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In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Andy Morgan. Andy is an online coach and author who lives in Japan and runs RippedBody.com and Athletebody.jp. He's been an online coach for over 9 years. Stuart and Andy discuss how he got his first few clients and how he gets them today, why it's worth creating blogs, how to create your first one and imposter syndrome.     Timestamps: [02.34] - How Andy found starting as an online coach without doing any in-person coaching beforehand? [07.01] - Did he have any mentors or coaches who helped him when he first started? [10.52] - How he handles imposter syndrome? [15.36] - How he got his first online coaching clients? [22.42] - How he gets clients now? [27.55] - Is a blog a worthwhile thing to do? [33.16] - What should you write about if you start a blog? [37.22] - Has he always liked writing?     Find Out More About Andy: https://rippedbody.com/ https://www.instagram.com/andy_rippedbody/     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Cody Hill. Cody is a trainer who works mainly in large group settings. He's run large group outdoor sessions for a number of years for a company called Camp Gladiator. They talk about how he got started, some of the misconceptions that large group training holds from the world of the Bootcamp, how to create better large group sessions, getting more interaction when running zoom workouts, why you should watch your recorded workouts back and much more.      Timestamps: [01.33] - Why he started lifting weights? [05.08] - How he ended up starting in the fitness industry? [10.20] - When he realised a Bootcamp wasn't just burpees and train-till-you-throw-up type workouts. [18.12] - What a sample outdoor workout looks like? [21.43] - How he started doing 1-1 PT off the back of running his group sessions? [25.28] - Increasing interaction and a community feel over online platforms like zoom. [33.00] - How important is the quality of trainer in large group training? [39.53] - Would he go into large group training if he didn't have the job he does just now? [47.43] - Skillsets for group training and 1-1. [49.23] - Why you should watch back your recorded online group workouts. [51.23] - Characteristics for doing well in group workouts.       Find Out More About Cody: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cody.hill.4      Find Out More About LTB: Website Session X: https://sessionx.com/  Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Nik Handley and Anthony Park from PT Mentor Academy. Together they've got nearly 40 years of experience in personal training in a variety of roles and lots to teach. They discuss a range of topics from the world of personal training including what you should be focussing on right now, what they were they both like as new trainers and what it's like looking back, what their message would be to a struggling trainer, turning knowledge into action and a bunch of other lessons.     Timestamps: [03.26] - Ant's experience as a new personal trainer. [05.54] - Nik's experience as a new personal trainer. [10.21] - When Nik found his place in the industry. [12.51] - When Ant found his place in the industry. [17.21] - What their advice would be a trainer who is struggling just now. [22.41] - Bridging the gap between getting knowledge and information and turning it into action. [32.41] - Does personal training have an apprenticeship phase? [45.34] - How they would start in the industry if they were starting tomorrow but had all of their knowledge and experience?       Find Out More About PTMA: Website: https://ptmentoracademy.com/  Ant's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antptma/      Find Out More About LTB: Website Session X: https://sessionx.com/  Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, we have a reposted podcast from back in 2017 with Leigh Peele. Leigh is an incredible online coach and author of some excellent books on fat loss including 'Starve Mode' and 'The Fat Loss Troubleshoot'. Stuart and Leigh discuss self-esteem, what helps you last as a fitness professional, teaching your clients how to think critically and reducing the impact of failure.   Find Out More About Leigh: Website Instagram Facebook   Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In this episode, we have a reposted episode from back in 2018 where Stuart chats to Eric Helms from 3D Muscle Journey. The conversation is centred around Eric's experiences of being a personal trainer back in 2005-2012, what this has taught him and how it's shaped how he coaches and teaches now. Other topics covered include time management, use of social media, improving introspection, book recommendations and more. Happy New Year everyone and thank you so much for listening to the LTB Podcast! P.S. No timestamps for this one but the interview with Eric starts at 02.10         Find Out More About Eric: 3DMJ Website: https://3dmusclejourney.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helms3dmj/      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook  

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes back on Alex Pearson. They go straight into a conversation about some of the things they've done well, not done as well and learnt from 2020. The framework they use is based on James Clear's Yearly reviews available on his website.          Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes back on Cathy MacDonald. Cathy has been on the show 2 times before (both in 2017) discussing different things related to her current career in communication. Her career prior to that was in Crisis Negotiation for Police Scotland and that's where we focus our attention today. We discuss what her work involved, some of the specific cases she remembers being involved in, what she wishes everyone knew about suicide and what to do if you encounter a situation in which someone is saying they are going to, or are thinking about, taking their own life.      Timestamps: [02.40] - What it's like reflecting on her previous career as a crisis negotiator for Police Scotland now she's 5 years beyond it? [07.57] - What the majority of her work was in crisis negotiation? [10.27] - How she would describe how she felt walking into a negotiation of some kind? [19.20] - Cathy tells us about one of the memories she has over losing someone during a suicide intervention. [21.50] - How quickly Cathy would be redeployed after one negotiation? [23.05] - Specific cases that stick out during her time in crisis negotiation? [34.00] - How often you learn the reason someone wants to kill themselves? [35.35] - The core emotional concerns. [38.25] - What does Cathy wish everyone knew about suicide? [45.57] - Suicide statistics deaths in Scotland. [51.00] - What to do if you encounter a situation in which someone is saying they are going to commit suicide? [53.50] - Where to go if you need help.     Suicide Resources International Suicide Hotlines: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines  Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/  NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/suicide/        Find Out More About Cathy: Website: https://www.artofcommunication.co.uk/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Art-Of-Communication-1126742237340516      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes LTBs head of education, Gregg Slater. Gregg has just created 50 lesson course called hypertrophy: the science of programme design. In this conversation, we cover what he's learned in the creation of the course, why hypertrophy is for everyone, what he hopes to see in the research over the coming years, how to start planning out long term programming, why the psychology of programme design is as important as the physical and how he would approach a career in PT if he was starting tomorrow.     Timestamps: [01.33] - How would Gregg approach a career in personal training just now? [02.53] - How would he approach building relationships with potential clients? [07.53] - Why he finds personal training mentally draining? [09.03] - Why hypertrophy is for everyone. [12.18] - Why PTs should talk more about how great resistance training is for everyone. [14.13] - Has he changed his mind on anything with regards to hypertrophy training? [23.43] - Where does he see the hypertrophy research going? [26.43] - Does he think programming needs to be complicated? [31.53] - How to start mapping out long term programming? [40.13] - How much does he tell his clients when it comes to programming? [41.53] - How to keep programming fun for you as the trainer?     Find Out More About Gregg: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregg_ltb/  Hypertrophy course: https://liftthebar.com/courses/hypertrophy/      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Sophie Carrigill. Sophie is a Team GB wheelchair athlete who has won silver medals at both the world and European stage. In the interview, they discuss what she loves about sport, what some of her biggest challenges are living in a wheelchair, the accident that led her to becoming paralysed, misconceptions around disabilities, creating a more inclusive world and more specifically, fitness industry for people who live with disabilities and much more.      Timestamps: [01.36] - What Sophie loves about sport? [06.31] - What some of her biggest challenges are living in a wheelchair? [11.31] - Sophie tells Stuart what happened to her 10 years ago. [17.46] - How she got through the period after her accident when she was in so much pain? [20.01] - How she came to terms with having a disability? [26.21] - Misconceptions that able-bodied people have around disabilities? [30.56] - The importance of having conversations around creating a more inclusive world for people with disabilities. [34.11] - A discussion around the fitness industry and being more inclusive towards a community of people who have a disability. [42.41] - Wheelchair basketball.     Find Out More About Sophie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophcaz/?hl=en      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Lisa Gimenez Codd. Lisa was one of the first ever guests on the show back in 2017. She's someone that many of the LTB community continue to turn to for advice when working with the female client. In this episode, we discuss parenthood and why they both find it extremely difficult, some misconceptions around pregnancy and the prenatal stage, when to start making changes with a pregnant client, postnatal considerations, getting the pre baby body back and more. If you work with clients who are pregnant or have had kids, you'll pick up a lot in this episode.      Timestamps: [02.21] - How Lisa's lockdown experience has been? [05.54] - What does it mean to her to be a parent? [15.41] - Have we grown as an industry with pre/postnatal since we last spoke in 2017? [22.10] - Misconceptions around prenatal. [24.40] - How to have the conversation around 'eating for two' when a client is pregnant? [26.50] - Considerations and questions a trainer should have when a client says they are pregnant? [29.00] - When should we start to make changes around our programming & nutrition advice? [36.01] - Miscarriage and how to help your client. [41.55] - How long does it take before a postnatal client is ready to return? [46.10] - Postnatal considerations. [50.15] - Why breastfeeding may not be as easy as you think for your client. [53.30] - Getting the pre baby body back... [58.50] - The pelvic floor and pregnancies impact on it [60.10] - The menopause.     Find Out More About Lisa: Instagram & Facebook: @myoptimumhealth Website: https://www.optimum-health.me.uk/  Anthony Lo: https://physiodetective.com/courses/female-athlete-tfa-2/  Julie Wiebe (core health, diastasis recti): https://www.juliewiebept.com/?s=diastasis+recti  Umi Health pre&postnatal: https://www.umi-health.com  Returning to running guidelines: https://www.absolute.physio/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/returning-to-running-postnatal-guidelines.pdf      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Jamie Rowland. Jamie is a personal trainer and member of LTB who has been working in the industry for well over 10 years. He specialises in working with the elderly client and runs classes for cardiac rehab and falls prevention. I loved this conversation and I think the way Jamie speaks about his clients speaks to why he's had clients working with him since 2008. We jump around but the main things we discuss are what it's like working with the elderly client, and why you may want to consider working with them, how to move past comparisons and how to develop loyalty in your client base.     Timestamps: [05.05] - What his favourite part of being a personal trainer is? [05.55] - What it was like working with a 104 year old client? [07.20] - How he got started in the fitness industry? [16.20] - How he's kept the community feel of his business during lockdown? [18.00] - How he got started working with the elderly client? [20.40] - How he would suggest getting started with the elderly client? [24.15] - His background and how he's feeling about his future in the fitness industry? [28.30] - What he would go back and tell himself at the start of his career? [29.40] - Impostor syndrome/ comparisons. [39.30] - Client loyalty. [40.45] - Does he get bored training the same clients all the time?     Find Out More About Jamie: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jayuk      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Laura Tilt. Laura is a UK registered dietitian and health writer who is fascinated about how food makes us feel, think and live. We discuss all things related to mindful eating - what it is, how to implement it with your clients, if it helps things like emotional eating, some simple steps to get started and much more.      Timestamps: [01.55] - How her mini-van transformation is going? [05.40] - What she wishes the general population knew more about nutrition? [08.25] - Why we lose touch with our 'inner wisdom'? [11.50] - Defining mindful eating. [13.40] - Is mindfulness a precursor to mindful eating? [18.15] - Why labelling emotional eating as negative is wrong. [22.20] - Misconceptions around mindful eating/ How Laura came to start using mindful eating in her coaching. [36.30] - 3 tools for starting mindful eating. [45.25] - Surfing the urge/ how to manage cravings.     Find Out More About Laura: Instagram Website     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Alex Chapman. Alex supports people and teams to achieve their personal and collective aspirations across a multitude of settings [including Professional, Olympic & Paralympic sports, education, and business settings] for nearly two decades. Currently a performance lifestyle advisor with the English Institute of Sport and doing some private stuff as an executive/performance coach.    In this episode, they discuss some considerations around professional development, a bunch of things around feedback - how to seek it out from your clients and how to best receive it even if it cuts deep. They finish talking about his coaching philosophy.     Timestamps: [02.03] - What it was like working for Portsmouth F.C. while they were in the Premier League. [04.02] - What he would tell himself if he could go back to the start of his career? [08.56] - Does he enjoy getting better? {18.15] - A discussion around feedback. [22.20] - Why you should consider introducing a review session into your 1-1 PT client set up. [27.05] - Gaining feedback on your blindspots and creating actions off the back of useful feedback. [30.00] - A process for gaining feedback openly from new clients. [33.35] - Why feedback can be harder to take when it hits your identity. [38.15] - His coaching philosophy.     Find Out More About Alex: https://goodthingscoming.co.uk/      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Andy Morgan. Andy is an online coach and author who lives in Japan and runs Ripped Body.com and Athletebody.jp. He's been an online coach for over 9 years. If you'd like to learn more about Andy head here.   Stuart and Andy discuss how Andy's online coaching business runs. Specifically, they get into how he manages his client check-ins and how he sets expectations in place, as well as some book recommendations, why he prioritises time for content creation and much more.     Timestamps: [01.35] - Why he takes Friday's away from email to spend the day reading. [07.50] - Why he feels his ego has gotten in the way of effective content creation in the past. [10.30] - Why he changed from answering his emails as quick as possible to slowing down and giving more detailed responses. [14.00] - If he feels giving clients rules around communication helps them take more responsibility for their results? [21.15] - How he would recommend improving your communication process with your online coaching clients? [27.00] - A script for changing your communication process. [28.55] - Why he does bi-weekly check-ins. [32.45] - Why he asks clients not to respond to emails on their phones. [45.40] - Book recommendations.     Find Out More About Andy: https://rippedbody.com/ https://www.instagram.com/andy_rippedbody/     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's shorter episode, Stuart discusses LTB's new 30-day social media challenge before getting into 8 ways you can get more of your social media pages.      Find Out More About LTB: 30 Day Challenge Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Greg Potter. Greg is co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Resilient Nutrition, a UK-based company that makes products designed to help athletes perform better that are simple and delicious. In addition to this role, Greg helps a range of individuals improve their health and performance, from elite athletes to CEOs to people who have mood disorders. Since he did his PhD on the topics of sleep, circadian rhythms, nutrition, and metabolism, Greg spends much of his time helping individuals sleep and eat better.   Stuart and Greg discuss all things related to sleep. Low hanging pieces of fruit that'll help you get better sleep, whether or not your weight-loss client should prioritise sleep, naps, how caffeine intake affects sleep, how to know if you're getting enough, the effectiveness of wearables and much more!     Timestamps: [02.04] - What major changes Greg has made to his own sleep habits since he started studying sleep. [04.47] - Why he's changed his use of devices before bed. [09.47] - His advice around what to do when you're in a period of getting less sleep. [12.12] - Naps. [15.52] - The caffeine nap. [20.22] - Supplementing with creatine monohydrate to help mitigate the effects of sleep loss. [25.07] - How important is sleep when you have a client who wants weight loss and doesn't sleep well? [32.02] - How to decipher if your sleep isn't good or you're not getting enough sleep? [37.27] - Low hanging pieces of fruit to improve sleep. [39.22] - Caffeine intake and sleep. [45.02] - Quick mention of Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep book and the criticisms. [47.20] - Things he keeps getting asked about that are not that important like sleep stages assessed through wearables. [49.12] - Sleep resources. [52.02] - The company he co-founded called Resilient Nutrition.     Find Out More About Greg: Resilient Nutrition Website Instagram Matthew Walker book Youtube discussion     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes back Tom Hamilton, a trainer who works out W10 performance in London and the IFBA, a coaching company that helps gym owners. They jump off their last interview, which was released back in October 2019, and discuss programming lessons, a bunch of things around better session management for 1-1 & semi-private and how W10 tests their clients.     Timestamps: [09.27] - Why some clients stick around when you're a new coach who is learning and trialling things out. [11.31] - How he's improved his self-awareness. [19.26] - Does he do anything before going into his first session of the day to mentally prepare for it? [23.35] - What starts to happen as members walk in? What does he do to get the gym ready before people start coming in? [25.00] - Why it's important to give negative feedback to a member 1-1 rather than shout it out as a group. [26.30] - Why W10 has a mantra of "we never see the same person twice" [30.45] - Why it's important to have continuity of coaching between coaches. [35.08] - Do they tell members what the session is going to entail during the warm-up? [36.05] - Why they don't log every weight and rep lifted by their clients. [41.52] - What their client testing every 12 weeks looks like? [46.48] - How and when they do the testing? [50.10] - Why it's smart to consider using fewer cues. [52.53] - How W10 gathers feedback on their coaching and session quality. [54.55] - How they create variation within a block using a squat.       Find Out More About Tom: LinkedIn Instagram IFBA Adam Willis (The Empowered Body Podcast) Interview     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart talks to Jordan Syatt. They start by talking about a story involving Jordan getting caught smoking weed by his Mum before moving into a discussion about lying and vulnerability which transitions into all things related to content creation. What platform to concentrate your time, how to get more engagement, how to stop feeling so drawn to the likes your posts receive and what single step to take to make your next post better and more.   Jordan began Syatt Fitness, his online fitness coaching business, from his dorm at the University of Delaware in 2011 and has become one of the industry’s leading experts in strength training, nutrition, and behavioral psychology. One of the only people in the world to deadlift 4x his own body weight, Jordan's work has been featured all over the world including a variety of media publications such as CNN, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Men's Health Magazine, Men’s Fitness Magazine, and Schwarzenegger.com     Timestamps: [02.08] - Jordan tells a story about his Mum catching him smoking weed. [07.25] - Has he always been so willing to share vulnerable things on social media? [13.08] - Is social media a good place to put vulnerable things out on? [14.29] - Why it's so normal to feel drawn to the likes you get on a social media post. [15.50] - How he has learnt to view each individual post he outs on social media? [23.30] - How to start getting more likes, engagement, shares etc on your social media posts? [26.32] - Why the quantity of followers is less important than most people think. [30.02] - How he's stayed so consistent with creating content? [28.24] - What you should post about? [34.15] - Why he'd pick long-form blog posts as his number content medium. [37.22] - Taking people from social media engagement to becoming a potential lead/ someone who signs up to your service? [40.21] - Why every single piece of content has to have an IPA (immediately practical action) [43.04] - Is the fitness industry too saturated?       Find Out More About Jordan: Website Instagram     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Adam Boyd-Brown. They discuss a range of subjects including some of the big differences between online and in-person coaching, how Adam builds rapport with new clients, changing beliefs in clients and lessons learned in programme design throughout his career.   Adam's qualified as a PT in 2008. He then explored multiple different avenues before finally pursuing his passion for coaching in 2016. He began as a self-employed PT working out of a small members gym in Chichester. Since then he's worked with many individuals both face to face and online through multiple channels (1-2-1 Face to Face and Online and Group Face to Face and Online) and has a business that runs a 50:50 split of in-person and online.     Timestamps: [01.40] - How Adam got started in the fitness industry. [05.58] - Adam tells us about his feelings of anxiety about getting into the industry. [13.10] - How his business runs at the moment/ what a normal week looks like. [18.05] - Does he think it's necessary to go through the split shift structure most personal trainers go through with in-person? [21.00] - Coaching in person before going online? [23.07] - Differences between his online and in-person clientele? [26.20] - His online coaching consultation structure. [29.14] - Chipping away at new clients beliefs that are wrong. [33.40] - What he does to build buy-in early on with new online clients? [37.35] - How he has improved his programme design since he started in the industry? [42.10] - Autoregulation and how he uses it. [46.30] - Splitting up single-leg training with another exercise for hypertrophy clients.   Find Out More About Adam: Website Instagram     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart welcomes Rachel Anne Hobbs. They have an in-depth conversation about all things to do with body image. How to go about helping your clients improve their relationship with their bodies, what to say when a client tells you they "feel fat", how to navigate the waters of marketing weight loss, using scale weight as a progress measurement, body images resources and much more (specific timestamps are below). Rachel qualified as a personal trainer in 2009 after the birth of her son. She then went to Surrey university to complete a degree in Clinical Dietetics and Nutrition, including clinical practice in the NHS for a year. Alongside setting up a private practice combining nutrition and training she did her post-grad with the IOC in performance nutrition and now leads the nutrition at the Elite Army Performance Centre part of the week. The other part of her work is within the area of dysfunctional eating, where she works one to one and in small groups. She is currently completing a post-grad in psychotherapy.     Timestamps: [03.30] - Why Rachel doesn't compete in sports anymore. [06.00] - Discussion about the importance of what you look like as a personal trainer. [08.53] - How she thinks about body image when working with clients. [10.20] - Reducing the importance of how clients feel about their body image in their lives. [14.10] - How to help a client who wants to lose weight AND really doesn't like the body they are in. [16.30] - Moving towards body neutrality. [17.40] - Navigating the waters of weight loss marketing. [22.57] - Is body image a newer issue? [25.18] - How she encourages clients to improve their use of social media to help how they feel about themselves when using it. [28.35] - Are trainers qualified to talk about body image? [29.03] - Body image resources. [31.20] - Applying a non-judgemental mindset to other people as well as yourself [36.31] - Starting steps to go about helping one of your clients improve their body image if you feel underqualified? [38.20] - Does she use scale weight as a progress measurement? [41.40] - What to do if a client says "I feel fat"? [46.00] - What she teaches her son (who is 12) about body image? [47.40] - If Rachel could go back and tell her younger coaching self something about body image, what would it be? [48.38] - Realising she didn't want a bigger business and was happy where she was.     Find Out More About Rachel: Website Instagram Resources mentioned on body image - 1, 2     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook