Why Do Endurance Athletes Need a Health Coach?

The question I hear most often from endurance athletes is “I already have a coach, why do I need a health coach?”

Your athletic coach is an expert in getting you in the physical shape you need to be for your races. They know exactly how to apply periodization, and challenge you in the right way at the right time so that you get stronger and faster. You probably hired this person to build your training blocks for you, so that you don’t have to spend time (time that you don’t have!) scheduling workouts, and hoping you’re doing it right. You trust your coach to take care of the complexities of building a training program so that you don’t have to.

A health coach looks at all the other parts of your life that impact your training as an endurance athlete. Health coaches work with you to understand how your stress, sleep, nutrition, mindset, and toxins are impacting your athletic performance. News flash: neglecting these areas is limiting your performance potential! A health coach will use evidence-based scientific methods to support you in optimizing your total health so that you can train harder, race faster, and recover quicker.

So if you hired an athletic coach to save you the time and stress about making your training plan, I can’t imagine that you have the time to do all the research into ensuring you’re doing all the right things to support your health. Endurance athletes need a lot more health support than the average human! Instead of wasting time weeding through articles online, trust a functional medicine health coach to give you the information you need to support you in your training, racing, and life.

At Ignite, our health coaches are certified in functional medicine, meaning they are specially trained to understand how your body’s systems function together to optimize athletic performance. We help you to understand how your lifestyle impacts your performance, and use protocols backed by science to get your body working to the best of its ability. Endurance athletes will find that working with a health coach will improve their energy levels, increase speed and power outputs, enhance focus, improve recovery, and result in higher engagement in life outside of training.

No more dragging yourself through the day, depending on coffee, energy drinks, and sugary snacks to get things done, but then being wide awake when it’s time to sleep. You’ll never feel like you’re not fully focused at work or in socializing with friends and family. You’ll finally feel like you’re able to give 110% in every single training session.

If you’re an endurance athlete wanting to take your performance to the next level (and get a leg up on the competition!), it’s time to take your holistic health into consideration. Take the stress out of it, and hire a health coach to help you get there.

Ignite is the only functional medicine health coaching service specifically designed for endurance athletes. At Ignite, we are endurance athletes too. We understand the unique needs you have.