Lift Free And Diet Hard with Andrew Coates

Dr. Caleb Burgess brings his expertise as a doctor of physical therapy and as a strength and conditioning coach to explain some of the tribal and polarizing behavior displayed in the fitness industry and where it intersects with physical therapy. We tease out the nuance of what can often appear to be extreme and polarized positions and ideas, and explain why these battles happen and what you the fitness professional can do to avoid being caught in the middle. Caleb talks about his positive and educational approach to helping the end user instead of trying to impress other fitness professionals. 

Matthew Ibrahim returns to talk about his recent speaking appearance at the national NSCA convention and the career path to get there. We discuss how educating other coaches through writing, speaking, and other forms is not about the money but paying it forward to other coaches, and growing authority in the industry. Matthew also shares why he never wants to fully stop coaching clients in person. 

Marc Megna is one of the ownership team of the popular Miami based gym chain, Anatomy. He's a skilled storyteller and shares lessons from his experience as a pro football player, trainer, gym owner, and other highlights and low lights of his life. Marc is student of leadership and great example of humility. Marc shares what to know before venturing into opening a gym and the best parts of the experience. 

Steve Hall of Revive Stronger makes his first appearance and shares the humble origins of his career leading up to his rise as a popular evidence based coach. Steve elaborates on his experience building his online business, on how to choose a great business partner, how he built systems, and how he didn't have all the answers he just learned and figured it out as he went. 

Writer, speaker, and online nutrition and behavior change coach Jeb Stuart Johnston returns to talk about how coaches can improve their communication and messaging to for greater career success and to make a greater difference in the lives of the people we work with. We dive into a big discussion about the discussions coaches fall into that don't help themselves or their clients. We talk in depth about the value of writing for career growth, and the value of attending events where like minded coaches gather and interact. 

Brianna Battles makes her first and long overdue appearance to talk about her experience as a coach and educator for pregnancy and postpartum. Brianna shares practical considerations for coaches navigating this huge demographic, as women form the majority of fitness consumers, and many of those women will at some point in their lifetime go through pregnancy, and will then always be postpartum. Brianna explains her thoughts on "athletic maturity" and being adaptable to "stay in the game, even if the game changes".

Dr. Jade Teta returns to talk about the importance of communication and connection to making a difference in our client outcomes. We expand into why these skills are so essential to long term career success and growth, and how Jade fostered his own skills. Jade shares why it's important to be purpose focused. He explains how compassion and empathy are the roots of good communication. He also explains why it's important to be aware of your own bias and dogma, and to be anti dogmatic. 

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. 

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. 

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.