The Show Up Fitness Podcast

Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!
Your client doesn’t need to feel wrecked to get ready for the trail. We walk through a real program design for a 68-year-old retired client who trains three days per week and does Pilates, with a primary goal of lower body strength and endurance for an upcoming hiking vacation and a secondary goal of longevity, mobility, and overall health. 

We start with how to think like a coach from minute one: warm-ups that respect an older adult’s response to volume, how to watch breathing and fatigue, and why “just add more rounds” can backfire. Then we dig into smart circuit construction using core movement patterns, with a big focus on sequencing. If your accessories are too demanding (think step-ups placed where they crush the next squat set), you can accidentally compromise force production and turn a strength builder into a slow grind. We share simple fixes that keep the main lift strong while still building hiking-specific endurance. 

From there we review the rest of the three-day split, highlight what’s already solid, and add practical ideas for hiking performance: trunk work, frontal-plane stability, carries, and optional drills for reacting to uneven ground. We also explain how to progress the plan with progressive overload, how to keep sessions fresh by rotating accessories, and when to use linear periodization vs daily undulating periodization for real clients. If you coach active older adults, build hiking workouts, or want better personal training programming systems, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a trainer friend, and leave a review with your biggest programming question.
Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!
Want to ask us a question?  Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com

Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!
Become a successful nutrition coach making 30k+ annually: https://www.showupfitness.com/products/suf-nutrition-course
Most people think “nutrition coaching” means macros and a food list. We don’t. We talk through what it looks like when a trainer treats nutrition like a real service with clear boundaries, a structured assessment, and an actual registered dietitian on the team. The difference is immediate: clients stop getting vague advice during rest periods and start getting a process they can follow, measure, and trust.

We get into the nuts and bolts of onboarding: setting expectations up front, keeping nutrition as a separate paid service, and using simple objective measures like blood pressure to stand out in a gym full of coaches who skip the basics. From there we go deeper into behavior change, because fat loss is rarely about knowing what a calorie is. It’s stress, sleep, decision fatigue, and the shame loop that makes clients hide what they eat. We break down how to coach weekends, binges, and “off plan” meals without punishment, using habit loops and practical next-step strategies clients can actually execute.

You’ll also hear the tangible tools that make this work in the real world: food photos, food scales, portion plates, hydration tracking, RD-built snack options, and stress tracking sheets that turn emotions into action steps. If you want to build a professional nutrition coaching offer that gets results and creates a dependable second revenue stream, this gives you the roadmap. Subscribe, share this with a trainer friend, and leave a review with the system you want to implement first.
Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!
Want to ask us a question?  Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com

Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!
A 98-year-old walks into your gym. Do you panic and reach for a stability ball, or do you coach what actually keeps them independent?

We take you inside a real coaching moment from our Show Up Fitness class and lay out how we think about program design for older adults and senior fitness. The big shift is simple but powerful: stop collecting exercises and start coaching movement patterns. We talk through what we look for the moment a client arrives, how we “assess” without forcing uncomfortable screens, and how we choose squat, hinge, push, pull, carry, and transitional work that maps directly to activities of daily living (ADLs) like standing up from a couch or getting off the toilet.

From there, we get practical. How do you build a safe 30-minute personal training session that still drives results? We share examples like supported squats, bar presses or machine presses for stable loading, light medicine ball throws for power and fun, and balance games that make clients light up and come back. We also cover progressions, regressions, and why a grounded goblet squat is often smarter than unstable “functional” gadgets for fall-prone clients.

Recovery is a make-or-break variable at this age, so we dig into volume, frequency, soreness management, and nutrition for older adults, including a clear protein target to support muscle building despite sarcopenia and dynopenia. We finish with the coaching mindset that keeps people safe: plan for worst-case scenarios, keep the space clean, and earn the right to progress.

If you train seniors (or you want to), subscribe, share this with a trainer friend, and leave a review so more coaches learn to program with confidence. What’s the hardest part about training older clients for you?
Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!
Want to ask us a question?  Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com

Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!
Knee pain that lingers at a low hum can be maddening, especially for runners who feel “mostly fine” until mileage adds up. We walk through a simple, trainer friendly screen for terminal knee extension (TKE) that takes minutes and often exposes a tiny side to side gap you can’t afford to ignore. Two to five degrees sounds small, but it can change how the knee loads with every step, rep, and landing.

From there, we lay out a clean decision tree: if TKE is limited, we talk daily practice, smart progressions, and how to apply just enough pressure without turning it into a painful battle. If both knees check out, we pivot to ankle dorsiflexion using the wall test (shoes off) and explain why limited ankle mobility can push stress upstream into the knee, especially in running. You’ll also hear how to approach soft tissue work and foam rolling in a way that actually reduces sensitivity and makes new range of motion “stick.”

Finally, we test what many programs ignore: calf stability and local muscular endurance. We break down the 25 rep single leg calf raise benchmark, what “clean reps” really look like, and how to build a simple weekly calf plan that supports stronger mechanics over time. We also connect the dots anatomically by revisiting the gastrocnemius and why it matters for both the ankle and the knee.

If you found this useful, subscribe, share it with a trainer or running buddy, and leave a review telling us which test you’re trying first.
Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!
Want to ask us a question?  Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com

Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!
Shoulder discomfort can be maddening because it often shows up during perfectly normal training. We take a different route: we start with quick safety screens to rule out red flags, then we hunt for the real limiter that keeps stealing motion from the shoulder. A surprising amount of “shoulder pain” is a thoracic spine problem in disguise, and once you see it, your assessments and your programming get a lot clearer.

We walk through a clean, repeatable thoracic rotation screen and the biggest mistake that creates a false pass: letting the low back and pelvis do the work. You’ll hear exactly how we lock out the lumbar spine, what “good” thoracic rotation looks like, and why a simple standard matters for everyone who presses, pulls, or throws. We also share a practical control test we love: if you can’t breathe and talk while holding a position, you don’t own that movement, and your body will compensate the moment load shows up.

Then we move from assessment to action with corrective exercises you can use right away: smarter thoracic foam rolling with neck support, banded thoracic rotation that stops pelvis cheating, and PNF-style drills that help you earn new range of motion under control. Once thoracic rotation is no longer the bottleneck, we screen humeral flexion for overhead work, show how rib flare and arching sneak in, and lay out a simple way to load new overhead range using a foam roller setup and a kettlebell. If you want better overhead mechanics, fewer flare-ups, and a clearer plan for shoulder mobility and stability, this is your playbook. Subscribe, share this with a training partner, and leave a review with the screen that revealed your biggest limiter.
Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!
Want to ask us a question?  Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com