Coach Focus: Personal Training Philosophies with Camille Goddard

Some coaches can make you fit.

Some coaches can teach you things.

But the best coach is the one that helps you understand what you want, why you want it, and what you need to achieve it.

This is what our personal trainer Camille Goddard strives for. She holds multiple diplomas in personal training, fitness, and nutrition, so she knows well what makes a good coach.

From injury to recovery

At a young age Camille used to do middle-distance running and compete a lot. Unfortunately, due to a knee injury, she was forced to give up running, which was a great shock for a kid. But Camille says it made her discover a gym and find her true vocation: “I felt that I could still get that feeling and sense of achievement. Not in terms of competing with someone other than myself but in terms of getting somewhere and becoming better, as I did while running”.

Sport and training helped Camille to go through really dark times, recover mentally, and find peace and meaning in life. That is why she decided to dedicate herself to coaching to help other people through sports as well. She wants her clients to feel what she felt, to find comfort in training and sheer excitement from new achievements.

Sport as your own kind of therapy

For Camille training is never a hard and nasty job on the shrink of your limits. No, it is time you devote to yourself and spend how YOU want. In the gym, you are among many other people, but it is a solitary journey you can embark upon at your own pace and on your own terms. No matter what else is going on in your life, this can be your safe place.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Every training with Camille is never the same because every client is different. Someone wants to lose weight, and someone trains for a competition. Some people want to build a new healthier lifestyle and some just need to blow off steam after a stressful day. There are many reasons for people to find their way to the gym so you cannot apply a universal approach to everyone.

Camille believes that every training plan should start with a conversation. A personal trainer should dig in and figure out why you came to the gym. What makes you tick? What problems do you have? How far you can and want to go? People often do not know the answers themselves. But understanding your needs and desires is what makes you move forward even when first excitement and interest are replaced by fatigue and routine.

“The gym should be an amazing experience, and you should get everything out of it that you want to. But unless you understand why are you doing it in the first place, you are not getting anywhere.”

And then of course it is about building trust. Because a good coach is the one whose decisions you do not question. Building your client’s trust is the most important task for every coach. Without it, you cannot move forward.

Philosophy of training

Despite using a personal approach to each client, Camille Goddard sticks to a certain philosophy of training which comprises three integral components: evidence-based practice, self-development of a coach, and educating the athlete to the point of self-sufficiency.

Evidence-based practice

There is a core framework and scientifically proven methods to improve an athlete’s characteristics and achieve their goals. You can tailor this framework to your needs, and you will succeed. But you shouldn’t invent your own rules. Build your training based on science and facts. They never lie.

Self-development of a coach

The art and science of sports training are not standing still. They are constantly developing, so personal trainers must nourish themselves with knowledge and news on the topic to remain top experts and their domain. Camille tries to pick up every new study or discovery which can help her become an even better coach for her clients.

Educating an athlete

Following the coach's advice is good but you will not find motivation just by doing what you are told to. A personal coach has to be a teacher as well. They have to explain to the client why he/she is doing this or that exercise and how exactly it will help them achieve their goals. Helping people understand the principles of their workout will help them feel more included, active, and hence more responsible for their results. It is easier to move forward if you know your route.

Does it mean that with time a person can continue training without a coach?

Camille gladly teaches every client and explains the mechanisms of training in the way she used to learn them. However, she explains, when it comes to your own training, you cannot always be objective. No matter how much you know, there will always be an element of bias, so you cannot rely solely on your opinion. This is when a coach can help you. “Every good coach has a coach,” she smiles. Having a coach does not make you less competent or smart. But it definitely makes your training more professional.

Camille has been working with many clients at different stages of motivation, progress, doubt and despair. When asked about a motivation source for beginners, she comes up with a brilliant answer.

“There is a reason why you thought about going to the gym. Sit down and think about the little things you are currently unhappy with. Then think if they can be improved by going to the gym. If they can, you have got your answer”.

Do you have things that can be improved by going to the gym? If yes, contact Camille and book your first training at once. Discover even more sports and coaches with Sport Session.