Chasing Common Ground: Lifestyle Conversations with Chris Liddle

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

The easiest way to intro James is that he is a highly educated meathead who loves lifting but would always put his family first. He's the founder and co owner of Rebel Performance which is essentially a happy fun place in the internet where smart strong people go to get smarter and stronger. Keep in mind we are recording this in the middle of a worldwide pandemic so some of the perspective you get is likely to be helpful if you are also finding yourself in the middle of a worldwide pandemic (that's all of you). We talked about sustaining your fitness with home workouts, how to keep on keeping on when you have to lean out your finances, and we even talked about core values. There is a segment in which James lists off a whole bunch of people he admires, which says a lot about who he is. He's always looking to learn from the people around him and his attitude has provided him many opportunities to do just that. It's like the smarter you get the dumber you realize you really are. We talked about goals, structuring how to achieve them, and how sometimes it's best to just work at something and be good at it. We can let other people speak highly of us, as it will go much further than standing around puffing out our chest saying how awesome we are. Rebel Performance Radio, which is part of what James does, is a podcast that I've listened to frequently amongst many others. But it's one where I get to learn more about a lot of the people that influence how or why I do things. So if that intrigues you, check it out. Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Lisa Lewis is a psychologist who is a therapist by trade. Also, if you're looking for strong women, she is a great role model for you, she lifts heavy and leads her life with integrity. She has a great love for all things athletic. If you've been following her for a while or have listened to her other appearances on podcasts, you'll have some context of one of her very close connections to the fitness industry of which we didn't need to point out today because #IWD is not just a one day thing. We can showcase him on his own episode :P.Something that I gave a HUGE highlight to is her new course, Psych Skills for Fitness Pros, available on her website drlewisconsulting.com .  Lisa and I talked about spinning, decision matrix, I asked her about her thoughts on the expression "Gas lighting" being something I've seen pop up a lot on social media because I think ALL of my listeners experience it in their life in various realms as they learn to navigate boundaries and work through their obstacles.I got kind of real to give more opportunities for people to relate to maybe something they're going through. I think we all just need to put stuff out on the table sometimes. We talked about self image and insecurity. We talked about putting a greater focus on our strengths so we don't lash out at others over our weaknesses. Make personal progress each day, don't worry about comparing. We talked about arbitrary reference and about the struggles we all have with navigating the work it takes to stay healthy or find connection. Thank you for supporting The Lifestyle Chase - please go back and check out some of the past episodes by going to thelifestylechase.podbean.com  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

To put things into perspective, Lucy Hendricks isn't just on the podcast because she's a female fitness professional and I want to even out the playing field for International Women's Day. However I did make sure we mentioned IWD because if you give me a microphone I'll say what I think is important.Lucy Hendricks is on the podcast because she has an influence on many prominent male fitness professionals in the greater industry. The ways in which she does what she does has the power to make a lasting, sustainable impact on others as well as the people they interact with. I greatly respect that. To be quite honest with you, I've been following her for a while, probably 2 years. My male fit pro friends that I've learned from told me that she was someone that I should be following. So I did. A few weeks ago, she shared something in her Instagram story that just hit me so I messaged her to see if she could come on the podcast to talk about it. It correlated so much with topics that come up in my life nearly every day.I want to make an impact in more than just the generic run of the mill fitness career in the lives of not only my clients and people in the gym but also my close friends and family. This stuff is real.If I'm lucky, it will have a trickle down effect and the people I positively impact will then be in a place where they can positively impact the people that surround them, or be better positioned to hold space in a very life changing way. I'm hyping this episode up more than what I typically do, not as a disservice to my wonderful past guests who I admire, but the topics discussed were really important to me. It took a lot of courage for Lucy to talk about it all and she put a lot of trust in me as her host to be the one to publish it on audio. Without hype, you may just think it's just another episode of the many that I put out.Take that as a sign. It's not just another podcast episode.I hope this episode inspires you to dive into some of the past episodes of The Lifestyle Chase, hear the other very real stories, or really go down the rabbit hole with my daily Real Talk episodes. Most platforms only display the most recent 100 so you can find all the episodes past and present at lifestylechase.podbean.com Thank you so much for listening!  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Sarah Dharshi is someone who wants to empower people and stand up for people. She's passionate about dance and social justice. We talked about her mental health, anxiety and depression. We talked about her experience in an abusive relationship. We talked about what boxing has done for her, what dance does for her and the athleticism and mentality that it takes to be a dancer. I hope you enjoy this episode, take time to check on your strong friends and remember that no matter what it looks like on social media, we're all out there having shitty days sometimes. Check on your strong friends, lift people up, and be passionate about what makes you feel good.  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Michael "Mountain Mike" Dietrich is a guy who walks his talk. You probably follow his dog Bear-Bear on Instagram already but if you haven't met him yet, he is someone who works hard towards anything that he is passionate about. We talk about how you have no clue where you will be 5 years from where you are today. We talk about the value of travelling to the mountains as well as basic advice for anyone in the fitness industry. We talk about working at a bar and how that can build your capacity for expressing empathy as well as relating to people. We talk about being hippy dippy, doing some self reflection or being introspective is so important. Michael doesn't want to take any day for granted and aspires to lead his life collecting experiences instead of things. A lot of us feel like we need to check boxes or know what is next but sometimes it's best to just put your best foot forward, surround yourself with people who believe you can be naked and afraid or live in your RV or simply people who believe in the best version of you. Trainers burn out, we get wrapped up in our cell phones, we sell ourselves short, we take on challenges that we don't know if we can follow through with. Trainers are human just like anyone else, feeling self conscious, not hearing compliments clearly, forgetting our abilities, needing downtime, feeling worn out and having no energy are all things we go through. It was a great conversation. Please share on social media and thank you for supporting The Lifestyle Chase! Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

If nothing else, listen to this episode so that you can hear a white personal trainer say that it's important to have brown female representation on the walls of a Lululemon in a city as racially diverse as Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We dove down some rabbits holes today. We used white people, brown people terms a lot. We talked about cultural diversity. We talked about learning to admire what makes everyone in our lives great rather than what makes them different. We talked about her experiences being a born in Canada but brown and hearing a genuine "Welcome to Canada". This is another one of those "could have gone on for hours" episodes.Not only did we talk about what November Project means to Lazina and how she feels like a badass, we also talked about what her best connections have been, or at least some that stood out to her today. We talked about her experience being raised in a brown family around white people and how her parents wanted her to go skiing. We talked about celebrating different holidays, and we talked about travelling. Lazina used to be a personal trainer so we talked about her experience with that and about really pivotal conversations in her life. We talked about what she admires about her husband. That's more than enough reasons to give this one a listen. Thanks for supporting The Lifestyle Chase :).  Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

Carter Good is someone who is very smart by nature, he's lost close to 150 lbs, he's moved around the country, he's had to follow his intuition and he likes the intricacies of the process of making wine. We talked about what life was like for him 10 years ago, we talked about his self awareness, and we talked about times he's doubted himself. He really strives off of being in control of his time and we discussed how he's benefited from investing more into meaningful friendships and relationships. We talked about saying no more often or blocking off certain days for certain tasks and we talked about how when you think the fitness industry is saturated, it doesn't mean that everyone is being reached. I hope you enjoy this episode and be sure to tag @cartergood and myself, @christianliddle, @thelifestylechase in a screenshot of the episode!For the full episode transcript, go here https://www.invigoratetraining.com/post/the-lifestyle-chase-transcript-episode-100-carter-good-2-13-20 Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is for anyone who would be interested in the perspective of someone who is in the midst of travelling every country in the world without flying on a plane. He has less than a dozen left before he completes a journey that has taken him over 6 years. Thor has a fiance with whom he's maintained a strong relationship this entire time. He speaks to times where he wasn't sure he was going to get out of a situation alive, and he also speaks to the countries who were extremely welcoming or gracious hosts. Something that stood out to me about Thor is his view of the world that people are people. It's important to understand that there is so much we can gain from networking within our communities and maybe communities beyond where we live. Understanding that although we don't all look the same, there is something at our core which is not all that different. Thor has a perspective you won't get anywhere else, because nobody else has ever done exactly what he is doing. We talked a little bit about how his journey, "Once Upon a Saga" began, we talked about the countless times it would have been easier to just get on a plane and go home, we talked about the countries he's had to stay in for over a hundred days and the countries he'd live in if he didn't settle down in Denmark. When Thor completes his journey, his goal is to write a book about this experience and really expand on his motivational speaking. He's been featured on VICE, BBC, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, Forbes, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, News.com.au, The National and ABC. You can find him by searching Once Upon a Saga. Thanks for supporting The Lifestyle Chase! Get full access to Insight by Chris Liddle at chrisliddle.substack.com/subscribe