Calorie Counting to Top Trainer at Equinox Miracle Mile Will

Witness the remarkable ascent of Will, Equinox Miracle Mile's fitness virtuoso, whose journey from a fresh January start to the zenith of personal training unfolds in our latest episode. With unyielding commitment and client-centric resolve, Will unravels the fabric of success in an industry often veiled in misconception. He's not just transforming physiques; he's turning the personal training world on its head with a blend of professionalism and a sharp focus on sustainable routines to stave off burnout. Grab your headphones, and prepare to be inspired by Will's dedication to self-improvement, his significant weight loss achievement, and his relentless pursuit of nutrition knowledge, all of which paint the portrait of an elite fitness maestro.

Step into our conversation spotlighting the grit and authenticity that distinguish a true leader in the realm of fitness. Will's ambition is palpable as he discusses his aim for the challenging Strong First Kettlebells certification—a goal that cements his philosophy of prioritizing client results over social media clout. A beacon for those in the industry and beyond, Will's tale is a masterclass in elevating personal training to an art form. As he continues to exceed expectations and raise industry standards, follow his journey on Instagram and be part of the narrative that redefines excellence in fitness.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry one qualified trainer at a time, with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitnesscom. Also, make sure to check out my book how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy everybody. Welcome back to the show fitness podcast. Today we are lucky to have number one trainer Equinox Miracle Mile, Mr Will.

Speaker 2: 0:39

What up, what up.

Speaker 1: 0:40

How are we doing today, sir?

Speaker 2: 0:42

I'm doing good. How are you doing?

Speaker 1: 0:44

Doing great. Now I got a text from our number one trainer, carlos. He was our first CPT and he says I got to give my props to my boy, will, because he is the top trainer here and you've only been there for how long.

Speaker 2: 0:59

Just over a year now, I started January 26th of 2023.

Speaker 1: 1:07

So just there, a year and now you are at the top of the ranks two months in a row. Talk to us about what that feels like, and and how many sessions and everything yeah, so it feels it feels good.

Speaker 2: 1:20

You know definitely a lot of hard work but it's definitely worth it at the end. The moment I'm doing last month of April I did 130 sessions and on February I did 116 sessions it feels good. I'm glad people trust me enough to coach them and help them reach their goals for sure.

Speaker 1: 1:52

That's about an average of 120, 130 sessions comes out to about 30 per week. But how was that workload? It's interesting. I talk a lot with therapists and I love interviewing trainers and it seems like trainers hover around that 20-25 mark and they seem like it's full-time. Is it pretty exhausting doing 25, 30 sessions a week?

Speaker 2: 2:13

Honestly. No, it's not because I scheduled it out to where it fits my schedule perfectly, where I won't burn myself out. Most of my clients I have are back-to-back with a two-hour gap that I utilize to work out on my own. So I typically work out or I work at 8 am and I finish around 4 or 5 am. A typical day for me would look like I got three or four sessions in the morning back to back will then follows up with a two-hour gap with me working out and then, following that, I got another three or four sessions in for the day. So, um, I'm very fortunate to have it scheduled it out that way. I know some people you know be training at six o'clock in the morning and then all the way up to 8 pm. Now that you can get burnt out really easily like that.

Speaker 1: 3:12

It's about finding those boundaries and making a schedule that works for you instead of. I think a lot of trainers in the beginning will take anything and everything. So they'll take the 5 am, they'll take the 8 am, they'll take the 11, they'll take the 4, they'll take the 7, take the 9. The next thing, you know you're there all day, but there's some strategy that takes place with it.

Speaker 2: 3:29

No, yeah for sure, when I first started. That's how I started out. Actually, you know, I just took whatever I can get, but I did start noticing, you know, eventually, when I started doing that, I was, you know, just getting burnt out. And during the sessions with my clients I wasn't fully there with them because I was so tired from the day prior and I knew it wasn't sustainable and if I want to be the best coach that I can be for my clients, then I had to do something about that. So I eventually set those boundaries of of okay, this is when I'm gonna work and this is when I'm gonna stop working and I'm just gonna fill in the gaps when I can as I go through my business.

Speaker 1: 4:14

I like that. So the boundaries are an important one, and you know you're kicking ass. There's 111 Equinoxes I was looking at my app today and if you're number one, and how many trainers do you have at your gym?

Speaker 2: 4:30

Honestly, I think around 20 to 25 at the moment.

Speaker 1: 4:35

If you look at 111, there's roughly 2,700 trainers at Equinox. That's about 24 per gym. And then you look at those statistics, it looks like you're in the top 5 percent of all equinox. How does that feel?

Speaker 2: 4:46

oh, wow, that's the first I hear of that. So, um man, yeah, I didn't really soak that in, so right now it feels good. Yeah, I mean it feels good, but I know I have just so much more I can do.

Speaker 1: 5:03

I like that. How young are you? How young are you, young buck? What are?

Speaker 2: 5:06

you, I'm 27.

Speaker 1: 5:09

27. I remember when you started. You've lost a few pounds. You're starting to look a little more jacked up. You've trimmed off a little bit of fat. I like that. What have you been doing?

Speaker 2: 5:19

I've recently been on a cut in January and I just actually ended it on Saturday. That's been a journey within itself. I weighed in at 206 in January and come a couple days ago, I weighed in 164.

Speaker 1: 5:39

Oh, nice that's a lot of weight during this cut. What were some of those secrets that you were implementing?

Speaker 2: 5:48

Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. At the end of the day, that's all the tough out man Calories in versus calories out. You know, before I wasn't really tracking my calories. You know, I was like this looks like four ounces of chicken, this looks like whatever this is. But when I actually started counting my calories, man, did that humble me. You know, I was definitely overeating, um, going out a lot, you know social events, stuff like that. But you know, came to a point where it's like if I want my business to grow, you know I gotta invest in myself as well. You know I gotta start looking the part. So I said enough is enough. You know, let's get this cut going on. And I just started counting the calories, starting, uh, working out more intensely and precisely create a program for myself, and uh, yeah, it's, it's. It's been a heck of a journey that's pretty cool man.

Speaker 2: 6:49

So almost 30 pounds you've lost, and have you noticed your business has grown a lot since then almost definitely throughout this cut, a lot of people, a lot of members, come up to me and they notice these things. You know they see me every day and they notice the change. And you know that that also has something to do with my business growing, because they saw me investing in myself and seeing the changes I'm making to myself and you know people like that and they want that too. So they said how did he do it? He can do it, I do it. So I've definitely had a lot of members come up to me and say, yo, what you do. Or hey, man, I see you've been putting in the work this stuff. I want to get like you. You know it helped me build my business as well, as soon as I started investing in myself more.

Speaker 1: 7:38

How many sessions were you doing late December, early January, do you remember?

Speaker 2: 7:47

Oh, December was real bad. I think the most I did in December was probably 12 sessions a week.

Speaker 1: 7:49

So you're looking at right around 50, almost 2.5 times that sucker. And so I think it's great for the listeners to hear, because it just shows not that you have to be in tip top, 100% bikini or NPC shape, but if you're working towards something and your mind is focused on that, and if you can look at yourself in the mirror and say are you in the best shape of your life? And if you're not, then work towards it and ultimately, what's going to happen is people are going to see that as well and be damn, that's pretty awesome. You did this during, especially right now we're in May and how many people have stopped their new year's resolutions and they're trying to get into summer shape and they see you being consistent and they're going to think the accountability and a quality coach is what I need.

Speaker 2: 8:32

Definitely yeah. A lot of people like to go off the rails after a week or two, and that's where we come in. We help them stay accountable and in track with their goals. It's very easy to get complacent military as well, marine Corps and I learned a lot during my time of service. One of the things I stood out was complacency kills. I always, you know, took that with me and you know, when we get complacent we don't grow, so there's no growth in comfort. So that's something I tell my clients a lot.

Speaker 1: 9:14

I love that and, as always, thank you for your service. That's awesome. And do you see, when you were going through this, this cut, were you weighing yourself weekly, or where does the scale come into play?

Speaker 2: 9:28

Uh, yeah, so uh. I would weigh myself in the beginning every week up until I got to a point where I said, all right, like this is this is good, like I lost a lot of weight, but I want to take it to the next level. I wanted to see if I could get that single digit body fat area. Um, and then from there I talked to one of my coworkers who's also a certified nutritionist and he helped me create a meal plan.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Shout out to Sal For the last seven weeks of my cut seven to eight weeks I've been following a very rigid meal plan and I would weigh myself every morning and every night. How did that take a toll on your mental side? I think it's an interesting conversation because you have that militant background. Do you find that you make those suggestions for your clients with the way themselves regularly, or how do you approach with clients?

Speaker 2: 10:26

no, um, when I took it to the next level, um, I knew beforehand this is not sustainable. This is something I just want to do to challenge myself mentally and physically. It is not sustainable. I tell my clients what I'm doing is not sustainable. If you really want to get to the next level and get those single, single digit body fat, then you're going to have to make some sacrifices. But most of the members, you know they just want to be healthier overall. You know they don't really need to get to that point. It was just something I wanted to do with myself. But I tell my clients, you know, at the end of the day, you know, just be more mindful of what you're eating. Take your time when you eat, don't rush it. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. And you know you don't need to be as intense as I did it. Something that's more sustainable is just be more mindful of what you're eating. I like to always say the 80-20 rule 80% is clean, 20% is those cravings that you get every once in a while.

Speaker 1: 11:32

You look at social media and how many people are obsessed with the. David Goggins or Lane Norton's People have millions of followers. You look at social media and how many people are obsessed with the David Goggins or, you know, lane Norton's. People have millions of followers and they're going through a pretty cool journey themselves, but a lot of people can't keep up with that level of intensity. So the fact that you're doing it in itself, what it does is it separates you from everyone else, because trainers have this stigma that we're supposed to be in great shape, we're supposed to eat well, but a lot of trainers are not a walking talking billboard and so when you are that case in point like yourself, people are looking at you and go, wow, you know what that trainer is challenging himself. If he can do that to him, I know he can do that to me.

Speaker 1: 12:15

And so you're going to grow your in-club presence and that is the social currency really that you want. Because really, who cares if you have a million followers, if you're not generating revenue from that? But you're building a book of business, 130 sessions per month and one of the top performers in the gym. The question would be what's next for Will? What do you want to accomplish? What are some things that you have on that?

Speaker 2: 12:37

to-do list. There's a lot. There's a lot. Like I said earlier, this is just the beginning, man, you know, I definitely want to be the best coach that I can be. There's so much more that I can learn. I'm always a student at the game. You know, there's this certification coming up in August for strong first kettlebells. There's this certification coming up in August for Strong First Kettlebells. So that's the next thing I want to do. You know, learn a little bit more about the kettlebells. And, you know, just keep learning as a coach, you know, seeing what I can provide to my clients, and just be the best version of myself.

Speaker 1: 13:18

I love that because one of the things since you've gone through the program in Hollywood is that we're really trying to establish the difference between a level one coach and a level zero coach. And so many trainers today they get their textbook certification NASA, mace, issa, you see it all the time they're not ready to actually start implementing the strategies to help people. And the cool thing about Strong First Pavel and his path he used to be Russian kettlebell company but they softened up and so he left and he started Strong First. And one of the things that you have to do for the final is it's a performance based and you have to be able to you know what is the level one that you have to be able to test for.

Speaker 2: 13:49

Yeah, I believe the crack gap is like 100 kettlebell swings in 5 minutes. You can only get like 2 or 3 wrong. If you get more than that, then you fail. It's a specific weight, though I think too right.

Speaker 1: 14:05

It depends on the gender and how much you weigh, and I think about your age as well and so one of my mentors, Chad Waterbury, best friends with Pavel, and you know I love picking Chad's brain about everything about Pavel and just a real humble, hardworking dude who has a crazy background with military and everything as well with Rogan, and he's just like no bullshit. He's like you got to be able to perform. And if you look at like the strong first and you compare it to like a NASM or an ACE, it's like what's the difference? It's night and day difference. One. You literally fucking take a test.

Speaker 1: 14:46

That means nothing and I think it's so hilarious because trainers will post with their NASM, CPT or ACPT, thinking they're qualified. They don't know what the fuck they're doing. We're over here, strong first. It's like they're not even that braggadocious either. Where it's like I got this. It speaks for itself. I know I'm a badass because I was able to complete this course and it's not something that you can just you know half ass and study for a couple of days, or it's legit shit that you're going through right now.

Speaker 2: 15:12

Oh yeah, through right now. Oh yeah, it's like it's like a rite of passage going through that. You know, at the end of it it's like a two-day course, uh, 12 hours each. You know you don't only got the kettlebell swings, but you got other stuff like the kettlebell front. Last saw, you got the turkish get up, got the queens, you got the. You know the snatches, you know you gotta, you gotta, perform them all. Good, you know. So it's not like you can just take the, uh, take a course and pass just like with a written test or something. No, you got to apply what you learn as well. And that that's the difference maker, and I love that. You know. It really shows, you know, if you got it down or not and one of the the main instructors.

Speaker 1: 15:50

she's right under power. I believe her name is yolanda. She's out of la jolla and we've met and I'm going to get her on the podcast and she's an absolute hunk at. She can do like one arm pushups and shit. And I just love that community because there really is a final like.

Speaker 1: 16:05

It's like a line in the sand where you have trainers who are walking, talking, you know they're getting after it, and then you have trainers on the other side that are just kind of like they're getting after it. And then you have trainers on the other side that are just kind of like, as you said earlier, comfort, and they're just like yeah, you know what, I'm certified, I'm just going to be comfortable with where I'm at and I'm going to have these kind of yeah, sure, you can train a couple of days a week and if you want to eat healthy sometimes it's fine. I align more with that military athletic side where it's like you know, why not test yourself to see what you can fucking do? And that day it's coming up for you. And what have you found to be the hardest part of that challenge so far? Staying?

Speaker 2: 16:42

consistent with it. You know there's gonna be days and times where it's like you don't want to do it. You know you get lazy, you got that. You got that person on your ear telling you like, ah, not today. Ah, no, I think I want to stay in bed a little bit longer. Ah, you know this and that, but you know brushing that sucker out, you know, and be like no, we got to go in mind. No, we're better than this. You know those are pretty hard. You know trying to get through that, but you know pushing through it's worth it.

Speaker 1: 17:16

At the end, it is the discipline that so many of us lack, and I'm first to say there's numerous times when I am that person who will want to snooze, and it's so easy to stay in bed. But at the end of the day, we have to represent our profession and as trainers, we should be prideful in our job, and so you've done a great job. I'm proud of you. You're already in that elite percentage where 90% of those level zero trainers quit within the first year. I'm sure you've seen a lot of trainers come through your location and quit. They're not able to make it.

Speaker 2: 17:49

What are some of those things. You've seen a lot. Yeah, there's been a lot of people who come and go.

Speaker 1: 17:56

And what are those things that you notice about why they're not able to make it?

Speaker 2: 18:01

They're not 100% in it. This is more like a side gig to them, or they're not confident in themselves. You know they don't put themselves out there, they don't put in the hours. You know, being a trainer here, you know it's kind of like being an entrepreneur. You're in this and however much you invest in it is how much you get out of it. And a lot of people they don't want to invest in themselves as much. They're too complacent, they want to get things handed to them. Complacent, they want to get things handed to them. So it's. You know, what I've noticed people come and go is, you know they're not putting in the work, they're not putting in the hours and it takes time and patience. Some people don't have that.

Speaker 1: 18:49

And it's not to say that hard work isn't being represented.

Speaker 1: 18:54

But I always say for students that are going through the program you did the two months in person and you're a walking talking as I say help, nick, you got everything that entails what can be success, but you also put in the hours. But when you look at the landscape and I say stuff like it's not that hard to be a successful trainer, it's not to downplay it. But when you look at the competition, like say stuff like it's not that hard to be a successful trainer, it's not to downplay it. But when you look at the competition, like you just said, they're not willing to put in the work, they're not willing to educate, they're not willing to sign it up for more level one certifications, like the strong first do the hands-on. So they're sitting back, they want to work and from day one they want to work eight to five and they don't want to take any morning sessions, they don't want to do anything that's challenging or make some uncomfortable. And so it's like when you have that mindset that you have, you can become the best, like you have.

Speaker 2: 19:48

Thank you, definitely yeah. What's been the hardest part of the journey so far yeah, what's been the hardest part of the journey so far? The hardest part, well, from the beginning it was definitely the sales aspect of it. It was definitely like a something I didn't have any experience with, you know. So. So trying to sell a package to somebody, it it, it something I didn't know about, that was pretty hard, just trying to get comfortable in selling packages and being comfortable in the equal fit room and being comfortable selling these members like, hey, you really want to get your goals, you're going to have to work with me this amount of time and you think that's what you're going to talk.

Speaker 2: 20:38

That right there was pretty hard, but once I got a little bit more experience in it, I got doing it and finding out like I got to make this my own style. I got to you know, make this comfortable for not only myself, but for them too.

Speaker 1: 20:56

So you know that right, there is pretty hard. We we talk a lot about the business skills, the trade skills, the people skills and we're always open to suggestions on getting better and we do implement some sales strategies. But in the beginning I know from a trainer, new trainer's perspective it's really overwhelming. You got to learn your anatomy, you got to understand programming and so the sales stuff.

Speaker 1: 21:16

it doesn't really, I think, sit well in the beginning, but then you realize from day one it's one of the most important parts. So what would you like to see more of from the industry as a whole when it comes to improving the sales skills of trainers?

Speaker 2: 21:33

Having just like its own course of just learning how to be a salesperson, but not a salesperson that makes sense, you know, just making it unique to everybody and making it, you know, so something that that they can do and make on their own and and still get results from themselves. But like just tapping in a little bit more into the sales business side. That'd be nice.

Speaker 1: 21:59

What was the best piece of advice that you got from Show Up Fitness?

Speaker 2: 22:04

The best piece of advice, man, there's so many. The best piece of advice is just showing up at the end of the day. Just showing up, yeah, at the end of the day. Just show up, yeah, at the end of the day. Just show up for yourself, show up for your clients, show up for your goals. Just keep going, man. Stay consistent with it. Motivation comes up and down. It's never going to be there, but showing up and staying consistent, staying disciplined, that right there will get you to where you want.

Speaker 1: 22:36

You're working with a lot of high-end clients. Carlos is a client who's opening up a very high-end restaurant and he's going to take us all out to dinner. We got to go there, so one of these days if we can't meet up with Carlos' client, then I'll take you guys to dinner, we'll catch up and we'll some drinks and and go over life so far. So I appreciate your time today, anything you want to give to the followers or a little piece of advice for new trainers that are listening uh, stick to the plan.

Speaker 2: 23:06

Stick to the plan and you know, don't fall off the rails, you get to where you want to get to eventually. You know, as long as you stick to the plan, you keep showing up.

Speaker 1: 23:16

I love it. That's perfect ending right there, because the most important part, as you just said, keep showing up. Where can people find you, my man? Where can they find you?

Speaker 2: 23:25

I got an Instagram just my name, William Pedriguera, but that's all I really use. They can find me there.

Speaker 1: 23:35

Well, go out there, keep on helping people. We'll be seeing you soon.

Speaker 2: 23:39

Yes, sir, thank you.