It's the first day of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere! This is my favorite time of year.

I'm a big believer in letting the seasons (weather as well as personal and professional seasons) guide the way we organize our lives.

Fitness is no exception. It doesn't make sense to pursue goals that don't align with everything else we have going on.

For example, summer is a time of beautiful weather, long days and lots of travel or social obligations.

This makes it a pretty terrible time to pursue an ambitious fitness goal that requires lots of time inside the gym.

Thankfully, you can maintain your strength and muscle gains with a just a couple of intense full body workouts.

And you can use the time you get back to train more outdoors, improve your cardio fitness or actually enjoy the real world benefits of being in shape.

It’s absolutely possible to enjoy your summer, maintain your progress and put yourself in a great position to crush the gym later in the year.

Check out the episode to learn more about how I approach summer fitness with myself and my clients.

And if you're looking for a coach to help you get stronger, have more energy and feel great in your skin, apply to work with me here: https://www.carolinejusterfitness.com/strongerfitterbetter/

Listen to my conversation with musician Callan Milani about how fitness coaching transformed his life.

Callan Milani is a Los Angeles based freelance musician and artist. He also happens to be one of my awesome former online clients.

I worked with Callan for six months in my most comprehensive coaching program (Stronger. Fitter. Better.) which combines fitness, nutrition and lifestyle coaching.

Callan already exercised consistently and had maintained a substantial weight loss for many years when he hired me.

And yet, he recognized that his emotions, mindset and self talk around food and exercise were not actually very healthy.

Even worse - they were starting to negatively affect his development as an artist and creative.

This interview gave Callan and me a chance to revisit some of our deep conversations about self compassion and personal growth. I appreciate how openly he shares about his struggles over the years.

We also spoke a lot about the value in the coaching process - and what going to music school and working with a fitness coach have in common.

If you’re a creative person who’s struggling to build a healthy, sustainable relationship with fitness - or with yourself - you should absolutely listen to this episode.

You can learn more about Callan and his work here: https://www.milankalani.com/

If you want to work with me just like Callan did, you can apply here: https://www.carolinejusterfitness.com/strongerfitterbetter/

Struggling with squats? These tips can help.

Squats are a foundational human movement pattern. But they can be deceptively tough to learn and perform well.

Even if you already know how to squat, it's easy to get stuck in a frustrating plateau where you can't seem to get stronger or make improvements.

I've learned a lot about building a strong squat through my years of coaching (and working on my own squats, which used to be my weakest lift.)

In this episode, I share 8 tips to help you improve your squat. This list includes advice for beginner lifters all the way up through experienced trainees looking to set impressive PRs.

I speak about learning, form, set-up, mobility, exercise selection, programming and more.

Interested in working with me? Apply for 1:1 online coaching here: https://www.carolinejusterfitness.com/strongerfitterbetter/

Follow me on Instagram for more free fitness + nutrition content: https://www.instagram.com/carolinejuster/

Looking for a fun form of cardio that can help you build strength and endurance for outdoor adventures?

Rucking may be the solution.

I first started rucking for fun several years ago. Since then, I've used rucking to prepare for multiple outdoor hiking and backpacking adventures.

Rucking is a time efficient form of exercise that improves both your strength and cardio fitness.

It's a great option for people who aren't ready to run (or don't want to.)

And it's the ideal form of specific training if you have ambitions for big hikes or adventures in nature.

Check out the episode to learn more about rucking: what it is, how I got into it and why it's beneficial.

I also share specific recommendations for gear as well as what weights to use and how long + how often to ruck.

Here are the two rucking bags I recommend in the episode:

https://www.rei.com/search?q=mystery+ranch+coulee

https://www.goruck.com/products/rucker

Find more free content on my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/carolinejuster/

Apply for online coaching with me here: https://www.carolinejusterfitness.com/strongerfitterbetter/

Are you a sensitive person looking to take on bigger challenges and live a fuller life? This episode is for you.

Ashley Pardo (https://www.instagram.com/ashleykpardo/) is a nutritional therapy practitioner and business coach who specializes in working with sensitive, introverted and emphatic people.

Many (most?) of the musicians, artists and creatives I work with are sensitive. I'm a highly sensitive person myself.

Being sensitive can be a gift, but it also comes with a lot of challenges. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and fall into unhelpful coping mechanisms like binge or emotional eating, always staying at home and avoiding challenging situations.

Most of the advice out there for sensitive folks encourages us to rest, take it easy and not push ourselves too hard.

This can feel good in the moment, but it doesn't help us grow into our best selves or lead lives full of meaning and purpose.

Ashley's message is different.

She believes that being sensitive is not the same as being fragile, and that the right approach can help sensitive people dramatically expand their capacity.

Our conversation explores exactly how to do this and how to tackle some of the most common challenges sensitive people face with food and exercise.

We spent a lot of time digging into emotional eating, and discussed why full-blown intuitive eating doesn’t work for most people.

Ashley also shared her thoughts on the power of movement and strength training as a vehicle for self growth.

Check out the episode to learn more.

And be sure to join the waitlist for Intuitive Macros - Ashley’s signature nutrition group coaching program - which is launching soon. You can find more info on that at Ashley’s page.

Check out my interview with dance music promoter, manager and entrepreneur Marco Sgalbazzini.

Electronic music has been a huge part of my life for the last decade. My passion for house, techno and other types of dance music has allowed me to travel the world and make many amazing friends over the years.

One of those friends is Marco Sgalbazzini, an LA-based promoter and artist manager.

Marco has worked in multiple corners of the dance music and nightlife industries. He's seen a lot and knows what it takes to develop longevity in what can be a very challenging and demanding career.

I had a great conversation with Marco about the unique health challenges facing the electronic music industry.

Artists, promoters and even fans of this music can benefit tremendously from taking better care of their physical and mental health.

Want to work in the industry? A healthy brain and body lets you do your best work and not burn out.

And if you’re just a fan like me, being healthy, strong and resilient allows you to bounce back faster and feel less beat up so you can keep seeing your favorite artists in your 30s, 40s and beyond.

Connect with Marco and find his events here:

https://www.instagram.com/italianreckoner/

https://www.instagram.com/synthetikminds/

https://www.instagram.com/6amgroup/

https://www.instagram.com/worklapresents/

https://www.instagram.com/reformpresents/

https://www.instagram.com/lacompound/

The fitness and nutrition industries love to tell you you're fragile. Today's episode fires back.

It's all the rage these days to post about all the things that are going to send you to an early grave.

In the nutrition space, this looks like those super annoying grocery store videos where an influencer yells about all the “bad” ingredients in a product they grabbed off the shelf.

In sleep, it looks like people telling you that unless you're sleeping 7-9 hours every night you shouldn't even worry about exercise.

In fitness, it looks like people telling you that popular exercises are terrible for your joints and you should never do them.

These messages are distracting because they convince you that you have special niche concerns, instead of focusing on the simple basics that will solve nearly all of your problems.

Sometimes this messaging is actively harmful. This is something I personally experienced when my anxiety around eating "forbidden" foods spiraled into binge eating.

Ultimately, it’s also just not true that you’re as fragile as these folks want you to believe.

Human beings are incredibly resilient. We HAD to be to survive natural selection and become what we are as a species.

Individual food choices, a few nights (or even a longer period) of poor sleep, specific exercises - these are not going to make or break your health.

Stop majoring in the minors and obsessing about things that just aren’t that important.

Check out the episode to hear more of my thoughts on this.

And if you're interested in hiring me as a fitness or nutrition coach, visit https://www.carolinejusterfitness.com/strongerfitterbetter/

Listen to my interview with bass trombonist Will Baker about the intersection of music, fitness and family

Will Baker is a low brass musician based in Northern California. He plays with groups like the San Francisco Symphony, Monterey Symphony and Brass Over Bridges in addition to teaching students of all ages.

Will has also been working out for more than twenty years! He really knows his stuff at the gym and is passionate about fitness and nutrition.

I wanted to speak with him about his fitness journey and habits and how they impact his life as a professional musician.

I was also curious how Will makes time to train and stays motivated considering everything he has going on: lots of professional gigs, big goals and a young (and a growing) family.

Check out the episode for an awesome glimpse into how one professional musician balances all the things that are important to him.

Learn more about Will's work and connect with him here:

https://www.instagram.com/willbakermusic/

https://www.willbakermusic.com/

And here are some of Will's biggest influences for fitness and nutrition info:

https://twitter.com/ManganCoaching

https://www.instagram.com/jtbodyweightstrength/

https://twitter.com/FitFounder

The fitness industry loves to hold onto ideas that are outdated or flat out incorrect.

Unfortunately, much of this information gets passed on to people like you who are just looking for ways to get the most out of your limited training time.

It's tough to know what's true and what's not - especially when ideas are repeated over and over again by so many people.

If everyone is saying them, they must be true right?

Not so fast!

I don't want you to feel overwhelmed and confused about exercise. And I also don't want you to miss out on gains because you're worried about things don't actually matter.

That's why I decided to tackle five of the most pervasive incorrect fitness ideas in this week’s solo podcast episode:

~You need muscle confusion to keep your body guessing.

~It's a good idea to get your heart rate as high as possible for as long as possible during your workouts.

~Spot reduction, aka "do this workout to reduce belly/upper arm/thigh fat"

~"Cardio will kill your gains."

~Certain exercises are bad for your knees/back/etc. and should be avoided at all costs.

If you'd like more fitness and nutrition information, follow me on Instagram @ carolinejuster

Check out my interview with Cory Cripe on the Building Stronger Creatives podcast.

Cory Cripe is a coach and gym owner of Fitness Lying Down in La Crosse, WI.

I have a lot of respect for Cory as a teacher, and I also had the pleasure of working with him as my own personal trainer in the first half of 2022.

You’re definitely going to want to listen to this episode if you want to learn how to strength train in a way that’s enjoyable and effective without running you into the ground.

In the first third of the episode, Cory shares some background on his journey into coaching and opening Fitness Lying Down. They do things very differently at his gym than most, and I wanted to understand what inspired him to forge such a unique path.

In the remainder of the episode, Cory drops some serious knowledge bombs on how to make your strength training workouts fun, effective and sustainable.

We discuss:

~How to get strong (it's not necessarily what you think)

~How to avoid getting beat up at the gym

~How to keep your workouts from getting stale or boring

~What to do when you have pain

~What makes a good coach or trainer

~Things Cory wishes people knew about fitness and strength training

Find out more about Cory: https://www.instagram.com/corymcripe/

Find out more about Fitness Lying Down: https://www.instagram.com/fitnesslyingdown/

Follow me on Instagram for more free content: https://www.instagram.com/carolinejuster/