Coming back from my second trip down to Kansas City for the annual Fitness Summit, it was great to see faces I had the privilege of connecting with last year as well as people who I had been clamoring to meet for some time.
It was even more exciting for me to see that of the 13 speakers (plus our host, Lou Schuler) over half of those presenting have been kind enough to take time out of their day to join me on the podcast at some point over the last few years.
So, while there are literally hundreds of people operating in and around the fitness industry who I think you should be following, I wanted to give a special shout out to those who I got to connect with this year so that you can learn more about them. As I go through the list (in order of Summit appearance), I’ll link up the episode(s) they did with me on the show if you’d like some more insight into who they are and what they bring to the table.
I will also give honorable mention to those who have not been on the show yet because there is a good chance some of them may be joining me in the future: Ryan Ketchum, Nick Sorrell, Carolyn MacDonald, Bret Contreras, Lee Boyce and Mike T. Nelson. Thank you to all of you for some great presentations!
Our Master of Ceremonies was none other than Lou Schuler. I have been following Lou for the better part of my career in this industry. He has co-authored so many influential fitness books as well as been the author of countless articles contributing no B.S. fitness advice for the fitness enthusiast and my fellow trainers. Our episode together was released way back in December of 2016, which means he’s long overdue to come back on the show. I can’t speak highly enough about the books he’s written and I’ve always enjoyed everything I’ve consumed of Lou’s work. You can hear our episode together HERE
Kelly Coffey was the first to present at TFS this year. I have only been following her work for a few years but I have always found her work something that deeply resonates with me. Like me, Kelly is a recovering addict. She has also successfully maintained over 150lbs of weight loss and coaches people from all over the world in efforts to help them take control over their health. What I love about her approach is she has a greater understanding of addictive behaviors than most coaches and is very habit-focused in what she teaches. She and I have done two excellent episodes together and every time I get to talk to her, I learn something new that makes me appreciate her and the work she does even more. I can assure you, she will definitely be invited back on the show again. You can hear our first episode together HERE and our second episode HERE.
Dr. Lisa Lewis was next up and, while I was less familiar overall with her work, she had an exceptional presentation with regard to coaching and motivation. She’s married to one of the most acclaimed strength coaches in the industry, Tony Gentilcore, and the two of them were kind enough to join me together on the show several months ago. I will tip my hat in advance and tell you that by time you read this, I will be close to releasing another episode with just Lisa so we can dive further into some of what she presented regarding motivation and goal setting. And for those of you who live somewhat close to RevFit, keep your eyes peeled for the official announcement of Tony and Lisa bringing one of their workshops to our studio. You will NOT want to miss it! You can hear the episode we did together HERE
Melody Schoenfeld put together a great hands-on workshop with focus on isometric work and new twists on range of motion challenges to spice up exercises like push-ups and pull-ups. When she’s not bending steel, tearing up phone books or decks of cards, Melody is wreaking havoc on stage (she’s a musician) and studio with her clients. She is also one of my favorite resources when I have questions about the vegan lifestyle as well, something she wrote a book on and we got to discuss when she came on my show. You can hear that episode HERE
Greg Nuckols kicked off the second day of the event with an excellent talk about the intersection of strength and relative size. Greg has always had a love of dissecting research and presenting it to the masses in ways that the science geeks can appreciate and the in-depth enthusiast. He heads Stronger By Science (linked at his name) and is part of the team that produces the monthly research review MASS (highly recommended.) I got to see him speak last year as well and his focus was on female strength training. I was so impressed by the information that when I brought him on the show, that was our topic to dive into. You can hear that episode HERE.
Dr. Susan Kleiner is a legend in the nutrition field and she delivered a fantastic presentation on grains and considerations for how they should be in our diet. She has been on my show twice as we were promoting her newest book The New Power Eating. Both episodes are excellent and she is lined up for a third appearance so we can circle back to her thoughts on grain consumption so keep your ears open for that episode. Our first episode together is HERE and the second one is HERE
Leigh Peele, and I don’t say this lightly, has been my biggest advocate in the industry. When she first came on my show, I was already a huge fan of her work and over the years, as we have gotten to understand more about how each of us coach clients to be the best versions of themselves, my respect and admiration for her has grown by leaps and bounds. I say with privilege that she is not only an inspiration, she is genuinely a friend. Her presentation actually touched on some things we spoke on in our very first episode together, which is critical thinking. We have done three episodes together. Two of which were with Leigh solo (first one is HERE and our most recent is HERE) We also did a joint episode with another fitness professional you should be following, Meghan Callaway That episode can be found HERE
Last but not least, James Krieger was the keynote speaker. He is one of the most sought after speakers in our industry and for good reason. James, like the aforementioned Greg Nuckols, has a knack and affinity for sifting through mountains of data and research to give the public a clearer understanding of what the latest in exercise science is unveiling. He oversees the research review Weightology which is linked up at his name above. I find it to be a complementary product to MASS and I am personally subscribed to both reviews. James spoke on the principles of hypertrophy in his presentation and gave a considerable amount of thought to the myriad ways that one can train to maximize size and strength. He has been so generous with his time to also be on my show three times. His only solo appearance was HERE We also did a joint episode with Stephan Guyenet, someone else you should definitely be following. That episode, which is to date my second most downloaded show ever is HERE My most recent episode with James also included our buddy, Mike Howard, and that episode can be found HERE.
If you were to completely unfollow every health professional in your social circle and only be subscribed to the individuals listed above, believe me, you would be light years beyond most with the knowledge at your ear drums and fingertips. I’ve barely brushed the surface of all of the greats in this industry but this is a fantastic “starter pack” if you want a glimpse of some of the people I can call friends, mentors and guides. I will definitely be shouting out more movers and shakers in the future, hence the reason to call this post Part One. For the time being, you’ll have plenty of wisdom to sift through with all of these folks.
It’s been an honor to have the aforementioned on my show and is yet another reminder of why it’s been a pleasure and labor of love to continue to put it out week after week.
Here’s the lineup as we were finishing the seminar. Thank you to all who came down, put in the time and continued to lead the industry to better places.
