

Lift Free And Diet Hard with Andrew Coates
Andrew Coates
The Lift Free and Diet Hard Podcast dives deep into the science and practice of living a strong, healthy, and intentional life. Hosted by Andrew Coates, the show brings together inspiring guests to share insights, stories, and practical advice that empower listeners to build confidence, make informed choices, and stay resilient in their fitness and wellness journeys. Every episode encourages thoughtful exploration of what it means to lift free, diet hard, and live fully.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 7, 2022 • 52min
EP #85 Meghan Callaway: Educate, Empower, Excite
Meghan Callaway returns to talk about her business, media, and career growth. Meghan shares how her career has thrived when she put in place boundaries around her work and client interactions. We talk about how to approach your social media and how the right clients self select to you based on your media. Meghan shares how she channels all her work through the principles of educating, empowering, and exciting people. We also dive into the nuance around working with people who are careful about their use of language around movement, pain, and disfunction.

May 31, 2022 • 46min
EP 84 Dr. Mike T. Nelson: Knowledge and Application
Dr. Mike T. Nelson returns to share how gaining knowledge and applying it early in your career is a key foundation to later success. We tease the nuance our of the common question, "does a trainer need to be fit". Mike talks about how he now chooses where to apply his time and energy, focusing primarily on doing what he loves. Mike also shares why you shouldn't fear communicating with your following (in his case email list) daily.

May 24, 2022 • 43min
EP 83 Azaria Glaim: You're Not Broken
Azaria Glaim is my latest guest. Azaria has been a lifestyle coach for women for the last 9 years. Winning her IFBB pro card at 20, we talk about how the competitive industry has helped her career and some words of caution for women considering entering this world, especially if they don't have a good relationship with food to begin with. Azaria talks about her approach to coaching, her focus on mindset, and how to approach the self limiting beliefs clients hold. We also talk about a controversial topic, performance enhancing drugs in the industry and its potential relationship with the early death of many competitors seen on social media. We missed an important note and content in the episode, that often there's other underlying issues, so to make a direct causal implication wouldn't be fair. Hope you enjoy this episode full of Azaria's positive energy.

May 17, 2022 • 49min
EP 82 Phil Graham: Impact Lives, Make More Money
Belfast, Northern Ireland based fitness entrepreneur Phil Graham guests to talk about the difference between young business coaches spamming in your DMs, vs what it takes to develop a career of credibility as a business coach. Phil attacks the "I just want to help people" justification for not welcoming the effort to earn a greater livelihood in your fitness career. We dive into the nuance of the value of having social media followers measured against the pitfall of having so many that take a lot of time but don't lead to business growth. Phil shows the path to impacting more lives and making more money.

May 10, 2022 • 43min
EP 81 Dr. Mike Israetel: Spectrum of Evidence
Dr. Mike Israetel returns to share how RP's social media and content creation have evolved with their brand growth and changes in social media platform reach. Mike eloquently explains why different prominent academics are more liberal or conservative in their interpretations of new research, and how you can navigate this. We also deconstruct the tribalism and hostility sometimes found within certain fitness industry communities, and how Mike prefers to navigate his interactions.

May 3, 2022 • 45min
Ep 80 Brandon Senn: Kabuki Education
Brandon Senn is the VP of Athlete Experience and Head Coach at Kabuki Strength. Brandon provides a peek behind the curtain of his role with Kabuki and what it took to organize the 2nd annual Kabuki Education week this past January. Brandon shares how his value system have shaped his career, and his ambitions about continuing to educate and support other coaches. Listen and you'll also learn Brandon's answer to the question: "If you could have 1 million engaged social media followers tomorrow, would you want it?"

Apr 29, 2022 • 41min
EP 79 Nick Lambe: Making The Industry Better
Nick Lambe guests to share his passion and experience behind creating and hosting fitness events, like his upcoming Recovery and Sleep Summit and Raise The Bar in Orlando this past February. Nick is also a public speaker appearing at The Inland Empire Fitness Conference this August. Nick believes we can make the industry better by scaling our reach through mentoring other fitness professionals, and creating access to great education. Nick shares why he believes its more important to focus on people than just the topics or concepts in education.

Apr 26, 2022 • 49min
EP 78 Eric Roberts: Life and Career: Behind Social Media Success
Eric Roberts guests to talk about both his meteoric rise on social media, and the foundation and career behind and before it all. Eric shares a peek behind the curtain of what kind of time and effort his media takes, what social media growth has done for his career, and shows a rare passion and energy for helping people. We talk about what to expect if you aggressively pursue social media growth and how to go about it.

Apr 19, 2022 • 49min
EP 77 Molly Galbraith: Creating a Better Experience For Women in Fitness
Molly Galbraith makes her long overdue first appearance to share some sobering facts about the experience of many women in the fitness industry, and how we can create a better experience. Molly shares the importance of getting clear on your values and being relentlessly focused. She also shares wisdom and experience from her career with new and emerging fitness professionals.

Apr 12, 2022 • 49min
Ep 76 Luke Carlson: Working In VS On Your Business
Luke Carlson guests to share his extensive wisdom as the founder of the Minnesota based Discover Strength. We talk about why fitness professionals should spend more time learning business and marketing, the importance of embracing a brand, and why playing the long game matters with your career. Luke shares his thoughts on the value of developing a niche. We also talk about his event, The Resistance Exercise Conference, where he keynotes, and I'll be speaking on the weekend of May 13th-14th. Luke shares why you should consider joining us there.