The Show Up Fitness Podcast

Becoming a Qualified Trainer at 64 w/ John: Why Show Up Fitness CPT Changes the Game

• Chris Hitchko, CEO Show Up Fitness • Season 3 • Episode 287

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What if the crowded gym, the taken rack, and the sore client were your advantage? We sit down with John, a 64-year-old coach who turned a lifetime of athletics and a career in finance into a service-first approach that seniors and everyday clients trust. The through-line is confidence: not bravado, but the quiet certainty that comes from knowing the why behind every exercise and being able to pivot in seconds without losing momentum.

We unpack how mentorship and workshops transformed imposter syndrome into a repeatable system. John breaks down programming by patterns instead of equipment—push, pull, squat, hinge, carry, rotate—so he can swap a bench press for any push variation or move from back squats to goblets with wedges when racks are full. That shift keeps sessions seamless and clients calm. You’ll hear practical details on warm-ups that prepare tissues, loaded carries and toes-up drills for resilient feet and ankles, and modular templates that make full-body training simple, scalable, and effective.

The heart of the conversation is longevity. John trains clients in their 50s, 60s, and 70s with complex histories—heart issues, surgeries, autoimmune conditions—and shows how smart loading, mobility work, and balance training restore independence for daily tasks like carrying groceries, getting in and out of a car, and picking up grandkids. We also talk about community as a performance multiplier: learning from rooms full of veteran coaches, debriefing to normalize struggles, and adopting cues and progressions that instantly improve outcomes.

If you’re a coach, aspiring trainer, or lifter who cares about real results for real people, you’ll leave with tools to own the session, speak clearly about the why, and serve clients with steady confidence. Subscribe, share this with a coach who needs it, and leave a review to help more trainers find practical, human-centered coaching.

Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!

Want to ask us a question? Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!

Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com

SPEAKER_00:

And the other thing I've noticed, Chris, and we haven't touched upon it, is how many times do we get in the gym and so many machines, benches, they're tied up. And you have to make that pivot. And if it wasn't for the way you program and teach people a program, it would be even more challenging to be able to make that pivot in the gym. And I and that's one of the things I've really gotten good at is programming out. But things happen, things change. And or if a client hurts a muscle or something, and you've got to pivot really quick. And I think that's one of the things that I'm doing pretty well. But uh I've learned that from you.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry one qualified trainer at a time with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitness.com. Also make sure to check out my book, How to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy y'all. Welcome back to the Show Up Fitness podcast. Today we have this young hunk, Mr. John. How are we doing, sir?

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, doing great, Chris. Great to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

Awesome story. We met numerous years ago, helped you pass your test. And now you are 64 years young. And I like what you said earlier. You feel like you're 40 and you're doing what you love. So let's just kind of talk about your journey and we'll bring in the seminar and other things that you're doing. You're at the Y now and you're helping people move better. And it's just such a cool story. So thank you for taking the time.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. I appreciate it, appreciate being here. It's quite the honor, Chris. Thank you. How'd you come across us? You know, I was thinking about that the other day. And I think it was randomly on Facebook. And it was, this is something I've been thinking about doing or was thinking about doing for quite some time. And I saw Show Up Fitness and I saw this guy, this crazy dude with a belt buckle. And I was like, I gotta check this guy out. And so just a little bit of a research, research. And sure enough, uh, here we are, literally three years later. If I thought I would be sitting talking to you three years ago, I'd say you were crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

That's such a cool you were able to take that YouTube persona and sweep it under the table and give me a chance. So I appreciate that because some people like this guy's a dipshit. I he doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm just gonna do it this other way. But you're smart enough to realize that it's just all kind of social media fun. But you know, most importantly, you've said some really neat things about things that we've helped you grow and become more confident. And so why don't you first tell us your story about being an athlete and now where you're at at 64 years young, helping people at the Y.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's been quite the journey, uh, Chris. And when I kind of look back uh through that process and being a teenager and always wanted being a professional athlete. My dad was an athlete, and just at a young age, 15, 16 years of age, when sort of weightlifting was not in vogue, but you know, Arnold Schroitschneiger was out there and we're watching the movie and stuff. And my dad actually put a gym together in the garage. And some of my buddies, Joe and Gordon and Mike, all were playing football. You know, we started working out in the garage. And uh that was really my first exposure of going, whoa, we're starting to get stronger and stronger here. This is pretty cool. Um, and as I as I got, you know, more involved with my my my career and and playing baseball at Long Beach State and being fortunate enough to uh uh be good enough to uh be drafted by the Cardinals and play in the minor leagues, um, we had to keep, you know, you had to keep fit. And uh and then when I got diagnosed with uh Crohn's disease, um if if it wasn't for being in the gym and having that mindset of being physically fit, um, I don't know what I would have done through a couple of surgeries that I've had. So I've always been attached to the gym. So that that's kind of where it all started, Chris.

SPEAKER_01:

But then you went from professional into the finance world, and we were talking prior that you got your seven and sixty-three or sixty-six.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, it was funny. So just having this conversation with you earlier about uh, you know, I've passed my six, seven, sixty-five, all these, all these exams. And here three years ago, I made the decision, well, okay, if I'm gonna be a trainer, I guess I need to be certified. So let's take a look at it. So I chose NASM, and that's when I found you. And had had I not worked with you and your team, and and and and the seven and those exams, those securities exams, they're tough. But that NASM was like like a it was like a uh a foreign language to me. So thank God I found you and your team. So it made it a little bit easier for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

You can definitely talk to if you would have just got the book, read the book, and then you pass, because you would have, and then you'd have been like, no shit, now what do I do? Because in a textbook, it's it's pretty hard to decipher what is applicable. And it's like, what do you do next? And if you go to a gym, are you gonna start at the front desk? Are you just gonna be cleaning up weights because you don't have that hands-on experience? So, what was your mind going through once you passed? And what did you want to do next?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, uh, I I recall reaching out to you after I passed my test, and you and I had a conversation because, you know, having my uh financial background and my life insurance background, um, you know, uh, having I I was I was trying to figure out how to put together a health and wealth type of platform for my business and and really reaching out to perhaps those people in the IBD world, inflammatory bowel disease world. Um, because when I've worked out with trainers before, um, they overworked me and I didn't know it. And then, you know, three days later, it took me three or four days to recover. And I vowed that if I worked with people that had conditions like mine, I would, I would have the knowledge to be able to not do that type of thing. So as I passed the exam and I was talking to you, I was trying to figure out how do I integrate this into my practice? And it took literally a couple of years to kind of sit there and sit there and swallow it. And I finally was like, I'm gonna pull the trigger here. There's no better time. Um, I've I'm doing I have a wonderful practice. Now, how do I how do I deploy what I've learned through you? And what do I will, what do I really want to accomplish with this? And so I just hooked over at the why. And um, and and and so that's that's really where we're at right now and and moving forward. Chris, I don't know. I just kind of take each day as it comes and I learn as much as I can. And I'm I'm actually kind of excited to see where it will go, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the beauty of it. And the anticipation of those next steps is only going to come to more fruition when you're doing what you're doing, which is like you went to the seminar and you were around a bunch of great trainers. There's what 40, 50 trainers there in Dallas. And I thought that was a really great experience for you because you're quote unquote new, but you have a ton of life experience and you have you know certain conditions that other people are not even familiar with, but you can talk to that, but also you're a competent trainer, and then you're seeing all these other trainers, and then when we're doing like our sit-down and our reach outs, and it's like, oh, these breakout sessions, you realize that we're on the same page. And we have uh it was really neat because you're saying a lot of trainers have that imposture syndrome. And so let's talk more about that and how you experience it and and what you came across with other trainers.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think it's the imposter syndrome is probably what uh took me so long to really get going. Am I worthy enough? Am I good enough? Do I know enough? And going to your workshop, which I highly recommend just about every trainer go to. I mean, wow, what an experience, Chris. And I'm so grateful that you're creating such a great educational environment within the community. It's just I highly recommend it. And uh, I'm going again and when you come to Houston. But working with these other trainers and realizing that, hey, we all sort of, you know, we all put our pants on the same way. And we're all experiencing those fears of the vulnerability. You know, are are we good enough? Um where are we kind of headed with this career? And uh, but but the big takeaway was, especially in those breakouts, is was learning from other trainers. One of the highlights for me in that was when you had us break out and we were going through our CCA programs and being able to team up with another trainer. And what made me feel kind of really cool was the fact that there was a couple of trainers going, oh wow, and they've been doing this for three to five years. And here I am, a newbie, and I'm showing them an exercise that they had never seen that they were good, they were like, Oh, I love that. I'm gonna put that in part of my you know program. And then they would show me some things that I've already used. You showed me some things that other people that are not even working with me in the gym are using, and it's just it's pretty exciting. It's just it was just very, very heartwarming.

SPEAKER_01:

I like to bring in my background a little bit. My my dad's a shrink, that's why I'm crazy. But he specialized in in Vietnam and PTSD. And it was something we would have conversations about. He'd ask me, Do you know why so many vets were jacked up from Vietnam versus World War II? And I had no idea, but it was the debriefing process. And if you think about World War II, that's we're done, and you know, we win and we hop on a boat and you spend this time coming back. And that's a really important thing for debriefing because you normalize the situation. I mean, we're doing crazy shit in war. And when you tell, you know what, I I killed this person or I did this crazy stuff, and then you hear 10 other people say it, you're like, wow, I'm not this monster. Whereas in juxtaposition to Vietnam, one day you're in Saigon and literally the next day you're in San Francisco and everyone hates you. And so it's like you're this, you're kind of lonely. And it's very similar to trainers because you get, I mean, I can't compare trainers to Vietnam vets and stuff like that. I'll get it. But in the sense that, you know, you pass a textbook and then you're like, well, now what? I don't know who to talk to, I don't have a community. It's not like you can call and ask them to be, hey, uh, what are my next steps? Uh, where do I go? What do I do? How do I can you help me with my resume? No, they're gonna put you on hold for 14 weeks. And so you're out there and you you're trying to quote unquote gain experience, but people aren't accepting you because the society sees trainers as you're not competent. And it's unfortunate. So when you level yourself up and you get into these workshops, and then you're in a room with 40 trainers who have so much experience, and they're the really the one percenters, you are the one percenter because most trainers don't take the time to do that, and it's just like the stress off your back because you have someone five, ten, there's someone there with 20 years of experience, and the amount of information that you're able to draw in from that, and then you get to work with you know, me and other instructors, and we just tweak things. So then you're like, wow, that was really cool. I'm gonna go try that. Like we were doing some payoffs and I'm observing, and I'm not the type, you know, I'm an annoying personality online. Yeah, but when I'm teaching in person and I see you doing something, I let you do it, monkey see, monkey do, and then I'll get you to think a little bit, like, okay, that was a great payoff. How'd it feel? Nice. What side are we on? Okay, on this last round, let's change it up a little bit. Let's go out and let's let's put a band on here and let's let's go up in the frontal plane. And then you do it, and you're like, whoa, that was pretty freaking cool. And then you try it on someone else, you coach them, and you bring it back to your clientele. And then you have a really cool story at the Y there in Houston that you were doing some stuff, and other trainers are like, Oh, that's pretty fucking cool. I want to start to implementing that. So tell us about some of the stuff that you've learned and implement it into your own practice.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, uh I'll tell you a lot of things that I've learned is looked at your YouTube videos and you're, you know, you're today. I was over there doing, you know, some carries on my tiptoes because you came out with a recent podcast with, you know, how do you warm up correctly? And we're not, we're not warming those muscles up like we should. Um, so I I've gleaned a lot of information information from a lot of your podcasts and and then the and the people at the the workshop, just learning from them, learning from some of the other trainers. And I'm the kind of guy that I want to be, I want to be prepared when I go into a a meeting, whether it's you know in my life insurance practice or whether it's you know at the Y, and I don't care who you are, I want to be prepared. So the more information that I can grasp, and that's why that workshop was so meaningful and and watching you know your YouTube videos. And the other thing I've noticed, Chris, and we haven't touched upon it, is how many times do we get in the gym and so many machines or benches, they're tied up, and you have to make that pivot. And if it wasn't for the way you program and teach people to program, it would be even more challenging to be able to make that pivot in the gym. And I and that's one of the things I've really gotten good at is, you know, programming out, but things happen, things change, and or if a client hurts a muscle or something, and you've got to pivot really quick. And I think that's one of the things I'm doing pretty well. But uh, I learned that from you.

SPEAKER_01:

But that confidence is what's so important because again, take John, who didn't go through the program and not familiar with that ability within the CCA, and you have a client and you're supposed to do back squats, and then you walk over there and then you pause for a second. And now you have to think, okay, squat, what else can I do? And you start looking around and you're going, oh, I don't know. The client catches that and the clients you aren't in control, and they're not gonna say, like, aha, I caught you, but they're like, okay, what's going on? And then you, oh, well, we're gonna go over here, we're gonna do a bench press. And they're like, Well, I thought we were supposed to back squat. That's what their mind is thinking. And so then after you take them through that workout and you sit down, you go, Hey, do you want to train with me? And they go, um, let me think about it, or uh, you know what, uh, this is too expensive, because they weren't comfortable with your confidence in owning that session, and that's so freaking important. And you saw live time, it was absolutely packed. But I'm sure within a certain degree, the YMCA is the same. Where you could you could spend 20 minutes, you got a client coming in with groans, and you're okay. Here's this program, perfect program, the best program in the world. We're gonna do back squat, we're gonna do bench press, blah, blah. And then the client says, I worked out yesterday, my chest is a little sore. Uh uh, uh, uh, uh, what do what do I do? And then you just pause, you're a deer in the headlights. So the ability to look at it as it's not a bench press, it's a push. There's a million push exercises I can do. Do I have to do the bench press? You do not. And I think that's where when you come from like that bodybuilding world, or if you've been training yourself, it's different because how I train myself isn't necessarily how I train my clients because I have 60 minutes and I need to give them the most bang for their buck. And most part, it's gonna be a full body workout. So that ability to think on the fly and just take, okay, CCA, I'm gonna take the third circuit, I'm gonna move it up here. And we don't have to do a squat, we can do a Smith machine squat, we could do a goblet squat, and maybe I'm gonna put some wedges behind their heels and lift them up a little bit, but it's just a small little pivot and they don't notice. And so then that's where it goes into the confidence of this guy knows what he's doing. And this is why I need to invest in you because the gym is scary to me as a client. I come here and I see all these machines, I don't know how to use them, I don't know how to adjust them. You got some guy grunting over here walking around in a tutu. It's like, what do I do? I'm scared. So they're coming to us for the confidence, and when you can deliver that with absolute certainty, that's when you're able to grow your business. But you're a great trainer, so they get results as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I could agree, uh 100%. And the confidence that I have now versus six months ago is off the charts. And again, you've you've got to roll your sleeves up and you got to learn, read, read, read some books, uh, look at your look at your listen to your podcasts, look, look at the way you're training some things on and programming, and then just get in there and and I program myself. Hey, do I want to try this on somebody else? What does this look like? And are there three different ways I can do this?

SPEAKER_01:

What advice, John, would you give to that person who is looking at that second or third career and they want to get into fitness? So there's so many avatars out there like yourself, or maybe they committed to uh nine to five and they're like, you know, I wanted to get into training, but didn't have the capacity, or you know, I got a nice little uh golden parachute right now, and I'm I'm I'm I like what I'm doing. So maybe my second life, I'll be able to get into training. What would those pointers be?

SPEAKER_00:

That you know, that's a great question because that's what I was faced with. And uh I think if you like people and you want to serve people, I think there's no better way to do that than getting in the gym. And, you know, at 64 years of age, I love working with people in their 50s, 60s. I have a 73-year-old uh client right now, Chris, that really should not be above the ground. He's had multiple surgeries, heart issues, kidney issues, and that guy is an inspiration. So I I just love working with the senior population. There's a lot of physical issues. So it makes me grow as a trainer because I have to learn how do I how do I program these people. Um, so again, if you're if you're if you're wanting to serve people and you you want your own movement, then why not try it? What do you have to lose? And I I I just I am so physically fit because I'm constantly moving, and I'll do this till I'm under the tulips.

SPEAKER_01:

And and we're always improving. And we you know we brought you up there on stage and we're working with your thoracic mobility. And I love the the video because you you give me a little like praise. You're like, oh my gosh, I was I opened up a lot with this this exercise. I didn't have that before, and now you have something to work on.

SPEAKER_00:

And yeah, and don't mean to interrupt you, but I I'm doing that at the gym going, oh wow, this is this is really cool. So Chris did this, and and now I have a little bit more flexibility. And then I take that and I pass that on to my clients. And I I think the other thing that one of the things that's really I want to kind of mention here is is just being a father of three boys and and just being that uh uh I've always been fit and to be able to pass that along as a as a father and knowing that all three boys keep themselves in shape. I mean, what a legacy that you can pass on to your kids. So it that's super important to me. And I think that's another reason why I do what I do.

SPEAKER_01:

That's uh I can relate to you as growing up with uh I'm the youngest of three older brothers. So I'm there's four of us, and Pops is always in the gym, and that's why I got into this, is because I was hurt and I wanted to not be hurt, help other people, and then you realize, oh, that you can actually make this into a career. And the importance of I really want to highlight going to seminars and learning because I went to this one probably 10 years ago to perform better. And you know, fingers crossed, but we have some conversations, and I'm hoping to hop on their tour in 2026. But there was one that I went to with Thomas Plummer, and he's an old school veteran in the game, and he talks to business and retirement and stuff. And he was up on stage and he said, I went to a workshop with a bunch of doctors, and a doctor got up on stage and said, This is 10 years ago, mind you, he said, There is a human on this planet who's going to live to be 150 years of age. And that was 10 years ago. Imagine with all of the science and evolution now, 2025. So when you talk about clients who are 70 who are 80, that could potentially be a half-life. And so movement is what's going to get you there. You obviously don't want to be 130 sitting in your couch doing suduku and you can't even move. But when you move properly with load and you have that growth mindset, you know, there's a lot of life left. And we don't need to think of 60s, 70s, and 80s as, oh, this is my time to check it out. No, it's like this is the beginning to a new end. And it's really exciting because when you see that light go off in your clients' eyes, and they're like, wow, you're. Know, I didn't have hope. I was thinking that you know I would never be able to lift up my grandson or my shoulder pain. I'll never be able to lift my arm above my head. You show them some tweaks and you you understand the human body, whereas the average trainer just understands their body. So if you imagine a 20 or 30 year old is trying to work with a 60, 70, or 80 year old, they can't relate to them, but they don't understand the human body. So they're just showing them like you experience with that trainer. Oh, I'm gonna just take this guy through the ringer and I'm gonna show them no pain, no gain. And then you're affected for three or four days post-workout. And that's not what a great trainer should do. We should recognize the human and apply a program that's appropriate for them. So they're excited about this and they live a better life.

SPEAKER_00:

Agreed. Yeah. A lot of my clients, you know, we focus on, you know, how to, you know, you're you're going into Trader Joe's carrying that bag of groceries, you're getting in and out of your car, you're picking up your grandchild. So what are the exercises that we need to do to, you know, increase your stability and your balance and have a little bit more strength so you don't injure yourself. And it's all about longevity. So those are a lot of things that I focus on with my clients at the Y.

SPEAKER_01:

That's great. And that market right now, I just saw a post the other day. It's it's creeping up to a trillion dollar market. And, you know, longevity and wellness, we're we're not replaceable. I'm not afraid of AI, you're not afraid of AI. It's the human interaction. And people show up because you're a great trainer, you're not hurting them, but they enjoy the conversations too.

SPEAKER_00:

And oh, absolutely. Yeah. This is this uh, you know, hanging around you the last couple of years and now really being active with the training process. Um, you know, I I see myself uh getting involved with the SUF program that you have because I want to learn more about the 17 muscles of the shoulder, you know, and I may not take that to a lifetime fitness or an equinox, but if I can take it wherever I am, I'm just I'm being the best of the best. So don't don't be surprised if you don't see me on one of your um uh one of your uh webinars pretty soon here, uh starting that process.

SPEAKER_01:

You will be. And I appreciate you for taking the time on this Friday to educate the listeners and just really I'm I'm I always love hearing people talk, you know, that's not selfish, but you know, I like hearing people listen to the podcast. What would be some podcasts you'd like for me to to dive more into or any YouTube that you'd like to see more of to better your game?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I I love when you take a client that's 60 or 65, I mean for me, but in general, when you when you program people out and it's I mean, there's so many different ways to do it. And I just I love listening to those little 10 minute videos when I'm on a walk or something, going, oh, let me try that, or ooh, let me try that, or demonstrating something that we wouldn't even think about as a trainer, right? And adding it to our arsenal. So I love that. And then I love the way you talk about how to interact with people. I I think that gets missed a lot, and that's so important in the gym. And I've worked with people for 40 years in my career. So I love the little tidbits that you share with us on those types of things as being a better trainer in that capacity.

SPEAKER_01:

We're always improving. That's why we do our SWIFTs all the time. And if we look back two, three years ago, the program we offer now is significantly different. And one of the things that we pride ourselves in is now for 2026, we have these avatars where you come in, you you sign up for USUF CPT, and you have a tennis athlete. And there's an avatar, we use AI, and okay, here's pickleball Pete, and he has an elbow injury. What does that month program look like? And then you're able to click on the exercise as well because seeing the exercise, but not knowing why you're doing that exercise is really important. And I think that's one of my issues with some of these textbook certs, is they have you do a stability ball, squat, curl, press, but why are you doing that? And if you choose not to do that, what's an alternative? And they don't really teach to the why. And so we kind of turn into this cog within the system where we don't know why we are doing what we're doing. And so when you're confident in the programming and you can you say that, you know, I'm gonna choose this exercise because it's the best exercise, but there's some alternatives with regressions and progressions, and you know how to navigate it throughout the gym, your confidence just shoots to the roof. And that's exactly what you you said. So that's it's great to hear that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, Chris, thank thank you so much. It's uh I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. So uh I I just I I appreciate you so much. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

I have faith in you, John. You're a dirt bag, so you you would know how to navigate it. Yeah, technically, did you ever have dirt bag on your jersey, or were you not a dirt bag?

SPEAKER_00:

No, uh dirt bag started about three years after I graduated. So, but I I have a lot of friends and buddies that are dirt bags, and I've got a colleague that, you know, when we're on a zoom or he sends uh he he introduces me, he calls me a dirtbag, and I'm like, hey Gary, you can't call me you can't call me a dirt bag in this setting, buddy. But it's all in fun.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, for those don't catch that reference, that's Long Beach State, the baseball team. They are the Long Beach State dirtbags right now. But when you were playing, what were they?

SPEAKER_00:

Long Beach State 49ers.

SPEAKER_01:

49ers, that's right. Well, looking forward to uh meeting you again and leveling you up that much. And like I said, make sure to send me over your your address because I want to send you my book and I'll give you a nice little message in there. And until next time, my man, thank you for your time.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, love it. Thank you so much, Chris. Appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01:

Have a good one.