CHALK TALK

In this week’s episode we discuss some underrated aspects of coaching along with some observations and my own reflections. Maybe underrated isn’t the word choice for these, but these are things that absolutely impact the delivery, flow, and facilitation of a training session (or practice). Things like providing autonomy, spatial awareness, and reading the room.  We dive into the importance of prov...

In this week’s episode we discuss the concept of duality and how it pertains to coaching, entrepreneurship, and life. Duality is understanding that things can co-exist (especially opposing thoughts, feelings, emotions, interests, etc). It’s actually a really awesome concept that I’m working on embracing in both my professional and personal life.  I think this is actually something that should be d...

In this week’s episode, we discuss something that is currently circulating in the social media world about the US men’s hockey team mocking the US women’s hockey team with their president in the comfort of their locker room.  It’s not so much that they laughed … it’s the principle of it. It’s the fact that their women fought hard to win a gold medal on the same stage they did but became the butt o...

In this week’s episode, we’re discussing the concept of staying in your professional lane. This is something that I’ve wanted to share more about for a while now because of several conversations I’ve had with TRAINING2XL teammates. If you are a service provider, it’s really important to understand the role you play in their journey based on your strengths, skill set, and education.  Of course ther...

In this week’s episode, we discuss what to look for when you’re seeking support from a professional in the movement field. I go through some key characteristics that separate individuals in the field, and ensure you’re getting care from the right person. This is specific to the field of strength and conditioning and/ or personal training, but many concepts covered can be carried into other fields...

In this week’s episode, we’re celebrating 10 years of TRAINING2XL! I’m sharing a little bit about the origin story and early days of T2XL. I’ll be answering some questions I received from my community on entrepreneurship, and being an S&C coach AND business owner, and finally sharing a little bit of what’s to come. I also have a special guest … the one and only Ry the Demo Guy (aka my husband...

In this week’s episode, we discuss some tendencies I’ve noticed in the coaching world. I feel like in both the professional space and on social media, people love to over-complicate things, and the most interesting thing is that people tend to over-complicate very simple things … After running a coaching clinic this week with a local gym, it struck up some thoughts and reflections that I wanted to...

In this week’s episode, we’re discussing a very important component of strength training - intensity. Intensity can be defined in a couple different ways in regards to strength training and overall fitness, but we’re going to focus on intensity in strength training - why it’s important, how to track it/ gauge it, how to program it, along with some common misconceptions about it.  We discuss both a...

In this week’s episode, we talk about how there isn’t anything ‘soft’ about soft skills (regardless of what industry you are in). Your ability to connect, communicate and interact with the people around you is imperative to your success in any space.  We go through some different components of the “soft skills” like connection, communication, social agility, social awareness, emotional intelligenc...

In this week’s episode, we’re discussing the “new year” energy that comes with fall and the month of September, and some strategies as to how you can go about reflecting on past months/seasons and prepare yourself for what’s to come in a new one.  I share some prompts that you can reflect on by journaling, or even speaking to a loved one, and a couple exercises that you can use. I also chat about...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the importance of following a program or plan to get to a desired outcome. I am obviously a big advocate for structured and progressive training and following a program is an example of that! Not only does it provide your body an opportunity to adapt and adjust over time, but it also helps to get you to your goal in the most effective and efficient way possible (...

In this week’s episode, we discuss one of the most important qualities you could have as a strength & conditioning coach, personal trainer, or movement professional … ADAPTABILITY. Your ability to react and adapt in real time to best serve the individuals you work with in real time.  There are a lot of things in life that require a certain level of resourcefulness and agility. With coaching, i...

In this week’s episode, we are diving back into one of my favourite topics - communication. I’ve discussed in the past the importance of communication as coaches, trainers, movement professionals, and all humans, but with this episode I specifically wanted to talk about how important it is to be cognizant of the language that we use. The words we say, the phrases/ slang, the timing, the instructio...

In this week’s episode, we’re talking about something close to my heart … the grief of losing my dad 8 years ago. Grief is a complicated feeling and I know I’m not alone in feeling it, so I think it’s important that we’re able to speak openly about things, even if it can feel challenging (it’s how we continue to grow!).  My dad has so much influence on what I do with TRAINING2XL that it feels weir...

In this week’s episode, we’re discussing the importance of knowing and determining your core values as a human, athlete, and professional. Understanding the things that are important to you as a human and professional will help you align with the right opportunities, organizations, and people, and it also helps create a higher level of self-awareness which is very key when working with other peopl...

In this week’s episode, we discuss a recently popularized topic of load management. Load management is a term that’s used a lot in professional sport to support athletes throughout their long and gruelling seasons and ensure they are able to perform at their best with properly dosed game/ practice-plan, strength training, recovery, and more.  Thanks to my friend Kris Robertson at KRT Training, he...

In this week’s episode, we’re discussing the importance of warming up before a training session. It’s a very important part of training and you’re leaving a lot on the table if you choose to skip it. In order to get the most out of your training, it’s important to take the time to properly prepare the body for what’s to come, and this is beyond doing a couple warm-up sets of a specific exercise …...

In this week’s episode, we are breaking down one of my favourite TRAINING2XL mantras/ philosophies … do the simple things, do them well, do them often. This is a saying that I’ve shared before on CHALK TALK, and one I’m consistent with sharing across the board because I really do believe great things come when we focus on the quality, simplicity, and consistency of our daily habits.  I think it’s...

In this week’s episode, we’re talking about the importance of the COACH part of the title. This is something I’m VERY intentional about with TRAINING2XL because I take the role and responsibility of a coach very seriously (as all coaches should).  I am very particular when it comes to my title (strength & conditioning coach vs personal trainer) for a couple different reasons and that is what I...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the concept of work-life-balance - does it exist? Is it the same for everyone? Does it look different from person-to-person? I think it’s important that we understand that we all operate in very different ways which will then reflect how we choose to live our lives each day, week, month, and year.  I have unfortunately experienced burnout on multiple occasions an...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the role and importance of the ‘needs analysis’ when building a program for an individual, or group of individuals. This is one of the most important steps in the process when working with an individual to help guide them towards their desired goals and outcome.  The needs analysis is not only a time for you to collect relevant information, but it also gives you...

In this week’s episode, I wanted to share some reflections and lessons I’ve learned in my 14 years as a strength and conditioning coach. I’ve had a lot of growth as both a coach and a human in these past years, and I thought it might be helpful to share some of them because I know there were a lot of moments I felt alone.  I breakdown 10 lessons that seem to be prominent ones in my experience as a...

In this week’s episode, we actually discuss several different topics (the joys of having too many ideas at once!). There have been some topics of conversation amongst my team/ community as well as in my everyday life that I think are important to be discussed. Though these topics aren’t necessarily related, I wanted to share them anyway! We discussed the importance of being a part of a team/ commu...

In this week’s episode, we’re having an identity crisis … just kidding, but we’re talking about identity - what it means, how we attach ourselves to certain identities, and why it’s important that we recognize our identity is so much greater than our job titles.  I’ve chatted in the past about losing the identity of being an athlete (it’s still one that stings), but I think it’s natural that we en...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the importance of CONTEXT and the role it plays in coaching, programming, and our world. It’s easy to make assumptions when you lack context and don’t have the full understanding of a person, place, incident, or thing. When you see a video online in isolation, it can be confusing and the message could lack clarity when you don’t have an explanation or knowledge o...