Latest / Sukany4: The Walk and Talk Podcast / S1E6 - Rachael Parkinson - Bowness to Windermere - Fitness, Coaching and Business ownership

Transcript

S1E6 - Rachael Parkinson - Bowness to Windermere - Fitness, Coaching and Business ownership · Sukany4: The Walk and Talk Podcast

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the podcast.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm joined by Rachel, the founder of Fit Strong and Free Coaching.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: It was an unexpectedly hot September evening, and we took a fairly brisk, healthy stomp from Bonus up to Windermere so Rachel could catch her bus.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: As we were walking, we talked about Rachel's passion for helping women become fit strong and finding freedom and their own personal freedom, whatever that might be.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Rachel shared how building confidence is central to her work and the importance of enjoying what you do, whether it's exercising or whether it's doing your job.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: We also explored the barriers holding women back from going to the gym, and she shared her top three tips for getting started at the gym.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: We had a good giggle about generational differences in pop culture and about Rachel's personal journey from transitioning from a career in law into personal training and her focus on helping women feel good about their health and fitness journey.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was a chat filled with personal growth and inspiration.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: So lace up your boots, grab your sunglasses and your headphones, and join us on this beautiful walk to Windermere.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Hi Rachel! Hello, how are you?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm good, thank you.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good, thank you.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: How's your day been?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: My day has been busy, productive.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoy the sunshine in September.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, it was actually not that sunny earlier.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's come out quite nice.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's nice to hear the birds.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Hence why I have an umbrella.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: We'd love to get a picture of you with the umbrella and your sunglasses, and you look very British right now.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like 30 layers on when I arrive.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So how's everything going?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Everything's going good.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: There's a good focus at the minute on uh growing the business.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um and so what is your business called now?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: I noticed a name change recently.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's fit strong and free.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Fit strong and free, okay.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Coaching.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh sorry fit strong and free coaching, okay.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and fit strong and free is also the name of my podcast.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh I love that.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Mic drop, mic drop, but so so it's FSF for um fit strong and free coaching.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, FSF.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: So where has that come from?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that I wanted a name that really resonated with my own journey and then the journey of a lot of the people I help.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: So getting them fit, getting them strong, and then the freedom is kind of either free from like food restriction or um free to kind of do the things you've always wanted to do, but maybe didn't think you could.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um so these are numerous connotations for free.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: For the free, but it's yeah, it's kind of you can apply it to most of my clients, I would say.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I quite like that actually, because so from my personal journey with you as my coach, um, I kind of feel like that whole confidence building, confidence gaining buys you a lot of freedom.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, because you let go of so many things in your mind.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that mental freedom.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think if I was to ask all my clients like what does free how have they found freedom through coaching?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they'd all have very different yeah, but quite a good exercise to do actually.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Good QA session, yeah, yeah.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: I like it, you know, free from diet culture, free from um all that kind of stuff, yeah.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's liberating ourselves, isn't it?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: From all these things, yeah, I love it.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: So why the rebrand?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: The rebrand because so Joe and I still working together, yeah, but we've gone into like sort of separate directions in a sense of now he's just coaching men and oh okay, um, predominantly, and I'm predominantly coaching the women.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: So specializing a bit more, yeah, um just because it was it sort of works better with what we both and and who sort of resonates, yeah.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say with that as well, it's people who would resonate as woman or man as well.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's not um I wouldn't turn away a man or I wouldn't, you know, it's just um what people need, I think what is different from different coaches.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: So um and is that is that kind of do you feel that's quite a natural path for you?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like over the course of your fitness personal fitness journey and professional fitness journey you've kind of landed at at this point where you're thinking about fit, strong, and free?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think I think as you know, over the last 10 years probably it's um been an accumulation of things that have led me to here, yeah, and have um I think even with the gym and everybody I coach there, yeah.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: And again, at the start of your PT career, you're kind of advised to just train everybody and anybody and get experiences.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay, and that's really good, but then you really start to think of like who do I actually enjoy working with and who can I help the most.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And actually that's really important, isn't it?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because even though it's a business and yes, you need to get paid, you also need to enjoy what you're doing, don't you?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's the key thing for me.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and even over the last sort of four or five months, I've um either let clients go or they've chosen to leave that probably weren't really aligned or anymore.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, which is also, and I think everybody, depending where you are in your journey as well, you need things at different times and different people.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's it's for the for the free, that isn't it?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Set people free.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, so I've really kind of focused on um who I want to who I want to help.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because you can also kind of fall into the trap of everybody's just helping people with weight loss and everybody's helping with you know looking a certain way or um and then you're just like a carbon copy of everybody else in the industry.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and also I don't feel like I mean I personally probably wouldn't have chosen to work with you if that was the way you were going because it doesn't resonate with me.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I I'm not motivated by exercising because it's gonna make me look a certain way.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's just not enough motivation.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the reason I get go to the gym.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: No, exactly, and I think a lot of even though there's and you know, I find for a lot of people there's still an element of that people want to um look good or better or it's a good byproduct, yeah.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it shouldn't be the only focus, yeah.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um little pause for photos, can't talk and take those hands at the same time.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so I think that's for and I I think as well, it's one of the biggest things actually when people stop focusing on it for that reason, yeah, they actually get better results and they enjoy it more.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what I clocked on to.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not that I won't work with you if you've got a weight loss goal or you want to look a certain way, but it's well, we need to find something a bit more than that for you to be able to kind of keep up, keep it up.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I don't do like eight week or twelve week look good for your holiday and then see you later, kind of it's just yeah, exactly, and then that's such a short-term non-sustaining way to do things, isn't it?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, and I think again, people need different things at different times, and there's plenty of people out there that do that and do it well, and yeah, but for me it just doesn't um yeah, that's a good way to put it because yeah, because everyone's on their journey at some point, yeah.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that is a good point.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, is there anything about your personal journey you want to share in terms of how it might have shaped your approach?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I think that's probably the biggest reason, and you've also got to be careful.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: I have to be careful that just because it was my experience doesn't mean it's everybody's experience.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: With your experience being with exercise and and diet, so just because I so to for context, yeah, maybe how old am I now?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: Ten years ago, I think it is.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: When I sort of really started noted, yes, very expertly done.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: When I was a lot younger, um and I remembered that.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'd um you know, I'd I'd always been pretty active at school and then went to uni and I'd kind of stopped all sports, and it's not like I gained loads of weight or anything, but I was definitely just not happy in how I looked.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: But what I realize now is it's fundamentally like more how I was feeling about other things, yeah.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started the gym and um kind of focusing on my diet, and I got a coach who worked with me to do like a 12-week transformation.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I did I got a really big transformation in the sense that I lost like 10 kilos.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh in 12 weeks, yeah.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, yeah.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'd worry about myself if that happened.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and again, some people can and this is why it's so a real goal's difference.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and for some people, if you've got more weight to lose, and that can happen quite easily, um, but I got very obsessed with it, yeah, and um especially around the the diet side of things, uh-huh.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's kind of screwed up my relationship with food for a long time.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one of the reasons why I'm yeah, kind of care about how people are feeling in their own journey.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and like I say, it's not just because it happened to me, therefore you're suddenly gonna become obsessed.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I want people to enjoy the food, enjoy their exercise, yeah, and that should be the focus.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because actually that long-term impact that because obviously when you signed up for that 12 weeks, you were thinking that you wouldn't have even known that that's how it could have gone.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but obviously one of the key drivers, well not obviously, but maybe one of the key drivers was that you enjoyed the way you looked at that time after that 12 weeks.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this is what and this is what I find really fascinating because yeah, on the one hand, I did I did in the sense of it was easy to buy clothes, yeah, and I'd always struggled to find jeans that fit and um but I was actually so self-conscious.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I almost was more self-conscious of how I looked back.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's a weird like you get um not again, not everybody does, but I definitely you get a sense of like some kind of weird superiority, like you are better than people because you've achieved because you've done it, because you've done that, and then you're at-club.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of get that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, and it's all the cliches of you know, don't know days off, and and yeah, I cringe now.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it not I didn't like outwardly say that, but I had a certain smugness about what I'd done.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we wouldn't have been friends.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't have been friends with me back then, I think.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you were lovely.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, again, it's all hidden, it's all those hidden insecurities, isn't it?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the how you actually feel about yourself.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Probably driven from an insecurity, isn't it?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's interesting because from from my perspective, I've always been a bit lazy about exercising, but I've always really enjoyed walking.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And um the whole gym thing really supports the walking really well, yeah, and gives me more strength in my legs to to do the things I want to do and give me the stamina.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And a happy coincidence is that everything fits better.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but the mo the real motivation for me is that whole mindset thing and mental health bit to just get out and also um just everything works better.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and as we age, your whole body works better, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's that functional fitness that I really like.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of the um Instagram pages I follow, or social media pages I follow, are of women over 40 who are really fit, but in a really healthy way, yeah, and really promoting that functional fitness and weightlifting and just achieving those goals for yourself.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's where the real um satisfaction is.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's the longevity of it then, again, isn't it?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: That and I think that's if you if you always come back to that, and I think if suddenly you didn't know if people didn't know what you look like, if everyone was suddenly blind, would you exercise in the same way?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that's quite yeah, it's quite an interesting question to ask yourself, and I sometimes do this now, and that's why if you focus on your performance, if you focus on how you're feeling um and you know how your body's feeling and moving and all those things, then it it's irrelevant, not irrelevant what you look like, but it has less weight.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's really it's really interesting point because we without even knowing it, we tend to put so much focus on other people and their opinion before we even even if you're thinking about doing something, you're kind of considering what if and what will they say and who are they?
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, that's like one of the biggest things, uh, barriers for women going into a gym, right?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Of what people are gonna think about them.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: And the reality is nobody cares.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: When you're actually in there.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So what what are your sort of top tips to tackle that sort of insecurity of being in a gym environment that's so alien?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that just because it doesn't mean anybody's looking at you, it's also not gonna feel it.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: I still feel intimidated if I can go into a new gym environment.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, especially Joe and I went to like this really big bodybuilding gym in um Manchester months ago, yeah, and there was so much equipment, it was so overwhelming, yeah.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that even looking thinking, what is that?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: and you know, all these big people there.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but the the top tips I would say is make sure you feel confident in this um comfortable in what you're wearing.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like with anything, you're going anywhere where you feel like you're dressed, how you feel comfortable, yeah, you're going to feel more confident.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: So if you go to a gym thinking you have to suddenly wear certain clothes, yeah, and then you're more self-conscious.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and again, I've had this with people like, you know, just wear if you um if you like kind of wearing converse or vans or those are the shoes that you wear like when you're kind of hanging out, then wear those to the gym.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need to wear like a sports shoe to do weight training.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so find something you're comfortable to wear in.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: There's like so many layers to the to the thinking, isn't it?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, if you actually if you don't think you know, if you just think how do I feel most comfortable, I'll wear that, you know, as long as it's something practical in the sense of you can you know wearing your jeans, but um that's one of the biggest things because if you feel comfortable in what you're wearing, then you're gonna be more comfortable in the environment.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, have a basic plan of what to do when you're there, so and you can get so much stuff on the internet, um, like just a full-body workout, whether that's something with you a dumbbell only workout or it's um you know four or five machines that you've tried to keep it simple.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: See, keep it simple, things that you kind of can and machines are often helpful because generally they're easy to use.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's there's pictures on, or there's you know, um, you can figure out where your body should go and um you can't really hurt yourself the same.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but be clear on that, have a plan, something to do so that you know when you go in that's what you're doing.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and even if it's if you're really new to the environment, I will always say go and either sit on a mat and stretch and kind of warm up and suss out the space, or hop on a treadmill or a cross trainer or piece of cardio kit that again is easy to use and you can suss out the space.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a good tip, yeah, because then you're not feeling so conspicuous.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you kind of don't know where to put often you walk into like a gym environment, especially if they're really open plan, yeah, you're like, I don't know where to put myself, yeah.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why generally a lot of women will end up on cardio kit forever because it's uncomfortable, yeah.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: But if you use that to suss out where everybody is, who's using what, where are the machines I want to use, or where are the dumbbells or yeah, um and then so that's point number two, yeah, and then number three is don't and this is this is really hard because it's easy to say, but don't be afraid to ask for help, whether it's the staff, whether it's people in there, often if you find the biggest, scariest looking person in the gym, yeah, they'll be the most helpful.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um because they're there a lot, they're there a lot, and generally people are there like that because they've had their own struggles and insecurities, and that's why they're you know working out all the time.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really good point, because actually, uh from say from my perspective when I was a brand new newbie to the gym, I was thinking of it very differently.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was kind of seeing all these big pumped-up people thinking, oh my god, don't look at me and don't talk to me, I'm overwhelmed, I don't know where to look.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I can't make eye contact.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the thing, everybody kind of looks away, everybody you know, we're so worried about people staring, and yeah, and actually a bit of eye contact and a smile can really go a long way.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it I find this in a maniacal way just telling myself too much eye contact is not good, yeah.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Not when you're doing certain exercises.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I you know, I do because I find I can look really focused when I'm training.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: And if I see, you know, and I'm obviously I'm not working in the gym anymore, but just where I train, if I see other women that look nervous or they're kind of a bit like, oh, I don't know what I'm doing, or I don't know where to look, or I make a real conscious effort to smile.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, it's that like sisterhood.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um of because you can because it you know, and people are focused on you should be focused on your training, yeah.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: But you can also then look quite intimidated and scary and um smiling.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because actually that's not the vibe you're trying to give out, you're just focused, yeah, yeah.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: But someone like me might be like, oh my god, yeah.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: Avoid her.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, how did you end up from being a lawyer to being a personal trainer?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: What was the talk us through that transition?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean I never was actually a lawyer, let's just clarify that on the pod.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Never never got there.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's really interesting actually because so I still find the law fascinating.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd I think all growing up it was like that's what I want to be.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Originally, I want to be a barrister, I want to work in London.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where it actually came from.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like some kind of high achiever.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Must have once a Columbo or something.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Colombo.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Ali McBeal.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Legally blonde.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's an age difference.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just call that out now.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Who is Columbo?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: He was a detective, wasn't he?
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: He was a detective.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: The reference was all wrong.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's move on.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: And also highlights the generation difference.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah, so um that was all I was focused on school, um college, university.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then it was I didn't really exercise at uni, but then after uni, I really got into the gym and I really got into well it was running first and kind of exercise again, and how helpful it was to mental health and just for me feeling better doing like my studying and um and then I was going down this route of interviews and everything for um what would have been a training contract in the legal world, and I just kept finding that I was like, I don't really feel that passionate about this anymore.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: So when people say, you know, why do you want to be a solicitor?
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I actually don't know.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, you know, and then you kind of well, there's no wonder I'm not getting any further because if I don't know why I'm doing this.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um Yeah, that's kind of your answer, right?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, isn't it?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Although then I find it interesting, but you know, that's not gonna It's not a passion thing.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um what do you think the t turning point was on that?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Was it the more you got to understand it?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think so I think so.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was that again the real you know, you're not actually really dealing with what's interesting about the law, is it's all more paperwork and yeah.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um because again I originally said I wanted to be a barrister and then moved to solicitor.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I just think it wasn't really for me.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it's good that you identified that.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and then obviously all the skills have been invaluable, and I still find things interesting, and I still everything I do now, like there's so many applicable things that I learned in my degree and then on the postgrad as well.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: But um it was then I I think that's when I must have done my transformation and I got really into fitness fitness, and and what's interesting is at that time and I thought, ah, you know, I'll be a personal trainer, my mindset was not okay.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if I'd had clients then, I'd have been you know in that different kind of trainer, yeah.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Which again, everything's growth, isn't it?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is, yeah.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it's good that you're you've got that ability to reflect and self-critique and self-adjust and self-soothe.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, all of that's really important.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that again it's the it's part of the journey, isn't it?
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we can't this and I think it's interesting because there's so many um sort of fitness influences on Instagram social media that are now coming out saying, Oh, how I viewed things, you know, five, ten years ago was so bad.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: And people sort of vilify them and you think, well, everyone's on a journey, yeah.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: You can't no one's got it right.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: All day, every day, have they?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to just be open to to growing with exactly.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can't if you can't change and be accepted for evolving, yeah, then what's happening?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: We should be celebrating that sort of stuff.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: But then funnily enough, I still found myself in jobs that were, you know, I work for citizens advice.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, an advice base.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Citizens Advice.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I still see where you're going.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and even though I'd done my PT qualification, I'd had this like transformative experience of like having a different approach.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: So you did your PT qualification before you started working with Joe?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: I had my PT qualification basically when I'd done my transformation like 10 years ago.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, wow.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, which is also why I kind of was able to accelerate my career a bit more as well, because I'd done a lot of self-development and courses and learning outside of the PT course, yeah, rather than day one, I'm now with clients.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I just then got like um it was it was New Year's Eve.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was sat at home on New Year's Eve and I thought I had my um ex at the time was working, so I was on my own.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, I need to do this, so I don't do it now.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, another 10 years will go by, I'll be older.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I might have a family, things might be more complicated.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm committing to tomorrow, the 1st of January.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm gonna do it.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then I did.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Good for it.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that was my transition.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, what happened on the 1st of January?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Did you just quit your job?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Do what did you do?
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: I came up with a whole plan of setting up classes in village halls.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, yeah.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um social media page, I just started posting every day.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: I just started just again, it's this whole thing of just yeah, you've just got to start, and it's the same with your fitness journey, you've just got to start.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I gave myself three months where I still worked and did my classes, yeah, and I thought, right, I'm gonna quit my job.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: What did you feel when you made that decision?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Terrified.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I feel sick thinking about it.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like way past that point.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: But that's such a big decision.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: It is, but then it felt so right, you know.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good for you.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's yeah, I suppose I never would have told you that before because it's it wouldn't have really been relevant when we met, but no, um, yeah.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's awesome.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: I love this story that they do five miles an hour, let's be safe.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then I basically asked Joe for a job.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's great.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, that there's a lot to be said about just putting yourself out there and just seizing the moment because the worst that can happen is a no.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and that basically nothing changes if you get a no.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but you tried, and then you can feel good about it.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because actually, you did put yourself out there.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, what in terms of the um you know, your sort of uh where you are now, and we talked about the your top three tips for people entering a gym and your journey to kind of getting to working with women mostly.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um what is your kind of philos philosophy behind all that?
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is that a big question?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's quite a big question.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um what's inspired that whole focusing in on women?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's because and it and things are changing, aren't they?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: With women and with exercise and you know, even it's like with the lionesses, it's like with the Olympics, it's the the exposure for women in sport and is getting better.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: But it's th there's still so much like that women aren't doing for themselves.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: And like I say, it's not it's no longer about following a diet or an exercise DVD or trying the latest craze that's supposed to burn X amount of calories.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's how can you actually use exercise and diet to feel best to then feel confident and feel like you can do anything, yeah, like you can perform, and then even you know, in terms of empowerment and for work, the amount of clients I've had that have got promotions from starting exercising, and that sounds really like how has that even happened?
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: But it's amazing what can happen when you start looking after yourself, yeah, and valuing yourself.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's that I think it's wanting more women, and it's even it's like successful women in so many areas, but they still have this barrier to exercise and nutrition, and there's so much untapped potential there, yeah.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what I'm like really focused on, yeah.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Wanting people to see, yeah, in themselves, yeah, yeah.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I think well, from my experience it works, because it's like from my personal journey with you, it has been transformative because actually I do go to the gym, I do really enjoy it.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you go on your own now, you see.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: You're one of those people that can go on their own.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: As long as I've got the app that works, when the Wi-Fi's down and the app doesn't open, I'm like, oh no, now I'm just a sitting lemon.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I've actually had to walk up the corridor to get Wi-Fi to at least see what I'm doing.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can't possibly remember what I did last week.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: No, I couldn't.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then what number do I do?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: But you feel like that's why you need a plan.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is why.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be absolutely useless.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be like, oh, where's the treadmill?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: There we go.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go for a walk.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to my music.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, no, it's really important.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if I didn't have the app and I didn't have your voice through the app, like get lower.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: Focus.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: I did it this morning.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was doing my lungy things to the side.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: Lungy things.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, sometimes I d so when I was doing my lungy things to the side, I could hear you say get lower.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh for god's sake, fine.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Get lower.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: Might not get back up.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: But when some of the things you do um when we do the six-week blocks, I do like our six-week blocks actually, because it gives me that chance to be consistent with the things each week and get used to them, and then try and up the weights and things.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I quite like that because I'm competing against myself.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I like that we have our sort of check-ins every six weeks and talk, well, supposedly talk it through sometimes, not so much, but that's still good connection.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so when I get the next uh the next blot, it does take me a minute because I'm like, I'm sure she's put this in there because she's laughing.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: She's laughing, thinking, oh my god, how's she gonna be looking doing that?
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: Random feet.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, random feet.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Do you mean what does random feet mean?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: When actually what was it?
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: Just put your feet around.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: Some problem the hearing issues.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and the counting.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: I don't worry about your counting.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I worry about my counting.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure I do it wrong.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: And also, um, you know, when you do something where you're holding a weight in each hand, so say I've got fours.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say tens, it sounds better.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: I was thinking natural raises.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, fours in fact we've got twos.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um I will log two rather than four.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I keep forgetting to double it up, and then I'll look back on it and then I'll think, oh no.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Did I do once?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Did I do once?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then the next week, after I've done it properly, and I'll say twelve.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'll try and pick up a twelve.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be like, oh my god, it's so sweet.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: How was I so strong last week?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I need to deal with that.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's a me problem.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, no one can help me with that one.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that, but then it's a common, and as long as I I mean it doesn't really matter as long as you do the same thing on both sides.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's the you don't have a two and a twelve.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll be calling over to my left.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: But it's interesting as well, you talking about the six weeks and how that's really helpful because then for you, you've you're a busy person, so and you are really consistent, but there's weeks where you might not get all your sessions anymore.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: And it kind of just shows that if you still have consistency over the block, yes.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think another issue a lot of women have is they think I've ruined it, or I can't do it as well this week, or I can't get all my sessions done.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then they stop.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, because it's not perfect, it's not perfect.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas you that's a curse, isn't it?
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: That whole perfection.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: Across the board in everything we do.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I guess it's the same with the diet situation, it's the same.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, so you're a good example of that of how you can it's like perfectly imperfect, or my phrase of um consistently good enough.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: Get a badge.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Perfectly imperfect, it's endorsed by Rachel.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: FSF.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: I did not think that through in the brand new, I don't think.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I wouldn't say it.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: Have to remember is hashtag FSF, not hashtag F F but I think we could, we could, you know, we could reframe that.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: We could reframe that.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's really good.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: I love those words.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: I love that like each word means something very significant on its own.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: And together, it's really powerful.
• 34:28
  unknown: Yeah.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, did I answer your question?
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'm not dead.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: I suppose I didn't know.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we were talking about the empowerment of women and then I started talking about myself.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you were empowered to do that.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was empowered.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I was just a shining example of a lived experiment that's going well.
• 34:50
  unknown: Really?
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I was going with that.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, how consistent have you been?
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how how long has it been?
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: You've been Yeah, I've done really well since I'd say February.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: I reckon January I just kind of looked at the app more than I did to work out.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I watched YouTube on how to do the exercises more.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: But by February, I think I was getting getting picking up.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, getting better.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I think it's just I really enjoy I like that we've got it to half an hour now, plus cardio.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: So if I'm short on time, I can do the half an hour and then finish work and do cardio.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Which could be outside.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: So actually, I'm not I've changed my thinking where it was quite rigid, and probably aligned to that whole perfection thing, where I was trying to do it all to the T.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm a bit more relaxed about it, and I think, well, if I do the half an hour bit, yeah, I can come back to the cardio bit or not.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, well exactly, but and half an hour is like perfectly adequate um to get results.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's what you know you need if you've got a busy life, yeah, then again people think I can't do an hour.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, actually, you don't need to do an hour.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: No, the half an hour's perfect, and I get really sweaty and I feel like I've done something good.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: It was just really warm in the gym.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: I said, um, so what about the nutritional side to your business?
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say with this, it's again it's it's still empowering women in the sense of making choices that are aligned with what they want to achieve, yeah, and stepping away from diets and restrictive eating, cutting out food groups, all these kind of food rules and different things that you know some people for years that's all they've known.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, to move away from that and actually focus on positive eating habits, yeah.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: So eating well, eating nourishing food, yeah, and again things that make you feel good, shall I wait for all your good and um perform well, um, and I mean performance even in day-to-day or at work, yeah, um, and that's the kind of nutritional focus, right?
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not about energy, energy, yeah, it's more about how you feel, yeah.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: And again, you generally find if you eat to fuel for your energy to feel full and satisfied, you're gonna look better as well.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it's it's those kind of you feel happier, don't you?
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean I'd feel really sad if I restrict carbs, for example.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's one of my happy foods, so I like to keep it.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: And for a lot of people, and you know, these also are often a hormonal um both fats and carbohydrates, hormonal importance for women, which were yeah, so um yeah, cutting all that stuff out is not helpful for the majority of women, yeah.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and on the flip side of it as well, you can also find that there's too much pushed to try and if you've been restrictive eating, yeah, to oh, here's a way that you can eat loads of junk food and not gain weight.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's again, it's not absolutely cheat, a hack.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you want like balance, but again, like if all you if all you focus on is trying to fit things into well, I can eat this many calories of ice cream or chocolate, yeah, then you're you're still not gonna feel good, yeah.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's getting that balance right of nothing's off limits, and like a phrase I use with a lot of clients is um you can eat everything, yeah.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, actually, that's wrong.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: You can eat anything, yeah, but you can't eat everything.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it kind of uh nothing's off limits, but if you want to feel good and you know, if if fat loss is a goal, or even just maybe you want to gain weight, yeah, you you've still got to focus on health and focus on foods that are gonna make you feel good, yeah, rather than just like a caloric number.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um so what was that?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: You can eat anything, but you can't eat everything.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it's that whole balance of you know you day to day, you can't just shove everything in that you possibly want and not expect um the consequence of that.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh get out of the way, sorry.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's quite a nice way of then reframing it of so it means that you can have a bit of chocolate every day or things that if you ate too much of you wouldn't feel good.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because you do end up kind of resenting yourself, don't you, for restricting yourself and saying, Oh no, I can't do that, and then yeah, it affects your mood, and you can't.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: Unconditional permission to eat, but unconditional permission to eat, thank you.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_01: Taken, but then the caveat is you know, it just can't be everything all the time, yeah.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's got to be another one, like it's because it again it's not for me to dictate what somebody chooses to eat, yeah, but what's your goal, and are your actions aligning with your goal?
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right, that's interesting.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, how many because I don't think I've ever set a fitness goal.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, when I first came to you, I was kind of like, I just want to do stuff, yeah, yeah, we just did stuff randomly.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, actually that's a lie, isn't it?
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think this year I've been more focused.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: I have thought about actually maybe I want to tone up a bit more in certain parts of my body to give a focus and feel like I'm there for a purpose.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: Although, having said that, doing the bite-size workouts, which is what I call them, like it, my daily bite-size gym routine, um really helps because I've done it 30 minutes done, and I'm doing my next thing, but I feel good.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, in terms of goal setting, then what where are the parameters?
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: Where do we start?
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, again, and I think there's different ways of looking at it.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's always useful to have some kind of goal, but a goal might be in like for you starting or anybody starting might just be I just want to exercise for my health.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but you often find that health isn't uh unless something's happened in your life where you then have to really focus on your health, it's not often a big enough pull for people.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you might be thinking, you know, I just like the goal is I want to do something.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, and it's when you then start that then you think, oh, I want to get better at this, or I say I want this area to feel a bit more toned, or I want to feel stronger, or I want to be able to run around with the kids, or and then it grows.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah, yeah.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, one of yours when you started was stronger legs for the Kazitzabarrow, wasn't it?
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's right.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, good memory.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh yeah, I was really working, yeah.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's it's often useful to find something, and I think that's why, again, for a lot of women, it's it's it's usually aesthetic at the start, yeah.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I think again, not that there's anything wrong with that like we said at the start, but that might be what you think in your head, and that might get you started, yeah, but it won't be what keeps you going, yeah, and so along the journey you've got to then think, am I enjoying what I'm doing?
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's why again, like weight training, so many different ways of doing it, but most women can fall in love with it because you do feel stronger and more empowered and capable, and oh, I can carry the shopping and I can do all these things.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: It does make a difference, yeah.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: It does just those little things like um carrying the clothes holes in full of clothes, yeah.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it makes a difference.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so many things that you take for granted.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I so that's um and I'll say to clients sometimes think of what your you know, and it might be that people want to get push-ups or pull-ups or a deeper squat or yeah, just you know, be able to do more weight, body weight, um yeah, you know, this then that's I think there's so many goals you can set.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, or even then it's might be out running or want to start running, I want to do 5k, I want to run a marathon out.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like there's so many things.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which it in that initial session would have just seemed unfathomable, I'm sure.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Meeting you down, like do you want to do an ultramarathon?
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: Who even am I?
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: Who was that girl?
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: But also Loki very proud of that girl for stepping in and doing it.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and this is the thing, and that is one a key um thing to note.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I'll say this.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I've ever really said this to you because I think you you kind of embodied it from the get-go anyway.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: You I you just had like a cross.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, you secretly need it, but you know, you had so much confidence with things, and yeah, um that you didn't need the kind of reassurance that some clients do of look how far you've come.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, yeah.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: No, that wouldn't necessarily work with me.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, but yes, you read the room really well.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: You are really good at your job.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: But but honestly, like joking aside, you really are.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I think so.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think you you just have this knack of tuning into to people's unspoken side and sort of just understanding that actually we won't even discuss this because it's not worth it.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna land.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well again, I think and that goes back to who you want to work with and yeah, who I enjoy working with, and it's nice to have a mix of clients that uh kind of that whole marketing thing, isn't it?
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: Of who's your ideal customer?
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: So who is your ideal customer?
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_01: That was the right answer.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_01: In in all honesty, it's this is why it's quite nice because I do have a mix of uh clients, yeah.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_01: From beginners to people who have been doing stuff for a while that kind of just need a bit of a revamp or um with what they're doing.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: But it's people that want to do it, yeah.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: People that are like invested in themselves and are ready to kind of say, Do you know what I've done before isn't working for me?
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I want to do something different and um and that's really important, isn't it?
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: People who are ready, yes, yeah, yes, because you could have had a lot of false starts, but I think a lot of it is also finding the right person, connecting with the right person because you know sometimes your relationship with your PT is one of the most important relationships you're gonna have.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, people tell you everything, yeah, might be a therapist, yeah.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: I can imagine because actually it's a release, isn't it?
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: Exercising's a release, and I think when you're with someone who is empathetic and who does have that maturity to take the information in, it's a trusted space, yes, it's really important, yeah.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's and because it is such people, you know, and obviously the face-to-face, even more so sometimes, but then online, you know, it's people's only outlet to and it's all linked.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_01: If someone's like got low confidence or low self-worth, and you can combat a lot of that with diet and exercise, yeah, but it means they talk about everything and how it impacts everything in their life, yeah.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: And even though you can't help with all the poor things, yeah, you know that you're sometimes just listening, and sometimes I think of myself as a bit of a life coach as well.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um I mean it's it's definitely I feel like it's all in the same realm, yeah.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of it's all connected, like your mental well-being, your physical well-being is is connected, yeah.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think people always see that connection because they they place exercise as a other thing, yeah, and it's not not important, yeah.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: And when and like again, so many clients when they start prioritizing that, yeah, um it changes the game for everything, yeah.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, one of my podcasting heroes is Dr.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_00: Rangan Chatterjee, as you will know, because I've probably bored you to tears with quotes and things.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: But I love that you know, he says he prescribes um people, his patients to go and make friends or to you know go out and go for a walk and get fresh air, yeah, rather than medicating.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's so so important.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that it is all it's all linked.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you do feel better for and that's why I think it's about doing things how you're gonna feel rather than how you want to look.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_01: Look, yeah, yeah.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: So actually that's that's also quite a big tie into your philosophy to your business.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love it too.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: And how are you finding working with clients and not having a gym?
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's different, yeah, but and I think again, for with a lot of women, and and yes, they do need support in the gym, yes, but sometimes for not as long as you would think.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and it's nice when you've got that PT client relationship and you see each other once or a couple of times a week, but actually when you're online you can help more, okay, more frequently, right?
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll say to client, you know, message me on either it's the app or on WhatsApp to depending how quickly you want to respond.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I can still help with things in the gym, or if people are local, yeah, I can go to a gym um to do form checks with them or do videos, and then so much of it is more the emotional support and the the food, the mindset work, which is often just done through talking, yeah.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's actually more effective online than it is in the gym environment.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's the bigger picture, it's interesting, isn't it?
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it's it's actually probably a more accessible model, yeah, yeah.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, somebody just needing to know how to do certain exercises, but for most people it's the whole package of what I should I be eating, how should I be exercising, how do I how do I change my life effectively?
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and these are big things actually, because actually even if the you know it's the small changes that build up to the big things, isn't it?
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's often quite hard to implement.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I you know, and actually one of my clients who gosh, it's it was the December started working with me, and she was new to it all, and we just did never ex basically never never like gym kind of that's really overwhelming, yeah, totally.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got to start small, yeah, and even just getting out and now she's like she's running, she's going to the gym, yeah, she walking's just a daily non-negotiable.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, she's eating well, and it's all stuff that because it was done slowly, yeah, and it was manageable that had set her tasks, and even to the point it'd be like, do something, what thing are you gonna do this week that's gonna challenge you?
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, again to just get her thinking outside of a comfort zone and different person, yeah.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, she's lots of weight, she's lost quite a lot of weight, but yeah, it's the product of the fact that we're not focused on it at all.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's fantastic, yeah.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_00: And how does that make you feel that's a quote?
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm so proud.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, we might not have said that because that card was really loud.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's so proud.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that's really not.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I do because I think it's at the end of the day, like I can only give you the tools and be an ear and a different perspective, or something to think about, or like the clients got to do the work, yeah.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just yeah, yeah.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's just I'm amazing when people do, and it's it's like a proud of how people show up for themselves, yeah, and what is possible, and also let's not take away from the fact that people are showing up for themselves because actually they trust your process and they trust you and what you're saying.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's huge, isn't it?
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, and that's you know, well done to you.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of you.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's all lovely dummy.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_00: I found a point a few months ago that I've used a lot, and it was I'll just wait for this car to go by because I don't want to ruin the moment.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was um I'm so proud of you that it makes me proud of me.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_00: Do you like the way it circles back?
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's so unique, doesn't it?
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_00: I loved it.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's mine now.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, but that's nice.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_01: Sweet though, isn't it?
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_01: It is it's at the end of the day, you know.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think for me, I've always said like it doesn't feel like work, yeah.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um when people are wanting to do, yeah, wanting to take action and embrace the messy journey of it.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_00: So so how would you say your sort of style would differ if you were putting together a training program for a woman versus a man?
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what are the things you would consider in addition to saying let's just assume we have a baseline plan that we're for a man and a woman.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_00: What are the baseline things you would change specifically for a woman?
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think, and again it's a generalization this yeah because everybody's different, but um men generally like here's your plan, go and do it, right?
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_01: And they will often do it, and they'll look there, can be like an external driver for you know, whether it's you know, and it could even be toxic masculinity, but whether whatever it is that kind of then forces them to think I'm okay, I'm doing it, yeah.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_01: Women don't necessarily have that the same, right?
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_01: There's needs to be a different reason, a different motivator, or more support, yeah, different kind of support, yeah.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I that that's and I think that's why I like working with women because it isn't simple, right?
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to think of there's a lot more at play, even hormonally, yeah, how you feel throughout the month.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, everyone's coming down this road today.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry about that.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_01: I feel responsible.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_01: This microphone, I'm sure it's picked me up perfectly.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think in terms of training, you don't have to train particularly differently.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 55:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mean, Joe and I do the same training programme.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, look very different.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, in fact, I mean often recover quicker, right?
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_01: So you can handle more volume as a woman generally, right?
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um what do you mean by volume?
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_01: So volume in the sense of weight lifted.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_01: So if you do, you know, say you've got a 10 kilo and you do 10 reps, yeah, your ability to recover from that is quicker.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, um, and that's just a physiology thing, yeah, yeah.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it you know, often women have less muscle mass generally, yeah.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, so you don't need to train, you know.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you might have different goals, yeah, um, but it's more the again the emotional, the mindset's different, and how you again tap into that.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um is how yeah, that's say just because you know some women will you can say just do this, and yeah.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_00: They might be that way out, but yeah, no, I think that's interesting because I think there could be a perception that women can't do men's exercises and vice versa, but it's actually just exercises, isn't it?
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_01: Just exercises 100%, and it's one of those of like you know women, I mean all my clients do some kind of chest press or push-ups or chest base exercise, right?
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they're generally not trying to grow their chest muscles in the same way that men might be, but it doesn't mean you can't train it and can't be strong in it.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, actually, what I learned was it's pushing my shoulders back and helping my posture.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, see, I was listening, but it is in it and men get the you know, if if a man's doing hip thrust, it's like, oh that's a woman's exercise, it's not trusting, yeah.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_01: Just because it's because it's glutes, yeah.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_01: But again, everyone needs a strong set of glutes, so yeah, exactly.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um wasn't that interesting?
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, again, there's this there's a lot of toxicity around exercise, and I think the more we can do to dispel that, yeah.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, exactly, and these sort of conversations are helpful, aren't they?
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're just kind of pulling it out, saying there's no difference.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_00: I love doing a bicep curl, you know.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it helps that you read the numbers right and you don't pick up a 12 when you're on the seats.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_01: But that's like but it's also interesting again with women thinking that they can't lift particularly heavy, yeah.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, you can, you know, and what when you pick a dumbbell off the rack and you're picking it in your hand, you think that feels really heavy, yeah, but you're not engaging anything at that point.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a good point.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I find that I pick them up and think, oh my god, I've overstretched enough people are here.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_00: But now I've got to a point where I'm like, hell no, yeah, just put it back down, go down the other end, but yeah, it's uh that in itself, like having the confidence to do that and just say no, I've overstretched, it's fine.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you might do even a couple of reps, and oh no, it's still too you know too heavy and too heavy.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to try, yeah.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_00: You don't try, exactly.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's no shame in any of it, it's that embarrassment factor, I guess.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh but the amount of embarrassing things I haven't in the gym, yeah, you know, I'm always tripping up, I've waxed my head on barbells, I set the rack up wrong.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, yeah, I'm saying oh boss, we won't go there.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we talked about um you know the fitness industry's kind of trends loosely.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_00: What we're going up this hill, yeah.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_00: We are going up, sorry.
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_00: We yeah, we can't avoid it actually.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'll just breathe slowly.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll just start walking backwards.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_00: Nasal breathing, people, nasal breathing.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh we should really cross over, yeah.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_00: She says not crossing over.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're safe.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, so going back to like the early 2000s, it was the fitness videos with like Taibow and all these lounge workouts and get really sweaty and like high intensity and that sort of thing.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_00: That seems to have disappeared.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like we don't see those kind of fitness videos, and obviously a lot of it is on social media now.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, where do you see it going?
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think and then this is the thing, things tend to come around, don't they?
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, um it's why even in terms of women in the gym, there's a there's a lot more of that now, lifting weights doing.
• 1:00:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um but then that was a really big focus.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_01: But then there is like now it's like oh hybrid training and mix of strength and cardio, and being doing a bit of everything right it seemed to be fashion at the moment, um which is you know is no bad thing.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um I just think the main it's really hard because the key thing is that you do something you enjoy doing.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes just because you enjoy doing it doesn't mean it's gonna be effective for what you actually want.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it's marrying the two.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that's why home stuff is is great and people can get great results and you know, certain exercise videos and certain YouTube things or free workouts can be great.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:00:57
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a limit sometimes if you if you want the the next level of result.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I don't think gyms are gonna go anywhere.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think again, this you know, crossfit's a big thing still.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's still very popular.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_00: I forgot about that trend.
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's scary than you can be on this.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_01: But again, it's you know, people it's it's where you're at, and yeah.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_01: For so many people it can be great workout, and then for other people Yeah, it's different flavours for different folks as well.
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's it you know what you've got to look with exercises the rest of your life.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_01: And is it complementing the rest of your life?
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_01: Or are you setting yourself up for injury or too much fatigue?
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, the fatigue factor is something that I've had to work on in terms of just managing those exercise sessions.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that's interesting.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_01: And again, at different points throughout the year, throughout the month.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_00: There's the cycles and the seasons.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly that.
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean yeah, I'm sure a lot of women will resonate with this whole obviously we have our menstrual cycle, and that does massively impact how how well you do in those weeks around the cycle, to not let that put you off.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's a self-awareness, isn't it?
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and what like we said before, it doesn't just have them have an off week doesn't mean you've ruined it or that you should stop.
• 1:02:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it goes back to this is why again, if you think about how you're feeling, yeah, um to to tune into that as much as possible, and that doesn't mean you know you go easy on yourself all the time, but if you're particularly stressed or tired, exercise, the right dose of exercise and the right type can be what you need, but if you do too much or the wrong thing, yeah, you could feel worse.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's like you say self-awareness, yeah, and managing your own state, yeah, and having the confidence to do that, yeah, and calling yourself elk as well, isn't it?
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_00: And saying, right, you'd just be ridiculous now.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_00: Pull yourself together.
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_01: You messaging the joke.
• 1:03:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean cake in on bed in the hotel.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I had these big plans of going to the gym, and instead I had this massive dinner and it was Turkish and it was delicious.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, amazing.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then I just sat on this bed because I was like too full to move.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously I had to eat more.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just that one day.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: I thought, well, and I slept for 10 hours that night, obviously, and it needed it.
• 1:03:56
  SPEAKER_00: Needed a carb coma.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was a carb coma.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_01: It was glorious.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_01: But that's the difference again of people will use excuses and I'll like go.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well I'll go tomorrow, and then tomorrow comes they don't go.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what you've got to call yourself out of.
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, again, are you are your actions aligned with what you're wanting?
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think I try and I sort of it's a fine line between being kind of compassionate to people and then saying, actually you're bullshitting everybody, stop it.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:04:31
  SPEAKER_01: Go to the gym.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_00: Eat a salad.
• 1:04:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:04:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's that balance, isn't it?
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just be kinder to yourself and allow yourself to go to the gym.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then you won't have to be annoyed at yourself for not going.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:04:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then you break that cycle in your own self.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, don't expect too much of yourself sometimes.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you've again people find it if they've been on holiday and then need to get back to the gym.
• 1:04:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then they expect what they were doing before they went away for two weeks.
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, just go and expect less of yourself, but just get into the routine.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because breaking that is it's and routine forming takes a few weeks, doesn't it?
• 1:05:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_00: So even if you're just going and having a walk on a treadmill, the main thing is you're going.
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_00: You're in the door.
• 1:05:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's so interesting.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_00: So to wrap things up right now.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 1:05:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm very conscious.
• 1:05:25
  SPEAKER_00: I inadvertently engineered that whole section uphill for me to talk.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very sorry.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think I did very well.
• 1:05:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can breathe through wild.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_00: But just to wrap things up, um what can people start doing today to make themselves feel more confident?
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_00: And to like kick start or embark, not kick-start, I think that's the wrong word.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think to ease themselves into their fitness journey.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_01: Set some very minimal non-negotiable things that you're gonna do.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that might be, and you've got to use what you where you're currently at.
• 1:06:12
  SPEAKER_01: So say you're not doing anything, you know, you're not you're not even really good at walking, or you know, you're quite sedentary at work and you don't do any exercise and your diet's a bit of a mess, then the bar's really low.
• 1:06:24
  SPEAKER_01: So something will help.
• 1:06:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it might be right, I'm gonna go out walking for 10 minutes three times a week, and then when you've done that for a week, you then build on it.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_00: So rather than so we're just doing the one thing, we're not thinking about food, we're not thinking about anything else.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, again, person specific, if you feel like I want one for my exercise and one for my diet, so it might then be right okay, just go to eating three meals a day.
• 1:06:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't even need to look at the quality of it, but try and be consistent with three meals.
• 1:07:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, a lot of people will be all over the place with their diet, yeah, and try and and then they think they have to overhaul everything.
• 1:07:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, no, let's just go for three to four meals, yeah, or it might be at every meal make sure you've got two vegetables.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_01: So again, depending on where your starting point is, yeah.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_01: But the key thing is you don't give yourself too much to do from the start, so that you after week one, you're like, Do you know what I did it?
• 1:07:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because one of the key things for building confidence in well in anything, but specifically that diet and exercise and making a change is proving to yourself that you can do the thing you said you're gonna do.
• 1:07:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so if you're constantly not achieving the thing you're setting out to, yeah, you're just gonna feel worse.
• 1:07:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I kind of feel like as you were saying that, I was thinking actually that applies to everything we do because that is a mindset thing that we need to break in ourselves and catch ourselves when we do it in other areas of our lives.
• 1:07:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:07:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the thing as you do, you then start to see how it can apply to other things.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that's one of the I often say with people it's look at you know whether it's fruit and vegetables, how much water you're drinking, yeah, getting outside, um, you know, before you even think about like specific exercise.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, once you start doing those things, you you build in those habits and you'll start to feel better.
• 1:08:20
  SPEAKER_01: Building the foundation.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like that.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08:24
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent advice.
• 1:08:26
  SPEAKER_00: I should think about starting that.
• 1:08:28
  unknown: I'm kidding.
• 1:08:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kidding.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that's really good advice.
• 1:08:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's not overwhelming and it feels really achievable.
• 1:08:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it might be, you know, if if someone's well, I already I walk a couple of times a week, or but it might be okay.
• 1:08:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, can you do a bodyweight workout that's 20 minutes long at home twice a week, or go into the gym and do that?
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:08:52
  SPEAKER_01: Can you do something that you're not currently doing just a couple of times?
• 1:08:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and it's the key thing is the you want more than once, yeah, but not too much, and you don't want the length of time to be too long when you're starting out because it just feels overwhelming.
• 1:09:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I think yeah, there is this preconceived notion that if you're gonna do it, you do guns blazing, spend three hours at the gym every Sunday.
• 1:09:19
  SPEAKER_00: Come back and you're meant to be knackered and do nothing else because you've done the thing.
• 1:09:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's breaking those sort of stories we tell ourselves.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when you you go to shops and you chuck out all your junk food and you buy all this stuff, and then two days in you're like, I just want a burger, yeah, a chocolate bar, and you pack it all up.
• 1:09:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's me all the time.
• 1:09:42
  SPEAKER_00: And because I live so close to Tesco, the other meat goes for walks a lot, but that's okay because I'm walking there.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, balance the balance.
• 1:09:54
  SPEAKER_00: But those I think that's the key thing, is it's like small steps, hmm, and the media has a lot to play into that, doesn't it?
• 1:10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like Hollywood and 100% quick fixes and yeah, those quick fixes.
• 1:10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh look, in three weeks I look like this, yeah.
• 1:10:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm actually not very balanced or happy.
• 1:10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And there are people that can overhaul everything and and sustain it, but it's if you've got a if you've got a busy life, stressful job, yeah, because the key thing, and we've not sort of touched on it, but it's how you manage your emotions.
• 1:10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so a lot of people will use food to manage their emotional state, which isn't a bad thing, it can be a it's it's an option that's available, but if that's your only option, yeah, then it's also why you have a bad day, you treat yourself with food.
• 1:10:45
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a good day, you treat yourself with food.
• 1:10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:10:48
  SPEAKER_01: So you can't get out of the cycle of how food is used to regulate how you're feeling.
• 1:10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a good point.
• 1:10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because we do turn to comfort, don't we?
• 1:11:02
  SPEAKER_00: To comfort our emotions, and the big comfort is things like cake and crunchy snacks.
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_01: But specifically not even enjoying them, just kind of uh shoveling them in.
• 1:11:13
  SPEAKER_01: It is, it's just the the routine of it.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you don't even recognise that you're full, yeah, because you're in that motion.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that is interesting.
• 1:11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh well, thanks for walking with me.
• 1:11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's a pleasure.
• 1:11:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a lovely evening.
• 1:11:28
  SPEAKER_00: I can't believe how hot it is.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hi.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_01: I know I don't think I've taken many photos, actually.
• 1:11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let me get another.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we need to get a photo of you with your umbrella.
• 1:11:36
  SPEAKER_00: How we do.
• 1:11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't really want to put it up, but I'll get one of you with your umbrella afterwards.
• 1:11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being the photographer today.
• 1:11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I think I've got like three photos, so oh that's good.
• 1:11:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's it's something takes away the um the anxiety for me for thinking I've stopped the recording.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but talk about it.
• 1:12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, again.
• 1:12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I look forward to having you back for season two to hear more about how your business has grown.
• 1:12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh hopefully that'll be exciting, won't it?
• 1:12:14
  SPEAKER_00: That will, yeah.
• 1:12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, right, I'm gonna get started.
• 1:12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us on this walk with Rachel, founder of Fit Strong and Free Coaching.
• 1:12:27
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed our chat about building confidence and breaking down gym barriers.
• 1:12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Rachel shared valuable insights from her top tips to getting started in the gym to the importance of enjoying your fitness journey.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_00: We had a great time, especially the bit where Rachel did most of the talking going uphill.
• 1:12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Rachel.
• 1:12:53
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you found some inspiration for your own fitness journey.
• 1:12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if something from today's episode resonated with you, we'd love to hear from you, and we'd love for you to engage with us on our social media channels and share your thoughts or any takeaways from this episode.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to tune in next time where we'll bring you more meaningful conversations as we walk and talk our way through life.
• 1:13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, keep exploring!