Primal Health Coach Institute is 7 years old, and it’s grown up faster than either one of my kids did. We’ve evolved the curriculum, added more tools and resources, and launched several new courses for aspiring and current coaches and health professionals.
I’m dedicating today’s blog post to PHCI’s latest development because it’s transforming my mission in the very best way. With the joint efforts of Mark’s Daily Apple and our global community of Primal Health Coaches, we’re not too far from reaching my goal of helping 10 million people take control of their health. And given all the success that the broader primal movement has had over the last two decades, perhaps we should, yet again, add another zero to the goal.
I think Primal Health Coach Institute’s newest training programs focused on fitness will get us there.
You’re probably familiar with our flagship health coaching program. It’s a comprehensive certification program that’s equal parts health and wellness education, coaching skills training, and business development. We’ve certified thousands of Primal Health Coaches, and they’re making an impact in 75 countries around the world.
And now, we’re going to do the same with fitness coaches. Because, after several years of development, we’re ready to unveil the Primal Fitness Coach Certification Program.
What Is Primal Fitness?
Before I get into course specifics, I think it’s important to clarify what we mean by primal fitness, and what makes it different from other fitness philosophies.
Throughout my years as a professional athlete and coach to athletes, I’ve seen a common theme and talked about it often—the tendency to push ourselves and each other so far beyond our limits that we chase fitness gains away and invite injury, burnout, and illness.
For people just looking to get fitter, it’s difficult to find a balanced approach to exercise that can be sustained for a lifetime. Moving more becomes stressful when it should be fun, and it’s difficult to get fitness gains to stick.
That’s where primal fitness reshapes the traditional model. It’s a back-to-the-basics fitness philosophy that takes a playful approach to movement and focuses on functional fitness fully integrated with healthy living.
If you’re a regular reader, you’re likely already up to speed with the 10 Primal Blueprint Laws and know I’m a proponent of moving frequently at a comfortable pace, sprinting once in a while, lifting heavy things, and playing. Maybe you’ve watched our videos demonstrating the correct way to do Primal Essential Movements. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Over the past two years, I’ve worked closely with PHCI staff and instructors, as well as other experts with decades of experience as personal trainers and fitness educators, to round out primal fitness so that it now addresses all areas of movement, exercise, and fitness in a holistic manner. It’s the culmination of my life experience in this area, and it includes everything I know about fitness and exercise.
I also want to give a shout-out to Brad Kearns, who was instrumental in developing this program. For those of you who haven’t met him, Brad was my co-author on our bestsellers: Primal Endurance and The Keto Reset Diet. Brad also has a background as a professional triathlete (I used to train him back in the 80s and 90s when he competed on the world circuit), most recently as the Guinness World Record Speedgolfer, and 2020 and 2022 #1-ranked USA Masters age 55-59 high jumper. Together, we made sure the Primal Fitness Coach Certification Program reflects the latest research in exercise and fitness science while also gracefully and strategically honoring what we know about how our primal ancestors moved and lived.
Check out this recent podcast in which I go into greater detail about Primal Fitness and our new certification program: Health Coach Radio Episode | Fitness for Life with Mark Sisson.
What You’ll Learn
We train our students to be well-versed in all primal fitness exercises and principles and prepared to use their knowledge in a variety of personal and professional contexts. When you complete the course, you’ll know how to train clients to be fit for life—to avoid injuries, increase mobility, develop lean muscle mass, protect joints, and optimize metabolic health. This well-rounded functional fitness certification covers best practices for daily movement, strength training and conditioning, HIIT exercises, sprinting, breathing, and more.
It’s a three-part curriculum. It starts with a comprehensive ancestral exercise and fitness education. Enroll in the program to become a functional fitness expert and learn how to nurture health, energize the body, mind, and soul, promote fitness versatility, and protect against avoidable injury and burnout. The fourteen chapters of curricula represent the most comprehensive and detailed education you will get anywhere in the world relating to broad-based functional fitness and integrative lifestyle strategies. That’s a puffy statement considering the many exceptional fitness certifications out there. However, nothing covers as much territory as the Primal Fitness Coach Certification. If you already have high-level experience or certifications in specific modalities like strength training, CrossFit or USA Triathlon coaching, this course will be highly complementary to your specialized knowledge.
After you complete the fitness educational component, you’ll learn how to coach others towards their fitness goals so you can step confidently into your fitness coaching practice. We’ll teach you how to structure coaching sessions, ask questions, and motivate behavior change. We also tackle more advanced coaching techniques to help you connect with the emotional, behavioral, mental, spiritual, and relational issues that your clients will be navigating as they work with you on their fitness goals.
The third part of the program helps you build your business. You’ll complete hands-on activities like building your website and developing your content. These chapters include practical exercises that lay the foundation of the fitness coaching business of your dreams.
Who It’s For
If you love fitness and have a desire to do meaningful work in the world, changing people’s relationship to movement, to their bodies, and to exercise, then this program might be the right next step to take in your life and in your career. You don’t have to be a fitness pro. We’ll turn you into one. You just have to enjoy helping other people and have a passion for fitness and health.
And if you love fitness but don’t necessarily want to be a coach, we’re also offering our new Primal Fitness Expert Certification that is comprised of only the aforementioned first tier–the 14 chapters of fitness education. It’s everything you need to know to become a certified primal expert—just without the coaching and business training. It’s a fraction of the cost of the Primal Fitness Coach Certification and is perfect for the primal enthusiast looking to get fit for life. It’s also a great continuing education option for already certified coaches and health professionals who want to round out their knowledge with primal fitness. This includes existing certified Primal Health Coaches who want to add a fitness dimension to their health coaching knowledge and practice.
Reaching the 100-Million Mark
With these two new endeavors in the mix, we can confidently add another zero to our mission—100 million lives changed is now well within the realm of possibility.
The Primal Health Coach Institute website just got a major design update. Take a look and explore our new primal fitness courses. If you’re inspired, I hope you’ll join the thousands of coaches around the world who are already part of the PHCI community and become one of the first Primal Fitness Coaches on the planet.
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