Smarter Strength w/ Dr. David Skolnik, DPT

Our guest this week is Hallie Tobias.

In our conversation today, Hallie and I talk about how to eat to achieve specific goals, we talk about the psychology and personal development aspects of nutrition coaching, and I learn what has surprised Hallie the most about working as a nutrition coach.

Check Out Our Partner on Today's Episode - FNX Fitness
Save 15% off any purchase of the BEST nutritional supplements in the game!
Use the code "ESSENTIAL" at checkout to save some dolla dolla bills ya'll :)

Connect with Hallie - @hallietobias_tcm
Connect with David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Action Plan

Hallie had a quote earlier in the conversation that really struck me - she said “Nobody is perfect, and perfection is not required to reach your goals.”

I’m sure that some of you listening have been hesitating to make a change in how you approach your eating, but are stuck in the planning phase of change because the complexity and controversial nature of diets and diet culture. What I would like you to do this week is the following - make one small change and stick to it for the next three weeks. That could be adding a serving of vegetables, waiting an extra hour before eating breakfast, adding more carbohydrates - just do something to move the needle. It doesn’t have to be perfect - spoiler, it will never be perfect - but it has to be SOMETHING. Perfection may not be required to reach your goals, but action most certainly is. 

That’s it for today - if you appreciated today’s conversation, check out the show notes and connect with Hallie and I, let us know what you thought, and if you have any questions we can answer! Don’t forget to subscribe and rate the podcast when you have a second! It’s truly appreciated.

Until next time, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Today’s guest is Joe Rinaldi.

Joe is a Doctor of Physical Therapy based on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - but Joe will tell anyone who asks that he is far more than his professional title. His personal mission is to serve, love, encourage and inspire everyone he meets, and to leave the world better than he found it. There is a contagious positivity about Joe that I am sure everyone listening will feel.

In today’s conversation, we talk about who Joe wants to be and the work he is doing to become that person, we talk about balancing selfishness and selflessness, how and why Joe is able to view negative circumstances as opportunities and why being a good person is essential to being a good healthcare provider.

Connect with Joe - @joerinaldi.dpt
Connect with David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Check out this week's partner - Barbell Rehab
Barbell Rehab is a resource for the fitness-minded Physio and the evidence based coach looking to sharpen their professional skill set. Use the code "stronger25" and take $25 OFF the Barbell Rehab Online Course & Strength Training the Postoperative Client.

Action Plan

Your action plan for the week is to practice a single line from today’s conversation. Not long ago, Joe said something I found incredibly profound. He said that his life began to change when he changed his inner monologue from “what if”  to “even if”.

I want you to practice the same shift in language. Write down the words “even if” on a piece of paper and stick it in your pocket. For the rest of the day, or the week even, any time you think “what if” stop yourself and replace “what if”  to “even if” and feel that power surge that follows.

That’s it for this week. If you found this episode inspiring, share it with a friend or post a screenshot of today’s episode and tag the show. Be sure to subscribe to the show for weekly podcasts that will inform, inspire and empower you. 

Until next time - we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Our guest this week is Matt Lombardi, Former Professional Hockey Player, Entrepreneur, Avid Cross-Fitter and Co-Founder of Beam, a THC-Free CBD brand committed to producing the best possible products for better everything. 

In our conversation today, Matt and I talk about CBD and why it stood out to him as an athlete surrounded by a million different supplements. We talk about Beam, their core products, and their mission to reimagine health and wellness. We also discuss the “dark sides” of entrepreneurship that happens behind the flashy ad campaigns and celebrity endorsements.

Our partner on today's episode is - Beam
Use the code "Essential" for 15% off any purchase from Beam's full line-up of THC-free CBD products and start experiencing better everything!

Connect with Matt: @mattlombardi24
Connect with Beam: @beam
Connect with David: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show: @essential.strength.podcast

Action Plan

The way that Matt described his approach to both athletics and business inspired the action plan this week - I challenge each of you to write down the five most important things in your life and make an effort to be more obsessed with each of them. When you are engaged in one of your top five activities, I want you to make a more concerted effort to eliminate distractions and truly pour yourself in the experience - be that quality time with your family, a passion project, or your job. See what you can achieve in just a week of enhancing your attention to obsession.

That’s it for this week. Be sure to share this episode with someone who needs to hear it and subscribe to the show if you haven’t already. Until next time, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Our guest this week is Scott Howell.

From training clients in small boutique gyms, to overseeing regional operations at one of the biggest corporate fitness brands to owning his own successful gym business, Scott has seen, and done, more than most in this industry.

In today’s conversation, Scott and I talk about the risk and rewards of working for a larger company vs. blazing your own entrepreneurial trail, we talk about whether there is any such thing as “stability” in the workplace anymore, and I get Scott’s insight into how he has created local networks and worked to bridge the gap between health and fitness at Red Dot Fitness.

Connect with Scott - @ironsightspodcast
Connect with David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Our parter on today's episode is GetPPSC - The Pain Free Performance Certification is the most valuable course available for fitness professionals looking to improve the new client acquisition, assessment, programming and performance coaching skills!
Listeners can take 15% OFF with the code "essential" at checkout.

Action Plan

Your action plan for the week is this - if you are thinking of branching out and starting your own business, whether that is in the fitness industry or otherwise - your task this week is to spend time finding ways to start taking steps without leaving your current “main gig”. Can you commit 10% of your weekly time to building a business, feed that part of you that is hungry for autonomy and creativity, while holding on to the safety that makes those dreams possible? And in that 10%, can you clearly identify the people in your network that can help you grow?

If you can do that, you’ll be on the right track!

That’s it for now. Remember to SHARE THIS EPISODE with someone who needs to hear it, and to SUBSCRIBE to the podcast before you go. Until next time, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Our guest this week is Conny Schneider. Conny is the owner of KomplexFit in Petaluma, California. She is a personal trainer,  community builder, knowledge seeker  and as you’re learn today - not afraid to take bold steps in pursuit of fulfillment.

In today’s conversation, Conny and I talk about the strength that was required to pick up her entire life and move from Germany to Northern California after high school, how she first got involved in the fitness industry, her decision to start her own business and the challenges she faced when she she realized it was time to leave that business and start a new one. Throughout it all, we discuss the importance of human connection and community and how these concepts are central to everything in her life.

Connect with Connie - @connie.komplex
Connect with David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Our parter on today's episode is GetPPSC - The Pain Free Performance Certification is the most valuable course available for fitness professionals looking to improve the new client acquisition, assessment, programming and performance coaching skills!
Listeners can take 15% OFF with the code "essential" at checkout.

Your action plan for the week is to incorporate Conny’s 3 essential elements into your day to day life. Each day for the next week, I want you to keep track of the one thing you are doing to fuel your body, fuel your mind and fuel your soul. If, at the end of the week, you feel your fulfillment meter has moved in the right direction, this is an action plan you can roll with for as long as you want!

That’s it for now. Until next time, we with you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Today’s Guest is Layci Nelson.

In today’s conversation, Layci and David talk about the differences between someone in a leadership position and someone who is a real leader, why ego checks and apologies are key components of effective leadership, and the potential pitfalls of becoming friends with your employees.

Follow Layci - @layci_nelson
Follow David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Follow the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Check Out our Partner - GetPPSC
** Use the Code "essential"  to take 10% off any in-person GetPPSC Course and become a Pain Free Performance Specialist

Action Plan

Your action plan for the week is a page right out of Layci’s Leadership manual - when was the last time you apologized and truly meant it? No ulterior motive, no sarcasm, no “I’m just saying sorry because that’s what you want to hear”. A real apology and an intention to make things right. Why is this your action plan for the week? Because, at the end of the day, we are all leaders - leaders in our family, our community, our job, a team…leaders of our own destiny.  

That’s it for now. Until next time, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Our guest this week is Gabi Dixson.

Today’s conversation is focused on how health and fitness professionals, and the public at large, can have more effective and empathetic conversations about body weight, and how the lived experience of being in a bigger body shapes one’s outlook on life.

Gabi is the Winner of New Zealand’s Strongest Woman 2020 and is currently training for USPA Powerlifting Nationals in July 2021 and World’s Strongest Woman in November 2021. She is also an aspiring coach on a mission to create space for black and brown people in the fitness world and to inspire women of all shapes and sizes to try new things, be strong, and chase their dreams.

Follow Gabi - @gabigrl
Follow David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Follow the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Check Out Our Partner on Today's Episode - FNXFit

Action Plan

Your action plan for the week falls in line with that intention - This week I want you to seek out a difficulty conversation about a topic that makes you uncomfortable, or to have a conversation focusing on subject matter that has tripped you up in the past. Talk to someone with a different life experience that you - be that a different ethnicity, socioeconomic status, physical shape or religion - and make a concerted effort to learn, and to be empathetic.

That’s it for this week, until next time - We wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Today’s guest is Andrew Coates. Andrew is a personal trainer based in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. He hosts a weekly podcast called Lift Free and Diet Hard, and is a prolific writer in the fitness space who has contributed articles to T Nation, True Coach, The PTDC and Generation Iron. He is a mentor, and a bonafide scholar of all things health and fitness.

Follow Andrew - @andrewcoatesfitness
Follow David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Follow the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Our Partner on today's episode is GetPPSC - use the code "essential" at checkout for 10% off any in-person certification course!

Your Action Plan

Your action plan for the week is this - if you use social media to promote your business or your personal brand, ask yourself the same question Andrew and I promote when it comes to exercise - “Why am I doing this?” Is your content consistent with your message? Does that message convey a clear purpose? A is that conveyed message the one you actually intended to produce? A little thoughtfulness goes a long way in a a world full of unplanned, spontaneous content creation!

Until next time, we with you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Our guest this week is Richard Goerling.

Richard is a certified mindfulness trainer, retired police officer and military veteran. He is the founder of The Mindful Badge and specializes in training health, resilience and human performance skills to first responders.

Connect with Rich - The Mindful Badge
Connect with David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Connect with the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Check out our partner - GetPPSC - and take 10% off any live course with the code essential at checkout!

Your Action Plan

I would ask that you find an opportunity to practice being compassionate to someone or some thing that you strongly disagree with. To take the time and make the effort to work on understanding, empathy and to do the work required to move beyond your gut reaction and into something more skillful and more self-aware.

Until next week, we with you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt

Our guest today is Dr. Michelle Gilpin, DPT. Michelle is a Doctor of Physical Therapy who practices out of Evolution Healthcare & Fitness in Portland, Oregon. In Today’s conversation we focus on one particular area of body, the pelvic floor. What is it? What is its function in the wholistic system of the body? What are the signs and symptoms that the pelvic floor is not functioning properly or optimally? And how training the pelvic floor can lead to enhanced performance in both sport and life.

Follow Michelle - @drmgpt
Follow David - @dr.davidskolnik.dpt
Follow the Show - @essential.strength.podcast

Our Partner on Today's Episode
Barbell Rehab is bridging the gap between healthcare and fitness with online and in-person courses for clinicians, coaches and trainers who understand the value of barbell training and want to use this tool in both rehab and performance. Our listeners get $25 off the Barbell Rehab Workshop Online Course & the Strength Training the Post-Operate Client course!

Action Plan

I just want you to stop and think about whether you have any of the early signs and symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction. These could be new symptoms, or long standing symptoms that you’ve always been lead to believe were just “normal”. They could be related to lifting weights, running, or just being honest about how frequent and urgent your trips to the bathroom are. You can even take the pee test Michelle mentioned, to see if you can stop the flow mid-stream. If you identify any of these signs or symptoms - BE PROACTIVE. Our healthcare system may be set up to treat problems only AFTER they get serious, but you can break out of that model by being your own strongest advocate and finding healthcare professionals, like Michelle, who are committed to helping you go from feeling good to feeling GREAT.

That’s it for this week. Until next time, I wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH.

Want more content? Follow Dr. David on Instagram: @dr.davidskolnik.dpt