Claire chats with Pete Yardley Patel about his personal training career. Pete qualified 13 years ago and has built a sustainable business in a commercial gym and it is brilliant to hear about his long term success in an environment which can sometimes be seen as a short term stepping stone

Find Pete: @peteyardley.hf

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

Why do some clients struggle to achieve results despite having the 'perfect' plan? In this episode, we step outside the gym bubble to talk with Dr. Dharmi Kapadia from the University of Manchester. We dive into the systemic, social, and environmental barriers that personal training qualifications often overlook.

Dr. Kapadia shares her vital research on how the chronic stress of racism and stigma acts as a physical health barrier, affecting everything from mental illness to long-term conditions like diabetes and obesity. This is a must-listen for any coach who wants to move past individualistic advice and understand the true "why" behind their clients' challenges.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The "Dose-Response" relationship between discrimination and health.

• Why "just doing it" is harder for some than others.

• How systemic stress shows up in your clients' physiology.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

· Claire chats with weight loss coach and personal trainer Simon Graham about how starting sport later in life led him to become a personal trainer and continues to shape the way he coaches people with more athletic or sports focused goals. From fuelling strategies and periodised training plans to balancing resistance work with endurance sports, Simon shares practical tips for building strength, preventing injuries, and managing extreme challenges.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

Maggie and Claire chat about behaviour change and relevant models to support it in clients. Exploring how individual capabilities, both physical and psychological, influence a person's ability to change, as well as the importance of identifying and addressing environmental and social opportunities that either support or hinder behavior change.

Members can access more on the member site including the Self Determination Theory and Behaviour Change Courses.

Non members can access a 2 week free trial via the link below.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

· Claire chats with Dani from Curious Fitness to explore the art of training clients with injuries and niggles. From integrating prehab and rehab into regular sessions to fostering trust through clear communication, they share practical strategies and personal insights from their experiences of their own injuries. Discover how creativity, empathy, and experience shape effective programming, helping clients stay strong and confident, even when setbacks arise.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

Maggie chats with personal trainer and mother Elle Brown to explore what it really means to help clients "find their movement groove" in a world that often makes that far more complicated than it needs to be.

Together, they dig into:

• The role running has played in Elle's life and how her relationship with movement has evolved
• The intersection of fitness, motherhood, identity and societal expectations and how these forces shape women's experiences of movement
• What needs to change in the fitness industry if we want to genuinely help clients (and ourselves) in the long term
• The gender gap in fitness, the very recent history of women's exercise, and the systemic barriers that still shape who feels welcome in movement spaces
• What we can do, as PTs, to build fitness environments that feel safer, more inclusive, and more responsive to everyone's needs

This episode is for anyone interested in movement beyond "exercise prescriptions" especially coaches, trainers, and women navigating movement alongside work, care, and complex lives.

Books Mentioned:

As promised, here are the recommended reads from the episode:

• Let's Get Physical - Danielle Friedman
• What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat - Aubrey Gordon
• Disobedient Bodies - Emma Dabiri
• Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez
• Teaching to Transgress - Bell Hooks

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

Claire and Maggie dive into the realities of New Year fitness trends, exploring why January isn't always the best time for goal-setting and how to keep clients engaged beyond resolutions. They share practical strategies for client retention, marketing timing, and re-engagement, plus insights on navigating seasonal business fluctuations. Whether you're a fitness professional or just curious about industry trends, this episode offers actionable tips and fresh perspectives.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

Claire chats with Tom Morgan about what actually counts as plyometric training, the benefits general-population clients gain when plyos are programmed well, what coaches get wrong about it, how to progress plyometrics and much more.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

Maggie sits down with Kim from Body Image Fitness to explore what it truly means to train for joy rather than aesthetics. Kim shares how her weight‑neutral studio creates space for every body to move, belong, and thrive, free from the pressures of diet culture. Together, they unpack why fitness is best rooted in celebration, connection, and empowerment, not comparison or correction.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar

Claire and Maggie chat about productivity including the negatives of hustle culture as well as some practical tips for being productive when action is genuinely needed.

Find Out More About LTB Membership:

• Website: https://liftthebar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar