Today on the podcast. I'm very excited to be chatting with Lucas. Aaron, who is the creator of the ranger strength program.
Lucas has been a personal trainer since 2005, and he has an exciting story to share. At a young age, he played sports until he injured his knee. And that's when he discovered the gym and started doing strength training.
He was a competitive power lifter for several years before he suffered a bicep injury. It sounds like this was a tough time for Lucas, as he struggled to find his purpose and direction in life.
But this is when he realized that his movement capacity and body composition were in bad shape.
He started exploring gymnastics and flexibility training and sharing his story on an Instagram account under the handle of body weight dad.
This is when I first connected with Lucas as he was doing some pretty cool stuff and making some very impressive gains.
Since then Lucas has built a thriving online community called range of strength. During that time he's done some awesome collaborations with guys like Ben Patrick knee over to guy, and Kegan Smith was real movement, now ATG mentor.
If you've not seen Lucas's work, I recommended check it out.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the protect, the asset podcast.
[00:01:51] Lucas Aaron: I am primarily in the online space now. Like that's actually all I do for business, but I've been a coach for a very long time. But we're going on about two years now that I'm just in the online space.
[00:02:06] So I run a coaching membership where people can subscribe and receive programming and coaching from myself. And that's, that's pretty full on, so that's my full time gig.
[00:02:17] Stretch: Wow. It's only been two years. You've you've done so well in such a short space of time with that online business mate.
[00:02:22] Lucas Aaron: Well, I mean, it's been a lot longer, it's just that it's been full on for two years. Yeah. I think, I think most of us that have made these transitions and I mean, it's obviously apparent now that like, if you're a coach, you have to be in the online space. Like, it's really just like the go to like everyone's online, but you know, 10 years ago that wasn't the case, but I was still.
[00:02:48] Pushing some of that stuff and trying to get clients that were remote and, and always just, you know, whatever full time gig I had, I was always doing some stuff on the side. So two years it's been full on, but it certainly has been probably 15 years in the making of just my, you know, career development, still kinda pushing that and seeing it evolve.
[00:03:10] Like it's cool to see new coaches now that are young and present in the online space, like right away, because they're like they they've been watching it all unfolded. They're so prepared for it. I don't know how old you are, but I'm gonna be 39 this year. And I've, you know, seen it kind of turn into what it is now, but it's something that you've kinda had to like keep up with and learn as you go kind of thing where it's now, like, I think a lot of these newer coaches already kind of have it.
[00:03:37] Stretch: Yeah. I'd agree with you there. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm in my forties now, mate. So I've been, been, been through that journey too, and it's probably 2010. I got into the fitness industry and that was over in London, working in gyms, owning a gym, all that sort of stuff. And when I first heard it heard about online training, I was like, how can that work?
[00:03:53] Didn't didn't really sit well with me. But you know, just over the years, like you say, it's evolved and I've had plenty of online coaches myself. So that was sort of what introduced me to the whole idea and, got me on board with like, yeah, there's a big business to be made in online coaching and you can, you know, get great client results with an online business.
[00:04:09] If we were to rewind and go back before, you know, the time of range of strength, can you talk to us about, you know, maybe your training journey? Like where did it start?
[00:04:17] Lucas Aaron: Well, I was never actually one for the weight room, much growing up in my teens and in high school, I was an avid athlete and I was in a lot of sports.
[00:04:27] I was kind of like the jackass when you went to dry land training, I didn't want to do anything but I had a really bad ACL rupture in my senior year of high school and that was playing rugby and I was basically just left to being in the gym all the time. Had a really good therapist at the time who was kind of anti surgery.
[00:04:51] It was a different time. I think when that happened, it was around 2000, 2001, 2002 things kind of like, you know, transferred into like we're gonna operate right away. Like, you know, it was, I think, good in a way to have that experience where we tried to forgo surgery and I, I did forgo surgery. But at that time is where everything kind of like started for me in the gym.
[00:05:15] Like I wasn't able to play sport. All my friends were, you know, Going to sport. So I was just in the gym and that's kind of how the whole strength training and everything became quite a passion of mine. I found, you know, identity in it and, started building community and meeting a lot of, a lot of people.
[00:05:35] And then you kind of see that you can get paid to do it. so, I mean, I think a lot of trainers experience this too, when you start moving into college and trying to figure out what kind of part-time gigs you wanna start taking on to make some extra cash that made the most sense to me because all my extra time was in the gym, like while I was going into school.
[00:05:55] And I got certified over a weekend as a trainer with a pretty basic certification. And that just kind of started the whole coaching journey. So, That was around 2005 and I was going through college at the time. I was taking business, not quite sure what I was thinking of doing, but I mean, it all pays off in the end cuz now I run my own business.
[00:06:19] So you, you know, whatever I had learned back then kind of applies in a way I guess, but I was just trying to get through school and make some cash and figure out what I wanted to do. And training just like got busier and busier and I started making some pretty good money as a trainer and I transitioned into what I was taking in school at the time to something more specific.
[00:06:40] I started taking exercise sciences and going that pathway and looking for careers in fitness. And I think too back then, a lot of us kind of have these visions of like what it looks like to be a professional in the fitness industry and kind of saw myself as like a, a strength coach for a professional sports team that was always kind of like this pinnacle thing in my mind. So I started working in sports performance trying to build up clientele based that way more sport specific stuff, got into power lifting, very competitively. I found sport again, which is, you know, I wasn't able to be in all the competitive sports I was in at the time when I heard my knee power lifting was kind of like the sport that was more available to me.
[00:07:24] So all these things were just kind of unfolding and always thought, like I had a plan along the way, but everything just kind of happens. And I suffered another bad injury, power lifting. I had a bicep pop. And at that time that was kind of, that was a tough injury because I had this plan mapped out. I was like, well, this is what it's gonna be.
[00:07:44] I'm gonna be sport performance, strength, coach specializing in like power lifting and all this cool stuff. And then I got injured and I wasn't able to do all those things. And. Yeah. I just kind of had a period of time where I just kinda lost that path. I was like, I'm not sure what I'm doing, I actually had thought about leaving the industry and, and going elsewhere in a different direction. And that was around that time I had gotten myself in pretty bad shape, like physically I wasn't training. And you can only imagine a power lifter that stops training, what kind of happens to that kind of body type. Quite a bit heavier and it was a bit of a specific shape, but yeah, I just kind of had this moment where I just started getting my shit back together and finding my passion again in fitness and why I was doing all this. And, that was when I started having some transformation.
[00:08:35] And that was when I got on the online space a lot harder. Instagram was pretty new at the time. So I created like a journey type account, body weight dad. I think that was when you and I actually first connected, I was like this big broken power lifter, dude learning gymnastics and being a dad.
[00:08:53] So, that journey kind of unfolded through the online space. And I think at that time, as that started happening and I was kind of sharing that journey meeting so many people and just seeing what was kind of evolving, I realized there was a lot of opportunity to get back into coaching. In a different way.
[00:09:13] So the gymnastics work the flexibility work, I started getting a lot heavier into kind of became more of a specialty for me. And I started finding that niche again, it was like, well, not the power lifter sport performance guy anymore, but I'm learning how to get more flexible. People see a big interest in that.
[00:09:32] And I see how I can actually help a lot of people in doing that. And that was when I started kind of reconfiguring a lot of ideas and things and, kind of come to what range of strength is now. It's like this, I think after the body weight, that thing was like trying to figure out how do I represent what I wanna represent with all my experience and everything.
[00:09:55] It's like, I wasn't just a dad learning gymnastics. I was this coach experie power lifting, you know, that kind of. Kind of rebrand all of that into like, I guess everything that I've done up to that point. And through some collaborations with real movement at the time, which were part of, for bit there during that time that's where range of strengths started to unfold and become, which was cool to see because, I had actually became a member of real movement at the time it was, you know, coach development kind of figuring out like brand or things like that. Just becoming a better coach. Accountability was a big thing to it like, to like what you, your goals were and stuff. And he asked me to come on and bring flexibility systems into what he was doing at the time with the real movement systems.
[00:10:44] So that was when it kind of started realizing that range of strength could become its own thing. It's like people know how to train flexibility and they don't know how. It evolves or integrates into like these other worlds
[00:10:57] Stretch: If we get back to that time, like when you're going through that transition, like, it sounds like injury has been a big part of, you know, that transition with your own training and even with your business, but what made you go from being a power lifter who probably hardly ever stretched or if you did stretch probably nothing like what you're doing today, how did you go from that mindset to entering into this idea of like, I need to get more mobile or I need to be more flexible?
[00:11:22] Lucas Aaron: Well, at the time the gymnastics work was a big interest for me. And I was realizing how limited I was in doing a lot of that stuff with a lot of flexibility. Like I, my shoulders couldn't get shoulders open. Couldn't do a handstand. Certain positions in a handstand or other things I was learning require nice pancakes that require all these big ranges.
[00:11:44] And it was like, well, I really need to out this flexibility, can't this stuff. So that was when the flexibility journey started unfolding more and realizing even at the time there just wasn't anything out there for flexibility, like for, for people to actually understand it. Particularly with adults, there's all this, you know, flexibility at a young age kind of gymnastics type flexibility.
[00:12:09] Gymnastic bodies at the time was presenting was a lot of it was new and they were presenting some, a stretch series. I dunno if you remember those at the time, it was just like your kinda positions, which it was good, but it didn't really teach you anything. It was just like, you're doing a workout for an hour and you're just kinda like, I don't understand this.
[00:12:29] Or like, I need more context to like how this is built or what it is. And that kind of left me, like trying to do some more research to figure out where a lot of it came from. I found kit Loughlin through a lot of that GB stretch series stuff. Cause I had found out he was a big part in like developing that and was like, that's the guy, right?
[00:12:47] Like you go that direction, you see that that's the guy and kit's work is very deep. I think you've been through a lot of that stuff too. And he specializes in like adult flexibility and like teaching like actual applications of how to stretch, which is, you know, pretty hard to find. And I think around that time, when I started like learning all this stuff, like I started really developing a passion for trying to understand it.
[00:13:11] Cause it's like going down a rabbit hole and you're like, there's way more to this. And obviously there should be right. Cause like how did the freak get flexible? Like how does that just like happen? Right. And there's all those myths or just ideas around like, it's just a genetic thing. You just have it where you don't.
[00:13:26] Right. Which leaves a lot of people to basically just never. Work on their flexibility. So in seeing like all the opportunities I lied in that that really kind of segued away from the gymnastics work and just started really honing in on flexibility. I was like, I see a lot more to this right now for me as a coach and for me on my own personal journey, like if I could get myself crazy strong and flexible, like what could that do for me?
[00:13:53] Right. Like, so that's kind of where everything moved in that direction. And you start kinda, I think you gotta have a competitive mindset with yourself.
[00:14:04] Obviously, if you're trying to obtain certain goals, and most coaches that are passionate about fitness are very much driven like that, like behind their own goals, just as much as they're about helping other people with theirs.
[00:14:15] So I think that's where. I'm gonna do the splits. People are telling me that I can't and all this stuff, like...
[00:14:21] Stretch: watch me,
[00:14:22] Lucas Aaron: these people along. Yeah, exactly.
[00:14:24] Stretch: Obviously as a power lifter and even, maybe even coming from like the rugby background, like there's myths that are out there.
[00:14:31] Like, you know, there's a lot of research that says that, you know, if we stretch, it's not beneficial to our strength and you know, there's studies that show up, you're stretching between sets. That's gonna decrease your force output and all this sort of stuff. Like, was that your belief system when you were playing sport and power lifting?
[00:14:48] Lucas Aaron: Yep.
[00:14:49] Stretch: What was it like for you to change that belief system? Was there something in particular that just made that go, you know what, I'm gonna commit to this? Or what changed?
[00:14:57] Lucas Aaron: Well, I would say the injury, right? Like you get injured, you can't do the shit that you loved. And then you're also second guessing is like that the shit I should be doing, like I have kids now.
[00:15:09] I want some longevity outta this and coming back around to being like, okay, I gotta get my ass back in shape. The big limiting factor was my range. And it was like reading other success stories. One that I had read at the time was Matt's train. I don't know if you know, Matt's we did a podcast together, but he was like one of my first inspirations when I was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do some gymnastics and I'm gonna get flexible.
[00:15:34] Like I had read his story. He was in his fifties and he kind of had a lot of the same shit going on that I had. And he just took on that journey and it really unfolded for him. So it was like, people probably see that in my journey now, too. They, they read about it, be how it unfolded and they're like, well, he can do it, I can freaking do it. There's you know, like what's the potential there. So yeah, I think breaking down those barriers for me and that it kind of happens to a lot of people. I don't know if you can. Relate to it. It kind of, when you're kind of pushed up against the wall and you just have no other options and you're like, fuck, I gotta explore some different shit.
[00:16:10] Like it's, you know? Yep. , that's kinda.
[00:16:13] Stretch: Yeah, my journey sibling mate, and like, you know, from endurance sports and thinking that endurance athletes are the fittest people on earth sort of thing. And you know, what that did to my health was negative. And then moving into, I, I sort of went more into sort of body building after that and then into CrossFit, and then CrossFit had the same impact on my health, just in a different way.
[00:16:32] And then there, I stepped into the gymnastics, more body weight stuff, and, and like you, it was like, strength could only carry me so far. And then you're starting to do press handstand where you're starting to do more advanced gymnastic stuff, and it's not your strength letting you're down. It's your flexibility.
[00:16:45] And you're like, you know what? I really have to spend time on this flexibility, if I'm gonna make progress with the gymnastics goals. But yeah, there's a lot of, you know, walls, a lot of barriers or a lot of belief systems I've had to overcome with each one of those transitions into different sort of training methods.
[00:17:00] So I can definitely relate to to what you're saying there.
[00:17:02] Lucas Aaron: Yeah. A lot of people can.
[00:17:04] Stretch: So when you went back online with this body weight, dad, were you training clients then? And if you were, was it mobility and strength, or was it still power lifting? Like when did this sort of transition to, you know, training your clients become more about this flexibility and strength?
[00:17:20] Lucas Aaron: Well, before that injury, I had a pretty core group of power lifters. I was training online and obviously at the gym and stuff, and I'd stepped away from time working at the gym, doing face to face work, just figuring out what I wanted to do. So as that journey started to unfold it at the time, I, I wasn't training anyone when it started.
[00:17:41] It was more like, I think just I needed to do something different. It's like, if I'm gonna get my ass in shape and have this trans kind of like, just kind of go all in, just start sharing this and just had no expectations. Really. It was just like, I'm just gonna keep my own self motivated first. Which is actually probably the core to a lot of my principles now is like, if I'm not motivated, I'm not gonna do what I said I would do or help people the way I want to help them.
[00:18:09] So no expectations there at all, really. But I think at the time with gymnastic strength training was kind of taking off. And there's a lot of community around that. I didn't expect the growth to happen. That happened on my account. So kind of like started growing and like pushing past like 10 K followers and stuff.
[00:18:30] And that was kind of when I was like, fuck, I didn't really expect that. And I didn't really know what to do. So I just started around that period when things were kind of growing really well. And I was seeing like potential in online space. Again, I started taking clients in, so it was probably about two years into that body weight data account.
[00:18:52] I started doing that again. And it, at the time it was more just calisthenics, body, weight and mobility, flexibility type focused just kind of like transformation focused kind of work. And that still kind of led to this barrier where I was like, I'm still not doing what I really want to do. Cause I love the strength stuff.
[00:19:12] Like even more so now where range strength is, it's like the calisthenics and gymnastics stuff isn't quite the dominant piece. It's more like the strength. Traditional strength, old school strength has found its way into my systems with flexibility. And that was again, there was just like this barrier for me, this like hill to climb where I was like, this really, it was growing, but I was like, I'm not really the body weight guy, like there's body weight guys, like, and maybe.
[00:19:38] I thought about it, like that probably could have been if I really wanted to push it like a very basic body weight type thing, but I just really wasn't that guy. And I wanted to find a way to bring more of my knowledge and what I really was passionate about and that other stuff into some kind of framework.
[00:19:55] So about two years into that, it kind of then was put on hold again. I was back to working full time. I was working for the military as a fitness instructor, doing PT and that sort of thing. And it was kind of a transitional period with the family and stuff too, where it just wasn't the right time for me, like in terms of like, trying to figure that stuff out versus just doing the nine to five thing, providing for the family and having a little bit of fun on the side.
[00:20:22] So, that kind of just evolved from there to. Again, there was a bit of a hold period where the online social media stuff was just kind of on hold, trying to figure that out. And then that was when I started getting back into sharing, I was getting back into like other stuff I was doing and started reconfiguring how I wanted that to unfold.
[00:20:44] Stretch: What a journey it's been, you said your account grew really quickly with followers. What do you put that down to? Do you see yourself as a good storyteller? Do you see yourself as like just, you made such great progress that people were fascinated in what you were doing?
[00:20:56] Was it the information you were sharing?
[00:20:57] Lucas Aaron: I think at the time and when Instagram first started, it was very like, there wasn't much to it. Right. I remember when like 60 second videos first came out, cuz at the time it was like 15 seconds. Max. And like, basically just like filtered pictures. Like those were just kind of like the things.
[00:21:15] And gymnastic bodies started sharing a lot of my stuff cause I would, you know, I was doing some of their, their training and I was having some transformation and my accounts started really picking up as they were sharing stuff. And then people resonating with like body weight type thing and the flexibility work.
[00:21:32] And I think it always did come down to seeing a bigger dude get flexible, I think was always the biggest appeal was like people just wondering how the hell is this happening? I was just kind of like unfolding. And so I do take at the early stages just to being like reshared and being a part of a community that was growing really well at the time.
[00:21:53] And then the last, you know, five years it's just been, I I've been taking the social media where just a lot more serious and just trying to figure out how to make content that appeals to the audience that I wanna talk to, how to caption and write and copyright, and like all these different things where I think that's this whole different process that has to, at some stage you have to start figuring out that stuff.
[00:22:21] And some people are good at it right away. Like maybe it's just a skill you already have, but just understanding how to get your message out, how to post you know, like Instagram stories, Instagram is my biggest platform. So that's why I always talk about Instagram. But even that is something I, in the last year I'm like, I can't just rely on Instagram.
[00:22:42] Like I'm putting more work to YouTube and I'm trying to look at other places and things where I can kind of push myself out, like having your website going and different things. But, yeah, it's definitely a work in progress. It, it is a work in progress and it's always changing. So. If there's anything I've learned in the last five years, you just gotta keep going.
[00:23:01] You gotta keep posting and sharing and you gotta keep failing. Like it's always gonna be changing. And that's, you know, I haven't quite nailed it. One thing I've always really been passionate about with my material is being organic and trying to be as real as possible. And that's just more so about who I am and just, I'm just not really a kind of like commercialized kind of approach to things.
[00:23:24] So sometimes I've tried that and I'm like, man, this is terrible. , it's just not me. But you gotta try stuff. Right. Cause you know, that's how you figure, that's how you figure out what it is you want to do is you try someone else's approach. And you're like, you know, that's, I don't really like doing that.
[00:23:40] So yeah, it's a work in progress I think. And I think it is for everyone that's in this, like I think you can understand that. anyone that you maybe think has it down, pat. It's like, if you follow them, you see them kind of fuck up sometimes. And you're like, oh, it's cool. It's cool to see
[00:23:55] that. exactly.
[00:23:57] Stretch: Yeah. That marketing message. And just having that consistency is definitely key to growing the business. Like just chatting to you now and like hearing that you did a business course back at uni or back at college, and then like to hear you talk about your niche and to hear you talk about, you know, investing time into thinking about really what you want to do, like you had the potential to go into more body weight stuff, but then there was something missing.
[00:24:18] Like there's definitely a business mind there. Do you put that down to business course? Or have you had business mentors or how have you managed to sort of focus on that part of the coaching business? Cause I think a lot of trainers struggle with that. They're really good at working with their clients, but they lack those business skills.
[00:24:35] Lucas Aaron: I think I am, maybe there's an entrepreneurial side to me more than I ever thought that I've. Found more so in recent years. But I was like, oh, I'm kind of just as much as an entrepreneur, as I am a coach, because I get excited about doing new things as well, too, all the time, which is a good thing and a bad thing.
[00:24:54] Like you need consistency in your product and what you're providing. And if you're a coach, I mean, the number one thing that you can be consistent with is just that you're always helping people. But I think being in that online space too, it's like about just always, I, I do get excited maybe a little bit stressed out sometimes too about trying to figure out how to get my message out in a different way.
[00:25:17] And it's fun to experiment. Memes are a bit new for me, so I've been experimenting with memes and that was, I, you know, obviously messed up that a little bit, but you kind of find out how you can do it and like what you're good at with that kind of message. But no, I think it's I've had some business mentoring, but I've never really invested in that fully where I'm like, I'm gonna really invest in a business mentor.
[00:25:40] That's gonna kind of tell me everything I need to do, but rather collaborating with other individuals, even Ben Patrick's success at the time, before that really took off and he was in real movement and just like the lessons learned from seeing what he was doing to put a lot of things in action. And I think if anything, what I learned from him at that time was he was always rethinking.
[00:26:03] It was never a perfect thing. It was never, this is what you need to do. He was like, this is what I'm doing right now. And then it was like, well, now I'm gonna try this. Or this seems to, so you kind of start being in that space where you're just around, you have this like inner circle of people that are all doing these things and you, you kind of realize that it's kind of like a never ending process.
[00:26:22] And you're just kind of involved in like trying to figure out.
[00:26:27] How things are changing and evolving. And so, yeah, I don't know. It's I've definitely come to terms with it being like, I am more of that kind of entrepreneurial side to me than I previously maybe have recognized and embracing that has been really good, cuz it's like, oh, I can actually embrace the stressors that come upon me.
[00:26:45] And I really like being in that environment and figuring things out. And so it's, I think it's a thing that you kind of find for yourself or kind of get to at some point.
[00:26:54] Stretch: It sounds like you're real problem solver mate, with with training and with business by the sounds of it.
[00:26:58] Lucas Aaron: Well, I think you gotta be right.
[00:26:59] Cause it's yeah. It's something the online space is, you know, I mean you're always a coach doing something and you, I think even if you're always doing the same thing, you still gotta find ways to engage your audience in a way that's like different, but you're the passing along the same message. So. You know, because it's, that's one thing that's hired with the online spaces.
[00:27:20] People can go to a gym and they know they need a trainer, versus when you're online, you need to like, get that message to someone and have it resonate with them. And even one thing I've been saying to some of the other coaches that kind of help and work with a little bit now too, is when you post you're actually posting for the people you work with too, you're not just posting for your, for new clients.
[00:27:43] And I think that's something we forget is like, if you are getting clients from a certain platform, they're always on that platform too. Right. So I think the motivation to be consistent with your material is just as much about retention as it is about growing a business and those kind of things too. So there's, you know, I think different ways to think about it and.
[00:28:05] I think if you put yourself in the hot seat too, there's really no other option, but to right.
[00:28:11] Stretch: yeah, exactly. That it's such a big part of growing a business these days. Isn't it. You've gotta be on social media. You've gotta be present. Now. What, what I like about your content is it's, it's just clarity mate.
[00:28:20] Like you know, if we go and look at your content or we look at your Instagram account, we know immediately who you are, what you do, who you help, what problem, you know, you solve. And I think you're really good at, at putting that message out there. And you do, like you say, you do it in, in, in a clear and concise way, and it is authentic to you.
[00:28:37] You don't sing and dance, which I quite like as well. I've tried that too. And I'm like, nah, this is this, not for me. but you know, each for their own, you know, some coaches love that sort of stuff and it works for them. But I think, you've done a really good job at finding, you know, your path and your message and you've do a good job at presenting that.
[00:28:53] Just to switch around a little bit. Now I wanna talk a little bit about mentors. We touched on like business mentors. And you've already mentioned obviously gymnastics bodies, and you've already mentioned kit who have been some other, maybe key sort of mentors in your journey, whether that's sort of training or business, you know, you mentioned Keegan, like who have they been and how, how helpful has that been in, in the process of building range of strength?
[00:29:14] Lucas Aaron: Emmett's been a great mentor Emmett Lewis, more so as that friendship mentoring kind of blossomed into more of a friendship with collaborations with him and Jeffrey E even Jeffrey, too, Jeffrey Wolf flexible. He's been a friend throughout the start of like my first Instagram account.
[00:29:31] I think at the time he was doing beach workouts on a calisthenics bar. Like, you know, that kind of thing. So it's you, you meet certain people along the way that maybe they aren't like mentors specifically, but you make these connections and you start to learn from each other. And obviously learning from Emmet has really helped both on identifying more of like what range of strength is.
[00:29:54] And also just like we've had some business conversations and, you know, you're moving into that online space and you're talking to someone who's been spending time doing it really successfully and they give you advice and help and point you in the right direction. And that's been certainly a key player in the last few years for me is just making connections with him as well, too.
[00:30:14] I would say educationally Dan van Zant. I kind of had this period of time where I was following his stuff when I was on my flexibility journey, when it was coming from martial arts world or something, I, I forget what the platform was at the time I was following his work from, but connecting with him through social media, doing some, some podcasting and then taking his course when he put it out.
[00:30:37] That's been a great experience, just bringing together a little bit more of that side of the training piece. Like I've never been like a research focused type individual, but I think it's important for us to be able to back up what we're doing in a way where it's like, you know, makes sense to people.
[00:30:52] Yeah, I think those, that would probably be the biggest key players in the last couple years.
[00:30:57] Stretch: Yeah, awesome mate. That's a great list of great list of resources there. Some of those guys, I know some of those guys I'm definitely gonna have to have to look up. You mentioned they're like doing Dans course.
[00:31:06] You know, I think there's a lot of emphasis on a lot of coaches to learn more, to earn more and you know, this big push that you've gotta keep getting certified and keep doing all these qualifications. What have you found in your experience? Have you, are you the sort of person that goes and does a lot of workshops on a lot of courses or is it more self learning?
[00:31:22] Like what works for you?
[00:31:23] Lucas Aaron: Definitely both. I, I like to keep current and I would say there's any other coaches listening that are wondering if a course is gonna change their dynamic to online business? It's probably not. I would say I taking a course hasn't necessarily helped me in that avenue as much as it's just kept me current and able to provide answers in ways as they come up a little bit.
[00:31:48] If that makes sense, like. Definitely stay up to date and take new courses, I think is a valuable thing, but maybe some people get a little too cut up and, and putting their energy and efforts into that when not much has really changed for the most part, in terms of like flexibility, I think is certainly an avenue that we can understand a lot more of.
[00:32:07] But for me too, as I see certain types of things maybe become popular or maybe changing the views on things I think I already know. I would say certainly when I see things are trending that maybe I need an upgrade in if it's biomechanic. It's like, I haven't, I like to re look at things in a different way. If someone's viewing something a bit differently, there's a big push on the compression expansion model right now from bill Hartman.
[00:32:32] So I've spent the last year getting into that stuff, but not in a way where I'm like this is gonna make and break my brand and what I do, but just so I can understand it. And even it's helped me look at what I'm doing with some of the flexibility stuff in a bit of a different way. So it's, you know, I think if anything, the continuing education stuff just keeps you current with how things are evolving.
[00:32:57] Because again, the industry's just, it's always changing a little bit. The sad thing sometimes is just repeating the message in a different way, always. So you kinda sometimes get thinking, oh, something's changed. And it hasn't really changed much. We're trying to get people exercising and improving their movement and those kind of things.
[00:33:18] So's helpful to hear. Other certifications or other people talk about things in different ways, but, you know, I, I haven't really relied on that as a means of getting my messaging out there and figuring out, you know, how to create content. And because I think at the end of the day, it's like, that's where it really relies on whatever it is you're doing.
[00:33:42] You can be a really basic personal trainer and there's even guys that just do that, that you, I follow them too, to watch how they get this messaging out. It's so basic. It's so good. And it's like, they're just a, they're just a personal trainer that help people lose weight and just start strength training..
[00:33:59] There's no smoke and mirrors there. It's just like talking and being, you know, getting your content in a way that connects to your people is just like, you don't need a special course to do that. I think it's, you know, more about. Maybe even just the mentoring on that side of it and understanding how that kind of part of the business works.
[00:34:19] If you're looking to get more in the online space, for sure.
[00:34:21] Stretch: I like what you said there about like, you know, obviously keeping current and, and looking at different methods, but also not letting that method sort of take over what you do, cuz I think we can get our blinkers on.
[00:34:32] We can do a course and then we buy into that, which is great, but we don't sort of think about the principals behind that and how we could take part of that and part of this and part of this and, and join it together to make our own sort of method or our own sort of style of training, which is something I think, you know, you've done really well with range of strength, cuz it's combining, you know, flexibility.
[00:34:51] It's combining old school strength. It's combining a little bit of power lifting. Like it's got such a great mix in there. That's come from your experience and your journey. And it's awesome to see how you share that. And also just. How interested so many people are like, I think it's, it appeals to a lot of, you know, general pop who wanna be mobile, who want to be strong, who want to train for more sort of health and longevity, which is obviously an industry that's starting to grow a lot more.
[00:35:17] But I also think it appeals a lot to coaches, because like you said earlier, there's not a lot of information out there about the whole flexibility side of it. And even, you know, the old school strength stuff, like that's sort of missing and where do we go to learn some of that stuff? So I think you've created something there that's been very powerful to coaches.
[00:35:37] And I think a lot of your members probably are coaches. Is that something you intended to do when you started doing this journey like to coach coaches? Is that just something that's come about?
[00:35:46] Lucas Aaron: Well the collaboration I had with real movement when I was still that's becoming ATG coaches now, and it's really just kind of, I don't know if it'll come back or not, but at the time, the real movement was all about helping coaches. So range of strength was in there and it was helping coaches. So I already had this portion of coaching, mentoring for that kind of stuff. And when I went on my own and started the coaching membership, it was just, I think, more about stepping away from that for a little bit to be like, is that really what I want to do right now is just focus solely on coaches or start building up range of strength into its own training platform for people.
[00:36:30] So like it's a bit of both where I have a lot of the older content still a part of the membership, but I've also always tried to address the coaches that are there in a way where it's just providing them with some tools. So, it is, I don't know if it's about 50, 50 coaches and individuals that are just looking for coaching and training.
[00:36:50] But there is a large group of coaches that are on there that wanna learn more. So I, I still have this piece of the membership and where it provides a little bit more for them where there's like new protocols presented and do some monthly webinar type workshops and talk about different things.
[00:37:05] So that's always kind of been there from that transition from real movement is just, I've had a coach kind of following and I've wanted to be able to provide service for that. And it's kind of coming back around to where I'm thinking about doing something for coaches. Again, whether it's in teacher training or just something that's a little more of a journey where it's like, we're actually gonna do some type of specific mentorship and process where you're gonna feel like you get a lot more mentoring versus just the subscribed content that you're getting there.
[00:37:37] So yeah, the coaches thing, and I mean, as you get older, anyway, I think that's a lot of people. And I come to you for that stuff anyway, cuz there's a lot of young up and coming coaches I'm only gonna be alive for so long. So I, you know, if I have some answers I can help them just like the other coaches that have helped me mm-hmm understand flexibility and how to apply it in a way where it actually makes sense.
[00:38:00] Cause that's really, what's a barrier for people right now. It's like either strength or flexibility the worlds are together for sure. You know, I think that that'll certainly be a role. I probably take on more as I get older for sure. But yeah.
[00:38:11] Stretch: Yeah. Will, will, will there ever be like a range of strength, workshop, seminar, something like that on the plan on the cards mate or?
[00:38:17] Lucas Aaron: Oh for sure. Like I am coming to Australia in November, so I'll be up your way. You're in Australia right now.
[00:38:22] Stretch: Yeah, mate. I'm up in, up in Queensland at the moment, so yeah.
[00:38:25] Yeah. So that's, you know, getting out and actually doing some workshops is a goal I've had for a while. So like I'm gonna be. Starting to do that.
[00:38:35] And whether or not that evolves into something that's more specific to a coach's kind of workshop or cert certification or something, then it could definitely get back around to that because I know there's a demand for it. Get asked about it a lot. So yeah, I think one step at a time I gotta go do some first to see how that looks feels, you know, it's you figure it out as you kinda start doing things, right?
[00:38:57] I like the idea of getting in, in, in front of people, like you know, over the last few years with COVID, it's been hard for everyone to travel and I think a lot of that sort of stuff has slowed down, but I definitely feel that there's people that are definitely craving that face to face connection.
[00:39:09] And, you know, it sounds like community's been a big part of your own journey, you know, through all the training and stuff that you've done. And even now with what you're doing with ranger strength, it's very sort of community orientated with the membership system. You've got a lot on your plate mate.
[00:39:21] Like there's a lot of different things that you're working on and managing. Yeah. So my next question is just like, how do you, how do you manage your time? How do you stay on, on top of it all
[00:39:28] Lucas Aaron: it's, it's busy. Like I do have like building a team for range of strength right now, like with the services that are being provided and Nick Wilson she's at flexibility, pixie has been on the team since it started its own kind of membership and stuff.
[00:39:47] So she mentored with me for almost two years prior to she's a coach herself and it's basically been me and her kind of running operations and stuff. And I just brought an intern in for August. So building systems around. That kind of stuff and how the membership's operating is certainly another step for me in terms of just being able to buy my time back a little bit where it's like, you know so that's, you know, if you are gonna continue to grow those, I think are decisions you have to come to terms with and figure out if that's what you want to do, or if you're able to manage that, or if you are gonna manage that, how's that gonna look and feel?
[00:40:27] And I am at this kinda turning point right now where I'm just figuring the logistics are behind that. But it's busy. Like it's, it's nice to be working for yourself and, you know, you build certain habits, I think as you do it more, it just becomes second nature. But certainly stepping away from it is I'm busier a lot of times than I was when I was working for the government in the military, but I'm also super passionate about it.
[00:40:53] And, you know, it's, I don't know. It's kinda hard to explain unless you're in the thick of it, but. You do need to have a routine system in play, like what you're doing in the morning. When you're gonna train, you gotta keep yourself accountable. Which is, you know, that's not an easy task sometimes is just keeping yourself accountable to the things you need to get done and your own training and all those type things.
[00:41:14] And, I think that's why coaches need a community of that. Like, that was what always kind of resonated with me with the real move and stuff. And we were doing that was just like, we were keeping all of us accountable to these goals and like our morning routine and, you know, so it's just making sure you have those things in place.
[00:41:32] You're making time for your family. Like now you're kind of in the driver's seat of all these things that someone used to manage for you and it's, you know, some days are better than us, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:41:43] Stretch: Have you still got a morning routine at the moment?
[00:41:45] Lucas Aaron: Not like I used to, like, not with regards to, we used to like juggle and write in the journal and I do all this other stuff.
[00:41:52] I just haven't had as much time for lately. But my basic morning routine is whatever book I'm into more into audible lately, just for the fact that I just always reading and doing something else is just, you know, putting on some kind of thing that I'm kind of learning or just into. And I just sit on the ground.
[00:42:13] Like that's one of the things I, it doesn't have to be some complex stretch or anything, but I always just make a point for first coffee the day I'm gonna sit on the, her wood floor and just move through a couple different postures. That's kind of been the morning routine for the last year now. Enjoy a coffee chat and catch up with the family and then.
[00:42:32] Go hard. Just like get read into the messages and shit. Don't
[00:42:37] Stretch: coffee's in caffeinated. Let's go
[00:42:39] Lucas Aaron: yeah. Yeah.
[00:42:41] Stretch: So, what's what's what's future plans, mate. You've already talked about, you know, potentially running workshops and getting out there with that sort of stuff and maybe going a coaching program.
[00:42:48] Are they the big focuses or what's what's future plans?
[00:42:51] Lucas Aaron: Workshops. I don't know if it's the big focus is like something I wanna do long term. But it's certainly something I wanna start doing and being able to provide. And that's been a goal of mine for a while. I would like to be more into a content creation space.
[00:43:05] So I working on building a space right now, just a garage in my back that I can just use for content. I do use a local gym. They've been super friendly. Nice. Like they kind of let me go in and do whatever and it's, you know, strong man style gym. It's a pretty cool environment, but still just a little bit of a barrier there with like, I think the thing is when you get in the content creation stuff, you just have to be in a space where you can just basically that be your thing.
[00:43:34] Like you just gotta be in there and you gotta be able to focus on it and just have a lot of time to create content. And that's really the focus for me right now, putting a lot of energy in my YouTube channel. A media guy, that's an old friend of mine. He's just starting with the media stuff.
[00:43:49] He's been working with me and helping me with that. So I think maybe not long, long term, but just in the next recent years, I just wanna get more of my content creation space a bit more to a point where it's like just running a little less dependent on me and maybe just have a little bit more help with that.
[00:44:08] But putting a lot of energy into that. And just seeing how that unfolds that's that's the next step for me, but yeah,
[00:44:17] Stretch: That content stuff is very time consuming mate. So I've just built myself a shed. So the gym, the gym, the gym is the next thing. Well, there's a few things in the shed already to start with, but the idea is to make that my content space, where I can start to create more content as well.
[00:44:29] And it's definitely a process being able to put that, put that all together. Like I've got a YouTube channel as well, and it's got a lot of content on it, but it's just never ending. There's so much, you know, you can sort of create deliver. Is it, is it mainly in terms of the content you're creating? Is it mainly sort of exercise, demonstrations and stuff like that?
[00:44:45] Or what sort of content are you looking to produce?
[00:44:48] Lucas Aaron: I'm getting a bit more into vlogging right now. Just, I think for me having the tutorial piece is there for sure. Like I want to get into like some, you know, sharing some perspectives, but just experimenting a little bit with kind of. Session unfolding.
[00:45:04] So, you know, the long form content stuff. Sometimes I try to put myself in the shoes of what I want to see maybe, and that maybe that's not a good idea, but like, I, I do like still watching, just kind of real environment, kind of chit chatting and, you know, seeing what's going on. Like, I, I still think there's some nice rawness in that kind of content that isn't shared as much as it used to be.
[00:45:30] So there's some of that going on right now and, you know, the tutorial stuff is, is always there, like trying to just get better at the long form content. It's, it's different, like Instagram, it's all short form content, which is pretty easy once you get the hang of it, but you don't really, I, I think the long form content is where people can go and just get like a lot deeper into the stuff.
[00:45:53] And I think for me, starting out to create that is gonna be about sharing. Almost like that organic vlogging type of poach, where someone feels like they're in the environment and they're just like, you know, we're talking about stuff and it's very real because it is like, I, I do train, I have goals. I'm in the space, I'm working on things, I'm helping people.
[00:46:16] And I just think that it's important to just share that kind of realness to it where it's maybe not just some glamored up like thing, you know?
[00:46:26] Stretch: Yeah. No, I think that's important. You know, social media is very the positive story and it's like, you know, there's a lot going on there with like how great everything is, but to build trust and to build relationships and that rapport, especially if you may, you know, you're an online coach to be able to show some of that, just who you are, the reality of life.
[00:46:43] Lucas Aaron: This is what I do. This is how I train. This is what I believe like it, it helps to build that trust in those relationships. I like that you brought up goals, cuz I also gonna say, what are the training goals right now, mate? What are you working towards?
[00:46:53] Well, flexibility is always a goal, but like right now, the flexibility work has been about maintaining my splits while experimenting with a lot of different shit.
[00:47:03] So here I've had a few periods where that's happened and it's, it goes pretty good, but maintaining splits and working on that kind of flexibility is always a priority for me. I'm I really want, I've been working on trying to hit this 200 kilo raw squat for a couple years now. I've been going really hard with squatting.
[00:47:26] I caught COVID in December in just before it, I hit 195 and it's just, I had a, I had a pretty bad setback with COVID. Like I was on a puffer and stuff. But I'm coming back around now. I'm I can, my energy's coming back for, for that goal. So I'm still shooting for that. I'm working with a conditioning coach right now for cardio.
[00:47:48] So I'm, I'm again, just kind of getting to breaking the barriers a little bit with seeing if I can hit that squa goal, but bring my aerobic capacity up. So, and that's also just an area that I've never really gone really deep into where we're doing a lot of breath work. I'm getting more into like aerobic capacity, breath stuff, and learning a lot about that kind of thing.
[00:48:10] So I'm learning more so than I am, I guess, being specific with the goals, but I expect my aerobic to come up a bit and I'm working on overhead pressing again. So barbell Olympic style, overhead press. Layback technique is a bit of an old school technique. You don't see much anymore. So I'm working on that.
[00:48:28] So those are the main goals I I've started competing in the USAWA it's an all around weightlifting association, which I think Australia has one as well too. I don't know if you looked into that. Yeah, but they basically run events with old time lifts, so it's pretty cool. It's been really fun. The next coming up is an strict Olympic press.
[00:48:52] So you're allowed to bend into your press. I think you're allowed up to like 45 degrees back extension, which is pretty, pretty wide. That's pretty. Yeah. It's a one hand dead lift with no hook grip. So that's gonna be pretty tough. We're with, and it's a cheat curl. So you just like, literally again, cheat the weight up as much as possible.
[00:49:13] Yeah. There's certain rules on extension and stuff like that too. So that's been fun to be in that space again, like if you you've been in the competitive space with your triathlon and stuff, like's just having some goals to work towards is, you know, keeps me aligned with my messaging and all that kind of stuff.
[00:49:30] Stretch: Yeah. Awesome mate, like that the, the aerobic thing gets me a little bit. That's the, like for me to picture you doing some aerobic stuff, mate. It seems a bit of left field. Where did that come from?
[00:49:38] Lucas Aaron: I, I just, well, actually, I, I did do that stuff a lot more when I was working for the military at, we used to take the, the units out onto like five and 10 K runs, things like that.
[00:49:49] So I did used to have a, quite a bit of a running background, but it was never my thing. I was always more of like one of the instructors that was on the run, just kind of backing everyone up and that sort of thing but it got away from me again. And when COVID did hit me, that was one of the things I was like, I'm not working on my aerobic work as much as I should be.
[00:50:09] And that's why I think I had a little bit more of a setback. So I started working on my conditioning again and just got a little harder into it. And like the breathwork stuff is really big right now. And it's kind of being presented in a different way where I'm like, I just haven't gone into that as much as I would've liked.
[00:50:26] So I'm really kind of taken on more of a learning role there, but there's some motivation to get my aerobic work up in a way where it suits my goals. And I think it's a nice tool to just have as a coach where I feel like I can, if I had to, I could help people with that sort of stuff or at least have an understanding of it a little bit better than I do.
[00:50:42] So.
[00:50:43] Stretch: It's a, it's a cool story too. I think it's awesome. How, like you are looking at different aspects of fitness and I think, you know, there's that myth around you can't be strong and aerobically fit or aerobic capacity will bring down strength. So if you're working towards this 200 K raw back squat, and you're doing an aerobic capacity stuff, it's nearly like you're going against the grain there as well.
[00:51:02] Yeah. Which is always cool to watch. Like, you know, like you said, the start who inspired you to get flexible and you see these big guys, you know, getting flexible and like, hang on. If they can do that, then why can't I do that?. I look forward to watching that journey unfold.
[00:51:14] Lucas Aaron: Yeah. Where are you working on it?
[00:51:16] Stretch: Yeah, it's pretty much the gymnastic stuff, like the flexibility for me, I've gotta get that pancake. And it's come a long way. Like, you know, I was lucky to be able to sit down and, you know, bend 45 degrees with my torso on the floor, probably, you know, just over a year ago.
[00:51:30] And just the other day, I'm probably. Five centimeters off touching nose to floor. So it's come, it's come a very long way. Yeah. Middle splits has been a challenge for me. I did tear in adductor years ago. It's probably like an injury from 10 years ago, but I find when I get deep with the deeper I get in the middle splits, I'm starting to feel a little bit of adductor pain.
[00:51:48] But yeah, I wanna get those, those middle splits. And then it's just the gymnastic stuff. I really wanna evolve with the with the gymnastics, my press handstand is getting better. You know, I want better do strict handstand. Press-ups, that's something that's avoided me for, for a long time. For some reason, I've, I've done a lot of work on that, but never been able to get to that goal.
[00:52:04] Yeah. And then just more on the rings. I really enjoy rings training. So ring, routines, more ring skills. So just sort of bringing that into the mix right now. So I'm working with a couple of different coaches, learns a human he's helping me Erdi with the mobility stuff and he's a student of Emett.
[00:52:18] So. It's been great to watch his journey. And then another guy from Portugal called Nuno, who is helping with me with some of that gymnastic strength training. So it's good to sort of learn from those guys and hear about their journeys and yeah, just keep evolving with that mate. So that's where I am right now.
[00:52:33] And I'm obviously also part of range of strength. I like to watch what you guys are up to when I've stepped in there of late and starting to digest, you know, some of your material just to really help with my clients, like you know, the, the training clients that I'm serving and get a better understanding.
[00:52:46] It's nice to see your approach compared to sort of Erdi approach compared to gymnastics bodies compared to Emmett, you know, other guys I've learned from as well. And it's, it's awesome. An awesome tool. So yeah, if you're a coach, I recommend checking out range of strength cuz there's a lot of great resources in there, especially around the flexibility side of stuff.
[00:53:03] So yeah. It's awesome, dude. Thanks for, thanks for sharing all that knowledge that you've got there.
[00:53:08] Lucas Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. It's been fun.
[00:53:10] Stretch: I've got I've got three questions. I typically ask at the end of the podcast, the first one's like, you know, what sort of resources would you recommend to a personal trainer who wants to build like a sustainable personal training career?
[00:53:20] Lucas Aaron: Like I think if, if you're looking to get in the online space, try to find some interning, which a lot of them will do too. If you reach out where you can just get a feel for how systems are working online, like, if that's all new to you, don't hesitate.
[00:53:37] Like even, you know, reaching out to other, other areas that are set up online, just asking if you could intern and don't be afraid to do free work. Like when you're starting out. It's probably the best tool that you'll be able to give yourself is just providing some service to gain some experience and figure out a little bit more around how you're gonna be doing things.
[00:54:01] Like if you, whatever course you take, it will mean nothing until you start actually working with people and, you know, figuring out how someone fits a certain mold. It's gonna take a little while. So I always say do free work for a bit, like find a way where you can maybe case study around somebody, like have them just try some of the things that you're thinking about doing, maybe get an internship going somewhere where you can just see how things are operating online and just be in that space.
[00:54:29] If anything, if you can just find a group of people that are doing things that you wanna do, try to get involved and be a part of that as much as keep you accountable, maybe a lot of the things that you wanna be doing. Any coach could be served quite well by learning a lot more about flexibility, because as a service that you could provide someone, helping someone improve their range of motion, like where they actually feels like it works. And it actually helps them move towards better movement and they know what they're actually doing.
[00:55:02] I think that's a really powerful tool. So, and it certainly helped me out a lot too, like with regards to even working with power lifters. So I work with power lifters now, again, just like I did before, but they come to me for a different reason. They come to me to get better movement. They wanna improve their flexibility.
[00:55:19] They wanna, you know, all these other things. So I think there's just so much opportunity in just that alone. I think that's one area where I think a lot of new up and coming trainers can gain a lot from, for.
[00:55:31] Stretch: Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely been an area I think in the fitness industry that's been lacking in knowledge, you know, we, we covered that.
[00:55:37] We sort of spoke about that a little bit, but you know, more and more is coming out now about okay. Many benefits come from flexibility. And like everyone sort of knows how to squat and knows how to deadlift and knows, you know, how to press or whatever it is. But the knowledge around flexibility seems to be missing.
[00:55:53] And, you know, it's guys like yourself and Emmett and kit and all the people you spoke about that are starting to bring this information and make it more accessible. But yeah, it's definitely a strength that I think a lot of trainers are missing or a key that they're missing. They can unlock a lot of a lot of potential for, you know, athletes for sports performance, but also just general population.
[00:56:11] So I agree with you there. I also like what you said about the collaborations. I think a lot of time we can go into that online space and we're all of a sudden working from a cafe or sitting at home and we're spending a lot of time with ourselves, but if we're not collaborating with other coaches or we don't have the community to hold us accountable or to, you know, keep us in check, it can make it a lot harder to be successful.
[00:56:31] So, and it sounds like, you know, collaborations have been a big part of your success as well, along the way, Lucas. So yeah, hundred percent.
[00:56:38] Lucas Aaron: Always looking to do more too. Like I just did a collaboration with Grayson strange old school strength camp, and it was great. Like just two guys coming together that are pretty much on the same page, sharing some different perspectives, but it really brings that appeal to the old school strength stuff, being more modern than it.
[00:56:56] Right. And it's just always looking for opportunities to collaborate with other coaches and do things like that. I think it even just helps you as a coach identify like, oh, there's opportunity here and coaching this stuff. And you know, this is how it might look and feel and, you know, yeah. Such
[00:57:15] incredible.
[00:57:16] Stretch: Yeah. To learn and grow yeah. . And like, it's, it's a great way to reach a bigger audience too. Like, you know, your, your fans who follow you, who are interested in old school, strength and flexibility are also gonna be interested in the people you do collaborations with. And obviously their audience is gonna be interested in what you do as well.
[00:57:31] So it just helps that community to keep growing. Doesn't it?
[00:57:34] Question number two. What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself?
[00:57:38] I would've kicked myself in the ass a little bit, I guess just cause yeah, I mean, I was just a little late bloomer around trying to figure out what I wanted to do and, just hesitant around doing what I wanted to do as well. Right. Like, I mean, being a coach and working in the fitness industry, I mean, I think maybe as a different viewpoint now is how you can get your business going online, but.
[00:58:02] Back then it was nothing but negative negativity from everyone. Like you're not gonna make any money doing that. And no one, you know, that's kind of bullshit. And I mean, where I'm coming from this part of Canada, everyone's kind of like working on an oil rig or, you know, getting a trade and that's kind of like what you do.
[00:58:19] So, I think the hesitation or things I kind of had back then maybe portrayed from other people's views kind of affecting me and just the uncertainty of like I'm doing the right thing. And I'm just glad that I stuck with stuck with it and just kept following what I wanted to do versus what someone else maybe thought I should do.
[00:58:38] So, I mean, if another person's listening to this and that's what they need to hear, like do what you love, man. Cause you'll, you'll never work a day in your life. If you do, if you're doing, doing you.
[00:58:50] Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like that was that sticking point in your, in your journey teammate where you nearly thought about just giving it up and going and maybe working on an oil rig or getting a trade, but you managed to stick through.
[00:58:59] Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. my last question is if you could have dinner with anyone alive or dad, who would that be and why?
[00:59:06] Lucas Aaron: John Grimm? So Grimm, he's an old, old school bodybuilder strong man. And I just love his work. At the time he was just really against the grain. He was, he was the range guy. He was a muscle guy and he was doing odd lifts.
[00:59:27] So he was kind of like breaking the barriers in all these different areas. So I, if I could, man, I would, I would have sit down and have a meal with him, hopefully a training session. He was doing, he was doing a lot of cool things back then that, you know, you're seeing people do now, or, you know, was kind of looked upon as something that couldn't be done.
[00:59:45] And he was breaking a lot of those barriers and it would be really cool to sit down and I shared a post with him in it recently, and he's doing like a wrestler's bridge with like a tricep kickback, just like he was like, you know, he was out there, you know, he was just like, strength is everything flexibility.
[01:00:02] Like everything, like he was, he was certainly and he, he was super strong. He was really strong. He held a lot of records for certain lifts and he was, you know, when bodybuilding shows at the same time, like it was just a different time would be cool to be around a lot of those guys back then to just see how that environment kind of looked and felt.
[01:00:20] So.
[01:00:21] Stretch: Yeah. Awesome mate. Yeah. I can see the similarities there.
[01:00:23] Lucas Aaron: yeah.
[01:00:24] Stretch: Now, now that you're into the the weight lifting competitions again, mate, you'll have to set some records.
[01:00:29] Lucas Aaron: Well, I mean, there's actually one it's called a van dam lift. Mm. So you, you get in a suspended split and you basically lift a heavy dumbbell up to your hip level.
[01:00:39] And I, I did do it a couple months ago and I sent it to the USAWA, they were thinking about removing that lift cause no, one's been able to do it. Yeah. So that, that might be the wine I'm working on it.
[01:00:50] Stretch: you're the only athlete did that can actually get into
[01:00:53] mate. This is all I can do.
[01:00:55] claim it, claim it.
[01:00:57] for sure. Luke's been awesome to sit and chat with you. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we sort of finish up?
[01:01:04] Lucas Aaron: It's cool to come on a platform like this, where you're speaking more to coaches and people that are kinda looking for just success in that avenue. And I, I think you'll find that success.
[01:01:16] Regardless of how much money you think you need to be making, or how many people you need to be serving. If you just keep doing this, like, you know, if you're passionate about coaching and fitness and physical culture, there's no better place to be. So I like just don't get caught up in some of the bullshit around what you think you should be doing and just do it, just do it and just love it.
[01:01:35] And you, you won't ever start.
[01:01:37] Stretch: Great advice. And it's awesome to see that that's what you are doing. You know, you're so passionate about what you're doing and it comes through in the content that you share and everything that you do, mate. So you know, thank you for sticking with what your passion and producing range of strength.
[01:01:49] It's a great community. You've got going there and I wish you all the best mate.
[01:01:52] If you'd like to connect with Lucas or find out more about range of strength, you can find him @rangeofstrength on instagram, range of strength on youtube or www.rangeofstrength.ca
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