Casey Zavaleta: What a Coach Needs To Know! - Episode 47

A big welcome to Casey Zavaleta!

In this episode, Darren interviews Casey, an instructor and content developer with DTS Fitness Education. They discuss the importance of teaching foundational skills to clients and the need for coaches to have a system to put everything into, starting with a solid assessment. They also emphasize the importance of gaining experience, finding good mentors, and focusing on the client's needs in order to be a successful coach in the fitness industry. Casey shares her course, which teaches foundational movement patterns and a seven-step system for training, available in Canada and the US.

Casey is an accomplished coach and education leader in the fitness industry. She spends her time helping new and experienced coaches improve their ability to train and connect with their clients.

Today we discussed where new coaches should start when it comes to improving their knowledge base technically and ability to successfully work and interact with their clients.

We have found over the years that coaches tend to skip the basics in training and haven't taken the time to develop their "soft skills" such as communication and leadership/motivation tactics.

You'll learn about the DTS certification and what Casey has learned through working with trainers all over the world in person and remotely. We also touch on different approaches to amassing more information and skills as a new coach while building a solid structure for your future career.

Connect with Casey: @caseymzav

Here's the link to the DTS website, where listeners can find live and virtual course dates, as well as online courses: www.dtsfitnesseducation.com

You can find DTS on Instagram: @dts_edu

Book Recommendation: 

• "Mindset" by Carol Dweck (book recommendation): https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322 (00:33:28)

Chapters

• 2:21 Teaching Foundational Skills
• 6:12 Importance of an Assessment
• 7:48 Gaining Experience
• 9:40 Formal Continuing Education
• 12:15 Effective Teaching
• 14:07 Mastering the Basics
• 15:36 Teaching Foundational Skills
• 18:32 Difference Between a Coach and Fitness Enthusiast
• 20:35 Importance of Communication and Connection
• 24:00 Teaching a Growth Mindset
• 27:31 The Basics of Training
• 28:21 The Seven Step System
• 30:24 Empowering Clients
• 32:03 DTS Fitness Education Courses
• 33:28 Book Recommendation and Fitness Philosophy

Transcript

**Speaker 0** (00:00:00) - Well, welcome to a new episode of Han Athletics Radio. We've got Casey on the podcast today. Um, I'm gonna have Casey kind of talk through who she is, what she does, and we can get into a little bit about how we met and, and the circumstances of that. But go ahead, Casey.



**Speaker 1** (00:00:15) - Oh, we're gonna talk about how we met too. <laugh>.

**Speaker 0** (00:00:17) - Nice.

**Speaker 1** (00:00:18) - Love it. Um, hi Darren. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast today. I'm really excited to chat with you and get to speak to your listeners. Um, my name is Casey Aveta. I am an instructor and content developer, course developer with d t s Fitness Education. We are a continuing education company for personal trainers and other fitness professionals, and we are based out of Toronto, Ontario. So we run live courses, virtual courses, online courses, mostly geared at the foundational skills that you need to be a successful personal trainer. So I got into this because I was a personal trainer once upon a time and took d t s courses actually, and fell in love with, um, the vision of the company and just the systems that they laid out. Um, I thought that they were really powerful and really changed the way that I worked with my clients. So that led to me ending up working with, uh, D T s, and that's what I do now.

**Speaker 0** (00:01:22) - That's awesome. So what we can dive into, um, going from there right away is, is as you're working, obviously you have a ton of experience of working with new coaches. Uh, we get questions all the time on our gym page from new coaches wondering, you know, what's the best certification, what's the best of this and that. And sometimes I think it needs to be a little bit more base level than that. Like let's talk about the, the, some of the things that are missing so they can have a little bit more direction on that, um, before they just try to buy every course that's out there. So, uh, I would love to hear a little bit more about like, when you're working with these people, especially in person like online, it's harder to get a fill for that. But when you're in person with people that are kind of diving down this road, uh, it's confusing. There's so much stuff on social media. Uh, people are trying to do things that maybe, you know, isn't the best for their clientele and whatnot. So maybe let's give 'em a couple baselines of like, uh, what they could potentially be missing out on and that you teach them in a, in a in-person setting.

**Speaker 1** (00:02:21) - Cool. Okay. Like 10 questions in there, but I think where I wanna start, I, I wanna zoom out a tiny bit and just give kind of what I see as sort of the high level problem or biggest gaps in the industry. I think that fitness professionals skip over the fundamentals left, right and center. So we're missing teaching our clients, our athletes, whoever the population is that we're working with. We're missing teaching the basic skills and getting really good at teaching the basic skills. So what happens all the time is we jump to complex movements without having taught our clients the skill of generating internal tension and embracing and breathing properly. And what does it mean to actually maintain a neutral spine? When do you wanna maintain a neutral spine? When don't you like, all of these things are fundamental skills that we just seem in fitness to breeze right over.

**Speaker 1** (00:03:16) - Um, and I just think it's a, we don't have a solid foundation. Like you can't build something strong if the foundation isn't strong first. So one of the things that we really emphasize at D T S is we emphasize teaching those foundational skills. How do you teach movement patterns from the get-go? Like before you even hand your client or your athlete any type of load, how do you teach them just to move? Well? So I think that's just overall a missed piece. And I don't know if you see that from your perspective and, and the coaches that you get to work with as well, but you spoke a little bit to social media. We see complex things on social media and we jump right to wanting to do those without breaking it down into the pieces and really like solidifying those pieces.

**Speaker 0** (00:04:02) - Yeah. I think, um, what, what I see a lot is, and I made this mistake as well, is there's like two ways you kind of get into it, right? And number one might be you were an athlete and you spend a lot of time in the weight room and over time you figured out how to do some of these things and you might have forgot about like that period where you weren't doing them well and you maybe were in pain or you weren't performing that well, but now you're to the point mm-hmm. Where okay, you've done it enough that you've picked it up and then you go into this setting and you've totally spaced on that beginning part and you just assume that everybody knows or understands how to move the way you do, um, because you've went through the trial and error of doing that, which again, might have not been the most efficient. And our job should really be to, you know, make that that process the most efficient and safe as possible. So I would say that's a huge, huge issue, um, for sure is like, just because you were a good athlete or you're good in the weight room doesn't necessarily, uh, coach for it. So it's like comes down to how are you going to close that gap and make sure you can teach people that are at the most basic level, which is most of the people you're really gonna work with. You know what I'm saying? Yeah,

**Speaker 1** (00:05:19) - Yeah. It's such a good point. Whenever we become an expert at something, it gets incredibly challenging to teach it to someone who's a beginner. Um, so I think that that's a skill and that's a skill that coaches of all levels really need to lean into. Like what does it take to teach the most foundational skills and how do you give the sort of step by step and layered approach, um, to doing that. So yeah, I think that that, that's a really important piece for coaches to think about. But if I think about new coaches and often what they're missing, um, there's so many awesome courses out there, you know, there's so much information continuing edu ed education courses that you can do different implements, ex different styles, methodologies, et cetera, et cetera. It's all good. But I think what new coaches are missing is they're missing a system to put everything into so they don't have the thought process.

**Speaker 1** (00:06:12) - So at D T S we teach a very basic system that you can use for training that sort of helps you slot things into the right places. That system always starts with an assessment. So I sort of see, um, for new coaches, I think you should be proficient at two different types of assessment. I think you need to have some sort of cardio, respiratory assessment, whatever that looks like. And then you also need to have a really solid movement assessment to understand where your client is. And then every single other decision that you make is going to be based off of that assessment. So, you know, if coaches are looking for, um, what certifications to take, I think a very solid assessment course is probably, um, the place that I would start.

**Speaker 0** (00:06:54) - Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot. Um, the, the assessment piece and I, what's interesting is we, we do that at our gym and um, but when I think back to places I've worked or like other business owners that I've talked to and I've brought this idea up to, it seems so simple, but a lot of people aren't doing that. Like they're just throwing people directly into groups or they've like wrote a program a while ago that they followed that they liked and then they just immediately throw someone into that without any actual understanding of where that person's at, right? Yeah. So hundred percent that's, yeah, that's a huge piece that's missed. And you would think that that would be like, oh, that makes sense, <laugh>. Um, which is funny. Um, and to go back to kinda what you talked about, like finding a system, it's like, I do think this industry's kind of tough because in the beginning it's very hard to get your feet wet.

**Speaker 0** (00:07:48) - Like cuz you don't really know anything. And for example, me as a facility owner, like I don't want to pay you when you don't know anything. So mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, it, it kind of comes with this like learning period where you almost have to volunteer some of your time. Like find this people in your area that you feel like are doing what you want to do or are doing something well. And then investing your time in exchange for knowledge on getting to know their system, getting to know how they place it in there so you at least have an idea of like a framework. So if you go through a course like Casey's talking about the same time, you can start to formulate your own approach or even bring value to the, you know, the gym that you're helping at right now. Um, but getting experience is huge. Like actually seeing good coaches work with other coaches or other clients is really where you can learn so much information so quickly just though from interactions to movements they're using to assessment process, all of that can be kind of picked up through finding someone good that's already doing it and then piecing it out, you know? So yeah.

**Speaker 1** (00:08:55) - I'm with you. I think, um, yeah, there are two components of gaining experience and one is the one that you're speaking to where it's like, get in there and whether it's, you know, you're shadowing or you're interning or whatever it is, get into that facility where there are coaches around you that have more years under their belt that are, that present themselves the way that you would want to present yourself and are working with the population that you are interested in working in, like the people that you feel like are really doing things well, like surround yourself by those people. I think the other thing, I think that there is a lot of value in sort of, um, formal continuing education as well. So that's sort of the like, you know, in the gym practical experience piece that you're gonna get that mentorship from others.

**Speaker 1** (00:09:40) - But I think that if you're in the right formal continuing education courses, um, that you can also gain a lot of confidence and competence in those skills that you need to run a session. Now the problem with the continuing education industry is that many courses, I don't know if you've ever had this experience, but many courses you'll walk away from them and you're like, wow, that was so much good information. Now I just need to review all of the slides that I was given, go back over my notes and I need to really give a lot of thought about how I could possibly incorporate that into what I'm already doing. So it's not practical. Like you've, you've gained a lot of information, but information isn't powerful until you're, you're able to apply it with a client standing in front of you in the session. And so what we really, really try and do is we try to make it as practical as possible.

**Speaker 1** (00:10:32) - We tell you exactly where this goes in your session and we do it in class and we have you practice so that you walk out and you do feel confident. So, you know, hopefully I'd like to think that if someone, you know, had zero coaching experience, for example, and they came and they took d t s level one the day they'd be able to walk out of, of that course and they'd still be able to run a session that's at least has some value to it. Um, I'm sure there are other courses out there that do it. I just haven't seen enough of them. I think it's a, I think it's a bit of an opportunity, um, in our industry. But I love that you brought up the practical, um, experience piece because having good mentors is everything.

**Speaker 0** (00:11:12) - Yeah. And I, yeah, I've done a lot of different, uh, courses and I would agree like a majority of 'em that's, there's only a couple that sent out to me as like, ones that I was able to take something and make it work the next week or the next couple weeks. Um, most of 'em are like, kind of remind me of school where they just throw like as much information at you as, as they can and then you walk away from it like feeling good for a day and then you're, you don't really understand or grasp or even remember enough to like make it applicable to what you need to do next. Right, <laugh>. Yeah. So the, it's really like the one, the ones that have been the best for me are like the kind, they stick to the basics. They give you a system or give you an idea of how to implement it right away mm-hmm. <affirmative> and then you can immediately go home and, and take what fits into what you're doing and make that happen. So that's really interesting.

**Speaker 1** (00:12:05) - Yeah, I think that's a great, um, teaching moment for anyone that is, you know, a lot of people have online courses or maybe they have mini courses or content they're putting out, or maybe just as a coach you're trying to teach a concept to a group of athletes or to a client. Like when you're trying to teach something, whatever information you think that someone's gonna be able to handle and needs to know, cut it down to like 25% of that. Make it so simple to understand and then repeat, repeat, repeat. Put it in context, give an example, tell a story about it. Have them actually like tell it back to you. Get them on their feet engaging with the concept. Like just to, just to stand in front of a group and sort of word vomit information, all the information, you know, it's not, they're not gonna retain it. So just way less. And then don't be afraid of just repeating, repeating, repeating, because that's how people take stuff away. And then it's, it's just so much more powerful when they can actually apply it and they've understood the concept.

**Speaker 0** (00:13:15) - Yeah. I actually wrote this down just a second ago cause I wanted to hit that was really like, the smartest people I've ever met in my life that have influenced me the most are the people that, that, you know, they're super smart, they understand their topic, they're experts, but they're able to package that information, uh, in a way that's very relatable to anyone. So they can make it very, very basic. Like I find that the people I talk to that try to talk sound like they're trying to coach or talk like over someone's head and use all this information that's not applicable are usually maybe hiding some incompetence in, in a way because the really the best coaches and the most, the most intelligent people can take the information they have and deliver it in a way that that is a you, they can com communicate it well so they can make sure that you are gonna pick up on the concepts to a degree that makes sense to you at the time. Yeah. If that makes sense.

**Speaker 1** (00:14:07) - Yep. The people that are talking with, you know, almost like they're trying to sound smart, they're making it about them, right? It's about what they know and what they have to say and it's important and helpful instead of about the person in front of them and what is their lens and what are they going to be able to download and how is this helpful in solving a problem for the person in front of me? I think it's just a fundamentally different way to communicate. Um, and so as coaches, I think that we should try to get out of the, you know what I'm saying is about me <laugh> and into the, what I'm saying is for the person in front of me or for the group in front of me.

**Speaker 0** (00:14:46) - Yeah. I love that. And that, that just ties in like we were just talking about education to coach, but also coach to client, right? Like all of it ties together. Were really, really the basics. Like we work with athletes pretty high, some high level athletes in the area and some, some middle school kids that aren't as high level and it's the same across the board. Like they all need the basic kind of, they need to master the basics mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And what will happen is you might get a client that you thinks really good and, but really they haven't mastered that. And you jump to, that's a mistake I would make all the time when I was a younger coach, is you'd wanna jump to all the cool stuff because they're ready Right. When you really have no idea whether they're ready or not. And you just, you just don't deliver on the quality that you think you can bring because you just jumped past the important stuff.

**Speaker 0** (00:15:36) - And what's crazy is the basics. Like I think sometimes we worry that it's not gonna be enjoyable, it's not gonna be worth the money of the client, or we're gonna feel like, you know, they're gonna give us a bad review on what we're doing. But the most connection I've had with clients is always when they're like, wow, you know, I've been working out for five years and no one's ever coached me like that, or hasn't explained that to me that way. Or, and it's just the basic stuff that, that you're skipping and that's what's bringing them the most value. You know, that, that's what's crazy to me. Mm-hmm.

**Speaker 1** (00:16:08) - <affirmative>. Yeah. Yeah. You know what's, um, you know what's empowering for someone is when they feel successful and they say, oh, I get it. I get what it takes to squat well and now I can act, I actually feel like I can do it and I feel confident now to move to putting a barbell on my back. What's not very fun. And, and I don't know why we assume like that this is what the client wants, but what's not very fun is for them to have a big load on their back and to feel not confident or feel a little bit of pain somewhere. Not sure if they can say something. So yeah, I'm a, I'm I'm totally with you. Like you can never, yeah, we're trainers and we're, you know, we're in the gym all the time and so it might feel repetitive and redundant for us, but for someone that's never been taught the true skills, the success that they're gonna get from it is in itself motivating. When they feel stronger and they feel better, that's what's gonna keep them coming back. Like as, especially for the first couple of years. Like, I think that there are arguments if you've been working with someone for four or five, six years to start introducing different methodologies and different implements and interesting things to do. But that's so much farther down the line, um, than we think it is. I like to say that advanced skills are the basics. Mastered

**Speaker 0** (00:17:30) - Mm-hmm.

**Speaker 1** (00:17:30) - <affirmative> basics unlock your ability to do the more advanced and complicated, um, things in the gym. So we don't, don't skip the basics.

**Speaker 0** (00:17:43) - Yeah. Cuz they, they're really just a combination of basic movement patterns done well, right. Like that that's, that's movement, that's athleticism. Like when you see somebody run or do something super athletic and you're like, wow, that was sexy. Like, everybody knows that that's sexy. It's like that, that all is just basic movement patterns done very well together in sync. Like that's, that's what it is. Right. So I love that. Exactly. Um, yeah. So that kind of swings me into, I feel like this is kind of leading into, um, one thing you brought up and earlier when we were talking about this podcast and you know, kind of diving it a little bit into what's the difference between being a coach and what's the, between like just being a fitness enthusiast, like, so we've kind of already hit on a little bit, but mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I want you to share kind of your thoughts on that and, and what you think.

**Speaker 1** (00:18:32) - Yeah, we have touched on it. It goes, it's along the lines of what we've been saying. I think a lot of people, um, end up as professionals in this industry because they were an athlete or they're a gym rat and they love being in the gym space and they've felt successful in the gym or maybe they've experienced a transformation and so they just, they wanna be in that environment and they think, great, this can also translate to being my work. What we forget is that, um, coaching skills are different than you just doing fitness for yourself, right? There are certain skills it takes to do fitness and do it well yourself, but it's different to then put yourself in the shoes where you're a guide for someone else. A little bit back to what you were saying, where, you know, um, if you're an expert at something, it's hard to, uh, break it down to the basics.

**Speaker 1** (00:19:21) - Like, once you're a coach, now you're dealing with tons of different types of clients that move different ways, that have different, you know, capacities that have different personalities. And your job is to find success for each of them. So if you're gonna center what worked well for you and, um, you know, kind of go back to, oh well I really like doing this in the gym and this really worked for me, or I really like eating this way even, you have to be so careful not to assume that that also works for all of your athletes or all of your clients. So they're two very different things and I think, I think fitness professionals don't spend enough time thinking about coaching skills. What does it take to motivate someone? What does it take to help someone to change their mindset? What does it take to make someone want to change a behavior? Like, I mean, we could, you know, we could take courses and courses on just that alone, but it's this whole side of coaching that sometimes we forget. It is not just the technical skills. The best coaches, I know their technical skills are fine, they're competent, but it's the people that understand that sort of relational aspect that I think are the best coaches in our industry.

**Speaker 0** (00:20:35) - Yeah, I love that. So one, one guy I follow, Brett Bar mul, he has a course called The Art of Coaching and it's all on that. And, uh, that's always been, uh, something I, that was why, why I feel like I was able to be successful in the beginning. It, it was, I didn't know much. Like I was just crushing people, which we can get into later, which that's just not the route to go. Right. But, um, the communication and connection is the reason, you know, my facility and my business is where it's at now. It has actually not, not nearly as much to do with like the technical side mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like, I don't, I've done, like with our facility, we've done tons of assessments. Five, let's say 500 assessments with youth athletes over the last couple years and not maybe once, have I been asked about my actual technical certifications, <laugh>?

**Speaker 0** (00:21:25) - Uh, it's more, it's more about like how the kid feels in the gym. Cuz we go through a full thing with the parent there, we tour the facility, we go through an assessment, we talk to the parents, we talk to the kids. Um, and I feel like a lot of that decision making, whether they're gonna work with us is based on how they fill and what they see going on when they come in and the culture and the connection of like, what's the, what is the energy in this space versus like, what do you know and what are you gonna do? Which yeah, maybe is a little bit backwards, like maybe they should be asking more questions on that Right. For parents listening. But I think, uh, to be a successful person in this space, um, more times than not, you have to be a great communicator and you have to be someone that's very open and and loving. I, I guess for lack of better words of like, it's about you. It's not about me, how can I help you? So, yeah.

**Speaker 1** (00:22:21) - Yeah. It's such an important aspect of being a true fitness professional and I just see it miss so much or, um, you know, people like we're all, you know, we're, we're really into fitness and we're really into the technical stuff and we can nerd out on that stuff, but for a kid and their parent coming in and seeing a facility where they're gonna spend a lot of time and you know, like training is a vulnerable space. It's hard. There's gonna be stuff you're not very good at. You're in a group of people who knows are you stack up, like to establish a safe environment where you feel like I've got your back. Like where you make them feel like, I've got you, that's business <laugh>. Like that's it. That's why you have a successful business. So yeah, I think, um, I think people just just miss that, like miss the importance of it a lot.

**Speaker 0** (00:23:09) - Yeah. And I, and I to build on that too, it's really like us as, as professionals in this space, we have so much opportunity to impact. So I work with the youth. I like, I like the youth because I feel like the trajectory of their life can change substantially in like middle school, high school and the opportunity to be that space and be that, you know, leader or friend for them that, um, lets them fail in, in a positive way. Like they come in and they're not the best, they're not, you know, they are scared to do a box jump. They're scared to add some weight on the bar and like when you give them that room for failure and when there is failure, it's not like this negative reaction which they for, it's probably typical, but this generation is like, they're very afraid to fail maybe because their lives are more on the spotlight than ever before.

**Speaker 0** (00:24:00) - But it's, it's like this space that it's crazy. Like that's the first thing we hear in the first month, two months, is the parents are like, I don't know what you guys are doing in there, but my kids' confidence has gone through the roof. And I, I really just think it's, they're coming in here and they're learning how to have a healthy reaction to like being uncomfortable or not, uh, being successful when a lot of the world feels very, whether it is or not, it feels very cutthroat, um, with just what we're exposed to in the media and what we see every day and you know, when we don't stack up with things we see. So I think that's really where the success and the the secret is, is like you can, you have to look at it like, I can change this person's life. You know what I'm saying?

**Speaker 1** (00:24:46) - Yeah. I mean you're teaching them to have a growth mindset Yeah. Is what's happening. And you know, our school systems don't do a great job of that. It's based on marks, it's based on grades, it's based on how well you did. Are you smart? Are you good at math or not? Like, you know, that that environment breeds a fixed mindset and so to come into this gym space where you say you're not gonna be good at stuff and we're gonna work on it and we're gonna get better and that's fine. Yeah. It is. It's, it's absolutely life changing. So that's great. I love to hear that. Love

**Speaker 0** (00:25:20) - That. Yeah. That's, that's literally what motivates me. Like beyond like we, we are, we're nerds on the, the technical side, but I really, that's not what like keeps me coming back every day. It's like just working with the kids and the people and seeing just the, this, their whole demeanor change, you know, over time as you work with them. So Yeah. That's cool. Um, any, any things you wanna swing off of that or, cuz I was gonna take it back to the course so I don't wanna jump back to your, to your course real quick, but

**Speaker 1** (00:25:50) - Yeah, I just wanna say like, you know, in what you're saying the power of fitness is that, um, it teaches you the process for leaning into opportunities or getting better at something. So I think the reason that, um, youth absolutely, but you see it with adults as well. Like when you couldn't do something like very clearly, you were not able to do something and then you put in a process and you commit and then you can do it x amount of time later. It sounds, that sounds so simple. It's like, of course that's what we're doing in the gym, but when someone has that realization, they're like, whoa, now I can do this and I couldn't before. That gives you confidence in yourself. And it doesn't have to just be fitness, it doesn't have to just be athletics. You just learned that you, you have the power to put in work and commit and be consistent and get better at something that does change your life. So that's why I love fitness. Um, I love the technical stuff too, but I love fitness because of that aspect. It teaches you the process for self-actualization, getting better at anything that you want to get better at in life. So it's really, you know, it's here.

**Speaker 0** (00:27:00) - Yeah. I love that. So swinging, uh, back to your course, cause I wanna cl clear up cuz if we, we have some coaches that listen to this, um, let's say they, they're like, wow, the what Casey's talking about sounds really cool with her course. Um, I think I already know the answer to this, but your typical people that take the course, like it's not dictated per se by, oh, I wanna work with general population, I wanna work with athletes. I wanna like speak a little bit to how maybe it can help out coaches that maybe have different ideas on who they wanna work with.

**Speaker 1** (00:27:31) - Sure. Yeah. I mean, you said it, the, the basics of training and movement patterns and understanding how to teach someone those skills are the same no matter if you're working with a high level athlete, my husband plays professional soccer, he needs to work on this stuff. And little old Edna that I just started training off the street, she also needs this stuff. So the power of the course that can be applied to any population and the power of the course, I mentioned it earlier, gives you a system to approach training with. So it's a seven step system that then anything else that you learn or anything else you have learned, you now just have a way to organize it in your head and you know where everything goes. So I talked about how assessment starts everything off. Once you have assessment, then you have mobility and stability as steps two and three in the system.

**Speaker 1** (00:28:21) - Mobility just means the ability to move, do your joints, have the capacity to move through their full range of motion stability just means can you control through those full ranges of motion. Then we had have an element of movement education without load. So this is grooving the pattern for good movement patterns for your hinging, your squatting, your pushing, your pulling, um, all that good stuff, your gate patterns, things like that. Then we add load. So then we teach the skills of bracing and creating internal tension so that you can move a load. Interestingly, moving a load with step five of the system mm-hmm. <affirmative> and often just like do that right away, right <laugh>. So then we add load and then that's our, that's our real, you know, the bulk of the training that we do. And then we always have a system for reassessment so that we know if it worked or not.

**Speaker 1** (00:29:08) - These protocols that we've implemented for someone, um, were they effective because every single person is different. You're gonna have one athlete where you try something with and wow it works beautifully. Then you're gonna have another athlete where there's no response. So you just have to have a way to track like, is this a good use of my time or do I need to find maybe a different method? And then the last step of the system is, uh, homework. So homework is more just referring to, um, empowering someone to do a little bit of fitness on their own as well, so that you as the coach, they're not the, the athlete or client isn't relying on you to do fitness. Like they also feel empowered that I'm in control, um, and I can do things without my coach in front of me. So that was like a super fast whack of the seven step system. Um, in the course we go through it much slower and we, uh, we repeat a lot and we go into the details of what all that means, but that's our system. So we teach it to you and then we go through all the movement patterns, um, and how they fit into the system. So it, it's really, it's for any level of trainer. We get a lot of newer trainers, but this is for any level of trainer and, um, anyone that you're interested in working with, it's gonna give you some very practical skills.

**Speaker 0** (00:30:24) - Yeah. I actually love that you brought up, uh, or one of those steps is, um, you know, the autonomy of the client. So that's what I, I mean that's one of my big goals and I think that shows to be a goal of a coach is not to create, um, a product that's always reliant on you. It's like you want to create, create someone or something that could be done on its own. So they can take, like my goal is always like a big thing in the back of my head is when a kid leaves here from high school, let's say that either they go play collegiate or they don't. Whenever that athletic career ends, a lot of athletes have a hard time transitioning and they view it, they potentially view exercise as like a punishment. How do I make sure that this type of lifestyle and the training is gonna be applicable when they're done with sport and then they can, they can replicate and recreate and take care of themselves for the rest of their lives and live a, a healthy life. Um, so that's huge and I'm glad you guys have that in there because a lot of people miss that. I think like my, my goal down the road is to have three or four more coaches here that were all kids that trained here and then we hire 'em and they're in the system and they're able to like share what, what we taught 'em with their spin on everything and whatnot. So that's really cool.

**Speaker 1** (00:31:38) - Yeah, it's a gift when you can give someone that skill of being able to do fitness on their own. And I know you work with athletes, but like fitness is a life skill. Like it is something that everyone should be confident to do and that's not the case right now.

**Speaker 0** (00:31:54) - Yeah. So if someone is looking at taking this course, you, you mentioned that you're, you guys are based in Canada, but I'm sure you have courses that are all around the us.

**Speaker 1** (00:32:03) - No, we actually only run our live courses in Canada at this point. Um, but we do have a virtual version of the course, so there's gonna be one coming up in May for d t s level one, and we also have a barbell strength course that's coming up, I believe in September that's virtual. Um, so we basically just switched the format where, um, instead of coming in person to the classroom, you can join in weekly webinars and then there's online course content that you can work through as well. And we do take submissions on those courses, so we're gonna watch you like videos of you doing the skills, um, before we give you your certification. So that is an option. Um, just in case people aren't interested in traveling to Canada for a course. <laugh>.

**Speaker 0** (00:32:44) - Yeah. Although it could be fun, right? So hey,

**Speaker 1** (00:32:46) - Toronto's pretty cool. Yeah.

**Speaker 0** (00:32:49) - <laugh>. So so you gotta fly up there every time you do one in person.

**Speaker 1** (00:32:52) - Yeah. <laugh>, correct?

**Speaker 0** (00:32:54) - Yeah. That's How long of a flight is that for you?

**Speaker 1** (00:32:57) - That's about five hours.

**Speaker 0** (00:32:59) - Yeah, you're dedicated. That's awesome. Oh yeah. Cool. <laugh>. All right, well, uh, put you on the spot on the end. I always do this to people. Um, what's, so what's one thing you can leave with the listeners or it can be anything, it can be like a book recommendation. It can be like a, a way to a philosophy, something in your life that you wanna share, uh, with, uh, the listeners.

**Speaker 1** (00:33:22) - Hmm. Wow. I feel like I have 10 things that I would wanna share, but

**Speaker 0** (00:33:28) - <laugh>

**Speaker 1** (00:33:28) - Okay. I'll, I'll share two. Um, one is just if you haven't read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck, please read it. Um, we mentioned a growth mindset in this podcast. I just think for anyone, um, it's such a simple concept, but will absolutely change the way you do everything. Um, work, school, fitness, life, relationships, everything. That's one. Um, but then also just my personal philosophy around fitness is that you should use fitness to change your life, not your body. So a lot of the industry, not as much in athletics, but still sometimes a lot of the industry equates, um, fitness with body changes like that. We engage in fitness because we want to change our body aesthetically in some way. And I think that when we do that, when we make that association that we're missing out on the power that fitness can have in your life because it's about your longevity. It's about your quality of life, it's about the, that piece that I was talking about, the, the mental piece of self-actualization, the process of fitness teaches you something powerful about just getting better and, and the commitment and work that it takes to get better. And I just hate that fitness gets so tied to what we look like or losing weight or getting ripped or whatever it is. So use fitness to change your life, not your body.

**Speaker 0** (00:34:46) - I love that. Dang, Casey, you're spitting it. All right. We're all lucky to be here listening to you. Cool. Thanks Jeremy. All right. Well, yeah. So everybody listening, I'm gonna be, I'll be linking up, uh, all the different ways you can connect with Casey, connect with her work and what she does, uh, in the show notes. And then you guys can, uh, get into that. If you're interested, you can reach out to Casey if you're interested in the course, and, uh, appreciate all you guys taking the.