A beautiful blog series where we highlight the journey, struggles, experiences, challenges and achievements of your favourite coaches. Read on to learn about coach Amogh’s wonderful journey.
In conversation with this coach, I am reminded of ‘In your struggles, you will find your salvation’. This coach has faced many challenges and all that pressure has turned him into a real diamond. If you have interacted with Amogh Gadewar you will agree with me 100%.
In 2019, he was at his peak with his slots running out within 30 minutes of opening at midnight. On one of the slot opening days, he made a distressed call to Shashank Lalwani pleading him to close all his slots and that he was thinking to quit coaching altogether. 😵
He tells me that he felt ‘completely overwhelmed’ during that period. Needless to say, he stayed on. He overcame his challenges, learnt from the experience and continues to be one of the top coaches at Fittr. 🙌
Amogh’s life took a turn when he discovered CAT (MBA Entrance Test) and FITTR at the same time. As he prepared for CAT, he devoured the knowledge shared on this platform and found an early mentor in Matin Shaikh. 🤘
He says, ‘Matin was a big influence in my life at that time, and he made me believe that our body can do anything that we want to’. Seeing the results for himself, Amogh was hooked.
His CAT and Foundation exams happened within days of each other. As he cleared the foundation he realised maybe he could really be a Coach too. 😎
He had already trained 50 of his friends and family even before he joined as a coach. “It gave me a lot of learning in how to handle clients. The priorities of a 50year old woman is different from that of a teenager and I had to connect with both, to get them fit.”
He admits the initial few months as a coach were not that great for him as he was not active on the platform. He was going through a placement process during his MBA, but soon after he started to become active and people connected with him.
Once the clients started to flow in, he has never had a problem with enrolments after that. 😇
I am a strict coach and insist on regular updates from my clients. Amogh gave all his time to his new job and his clients.
‘I have very long calls with my clients, especially the ones who are eager to learn. I want to make them competent at looking after their health.” Teaching and motivating his clients are both very important to Amogh even today.
For up to 2 years after becoming a coach, he was always on and available 24/7 to his clients. He was sacrificing his Sundays and all his personal time. This started to take a toll on his mental health and as the number of clients started to get too much, he started to have panic attacks in 2019. 😓
“I knew I had to change something” and after talking to Shashank he decided to take less clients by closing his slots early. He found through trial and error that he can maintain his sanity if he keeps his active clients below 110.
During this time he suffered through a personal tragedy of his father passing away. His father was depressed and could not find his way out. Amogh is the only child and he says that the weight of responsibilities made his priorities crystal clear. He says ‘over everything including money or fame, I just wanted mental peace’. 🥺
He delayed his marriage for a few months, and during the lockdowns in Covid he finally took the hard call to quit his corporate job. I remember the call from him when he was deliberating the decision. After asking him a few things, I knew he had thought through the implications, was thinking right and was ready for the move. He connected with others too to get their advise on the move – JC, Shashank and Aniketh Shetty.
He moved to Hyderabad where he rediscovered his love for Cricket and now dedicates his weekends to the sport. 😍
His other struggle has also been maintaining his physique given the challenge of time and also numerous injuries he has gone through. He gained 16kgs in the first few months of joining Fittr as a Coach. He is taking this in his stride when he tells me that recovering from his injuries has taught him so much about anatomy and muscle physiology that he could not have known otherwise. 🤓
It took him over 1.5 years to get back to his fit and shredded physique, and even though he is careful, he is no longer scared of small injuries.
His advise to new and aspiring coaches – maintain a balance in life. You will be tempted to work exclusively at filling your slots, but work on your knowledge too. Also, save time for your personal life!
His parting words are to learn from the feedback of clients but never let things like refunds affect your mental health. It took him over 2 years to not feel anxious about criticism from clients. 🤗
Thank you Amogh for sharing these personal moments from the life that has shaped you to be an amazing coach. The entire community is richer for having a dedicated coach like you amongst us!
