Crystal O'Keefe: Welcome to the MetPro Method Podcast. I'm your host, Crystal O'Keefe. Today is a special episode. It's our one-year anniversary of the MetPro Method. As we look back over the past year, it's easy to think about past clients we've had at Met Pro. So, we thought it would be fun to share with you some of those past clients.
Because of that, I am joined by not one, not two, but three MetPro coaches. Cat Ramirez, Ryan McMullen, and MetPro founder Angelo Poli. Thank you all so much for being here today.
Angelo Poli: Thank you. Thank you. A year, crystal. A whole year.
Crystal O'Keefe: I know, it's crazy.
Angelo Poli: Can you believe I can have even less hair?
Crystal O'Keefe: I live with Tom, so yes, I can believe that.
Angelo Poli: There you go.
Crystal O'Keefe: So I want to start with, uh, let's see. Angelo, I'm going to start with you. Tell me about a client that inspired you.
Angelo Poli: All right, so I was thinking about it and I did not drop any spoilers for this because when you gave me the bullet points here that you wanted to talk about, you said, you know what?
Inspirational or teach you things, or I think you have a few bullets, but you said you wanted more athletic or wants to put on muscle or were athletically driven. Because we're always talking about weight loss.
Crystal O'Keefe: Exactly.
Angelo Poli: We're always talking about it. We can do some of that too, of course. But I actually had someone call me today, an hour before we all got on together that inspired me.
So, in his honor, I'm going to tell stories from about a decade ago. Oh, so about a decade ago. I would have been transitioning. So, I was coaching people remotely and, from around the US, but I still had the brick and mortar, um, facility and I was still traveling to a few brick and mortar facilities and doing seminars and coaching and that sort of stuff.
And I came into contact with a few really unique coaches and athletes that I'd love to tell you about. So the first one, this wasn't quite 10 years ago, but it's going back a little ways. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to work with Ben. Now, I bet Ryan and Cat probably know that name, both having boxes and being in the CrossFit world.
But he was, I say was but I'm sure he is still doing it, is an exceptional coach. I loved hearing his stories of the attention to detail he would give to his programming for his coaches and in getting to work with him and we were doing, of course, nutrition stuff for him. He had goals also at the time but getting to be, a fly on the wall and listen, learn, from some of the stuff he's doing.
So for those who don't know, he trained the guy who won the Fittest man in the world, and the woman who won Fittest Woman in the World titles in, I believe it was 2016. Yeah, he was really inspirational to work with and by the way, he did phenomenal, as well for the short time we were working together.
And, he actually was one of our celebrity coaches and I think if you still go into the specialty section listed under celebrity coaches, I still think you can find some of the programs that he threw together. And let me tell you, at first glance, it might seem like this is just another workout. It is not. He's put some thought into that. They're very well put together. Very interesting. And his approach really inspired me.
Crystal O'Keefe: Wow. That's really cool. Well, Cat, how about you? Do you have a client that comes to mind who inspired you?
Cat Ramirez: I do. So, I have a lot of clients that I feel are inspiring, especially I think as a female and a mom, and a working mom at that.
I've got a lot of clients that are working moms. A lot of doctors, a lot of nurses that work crazy hours and they've got little kids and kids that are doing all the sports. Like I have no, my babies are not old enough to do those sports, but they take 'em to like soccer and like all kinds of stuff all over the place.
And then they're pursuing their own goals, their own running goals, and they're doing this and they're taking care of their family and it's just so much and nobody will ever give themselves credit for doing what they're doing. Right? Like because you're in it and you're just like, I'm just doing what I have to do.
Right? Like whatever. But to train for something alone requires so much dedication to train for something and dial in your nutrition and take care of your kids and work and do, you know, like all those things. I don't even know if there's enough hours in the day.
I have a client, Diana. And she is an OB and a phenomenal OB and right now, she travels to other hospitals to go work shifts and then she works at another hospital to work shifts and she works crazy shifts. She's training and she runs, she's an avid runner. And even when she's not training, she's still putting in the time and the focus and really a lot of thought into her workouts and how she's going to get them in.
She's got little kids that excel at sports. Her daughter is like a phenomenal soccer player, so she takes her everywhere. Like across state lines, like everywhere to play soccer on weekends. And her and her husband, one will have like one kid, one will have another kid like doing all kinds of stuff.
They do so much stuff together as a family, which is amazing, and travel all the time. And then she works these gnarly shifts and she will never give herself enough credit. But she's a repeat client. She's one of my favorite clients and she is, a million miles a minute, and the transformation that she's made is outstanding.
Both in weight loss, but also in body composition. Um, phenomenal. She looks like a different human being, and she's a petite woman, but just such a transformation. A transformation, not only of that, but her overall demeanor. When she first came on, she was like, so like you could feel her vibrating through the phone.
It was like, I'm always like, you were really a lot, and I remember that first two conversations. I just got the phone and I was like, woo, my goodness. But I mean, she's great. We, you know, talk about all kinds of stuff outside of it, like she's one of my just favorite people. She's great.
But it's stuff like that that I think is really inspirational for the people that have just such full lives and still maintain the capacity and the wherewithal to set their mind to these goals and really stick to them and create what they need to be successful in those arenas.
And when I say successful, I don't mean perfect. Perfection is not what we're going for. It's just to keep coming back to it. Keep coming back to it, and that's really the thing that counts here, is that you just keep being mindful. You keep coming back to it. You keep creating those practices regardless of what's happening. Right. And better is better.
Crystal O'Keefe: Yeah. You know, you're one of those inspiring moms, working moms too. Cat, you give yourself credit, you work your butt off…
Ryan McMullen: I was going to say that, and Cat numerous times asked me if I need help or anything on my end, and I'm like, when do you have time? You have three kids and a full-time job like, you have no extra time to help me.
Angelo Poli: Get this woman a cape!
Cat Ramirez: I will sit in my pantry and help you anytime you want, Ryan.
Crystal O'Keefe: Oh, that's great. Oh, well, Ryan, how about you? Who inspires you?
Ryan McMullen: You know, I knew this was going to happen. I said like, I have so many successful clients and you know, when we were talking about this episode, it was hard to think like, man, who do I want to talk about? But hearing Cat, it's just like starting to bring people up and I think that resonates with me a lot is the busy people and really successful clients.
And two, I gotta give a shout out to, I'm going to explain two of my Aussie clients, from Australia, they are rock stars. It's like every client I've had from Australia just seems to like click and get it and understand it.
And not only that, but like respond super well.. Um, so I don't know what's going on with their metabolisms down there, but it's really interesting… Um, so my two, Michael I worked with him for a long time. And the other one, Nicole uh, I worked with her for quite some time as well, and both runners, in their own capacity.
Michael is a marathon runner and Nicole a ultra runner. So, she's doing like 50Ks plus. But both, like Michael, two kids full-time job, his wife works and Nicole, three kids, you know, full-time job, and it's incredible to see the dedication of like, I'm gonna get up at four o'clock in the morning or, you know, five o'clock and go do this 10 mile run that I have to do and still have time to cook and prep and plan out all of their meals and snacks and navigate travel.
Like, it's just really inspiring and then it makes you think, like when you hear someone say, well, I don't have time to do it, makes me wonder, like, do you, do you not have time or is it just not a priority because they truly embrace it and make it a number one priority for them. And it's really just neat to see their progress and both incredible transformations and what Cat was talking about.
Not just their body, but their mindset towards food, their mindset towards taking care of their training and recovering. It’s just amazing to see. So those two clients really stand out for me.
Crystal O'Keefe: All right. I'm going to ask you guys a curve ball. This was not planned question, so…
Angelo Poli: I expect the unexpected with you, Crystal
Crystal O'Keefe: I heard a lot of different things that inspire you guys, and I'm curious if there are like a set of, or if there's one attribute that you can say inspires you personally. If there's something that you think about, like you see in clients over and over, that's like, that's the thing that gets me going.
Angelo Poli: Okay. I got a story for that. This is going to sound so bad. Keeping with the theme of 10 years ago. I had the privilege of working with the Associated Press Male Athlete of the year in 2011. And for those, I'll save you the time, to Google it and look it up. I had the privilege of working with Aaron Rodgers for some time and numerous, reporters came out because they all wanted to, you know, they won NFL MVP the fall of that year and the following year.
Anyhow, numerous reporters were always coming out to kind of grill and ask questions, and the funniest interlude I ever had was a reporter, in all seriousness, she said to me, and here, you gotta understand, everyone in town who knows my personality. I'm the short, furry, and funny, right? Not the, you know, you think of a trainer with, you know, the neck of a wrestler.
That's not me, never has been. And in all seriousness, she looks at me, she goes, “So, what do you look for when you decide to take on a client? Do you look for the most driven, do you look for the most elite, the strongest, the greatest endurance people who can push through the pain?” and I'm like, “No,I like it when somebody's interesting because they're a lot more fun to talk to.” And it just hit her, her funny bone. And this reporter just fell out of her chair laughing because she wasn't expecting it. When I said just be interesting is it for me. Clients come from all walks of life, every background. If you're willing to open up and be real, we have, we can have so much fun together.
So that's my story. That's my reporter from 2011 story.
Cat Ramirez: Yeah, I would second that. I feel like the most memorable clients are like, the clients that are very like raw and real about things and like, I don't care. I'm really. There are times where I'll be like, let's talk about what's going on.
But there are other times where I'm just like, “Yo, you need to pull your life together,” and like make better choices, like do it like that, but better. Okay.
Like, you know, I think it's the clients that you can just be real with and laugh with, but, keep, you know, they're going to show up and you know that they're gonna put one foot in front of the other and there's gonna be slip up sometimes, but ultimately, they'll be real with you about it and they'll get right back on and go again.
And even then, again. Like better is better. So that might be, that might be their nutrition, but that also just might be like they're mentally in a better place. Like they're now moving around where they weren't moving before, like stuff like that. Right. So as long as I feel like clients- I'm a very task oriented person.
I'm very like, this is the goal. How do we get there? And so I really like clients that will at least, you know, meet me there and work those. Work the steps.
Angelo Poli: I love that. Yes.
Ryan McMullen: Love it. I’ve got to take that. I'm taking this question in a different direction. I, for me, like for me, what inspires me is what I’m terrible at with my clients. And I don't think-
Angelo Poli: Spelling? Oh,
Ryan McMullen: That too. Just the English language as a whole. No, um, no. I think people sometimes, because we're coaches and we're, you know, we're talking people through like what to do. They think that we're perfect at this stuff on our end, and we're not like, we're humans and we have, you know, major faults, and mine personally is having a cheat meal or something off and being able to jump on.
And I have so many clients that are able to like, this is just, it makes me in awe of them. Like I have so many clients that can say well, I'm going out on Saturday night, like I'm not going to follow plan. Like I don't plan on it. I don't want to, I don't want it in my head, but I'll be right back on Sunday and they do and like I, that doesn't register in my brain at all.
I'm like, I go out to a brunch on a Saturday and I'm like, well, screw it. All, all bets are off for the rest of the weekend. So I'm, I'm like those clients that can do that. It's super interesting to me because it's not my personality trait, but it makes them very successful. And when they can do that and then just go right back to it, it's pretty inspiring to me.
Cat Ramirez: Ryan, I need you to be better
Crystal O'Keefe: Cat, keeping it real.
Ryan McMullen: Always being real with me.
Cat Ramirez: We're going to have a conversation here after this.
Ryan McMullen: Oh boy…
Crystal O'Keefe: Well, I think that both of you kept it real. All of you kept it real. And I have to say that resonates with me, Ryan, because I definitely struggle with that. Angelo and I have had many conversations about my vacations and things that go awry after the vacation.
Uh, it's a work in progress. Better is better, right? Cat?
Cat Ramirez: Better is better.
Angelo Poli: No, it's going to be our new thing now.
Crystal O'Keefe: Forward is a pace.
Cat Ramirez: Exactly.
Crystal O'Keefe: Okay, so that's a lot about inspiration. Now I would like to kind of change gears a little bit. Angelo, I'd like to hear about a client that taught you something.
Angelo Poli: Oh, it taught me something. Okay. I gave this a little thought as well. Who do I want to go with? So, I'll take you. I, and I have one more we gotta get to after this. We'll come back to take you through a little tour of different peering into different sports and lifestyles. So, backing way up now, 10 plus years.
Even a little farther physique sports. So, I worked for a while with a bunch of physique competitors. So, for those who don't know those physique sports, body building, figure, fitness, bikini, all that, those are the physique sports. I don't do much of that anymore, but a lot of the science that was used back then has definitely influenced what we do today at MetPro.
So, for those who don't know, in that particular sport, it's quite a tier situation to qualify. So, what'll happen is somebody needs to goto, what we would call a national qualifier, and compete against others and a national qualifier. Well you still have, I'm not going to say amateur, but you know, people just getting started in the sport.
But usually they've done some non-ranked, really amateur local level competitions on their way there. You’ve got to get to kind of a national qualifier and then you have to place in the top five. Now you place in the top five, then you go to a junior, national qualifier or equivalent. There's actually about three or four different qualifying ones, and you have to place in the top three.
If you get there, then you go to the national qualifier and then there's several of those very high level competition and you have to win your class and that's how you get your IFBB Pro Card. So, where I would come in is I would end up working with a number of competitors that had gone through steps, basically one through three, but they were hung up, you know, at that national level winning their class to get the IFBB Pro card because of the difference at that level.
Everyone is phenomenal, you know, and everybody is on point and dialed with their nutrition, dialed with their training. But I had one gal that I remember from years ago that I found particularly inspiring because she was right on the cusp of getting her card, but she found out that she had some significant health problems secondary to anything she was doing. And, they were serious health problems. Not something that stopped her from training, but it was something that was going to dramatically alter her life. And yet she drove at her goal and she wanted to keep going and keep fighting. And I just remember being so inspired by her because even though she, once she found this out, she still finished through and she ended up getting that qualifying card and that was, you know, it was really neat to see at that time, 10, 12 years ago, doing this day in and day out.
She just stuck out in my mind of people competing in that sport as very inspirational.
Crystal O'Keefe: Wow. That's really neat.
Cat, how about you? Have you worked with a client that you felt like taught you something?
Cat Ramirez: I feel like I kind of learned something from all my clients. They're all so different and we're super fortunate.
We get to, we get to coach, which is great, and we get to help people to better health and wellness and longevity, which is amazing. But there's also something to be said about the human interaction and speaking with people that maybe you wouldn't otherwise cross paths with and taking away something from each client.
And so, I think every single one of my clients for sure has taught me something. So, my son has special needs, and I really like it when I meet other special needs, parents. And, one of those is actually, um, you did a podcast with Elliot, right. She's amazing, professional, singer and dancer.
Um, and her mom is also a client, Julie, and she is amazing, like amazing woman, just in general. She is so inspirational. She has done so much. Her son has special needs and, they lost him and she has gone on to do so much within the community that it's just phenomenal. And I love getting to talk to her about it.
And all the things that she's doing. She's just such a powerhouse. She does so much and just keeps going and going and going, keep going. I can't even keep up with all the things that she's doing and then also, being a mom and a grandma and pitching in and all those things.
And she's just amazing. Always just the best attitude. Um, and like her husband has also lost a bunch of weight because of just like her eating. So she goes, so like, she's like he just keeps losing weight, like he's not even doing it, but he's also benefiting and they are both moving and you know, on it.
And it's just amazing to like really see the effort put forth and the change for the whole family, really. and just all the amazing work that she does, down in Texas. And she's truly just a very inspirational woman. She's just a phenomenal woman.
Angelo Poli: Ryan, how are you gonna top that?
Crystal O'Keefe: Yeah, Ryan, all right, Ryan, I hope you use that time to think because you're in the hot seat now.
Ryan McMullen: Cat kind of stole my answers.
Crystal O'Keefe: Oh, are you working with Julie too?
Ryan McMullen: No. No. Not, not that. Um, no. I think. For me, it's like I learned something from every single one of my clients and like Cat said, it's, you know, we get to work with everybody from all walks of life and professions and training regiments.
I can't tell you how many things I've learned, like every single day and not just from my clients either. Like we have a great team with amazing coaches too, and I learn something new from them daily, you know, questions about anything. I think probably my biggest takeaway with what I've learned from clients is every, we say this all the time, but we see it in practice with MetPro is like every body is different.
And the way that, every client I work with upfront you're kind of figuring what works for them.
We're working off of principles and science and, and real evidence based theory. But you tweak two or three little things with one person. And if you do that with another client, it doesn't work the same way. And like it's just opened me up to approaching diet in such a different way.
And even down to behavioral, right? Like you can give someone a technique behaviorally that they're going to, stick to and that helps them, and you give that to another person and it completely derails them. And I find that just really fascinating. And the more people you work with, the more you learn that and just kind of fine tune and that's just a neat process.
Crystal O'Keefe: It is. But you're absolutely right because just for myself as an example, eating regular carbs, like potatoes or something, just regular potatoes, that can have a great effect on my weight versus eating sweet potatoes. And it's something I didn't take very seriously whenever I first started MetPro but over time I have learned.
Ryan McMullen: Well, and I always think what Angelo told me, like when I very first started, I remember going through a training or maybe we were having a talk and he said, when clients ask you upfront, well, what do you expect to see? How much weight should I lose in the first month?
And I tell him the same thing because Angelo told me this, I don't know, I don't know, like, ask me again in a month. Maybe I'll have a better idea. And that's really the truth, because we don't, some people come on and drop 20 pounds in the first month and they're just reacting like crazy good to it and others it takes a little bit more time and tweaks and that's the truth.
Like we're learning about our clients in that first month or two months and then we're able to say, okay, this is what's going to work for you.
Crystal O'Keefe: Absolutely. Okay. So, I would like to hear one more client for each of you. This one, uh, Angelo, I'll start with you again. Tell me about a time you thought a client would give up, but then they didn't.
Angelo Poli: This is the one that called me today. Oh my gosh. All right, here we go. So, my buddy Manny. Manny loves power lifting. He also loves kids. What he has done for years is he's gotten the youth and the community involved with lifting and using it as something to keep them busy, something to teach them some values and work ethic.
So, I met Manny we're going like, hmm, probably almost a decade ago, been a while. He was probably at the gym about the same time as Rogers was training there. So, he was getting a burrito. From the taco truck across the street, and he goes, that's a gym there. I've heard about that guy.
I think I'll go walk in there. So, Manny comes walking in and he explains to me his passion and his love for, power lifting. And he got me all into it. But he explained to me that he loves setting world records. So now I got to give you a little sneak peek into this world.
Very different from the physique sport world. Very different. But there's weight classes. So, when you compete in power lifting, typically what you're going to be doing is, this particular federation is bench press and deadlift dominant, but typically in power lifting, you also have the squat, but it goes by age, class, and weight.
So, he had records in every weight and class imaginable. When I say he had more world records, he has today 109 records.
Crystal O'Keefe: Holy cannoli.
Angelo Poli: 109. But it's not as great of a story as how he got them. See, because Manny's five foot six. So, to get the record in the 330 class wasn't the healthiest thing for him.
So you see the problem here? He has records in the 330 plus. He has records in the 308 class. I came into play and started working with Manny between 308 and 275, and he said, Angelo, I gotta hit records all the way down. So, we hit 308, we hit 275, 259 weight class, 242 weight class 220 weight class.
Crystal O'Keefe: Wow.
Angelo Poli: He had diabetes. He beat it. He got it under control for years. Okay. Now, you said you thought someone that would give up right. So now fast forward a decade, he kept it all under control for a while, but after time years went by, I bumped into him. We talked and he let himself slip a little.
So now he's dealing with diabetes and I get a call from him. This is about three months ago now, and he had some bad news. He had been pushing a woman in a wheelchair, as you would often find Manny doing. He's that kind of guy and it ended up the wheelchair backed over his foot. And as you know, with circulation and diabetes, well, let's fast forward.
It was just a trigger. He lost his leg. And I thought that I was going to hear he was starting to slow down because you know Manny's not a young guy anymore. He's getting up there in years. Well, he called me today to tell me, “Hey Poli. I finally set the 198 record last month, and all I had to do was take off a leg to do it.”
So, today's episode, this is dedicated to you, Manny. My hats off. I love you, brother.
Crystal O'Keefe: Aw, yeah.
Angelo Poli: That's my inspirational guy for the day.
Crystal O'Keefe: Wow. Wow.
Angelo Poli: They're actually doing a documentary on old power lifters and they're going to come to Northern California and they're going to film him and some of the kids he works with here soon.
Crystal O'Keefe: Wow. You'll have to let us know when that airs. We'll add it to the show notes so people can go and hear Manny's story.
Angelo Poli: Maybe we'll get Manny in the show one of these days.
Crystal O'Keefe: That would be awesome.
Angelo Poli: Yeah, he's a good story.
Crystal O'Keefe: Well, Cat, how about you? Do you have a client you thought would give up and then they didn't?
Cat Ramirez: Okay, well I don't really know how I follow that story.
Crystal O'Keefe: Right? Should I have thrown it to Ryan? Put him on the spot.
Ryan McMullen: I really hate going last. We should have done this another way.
Cat Ramirez: No, I mean, I think less, obviously, less severe, right? This is not the pain Olympics. Um, but, everybody goes through issues in their lives, um, you know, losing significant others.
Um, illness, you know, just tough, rough years things with kids. I have a client, Claudia, and she is also a doctor. I feel like last year I talked about a lot of men, and this year I have like a lot of females. So, she's also a doctor, also an OB, amazing woman. She's got a lot of children, special needs child.
And she, you know, she just had a hard year. Like we all have tough years. Occasionally she had a couple of setbacks and, she was like, I think I just need a break, or I think I just need to like, you know, reassess or whatever. And I totally get that. Like sometimes you're just I cannot do another thing.
And this seems like so much to do. I don't want to prep, I don't want to think about it this is so hard. But I always tell her, you take on everybody else's stuff and she just keeps going, man, she is a strong woman. And she's never, you'll never hear her like truly talk about if she is really, really upset, it's very like, but it happens.
So, we just keep moving, and she has like stuck with it and, we're making progress. And although the progress may not look the same as it does when you've got less happening in your life, right? Like, Again, progress is still, progress, better's better. And she has stuck with it.
And she's been my client for a long time and, the clients that stick with me through those things, just are phenomenal that they are choosing to prioritize themselves not to be selfish, but to take care of themselves so that they can be better for the other people that they take care of.
Right. And that's a hard thing to do, I think. To feel like it's okay for me to do this for myself. It's a good thing. It's not just, okay, it's a necessary, it's a good thing for me to have the support that I need or the help that I need so that I can succeed and take care of myself, so that I can take care of everything else happening in the world.
You know, like all her patients, her children, her family, her practice, everything. There are so many other people that depend on you and like, well, who do we depend on? Who do we have in our corner? And it's so easy to be like, oh, just, I'll put it aside, or it's not the year, or financially right now doesn't make sense, or whatever it is.
I'm always like, financially how much money would you spend if you were in a state of disease or unwell? You're investing in your health. You're not like just being frivolous and, you know, going out and purchasing whatever it is. So that in the long run is not going to better you, your circumstances, your family, your longevity and all of those hugely important things.
And I have so many clients like that. I could name like a list of 10 people, honestly, like that just have like been through it this year or last year or whatever. And just like, all right, gotta keep going. Pick yourself up and keep going. That was really horrible, but we're still moving forward, you know?
Um, and so my hat goes off to those people.
Crystal O'Keefe: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. That is not an easy thing to do, Ryan.
Ryan McMullen: How do I follow this? I'm just… good Lord. I'm gonna keep mine simple. It's going to go back to Michael again in Australia. And this one's simple because he told me on day two, I'm not doing this anymore.
He told me on day two. Um, yeah. I love that guy. You know, the, uh, the app doesn't work like others that I've experienced in the past. Why can't I scan food? Why are my options so limited? And obviously, like he didn't have the insight that I had given him yet because we hadn't even gone on the phone.
You know, I need you to start this program. Let me see how you respond to it.
Angelo Poli: Yeah. That food's just not on your meal plan, right?
Ryan McMullen: It's not on yours yet, you know, and, uh, and it was, you know, the first week and he'll get a kick outta listening to this too, because we had a good laugh about it later on.
You know, I worked with him for about a year. Um, and yeah, I just, he told me I don't wanna do this, this is silly. I don't know what you guys are doing. And I think this might resonate with a lot of our newer clients or maybe what they experience is what we do is so different and it's so new and it's not like any other diet or nutrition plan that they've been on in the past.
So, it’s scary when we're telling them maybe the polar opposite of what they've heard in the past and what they've experienced before. And to, to give that trust into us, is challenging. Really hard. Because you basically have to let go of everything that you know and just let us educate you. And then day three, I finally get him on the phone.
Okay, and he said, you know what I'm gonna give you a chance and I'll give this a good solid go, and if I'm not feeling like I'm experiencing any benefit, we're done. And I said, okay, like at least give me your trust. Give me the opportunity to teach you. And that was the end of the story.
So, he ended up being with me for a year and just, running PR marathons and strength training and just a total life change. And now, basically his whole family eats that way, and his wife got into working out and eating better with him. And that trickled into other people in his life.
Like, just incredible. And yeah. And he told me, I'm not going to do this. If he listens to this, he'll get a good kick out of that because we have a good laugh.
Crystal O'Keefe: That's, uh, that's quite a comeback there.
Angelo Poli: I once had someone ask me, do you ever have clients, quit on you? I said, Mike, I have regular clients that'll tell me every Friday they quit.
And I said, okay, I'll see you on Monday. We all have that ups and downs, and it's hard to stay dedicated to clean eating, regular activity and exercise. I mean, that's at the, the very foundation. That's what we do. And you know what life gets in the way with that. We’ve got to have someone who will give us a little, swift boot to the butt once in a while and help us get going, and sometimes you need the boot to the butt and sometimes you need the helping hand. Sometimes Cat, you need the just, the listening ear. At the end of the day, I loved actually what both of you guys said. We, every client, we learn something from. And if nothing else, boy, the last couple years has been a butt kicker for us as a society, a nation, a globe, right?
Um, you know, at the end of the day, hopefully what resonates and rises to the top, is compassion. It's compassion.
Crystal O'Keefe: I love that. Do you guys have any parting words, to think about that you want anybody to think about as we look back over the past year or the past, however many years you guys have been coaches, Angelo, apparently at least a decade.
Angelo Poli: Well, I appreciate having you all on the team because, if anybody listens to this, you might get a chuckle here or there but I don't think anyone's going to listen and come away with the idea that anyone is over here checking boxes. People call me up all the time from other companies related to fitness, you know?
What do you suggest? I'm thinking of becoming a coach, like being a coach is different from any other job. It's not something you punch a clock, nine to five, get a paycheck. It doesn't work that way. You will burn out. It will not work. You have to love it. You have to enjoy what you're doing.
You have to truly love your clients. And if you do, it's going to be the greatest fulfillment you could ever have in a career because you get to see people. I got to give one more brief story. So, this is probably one of the most touching experiences I had in the years coaching. And it was just a brief instant.
I was coaching a young boy. He was about 11 years. He was obese. He had postural issues. He had not spent much time using his muscles, using his body. He was starting to get in shape for the first time in his life, and he jogged from one end of the gym to the other end of the gym, and his father was on the couch.
And I caught him doing one of these. And I walked over to him, he was crying, and I said, oh, is everything all right? He goes, no, everything's great. He said, I've never seen my son run before. It was the first time he'd seen his son run. You know, so it, when you see someone improve their health, start to get well, it can have a profound impact, not just only on ourselves, but on those who love us and those we love.
Cat Ramirez: A hundred percent. I agree with that so much.
Ryan McMullen: Well said.
Crystal O'Keefe: Yes, absolutely. I have always found in the brief time that I've been doing this, that it makes me feel good to talk to them about what they're struggling with because usually it's a version of what I'm struggling with and it helps to continually get me to improve.
I'm hearing the positive reinforcement all day that I'm saying, and it actually works on myself, which, I get something out of it and I love the fulfillment of seeing people succeed, and that's why we do this. Thank you all for your time today for sharing your stories. I loved hearing them and I know our listeners will too.
Listeners, that is all for this week. You can find all of the MetPro episodes anywhere you get podcasts, or you can go to metpro.co/podcast. Please be sure to follow the show and rate and review that lets other people know what they can expect. You can also learn more about MetPro at metpro.co. I'm your host, Crystal O'Keefe, and I'll be back next week.
Until then, remember, consistency is key.
