The Personal Trainer Mentor Academy Podcast

We kick off with Sky's "morning meditation" and a proper academy debate over which event each of us could beat everyone at. Sky reckons arm wrestling, Ant wants a power slapping comp at the coaches conference, and I get talked down to CrossFit because Connor would probably beat me anyway. Then into your questions. First up, should leads from the gym floor go to Instagram or email? I'd do both, every time. Instagram gives you the quick feedback and the conversations, but if your account gets shut down tomorrow you've got zero way of talking to anyone. Your email list is data you own, and it compounds. Next, what separates the PTs who are still here years later from the ones who drop out. Ant talks about realising this is the thing you actually want to do, staying open to learning, and keeping your expectations real about how long a business takes to build. Sky brings it back to the freedom you forget you have on the hard days, and how nothing beats helping a client change their life. Last one, how do you switch off when you're self-employed? Ant fills his diary with volunteering and football coaching, which he says saved his napper a few years back. Sky had to learn to sit with the panic of not working and realise the business doesn't fall apart if you step away. For me it's having events booked in, something every three months, because if I don't I'll just keep working and skip training. We wrap up with a heads up that the giveaway closes at 8pm tonight, and there aren't many entries so your odds are good. Plus you'll be hearing plenty about coaches conference tickets this week. 00:00 – Intro and Sky's PTMA morning meditation 00:38 – Monday hangovers and Sky's dodgy connection 01:26 – Icebreaker: one event you'd beat everyone in the academy at 02:21 – Olympic lifting vs CrossFit, and why Connor might beat me 02:58 – Sky's secret weapon: arm wrestling technique 03:46 – Ant's power slapping idea for the coaches conference 04:34 – Q: Should gym floor leads go to Instagram or email? 05:18 – Why I'd do both, and the risk of relying on Instagram alone 07:44 – Q: What separates PTs who last from those who don't make it? 08:03 – Ant: knowing it's what you want to do and staying open to learning 11:11 – Sky: the freedom you forget about on the hard days 12:48 – Ant: warped expectations and how long a business really takes 14:23 – Q: How do you switch off when you're self-employed? 14:53 – Ant: filling the diary with volunteering and hobbies 16:08 – Sky: sitting with the discomfort and life admin as downtime 18:04 – Me: booking events every three months to stay on track 20:10 – Ant: how football coaching saved his napper 21:59 – Final thoughts: giveaway closes 8pm tonight, conference tickets 23:09 – Outro Timestamps

Me, Ant and Sky Hill are back with a full listener Q&A, after a jingle debate and Ant's theory that he's peaking for alcohol and tapering off the running. He also drops a Liam Gallagher quote that splits the room: you have to care a lot to not give a f***. We talk about the fifth annual PTMA Coaches Conference, why this one has practical sessions in it, and why CPD courses have gone so quiet in your feed. Then it's the questions. What should a brand new PT prioritise first (me and Sky don't fully agree), what to do when your online offer keeps pulling in-person enquiries, what to write in your emails, how to handle another coach disagreeing with you in public, how to manage clients when you take time off, and how anyone finds time to run a business. We finish with a big one from a coach going through an ADHD assessment, and Ant shares the one thing he sees holding back nearly every coach he's worked with. There's also an action hero debate that goes absolutely nowhere. Timestamps 00:01 – Intro: the jingle debate and meeting the hosts 00:54 – Ant's training plan: peaking for alcohol, tapering off the running 01:29 – Liam Gallagher's quote: "you have to care a lot to not give a f***" 03:22 – Coming up: the fifth annual PTMA Coaches Conference 03:57 – Every venue we've done so far, from the Double Tree to the Malmaison to Ashton 05:56 – Why this year is different: practical sessions and a split two days 06:29 – Last week's CPD post, and why nobody sees CPD courses advertised anymore 09:10 – The perfect pathway for a new PT: business, behaviour change or programming first? 15:00 – Q&A begins: selling online coaching but getting in-person enquiries 21:31 – What to write in your mailing list: does it always have to be educational? 23:12 – Getting hate from another coach: take the bait or rise above it? 29:35 – Top tips for managing clients when you take time off 33:13 – What do we use to record the podcast? 33:59 – How do people have time for everything when they run a business? 37:08 – Action hero debate: time travel, John McClane and Scarface 40:36 – Coaching with ADHD: staying on track, workflows and why weekly reflection matters 47:31 – Final thoughts and outro

I'm walking round sore as hell after doing German volume training for the first time in fifteen years, which kicks off a proper trip down memory lane through every training fad me and Ant have lived through, GVT, the 300 workout, Tabata, TRX, Vipers, animal flow, all of it. That rolls into gym horror stories, including Ant's new favourite: a bloke who did two sets on the Smith machine, took a selfie under the downlights, and left. Then we get into listener questions: following up when a lead goes quiet after you've sent pricing, the top priorities and pitfalls moving from PT to running your own gym space, knowing when to be direct versus empathetic with a client, finding the balance between working in and on the business versus taking proper downtime, and where the line sits between being real on social media and still being inspirational. We close out with a teaser, the full lineup for the coaches conference goes live Friday, 20+ tickets across two days (one gym-based, one in the usual event space), plus a surprise we're not giving up yet. 00:00 – Intro 00:12 – Nik's sore from GVT, DUP debate 01:14 – The 300 workout, GVT taking over the squat rack, insanity, 75 Hard 02:04 – Tabata's big moment 02:52 – TRX and Vipers, £600 of kit gathering dust 03:34 – Animal flow / zoo warm-up era, trends cycling back 05:06 – Most annoying thing seen in a gym 05:16 – The Smith machine selfie guy story 06:28 – Shadow boxing between sets 07:13 – Why commercial gyms bring out the worst 07:28 – The macho ice bath corner 08:00 – Q&A: following up when someone's gone quiet after pricing 11:09 – Top priorities/pitfalls moving from PT to your own gym space 14:13 – Direct vs empathetic coaching 16:59 – Balancing working in/on the business with downtime 22:34 – Being real vs inspirational on social media 26:36 – Final thoughts: conference lineup drops Friday 28:19 – Outro

Timestamps 00:01 – Intro: checking we're actually live 00:46 – Welcome back: Sky Hill filling in for Nick this week 01:19 – My week off: track sessions, spoiled kids, and a lecture about buses 02:34 – Lexi's exam results and the CV pub crawl round Uppermill 04:10 – Running recap: a brutal new hilly route and 9k of intervals on the canal 05:26 – Sky's week: the Affex competition and what it actually involves 07:49 – Plan to clip Sky's Affex review for extra reach 08:02 – Q&A begins 08:14 – Going live with an online offer in a month, leads but no one obvious to ask for 1:1 first 10:09 – Should we run an SGPT panel at the conference (and maybe a podcast episode on it)? 11:57 – A prospect pushing for a month's free trial after already getting seven days 14:00 – Building the confidence to open a gym or small group setup in a new area 20:22 – The three most important skills a coach needs — Sky's answer 23:38 – The three most important skills a coach needs — my answer 27:02 – What's coming up: Connected Coach, the next Accelerator push, and the November conference 28:44 – Outro: no episode next week, bank holiday Welcome back, it's been a rough week without me. I've been off with the kids for the week, Sky Hill's stepped in for Nick who's on his annual leave, and we open with the usual state of play before getting into a full listener Q&A. I run through my week off, track sessions with the kids at Sports City, Lexi's exam results, and the now-legendary CV pub crawl round Uppermill where she handed her CV into half the bars in the village while I had a beer in every one of them. Sky's just come back from the Affex competition and gives a full breakdown of what it actually involves for anyone thinking about entering. Then it's straight into questions from the coaches. We cover what to do when you've got a list of leads for a new online offer but no one obvious to approach for 1:1 first, whether an SGPT panel would work at the conference, how to handle a prospect trying to push a seven day free trial into a month, and how to build the confidence to open a gym or small group setup in a completely new area (which happens to be relevant to us right now too). We close out with the big one, the three most important skills a coach needs, and Sky and I both give our answers. Quick look ahead: Sky and Nick's Connected Coach, the next marketing push for the Accelerator ahead of October, and the coaches conference on the 27th and 28th of November in Manchester.

In this episode I sit down with Sky to unpack what actually separates confident, in-demand coaches from everyone else — and it's not more qualifications. We open up about The Connected Coach mentorship (cohort 2 is live now, only 10 spots), why "the client is the expert on the client," and why pretending to have all the answers is the thing that's actually killing your coaching. From there it's a rapid-fire Q&A covering the biggest influences on our careers, how I actually plan Instagram Stories that build trust (not just noise), how I deal with imposter syndrome, and — because no episode is complete without it — a fully committed debate on whether cheesecake counts as a cake. Applications for The Connected Coach — Cohort 2 are open. Only 10 spots, ~40–50% already gone. Cohort starts 7th September. To apply you need to book a discovery call — not just buy online — by Friday 28th August. Booking a call unlocks up to £800 off, plus access to all live Connected Coach days and our November conference at Gritstone Fitness. 🔗 [BOOK YOUR FREE DISCOVERY CALL HERE →] Timestamps 00:01 – Intro: the podcast is getting a new name and format 02:12 – Topic: The Connected Coach cohort 2 is officially open 02:24 – Origin story: from "Coaches' Corner" sessions to an 18-month build 05:14 – Sky's 60-second (ish) challenge: summarising the whole mentorship 08:10 – Combined coaching experience behind the program; staying evidence-informed, not rigid 09:37 – Why the program starts with you — personality facets, blind spots, MBTI-based assessment 11:07 – Industry critique: outdated practices vs. a psychology-informed approach 12:05 – Sky's client story: seeing the person, not the sport or the goal 13:35 – You don't need to be the subject expert to coach — the builder/brother story 15:58 – Why assuming you have "the right answer" can hurt you — "the client is the expert on the client" 17:59 – The confidence boost of admitting what you don't know 18:57 – Case study: coach Sam's journey with nutrition confidence and pricing 20:25 – Program length now 7 months (was 8), live nutrition days added 21:05 – Cohort details: only 10 spots, ~40–50% already gone, starts 7th September 21:28 – How to apply: book a call, save up to £800, bonus access (live days + November conference) 22:35 – Deadline to book a call: Friday 28th August 22:46 – Break weeks, program value, why nothing else like this exists 23:14 – On the myth of a "gold standard" behaviour change qualification 24:03 – Where behaviour change research actually comes from (and its limits for fitness) 25:11 – Q&A: Who had the biggest impact on your coaching career? 25:22 – Sky's answer: Pure Gym, Body Power expos, and her MNU nutrition course (2018) 27:42 – Nik's answer: Darren, a Sydney gym owner who introduced him to CrossFit 30:02 – Q&A: What's the best way to plan story content? 31:26 – Sky's take: Stories as the biggest missed opportunity — her daily content formula 35:01 – Q&A: How do you deal with imposter syndrome / self-doubt? 36:40 – Nik's reframe: "Am I actually an imposter here?" 38:22 – Feeling "triggered" by content = a growth signal, not an insult 39:31 – Q&A: Did you block off coaching time in the gym? 40:12 – Final question: Is cheesecake a cake? 42:37 – Outro: next week's episode and a teaser for the new podcast name