Lifting Nerds
Adrian Ma and Brandon Emslie share discussions and interviews with the fitness community's best science-based researchers and coaches.
Lifting Nerds
S3E20: What Changes When Coaching Moves From In-Person To Online feat. Jeremy DiPietrantonio (JD)
We sit down with JD, a natural bodybuilder and longtime coach, to unpack the shift from in-person training to scalable online coaching while keeping client care at the center. He shares candid lessons on building systems, judging criteria, and how discipline fuels both family life and competition goals.
• origins in Vancouver gyms and move to Vancouver Island
• COVID forcing a pivot to online coaching and business systems
• flat PT rates versus rising costs and the need to scale
• using platforms like Trainerize to deliver consistent service
• mentorship to shorten the learning curve and avoid common traps
• screening movement remotely with client video and clear progressions
• crossover between athlete work, general population, and seniors
• natural vs enhanced training realities and injury risk management
• judging trends across divisions and the balance of size and conditioning
• mindset, discipline, and modeling excellence for family and clients
• plans for Masters in 2027
Instagram: @wearethefitlife
Website:https://thefitlife.ca
IG: @liftingnerds
Youtube: liftingnerds
Host
@_adrianma
@brandonemslie
Well um welcome back guys. Uh today we have a different uh different guest on. We some of you may have may or may not have heard of him. Um this guy is uh a coach, he's an athlete, he's uh father. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00:That's right. We got we only have four, so not too many, but yeah, it's uh it's the jungle. Okay, yeah. They're all locked up in the back room right now.
SPEAKER_02:We have JD here today. So, JD, uh yes, for for those listeners who have not heard of you, uh, just give it a like a good introduction on uh who you are.
SPEAKER_00:Gosh, well, thanks for having me on. Um, my name's JD. I'm a coach, I'm an athlete, I'm a natural bodybuilder. So I've been kind of doing this my whole working career. Got out of it during the COVID thing a little bit. It's definitely that kind of shifted things for all of us, but really stepped back into that realm and that world after the COVID scene. And yeah, I've been, you know, personal training since about 2007 out in Vancouver and then moved to Vancouver Island in 2009. And I've been out this way ever since. So um most of my work that I do is on Vancouver Island, and then because of the the lovely World Wide Web and the online coaching spectrum, you know, we get to to reach out to you know to a whole different demographic of people, right? So the client list has has expanded. Um, started working with actually with athletes for for coaching as far as bodybuilding shows and you know, go whatnot. I I've always kind of outsourced that. I always thought, oh, that's not really my wheelhouse, it's more general health, fitness, a lot of rehabilitative work, you know, seniors actually too, you know, like with any form of training, once you have one client, you get comfortable with that, then things start rolling. So I've had people reach out and and want to have me uh prepare them for their for their shows, which has been a really cool avenue to step into, quite a bit different. But yeah, you know, it's nice to be doing something that you you love doing, you know, and be able to be able to call this work and this a career. Uh, and it's it's awesome to have met you guys and everyone through just through the rungs of doing this, right? And uh it's great, happy to be here, and I feel like we're just getting started. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh so you've you did mention that you uh are an in-person trainer that uh out in Vancouver here, and you've been doing that since what 2000, you said 2007?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so it was you know, started working with people in person, you know, 2007, had my head in the books like 2006. I don't know how old you guys are, right? Uh you look a bit younger than me. Uh, but that back then it was it was a little different, you know. There was a lot of you know in-person classes to get your training. I think it was it was probably more difficult to become a personal trainer and become certified. Like it it took it took a while to get all your all your stuff, right? Um But that's what the industry was at that time. It was in-person, it was in-person training, you know, hour after hour, and that's that's what it was. Things have shifted a lot in the coaching, the fitness, the business space in general, just like every like every industry, I think, right? And things have have shifted and changed um you know more you know more rapidly than ever than ever, right? Like the curve has just has just gone right up. So it's forced us to have to adapt to how how the industry is shifting, which which is a positive if you if you've stuck with it and and have hung on. So I've got the utmost respect for really anyone that's definitely you know both feed in. Um I love it. It's it's not easy though, for sure. Like there's a lot to to handle, and every time I say that, you know, people kind of do the nod and the smile, and they're like, Yeah, you know, it's a great thing, but like anything, it's it it takes all the skin in the game. So yeah, I've been training that way and then got more into the online space. And to be honest, I I tell trainers this too because people come ask, like, even on a monetary side, what trainers got paid per hour 10-15 years ago, truly, you could make a living at it, okay? You could train six hours, seven hours a day, do your scheduling, do some program work, but like your main basis was in-person PT, and you could you could do pretty good with it, right? Well, the way the economy's gone, the way things have shifted, the cost that trainers make per hour hasn't gone up um to the rate of what inflation and cost of living is. Does that make sense? Yeah, you know, so it's forced people to have to adapt um to have to scale your business, right? Now, the most important part is you still want to add that value to the customers and to your members and your your athletes and clients. If you're in this game, I think most of the work or a lot of the work has shifted to the online space because, like I say, it's a way to scale the business. So I do still do both, but most of the work is now shifted to online coaching programs. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I agree. I know exactly what you're talking about. We both scaled from in-person training onto the online space. I still do personal training up to this date still. Yeah. And uh it's a different demographic, I would agree. Now, being online and trying to work with a lot of different people around the world versus getting actually to see that person and helping them through their exercise, their workouts, and keeping them accountable in a different way. Uh, I do agree it's a very different perspective and different type of work and trying to keep everybody intact. Now, uh understanding being in in personal training and being and doing that for an extended period of time and then switching onto online, how would you compare the both as in managing scheduling, uh managing the accountability side uh for clients?
SPEAKER_00:You know what? I it's that's a great question. I think what trainers have to do if they're looking to take that shift one way or the other, or they're just planning to start out uh into the online coaching space and never do in-person, whatever it is. I think you have to treat it like a real viable business, right? You have to take it really seriously. Yeah, I think personal training certifications, straight up, man, it's pretty easy for a lot of people to get, you know, a PT certificate or whatever, coaching, you know, like there's that was my hesitancy of getting into it because I almost felt like I saw a lot of dilution there, right? When it came to proper value and uh professionalism and just that whole world. But I think if you treat it like an actual solid business, then then you put all those all those pieces in play. And and what I mean is you have to look at the product, you got to look at the value, you have to look at proper client retention, um, the scalability factor, the the contact, everything there has to be, has to be in play. And it took to get to where where my business particularly is now, it's taken at least three years to get it to where it's at. And honestly, like the first two plus years of learning that side, getting back to your original question, was like, bro, it was uh it was crazy. Like, okay, like there has been countless times where I'm thinking, this is insanity, like this is crazy. What the hell am I doing? I gotta go get a real job. This is you know, like if I didn't love it like I do, there's no way I would have done it. And I think most people are like that. So you have to like it's it's a lot. I don't know how to answer that simply because when you're in person and that's what you've done, like maybe that's I don't know if that's all you're doing, or you got athletes, so you obviously do the other stuff too. But you you have to like you're training your clients, and then you you have to learn that other part of the business before just stepping into it, right? I think that's important. You got to know what you're doing, and that's what I've seen. I've seen trainers and coaches get into that world, and like a lot of the time they don't really know what they're doing. It's advertised as like, oh, be this fitness coach and drink your margaritas on the beach and make if you're not making$75,000 a month, you're not doing it right. Like, there's all this, you know what I'm talking about? There's all this stuff out there, and you gotta you gotta learn the tangible proper business first and and how to do it before you get the wheels going. Like it doesn't have to be perfect, but I always say like it's gotta be at least 70, 80 percent. You'll iron the kinks out along the way. Um like I I use uh I use trainerize, right? For for my coaching app, and it's a common one. I think it's out of Vancouver. Um, but you know, the first little bit, it it took a while to really hone in and do the existing business, not take the gas pedal off that, and then put schedule a time aside to learn that platform and how it works and talk to the people there, which they've always been great with, right? And then slowly implement that makes a lot of sense.
SPEAKER_01:Like, I I feel you there, man, switching over because I was also an in-person personal trainer uh working for uh another guy's company, and like going from that to online, like at first I had no idea what to do, and then I I had a actually a client of mine that I've coached to like the bodybuilding stage where he got his Fences League Pro card, and uh he hired a mentor, and like he all of a sudden just blew up from there. He was able to switch to going online within like the first month. Um, and like that's that's what I did too. Like, I've seen how well he was succeeding with a mentor. Um, I I feel like with anything, like having some sort of person that's been there before and like can help you set up the systems, um, have the learning process be much shorter than trying to learn everything yourself. I find that is so key, especially with online coaching. Um, and a big one too is like being able to coach in person first, just so you understand what movements people are capable of doing. Because if you've never coached in person, I feel like a lot of people online will give certain movements where people may not have the strength or the mobility, especially if you're working with lifestyle people. If you're trying to give them like a specific, like a back squat and you don't know how deep they can squat or what the movement pattern looks like, it's yeah, it's very challenging from that perspective. So I find with the online space, being able to, especially if you're working with lifestyle clients, being able to like have some sort of movement screening or have some form of thing where you're getting videos and seeing how the person is moving. Um, but I I always look back and just think like it's yeah, that it's so important to be able to have those in-person skills uh when you are transitioning to online. Because I've seen people just do it online first without all that in-person stuff. And it's yeah, it's it's pretty scary to look at.
SPEAKER_02:I think you guys bring out like very, very good uh pointers for new coaches or even existing coaches, things that they might have missed out uh during the process of transitioning from an in-person trainer to an online or vice versa. I do I do believe myself doing still doing personal training until this point, as well as online, doing both really just takes care of the uh the caring part of the actual industry itself, which is I think the service industry uh as a personal trainer. Uh and uh I guess we can see that you have a lot of passion uh in this industry, which is great. Uh, it's very rare to run into uh people with very similar mindsets as so. And uh, as yourself, you care a lot about your your athletes as well. And you also said you have a couple of athletes who are going uh on stage too. When is that coming up?
SPEAKER_00:So I just had a guy, um, he's out in the States and he did Arkansas, and that was his first show, actually. So that was the last athlete that I just had, and then I'm I'm working with him off season, and then he's gonna get back going again. Um, I had someone last May at the Vancouver show. Um, so I I'm still I'm still newer to it. I've only had a few people um that I've worked with on on stage at this point, so it is still new to me. Uh, but I'm getting more reaching out all the time, I think, once that that bubble's kind of bursted, right? Um I'm the type where I've always been kind of cautious, and uh, you think we all have those bits where we can be over-critical and not have the confidence, right? And I I think that could be a positive or negative, right? Or that can have both, you know, good and bad sides to it. But once once I step into it, like my personality, once I get that, then it then it starts, it starts rolling, right? So I can see that happening pretty strong for the next couple of years. But this last year was the first year that I had actual athletes on a stage that I've worked with. I've always outsourced it, and my main clientele really has been, I I would say like general fitness and regular average people, and and I don't mean that as like, oh, you're just your average Joe, but you know what I'm talking about. Okay, and I think these people um that's a a huge impact for them, right? Because they're walking around, they're living life, they're doing their thing, and and I've always liked to see people go from you know one place in their life to another, you know, like help them, help move them towards their potential is is the big thing. So it means it means a lot, you know, to to those people that are not desiring to be an athlete or whatnot. And you're passionate and and your discipline in your athletic world can roll over directly into any type of client that you're working, right? You don't have to give them the same intensity and the same volume and all that, but you can the principles are still the same, right? Regardless if they're training at the gym once a week or five days a week, right? So that's been you know my main source of work. Uh, and then just from being a natural athlete, uh, as you you both gentlemen are, our bodies do not work the same as uh let's say the the enhanced group, okay? I think even on the natural side, we in in some ways, like we we know the body almost to a greater degree, you know, dare I say, because our risk of injury is higher. Like you really have to know how to isolate muscle groups, and your form and your technique has to be has to be dialed right in, right? Our recovery is not the same. So my point is you you learn the body really well, which directly rolls over into rehabilitative work, which which is big for, you know, like I say, the the the senior, the third age group, that that clientele group I've really enjoyed working with because they get a lot out of it, you know, just to increase their mobility and to have them stand up out of a chair stronger than they could, you know, really could be the factor of them getting another five, ten years out of their life, uh increasing their energy because if their body's all bound up, it's restrictive and it's affecting their posture, their digestion, like everything that way, right? My passion is bodybuilding and the athleticism side, but a lot of my work does roll into that those other parts of the industry and that other clientile group.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's cool. But you did say that you you enjoy bodybuilding, and I just want to rewind back a little bit. Uh just curious. Do you have a preference or niche in saying like a type of athlete that you like to take on stage for bodybuilding? Is there a certain type of athlete that I yeah, like do you take like all sorts of athletes?
SPEAKER_00:Like, do you take just bodybuilders or do you take like men's physiques, bikinis, figures, any of those, or are you just so I've I've had a men's physique um fellow, and then I've had uh bodybuilding. So those are those are the two, and with classic physique coming into I think the WMBF, I think last year, yeah, was that the first year that they introduced it? It's all it's all different. So that's honestly an area that I'm I'm learning as well myself. I've always been passionate about the bodybuilding world, mostly that category, because when I first got into this, like just out of high school, I would say like I trained before that. Dude, it was like Flex magazine, it was muscular development, like straight up, that was the two that was my sources of education, okay. That's legit. I would read those things front to back, and like natural bodybuilding was not a thing, like I didn't hear about it in like mid-2000s. I graded 04, okay. Uh and I was training all through high school. I never had a desire to to to step into that other world as far as enhanced goes, right? Uh, but I loved the body, like, dude, we would the top, it was muscle tech guys and cutler, and like, you know, it was like that was I had my bathroom plastered with all you know the do you know those magazines? Do you guys buy them? Okay, you know, remember the advertisement animal, the black and white, there's the guy that's like he's like 300 pounds and he's like you know eating his oatmeal for the 400th time in a row, and it's just like this grungy hardcore. And I'm like, yeah, like fuck yeah, that's what it's about. And I had this shit plastered all over my room. I guess imagine, like your girlfriend at the time, you know, she comes over and she's like, What is going on here? You know. Uh, but anyways, sorry, I'm shooting, shooting off to the side there. That was my main thing. It was just to be, bro, it was about to be as jacked as possible, right? Like, that's that's all I you know, that's all we knew. Um, so that's what it was. The shows were just bodybuilding, too. I would go watch like the BCs and Nassandra Wickham, and at the time, that's what was out there. I think there's there like three shows maybe in BC.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that that's all there was. So that was my main footprint was the bodybuilding side, and then learning how the industry opened up, like even for women, too, right? Like bikini wasn't in, it came in a couple years after that. So I've always been fascinated with how you could change your physique, like it's it's the coolest thing ever, you know. And bodybuilding, in my opinion, kind of was that. Um, however, it's really neat to see, as I'm learning from my last show, as we get older, and me myself as a taller guy, I'm I'm six feet, maybe just over six, but that's like considered a little bit on the taller side, right? And as I'm also getting older, and as a natural guy, you just don't hold the mass that you held, right? When you start getting older, these things happen. So that makes me now look at these other classes as a viable class, not only for myself, but my competitors, right? So I look at them and I go, okay, where are you gonna best fit? Because these last two years, I put all my eggs in the basket. Adrian was there, you know, he saw me both times, and I gave it 110%, thinking, okay, you know, show up the best you can, give it everything, come in as conditioned as possible, and you're gonna take it. And the classes, because of the three now, but I feel like there's a certain look, you know, for each class. Does that make sense? You know, it's oh for sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Adrian and I are both judges, too.
SPEAKER_00:So right, yeah. So, you know, you you guys know far far better than myself, where I feel like for a long time, bodybuilding, especially in Canada, it was just get as crisp as conditioned, symmetrical, but like conditioning one period end of story, that was it. Where what I'm seeing, and please correct me if I'm wrong, it's not that conditioning goes out the window. However, muscle size and that V-tapper, that part is really stepping back into bodybuilding, even more so than it did 10 years ago because of let's say classic physique coming in, right? So the guys that are bigger, capped-out shoulders, big chest, like that type of thing, right? Is really taking the cake for the bodybuilding classes.
SPEAKER_02:I can't say you're wrong, but now with the WMBF or the CPA, there's more and more athletes coming in to compete. Um, therefore, the caliber has increased. And now they're going to be looking for the the particular person who's got more of the genetic edge. That will come into play. The over X frame shape for bodybuildings, muscle mass. It is a bodybuilding show at the end of the day, so muscle mass will be considered as part of the criteria. Right. So that that is also, it has evolved over time in for enhanced, the the in uh Mr. Olympia. You could just see back in 2011, uh, who was that, Phil Heath? The physique that Phil Heath brought to the stage in Mr. Olympia versus now Derrick Lassman, they have a very different physique. Some people argue that uh Phil Heath had a better physique back then compared to now.
SPEAKER_00:You know, um it seems like they don't have as long as a reign now as they they used to. You know, I don't know if it's just higher level of competition. I know Bumstead took it for how many years? Six years? Yeah, six years. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I feel like with yeah, with natural body, it's kind of like a spectrum where they when you look at some because what with a judge, how you're supposed to go about it is like look at the people on the world stage and people that are winning there and try to compare your athletes to them. Um so whoever has like the closest look. So it could be like like obviously we want to be as conditioned as possible and have the most amount of muscle as possible. Um, but yeah, like there could be somebody that's has more muscle but not quite as conditioned, and then there's somebody that is super conditioned but doesn't have quite have the amount of muscle. And it's like trying to find okay, like how close are they to the ideal physique? And sometimes it's like they'll and then sometimes it's the head judge too. Sometimes a certain judge will favor a little bit more size. For some people will favor a little bit more conditioning. I feel like for me personally, I always generally favor conditioning a little bit more because I know how brutal it is to get to the last little bit of uh get to the like the extreme level of conditioning. Um, but yeah, it's it's hard, like especially when guys have like a ton of mass, um, and like if they have that shape, and then there's somebody that doesn't quite have the same amount of mass but has crazy conditioning. It's it's always tricky, it's it can be a flip of a coin sometimes in those scenarios.
SPEAKER_00:So right. That's why there's so many judges, too, I guess, right? Like what is there, seven seven people up there?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So there's that, yeah, because everyone does have a bias, right? And that's why, that's why it is what it is, you know. Um, and everyone's got their own journey as an athlete, right? I've done all right, I've done pretty good, and I, you know, people hear that, like my clients hear that, and I can be a bit hard on myself. I think it's a positive thing. I'm sure you guys are too. You guys are leading, you know, guys in this industry in all that you're doing. So I think that's a positive thing. I don't say it to to beat me down, but it helps to push me to that that next level, right? Um, it's I'm not that guy that shows up necessarily and just cleans house, right? You know, uh, but I think that can be a positive for people that are the same, right? Like athletes or even clients that might have a harder time losing that weight or hitting those goals that they want to. That's the aspect that I have personally, you know. Um like I haven't won a class in all the shows that I've done, right? I actually have not. And that's been a little bit of a challenge, if I'm being honest, right? But at the same time, I've only showed up doing one show at a year, one class only, right? And I've I've come close. That pushes me to just keep driving hard and going, I'm gonna get it, you know, and um switching game plans if you need to. You gotta do what you gotta do. So this next year, next go-around, I think I'll do a few categories, right? And I'm gonna wait till 27 because I'll be uh I'll be 40. So we're gonna we're gonna hit the old masters there and see see what happens.
SPEAKER_02:Big thanks to True North Prosper for sponsoring this video, the gear I use and I love. Use code TEMNS for 50% off your first purchase. And now back to the video. 40 in 27?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I just turned 39. So I'm gonna yeah, so I turned 40 at the tail end of 2026. So in 2027, I will be 40, and then I'm gonna I'm gonna do a few different shows. And just uh we're probably gonna hit at least three shows and just go in there full bore. I'm getting married next year, so um, you know, my fiance is like, yeah, maybe we'll hold off. And I I wanted to do this anyways, but she's like, you know, unless you want to look like like a I forget what she said, you know. She's like, Well, we'll take a little bit of time off. I feel I feel blessed that I get to have that aspect of my life, and it's truly the most important part of my life, you know, my faith, my family, that that's number one. Um, and I want to show people that even if being an athlete is a little more on the extracurricular side, it's not your your sole focus and and kind of one of your you know, your number one thing, you can still actually hit that top peak. And that's that's the goal that I'm trying to trying to hit, right? Still being able to prioritize the other parts of your life and push yourself even as an athlete competitively.
SPEAKER_02:That's a great point. So yeah, that begs me to ask you, because um it probably is the obvious answer, but I'm still gonna ask it anyway. What is the goal of as yours for yourself as an athlete?
SPEAKER_00:Bro, I'd love to win. I want to win a class. I want to at least win a class for a show. I and I'd love to turn pro. You know, that would be like, dude, that'd be a dream. I never thought um I never really s saw that as possible. And a few things in my life has happened during the COVID thing that brought me to yeah, I went through a pretty dark, tough time, uh, in, you know, I want to say 2020 to 2022. And a lot of things shifted and and changed in my life, and I recommitted to to this industry and a few other things in my life. And and I said, well, you know, that's always been something that I I thought would be the one of the coolest things to do. So turning pro would be amazing. And it's not just about getting a pro card and and hitting that status. Honestly, man, it's about it's it's the journey moving to it. Like who I sounds corny and everything, but but how you evolve um from where you're at to to that level and beyond is I think what life's about. I think it's about striving to um kind of chase your potential and move towards that line, and that affects every other part of your life. You know, I want to be that parent uh that hopefully my kids can look at and think, yeah, like you know, dad gets up and gets he gets after it, right? Because like we grew up, and a lot of people grow up where their parents come home and they're just oh, you know, like another another day, and you grow up and you hear all these stories, oh, you can do whatever you want to do, and you can be whatever you want to be, or whatever. But life has a way of beating people's asses down, right? And then you get to that later stage in your life, and the things that you may have desired to have just kind of vanish away because of how life happens, right? You really can press in and and hit those milestones if you commit to it, dedicate to it. If we're we're living it to our level, we're gonna better influence them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Lead by example, right? So I 100% agree. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You made some uh really good pointers for even just for regular lifestyle individuals out there. Probably my one of my questions is how would you view your lifestyle uh or even your life from being from being just uh a parent and an athlete?
SPEAKER_00:I think it's all encompassing, actually. You know, that's a great question. And I I think a lot of people see it as pulls apart, but the pursuit of excellence, you know, I I got I listened to uh a fella, you know, he's become a mentor, Andy Frasella, right? And I think if you're if the gas pedal's on and you're pushing and you're committed and you're focused on task at hand and you're trying to execute at the highest level possible in whichever you're doing, that's kind of what an athlete's doing, right? And you can have that roll over into other aspects of your life, even with what we're doing right now. With competing, it teaches you how to be much more efficient with your time. When your meals are all set like they are for a prep and a show. I don't know how you guys are, but at times you stop. Eat your meal and you're like, whoa, I like have all this extra time. You don't realize how much time goes into, you know, oh, what's my next meal gonna be like? Am I gonna go order out? Or like you're kind of scrambling all the time. So when you're in prep, everything is is dialed right in, you know. So it teaches you that level of you know efficiency and effectiveness, really. And that that can go into other parts of your your world with your coaching, your your family life too, right? To make sure that when you when you have time, we're a blended family, right? So there's times where we don't have any of the kids, and there's times where we have all four of our kids, right? But to be able to be focused as a parent and have that that proper time with the kids is is what they deserve and and and really important. You're not this bag of shit at the end of your day, just kind of like, oh, like go put a TV on or whatever, you know, it's high level across the board.
SPEAKER_01:You're that's that's awesome. I one thing I do like about competing too is like a lot of times you're in a state where you really don't want to do something, but you have to get it done. And being in that, like constantly doing that, builds so much confidence in yourself and like being able to take action when things are getting really tough. And I I find that always ties into other aspects of your life as well. So I think that's always another another awesome one that comes out. Discipline, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, there's a lot of talk about that now out there. You hear all this, right? You know, it's not motivation, it's discipline, right? But there's there's a lot of truth to it. So you're absolutely right. And then if you're teaching you kind that that's what it's about, it's not just off how you're feeling, it's like, okay, this needs to be done, you know, get up and go. Like put the feelings aside and execute, and then you'll just feel better about yourself because you've, you know, that's a double pat on the back because you didn't you knew what you were supposed to do when you most definitely did not feel like it. And that that's really important. I think it's important too, uh, for for men, right? Like to to have that that masculinity side. We we need to show that too for for other men around, you know, what it looks like to execute on on a high level and to be on purpose, to live on purpose, right? If if you know, we shine brighter, we we show up, we live our our life that we know we're we're destined and supposed to live. And it's never perfect, right? But we we try, we really try, we get honest with ourselves. That's that's a superpower for sure.
SPEAKER_02:100% all very good information for everybody out there who's looking to improve your quality of life, get a lift in. Uh as you said, JD, get 10 more years on your life, just being a little bit stronger. Uh, so you did mention that your 2046 uh season is going to be your offseason and then potentially looking at a 2027 competition. We're hitting it hard in 27, baby. Yep. Okay. Do you have any athletes coming on for 26?
SPEAKER_00:Um, I do. So in the States, I have a couple, it look it looks like, and then I have another fella I'm talking with um here that might be doing, I think, the Kelowna show. So nice. WNBF Kelowna, yeah. Are you gonna come to Vancouver? Yeah, I I think so. It'd be nice to go check out the show and uh and see the group there, right? For sure. Like the WNBF, you guys have always been fantastic, and it's been it's been an awesome, you know. That's where I met you, Adrian, right? So it's been it's been uh it's been a cool thing. And I I hats off to you as well, yourself, man. Like you when you show up on a stage and you're just talking, you've got a captivating, strong presence about you, you know. Like when you I've seen you at the posing clinics and that, and you you know, you you have that, you carry that with you. It's awesome. So keep keep that up your yourself, right? That's um that that's killer. I remember that from you when I I think I feel like I first met you maybe at one of the yeah, one of the posing clinics in 24, possibly. Possibly, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And all my family's in Vancouver, like I'm the only one out here, the kids are out here, but um, I grew up in the lower mainland out there, so in in Port Coquitlam. Oh, see, yeah, good old Poco, yeah. Yeah, good old Poco. Um, so uh yeah, we get out there a few times a year, and it's nice to just branch out. We're I live in a little in a town called Port Alberni, and it's an old mill town, and a lot of people haven't heard of it. A lot of people who've lived here, bro, they have not left here. Like it is multi-generational. It's like it's there's a there's under 20,000 people here, and it's like just this hub, right? But it's nice to to get out and and see people out outside of that, and that's that's really important to me. And go check out, hit the West Coast Sire, and and you know, make make uh Kelowna's got a good good training center up there too, a good community of people, and and the Vancouver, you know, yeah, that was kind of the main stopping ground before I moved out here. So I try and keep that alive.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome. But uh yeah, but thank you for so many in good information for our genuine population, our lifestyle clients, even if anybody are thinking of stepping on stage. Um, JD has made some very good pointers on the transition that potentially you may want to make. And if you guys need definitely more information, we'll definitely link uh more information down in the description below. But before we close it out, where can we find you? And do you have any last words of wisdom for our listeners?
SPEAKER_00:Uh so I'm at We Are The Fit Life, uh, Instagram and Facebook. Um I think there's a couple other things. My partner's kind of got most of that going. I do the Instagram for the most part. Uh so yeah, that's that's me there, the website, uh thefitlife.ca. And it's all of our responsibilities to make sure we we we wake up and we put our feet on the ground and we get in touch with what we're supposed to be doing and make sure we're we're executing that. So keep fit and have fun.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome, awesome. Really good words of wisdom. Thank you so much, JD. We really appreciate your time. Thanks so much, and we'll see you guys next time.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for having me on. Yeah, it's an absolute blessing. Thank you guys.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for coming on.