The Lounge Q+A: Sivan Fagan, Fitness Trainer

What’s the best way to become an independent fitness professional?

I always joke with my friends and with my colleagues. Everyone started with cleaning the machines. Everyone. We all did the dirty work. Everyone has to. I would even say that is just what makes you a great trainer. That is what makes me a good trainer. If you go and get a certification or even when you went to school, you got a degree in exercise science, kinesiology, where does your experience come from? Who are your mentors? A certification or even a degree in exercise doesn’t teach you how to be a great trainer. It does not. The way that I was taught is by seeking out mentors, doing courses, reading books, attending workshops, really just putting yourself out there. Seek out information, certifications, experience, whatever to make yourself the best.

What was the biggest challenge in your career?

The biggest challenge in my career? Do you hear my accent? I’m not originally from the United States. I was born and raised in Israel. I would say for sure, being able to actually coach in English. I mean, essentially, I studied for my certification in six months and that’s how I learned English.

I’ll tell you another one. I think what’s hard for a lot of trainers out there is, because of social media, you deal with a lot of fitness celebrities. I guess you can call them that? Those are people that look amazing, work out, and don’t really know what they’re talking about, to say it lightly. I think that it’s hard because I always say fitness celebrities are not fitness professionals. There’s a huge difference. Fitness celebrities are people that like to work out, enjoy working out, and putting out videos, and content.

A lot of times, I’ve had clients come to me and say, “Hey, is this something that I should be doing? Or why aren’t we doing this? Or why is she doing this?” in terms of their exercise form. I think a lot of times, again, those kinds of fitness celebrities get undeserved authority in the fitness field. I think it’s hard for fitness professionals to actually separate themselves, especially for women. I’ve had talks with other colleagues and they’re like, “Hey, I feel like if I don’t show my skin, then people are not going to think that I’m a trainer. Or I have to look the part to be a trainer,” which I think is completely unnatural.

You should be healthy, but you shouldn’t have to look like a bodybuilder or like a fitness model. It doesn’t mean anything about your skills and your competency as a coach. Absolutely nothing. There was an article years ago that asked the question, “Do trainers need to have six packs?” No, they don’t. My goal is to help you look better, feel better, and move better. How I look has no impact. Now, it doesn’t mean that I should lead an unhealthy lifestyle and look like I lead an unhealthy lifestyle. Because then, no one is going to hire me. I need to walk the walk to a certain degree.

What do you see in the future?

I think that personal training will never die. That’s what I think, number one. Because I know a lot of people who say, “Oh, that’s it. No more training in person.” That’s not going to happen. People seek that interpersonal connection. I have clients that have all the latest gadgets, including “The Mirror”. Have you heard of The Mirror? She bought it and then she hired me literally a month after. I’m like, “I have a question. Why did you hire me if you have it?” And honestly, everyone has access to everything. If you want to work out, you’ll find a workout online. That’s not so hard. But she said, “I want someone to be next to me to tell me if I’m doing the proper form and to be able to adjust and monitor my progress.” Again, I want someone next to me. So what does it tell you? People want that connection. People want that accountability. It’s not enough to have a mirror or whatever it is that’s telling you what to do. So I think that the fitness industry has been hurt and has been hit hard, 100%. I’ll tell you what, though, I think it’s the ones who really focus on supporting their people and building communities that are going to thrive now. That’s what I think.

From who or what did you draw inspiration to have accomplished so much?

I started my own journey, my own strength training journey because at age 17 and 18, I was anorexic. So that was essentially my start for kind of discovering, strengthening, and building my body and not destroying it. Definitely, my grandfather was the one. He used to be a bodybuilder. He lived the healthy lifestyle for years and years. Actually, he recently passed away about two months ago and he passed away at 92 years old. He was literally the poster child for what a healthy lifestyle looks like. He did everything right and he exercised and ate everything in moderation and all that.

I think it was really him that kind of pushed me to continue doing what I’m doing. Then I realized that I’m very, very passionate about it. I want others…I want other women…I want other men to feel what I feel and to see that building your body is actually building yourself – your character and your confidence. It really does. If you focus on strength training and just bettering yourself, it does have a ripple effect into many, many aspects of your life. It goes way beyond the aesthetic part and way beyond the physical aspects.