The Evolution of Fitness: Inclusivity, and Accessibility with Natalie Carey

Join Amy on the Be Where You Are Today podcast as she sits down with Natalie Carey, a corrective exercise and women's health specialist, to discuss the evolution of fitness. They delve into how fitness trends and approaches have changed over the years, from the early 2000s' focus on aesthetics to today's emphasis on inclusivity and health markers. They also tackle the complexities of maintaining relevance in the online fitness space, balancing clients' goals with promoting overall health, and the impact of weight loss drugs like GLP-1s. Listen in for insights on adapting to the ever-changing fitness landscape while staying true to core values of body positivity and strength.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
• 1:34 Natalie's Background in Fitness
• 2:30 Evolution of Fitness Trends
• 4:09 Inclusivity in Fitness
• 9:23 Challenges with Weight Loss Medications
• 17:10 Balancing Weight Loss Goals and Body Positivity
• 20:34 Aging in the Fitness Industry
• 24:42 Navigating Online Fitness Challenges
• 32:46 Be Where You Are Today

Transcript

[00:00:00] Amy: Hey everybody. I'm Amy from Body Fit by Amy, and welcome to the Be Where You Are Today podcast where we connect with fitness and nutrition professionals to help you wherever you are in your journey. Today we are discussing the evolution of fitness, all the different movements that I have been a part of, and that we are seeing in present day.

[00:00:26] I'm so excited Today, I am joined by my good friend and trainer, Natalie Carey. Welcome Natalie. 

[00:00:34] Natalie: Hi. Thanks for having me, Amy. 

[00:00:36] Amy: So Natalie and I worked together a few years ago. We connected, we were working for tonal. Natalie is a corrective exercise and women's health specialist since 2012. She specializes in finding ways for more bodies to participate in fitness and we had a lot of great friends and fellow trainers with we that we worked with at the time.

[00:00:56] But Natalie and I really connected because I think we have. Similar philosophies on fitness, on accessibility, on inclusivity, and really just how we talk about fitness. So I'm really excited to be chatting with you today. I think it'll be a really fun discussion. I've been doing this for many years.

[00:01:14] You've been doing this for many years, and we have certainly been through it working in gyms, working in the online space. Going through the evolution of how things have shifted, how we talk about things, talking about working out, talking about bodies, how we train people, and how we deal with the social media aspect that we are all immersed in now.

[00:01:34] So I think to get started, we can just talk a little bit about our backgrounds and fitness. I think many people who are listening to the podcast know about my background of the last 20 years working at fitness. But I would love to hear about your background and how you got into fitness. 

[00:01:49] Natalie: I grew up as a ballerina, and then I got into weightlifting in my twenties, so I got my first.

[00:01:58] Personal training certification back in 2012. Mm-hmm. So I've been doing this for over 13 years now. And yeah, as you said, things have changed a lot since I first became certified. And I knew going into personal training that things would continue to change 'cause we're always getting new science and new information.

[00:02:17] But I don't think, what I was anticipating at the time is all of the trends that we would also have to. Work around and encounter with clients and on social media. Yeah, just a lot has changed. Like I, I was thinking about your topic when you brought this up for your podcast, and the thing that really stood out to me was when I first became certified in 2012, all of the certifications that I was encountering were.

[00:02:46] Really talking about fitness is for you to have a certain aesthetic. And they were coding it with, fitness is for your health, but Right. What they meant by that is if you wanna be healthy and you're fat, then that means you need to lose weight. And if you wanna be healthy and you're not fat, then you need to be more attractive.

[00:03:07] And that was the messaging that. I grew up with as a kid. And then it's also the messaging that I was like very much embracing as a 20-year-old when I came into this industry. And I think like a very welcome change that has happened more recently is that I'm seeing so many more certifications really recognize that's not.

[00:03:32] An approach that is working for most of the population anymore. It's not an approach that's working for a lot of fitness professionals, and we need to make sure that we are teaching fitness professionals how to be inclusive in their training. We need to recognize that. The reality is there's all different body types out there and there's not just one response to fitness.

[00:03:57] And so in the last few years I've. Been really lucky to encounter so many more of these certifications and I'm just like, gosh, I wish that was what was the messaging 13 years ago? 

[00:04:07] Amy: And we evolve. And I love that you said that anybody who's going into really any science profession, we go into a science field knowing that things are going to change.

[00:04:18] That's why our certifications require continuing education credits. Uh. That's because that's the nature of science. Things are going to change. When I first got certified, there was one certification. It was comprehensive, it was overarching, and now we have so many specialties, special populations, but at that time it was.

[00:04:37] You get certified to be a trainer and there is one way to do it. This is how we do it. And we had the assumption that was often correct that people were coming to us for a specific reason, usually aesthetic, right? Whether it was weight loss or toning up or looking a certain way, we weren't necessarily expecting people to come in wanting to be healthier or strong.

[00:04:59] And not only was it not working for people, I think it was working against them. There's a lot of talk now about how historically it's been touted as women being overweight or people being overweight, but they've really just been under muscled, and we're seeing the effects of that in aging in so many ways.

[00:05:17] I feel like when I first got certified, I had so many people, and I'm sure you have had this over the years, clients come in or people say, I really would like to go to the gym, or I would like to start training. But I wanna lose weight first. People are afraid to go into a gym setting or even work with a trainer in a private setting because there was this idea of, oh, people who go to gyms.

[00:05:38] Are already in shape. They look a certain way. They're not going there to, yes. So I gotta lose the weight first and then I have to, and then I can do the rest of it. And it's such backwards thinking for weight loss, but more specifically just for overall health. That is something that has kept people from feeling like.

[00:05:55] A gym or any, or a studio or any exercise setting is a place for them. And yeah, thankfully I feel like we're seeing that change. And to your point about certifications, like when I started there, I, there weren't even like prenatal and postnatal certifications. There certainly weren't menopause or corrective exercise or fitness for runners.

[00:06:17] Right. We have so many different options now, which is great for us as trainers. Great for consumers because there's. Lots of specifics that they could get into for their specific goals or their specific bodies, but it was very much like, this is how you do things. This is how you train people, and this is when you tell them to go to a doctor.

[00:06:35] There was no like in-between. I think like 

[00:06:39] Natalie: you and I being trainers who try to be like inclusive and welcoming to all bodies, we're at a really interesting time in our careers, I think because yes, on one hand, body positivity is really not trending anymore like it was a few years ago. Yeah. On the other hand, going into all of this science based on women's bodies.

[00:07:05] Where we're finally talking about menopause, and we're finally talking more about pre and postnatal training, and especially like treating women who have had children as postnatal for the rest of their lives and not just, oh, that's a temporary thing. We're seeing so much more of that. So it's on one hand, we're not trending, and on the other hand.

[00:07:29] Finally, we're getting the science that we need. Yeah. 

[00:07:32] Amy: It's a very hard place to be, I feel, because there was this evolution of, yeah, when you and I started, it was in the early two thousands, mid two thousands, I was having everybody keep a food journal. I was giving nutrition advice because our certifications teach us to stay in scope and not be dieticians, but certainly talking about nutrition broadly and.

[00:07:54] Again, not talking about I, I think you and I probably are trainers that always have really promoted like, but see how good you feel and you know you're stronger and you're feeling better and your posture is improved. Like we've, I feel like I've always talked in that way, but certainly just assumed that people would come in and they.

[00:08:13] Often did for very specific reasons that were about how they looked, and that's, thankfully, that's not so much the case anymore. However, I feel like we went on this journey of that and then there was this huge body positivity movement, which was great in so many ways. It got us talking about things, it got us away from other things, and then a lot of people are saying, but what about our health?

[00:08:34] But what about these things? What about X, Y, and Z? Now we're back and we're also living in a time when. There's a lot of talk of ozempic and GLP ones and weight loss is back in the spotlight. Yeah. And it's so hard, and we did a whole podcast with Vivian, our registered dietician about GLP ones where she really breaks it down, including a lot of the benefits, a lot of the things that we are seeing in the science.

[00:08:59] But it is a hard place to be because now. We're back to talking about thinness as the goal, and it's hard for us as trainers to be like, okay, how do we balance that with some people who are seeing significant changes for their health with still wanting fitness to be about strength and how we feel and all the other benefits for our body.

[00:09:23] Natalie: I'm so glad that you brought up weight loss drugs and GLP ones. Because that's definitely a topic of conversation right now, and I do have a handful of clients that are using weight loss medications and I'm curious what your experience has been training people on them. 'cause I think the biggest shift for me with my clients is we've gone from them.

[00:09:49] Being concerned about them feeling like they're doing all of the quote unquote right. Things that they should be doing for their health. Like I, I work a lot with people who are concerned about health markers that are not aesthetic. I. I am seeing that my clients are doing all the quote unquote right things, and then they're feeling like they're not seeing their markers of health change.

[00:10:12] They're not seeing their cholesterol improve, they're not managing their blood pressure easily, and then they're going on these weight loss medications and they're finally seeing that all these other markers of their health are improving. Which is great. I'm happy for them. Do I believe in body autonomy?

[00:10:29] Do whatever you want for your body. Yeah. I'm gonna support you in it. But the, I was gonna say, the one thing I'm really seeing is we're having to have more conversations about them coming in, being exhausted and fatigued. Yes. And not able to get through their workouts because they're not eating anything.

[00:10:46] Yes. Because they have such a suppressed appetite that they don't want to eat food. They're like looking at food sometimes. Makes them feel nauseous 'cause they are not interested in it at all. And then they're showing up for our sessions and they don't have any fuel in their system to get through our workout.

[00:11:03] So having to talk to them about that. Part of being on this, on these these drugs is you still have to be in tune with what your body needs versus what these app appetite suppressant signals are sending to your brain. Because not eating any food is also not good for you. No, and that's the biggest thing I've seen.

[00:11:22] But I'm curious about you. 

[00:11:24] Amy: Yeah, I would say the same. Certainly having, I have a, a close friend and former client who is on one and for a while was considering going off because she was not feeling well and couldn't do her workouts, and she was like, this feels like counterproductive. And that's when I was like, it might be for you because if you're not able to maintain muscle, which I think that is the biggest thing, and in some ways I am seeing some people.

[00:11:50] Realizing the importance of muscle and protein, maybe more so than they did before. And in other ways it's why would I work out because I have this, I don't know that I'm seeing that so much in the people that I encounter, but certainly I think that is happening to some people of, oh, there finally is something that is actually working.

[00:12:08] Because like you've said, I also have had many clients and, and friends and people close to me over the years who have done everything right and. Have not seen, whether it's physical or health markers, like you talk about cholesterol, blood pressure, all of those things have not seen the changes that we would expect as trainers.

[00:12:29] It does not work for everybody. It just doesn't. Yeah, and everybody is different and like sometimes it's heartbreaking just to watch people work so hard and also be dealing with what society is telling them that their body size is equating to. They're worth their value. All those things that we grew up with, diet, culture, and then to be doing all the right things and not seeing the results.

[00:12:52] I do worry about the quick fix people and the people who are using it as a substitute. That's the one thing we for sure know. It cannot be a substitute for exercise or for getting nutrients into your body. Yeah. Um, but it's hard. I think especially of my older clients who are mom's generation or grandmothers, they have never known exercise.

[00:13:14] Beyond exercising to be a certain size. Like thankfully our generation, and I'm very hopeful for my kids' generation, are growing up with, oh, we wanna be strong, we have fun. When we do this, we feel good. I'm hopeful we can continue that. But I just think of these generations for years, for women especially.

[00:13:32] It's always been about the size. 

[00:13:35] Natalie: The thing I've had a really hard time with. The weight loss drugs coming in is watching. Over the last few years, all of these people that I have collaborated with and worked with and learned from and looked up to, both in real life and in the online space, people who were also discussing body positivity and weight neutrality, and then in the last couple years just have overnight.

[00:14:03] It appears to be just like overnight, lose weight, come back onto their social media after being inactive. Yeah. And then now there's radio silence on body inclusion. Yeah. And for me, I really don't care whether you wanna lose weight or gain weight or do like just a blanket statement. I think everybody should be able to do what they want with their bodies.

[00:14:25] Yeah. But what's so hard for me is. Seeing them not s support or talk about this topic anymore. And part of me is, is it because you no longer care about that or, or is it because you don't feel like you're welcome talking about that? Do you now feel like you're an imposter talking about that? And I just want my, my.

[00:14:49] Appears to know, please don't stop talking about being inclusive in fitness. Yeah. Even if your body has changed. Yeah. Even if you're trying to navigate how you feel about that now, there are so many people watching you as a role model and they want to hear that you still want to include and welcome all bodies in your fitness space.

[00:15:11] Even if you're maybe feeling a little bit self-conscious about putting that message out there, please don't go radio silent on caring about including people. 

[00:15:19] Amy: I agree a hundred percent and I love that because I do think we're seeing that and I so appreciate. The people who are very transparent, whether it is someone in fitness or celebrities or people just talking about, yes, this is what I'm doing that's changing my body, and that doesn't change the fact that we still wanna be inclusive.

[00:15:41] We still want. We still don't want body size to be the metric on how we judge people. You still have, you still need healthy behaviors for your body to feel good beyond just taking a pill. Just really appreciate when people are transparent about it. Not everybody is comfortable with talking about very personal things online, but I think there is that missing piece of all of the sudden.

[00:16:03] 'cause I know I personally, I have had. Different times in my life, whether it was postpartum for sure, or it had a lot of weight gain in college, but I have felt. Sometimes, oh, I can't really speak to this because I am a person in a smaller body and a lot of that is genetics, and I am grateful for that, and I'm trying to take care of that.

[00:16:22] So I know sometimes I think you and I both can relate to that feeling of, am I allowed to talk about this? Is there gonna be backlash from someone who has. Been through something different than I have or is was born in a different body or there's just, there's a lot of complexity to it. So I, I try to give people grace, but I'm with you.

[00:16:39] If we all agree that body autonomy is what we want, and I think that is, and what we, I. What I would say for everybody, yes, you can do what you want with your body, but let's all agree to talk about it openly and be welcoming. And I think that brings up another point that I know you and I have both talked about of like how as trainers, how can we be body positivity, welcoming, inclusive, and also support clients who.

[00:17:10] Have fat loss or weight loss as their goal. This is something that Vivian, our dietician and I talk about all the time in our community of we, we would say, yes, we absolutely support you, and we don't want that to be the main goal. So how do we balance that? So I would love to hear from you of how, as a trainer with clients or online, how you try to find that balance of supporting people's goals and body autonomy, but also trying to be supportive of the overall goal of health and strength and things.

[00:17:36] We want people to make the main focus. 

[00:17:39] Natalie: I think seeing that goal is really common. I have encountered a lot of clients who, during our initial meeting, they'll tell me, I know I'm not supposed to tell you that I wanna lose weight, but I do wanna lose weight. They know that they're supposed to accept their bodies the way they are, but they wanna be smaller, and I appreciate that they admit that and share that with me.

[00:18:04] So what I do with those clients is I design a fitness program for them that's gonna support their goals of losing weight. And I also talk to them about, okay, what are other sustainable habits that would support you in that goal? And then I shut up about it. I don't bring it up. I don't comment on their bodies.

[00:18:25] If they tell me I lost weight or I'm fitting into this size now, I will say something like. I am. I'm so happy that you're happy, or I know that was a goal of yours, so I'm really happy that you are meeting your goal. I'll also make sure to highlight other achievements that they've made, so I'm not trying to deny that is a goal that they have and that it's a valid goal, but I am also trying to show them that it's not the only thing that matters.

[00:18:54] It's not the only thing of value that you can get out of fitness, and I'm happy for you. And yes and 

[00:19:01] Amy: yes. I love the yes, and I've been trying to make that my 2025 goal or goal for a long time of just remembering that. Multiple things can be true. Yes, we can support you in this goal that you have, and I'm still going to give you other markers of, Hey, look, you're doing that pushup.

[00:19:20] We went up in weights. You said your knees feel better. Reminding people of all those other things and things that I have to do for myself too, we all get that way. We all are like, I'm really tired today. Reminding myself what I would tell anybody else. There could be a million reasons that you're feeling one way or the other and it's gonna look different every day and that's okay.

[00:19:38] So I think it is hard to remind ourselves the things that we remind our clients of all the time, but I do think it's helpful. I've certainly found over. 20 ish years in this industry. Now that I can talk like an old lady trainer, she's gonna keep milking 

[00:19:53] Natalie: that 20 years. I totally am. I 

[00:19:55] Amy: know. And it's funny because I feel like as women we downplay the, oh, we wanna appear younger.

[00:20:01] And now I'm like, yeah. I've been doing this 20 years now I'm like embracing it. I have learned a lot and I'm still learning, and I do think that o over 20 years, I've just realized the mindset shift is a big piece of whatever the end goal is, whether it is weight loss or body recomposition, or just consistency in workouts, which is a lot of people have that goal and which is a great one.

[00:20:26] And I think a lot of that is getting over the idea that. Exercises for X, Y, and Z and thinking of it more broadly. 

[00:20:34] Natalie: But I, okay. I gave you a hard time about bringing up the 20 years thing, but actually I think it's great that you did, because this is something else I've been thinking about recently. 'cause I just turned 40 and I am now like, I don't know if you remember this, but when like we were younger trainers, I would go to conferences and speakers would put up photos of.

[00:20:57] Old trainers, like basically trainers who were 50 or older and be like, yeah, this is our worst nightmare. And nobody ever wants to be an old personal trainer. And so they were selling this message that training was a young person's job, that it was not a career that you grew old in. And I feel like that's definitely shifted in the last few years.

[00:21:18] Yes, yes. I'm seeing a lot of the trainers that I work with. They are aging in this career. I am aging in this career. Like up until maybe seven years ago, I was like, okay, what am I gonna do to get out of this career? Because I can't be right. I can't be like a 60-year-old personal trainer. And now I'm like.

[00:21:38] You know what? I'm gonna be a 60-year-old person trainer. Yes. I am here for the long run. I think that's another thing I've really seen shift in the last decade from fitness industry. Going from like making fun of Yes, people aging as a personal trainer and treating it like that's not. Allowed and wisdom is not welcome in the fitness Yeah.

[00:21:59] World to seeing a lot of us being like, no, this is the career that I'm gonna retire in. And I'm Yes, not, I'm not treating it as a job out of college. This is what I'm passionate about and I want to live my whole career getting better and better at this thing. 

[00:22:14] Amy: Yes, and also just the knowledge that you gain.

[00:22:18] I will definitely say there are some very knowledgeable trainers of all ages who do the work to get the education and the training to be able to train others, but the knowledge that you gain just through life experience, whether that is age, whether that is going through pregnancy, whether that is dealing with symptoms of perimenopause, whether that is having an injury and rehabbing an injury, like I feel like there's so much to be said for that.

[00:22:44] Experience. I think you and I both could think back and be like, wow, the amount of. Different types of people that I have trained over the years that I have learned from is amazing. Like you just gain so much from that. It's crazy to think that training is one of those things that was like a youngs person's job.

[00:22:59] Like we always say, you don't want the brain surgeon who's 25, you don't want. The pilot who is 21. You want the person with the experience. But I think we're just seeing that shift overall. 15 years ago, nobody was talking about your pelvic floor and pelvic health. Yeah. Now we won't shut up about our pelvic floors.

[00:23:16] Exactly. Now we're just all about pelvic floors and vaginas. Come on. I know. It's, it's, I remember going on set the first time I was filming something outside of my own stuff for prenatal post sale, and I was like. Just telling the crew like, Hey, I'm gonna say vagina. And now I'm like, I wouldn't think twice about that now.

[00:23:34] 'cause that is part of it. And I think we're seeing the same thing in the perimenopause menopause world. Like women were just told this is how it is. And now there's specialty certifications. I have one. And also just lots of people talking about it online. And we are seeing the 50 and 60-year-old trainers.

[00:23:50] Who are super strong, and I love seeing that. I fully plan on teaching fitness classes in the retirement community when I'm 95. So 

[00:24:02] Natalie: I don't know if I'm gonna be teaching when I'm 95, but I definitely plan on retiring in this industry. Yes. And there's some days when I'm like. Re rocking my client's weights and I'm like, oh my gosh, am I still gonna be able to keep lifting this weight in 10 years?

[00:24:18] And then I realized actually lifting these weights every day for my clients is what's gonna allow me to keep doing it as I age. Um, yes. So. I am, I'm dedicated to continuing growing my strength and keeping up my bone density. Yes. Yes. And stay here for the long term. 

[00:24:37] Amy: Me too. And just be moving. Well, I just wanna feel good and move well for life.

[00:24:42] Okay. So you and I are both trainers that have worked. In gyms, you still work in gyms? I still train clients in person and we also have both been in the online fitness space for a while now. I feel like I could talk forever about the challenges I find in that space also, the beauty in that space of creating a community of people that you don't see in person and people that are all around the country, all around the world.

[00:25:06] But what would you say are some of the challenges you face in around this topic? As fitness has evolved and as we're trying to stay relevant and also get our message out there, but not. Playing to the things that we don't necessarily agree with, the things that get clicks. 

[00:25:20] Natalie: Yeah. It's so hard. I want all bodies to feel welcome because that is not what people are clicking on right now.

[00:25:28] Yeah, yeah. And that's not what people really wanna hear. And that's cool. Like I can pivot. So it's, the way I look at it is sometimes. We have to play the game a little bit in order to gain access to the spaces that we wanna be in to gain access to the people that we wanna be talking to. And. So a secret I've never shared with anybody before is that on my YouTube, one of my most popular types of videos is inner thigh workouts.

[00:26:02] And I was like, I wanna play to the algorithm. I wanna do what's going to get me subscribers, obviously, but how do I do that in a way that is not making people feel like there's something wrong with them? Yeah. Or that I'm just. Or that I'm just doing what so many fitness professionals have done, which is let's target this problem area.

[00:26:21] Yeah. However. I know that if people are gonna click on an inner thigh workout of mine, that is one way that I can gain access to talking to more people, to sharing my philosophy on fitness. And yeah, I wanna play the game a little bit in a way that gives me access to those spaces in those people. So I have continued to do inner thigh workouts on my YouTube, but I try to make sure I'm talking about.

[00:26:48] Other reasons why it benefits people to work out your inner thighs that are not aesthetic, like I talk about hip and knee health, or I talk about how it can help you get up and down off the floor, or I talk about how I want. All bodies to feel welcome on my channel and accessing my workouts. Yeah, I'm definitely trying to play the game and I'm also trying to make sure that it allows me access to the people who might need to hear from me, who I might learn from, and who I would love to connect with.

[00:27:18] What about you? I. 

[00:27:19] Amy: I would say the same, and it's actually really reassuring to hear you say that because I think we're, I'm definitely in the same boat and we certainly have some older videos that have like cardio for fat loss in the title again, that do really well. Or I have one that where I very specifically tried to make the title clickbaity and it's called a flat tummy workout, but in the first.

[00:27:40] Two minutes, I'm gonna tell you why. You actually just want a strong core and you wanna activate your deep core and you want so, and I acknowledge, yeah, it's not what I would normally title a workout, but I know that's what you're in that search bar searching for. So I do think there's a lot of value in that.

[00:27:58] And again, like. We, we had a discussion in our company, Kurt, Vivian, our dietician on as the new year approaches, do we want to promote weight loss when it's not really something that we talk about as much or we, or that we want to be the thing that we're known for. And then you look at the statistics of that is what people are looking for.

[00:28:17] That's the, that's typically the number one goal for a lot of people. How do we get them in? And then talk about all of these other things. And we have heard it, I'm sure you have too, from clients or people. Finding you online of, oh, this is so refreshing. Oh, I'm finally thinking about this in a different way.

[00:28:34] Or, once I shifted my mindset on this, I was able to be consistent. So it, there is such a balance of playing the game. We have this coming up, we're about to start a challenge called Tone in 30, so 30 minute workouts. I have a complicated relationship with the word tone. You might too, of It was such a early two thousands term of let's get women lifting weights by talking about toning versus building.

[00:28:58] And the reality is. When you're strengthening your muscles. It's, it's all the same, right? We're strengthening, we're toning, we're building all the things that we want. There's not a, a way to tone versus a way to strengthen or build, but I'm gonna put that term in I, it's a little hard for me, but because I know people are gonna respond to that and say, oh, that's what I want, and then I'm gonna get 'em in and hopefully get them lifting heavy and feeling strong and feeling good.

[00:29:23] And hopefully at some point the toning is not the goal. The getting strong is the goal. So I totally agree with you on that. But it is. So hard because there are times when I think of something and I'm like, oh, you know what would really make this go viral or get a lot of people to click would be if I said this, oh, but I can't, it's just so hard to like Totally.

[00:29:44] Yeah. Say that I get 

[00:29:45] Natalie: like that. That ick feeling. Yeah. And so there's, I put quite a lot of thought. When I am titling something, or when I'm coming up with keywords or when I'm writing a caption, what is the balance between getting people's attention and also writing something that I feel ethical about doing?

[00:30:05] Yes. And when you're in the business of, of selling something, because we are selling personal training, we are selling ourselves as personal trainers. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You have to find that balance. How am I actually helping people and how am I being ethical? It's hard. And I'm glad that you've brought it up.

[00:30:23] Yes. 

[00:30:25] Amy: And I think the thing is, I feel like it, there's a sense of when you've built a community online, which you and I both have, of like staying true to those people of not wanting to put, we did a focus group. Around weight loss last January, and it did very well. A lot of people came in, a lot of people really responded to it, but some of our existing followers were like, I don't like that we're talking about that now.

[00:30:46] This is why I like working out with you. So there's a balance of Yeah, like being true to who you are and your brand, and you know what you're. Hoping to help people with and also getting those new people in. I just had a conversation with someone where we were talking about a gym, a new gym in town here that had some questionable marketing on how they were getting people in, talking about you coming in, getting a better body and things like that.

[00:31:09] And I was like, at the end of the day, yes, I cringe at that stuff, but if it gets people in the doors and it gets people moving. I'm all for it. Maybe somebody is gonna be like, oh, this is my thing, or this is, and I think you and I would both say this, I'm in mostly the world of online fitness, but if you're a gym person, if you love going to a class with 30 people, you absolutely should do that.

[00:31:30] You should find what is. Best for you and your journey, and for some people that's working out in the living room and for some people that's going to a gym and there's so many ways to do it, but it is such a struggle of like, how can I keep up in the online space but also stay true to myself and stay true to what I hope to be?

[00:31:49] Putting out there to the world. On that note, everybody follow Natalie? 'cause she puts out a lot of good stuff out there. Oh, thank you. We back at you. Yes. And we really should collaborate 'cause we both have YouTube channels. We're both on Instagram and we've, we both like to wear costumes during our workout.

[00:32:05] We do. We're both a lot of. Fun. We, we have been talking about this for years of doing some videos together, so we should definitely get in on that. I think we also have some matching outfits, like maybe FTIC outfits. I think we've talked about them before. Our gold ones gold like snake skin ones. 

[00:32:23] Natalie: I buy a lot of stuff from, I know athletics, I love athletics.

[00:32:26] Amy: Yeah. Anyway, so collaborations between Amy and Natalie coming soon? Yes, please. This has been a great conversation. I'm sure you and I could talk for two more hours about all of this, but I feel like it's been very helpful for me. Hopefully it's been helpful for other people working in fitness as well as people who just enjoy fitness or are getting into fitness.

[00:32:46] We always close the podcast with something I call, where are you today? Day, hence the name. Be where you are today and sidebar. You and I also first connected because something I always say in my workouts is be where you are today, as in just show up and move your body. And if that means you're low impact today or you're only going five minutes instead of 20, that's okay.

[00:33:07] Be where you're today and yours is, remind me. So my main one is 

[00:33:11] Natalie: thanks for being excellent to yourself today, but I also say wherever you're at today is exactly where you need to be. 

[00:33:18] Amy: I love it. So we also first connected on that because again, similar philosophies. Different phrases, but yeah, of just being present and being in the moment and just showing up for yourself.

[00:33:30] On that note, we always close the podcast with a segment we call Be where you are today, and that is where you are in your own journey. So that can be where you are in your own fitness journey. And as a trainer, obviously that's what we've been talking about, but anything else you wanna add or helpful tips for people as they're navigating this ever-changing world of fitness like you and I are?

[00:33:50] Yeah. 

[00:33:51] Natalie: Yeah. Okay. Here's, here's a tip wrapped up with where I am at today. So I've been a competitive pole dancer for over a decade, and I. I've realized in the last year that my body can just not sustain that level of movement anymore, and that was a hard realization for me. And so I've transitioned into a different type of aerial sport so that I can continue doing aerial work, but not come home every day with a tweaked shoulder or right a back out of alignment.

[00:34:27] And so that's been hard for me to learn, but I would say it's also a good lesson. Just like listening to your body. Just because some type of movement is maybe not the best choice for you anymore, it doesn't mean you're not gonna find joy elsewhere. There's a thousand different ways to move our bodies, and we can just keep finding ways that work for where we're at today.

[00:34:53] Amy: I love that. I love that so much because I think we do again. We have been raised with this culture of just no pain, no gain. If you work hard enough, you could do it forever, and that's just not the case. I would say for me it was running. I was, I loved running ran races for years and just realized my knees didn't like it anymore, but I still love to hike and do other things outside.

[00:35:15] But it was a little bit of an identity crisis to be like, oh, but I should just be able to keep doing it. And we really have to listen to our bodies and do what feels best. While still doing some of the hard things too. Just differently. Yeah. What's your new aerial sport? 

[00:35:30] Natalie: I have taken up Lyra. It's the aerial hoop and oh my God, it's, it's a lot easier for me to grip.

[00:35:38] I have very small hands, so I'm having a really. Like much easier time on my shoulder, putting it in place when I'm not struggling to grip stuff, and it just is like a lot more gentle on my body. Ugh, amazing. Yeah, and it's 

[00:35:52] Amy: fun. I'm gonna be looking for those videos online because I have watched your pole dancing videos for years and it is.

[00:35:58] Incredible. So strong. So fun to watch. But now I'm gonna be looking for that. Oh, excellent. And where we're gonna put all of this in the description and in the notes, but where can people find you if they're looking for you or your videos or your programs? 

[00:36:14] Natalie: I'm a San Francisco based personal trainer, but I do virtual training with clients all over the country.

[00:36:21] So we figure out what you've got available to you, and we make a workout program based around what you've got in your home. Um, if you wanna reach out to me, Instagram's the easiest way at Barbell Blondie, and then you can also go over to my website, barbell blondie.com. Excellent. 

[00:36:40] Amy: Thank you so much for joining us today.

[00:36:42] We'd love to have you back and we definitely need to at least. Make some videos together before, before the next podcast, so I will see you very soon. Sounds good. Thanks Natalie. Thanks Amy, and thank you so much for joining us today. Please leave us any feedback in the comments and just a reminder that you can listen to this and all of my other podcast on my YouTube channel, as well as anywhere that you get your podcast.

[00:37:09] I'm ab reminding you to show up, keep moving, and be where you are today.