The first facilities to offer coaching programming have been full-service health clubs and wellness centers, Davis says. Many facilities offer coaching as an a la carte item, similar in price to personal training. Other facilities bundle wellness coaching as part of a comprehensive program.

For more than two years, The Thoreau Club has offered wellness coaching to its 3,000 members as well as to nonmembers. The 90-day Fit Forever program includes weekly coaching sessions in person or over the phone, an individualized nutrition consultation, two specialty sessions (such as additional nutritional counseling, personal training, private Pilates lessons or private swim lessons), and a log book and other support materials.

More than 80 percent of nonmembers who complete the program join the facility, and 50 percent of nonmembers in the coaching program purchase additional add-on services at the club, Klein says.

“We've found that it's a great acquisition tool for getting new members because coaching is very appealing to the non-exerciser,” she says. “Participants can see that coaching is going to be the way that they're going to be successful in achieving their goals.”

The management at ACAC Fitness and Wellness Centers has also had success with coaching. About four years ago, a nutritionist at the club suggested getting certified as a wellness coach. Today, every ACAC nutritionist is certified in wellness coaching, and about 75 fitness staff members have been through a wellness coaching workshop, says Amanda Harris, vice president of fitness and wellness at ACAC, which has locations in West Chester, PA; Charlottesville, VA; and Richmond, VA. Although the facilities do not promote coaching by name to members, the club's nutritionists and many fitness professionals use coaching in their sessions and programming. Because coaching is worked into many areas of the club, Harris can't offer a set cost for coaching, but on average, it brings in about $65 an hour, which is about the same as ACAC's highest level of personal training services, she says.

“It's a great way to sell training and other services,” says Harris, who is studying to be a certified wellness coach. “When you're coaching, you're not selling anymore. You're providing solutions to people who really need your help. It's better than the icky sales thing.”

Moore says that getting nutritionists certified in coaching is a natural way for clubs to introduce the practice into their programming because nutrition counseling is about sitting down and talking, something that people expect to do with a dietitian but not with a fitness professional.

“You don't see people having a deep conversation when they're being personally trained,” she says.

Coaches and fitness professionals who aren't trained in coaching have a synergistic relationship, Moore says. If a client's goal deals with weight-loss or improving fitness, then the nutritionist/coach will usually refer the client to a personal trainer or other fitness professional within the club. On the flip side, personal trainers who aren't seeing results with their clients due to emotional eating or other outside issues can refer their clients to a wellness coach. When a fitness professional or nutritionist is also a coach, the benefits are two-fold, Moore says.

Cathleen Brooks Weiss, executive director of the Next Step Institute of Integrative Medicine in Vail, CO, says wellness coaching can help expand health clubs' role in people's lives.

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