Coaches Corner: One-on-One With Carl Hardwick, CEO of OPEX Fitness
Join Carl Hardwick, CEO of OPEX Fitness and CoachRx, for his new weekly column delving into the deeper concepts of fitness coaching, including how to ask tough questions, challenge the status quo and become a better coach and human.
Athletech News readers, My name is Carl Hardwick, and I’m excited to be joining you all as a weekly columnist. Before we dive into the world of fitness coaching, let me share a bit about myself.
I’m a husband, a father of two boys and a man of faith. I am fueled by my passion for educating and helping other coaches to move forward, identify and then find success in their coaching practice. I have close to two decades of experience in coaching. From personal training, remote coaching, gym ownership, sports and group fitness, I’ve dabbled with just about every area of coaching before landing solely on one-to-one coaching about a decade ago. I currently serve as the CEO and lead educator at OPEX Fitness, a fitness education and software company founded in 1999 by the legendary James Fitzgerald, my biggest mentor in fitness.
At OPEX, we’ve educated over 10,000 coaches worldwide using our one-to-one, holistic coaching model. Our coaching software, CoachRx, is used by thousands of coaches worldwide.
As your weekly columnist, my intention is to explore everything related to fitness coaching, going beyond the watered-down tips and tricks you might find on social media or in your typical fitness magazine. My goal is to delve into the deeper, more complex ideas of coaching, challenge the status quo, and explore the concepts that actually make us better coaches and better humans. A tall task, but I think we grow by asking ourselves tough questions, wrestling with challenging ideas and coming to our own conclusions.
I believe that to be successful coaches, we need to be like Swiss Army knives, equipped with a basic understanding of a range of areas, rather than specializing in one particular area. Therefore, in this column, we’ll discuss ideas and concepts around program design, nutrition, life coaching, fitness culture, fitness business, relationship building and more. Everyone is unique, and being proficient in one area alone won’t help us cater to each person’s diverse needs. Each client is their own n=1, and that gives us the opportunity to be challenged, learn and grow as coaches.
(While you wait for next week’s article, you might like to check out this free guide on a complete approach to assessment that includes exercise, lifestyle and nutrition – the first step when coaching individuals.)
I’m thrilled to embark on this journey and excited to see where it takes us. Let’s grow together by asking tough questions, wrestling with challenging ideas and coming to our own conclusions, for that’s what ultimately makes us better coaches.
Next week’s column: Beyond Sets & Reps: How Coaches Can Beat AI
Carl Hardwick, CEO of OPEX Fitness and CoachRx, is a strong advocate for bringing honor to the coaching profession and raising the value of all fitness coaches. He lectures frequently about program design, business systems and building a sustainable coaching career. Follow him on Instagram @hardwickcarl and OPEX Fitness on YouTube.