Increase Your Endurance in the Fitness Industry with Leanna Carriere

You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 188. Today I'm sitting down with Coach Leanna and we're talking all about how to increase your endurance in the fitness industry. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

What's up, coach? Thank you so much for pushing play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson and today I have an awesome guest for you, Coach Leanna, who is talking all about her journey in the fitness space. She's been a personal trainer for over 15 years, has a five year old daughter, and started a chocolate company for adventurous souls. Now, I think we're gonna have to have a part two on this episode because we did not even begin to scratch the surface on how she started and why she started a chocolate company for the adventure souls. But it's definitely something that I think many of us will be so, so interested in learning about after listening to this episode. She is an Ironman athlete and ran the Mount Everest Marathon this year. And inside of this episode today, she talks all about what that process was like, how she overcame some of the most challenging moments and how she's been able to use that experience and translate it into her training for the everyday active adult. She's about to go on a new adventure which she shares about inside of this episode with her partner Tim, all about cycling, pack rafting, swimming and hiking from Alaska's high Arctic to the southern tip of South America. So without further ado, let's go ahead and roll that interview. What's up, Liana? Thank you so much for joining me on the show today. How are you?

Thanks for having me. I'm doing great.

Enjoying the. Well, it's about.

It's going to be fall soon, so it's getting a little cooler here in Edmonton.

Oh, I'm here in New York and I just put. I live in the scarf. I love the scarf and I just put it on today, so I'm ready for fall myself, let me tell you.

Great.

So I'd love for you to share with us just a little bit about who you are, who you serve and how you got there.

Yeah, yeah, it's a lot of questions. So I trainer for over 15 years. I started when I was. Oh, it's almost 20 years now because I was like, wait, I started when I was like 18, 19 and now I'm 38, so 37. I keep saying that, but so almost 20 years now.

So I have worked with a variety of clientele.

I've worked in kind of the box. The box type gyms. Right. That's kind of where you learn a.

Lot, get a lot of different clientele in.

And then I started contracting for myself.

I've always done that through Covid.

I think all of the trainers realized that we weren't utilizing the online niche quite as.

As well as we could be.

And I noticed coming out of COVID people were more receptive to doing some online stuff. So I have a real mix of in person and online training. I train everyone.

I train younger kind of female athletes. I train endurance. So I'm partnered with Team Siri out of Boulder, Colorado. So they run a Ironman training online program. So I'm one of their main coaches and then I do my own one on one coaching which primarily is kind of the target is kind of that 45 year old professional wants to get a good workout in. They're kind of driven, they're driven in their normal life. So it kind of helps because they're driven to see success in the gym as well. Yeah, so I kind of, I have I guess a wealth of experience over the years and some trial and error, but the clients I do have like referrals and retention have been the best for me and that's how I've, I think just been successful over the 20 years as well as I have my own personal, I think unique story which I don't know if you want me just.

Yeah, please tell us. Dive in.

So if you don't mind sharing. Yeah, okay, I don't mind sharing at all. So I'm a beat and athlete. My entire life I was a competitive gymnast and in my later teens I fell in love with track and field, primarily pole vaulting. And through athletics was where I found my confidence because I struggled a lot in school. I had adhd, which wasn't diagnosed until I went to get my personal training diploma as an adult. So I really struggled in school. I always wanted to be a personal trainer or work with athletes and try or even just kind of better every, just better someone's everyday life. And I know I could do that through athletics and kind of showing them how. And people would always ask me like what do you do? And I'm like, oh, I've tried lots of different things and I'll tell you what, doesn't work. So people started coming to me because I had this athletic background, which was great, but athletes are very hard to deal. So I didn't always like training athletes because they have a lot of energy. So it was kind of a mix. I'd kind of get athletes through my track and field. I tried to qualify for the Olympics in 2016 and just missed those. Then had a daughter again through my pregnancy. That was a whole other kind of door that opened. Going through pregnancy, learning how to train my own body through pregnancy, like before, during and after was all super important. And every mom will relate. Like when I first ran or took my jumps, I was like, I did it right because I didn't have any incontinence issues because that's a real thing. And so really being patient and learning to be patient with my body and then, and then working with that demographic of people. So it's really changed over the years based on what I've been doing because I believe in health and fitness so much that it's always, it's just part of my lifestyle. And that's what I really try to get my clients to believe. It's not just an appointment. We're adopting this lifestyle and how does that look? And as a mom, it really, it really hit home for me when I realized like sometimes I only have 20 minutes. Like I can't, I can't be planning as a professional athlete. I was planning, you know, two, three hour twice a day workouts. My world revolved around my training schedule. Well, you become a mom and that doesn't happen. So sometimes it's 20 minutes here, sometimes it's especially through pregnancy, before, during. It's do what you can in the moment and you know, you're giving your best effort and regardless of what you're training for, that's kind of my approach now. And now since then I've been doing Ironman. I took up triathlons, so.

Oh, is that all?

I ran the, I actually ran the Mount Everest marathon this year. So we hiked up as a 10 day hike in and that was amazing experience. And then you, I like to say run down, but it's still 1500 meters of elevation and it was grueling and it was an amazing experience. So I trained for that and then I did an Ironman this year. And then I'm about to launch my, my next big adventure which is cycling, swimming, hiking and Running down from the highest part in Alaska down to the southern more the southernmost tip of South America.

So going.

Gonna go do that for eight months.

That's amazing. So when. Okay.

Whoa.

When does that adventure start?

Oh, so it's great because again, because online I can keep my clients, which honestly, when I was in Nepal, I stayed online. I kept my training programs up with my clients. So I was still able to invoice, which was huge. I never had that before. When I was an athlete competing, I didn't have that, the online option for writing programs. People just didn't like it. Right. Personal training is personal and so it's hard to do that online. But people are now more acceptive of that. So now I can plan these bigger trips and these expeditions and I can still be in touch with my clients, which is amazing. So yeah, this, this adventure is. Yeah, it's quite the. It's quite the adventure. So my partner and I, we met probably just over a year ago and I had an idea through Covid. I was, I was getting frustrated with the shutdown. So I'm like, I'm going to grab my bike and I'm going to go cycle down to the Argentina. I'm just going to cycle the Pacific highway because I was just tired of it and I wanted, I was tired of feeling like my races and everything were being controlled. So I was just like, I just can grab my bike, I'm just going to go. So he's. Yeah, so he has his PhD in ecology and is a lover for the environment. So he had a similar idea, but he had, being a scientist had really developed this crazy plan. So he's like, well, I have a great idea, kind of similar, but let's make it more meaningful and impactful. So being a lover of the birds, there's eight flyways in the world and so this would be the first flyway, the Pacific Americas, which will go. Yeah, what I said the northern tip up in Alaska and then all the way down to the Southern America tips down as far south in Argentina. So we thought we'd self power it. And because birds represent endurance, resilience, freedom and they're also the messengers of hope and it's a way of kind of giving back. It's using our athletics because he's super athletic and kind of bringing sports and science together where normally you won't see kind of the conservation and the science and then the sports people coming together. We're trying to bridge that gap now and provide a pretty cool story along the way with both people and animals through migration.

I love it.

I love it.

It's so great. And so what I'm curious about, and I love that you're bringing up the idea of bridging the gap between sports and science, because for me, I feel like people really, there's a gap between athletic and sports behavior versus like, or, you know, training versus, you know, general population. So I'm curious for you, and as you are such a performance athlete, endurance athlete at such a high level, how have you been able to connect essentially with some of the, the general population who's like, 20 minutes, that's what I've got. That's what I'm gonna do, just like you said. So how have you been able to really navigate what feels like such a big difference in worlds?

Yeah, I think a lot of it is mindset. I come back to mindset again and again. Even through my Ironman, I struggled a lot. I got altitude sickness while I was climbing Mount Everest. And people were like, how are you doing this? How are. Like, how do we do this? And aside from the blessing of having ADHD where you're able to hyper focus, I joke about that, but it's true.

So I do have that ability to.

Really hyper focus and get things done like that.

But I always tell people it is.

A mindset and like, you can't, you can't go. I only have 20 minutes. You got 20 minutes. Let's focus on those 20 minutes and let's see what we can get done. And doing 20 minutes, you. 20 minutes.

You know, every day, that's still.

Come on, help me with math.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

I'm like, oh, math. No. Now you're like, I'm great with words. Math, not so much. But no, I get what you're saying is that the perspective shift is really powerful that I feel like people miss. They'll spend 20 minutes, you know, they'll spend 20 minutes scrolling and.

Yes.

Well, how many people on their phone get the. You've spent this many time, this much screen time this week and you look at like screen time. That's all they work. When did that happen?

So I think a lot of it's.

Mindset in mind shift. Also when you're coming down, if you're.

Looking at overall wellness, you know, what you're putting in your body, the energy you're getting.

I mean, at the end of the day, we're.

We're all cells.

We have to feed these cells and create energy and need the energy to perform. Even if that's a 20 minute walk. So making sure. Again, when I, when I talk about lifestyle with my clients, that's the hardest thing because they put all this pressure on, like, I need to get a workout, I need. And I'm like, yeah, but if you eat healthy throughout the day and go.

For a 20 minute walk.

That'S what you get done.

That's fine.

I mean, I always try to stress too that the.

Human body is always changing and evolving. Our cells are dying, they're regenerating. So we always have an opportunity to kind of create something new. And every day you can create something new. Whether that's just having a little extra protein in each meal, whether that's going for a 10 minute walk after supper. And you have these opportunities and you're in complete control of them. And it's these moments, we all get them. And I get them too. We're like, really? I really don't want to do that. Or my bed feels really good right now. And so it's snapping people out of that. And I don't really think it's, I mean, I'm sure there's a psychologist that knows the science behind this. But again, I think it's more, it's not necessarily a science at this point. It's more bridging the mindset of having that lifestyle you want versus where you're stuck. And how do you get people out of that? Stuck that. I'll start again Monday. Why not start today? What? Honest to goodness, that drives me nuts. What is the difference between starting or I'll start the first of the month? Why time is completely irrelevant? We have no idea. Like time and time is there, I guess for society reasons. But I mean, at the end of the day, being a personal trainer is great because people are like, oh, can you, oh, sorry, this is during your work hours. It's like my work hours are, I don't know, I can't explain them. I'm writing programs at 9:00pm, I'm training clients, you know, 7:00am, noon. Like I'm doing my own training in between there. Like there's, there's no. You just kind of like one day rolls into the next and so yeah, these ideas, yeah. People like, well, I'll start, I'll start. Then I'm like, well, no, like what is the difference of you waking up tomorrow and having a great bowl of oatmeal and going for a walk before work? Like, why?

I don't get it.

I mean.

Because you, because you've become compliant in your current habits and that's really important. Humans are creatures of habits and it takes a lot to break those habits, but they become compliant. Right. So it's easy to put it off because what they've been doing for the last 30 days plus is what they're used to. And so to break those cycles again, it's like going back to that mindset and that's where I like to step in. And you almost start becoming. You're not necessarily just a personal trainer, but you're, I don't want to say lifestyle coach, but you know, you start coaching on them. Coaching people more on. Okay, well, how do you adopt this lifestyle? How do you adopt a lifestyle where I can travel from Alaska to Argentina and swim, bike and run? Like, how do you do? Like, people are like, how do you do that? Is like, you know, you get behind something you love and you just make it happen.

Yeah. So I'm, I'm curious when people are, you know, are people intimidated to work with you in the sense of, you know, you know, you're such an adventurous, high performing athlete and they're like, well, I just want to move my body. So has there been messaging or any, you know, trust building and barriers that you've had to break through when it comes to connecting with people who might not be as high performing as you?

Yeah, and that's a great point because.

That, that happens a lot.

And I remember I was going through my branding with, with one of the.

Guys that helps with some of my branding.

He's like, we need to like, tone it down.

And I was like, what?

I was like, this looks awesome. He's like, yeah, it looks intense, but it's intense. Like, I think I had like a picture of me standing there with like, like, I was like, yeah, become your own superhuman. And I was like, I love the messaging superhuman. Like, I love that. And so that for me is like, but that's my story. And so for me, it's really. Once I can talk to people. Like, people are afraid to approach me sometimes, but once we have these conversations, they're like, oh, you're not scary. I'm not scary. I'm like, my journey is my journey. I mean, for me to go out.

And do an ironman and for someone.

To run a 5k or just walk 60 nights at one time, I mean, it doesn't matter what the goal is. It's that you're trying to achieve something better than you were. You're trying to, you're trying to better yourself. Right. So I'm here to provide you that path to better yourself and get you the lifestyle that you. You want and you can achieve. And, I mean, I. I've been fortunate enough with my athletics to be able to do all these crazy things, but.

It'S also the vision I've had since.

I was younger, and it's taken a lot of work, and it's hard work, and sometimes people don't understand that, oh, well, you're just naturally gifted. And I'm like, no, I actually have not. I've worked very hard. I've sacrificed a lot, and I've chosen to do that because that's the lifestyle I want. I've had a client once, and he used to come in. It just broke my heart because he would just kind of come in for the appointment leave, and who's getting frustrated because of how he looked? I just sit down and have that conversation with him where I was like. I was like, you need to, like. He's like, well, how do you do what you do? And I tell him, I said, well, I don't work crazy. I don't, you know, the time. I have a car, so I walk everywhere.

So, you know, I don't find it.

Necessary to purchase a car. It's too expensive. It's not good for the environment, all these things. I don't need one.

And so I.

Therefore, I don't have to work, you know, an extra however many hours because I'm not paying.

And he's like, well, I'm not willing to sacrifice that.

I was like, that's fine. I said, you know, but. But you're gonna have to. There. There has to be some give and take, because you can't be working 12 hours a day, not eat and be super stressed, come home and be grumpy. Like, you have to make time for yourself.

And nobody, Nobody does that.

And so I totally got off topic from the original conversation or question. But, yeah, so people. Yeah, get. I think once people start talking to me and the communication is open, they're not as intimidated because whatever their goal is is just as important as my goal. My goal is to win an Ironman event. That's my goal. If your goal is to walk 5k or to be able to ski again or to just feel better, then that's your goal. And that's my job as a trainer, is to get you to accomplish and feel good about yourself again. It has nothing to do with me. And I really try to stress that to them. I. I feel trainers can get really egotistical, and certain clients, they. They kind of Assume if you go, and I've seen this before, it's like they pick trainers, say based on a look or how they want to look. And it's like, and it's not necessarily the right training program for them. And so trainers, I feel, need to drop that ego and really evaluate their clients needs and reassure their client that, you know, it doesn't matter what your goal is. I, you know, you don't want to be a bodybuilder. Like if you go to a bodybuilder type trainer, you know that that trainer needs to put down their goals, push them aside and be like, okay, what are you? What is important? You know, what is important to you? What are the three most important things to you? They might not have their goals, but the three most important things usually that I hear from people are I want to feel better. So, okay, what does that mean? Okay, I want to have more muscle, more energy. Another big one I always hear is I want to be able to be active with my kids. Especially when I talk about my target markets in that 45 to 50, they all have kind of that 7 to 10 year old. So they want to be able to go to races or go hiking with their kids and show them, I think, you know, what they used to do with kids. And then the second one. Yeah. And it kind of falls in the first. It's just, they just want to feel like they have the energy to do things and those are, those are important. Not, not racing, not, you know, and then from there it's almost a B goal is accomplishing a race, doing a bodybuilding competition, you know, because you got to feel good and confident first and you have to adopt the lifestyle and when you start to see success, then you're like, oh, maybe I can run a 5K maybe, maybe I could do that bodybuilding competition or CrossFit or whatever, whatever the goal is, it doesn't, it can be anything.

Yeah.

So it's really interesting people's mindsets and how they kind of get stuck in this.

Like law. It's like I always ask people who've.

Lost a lot of weight, I'm like, what was your point? Like your turning point? Everyone has that turning point. And I'm always so curious, like, because I could have gone, there's many times in my life I could have like strayed. But I was like, no, I can't.

But there's people who like put on lots of weight and it's like, did you have like a turning point where you're like, enough is enough. Whether it's, you know, they went to their doctor and they were told they're gonna have a heart attack within a week. That's one that I hear. Usually it's the doctor gives them a good scare. One of my clients, it was that he wasn't able to fit into his ski boots. And so getting him to a weight where he's like, I could ski again. I haven't been able to do that in 10 years. Like, that was a huge success.

Yeah.

So you bring up two points that I think is powerful. And so we'll start with one is, you know, and I, and I, I've asked a couple of people their opinions on this, because I do think that there is a difference between recognizing what's resistance, meaning, you know, I just don't feel like doing it, and then relying on your discipline to pull you through, versus the other opposite side of the spectrum, which I see a lot in performance athletes, which is at all costs, where they're literally, you know, at the gym with the flu. And sometimes I feel like it's hard for people to navigate and find what is truly the difference for them. So I'm curious how you have navigated that with yourself and with your clients to, you know, because I think there is that line of like, no, let's just, you know, if we all did what we felt like all the time, it'd be different.

Yeah. So discipline goes a long way. So when you do have a structured program, and most people prefer the structured program, on my training app, if you don't do your workout, it shows up red. And I see it. And a lot of clients, they hate seeing that red box. So accountability. And that's where trainers come in, accountability and discipline to the program. And if you have to change it in the day, people also have to understand you can change it. So if you wake up in the morning and you're having a bad day, and this is where I always tell, especially my online clients, I always say, message me, because we can always do something. You can always do something. And I think that's maybe the point. Sure. You can't do. Say you say your workout says, oh, I have to do a two hour run, and they wake up and they feel just awful. So first thing I usually ask my clients is, okay, so what have you eaten in the last 24 hours, four hours, what were your stresses like? And then usually get a heart rate measure, because if the heart rate measure seems a little high, then they could be getting sick. So for myself, it's very interesting And I didn't realize this. I was older athlete, but I would kind of push those limits. And then I noticed I get days where I'm like, I can't do it, I can't do it. And you know, I would be that person in the gym with the flu or whatever, just pushing on, then never fail, usually three days. Then I would get sick. So if I don't feel like working out, it's usually more of an issue. So then I check my heart rate. If my heart rate's high the next morning, I'm like, okay, I need more recovery for me. And it's taken a long time to learn this and really be honest with your body and mind. So for yourself, it's like, okay, if you wake up and you're sore and you're tired and you don't want to do your workout, why do you not want to do your workout? Is it low energy? Okay, so maybe if you eat something.

Have a cup of coffee, you might.

Be able to do something. Are you feeling sick or are you truly just being lazy? Because honestly, people are lazy.

We all have those days.

People are lazy. I get it too. I mean, especially when you're starting a new program or something new and your body's in an adaptation phase and you're sore and you're exhausted and you've never felt this way before. Again, experienced trainers know how to tweak that. So your clients. The worst thing you can do to your clients is make them so sore that first week of training. Like, And I know some client trainers are like, haha, they're so sore they can't sit down. Like, that's actually. And I learned that as a young trainer when I trained this one lady and I knew she could work out hard, so I pushed her a little extra hard because she was coming from another. As she walked in and looked at me in the eyes, she's like, not cool. Leanna. She's like, I couldn't work. And I was like. When she left the gym, I was like, yeah, I gave her like the best workout ever. Awesome. But she couldn't work the next day. She was so sorry. I don't take pride in that. If a client pukes. And I've never had a client puke on me because I can read their body sign before that. That's not a bragging. Like. And young trainers get in this mindset too. Like, so you need people to come back. Athletes don't mind training in that pain zone when I can't sit down. And then I'M trying to run, and I'm running with, like, bandy legs all over the place. I've been doing. Yeah, I've been doing that since I was eight. I'm okay with it. But most clients, they don't like that. They don't want to go there. And it takes a while, it takes trust and a slow build before you can get them to pushing these, you know, incredible things. And then they realize, oh, my God, I can do a pull up. I never thought I could do a pull up. Oh, my God, I can squat. I never thought I could, you know, do this kind of strength training. But you can't. So you have to be careful as a trainer. You got to tweak that dial and really read your client, right? And ask them, have the hard conversations. Like, like, some of them are lazier than others. Some will work hard to do the workouts to a T. And they'll go. Go a lot of people based on outside stresses that'll affect their physical output for the day. You want to. You, as a, as a trainer, you really have to hone in on what are their other stresses in their life right now that are making them feel begged, exhausted. You know, is it. Is it mental health? Is it work stress? Is it eating? Is it hormones? That's a whole. The hormones is a whole other one. You know, like, where, where are we? Where are we right now? And as you get to know your clients better, and I think this is probably why I have clients, I call them lifers. I just have them for life. Because we've really worked on that over the years, and now I know exactly the workout to give them based on X, Y or Z, right? Like, I know exactly. I have one client, and she does her workouts to a T. And all of a sudden her workout started going a little off. And I was like. And, you know, we finally had a conversation. We had a conversation.

She started crying.

She never cries. Like, she's such a good athlete and works so hard. And then she told me about all these work stresses. I was like, okay, let's dial back the workout. Let's just adjust everything slightly so we can get through it. Because the other thing as maybe some or all of you know, the work stress just stresses stress, and your body's going to respond to it very similarly. So if you're doing a workout stress or you're being yelled at at work, your cortisol levels, everything's going to be amped up. So your nervous system, you might not be sleeping, so it's Just there's so many factors and variabilities to having that I can't do this today, that my job is to kind of like pinpoint a couple things that you feel you can control to empower you to get out and get for a walk. So sometimes you need a bit of a kick in the ass, and that's fine. But we don't all have to be like, David Goggins.

I do love him.

I personally love his approach. They're like, you're like the female David Goggins. I was like, well, let's not. I'm a little more. I'm not going to yell at you. But you know people, you know people are sensitive and going on this journey, especially with a trainer, trainers have to be super understanding that people are asking, like, they're inviting you into a very personal part of their life. And you have to be very open to that and willing to work. Now, sometimes too, you're not the right fit for that client, and that's okay. And that's when you hand someone off if you need to. And again, the trainer has to be honest with themselves. The client has to be honest with themselves, too. Like, what's working, what's not working? I always let a couple days. Usually, like, if you have one bad day, that's fine. If I see two in a row, I'm like, hey, like, what is happening? Normally, I tend to find most of my clients, it comes down to work, and then it's just managing expectations. Like, they're like, well, there's no way I could do all that workout. I was like, well, that's fine. You don't have to do it all if you can. Like, I can give you more or less. And again, as a trainer, you really learn over the years, like, which clients want more and which clients just need less. And you can add, like, oh, if you feel good, do this extra workout. They're like, I did feel good. I did do the extra workout. But it's no stress if you put optional on it and you make sure that they know that. So it's just making sure.

Yeah.

Again, you have to organize the workouts appropriately for the client and really reading the client and knowing how to push them to get them out the door on those hard days. I think it's very important.

I heard two really core components that I think is really important to reiterate is one, you have a very systematic approach to accountability for both you, you and the client, which I think a lot of people miss this. Right. It's more than just come to my session. Because people aren't paying for your time, they're paying for the speed of implementation. So I love that you have, like, a very systematic, accountability way to track binary action. Did you do it or did you not? And both people are going all in on you. I think what will happen to a lot of people, a lot of trainers and coaches, especially when they're new, is that they have the privilege and benefit of working with all different types of people, so they try to be the right fit for everyone, which just ends up hurting everyone in the long run, I think.

Yeah. Yeah. I think years.

It takes.

Yes.

Practice. Practice.

And it's great. New trainers going into a good life, or. I'm not sure what you guys have in New York, but no good life. Movadi. Like these. These kind of box gyms where you learn. You've learned to become a trainer because you do so many consultations, you meet so many different people. You learn how to do the annoying sales part that we all hate.

I love sales.

Most traders don't. Most traders don't.

That is true. But I loved it.

Yeah. I'm like. There was like, what was the cost? I'm like, yeah, you know, whatever. And I'm like, so bad. Um, yeah. So, you know, it's great for those trainers to learn, and you can learn a lot at those gyms. Like, there's some that are better than others, and you kind of. Every trainer has to. I feel like every trainer has to log in a year or two at these kind of gyms to develop to become a better trainer, because you kind of get spoiled if you take your certification, you go to school, and then you just do your own thing, because you actually don't really learn. You're just going to implement what you know best, and you're not going to get an influx of, I want to say, average Joes. But those are the ones who are going to pay you well. They'll pay you well. They'll pay you for your time. You don't want. Trust me, I don't want to train at Leanna. It's way too much work. I hate training myself. I always get a trainer or coach and I pay for them, but I wouldn't want to train myself. And so I love the people I train now. Like, it's taking me a while, but the clients I have, like I said, it's. It's funny because, like you said, you have this, like, huge whirlwind of. You're training students, you're training old People you're training, male, female, like, different levels, different goals, you're all over the place. And you come out of school, you come out of a certification, which is also hard because there's so many different certifications. So depending what you take, you know, you come out and you're like, well, I know how to train myself, but now what do I do with, you know, Nancy who's, you know, 65 and obese and has a broken arm? Like, oh, like, what do I do now? But this happens.

This is exactly so good. This is so good. And so then you have to try and take. Con. You try.

You.

I'm laughing because it just takes me back because it's like, what page in my certification book tells me how to train Nancy with a broken arm?

Nothing.

No one. That's what's great about being a trainer is you get to be creative. That's what I love about it, is that I love. I mean, for me, of course, I was like, oh, I would love to be a doctor. Because you get to, like, you get. Assess and diagnose and prescribe. Well, I get to do that as a trainer. Not without the pressures of being a doctor, which is great. But, yeah, I get it. I do. I do full assessments. I scan for injuries. I talk about nutrition, I talk about, you know, psychology. Bit like mindsets, you know, and then. And then I really give the best work for the clients to attain whatever goal that is.

And again, the goal doesn't have to be anything crazy.

I had one client and the goal was to be able to walk. In Jasper, we have this, like, tram that takes you to the mountain. That's a 2K up to the summit. He wanted to be able to walk 2k up to the summit. Now he had, like, his legs had become. He could use them, but they had become paralyzed from an injury. So we had to train his legs to be able to walk 2K, which was very. Actually very difficult because he couldn't feel his legs. But we got him there. Like, it wasn't a huge. You know, most people just do that every day. They just go up the tram, walk the two take their pictures. But for him, like, he really wanted to get to the top of that summit. So that was our goal. And it took a long time and it was very difficult, but we did it. I mean, and you just have. You have to. As a trainer, I can't stress this enough. You have to be able to read people's bodies, like to stop them before they vomit. If you notice they're dizzy that's another thing I always ask. Like, when I first have a client, I asked them, I said. I always say. I'm like, you're annoyed by me, but I'm going to ask how you're feeling about every 15 minutes. And so please let me know. I'm like, until I get to know you, then I'll start throwing you the weights I think you should be doing. But that first two weeks is really getting to know someone, knowing their body, knowing how they respond. Are they. So, you know, some people are just pukers. So you gotta be careful with that. You know, do they get pale? You know, if they have muscle imbalances, what does that look like? How can we correct that before it becomes an injury? All these things are very important to watch. You know, what are. What are they saying? Like, are you listening to what they're saying? You know, if they're struggling, like, are you picking up on these cues? And as a trainer, you have to be very, very focused. And that's why I think I wrote on you, on the thing you gave me, like, are you an introvert or an extrovert? I'm like, both, because. And most trainers will tell you this. I think I've had this conversation because when you're with clients, you have to be kind of extroverted, but it takes energy. And then when you're done with them, you're like, I need to go hide in my quiet place. Need to be alone. Because if you are very involved, it's about them and you're. You're trying to focus on them. And trainers need to. Need to be able to read their clientele regardless of what they think training should look like. Maybe Susie can't do a bench press. Maybe lunges are, like, the worst exercise I see trainers mess up on all the time. You just get them in, like, a split stand and, like, get them to hold on to something. Like, don't make them lunge, walk. They can, like, work on the range of motion. Like, I'm very sneaky with my workouts. So most people are super tight. Definitely through the pelvis region, upper back, posterior chain isn't getting strong enough. Everything in the front's really tight. So, you know, I have a client. I have one client. He always comes in with back pain, and when he leaves, he's like, I feel so good. But I'm super sneaky because I put exercises in to increase the range of motion without doing the boring stretching or dynamic. So, you know, I'll do a split squat and open up their Hip flexor. I'll get the hand above the head to get a stretch all the way through. And sometimes that's all they need to just get that relief or feel like their legs can move again because they've been sitting at a desk for like, 12 hours. So I'm very sneaky with the exercise choice sometimes based on my clients, because especially I'll say more of my male clients. You know, they want to feel strong and they want to lift that weight and females, too, but they're so flipping tight that you're like, we're not getting anywhere. And if you're only bench pressing half the way or squatting a quarter squat. And that's not the exercise. I need to be thinking about this. So I'll throw some weights and change the exercise, make it more mobility with weight, and then we'll go do a couple heavier sets to make them feel good. But I'm very clever when I plan workouts and depending on who I do it with, Reading your clients, knowing what they need and knowing what they want.

Oh, my gosh.

Yes. Very important. So you have to, you know, everyone's different. And so really. And that comes down to listening and understanding them as best as you can.

Yeah.

And oftentimes hearing what it is that they need and then hearing underneath it in terms of, you know, what's causing them to think that they need this and also underneath that, which is, what is it that, you know, what do they gain when they achieve this? Because that's their value.

Yeah. And that's where you have. As a trainer. You have to be patient as well, because say you have someone squatting and their squat is just awful. Well, to work that range of motion properly, it's going to take a bunch of drills. But you're not going to not squat. Like, I don't. I wouldn't like. Unless it was awful. We're still going to learn the range of motion. Maybe I'll put some plates behind their heels for a couple. I mean, the ultimate goal is always to get the range of motion better. And then I like doing videos with my clients. You just snap a video quick, and then you show them this is your current position or this is where you were three months ago. Because sometimes they don't say. It's to say the weight stays the same, but the range of motion. You know, they're squatting two inches deeper. Well, that. That's a huge improvement. But then when I see it on the bar. But having that extra range of motion and getting more muscle activation is Massive. You're like, you're creating. You're. You're creating new muscle. I won't say new muscle, but, you know, you're now breaking down that tight tissue, and now you're getting it stronger, and you can do it through larger range of motion, and. And that's great, but that takes a lot of time, and sometimes people don't want that. So you also have to give people what they want. So if that's, you know, some of my females, they just want to, you know, I'll do a lot of the structural stuff with them. And then at the end, you know, you throw a couple of hiit exercises in which I'm like, this is ridiculous. But whatever. Make them feel. They leave with a high heart rate. Their core feels nice and strong, and they're gonna come back. But it's true. It's true. If I left them. If I left them in, like, after discussing, you know, doing LAT activation, and it's like, Casey, they're gonna be like, that's not really what I wanted. Like, I wanted to feel my heart rate up. I want to feel like my core is nice and tight. And that is super easy to do. Five minutes at the end of a session, and then they leave with that feeling. They forgot about the LAT activation. That's actually beneficial. But they left feeling good how they were. They left feeling how they wanted to feel at the end of the workout. But you were able to get them, you know, to strengthen their posture chain, which they have no idea about.

Yeah.

So cool. So cool.

Okay. Where do you see yourself within the next five years or three years or whatever? Like, what is the future of you expedition?

Yeah, sure.

We'll see where this takes me, I think. I mean, I always love to inspire and teach people. I think, again, with this expedition being, you know, cycling, swimming, pack, rafting, hiking, I get to share that. I get to share the stories. Obviously, bringing in the environment, the conservation side, it's kind of neat. That's more. My partner, Tim, he can speak more on that. But going. Going through and having people follow, I guess my crazy expeditions like, that things are possible. It doesn't have to be as crazy what I'm doing, but, you know, if you put the right things in place, you can do it. And I've been continuing to inspire and teach, continue to do my training when I can. I do love being a personal trainer. I'm five minutes from the gym in my house. Yeah. So I'll always be involved. I've been doing it for almost 20 years. So it's not going away.

That's amazing.

It's just gonna adapt as I go.

Right.

And whether that's talking or teaching or. Yeah. Online training, I've kind of open. It's always hard for me to see really far down the road because you just never know, you know? Yeah, you never know what happens. You have to just totally plugging away towards. You have to be living your lifestyle that you want and growing it the way you want. So doing stuff like this, like this was such a great opportunity for me. I've never done anything like this, so I was like, oh, this, this is great. It's going to open up some doors.

Maybe, you know, taking advantage of stuff.

Like that, getting involved in the communities. What's really cool going all the way, you know, from Alaska to Argentina is that all the communities and people all get to meet. And, you know, people just think it's crazy. They're like, you're going to cycle. And I've been voluntold to go swim in the toxic water.

Voluntold volunteered.

That's hysterical.

Yeah. So, I mean, for me it's like.

Because, because I'm at a point too, my athletics were, you know, I'm not, I'm not going to go to the Olympics, which is a hard realization because that's what I based my whole life around. And then now, so I have to, I have to change it and make a bigger impact somehow with people or the environment. And so, you know, I'm gifted with being athletic, which is great. Something I've worked hard, but now I have an opportunity. Yeah, I really have an opportunity to continue to be athletic and hopefully inspire people as well along the way. And that's, I guess that's the ultimate goal. I mean, everyone can do better.

I really love that. And I want you to know that, you know, it's clear that you are very passionate about helping other people and really meeting them where they're at. And it doesn't matter because like you said, people can get egotistical. And I know it's not just trainers. I think we all are just designed to. To survive. Right. And part of that is how am I going to get there faster, better, and get to the top wherever there is. Right. And so I think that it's very clear that you have a service heart and are able to meet people where they're at, which many people struggle with. So it's truly a gift. So for those of you who want to connect, I want to be mindful of your time. So for those of you who want to learn more, connect with you, go deeper with you. Where are some of the way that where are the best places I can send them?

Yeah, so probably my Instagram right now which is just at Leanna Carrier with that's linked. Our journey for the expedition is coming up. We didn't even talk about my chocolate company. I know.

Oh my gosh.

I know.

We'll have to do a part two.

Yeah, yeah. We also have that company as well. So. Yeah, yeah. Just I think everything's my social media at liana carrier. Leannacarriermail.com is my email. So people more if anyone wants to reach out. That's awesome. Always ask questions and don't be afraid. I'm not. I, I Hopefully you can tell by the end of this. I'm not a scary person by any means.

Not at all. This has been amazing. Thank you so much. Talk to you soon.

Yeah.

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