Chasing Common Ground: Lifestyle Conversations with Chris Liddle

Ben De Zwart is a long-time trainer based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He's had to restart several times in his career which has helped him really hone in on the important aspects of personal training. One of his greatest passions at this point is having an impact on other trainers in how he leads them to see what's important in business, what a sustainable career looks like and how to make an impact and not just clock in and clock out. We talked about his career journey and how his previous career wasn't fulfilling and influenced him to make the move to being a trainer. We talked about the many bumps in the road and we talked about how there is always opportunity, it's just how you see things.This episode will be helpful for anyone who needs a little fire under their ass, anyone feeling lost or frustrated in their career or anyone with a family that has had to pick up and move a few times. Lots of things to relate to. Thanks for listening! Go check out past episodes at thelifestylechase.podbean.com! Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

To best describe Greg, I made use of his bio directly from his website at StrongerByScience.comGreg has over a decade of experience under the bar and a B.S. in exercise and sports science. He is currently enrolled in the exercise science M.A. program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He’s held three all-time world records in powerlifting in the 220lb and 242lb classes. He’s trained hundreds of athletes and regular folks, both online and in-person. He’s written for many of the major magazines and websites in the fitness industry, including Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Bodybuilding.com, T-Nation, and Schwarzenegger.com. Furthermore, he’s had the opportunity to work with and learn from numerous record holders, champion athletes, and collegiate and professional strength and conditioning coaches through his previous job as Chief Content Director for Juggernaut Training Systems and current full-time work on StrongerByScience.com. Greg is also one-third of Monthly Applications in Strength Sport (MASS), a monthly research review he runs with Eric Helms and Mike Zourdos.Essentially, Greg is very widely known among fitness professionals, but for my audience, I wanted to bring out his personality or at the very least, talk about stuff he wouldn't often get asked to talk about. So if you enjoy Greg, or are interested in his work, I highly recommend you seek out some of his content on his website. He is a wealth of information and has been on so many other podcasts you will never run out of Greg things to listen to. Thank you for supporting The Lifestyle Chase! Please check out old episodes to find other guests you may be able to learn from or to check out my daily episodes of Real Talk. To find all the episodes, just go to thelifestylechase.podbean.com Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Shane Fennessey is on the rise in his career as a film producer. It's so cool to see those big moments - film premiers, seeing his content for purchase on Apple Movies or through Sportsnet etc. He's a very driven, goal oriented individual with what I would describe best as a relentless work ethic, a competitive spirit, and a heart of gold. If you enjoy inspirational sports documentaries, you'll enjoy Shane Fennessey and the what's been keeping him busy over the last several years. If you thrive off of learning and self awareness, you will enjoy what we talk about in this episode. As added context, Shane and I have been on each other's podcast almost two years ago. Aside from his career, he has been hosting a podcast called The City of Champions which centers around Edmontonians. It was amongst one of the first podcasts I ever checked out, and was the first one that I've ever appeared on. He's appeared earlier on The Lifestyle Chase on episode 8, where we took a much broader look at his entry into his career, his origin story, and life in general. Thanks for listening, now go find some of Shane's films! Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Dean Guedo first appeared on The Lifestyle Chase in September 2018 for Episode 3. Isn't that crazy? 110 Episodes ago! As you can imagine, a lot has shifted in both of our careers and he's really found his footing in a lifestyle that almost had him feeling more prepared than most for this pandemic. We talk about a lot of things with regards to the current state of things, we talk a little bit about fitness and nutrition, we both go off on a few tangents and forget about what we were talking about and then reel it back in and we generally just cover a lot of things that will be helpful during this time. Dean has a tonne of projects on the go and puts out a lot of content himself as well. You can find his podcast which he co hosts with Andrew Coates by searching for The Fitness Devil. You will also find some of Dean's side projects in that same RSS feed, so be sure to check it out.  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Whitney Dikoume is a Strength Coach and Athletic Therapist. She comes from an athletic family and has been around sport all her life. She is passionate about educating young athletes to be able to strength train as they progress through their perspective sport. We talked about her upbringing, times of stress and we reflected on what the term "It Takes A Village" means to her. The fitness industry needs to be an even playing field, professional sport needs to be an even playing field. It's episodes like this that I hope can inspire more young women to chase after their dreams as an athlete or a fitness professional. I hope you enjoy this episode and please share it on social media to help The Lifestyle Chase grow.  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Today's episode was with Sarah Cabana. You're going to notice a unique trend to this fitness podcast. It's a fitness podcast that FEATURES fitness professionals, but it isn't always a fitness podcast about fitness professionals. Sarah Cabana is a leader in the skin care industry. Essentially, you have to love the skin that you're in, no matter what you go through, and what tough moments you face. You have to face them head on, by being the best version of yourself and believing that you are not alone and that you have what it takes. First impressions aren't always correct and we talked about how Sarah has progressed in her life both personally and professionally through the art of being a good listener. If you've ever been told you're too young to be successful, you'll get something out of this podcast. If you've ever experienced loss when trying to grow a family, that was hard for everyone to truly understand, you will get something out of this podcast. If you've ever experienced an anxiety attack, you will get something out of this podcast. Sarah runs Loshen and Crem, she's the founder of The Skin Pros, and she trains people with a variety of products and applications within the industry such as Biologique Recherche and Aquafolia Canada. She's been doing this stuff for 15 years so you it's inevitable that she had some advice to share. We had a wonderful visit and we hope you enjoy our conversation.  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

To truly get the full picture of Meghan Callaway, you're going to want to also listen to one of the OVER 33 other podcasts she's been on. Many of which are hosted by friends of mine. To very quickly learn more about her, you should check out her IG (@meghancallaway)Here is her bio from her website to give you a little ice breaker: "Meghan is incredibly passionate about educating and helping her clients (and also the people who might follow her) discover that working out, and simply moving is a gift, and should be joyful and empowering, and should boost all aspects of overall health and well-being. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, Meghan believes that this is absolutely possible.Like many others, Meghan used to work out purely to control her appearance and a number on the scale, and bought into the notion that she should strive to make herself less. After spending many soul-zapping years doing this, and achieving mentally and physically inferior results, Meghan discovered that working out is a tool that will enhance all aspects of your life, and should be fun, empowering, and effective. She’s turned the world into her playground."In this episode we talked about social distancing, successful online business, building trust with people and clients, and the impact of COVID 19. We also talked about seeking out personal development through valuable coaching, friendship, consulting, therapy, and just surrounding yourself with good people who look out for you and care more about ethics than followers. We talked about how success will always take work, and how structure is important to building a routine. It was a great conversation and I'd love if you listened to it and shared it on social media. You should definitely check out some of the other guests that have been on The Lifestyle Chase by going to thelifestylechase.podbean.com, the list is getting lengthy, and you're bound to recognize a lot of names. Thanks for listening! Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

I first found Bryan Baia because we follow some of the same New York based fitness industry people. It makes sense as that is where he is based out of, but the reason that I follow New York people is primarily because of Dr. Pat Davidson's crew at Hype, and having watched the Hype Power hour for the better part of a year. Essentially, as a trainer, you end up following people that tag other people that look like they're up to cool strong things (Bryan), then as long as they stay cool (he did) you keep following them and then this happens (Podcast). Now Bryan and I have a podcast episode together. Boom!Bryan is a strong dude with a personality that stands out. In a sea of people doing the same thing, for a person to have a personality goes a long way. I was feeling overwhelmed amidst this whole COVID-19 phenomenon and just needing things to change the tone of my day to day when I came across Bryan squwatting some logs in the middle of a field. My dad and I had literally just talked on the phone about how if I needed a good workout, he could lay out some logs for me to squat out at the acreage and then I saw Bryan's video. I am also someone who likes to put humour into my training business and life so I could relate to his personality. Whether it be my "Savasana Yoga demonstration" or my "Peloton home workout skit". However, Bryan isn't just on the podcast because he's funny. We talked about the grit and determination he has had in his career. He was willing to sleep on a coach in a 1 bedroom apartment with his buddy just to make a move to the big city happen. We talked about the continuing education, the passion for knowledge and the moments he'll never forget with clients. He's a determined individual both in how he leads his life and in the results he strives for with the people under his wing. Go check him out. @bryanbaia Thanks for listening, please support The Lifestyle Chase by looking through past episodes for someone else you know and listening to that one too. If you're feeling spicy, look up one of the many people that you don't know, and learn about them. Help me grow this project in these trying times by sharing a screenshot on social media, rating on your favourite podcast platform and leaving a review.  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Lee Boyce is the source of a lot of high quality fitness content. He's one of the most prolific writers in the fitness industry today. If you go to the magazine rack at the grocery store there is extremely good odds you will find one of his articles. The thing is, he's not going to waste too much time telling that to people. Here's his bio: "I’m a strength coach who works with clients and athletes for muscle, strength, and sport performance, and I’m based in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an internationally published fitness writer who’s regularly featured in many of the world’s largest publications, like Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Oxygen, Esquire, The Huffington Post, Men’s Journal, and T-Nation. You can find plenty of my published web work on this site, and get the heads up when my print work hits newsstands. I’ve done plenty of fitness segments for various TV and radio stations, including Global, CBC, ABC News Radio, Sun News Network, and CP24. I also ran track at the National level in university as a sprinter and long jumper."At the end of the episode, his advice for people in living a fulfilling life was to stay off social media. Take into account that he's had Instagram for maybe 2 years. He doesn't really engage with trolls because most of them have never directly asked him a question when he's presented or in an email or dm. He truly only goes on to post valuable content that he believes in and already has amassed 22.7 thousand followers and he's not concerned about likes. He knows what he's talking about with this approach. Worry less about likes and validation and focus more on working on your craft and learning in the process.I've seen Lee present in Kansas City and here in Edmonton and he is definitely one of my favourite presenters for his ability to captivate and educate. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed our conversation. Please share with a friend.    Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Robert Raposo, Kayla Maynard and their three kids are getting a lot more quality time this week with the whole world in the middle of the Covid-19 Pandemic. This power couple are the brains and talent behind Brave Fox Coffee, a Beaumont, Alberta based coffee roaster. You can find their products on their website or locally in Beaumont. Rob's main job is a Fire Captain/Primary Care Paramedic working in the Fort McMurray area. This episode wasn't just about coffee though. We talked about how they each found mediation in their own way and how really it wasn't as easy as go try it once and everything is all better. You have to a routine in order to keep structure. Their routine also incorporates fitness, eating well, and drinking coffee. The need for routine also applies to being intuitive to the needs of each of their three kids. Every kid is different, whether that be in their life at home or their life at school, just like all kids.We talked about how important it is to ask for help in times of need, we talked about pregnancy and parenting and the pivotal role that teachers play and what it can feel like when they're not there. We talked about life in high school and how some people can change you forever, and some people can be around for years. We talked about loss and struggles that young people can have where all they need is someone to be there to just listen.It's a pretty jam packed episode. Give it a listen and share with a friend. Hope you enjoy.To see all of the episodes ever released of The Lifestyle Chase, go to thelifestylechase.podbean.com. Thanks for listening! Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe