Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps and Muhammad Ali all had something going for them that we all need — a coach.

I am a coach for triathlon and running as well as general fat loss and one thing people find funny is that I too have a coach. I have been asked regarding triathlon why I have a coach? I am a nationally certified, competition level coach through the NCCP and I have been coaching triathlon and running for seven years. So why would I want a coach? Same reason you would — to have someone who is smarter or more experienced than me to be accountable to, someone that will look at my season and make plans for me based on reality, on what needs to be done, on what I am capable of. These decisions must be made regardless of my mood, my preferences or my favourite things to do. My coach ensures that I work on what is hard to do and the most beneficial.

When I opened my gym in 2002 I hired a coach a year before I started all the work to build the building and create all of the elements that would need to be in place. I found someone who had opened several gyms and worked in the industry for a long time and I hired them to prevent me from making the mistakes that anyone would make when trying something new. To this day I have two business coaches – one is specific to the gym industry and one is a general business coach.

So why do you need a coach? What if you don’t race or compete in anything? What if you don’t run your own business? Could you still benefit from a coach? I say yes!

Probably the biggest reason for a coach is to have a source of positive energy, focused goal setting and objective feedback. Otherwise you are relying on your own self-analysis and we all know we are way too hard on ourselves.

A coach such as a personal trainer will hold you accountable to your goals, adjust your workload and challenges according to your needs and abilities. They will help guide you to professional care such as chiropractic, massage or physiotherapy if you have an injury. A nutritional coach can help by setting up a meal plan for you, with specific instructions to follow that will work wonders. Add to that a body composition analysis to set a starting point, establish constant checks on progress and make intelligent changes based on tracking your results. All of this will get you where you want to go faster and can be provided by a coach.

Can you do cool things without a coach? Absolutely! I know of several people who have gone from zero triathlon experience to Ironman on their own, but I also know they struggled, and made lots of mistakes, dealt with injuries that are preventable, and all of that could easily have been prevented from simply having a coach.

So many people think coaches are just for pro-athletes, but to me, that just shines a light on how important coaches are. It by no means makes them exclusive.

So where in your life, could you use a coach?

Scott McDermott is a personal trainer and owner of Best Body Fitness in Sylvan Lake. He can be reached at 403-887-7667 or check out www.personaltrainersylvanlake.com for more information.