In today's episode, Stuart interviews Dr. John Berardi. They discuss career direction and making sense of where you want to go, as well as touching on not feeling like you're doing enough and how to use social media as a personal trainer (check below if you'd like to see specific timestamps!). John is a Canadian-American entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Precision Nutrition, the world’s largest nutrition coaching, education, and software company. He's also the founder of Change Maker Academy, devoted to helping would-be changemakers turn their passion for health and fitness into a powerful purpose and a wildly successful career. Over the last 15 years, he's advised Apple, Equinox and Nike as well as the San Antonio Spurs, US Open Champ Sloane Stephens, and 2-division UFC Champ Georges St. Pierre. He's also been named one of the 20 smartest coaches in the world and 100 most influential people in health and fitness.       Timestamps: [02.03] - Would he have changed anything about his book, Change Maker, due to what has happened with covid-19? [08.15] - His message to a personal trainer who is struggling just now. [10.45] - An example of a caterer who has changed his offering during covid. [14.55] - The personality profile of trainers who are successful online. [18.50] - Unique abilities, purpose and values exercise for making more sense of where to go in your career. [26.30] - Why the belief that you must become a coach in the fitness industry limits the people that come into it. [29.15] - A story about 'Dave's Killer Bread' and a gym owner who moved into mobile personal training. [35.30] - "I'm just a personal trainer, am I not doing enough?"  [37.30] - Why it's important to be as much 'you' as you can be. [42.43] - Social media being detrimental to our mental and business health. [47.15] - Using social media for business growth. [49.45] - Why marketing is not just social media. [1.08.25] - The instant validation/ feedback that social media provides.     Find Out More About John: Change Maker Website Instagram     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

In today's episode, Stuart talks to Steve Hall about how to coach clients online, charging for consultations, technique and hypertrophy, managing hunger, mini cuts, business lessons, developing rapport with online clients and much more. Steve is the founder of Revive Stronger. The name was inspired by a life changing head injury Steve suffered whilst at University. After which Steve fell in love with bodybuilding as it allowed him to build up not only his physique but also confidence. Effectively he ‘Revived Stronger’ and in doing so developed a huge passion to help others do the same. Now a competitive natural bodybuilder with his best performance to date being a top 5 placing in the UKDFBA international finals in 2017. In addition with over 10 years in the gym and more than 5 years coaching experience, he uses this in combination with the latest science to drive results.          Timestamps: [01.28] - Steve's tells us how he got started in the fitness industry. [05.19] - How he's grown to understand the importance of technique. [09.25] - How he gets an insight into his client's technique as an online coach. [15.13] - Why Revive Stronger encourages people not to apply for coaching on their website. [20.15] - Why they don't put their prices on their website. [23.33] - Charging a small fee for initial consultations. [28.03] - Onboarding for new clients. [29.24] - Costing for setting up a membership site. [32.28] - Asking clients to sign up for a minimum of 3 months. [34.02] - Their check-in process. [41.41] - Helping clients manage hunger. [47.13] - Aggressive dieting/ mini cuts/ low calorie short term diets. [50.38] - Beta-alanine supplementation and second-level thinking.     Find Out More About Steve: Website Instagram       Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

Phil Learney has been a personal trainer in the fitness industry since the early 90s and has worked in gyms all over England ranging from small private ones to big commercial ones. At his time of retiring as a trainer, he was the second-highest charging PT in the UK.  Now he educates and helps PTs grow their businesses through his company the Advanced Coaching Academy (ACA). In this episode, we discuss online coaching, how to convert inductions into clients, whether you should do single sessions, increasing your prices and more. We had a couple of audio issues which unfortunately took out a bit of the recording around the 40min mark, so if it jumps from one topic to another you know why!           Timestamps: [02.27] - Where would Phil go to train clients if he had to start over? [15.37] - Education for personal trainers. [20.47] - Pricing and free sessions. [26.04] - Are single sessions worth it? [50.47] - What he did to convert inductions into clients? [35.57] - Discussion on the signing up of a client who comes in for an induction. [40.57] - Price increases.     Find Out More About Phil: ACA Website Instagram       Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

We have just launched a new podcast at LTB that is going to be run by Chris Burgess called Personal Trainer Daily. It's going to be a daily podcast that is short in length where Chris will take a common question related to being a PT and answer one per episode. In this sample episode, Chris talks you through how to handle clients who disappear after asking for your prices.     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook Personal Trainer Daily Podcast

In this short solo episode, Stuart discusses why it's so common for personal trainers to feel guilty about taking time off. During the first section, he talks through why you may feel guilty and in the second, he suggests some strategies that will help you remove the guilt you feel and enjoy the time off you have.     Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

Tony Cottenden is a returning guest who runs a gym called The Shed, which functions out of his back garden. It was started as a small summer house in May 2014 and he's run a full client base from it since March 2016. In this episode, we talk about a load of topics including lessons that have come lockdown, what he keeps telling people who are thinking about starting their own shed, why lockdown has made him love in-person even more, how he manages 40+ PT sessions a week, why just be yourself is useful advice for personal trainers and much more.           Timestamps: [04.35] - What things he's finding himself repeating to people who are asking about opening their own shed/ garage gym? [06.25] - The size of his first shed personal training gym. [08.05] - Learning from lockdown - finding more ways to progress your clients aside from increasing load. [09.35] - 1-1 vs online training. [11.20] - Adding value outside of your in-person service. [16.20] - How he manages to sustain 40+ PT sessions? [25.50] - His onboarding app. [26.50] - Has he got clearer on his ideal client/ avatar that he serves as a personal trainer? [28.20] - Why a website has been his main way of getting new clients in. [30.35] - His longer-term goals. [34.35] - How he feels about the potential of a second wave/ lockdown? [36.30] - Why LTB has been a huge part of his success. [38.50] - Just "be yourself" and why it's an important part of being a PT.     Find Out More About Tony: Website Instagram       Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

Alex Pearson runs Alex Pearson Health Coaching where he specialises in helping people with obesity undertake significant weight loss journeys. We discuss the UK's tackling obesity strategy, the link between COVID and obesity, what he would do if he was in charge of public health, the effectiveness of the sugar tax, how important education is in treating obesity and much more.       Timestamps:   [02.13] - Alex's thoughts on the UK Governments proposed tackling obesity strategy? [05.40] - How important and useful is education in treating obesity? [07.25] - The '5 fruit and veg a day' campaign. [09.05] - How important is exercise in treating obesity? [16.09] - Personal responsibility and blame used to combat obesity? [19.43] - What about motivation and education? [21.48] - The link between trauma and obesity? [23.43] - The link between COVID and obesity? [29.23] -The link between catching the virus and obesity? [32.43] - If he was in charge of public health, what would he propose to combat obesity? [34.58] - The sugar tax. [36.58] - Making healthy food cheaper? [38.43] Having times where companies can and cannot advertise on TV/ the internet? [40.12] - Pictures on boxes showing the negative consequences of eating particular types of food? (like cigarettes in the UK) [45.13] - Targetting supermarkets and reducing quantity and variety of calorie-dense foods     Find Out More About Alex: Website       Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook Tackling Obesity Guidelines

Greg Mikolap was a recent guest who came on for our gym owner roundtable discussion a few months ago (8th of May 2020). He runs the gym Icon in Maidenhead, England and spent over 10 years in a commercial gym prior to that becoming the busiest trainer in that gym. And that is what we mainly explore today. We talk about his lockdown experience so far, how he priced his services in a commercial gym, developing a niche, the differences between trainers who last vs those who don't and why Greg imagined himself wearing a cape before he went into consultations with PT prospects. I know you're going to enjoy this as Greg speaks from the heart and details a lot of experiences that are just so common for the trainer.         Timestamps: [01.57] - How Greg's gym has got on during lockdown. [07.30] - If what Greg has learnt during lockdown would apply back to when he was working in a commercial gym. [13.30] - Why it's slow until it starts to snowball when you're gaining clients as a personal trainer. [19.30] - Why it's so common to dread holidays as a personal trainer. [23.15] - A story about developing a niche. [24.30] - A discussion about block vs month bookings. [37.22] - The differences between the commercial gym trainers who last vs the ones who don't. [40.30] - Was Greg nervous when he started in his commercial gym? [46.30] - The importance of stepping back from where things are going wrong for you in the customer journey. [48.30] - What helped Greg get over feeling nervous before he stepped into a consultation.     Find Out More About Greg: Greg's Gym Greg's Course at LTB       Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

Chris Burgess is the owner of Lift The Bar and Curious Gym (prev called the LTB Gym). He comes on to talk about how personal trainers should approach their marketing now that a lot of countries have dates for reopening as well as the countries that don't. We discuss how to use a countdown approach to your gym reopening, why creating a video that shows off what you think of being a PT is so important just now, if he's planning for a second wave and how to touch base with clients who left you during the lockdown.         Timestamps:   [02.01] - Does Chris think consumers will be receptive to buying gym memberships/ PT services post lockdown? [05.55] - What his marketing strategy is for reopening his gym just now. [10.16] - What his strategy would be if he was going back to a commercial gym? [12.57] - How he's going to internally market to ensure his old and previous clients come back to his gym? [17.28] - Will he be giving discounted prices to clients who lose their job or have reduced hours? [19.38] - How listeners who don't have a reopening date should approach their marketing just now. [22.16] - If he's planning for a second wave and potential closure of his gym again.      Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook

I asked Travis and Akil to come on to discuss the intersection between being a personal trainer and delving into the world of rehab and injury. They both run a company called 3M Athletic Performance. Akil is a practising physical therapist who used to be a personal trainer and Travis is a full-time personal trainer with a keen interest and academic background in the rehab and injury world. We discuss how trainers can build relationships with physios, how to find good physios, injury prevention for trainers, whether form and technique contribute to injury, posture, how life stress affects peoples perception of pain and more!         Timestamps: [02.46] - Akil and then Travis talk about personal trainers developing relationships with physiotherapists/ physical therapists [08.38] - How to go about finding good evidence-based physiotherapists [12.53] - Why it's well worth going to see the physio yourself before sending your clients to them. [18.08] - How to troubleshoot when a client is having pain in a personal training session and how to decide when to refer out. [26.53] - Knowing what both Akil and Travis know about the world of physio and personal training, what would they say to their younger selves? [31.38] - Why injury prevention isn't all about activating inactive muscles and lengthening tight ones. [34.04] - Does form/ technique contribute to injury risk? [38.48] - What should a personal trainer look for in a consult/ assessment to prevent injury? [41.28] - Does posture contribute to injury risk? [44.58] - Why does life stress affect pain?     Find Out More About Travis and Akil: 3M Performance Athletic Website 3M Instagram Travis Instagram Akil Instagram       Find Out More About LTB: Website Instagram Facebook