The Show Up Fitness Podcast

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Become a nutrition coach w/ Show Up Fitness Nutrition Coaching Certification learning how to interpret blood panels w/ the Vitality Blueprint partnership while networking with RD's

A 40% testosterone increase in your 40s sounds like hype until you see the labs, the timeline, and the unsexy habits that actually move the needle. We walk through my blood work and why a “normal” total testosterone range can still leave you performing below your potential, especially when sleep, stress, body fat, and micronutrients are quie...

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IGs to follow: heather gregory realtor, conniebegonnie, dr. ashley dwyer, amanda.thebe, mike doehla, jeb

She spent decades avoiding gyms, then a single question lit the fuse: which burns more calories, cardio or weight training? Heather’s answer, plus the surprising reaction she saw online, pushed her from curious to committed and straight into a personal trainer certification. What follows is a real-world look at how a midlife career change can work when you stop chasing hacks and start building skills.

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$120,000 as a personal trainer is not a mystery, it is math plus strategy. We start with the clean target of $10K per month and work backward into what your week actually needs to look like, including the part most people ignore: clients say they will train three times a week, then life happens. Missed sessions, weak cancellation policies, travel, sickness, and burnout turn “perfect plans” into messy income fast, especially at $50 per session.

We walk through the real numbers at $50, $75, and $100 per...

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The fastest way to fail the NASM CPT is to study like you’re trying to become a walking textbook. We take the opposite approach: pass the exam quickly, then put your energy into the hands-on coaching skills, people skills, and business confidence that actually keep trainers in the industry.

We walk through the NASM OPT model in a way that makes test questions feel predictable. You’ll hear how NASM frames periodization across stabilization, strength, and power, and exactly which acut...

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Want to become a successful personal trainer? SUF CPT, SUF STM, SUF NC will help trainers build the streams of revenue, confidence and teams to become successful making over $100,000/ year.

Random circuits look creative, but they usually produce one thing fast: tired clients who are not getting stronger. We break down a clean, repeatable way to design small group training programs using movement patterns and a simple circuit template (CCA) that you can run in almost any environment, from a fully...

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Most new trainers think the first job interview is a quiz on anatomy. It usually isn’t. What hiring managers really watch is whether you show up early, communicate like a pro, and can connect with everyday members who want results, not gym jargon. We walk through how to prepare for a personal trainer interview when you are still finishing a NASM certification, and how to make a strong first impression without pretending you know everything. 

We also zoom out and tal...

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The fastest way to fail the NASM CPT exam is to study like you’re trying to become a walking textbook. We’re personal trainers, and most of us learn by doing. So we break down how to pass the NASM CPT without drowning in chapters you’ll never use, and why a focused plan can realistically get you across the finish line in less than 30 days.

We map out the handful of areas that keep showing up: the human movement system...

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Improve your soft skills as a trainer and you will get more clients. PTL1 Mike from Toronto Canada, talks about how Show Up Fitness helps trainers level up their business and technical skills. How to improve your people skills? That's what we discussed today.

Your schedule isn’t empty because you “need a better certification.” It’s empty because you’re avoiding the one skill that makes personal training a real career: connecting with members on the gym floor. Chris sits down with...

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Thinking about becoming a personal trainer after 50?

SUF has helped over 10,000 people pass NASM CPT. 

In this episode, we sit down with Shiv, who passed her NASM exam at age 59 using the Show Up Fitness Study Guide and is proving it’s never too late to start a second career in fitness.

We discuss:
 • Becoming a personal trainer later in life
 • Overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome
 • How she passed NASM
 • What the fitness industry is rea...

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How to Become A Successful Personal Trainer vol. 2 interviews coaches and trainers who have lead a successful personal training career. HINT HINT, they don't praise textbook certifications, they focus on hands on learning and building teams.

If you want to make real money as a personal trainer, “getting certified” is not the finish line, it’s the starting line. We’re pulling back the curtain on what we see from the one percenters in the industry: the coaches clearing $125,000+ a year while ev...

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Your clients say they are eating “1,200 calories,” but the photos tell a very different story. We walk through a clean, practical way to do macro calculations that you can explain to real humans, then zoom out to the bigger issue: macro targets only work when they are built on honest intake data and consistent habits.

We start with a simple baseline calorie estimate (bodyweight times 10) and show exactly how to convert calories into grams of carbohydrates, protein, and fat using the rule...

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If you want to become a nutrition coach and make over 30k EXTRA dollars as a personal trainer, SUF-NC teaches you the fundamentals of nutritional science, teaches you how to scale a new stream of revenue and you get to work alongside of a registered dietitian. showupfitness.com

Two tacos should be an easy entry in a food tracker, right? We start with a simple photo test that exposes a brutal truth about weight loss: most of us are not “bad at...

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How to become a successful personal trainer vol 2 has an entire chapter on getting clients - 10 R's of getting clients. If you want to become a successful personal trainer, start by reading the book, not an 800 page textbook.

You can be an amazing trainer and still struggle to get clients if your marketing is built on hope instead of systems. I’m sharing a simple referral strategy that consistently brings in high-quality leads: build real partnerships with chiropractors (and other allied pr...

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SUF STM is the BEST corrective exercise certification because it helps personal trainers build a better team, assess clients in pain and charge more per hour. The avg suf-stm charges between 100-150/ hr whereas a NASM CES charges on avg $61. With purchase of the SUF-STM, you also get 1 year access to the Prehab Guys Exercise Library which provides more value for clients.

Textbook certifications are everywhere, but the moment a client mentions shoulder pain, low back pain, or a post-ACL history...

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You can spot the difference between a trainer who memorized a manual and a coach who can change someone’s life, and it usually shows up in the messy middle: the first gym job, the first hard “no,” the first client who trusts you with a real goal. We’re joined by Caleb Kinney Woods (PTL1 at Lifetime Westminster) to talk about what it takes to grow from frontline trainer to leading a team of 30+ coaches, without losing the craft of training on the floo...

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A personal training certification can get you hired, but it will not automatically make you feel like a coach, and Lily says the quiet part out loud. She joins us from Phoenix, Arizona to share what it’s really like starting out at a busy commercial gym: the fast hiring process, the pressure to deliver results, and the moment you realize the textbook did not prepare you for “my back hurts” on the training floor. 

We dig into the numbers behind trainer...

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Shoulder pain? Become a SUF-STM soft tissue mobilization with access to the Prehab Guys Exercise Library to charge more as a personal trainer.

Shoulder pain during overhead training isn’t just a “tight muscle” problem, and it definitely isn’t fixed by tossing random stretches at it. We break down scapular upward rotation in plain coaching terms, starting with a simple client screen: hands overhead, cross-body scapula touch, behind-the-back position, and quick strength checks that tell you when to refer out to a DPT...

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Become a nutrition coach w/ SUF-NC to work alongside of RD's and drive in streams of revenue. SUF-NC on average make an additional 30k per month

Why is fat loss so confusing? Because trainers are taught shortcuts instead of systems.

In episode 1 of the How to Become a Nutrition Coach series, we break down the 1st law of thermodynamics, calories in vs calories out, and why energy balance still matters 100% of the time. We also discuss why humans aren’t...

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SUF NASM Guide: How to pass the NASM CPT exam in 2026 without reading 800 pages. In this Show Up Fitness podcast, we break down the 7 most important NASM CPT topics including the OPT model, overhead squat assessment, planes of motion, muscle imbalances, behavior change, programming, and nutrition. Show Up Fitness has helped 10,000+ trainers pass NASM, ACE, and ISSA faster with quizzes, study guides, weekly calls, and real coaching. KEEP SHOWING UP!

[Most NASM CPT prep advice pushes you toward the same mistake...

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You can rest an injury until it “feels fine” and still end up stuck at 80%. That’s the trap that keeps athletes and active adults cycling through flare-ups, compensations, and reinjuries and it’s exactly what we dig into with Dr. David Waltman, DPT.

We talk about what most people never get from the traditional physical therapy clinic model: clear expectations. David breaks down why rushed visits and insurance-driven schedules can leave patients without the education that actually drives recovery. We get spec...

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Shoulder Pain? SHOWUP20 for 20% off Prehab Guys exercise library for training clients in pain w/ the CCA program. 

Shoulder pain is everywhere in fitness, and the fastest way to lose trust is to improvise “rehab” when you should be screening, referring, and coordinating care. We walk through what it looks like to stay in your lane as a personal trainer while still delivering real value for clients dealing with shoulder pain, past shoulder surgery, or limited overhead range of motion. If you w...

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Show Up Fitness has helped more trainers get hired at Life Time than any company. In fact, 2025 we had 3 SUF-CPTs who were top performers bringing in over 200k into the company (Yes, it's possible to make over 100k as a QUALIFIED personal trainer.) 

How to get hired at life time?

The Lifetime Fitness practical can feel like a performance test, but it’s really a professionalism test disguised as a workout. We walk through exactly how we approach it so...

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IG: dr_tebos Physical Therapist in Kentucky. 

Most people treat an ankle sprain like a simple checklist: rest, ice, wait, repeat. That advice can feel comforting and still be wrong for your recovery timeline.

We sit down with physical therapist Dr. TeBos to unpack what ice actually does in the body, why inflammation is a normal part of tissue healing, and how pain relief can sometimes compete with the adaptations you want. We get specific about when icing makes s...

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A client leaves a voicemail that would make most trainers panic: “I’m 79 years old, I had a hemorrhagic stroke, and I need someone to train me at home.” We’re joined by Poojan from Shaw Athletics to walk through what happens next, step by step, and how a qualified coach thinks about safety, scope, and real progress with a stroke survivor who still wants to feel strong and capable.

We start with what took Poojan from “textbook cert” to real coach: getti...

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Become a nutrition coach w/ SUF NC working alongside RD's to build you team and streams of revenue.

Torey Berry, SUF instructor talks about her success with having an RD on her team.

Most personal trainers talk about nutrition all day and still leave money and results on the table. We want the opposite: clear boundaries, better outcomes, and a real nutrition coaching offer that clients happily pay for. That starts by putting a Registered Dietitian on your team...

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Rowing exposes your weak links fast: sloppy wrists, rushed recovery, too much layback, and suddenly your “cardio day” turns into cranky elbows, tight hip flexors, or a low-back flare-up. We want trainers and everyday lifters to use the rower as a real conditioning tool, not a pain generator, so we walk through the exact cues we coach for a clean, powerful stroke and how to fix the most common errors.

We start with a simple form breakdown you can apply immediately: hand...

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One canceled client should not be able to wreck your entire month. We’re laying out a clean, numbers-first blueprint for personal trainers who want a sustainable six-figure personal training business without grinding 50 sessions a week. The framework is a 60/30/10 revenue split that adds up to $100,000 per year: a strong core of in-person training, a second stream that can cover real life bills, and a third stream that grows your income without more floor hours.

We walk through the real math be...

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Struggling with programming for your personal training clients? Enter the 8 core movement patterns and the CCA within the SUF CPT.

Most training plans fall apart for one simple reason: they’re built on random exercises instead of a clear movement system. We walk through the eight core movement patterns we use to coach real people and to get consistent results, whether you’re training general population clients, athletes, or yourself. You’ll hear how we think about vertical push and vertical pull...

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Meet SAM & Paul. SUF-CPTs who are discussing ways to get clients at big box gyms. Sam already has 3 clients at Equinox and she was hired within 4-weeks with her SUF-CPT.

The fastest way to get personal training clients at a big box gym is not a clever pitch. It is being the trainer people actually see, trust, and remember. We’re joined by Sam, a brand-new Equinox trainer who’s already built momentum in her first month, and her story turns “gettin...

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You can spend weeks “learning” the NASM CPT textbook and still walk into the exam feeling blind sided. We take the opposite approach: study to pass, fast. If you’re stuck on the OPT model, acute variables, tempos, and rest periods, this conversation turns the chaos into a simple set of rules you can memorize and apply under pressure.

We walk through the kinds of NASM practice questions that cause panic, like identifying which OPT phase uses stable to unstable supersets, what 4...

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Anyone can get certified.
 Very few know how to charge.

Most trainers underprice because they lack confidence, experience, and a real system. So they default to $40 to $60 sessions… and wonder why they burn out.

In this episode, we break down how to actually set your personal training rates based on value, not fear.

You’ll learn:

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Push the house gym (Pinellas Ultimate Strength House) in Tampa, FL will be hosting Show Up Fitness and our level 2 seminar May 30/31st Saturday 12-5, Sunday 9-1.

General Manager Javi Fraga IG-jfragatraining

You can have an exercise science degree, know every muscle action, and still fail as a coach if you can’t run a session that makes a real person feel seen, safe, and confident. That gap between knowing and doing is where most personal trainers stall and wh...

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Your knee pain might not be a “weak glute” problem or a fancy gadget problem. It might be one missing piece of motion: full knee extension. When the knee can’t straighten, the quad stays inhibited, your gait gets weird, and every step becomes practice at not using the muscle that’s supposed to protect the joint. That’s why we brought on Dr. Justin Farnsworth, physical therapist and founder of Rebuilt Strength Method and Pro App, to give coaches and lifters a clear plan...

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Meathead_rehab = DPT breakdown of the FMS.

A movement screen can feel like a truth serum, but what if it’s really just a narrow test that gets mistaken for a diagnosis? We sit down with Dr Motley (DPT) to talk through the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), why it often fails great athletes, and how it gets misused by trainers and clinicians who turn scores into scary predictions. If you’ve ever heard “you’re a 1 here, so you’re going to get hur...

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You can take classes six days a week, sweat through your clothes, and still feel stuck when you want bigger glutes, a tighter waist, and that athletic “trained” look. We’re talking about the classic cardio bunny: the ClassPass regular who does Pilates, yoga, and body pump style workouts, yet never gets the overload needed for real muscle growth. The fix is not more exhaustion. The fix is a better assessment and a plan that matches the goal. 

We walk through how we...

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Life Time DPT: IG Donovan_will_

Running is easy to start and hard to master, and that gap is where most people get stuck. I’m talking with Donovan, a coach at Lifetime Dumbo in downtown Brooklyn, about what actually makes runners improve: a clean foundation, the right intensity, and a mindset that doesn’t crumble when things get uncomfortable. He’s also training for the New York Marathon, so this isn’t theory, it’s lived experience. 

We dig into ho...

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A client tells you they have diabetes, hands you their card, signs up for training and then refuses to get medical clearance. Do you keep the money and train them anyway, or do you draw a hard line and risk the refund? We walk through the real decision personal trainers face when safety, ethics, and liability collide, including why “it depends” really means “it depends on your documentation and your preparedness.” 

We break down the types of diabetes (type 1, type 2, and gestation...

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A client tells you they have a fused disc and suddenly every squat, hinge, and loaded carry feels like a liability. We break that moment down into a repeatable coaching process so you can stop guessing and start programming with clarity. From the first questions we ask about surgery timing and what level was fused, to when it’s worth looping in the surgeon or physical therapist, we map out how strong coaching begins long before the first rep.

We also le...

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Most trainers think the “assessment” is where you prove how smart you are. We think it’s where you prove you’re safe, clear, and worth paying. We break down a client assessment process that changes based on context, whether you’re stuck doing a required movement screen at a big gym or you’re an independent personal trainer building your own system. The through-line is simple: it depends on the person, but your standards stay high.

We start with what too many coa...

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“Get certified and start making $100K” sounds great until you are standing on a gym floor with five clients back to back and no real plan. We get blunt about why the personal training industry chews up new coaches, and why the biggest problem is not motivation, it is the lack of supervised experience, real systems, and honest expectations. If you are thinking about becoming a personal trainer, or you are already certified but feel stuck, this conversation is your reset.

We t...