going to the gym is great for some and helps with social interaction, being able to exercise from home can benefit you, especially, for instance, if you are a new mom or a veteran mom for that matter. Also, if you don’t like exercising in front of people, this is the perfect solution.

Being a personal coach

I asked Julia to tell me about what it’s like as a coach using this app and exercising in general. Here is what she had to say.

When it comes to exercising, people have problems with accountability. It is hard to motivate oneself and do it every day. A lot of people are intimidated by exercising because they don’t know where to start. Also, many believe that having a personal coach will be hard. However, a personal coach should not be seen as a mean ogre but more like a friendly Shrek.

A personal coach is here to guide you, motivate you every single day.

Using the kickoff app as a personal coach

Being a personal coach through an app is definitely different. It takes longer to build a genuine personal relationship because you don’t have a hands on approach. Therefore, communication and constant feedback are key to establishing a good rapport with the client.

That being said, Julia actually enjoys it that way, allowing her to have more freedom. It’s her first time using an app to coach after spending 16 years being a personal coach in a studio.

She started with Kickoff less than a year ago, responding to an ad on LinkedIn that just happened to pop-up. She applied straight away. The screening process is pretty thorough. You have, of course, to respond to some questionnaires but also need to either have a current personal training certification or a degree in a related field. There is a trial period and they do audit everything.

Benefits and advantages of the app

Some of the advantages of using this app and getting a personal coach is that you can work out when you want. You don’t have to plan a time and worry about gaz money. There is no time management. The workouts will always be available for you unless of course you choose the live coaching

Accountability in the palm of your hand.

Since the app is relatively new (2016), it has blossomed during the Pandemic. As with anything new, there are some tweaking that needs to be done. Some people have problems signing up (it was not my case). The nutrition side needs to be developed to make it more user and coach friendly so that your food entries look more like a journal. The Kickoff team is actually working on improving that aspect of the app.

If you aren’t sure about getting your own personal coach, how about taking baby steps with Feel Better in Five resolutions?

Have you ever used a personal coach?