If you’ve made it this deep into the new BSF Locker Room website, you probably already know a thing or two about BSF as a whole. However, I know that many of you are new around here, and I love doing re-introductions every once in a while so I can get to know you, too!
Here are 7 things you need to know about Blue Shoes Fitness:
1. Who?
As you’re reading this, you may be wondering who’s speaking to you haha! My name is Justin, and I go by Coach J around here. functional fitness is my passion, and has been for a long time – a number of years ago I received my degree in Exercise and Wellness, became a Certified Personal Trainer after that, and moved entirely online about 2 years ago!
Fitness and Coaching are big parts of my life, but certainly not the most important. I love Jesus, I love my wife Amanda, I love our daughter Amelia, and I love peanut butter. Those are all very different uses of the word “love,” but they’re all true! I also love using exclamation points and emoji, so watch out! 😉
2. What?
Blue Shoes Fitness is an online company with a pointed focus on keeping fitness fun and functional. Find out more about BSF a whole wherever you hang out online:
3. Why?
This is a two-pronged answer: the practical, and the purposeful.
Practically, I started Blue Shoes Fitness because of a unique, and fortunate issue that came up: I became too busy as a Personal Trainer.
I’ve worked in a number of different gyms, and a few years ago I ended up with a Personal Training position that I loved loved loved.
However, my schedule became so full with clients that I worked 5 am to 8 pm five to six days per week, for about a year and a half.
If I was single, I may have kept up that pace for longer, but (again, fortunately!) I had a wife whom I loved! On top of that, we had different days off, so I rarely saw her for more than a few hours on Sunday evenings.
And on top of that, we were wanting to start a family. You can see why this scheduling might be an issue long-term.
Moving my business entirely online took many months of careful planning, researching, wearing lots of different hats, and “trial and error-ing.”
From a practical standpoint, it was one of the scariest and most rewarding changes I’ve ever made in my life.
From a purposeful standpoint, BSF stands for a much bigger purpose than keeping fitness fun and functional – a purpose much bigger than fitness itself, actually.
Fitness is my ministry.
I don’t work in a church or speak from a pulpit, but God has given me a clear passion and direction for speaking to those in the fitness community about the wonderful things He has done in my life and in our world.
(Have you read this month’s devotional yet? It’s about exactly this: identity, and I’ve found it in Him, not in Coaching. You can read the full devotional here!)
I love helping my clients (and all of you!) reach their goals, lift heavier weights, and lose more weight than they’ve ever been able to do on their own. This might be a noble enough cause with a tangible enough reward, but that’s all small picture stuff in my eyes. The bigger picture is that fitness and coaching are tools to lead others to Jesus. I want to set a great example, but it’s ultimately about encouraging everyone to see how good God is!
4. For whom?
BSF can really be for anyone, but there are a few specific categories that most BSF clients/members fall into.
The Locker Room (you’re in it!) is for those looking to keep fitness fun and functional. That’s now the third time you’ve read that exact phrase in this article, but that’s how deeply ingrained this calling is. My very first website had the tagline “Fitness, simplified” at the top of the page – this is also a core tenant of BSF training. No need to go about complicating and confusing everyone, let’s keep it simple and straightforward!
My Online 1:1 Coaching program is similar, but I’ve stumbled upon an incredible client niche. I’ll happily train anyone who is coach-able and has a great attitude, but I have come to train a large (and disproportionate) number of other health professionals! To list a few, many of these clients are non-fitness Health Pro’s like Dentists, Doctors, Nurses, and Massage Therapists.
I love training clients within these fields for 3 main reasons: 1) They already have a passion for health and don’t need convincing about the importance of being healthy, 2) they already have some general or specific understanding of human anatomy and we can talk on a deeper level about physiology, and 3) they spend so much time and energy taking care of their own clients/patients and it’s so nice for them to be taken care of for once. The practitioner becomes the client, and it’s a welcomed role-reversal for many!
I won’t plug this article with a big ad for my Coaching programs, but for those interested in applying and joining, you can find out more info here!
5. When?
I filed my Blue Shoes Fitness LLC paperwork in the summer of 2018, so I’ve been working hard to set all of this up over the past year and a half! Lot’s of new projects coming up (like the development of this site!), and no signs of stopping!
6. Where?
I’ve coached in gyms in Oklahoma, California, and Arizona, and now coach 100% online. I have clients in many different countries across multiple continents, which is one of the craziest/coolest parts about coaching online!
Our little family is located in our desert home, Arizona. It’s where we started, where we came back to, and where we plan on being for a while. 🙂
7. How?
How does the Blue Shoes Fitness Locker Room work? Great question to finish us off!
The pages within this client-exclusive membership site will be updated on a regular basis as I create new articles, videos, podcast episodes, etc., and monthly programs will be available at the beginning of every month. If you have a membership to the Locker Room, you will always have access to any of the content on the site! This is the very first month on the new site, but as we move along through the rest of the year and beyond, I will archive all of the devotionals, programs, notes, and bonus content and organize it for your education/entertainment!
Additionally, the Locker Room community group is where all of our group communication will happen, so make sure to join if you haven’t already! It’s totally free, totally open, and ready for any comments or questions that you’d like to post!
I think that’s a great note to end on here – bringing things full circle back to the communal aspect of the Locker Room! Blue Shoes Fitness is made for you, and I’m glad you’re here – in fact, we’re all glad you’re here.
Thanks for joining the Locker Room, welcome to the team, and have fun working hard moving forward!