Forked

Community and transparency in the fitness industry with Kristal Lollis.

We can build honest and transparent relationships online. Social media can be a wonderful platform to encourage and motivate others. Coach Kristal Lollis is a personal trainer and cofounder of Tribe Fitness in North Carolina. 

In this episode we discuss: 

• Transparency on social media. Trying to project our most authentic self online. 
• Connecting with people who share common values in social media. 
• The origins and values of Tribe fitness in North Carolina. 
• Building a sense of community in a fitness centre as a way of keeping people motivated and connected to their fitness and health goals. 
• Kristal shares a very dark period in her life when her physical and mental health were challenged. 
• How cognitive therapy has helped her to take better control of stress and anxiety. 
• The importance of listening to our body. 
• Surrounding ourselves with people who can help us to be our best through honesty and open communications. 
• Dealing with the feelings that we aren’t doing enough or being enough. 
• How to know if you’re surrounded by the right people. 
• How do we make the decision to go forward and give life our best shot. 

You can connect with Kristal on instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/coachmekris/

Don't let all the marketing in fitness get you confused. With Natalia Feldman.

Sometimes our greatest obstacle in starting our fitness journey is all of the confusion caused by so much information.  We really need to get started by applying the basics and ignoring all of the noise in the fitness industry. 

Natalia Feldman is a personal trainer and lifestyle coach. She shares her insights and tips on how to get started on our health goals. 

In this episode we discuss: 

• Natalia’s New Years goal to compete in a 2020 bikini competition. 
• Setting goals that are too radical. 
• When people use fitness influencers on Instagram as target models for their own fitness goals. 
• Consumer confusion in the fitness industry. 
• Marketing as creators of confusion. 
• Steps to start our fitness journey in a simple way.
• Follow moms advice; eat your vegetables, eat fruit instead of candy, go to bed early, and put that phone away! 
• The importance of progressively switching our mentality in the direction of a healthy lifestyle. Be patient. 
• The power of journaling our goals or even using voice notes. 

You can connect with Natalia on Instagram:

https://instagram.com/forcefulfeldman

Health and fitness professional with a passion for fine cuisine. Alexander Tifault

We can have more than one passion in life. Choosing to do one or the other isn’t always necessary.  Making a career of both passions could be an option, provided we’re willing to work and be organized. 

Alexander Thifault shares his journey as an entrepreneur in the fitness industry, while exploring his passion in fine dining and service. 

In this episode we discuss: 

• Alexander’s startup in the fitness industry. 
• Important qualities of a personal trainer. 
• Alexander’s passion for cooking and the restaurant industry. 
• Working as the personal trainer to celebrity chef Chuck Hughes. 
• Alex shares his love for his work at the famous Montreal restaurant, Garde Manger.
• Tips on how to attain goals and keep them. 
• The importance of practice to get better at anything. 

Your can connect with Alexander on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/studiosantedna/

Strength and conditioning coach Julia Balit on career changes and mindset

We sometimes choose a particular destination for our lives and as we move along the path we discover that it doesn’t quite fit as we originally imagined. Shifting directions is a part of life, and the things that once captured our interests, never really go away. Those interests have a way of finding their place in our new vision for ourselves. 

Julia Balit is a strength & conditioning coach and a personal trainer. She shares her story of her shift in interests from her university major in music, to health and fitness. 

This is a perfect episode for the New Year, as the conversation focuses on change, how to stop comparing ourselves to others, and we provide steps to building sustainable change. 

In this episode we discuss :

• Julia’s original studies at Berkeley in music and how she made the decision to transition into health and fitness as a career. 
• How she felt about leaving the direction of music after studying at a prestigious university. 
• University as a powerful place to network and meet people; more important than the actual classes you take. 
• What it takes to decide to follow a path of uncertainty that does not resemble a steady job. 
• When we discover a new career and the insecurity we can feel when we feel we are behind and starting late in a new career interest. 
• Navigating the artificial world of Instagram and image altering apps. 
• It is inevitable that we will want to imitate those we admire. How do we not fall too far into the comparison trap. Comparing ourselves to the success of others. 
• 3 steps to help us attain our New Years goals. 

You can connect with Julia on Instagram :

https://www.instagram.com/juliabalit/

 

Personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach, Jonathan Williams

Modern life has made staying healthy a significant challenge. Personal trainers and conditioning coaches can help clients to attain their fitness goals in a much more sustainable manner. 

Coach Jonathan  Williams shares his insights as a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach. In this episode we discuss: 

• How personal trainers are constantly developing themselves as people. To help people to discover their best selves, it is an absolute requirement of the coach to be involved in personal development. 
• As we approach the New Year, we discuss New Years resolutions and how to increase our chances of success. 
• What does the trainer do with a client who wants to control the process and doesn’t listen to the coach. 
• The importance of accountability when trying to hit fitness goals. 
• The importance of staying true to your personal brand. 

You can connect with Jonathan on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/coachjonathanwilliams/

 

Extreme athlete and CrossFit games competitor; talks about living intentionally

When we’re young, middle age, or into our old age, we should seek out challenges. Finding ways to push ourselves that are appropriate to our levels of expertise, is a critical way to staying motivated for a good life. This goes for exercise, sports, personal life, or work life. 

Dominic Adam is an extreme athlete, 6 time CrossFit Game competitor, and mentor. He owns and operates CrossFit Griffintown. In this episode we discuss:

• The importance of getting a little bit uncomfortable as a Segway to becoming something greater, and fighting stagnation. 
• Finding material such as videos or reading books that get us motivated. 
• We need to make decisions on purpose. Don’t live and let randomness be the driver of decisions. 
• How can we stay motivated and sustainably hold on to our results. 
• We need to find time for our self care. Become more intentional about your health and fitness. 
• Finding your joy in getting uncomfortable. 
• The power of community in staying on track. CrossFit has masterfully integrated this element into fitness. 
• High energy workouts as a form of meditation. 
• How Dominic defines “a good life” for himself. 

You can contact Dominic on instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/crossfitgriffintown/

Crossfit Griffintown website:

https://www.crossfitgriffintown.com

 

 

 

Strength and conditioning coach, Dean Hollingworth talks about the business of personal training and becoming a strength and conditioning specialist

No matter what career we choose, there is  a period in the beginning when we need to build our skills toward self actualization in our profession. 

Dean Hollingworth is a strength conditioning coach. He shares his journey from his beginnings as a personal trainer to his present position as a athletic performance coach. 

In this episode we discuss: 

• The importance of patience in the beginning of trying to build a stable fitness business. 
• We need to seek out people who want to see us succeed. These people will be connectors for us to build a client base. 
• What are the necessary skills to become a successful personal trainer. 
• As personal trainers we need to keep things interesting but really educate the basics of exercise. 
• As a coach we need to help clients to understand the importance of consistency and lifestyle change as the ultimate goals. 
• The importance of sleep and techniques to help to relax. 
• We discuss calories, protein, weight training, and cardio for personal fitness results. 

 You can connect with Dean on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/deanmtl/

 

 

The struggles of young athletes with Crossfit Athlete Nathan Zentner

Working, performance, injury, and time commitments. The struggles of young athletes. 

When young athletes don’t yet have sponsors, they have to work, study, and finance their passion. Nathan Zentner, shares his journey as a CrossFit Athlete. In this episode we discuss: 

• The challenges of injury and competition. 
• The importance of self care and recovery when we push our body to the limits. 
• Finding the time to put in the training hours, and rehabilitation, all the while working with clients as a personal trainer. 
• Nathan shares his honesty of wondering whether he is willing to make the sacrifices necessary to go all the way in his sport. 
• We briefly discuss why people misunderstand CrossFit . 
• The importance of a multidisciplinary background in sports as having  a positive influence on future specialization. 

You can connect with Nathan on Instagram :

https://instagram.com/zentnernathan

Life is difficult, and once we acknowledge that, we can begin to move forward.

Forked podcast is all about sharing people’s stories of overcoming obstacles. I believe once we acknowledge that life is difficult, we build a certain type of respect for it. We then begin to understand the necessity to strengthen ourselves in order to deal with life’s turbulent nature. 

In all of the episodes of Forked Podcast, we hear common themes of rising up. Successfully moving beyond a problem is often made possible by having at least one key individual who’s encouragement and support is present during the conflict. I also maintain that practicing some sort of physical exercise to promote positive biological function in also necessary for the success of moving beyond life conflict.

I express my concerns for those who have little or no support. My empathy is always with the underdog and I believe that a system that truly works, at least provides the means for people to have a positive community around them, and helps them to implement physical activity into their lives. 

Awaken the Awesome podcast host Olivier Day shares his startup journey.

Quite often our most exciting projects are born during times of difficulty and conflict. Our struggles can be seen as moments that are nudging us toward new beginnings. Olivier Day shares his days leading up to the creation of Awaken the Awesome podcast. For more than 2 years he as been putting in the work to build content, share value, and deliver deep insights through his platform.

In this episode we discuss:

* The beginnings of Olivier’s podcasting journey.
* To be truly committed and consistent with something we need to be passionate about it.
* When we find ourselves in a mental dark place, we need to find simple things we can do daily to just get a bit better every day.
* We don’t have to strive to be perfect. We just need to put our best foot forward and be ok if things aren’t exactly what we want them to be. Patience is key.
* We need to put our own lives in order before we can be of service to others.
* The importance of writing down our goals.
* Changing our internal voice from one of failure to one of success.

You can connect with Olivier on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/iamolivierday/

Follow his podcast on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/atapodcast/