Transformation Talks

Nutritional Phases, Training for Muscle Gain, Home Gyms, & Sticking to Your Plan with Carmie Hawkins

• Season 2 • Episode 25

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On this episode of Transformation Talks, we're joined by Carmie Hawkins, a health and fitness coach who isn't just talking about this stuff.

She's living it in real life, in real seasons, just like the women she coaches. She specializes in helping busy moms simplify the fat loss process and finally make it sustainable.

She's NOT about extremes, quick fixes, or starting over every Monday. Instead, she teaches women how to master the basics: building strength, understanding nutrition, and creating habits that actually fit into their lives.

We discussed the importance of nutritional phases, training for muscle gain, building out a home gym, sticking to your plan when you don't feel like it, and more.

You can connect with Carmie here: https://www.instagram.com/carmhawk_getsfit/

Carmie and Dal Sekhon's (our S2 E23 guest) Break the Cycle podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-the-cycle-redefining-weight-loss-health-mom-life/id1833516078

Don't hesitate to ask me questions on anything we covered here: mail@samforget.com

For more support and accountability, apply for coaching here: https://samforget.com/coaching/

Or get started for free with my one-stop nutrition guide: https://freenutritionguide.com

SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to another episode of Transformation Talks. I'm your host, Sam Forger, and today we'll be joined by Carmi Hawkins, a health and fitness coach who isn't just talking about this stuff. She is living it in real life, in real seasons, just like the women she coaches. She specialize specializes in helping busy moms simplify the fat loss process and finally make it sustainable. Carmi, thank you so much for being here today. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01

Of course. I would actually love to start with your backstory, like how you got into fitness yourself for personal benefits, but then also when you got into actually coaching other women with many of these things.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, so we'll rewind it not too, too far back. Um, but I, much like a lot of people grew up very active, I was a professional dancer or a competitive dancer. Um, from the time I was three years old. I wasn't competitive at three, obviously, but I started in dancing. Super early. Yes, I know. I'm totally an overachiever. So y'all can suck on that. Um, but from the time I was three, I was a super energetic child. My parents were like, what do we do with this? So they put me in dance basically to just get me out of their hair. And then kind of noticed, like, and the teachers noticed, like, hey, she's kind of got a knack for this. And so um kind of just stayed into it, got really competitive, like towards nine, 10, 11 years old, and then stayed into it, began teaching actually as well in my teen years, like late teen years, and then stayed at my dance studio until I was about 18 when I graduated college, and then ended up becoming a professional dancer on a professional, a couple professional hip-hop teams in college. Um, but this is really where I guess the effects of adulthood took over, much like a lot of people where we call it the freshman 15, where now I know it's not really a thing, it's a lifestyle change, going from super high activity to not a whole lot, even being a professional dancer at that point. Um, because I was going from seven days a week dancing to maybe one, two, three days a week, and then sitting at a desk and eating like an asshole in college. Uh, because I didn't really have to learn like food, nutrition, how to fuel properly. I just ate because I was active. I'm like, all right, put it all down my gullet and let's go. I don't have to worry about any of this. And then now here I am in my 20s at this point, going, huh, what's happening? And that's where I'm starting to pack it on. And it was more like 1525, not 50, not freshman 15. And so that's where the whole yo-yoing and diet culture, all the fad things where I mirrored what my mom did, what I saw at home. Um, the dry toast with beets and a side of dry tuna plain. Um with yeah, with some hard-boiled eggs, and that's all you ate for a day. Um the hot water with cayenne and honey, and that's all you did to detox. Um, I mean, you name it, I probably tried it. Um, never did like the Weight Watchers thing, but just whatever fad that came up that I was like, this is going to be it. This is the thing that puts me on this nutrition thing. And this is the thing that's gonna get me to the body that I'm always chasing. And it just never happened. And then fast forward to now I have to give up dancing because now I have to be a big kid and actually do a profession. And I enter into x-ray school, and that's just the main focus at that point. And fast forward again to where I'm out of x-ray school and I'm like unhappy in my body, uncomfortable in my skin, but still not knowing what to do. And I'm listening to whatever media is telling you to do, and I become a cardio bunny, and now I have a chip on my shoulder because I'm like, this fucking sucks. Like, it can't be like this. It was miserable, it felt like torture. It was like one of those things where it's like, I have to do it, not I get to do it. And it just never stuck. And then now here I am with my first daughter. I'm pregnant, and I was one of those people during both of my pregnancies where I was like, fuck all of you, leave me alone. I'm eating for two. And I just didn't care. I took that mindset and said, This is when I get to have all the dumb fuckery. This is like, this is where I get the hall pass. Like, leave me alone, didn't even care. And then now I'm dealing with the repercussions of that postpartum. Um, and unfortunately, I fell into another, I guess, mindset of the bounce back culture, which I feel so strongly against. Um, where I was like, oh my God, I have to fit in my pre-mommy jeans. Oh my God, I have to get this baby weight off. Where really now I know it's no, you have to nurture yourself, you have to fuel yourself, and you have to do everything to accommodate you and baby at that point. Um, so after baby two is when I was like, hmm, okay. I took a go at it, still not knowing anything. Um, just started hitting the gym, started weight training a little bit with no plan, just would go do whatever I would see on social media, whatever the influencers are saying to go do. Um, and stuck to what I thought was a 1200 calorie diet. Again, don't know. Or uh downloaded my fitness pal, started logging food, but never actually weighed it, measured it, nothing. Was like, I think this is that. I think I'm eating 1200 calories because they said the magic number is 1200 calories. And then again, didn't stick because I had no habits, I had no foundation, I didn't know what I was doing and I wasn't seeing results. Um, two now COVID happened. My mom got diagnosed with breast cancer, had a double massectomy, got stuck in caretaker mode, and then here I am again, blowing all the way up. Um, and for uh reference, I'm five foot nothing, I'm very little. Um, and I was probably maybe at my heaviest 180, um, which is a lot for somebody with my frame. And I'm looking at myself in the mirror, going, oh. But then it still wasn't enough. It still wasn't my rock bottom yet because I still didn't figure it out. Um, what finally made me figure it out was having um, I was being what what do we say? Um, not proactive, but I was being reactive. I had a wedding. So finally me and my husband decided to get married in 2020. And I was like, I gotta get my shit together. I don't like this. Um, now we always say to our clients, try to be proactive versus reactive. But hey, if the reactiveness gets you a little bit of buy-in, by all means, because that's what it took for me. Um, but then I bought into Beach Body, which I will always be grateful to Beach Body for getting me in the door or getting my foot in the door and getting me some type of buy-in. But now knowing what I know, it's a terrible system. It's a system meant to keep people stuck. Um, but at least I had the I had the, I guess, want or the need to be able to want to learn more and question, um, where not everybody will. So I went from doing beach body for a few months prior to my wedding, dropped some weight, not where I wanted to be, not that quote unquote goal weight that we all say. Um, but I got some weight down to the point where I was happy and satisfied to be able to show up to my wedding day. And then that kind of spun from there where I was like, okay, I've got some, you know, air underneath me, I've got some motivation, let's keep it going. But then I went full sun where I was, oh my God. I'm like, oh, poor me. Um, I started doing the two a days because now I'm hooked because I'm seeing results, but now I'm going from zero to a thousand instead of just finding that happy medium. Um and then the burnout happens. And then I was like, okay, we need to zoom out because yes, we like this lifestyle. Yes, we like how we're feeling, but this can't be it because now I'm skinny fat, I'm burnt out, and now I don't want to do this shit anymore. And I'm hungry because I'm only eating 1200 calories on two a days. So for whatever reason, I don't know how it happened. I'm starting to go down the Instagram rabbit hole and I start to stumble upon certain um accounts like bicep biceps over babies, um, like relatable accounts, like mom accounts, um, who are promoting this lifestyle. I'm like macros. What are macros? This is crazy. What is this? What do you mean? Because again, I don't know anything. Um and so I'm starting to follow the accounts. And then finally I'm like, okay, I've got to invest in me. I've got to learn about this. And so I ended up investing in um Amber Brusicki, who is bicep over babies account, um, her like macro boot camp, learned all about macros. And from then I was hooked because from there, starting to follow her and butter your macros, I fell onto a lot of the other accounts who is now my coach four weeks to the beach, who's, if you guys don't know, is a no bullshit kind of person, gives it to you how it is, and will never lie to you. Um, and I was like, Oh, okay, this is cool. And so paired with being in the boot camp and now following pages like him, um kind of spiraled my whole career because I will always be forever grateful to Rom four weeks to the beach. Um, because even before I hired him as a coach, he invested so much time and energy into me. Um, would always reach out and ask, like, hey, how's it going? Now I do know it was him trying to nurture that client um environment uh to open the door for me. Um but it took me, shoot, four years to actually hire him. Um, but he never gave up on me and he always believed in me. And he's actually the reason why I'm now a coach because I was like, okay, I'm hooked on this. I graduated out of the boot camp. I started learning things. Um, I learned the importance of strength training, and now I'm hitting the weights and I'm hitting it hard. And now I'm finally seeing the changes with my body composition. And I was like, okay, I'm like, I'm gonna enroll into NASA. I'm so interested in this. I'm so passionate about this. I just want to learn more. Only enrolled just because. Because I was like, it's only$2,000. My job, you know, will um refund me or reimburse me the tuition. Cool, let's do it. Did it, and then Aram, here he is again in my ear. Why don't you just be a coach? And I'm like, why? Who am I? Because at this point, I'm like so absorbed in all the accounts, like Jordan Sayat and all and Aram and all these people. I'm like, you guys all have big followings, you guys have so much authority. Who wants to listen to me? He's like, who fucking wouldn't listen to you? You're so more relatable than I am. He's like, You're a mom, you're living it, you're breathing it. Like, why wouldn't you? You're you're a walking, like um advertisement to like what you do. And I'm like, I can do that. And he's like, Why? Why wouldn't you? Please. And so there it was. Started the LLC a couple months or maybe a couple weeks later, and I hit the ground running, and that's that.

SPEAKER_01

Incredible. Okay, so many directions we could go in here. Um, I actually want to first backtrack to dance. I know I'm jumping back to a three-year-old currently, and then after that. I'm curious if any of your old dieting habits, I know you said some of them came from mirroring what your mom was doing, but any of your old dieting habits or training habits also came from dance culture at all in terms of the common things about not training a certain way so you don't get bulky or so you don't get stiff, trying to eat as little as possible. Was there anything that you had to unlearn from a dance culture perspective, or would you say it was just more general diet culture things you were seeing?

SPEAKER_00

So surprisingly, nutrition-wise, no, because a lot of us we weren't really focused on that. A lot of us were just tiny. We didn't have to worry about like how we ate and what we ate. Uh, but what I did have to unlearn was about my body, because um, my frame is very muscular. I'm short, I'm a little stocky. So again, that's why I have to be careful about how the weight goes, because it just goes this way. Um, so one of the things where I don't have a ballerina body, but I had to take ballet, it was mandatory. And I did have one ballet teacher that would almost comment on my body frame where it was like my butt was too big or I was too bulky, not skinny, lean, tall. I didn't have a ballerina body. So that was one of the things where I guess I didn't know it affected me, but it did semi-affect me because you do want to look lean, long, but realistically, I I'm not lean and long. I mean, I'm lean, but I'm not long. I'm five foot. How long can a five-foot girl look? So that was probably like the main thing. That was one of the things that like stuck with me for a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

Sure. No. And again, I asked just uh, I have a lot of friends who have been professional dancers or who work with dancers, and I know that's quite common where not only do you have the regular, you know, diet culture type things that are an uphill battle for many women, but then dance, there's that extra level of intensity with whether it is, hey, don't strength train because it may affect your dancing, you know, nutritional stuff, certainly a very high level of body scrutiny, which you know you unfortunately experienced. Um, okay, so that was in my mind. I wanted to ask about that because I know it is pretty common. Fast forwarding to when you started to make more sustainable changes, what were some of the biggest things that you did differently? Say, once you started learning more about macros during the macro boot camp, and then once you started doing, I guess, more structured, proper strength training, what did those shifts look like in each area?

SPEAKER_00

Um, for sure with the nutrition, um, I realized that nutritional periodization periodization is a thing that I can't live in perpetual diet fat loss phases my whole entire life. Um, because it was always that magic number of 1200. I just thought that that's just what I had to eat. And then once I did the macro boot camp, I was like, oh, you mean I'm supposed to live in maintenance too? Wait, what? So that was probably the main takeaway where I think a lot of people don't understand that. Where I think realistically, a lot of people, women, they naturally phase in and out because they go really hard right before summer or in events where they go in a diet phase and then they go back into maintenance because it's they get the case of the fuck. It's I don't have anything that's like, I don't have that dangling carrot anymore. So I don't really have to worry about it too much, which essentially sends them into maintenance, but actually half the time it's outside of their maintenance range. It's probably more of a surplus because we're not counting and we're not being like aware and mindful of what we're doing. Um, but now it's I have that awareness and I know that it has to be a thing. And then I also had to learn that there's different phases and stages as far as even with your nutrition and training. So with um wanting to build, like most of us when what are we chasing? We're chasing the ass, right? We want that. We want the badonk. Got it. But you can't get the badonk if you're in a diet phase not feeling adequately or training adequately, like for those specific muscle groups. So that's one of the things that I had to realize too is okay, so we spend some time building, we spend some time feeling properly, and we spend some time doing, you know, um, proper training programs, not jumping, not program hopping, like doing all the things and doing the basics really well. And then going into diet phases. And probably the biggest thing was letting go of the timeline and understanding that the body I'm chasing is going to come over time, over a lot of work and patience, and that it's not gonna happen in one cycle. Cause I think that's a big thing that a lot of women, especially moms, think like, I'm gonna go through this one diet phase right before summer, and I'm gonna be at that body, like I'm gonna have it. So I think those are probably the biggest takeaways once I really got invested in it.

SPEAKER_01

Sure. And I do think that nutritional puritization, the idea of phases is just such a foreign thing to so many people who spend their whole lives at least dieting on paper, kind of like mentally dieting. Like you said, the actual intake tends to ebb and flow quite a bit. But I also find that when I introduce that idea to most people of like, hey, we're not gonna be, like the on-paper protocol is not gonna be dieting all the time. Most people's resistance to that is, well, I want to lose a bunch of weight and I want to lose it as quickly as possible. Not realize, or I want to look a certain way, not realizing that constantly pursuing that at the expense of everything else is ironically enough, either a much slower path to your goal because you constantly burn out in yo-yo, or you just never reach it at all. So the irony is like, hey, I I don't want to come up into maintenance for a little while. Like I have these goals I want to reach, but never doing any sort of maintenance, never doing any sort of building has may have kept you stuck in a yo-yo cycle for years or decades. So it's it's ironic that constantly trying to go as fast as possible does lead to slower outcomes or no outcomes at all.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. I think because a lot of us have PTSD. I say this, you know, pretty often on our podcast, as speaking for women, a lot of us have PTSD. And so we want to live in that perpetual fat loss phase because we're afraid of the outcome of what's going to happen when we get into maintenance, not understanding that maintenance doesn't mean you just have the dumb buckery occur. It's controlled. You still live the lifestyle, you still do your foundational habits and you do things just a little bit differently. You have more flexibility, but you don't just go completely off the rails and just say, I'm good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, I say this, I feel like in content and podcasts often that maintenance is, depending on the person, 70 to 80 percent similar. I always give a range around there to a dieting face. You're still making mostly nutrient-dense food choices, still trying to move a bunch, trying to get stronger, trying to put on muscle, get good sleep, manage stress. The things that are universal phase to phase, the primary thing that changes is obviously your calorie intake. Maybe obviously calories come up. Maybe you're a bit less precise purposefully with how you're monitoring everything just to give yourself a little bit of a breather. So I always do clarify that with clients that okay, this is technically a maintenance phase, but which for many people just sounds so idle. But I'm like, it's maintenance in reference to your calories and mostly maintaining your current body cup. That doesn't mean good things aren't happening and progress can't be made in so many other areas. So, okay, it's a maintenance phase, but that only refers to the calorie protocol. Doesn't mean a bunch of other good stuff isn't happening.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think it's important too with my with my women, is I I really emphasize the fact that during the maintenance phase, this is not where we chase the body aesthetics. This is where we focus on either, you know, fine-tuning those habits with your nutrition or getting strength in the gym or whatever, something else. We've got to focus on something outside of the body, body aesthetics and the scale.

SPEAKER_01

Sure. Especially because if the only thing you're after is weighing as little as possible or being as small as possible, you can only pursue that for so long because even if you do theoretically achieve the smallest, lightest version of you, where do you go from there? Which is why I love the idea of taking breaks from constantly pursuing that, because most people are pretty lost with other goals outside of that for a variety of reasons. And I think that most people underestimate how fucking good it feels to have a not just mentally, but physically, to have a period of time where your primary goal when you wake up in the morning or primary goals are how can I feel even better? How can I increase my energy even more? How can I be even fucking stronger in the gym, put on muscle, do all these other things. And I think people underestimate how fun that can be as a goal. And then indirectly, obviously, long term, it does help with fat loss in a really meaningful way.

SPEAKER_00

Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Something you mentioned when I was on your podcast a few weeks ago now, I guess it was, is that over time, through a lot of these focal points that we're talking about, you've been able to build up your maintenance range to be able to maintain and then when you diet, now diet on higher calories, which I love as a focal point. Yes, we've all talked about it. A lot of women do unfortunately have to diet on lower calorie ranges, a byproduct of having a lower maintenance range, but there are things you can do to build that up over time. So um, so I'd love to dive into that. But one thing I do want to clarify beforehand is that when you mentioned that, you also said this has been years in the making. This was not a 12-week phase where you took your maintenance from, I don't know, 1600 to 2200. So it is a process, but I'm sure you can vouch for how worth it it is to build that up. So why don't you walk us through that a bit more?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So to your point, I'll start off with this six years, guys. I've been on this journey for six years. And currently, we think my maintenance or we thought my maintenance was about 21 to 2200. Um we think now suspects it was probably a little bit more um because full disclosure, I got a little bit willy-nilly during the holidays. I stopped tracking. Um, but I I have that luxury, I have that flexibility because of the habits that I have in play and a lot of my non-negotiables where the food really didn't change. It was all still the same. I just had more flexibility. I had, I'm a baker too, so I had more cookies involved and things like that. So um that was fine. Um, but the reason why we suspect that is because my original diet phase, we started January 26th. Um, we dropped my calories to 1740. Um, and then turns out after eight weeks, I was losing about a pound a week, which to a lot of people, they would be like, wow, that's amazing. That's great. But the problem with that for me and my body frame and my composition is now we're risking the muscle mass that I've worked so hard over six years to build. So we wanted to slow that down. So we actually increased calories from 1740 to 1850, I believe. And I'm still losing, um, but we did slow it down. Um, and so from January 26th, I weighed in at 144.6. And right now I'm weighing it at about, I think my low was 133.4, which is right in that pocket where we want to be. Now, a lot of people, I I got called a liar on one of my posts because some lady didn't believe that I was able to diet down at 1700 calories, um, that I'm not being honest about what I'm doing. Um, but for everybody for reference sake, I'm doing three, no, yes, three strength training days a week, 120 minutes of cardio and dieting down to my appropriate calorie deficit. And I say my appropriate calorie deficit because I'm I fully I'm fully transparent about calorie deficits or your calorie intake being unique and individualized to that specific individual, because you and I both know that there's so many things that need to be taken into consideration, activity level, steps, um, sleep, everything. And so I actually have been able to build up to this tolerance or calorie threshold because of the work that I've done over the six years, meaning the body recomposition, the nutritional periodization. This is not something that just happened last year. Um, so that's what I think that people don't understand. So when people try to discredit me and say that I'm a liar, you're not taking consideration all of the things that I've done leading up to this point. Because I have clients that I have to diet down to 1200 calories because their activity level, they sit in an office all day. They have to be intentional about their steps. And it's just what it is. It's not saying that that's not something that they can that we can build them up to at a certain point, but it's gonna take time. It's gonna take a lot of planning and a lot of strategy. But I'm not I'm not a magic unicorn. Anybody can build up to this, but a lot of this is because of the muscle that I've built over time that's allowed me to have that threshold. And that's literally just what it is.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And what I love about the fact that you increase your calories, which would sound again, you said most people hear a pound per week and they think, great. And you are at a pound per week and you go, okay, good, but also body weight, body composition goals are different things. And I want to make sure that I'm maximizing body comp progress, which may require me to slow my role a little bit. And again, I just think that is not something most people would think of. It's always faster is better when it comes to weight loss, more weight loss is better. But for the look that most people want, like the whatever you want to call it, tones, lean, defined, athletic, jacked, I mean, they're pretty much all the same thing. It does require you to maximize how much muscle you're either developing or maintaining. So you found that pace that made sense for you for your body composition goals, which it's an important distinction from just having a body weight goal.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I spent a lot of time building this muscle. I'm not willing to risk it. And honestly, I'm one of those people that wear, because you and I both know we can't, we can't uh predict where fat loss is going to happen. We don't get to choose. The body chooses for you. And the first place it goes on me is my backside. And I told my coach, I'm like, hey, this is project save the backside, please. Like, let's I'm like, that's the hardest thing for me. And so I'm like checking every day, like, are we good? Okay, we still good.

SPEAKER_01

Still there, still there. Okay, good. Yeah. And then I think something else a lot of people don't realize is that the leaner you get, often the slower it does make sense to go from a muscle retention standpoint. So like most things on social media, you always hear like a pound per week, a pound per week, that's solid. But for some people who are looking to lose uh a very large amount of weight, you can probably get away with a faster pace for that, at least for a while. And then on the flip side, somebody who's leaner, smaller women, obviously you fall into both categories. You got to be mindful of that pace and not go too, too low. Uh, otherwise, you know, the risk of muscle loss is higher, which I actually think is an especially relevant conversation. This could be a rabbit hole or we can just leave it here, just with GLP one use. And, you know, obviously just the usual people thinking faster and more significant weight loss is better, but not factoring in body comp stuff as well. So I do think it's super important for us to keep just beating everybody over the head with the importance of muscular development and retention over time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Hey, listen, I I'm all for it. Like if one of my clients comes to me and says they want to use um GLPs, cool. If it gets you bought in and it gets you the results that you're seeking, awesome. But I'm going to be very honest and transparent that we need to pair it still with those habits and strength training, not even just the strength training for the aesthetics purpose, but also for just that bone density and you know, uh to avoid any type of muscle loss because a lot of these people already have very small amounts of muscle mass as it is. Let's not risk it. So I'm I mean, that's I'm about to do a women's health clinic next week, and that's gonna be one of the topics that I talk about where I'm not going to tell you or dissuade you to take GLPs. If you feel like you're a candidate for it, that's awesome. But full disclosure, we've got to pair it with this lifestyle still. You can't just opt into it and just say this is just going to be it because that's that whole wet melted candle look, or what is it, the osempic face? You know, it's not really a thing. It's just the rapid bat loss that's happening without circumventing some of those other things that are happening, like the muscle loss and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01

Can you tell us a bit more about how you changed your workouts to be more of like a muscle-building emphasis? Because obviously you have a very active background as somebody who was a competitive and eventual professional dancer. You did beach body, you tried so many things and are moving a lot, but I'd imagine there was a pretty noticeable or notable shift in the way that your programming was structured when you were like, oh, okay, I want to try to develop some muscle now. What does that look like?

SPEAKER_00

So with beach body, it was a lot of hit training per se. So it was more cardio-based. Um, and it was like the multi-movements, like where do a do a lunge into a bicep curl into an overhead press, all that stuff where you're only working with like maybe 10 pounds max, um, because that's all you can really tolerate with multi-movements like that, moving so quickly, to now transitioning to literally just very simply training like a bodybuilder. Um, and for some women, that's gonna be like gasp. Oh my gosh, I don't want to look like that. Listen, ladies, it's taken me six years to look the way I look, and I still don't look like a bodybuilder. I look like I work out, but there's no way I look like a bodybuilder. I don't look bulky, I don't look manly, I feel feminine, I feel in my power. Just go train like a bodybuilder, pretty please. So I went in with specific plans, um, spits like body splits where I focused on the things and most importantly, trained heavy, heavy in perspective for me, because heavy is going to be different for every person. Cause again, context matters and it's all individualized. And I started training to failure, meaning I wasn't just in there doing the moves. I was actually doing, I had a rep set where it was like, let's say eight to 12 or six to eight, where I had to basically hit that last high-end threshold of that rep count where I really just couldn't get another rep in. It was like a half rep, maybe. Or like if I'm in the half squat machine, like I can't get up from the move. Like I'm just in there and I'm crawling out. And that's essentially how you have to train if you want that muscle. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01

Crawl crawling, like that specific word is the perfect way to describe what you're doing at the end of a hard set of hack squats, specifically. You just you rack the weight and you're like, get me the fuck out of here. You just kind of like it.

SPEAKER_00

I think it's my nemesis. I I don't know. Like it doesn't look hard, and then you get under it and you're like, What is this?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I still struggle. Do you have uh does your gym have pendulum squats by any chance? Have you seen that machine?

SPEAKER_00

So my gym is my home.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I knew that. I knew that. Okay. Have you tried it?

SPEAKER_00

No, I don't have a pendulum squat. I have not. I really actually want to go visit a gym and try to get underneath it and see.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And probably be humbled.

SPEAKER_01

It is unbelievable. It is unbelievable. It's similar to a hack squat, but I would say even more so just because of the structure of the lift that you know, on a hack squat, you're used to doing a few hundred pounds or whatever. And then you come in on a pendulum and even one plate on the side. It's like the first three or four reps, you feel okay. And then rep five, it's like, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_00

And then shaking like a baby giraffe.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're crawling out of there. It's unbelievable. And for me, a hack squat and machines in general are a semi-recent addition to my programming because my athletic background is basketball. So I was pretty trained at the time mentally to think, okay, free weights, functional. Don't touch machines, those don't have carryover to basketball. And then I went from basketball to power lifting to strongman competition. So still a lot of free weights, big barbell lifts, implement stuff like that. And I still had it lingering in my head that oh, machines aren't functional. Well, functional for what? Building muscle. They're fucking great. So I don't know. It's still maybe only the last five to seven. I've been training since I was 14, 15. I'm 31 now. And it's only the last five to seven years, maybe, that machines have become a much bigger part of my training. So I'm still in the phase where I kind of like hack squats because I feel it in my quads a ton. I get great results from it. I'm sure I'll grow out of that at some point. It's like, fuck this. It just, it never gets any easier. But um, but yeah, that's a that's a separate thing.

SPEAKER_00

I love machines. I'm all about machines. I I mean, part of my journey started with mostly just dumbbells and bars and stuff like that. And then we started upgrading. We got like a multi-functional trainer situation, and then I got the hack leg press and then the leg extension. So I'm very blessed in that sense where um my husband made the barrier of entry to be able to prioritize my gym sessions uh very low by giving up part of the garage to help me build a gym. So I love that.

SPEAKER_01

Do you have any advice for somebody who is thinking about building out their own home gym? They say, okay, I want to, you know, remove the commute to the gym, having to pay for a gym membership, or I want to invest in something for my house. Uh, what suggestions would you give somebody?

SPEAKER_00

Uh definitely I think if you had to piece it like piece by piece, like we kind of had to do, um, the best thing would be one of those like um like multi-trainer cages where it has the Smith machine and it has the ability with the cables and stuff like that. I think that that would be an awesome starting point because you can do so much in there. You can um overhead press, you can barbell squat with the Smith machine, you can row with the Smith machine, and then you have all the cables that you can row, do all. I mean, it's the really the options are endless with it. Cause I actually that's funny you asked because I actually just helped a girlfriend build out a home gym. And those are that's one of the things I told her. Yeah, there's like this, it was on Amazon as this Marcy, it's like an upgraded version of what I have, um, where it's a Smith machine with the cage around it and all the cables, and she got that set up. And um she, well, she came and she kind of did more things at once. But yeah, she did that, and then the leg press and the hack squat machine, she got that as well. And I think honestly, that's like great starting points for people.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And especially if you look at versatility, like you said, a Smith machine alone or any sort of barbell, you know, the 500 exercises or variations, I should say, that you can do with that. But then say off of a Smith machine, you know, whether it's, you know, you are doing skull crushers off of it, an inverted row, elevated push-ups, a jackknife chin-up, attaching a TRX to it, and then it opens it up even more. I mean, there's just so many things you can do. So I do like that. Just thinking what equipment is going to allow me to do the greatest number of exercises. Because I do find that for at-home training, for people who have little to nothing, one of the longer-term hurdles, besides the inability to progressively overload, depending on what you have, is just boredom. Like how many variations of reverse lunges in body weight squats and uh squats and push-ups can I do. Whereas if you choose the right equipment, you've 10X or you know, 50X, you know. I'm sorry, I have a fly for anybody who's watching the video. Um fly going around me. Um but yeah, just from a versatility standpoint. And then uh the one thing I'll add in as well is uh if you're training in an apartment, which I've always lived in apartments where I'm like, okay, you know, less space for me to get stuff in, I think that's still nothing beats adjustable dumbbells, like investing in some that at least go up to 50, which I know a lot of people listening to this might be like 50. Well, if you're training the right way, eventually that's not going to be a big scary number. That's gonna be you work up to that, right? You know, especially lower bodies.

SPEAKER_00

Like, oh, that's all I have.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, fuck, I should have got the one that has the extender up to 70, 90 pounds or whatever.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, that's what happened with us. We started with a bunch of dumbbells and cattlebells, and then we're like, okay, well, we've outgrown this. Now what? What next? And that's when the Smith Machine cage came in.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. And again, that's such an important thing for at-home workouts, is if you got some 20s lying around, maybe a little flat bench, that'll get you by for a while. But if you want to be developing muscle, you need to be training close to failure. And unless you want to do a billion and fifty reps with a lightweight to get you there and feel trashed for days after, you're better off just investing in whether it is adjustable dumbbells. If you can swing a bigger piece of equipment like the multi-station with the Smith machine, great. And then I always do the math on, okay, let's say nice adjustable dumbbells cost, I don't know,$400, even$600 for some of the really nice ones. Like, yes, it's not nothing, but if you look at the average day membership now, I don't know about in your area, you know, maybe it's$30 to$50 a month at like a relatively budget gym times 12 plus annual enhancement fees and membership fees and all that.

SPEAKER_00

That's where they get you. Yeah, for sure. That's that's kind of why we decided to build out a gym because we got tired of paying those annual fees because they got really weird, weird about it. And we're like, mm, never mind.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, never mind the um initiation fees just for signing the contract to cancel. Then my initiating what? Like uh the uh obviously cancellations can be a headache and all that. So from a financial perspective, yes, it's not nothing up front, but I always encourage people who are at least considering an at-home build-out to do that math. And especially, I mean, you know, if you take care of your equipment at home, yeah, I mean, you're gonna be training in that the rest of your life. It pays itself back, I'd say at the latest by year two, and then a hundred times over after that. Like you're you're good for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And hey, listen, uh, for all you US people, like you can get a lot of stuff on a firm nowadays, okay? Oh, yeah. If you don't know what a yeah, no, for real. That's how we got a lot of our stuff over time because yes, I do know it's an expense, expensive investment because we had to get plates and all that stuff as well. But hey, I I there is no shame in my game. I got all that shit on a firm, paid it off in 12 months, no interest.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's great. That's great. I mean, that ends up being, I don't want to say exactly similar to a gym membership, but it's monthly payments anyway. So in some cases, obviously some people do do best at a gym, but in some cases, may as well make that monthly payment towards something that you're actually going to own. And like you said, make it as frictionless as possible for you to go pick up a weight. Um like I just started to mention, I do think there are other people that do best in a gym just for the change of environment, for potentially the environmental motivators of the music being around, other people who train hard. But I think it can be super hit or miss depending on the area that you live in, what the gyms are like, that people are in there. So um, so yeah, it's a it's a great option. Carrie, something I've seen you post about is the days that you want no part of getting your workout in, but you you do it anyway. Which I so two things there. One, I think as a fitness professional, it still can surprise people like you don't want to be training all the time. And it's like, yes, pretty much everybody has those days where they don't feel like training. But two, I'm curious, like, what advice would you give somebody who is having that moment of like, I just I can't get myself off the couch right now. I want no part of training. What strategies, you know, what mental tricks, what sorts of things do you do to get yourself to train when you don't really feel like it?

SPEAKER_00

Listen, those days are happening a lot with me and Perry and just life being crazy, finally it's gonna start slowing down. Um, but I think my best advice is to be so honest with yourself because a lot of times it's just that voice in my head where it's like, you can afford to take a day off. It's okay. But that's just a narrative that I'm spinning in my head. So I think what I like to tell my clients is just go. Just go try a couple sets and see how you feel. If you still feel like a trash can, then ease up. Maybe go like on the stairmaster, go on the treadmill, go do something so that way we can check some check mo check box off. So it's not a zero day, it's just a we pivoted kind of day. Um, but more often than not for myself, and I'll speak for myself here. I have those days where I'm like, I don't even want to be here. I don't want to do it, but I made this promise to myself, I have to hold myself accountable because I know how I'm going to be. I'm gonna be a freaking gremlin later because I'm gonna be stewing about how I didn't get the workout in. So at minimum, what I do is I just go in, I get dressed, I show up in the gym, I just get working, I kind of see how I feel. And then typically about 90% of the time, once I get working and going and the blood flowing's going and I start to feel impressed by what I'm moving, it's okay. All is well. We can continue on and finish. Now, there have been days where, because I'm dealing with like a cranky calf, where I got in, I did a couple sets, and I was like, oh, this doesn't feel good. Okay, cool. It is what it is. I honor it. Let's hit the treadmill instead. And that's really what it's about. It's just trying. It's just trying and seeing what you can do, seeing if it really is the narrative or if it's really just you're not feeling well. Because I think people are like, give yourself grace, listen to your body. Yes. But also know the difference between when it's just you trying to, I guess, self-protect or sabotage yourself, or is it really just a thing? That's I mean, that's it's really not complicated.

SPEAKER_01

No, I like that. It's very practical. I have a client who calls those keep the streak or maintain the streak workouts, where like the only metric of success is that he didn't skip things entirely that day. So he travels a lot for work. Of course, there are days where, you know, late flight, early wake-up, long meetings. He's like, I really just I can't be fucked to head down to a hotel gym right now and do something, but he'll go down chest supported row, inclined bench press, reverse lunges, and he kept a streak, which as we know, you know, if you can string that together over time, one that can still offer some physical and definitely mental benefits. Um, but then also it makes it so much easier once you're in that rhythm to just maintain that because you have reinforced that as I'm the type of person who doesn't negotiate this. Maybe I, you know, make adjustments, but I don't negotiate it all together. So I think that's a yes, I like how that reduces friction mentally of like, okay, I just I I gotta show up and do something. What that something looks like can ebb and flow a little bit, but I'm gonna do something and keep the streak.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's it's had to be a big thing for me about the all or nothing. Like, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. We just have to do something. We just gotta get the body moving. We gotta, you know, feel good about ourselves, and that's it. And that's what I tell my clients too. Like, we've got to stop putting all or nothing on the table. It's it's if it doesn't happen, it's okay. What can we do? Because that's my biggest thing with them is we can't do this today, but what can we still do? You've got 15 minutes on the walking pad, go do it. It's okay.

SPEAKER_01

For sure. And I love the other strategy that you mentioned, which is more of a mental thing of like playing the tape forward and thinking about how you might feel after negotiating whatever that commitment was altogether. Because undeniably, there are times where choosing to skip a workout, you get like this very fleeting relief of, ooh, okay, I don't have to go do a Bulgarian split squat right now. I really didn't want to do that anyway. But when you play the tape forward and think about the feeling that you might have later of like, oh, I broke a promise. Not that we want you to wallow in guilt or, you know, twist the knife on yourself, but oh, like mentally, I broke a promise to myself. I don't Feel great about how that feels or the message it sends. Maybe physically now you're lower energy, stress is a little bit higher because you didn't do anything to blow off tea. Maybe you don't sleep as well that night. So I think by using that second strategy you mentioned, almost the mental one of let me play the tape forward. Am I going to be good with this an hour from now? Like when my head hits the pillow tonight? And maybe once in a while the answer is yes. Maybe you just need to wrap up work for the day, you know, shut off your phone, do nothing besides watch some comedy and call it an early night. And you maybe need that occasionally. But I think as a whole, when you do that play the tape forward type strategy, you're like, I'll feel so much better if I do at least a little something. And I think you can apply that to basically anything in health and fitness, anything where your nutrition, where you see yourself negotiating, like, I really want this food, I really want to negotiate my plan. Let me think ahead. I gotta know if I'm okay with those trades.

SPEAKER_00

I do that. I do that with because I'm in a fat loss phase. So I was like, I really want the popcorners right now. That was me last night. And I was like, mmm, do I want it? Do I go over? How can I adjust? Because most of my, I already had most of my meals. I just had dinner. But I was able to, I guess, negotiate with myself and say, okay, we could do this. Hold on. We're having fish tacos. So we're having open faced fish tacos. We're ditching the tortillas and I'm having the popcorners. So I did the same thing though, too. Because I was like, am I really willing to go over? Because yes, it is just one day. But I'm like, oh, I'm having I have so much momentum right now. Do I really want to risk it? Risk it. But I was like, okay. So how can we adjust? So it was it. I have that. I have those conversations with myself all the time.

SPEAKER_01

What do you put on popcorn? Do you have it plain? Do you add anything?

SPEAKER_00

Oh no, it's the popcorners. You know, the popcorners chips?

SPEAKER_01

No, no clue.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you don't. Oh, okay. So they're these like they're like popcorn chips now. And like they're baked, um, and they're not fried. And they literally taste like just okay. I want to say like think thin, crispy, yummy rice cake. Or pop, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But not stale. And then I had this I I have the spicy queso flavor. It was delicious.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that does sound super good. Um, so I was the reason I was asking about popcorn, one, I guess just in terms of working into your plan, but also is just talking to somebody here in Argentina about the fact that when you go to the movies, this now has nothing to do with nothing, but bear with me for a second. When you go to the movie, when you go to the movies here, how you either get a salty or a sweet popcorn that has like a little bit of a sugary glaze. And in my head, when I think of having popcorn, I think about at some movie theaters, I don't know if they still have it, but growing up, you had like the dispensers of we can either. Oh, they still have that. Yeah. Okay, great, great. Yeah, like the hot butter thing. And my friends here thought that was wild that we have a and to them that sounds like the most American thing ever. We have butter dispensers that we just like press on everything.

SPEAKER_00

They're like, that's why you guys are gluttons in America at your disposal. No, yeah, we still have that at the movie theaters. But yes, to answer your question, yes, butter, butter all day. But in my fat loss phase, like when I did have to work in um popcorn because of a movie night that we had at home, I just did some salt.

SPEAKER_01

Salt gets the job done. Okay. All right. So I'm not allowed in the I'm like, am I being gluttonous with my butter dispenser?

SPEAKER_00

No. I mean, we'll well, we won't. So I don't like I like it like evenly dispersed. So like we'll get a container with the butter and then put it in a container. So we'll dump out half of it, butter that half, put the put it back on top and then butter the top. Oh yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that sounds good.

SPEAKER_00

I'm right there with you.

SPEAKER_01

Why do I feel like Dell put some weird shit on her popcorn? I'm wondering now if we we quizzed her, if she puts like mayo. She'll put mayo on it. Yeah, yeah. Just some weird shit.

SPEAKER_00

Flip this, post it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm I was I'm already thinking that. I gotta do an Instagram poll for what people put.

SPEAKER_00

Just catching the mayo on her popcorn, too.

SPEAKER_01

Just what weird shit do Canadians do with their popcorn? I'm like, I'll take ours. Um okay, I like I said, I'm out in left field now. Um where was I before I totally sidetracked this? Oh, oh, playing the tape forward, thinking about okay, am I gonna be okay with these negotiations that I'm making? And um, something else you said that I think is really important to reinforce is how like in isolation, it's no, it's not gonna kill you if you go a little over your calories here and there or skip the occasional workout. But when that becomes a habit, when it's multiple times per week that you're doing that, you know, the analogy that I always give is if if you have you're on a plane, you're trying to get to a certain destination, and the plane drifts a little bit here and there, which actually in real travel that happens all the time, it's okay as long as you quickly course correct and get back at the direction you're going for. But if you have these occasional drifts that aren't so occasional anymore and you just shrug your shoulders at it, you know, whether it's 200 calories over, maybe 25 grams low on your protein, you know, 2,000, you know, steps low on that target, a lot of these close enough type things or yeah, type things, I always say it's like it's like the pilot knowing that he's a little off course and going, eh, like what ends up happening is you're at it, you're in the air, theoretically in route for a while, but then a bunch of time goes by and you're not at the destination that you're going for. So so you know, I I think that's great that you emphasize that as well of like, hey, yeah, some flexibility, but just be careful about how often you are negotiating because it can end up biting you in the butt.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. You and but see the problem with that though is it takes a lot of self-awareness, and I think a lot of people lack that capacity because they're they're in denial, and that's not to shit on people. It's it's just how we are. So I think in order for those situations and scenarios to happen, is you have to be so in tune with who you are as a person and your habits, because I I've become that way. I know what my triggers are, I know how I get, and so I like I have to use that as part of my negotiation negotiation process with myself. Like, Carmi, you know how you are. You are keen on the dumb fuckery, like let's not and say we did.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, and uh actually to use a personal example, that's me with cardio, which I like cardio when it's cardio disguised, whether it's basketball, maybe tennis, just things where the cardio is almost a byproduct of something recreational. But just a zone two session on a treadmill, oh, like like there are things I can do to make the time pass, but I I bring that up to say, I know me, and I know that if I get to the end of, I usually stack um just for efficiency, I'll usually stack my strength training, maybe a little bit of zone two after. And I know that if I get to the end of my lift and I tell myself, well, I'll just come in tomorrow and do cardio by itself, the likelihood of me doing it then compared to just knocking it out at the end of the lift, is significantly lower. Now, I also don't want to create a story in my head that there's no chance that I come in the next day to just do a cardio session. But like you said, it's also a matter of knowing yourself and like, am I just bullshitting myself a little bit right now? Like, oh, I'm gonna hit the ab portion of the workout tomorrow. I'm gonna come back and do cardio this weekend. Probably not. But again, it comes down to playing the tape forward and then knowing yourself and making sure you don't get too cute with the negotiations.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Army, the last thing I have for you today before I let you go is something I call the fast four. So four questions that are not macro fitness related, just whatever the first thing to come to mind is. Okay. If you were not an X-ray tech or a fitness professional, what career path would you pursue? I'm gonna boot that one too, because that's too easy for you to go back to that. If you had to pick something outside of those three, what would you choose?

SPEAKER_00

Um, probably be a vet because I love me some animals.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, okay. Yes, yes. You have a you have a very cute pup. I love seeing him on the stories.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. And I have a very naughty ginger who's walking around the room now. I have eyes on him, like, what you doing?

SPEAKER_01

Do you really?

SPEAKER_00

I yeah, I have a naughty little ginger cat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I don't know how maybe I'm so dog focused most of the time. I somehow miss the cat. So yeah, I I apologize for that. Cats have uh grown on me a lot the last few years, but I just it's one of those things where I did not gr uh grow up with them. I always had dogs, so I was always drawn to dogs. And then I just think it's that stupid thing for a lot of people where it's like, are you a cat or a dog person? And somehow like, and I'm like, yeah, fuck cats. And then I pass, I you know, you pass the age of 10, you're like, I don't actually hate cats, I've just never been around them.

SPEAKER_00

Um so I think people who don't like cats are the people who have only come across like a typical cat, like the cats who are like grumpy and don't want to be messed with and only want to like be on their own time. Uh where my ginger literally he thinks he's a person or a dog, like he'll go play fetch, he comes and sits on my lap and cuddles. So he comes when I call. So he's just a whole different kind of breed.

SPEAKER_01

That I think that's super accurate because earlier on, when even when I was like open to cats, they always felt to me like rattlesnakes. Like I'd reach my hand out slowly. I'm like, are they gonna like just slash at me with their paw? Like they're uh yeah, they're like uh protracted claws. I'm like, I'm like, is this okay? Is this okay? And then I'd pull back. That's good.

SPEAKER_00

You gotta look at their tail and their ears, or if the ears are down and the tail's like swatting, stay away.

SPEAKER_01

Stay away, okay. No.

SPEAKER_00

But if they're rolling around, like you know, belly up, then you're good.

SPEAKER_01

The other thing is I always had a tough time. I mean, I'm better now, but I guess when I was younger, I had a tough time gauging. Are they playing or not? A dog I always had a very good pulse, even when they're oh yeah, like growling a bit, but it's a playful growl and you know, body language. Cats, when they're on their back and then you reach for their stomach and then they grab you with their paws, I'm like, am I in danger? Like, I don't know what's happening here. Um I guess not. Um, second question for you, Carmen. If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, and I always tell fitness professionals, don't worry about macros, calories, it checks the boxes. What are you picking?

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh. Mexican tacos.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, what kind?

SPEAKER_00

Um, street tacos, carne asada.

SPEAKER_01

Street tacos? Okay. And I'll allow sides as well. Is there any other component of a typical Mexican cuisine that you'd want to add?

SPEAKER_00

Do taquitos count as a side?

SPEAKER_01

We make our own roots.

SPEAKER_00

Give me all of it.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Just a fat as braid of Mexican stuff. That's great.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, I'm in.

SPEAKER_01

What is something small that always improves your mood?

SPEAKER_00

I should say my kids. Just kidding.

SPEAKER_02

You're like, man. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, no, because I mean, my kids, yes. But honestly, something small that improves my mood is honestly my pets, because I just see them. Like I I wake up and I'm grumpy, and then there's the ginger at the door, he's ready to greet me. And then like this morning when I went to go get the dog out of the girls' room and just his little happy feet seeing me. Like, I mean, that makes him happy. That's such an endorphin hit.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Sorry, guys.

SPEAKER_00

I should have said my kids, but sorry.

SPEAKER_01

Prior priorities. Oh, there it is. Special appearance. He heard he's like, he's like, this is my time for you two.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you could have hit the mic, babe.

SPEAKER_01

Um no, no, no. That that resonates a lot because again, I I grew up with dogs, and like you just it's such a net positive in your life to be around animals all the time. And then now, living the way I live, often changing apartments a dozen times. I mean, maybe that's hyperbole, but a lot per year, like you can't reasonably, and then changing cities, countries, whatever, you can't reasonably have a pet. So now often the the brightest spots of my day are when I'm out in a park near my house. I mean, you we've talked about it on Instagram, you see the stories, and I just kind of hover like a weirdo around all the dogs, hoping one of them approaches me.

SPEAKER_00

Cause you didn't do the feeds in your pocket yet?

SPEAKER_01

Not yet, not yet. Not yet.

SPEAKER_00

I need I don't want to look like a weirdo.

SPEAKER_01

I know. Like, I like why are they all going to him? And I'm like, no say. So walking down the street here, you just see people, you know, obviously out with dogs. You see a ton of dog walkers that have like 15 breeds that they have on a couple of leashes, it's incredible. So, yeah, I mean, that resonates a lot because if one of those dogs like sniffs my leg on the way by, I'm like, that was so fun, that was great.

SPEAKER_00

Like, you get to you're like, I'm the chosen one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, he came to me. Um all right. Last question for you. Uh for you before I let you go. What is something that you are looking forward to, looking forward to right now? What are you excited about?

SPEAKER_00

Oh my god, Vegas. RCS, Real Kosha Summit.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And you're you're you're a lame. That's not coming. I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_02

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's just honestly, it's the best. I I owe so much to Rom and to that event um where it, I mean, it can be isolating being an adult and then being in like on an online business. Like, yes, I see people and I have coworkers and stuff like that. But it's so nice to actually be in a room and be amongst people that are like-minded, who understand the lifestyle, who understand all the ebbs and flows that comes with um coaching and the lifestyle and just be able to be relatable. And I've, you know, I've met some of my core people through through this industry and through that event itself. So I'm it's amazing. I'm I'm so excited. Like the DMs are going crazy. Like we have got the countdown going.

SPEAKER_01

I have super hardcore FOMO. I I'm so bummed I can't go.

SPEAKER_00

We'll we'll FaceTime you or something.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I would love that.

SPEAKER_00

We'll FaceTime you, then take a picture with you and be like, he was here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. A Rom would immediately say it doesn't count. He's like, No, no, you gotta get your ass here.

SPEAKER_00

We'll we'll we'll tell a Rom the skinny that you know it's it's citizenship things.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, yes. Um I mean, fingers crossed. I mean, uh a Rom's been on the podcast and he's talked about this fingers crossed, it gets it continues or it gets even more support than it has and continues to get that. So he is able to maintain it because um, you know, just from like a practice, I mean, there's the relationship building element for us coaches for all the reasons you just mentioned, but just in terms of helping our clients at a higher level, I mean, again, I've been in the fitness industry. This is year 14 now. I've gone to a lot of conferences and yeah, practical takeaways for how to actually help a client with, you know, an all or nothing mindset or people who are intimidated by training of like, let me go to a conference and not just network, but take things that will make our clients better. I mean, I'd put it toward the top of the list for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, for sure. Again, it's not just like a like a business thing, like it's a bunch of businessy people trying to tell us how to like, you know, stream our our businesses or you know, how to make 10K a month. Like it's it's literally like you said, like for the people boots on the ground that want to have applicable things in their coaching.

SPEAKER_01

For sure. Uh Carmate, if somebody wants to connect with you, learn more about you, where do you want to send them?

SPEAKER_00

Oh man, just my Instagram page at Karmahawk underscore gets fit. All roads lead to Instagram. I'm trying to get on TikTok, but I'm busy. So many different moving parts, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_01

What about just uh I I say this is somebody who had TikTok for 24 hours like five years ago and then deleted it, but what but what about just um cross-posting the video content that you already put out? I'm sure you've considered that.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's what I've started to do, but it's again, it's just it's yeah. So whatever I post that day on my Instagram page, I post it on TikTok. But again, it's just it's another app that I have to open.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Third world third world problems.

SPEAKER_01

That resonates. That resonates. Um okay. You were off the hook today, Carmi. I really appreciate your time. This is super fun.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate you.