Amy Bantham 11/11/25 Amy Bantham 11/11/25

The Power of Sports to Unite Us[Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Stephanie Geosits

Stephanie Geosits is Founder of All About Sports
She has spent a career working at all levels of sport and physical activity, is a recreational athlete, and a huge sports fan.

[1:14] Inspiration for entering the sports industry

“And I think that my passion for sport also comes from the fact that it is so universal. It's global. I just returned from the U17 Women's World Cup in Morocco, and I saw teams from all over the globe. The final eight teams were from four different continents, and each had its own language, and it was just an amazing confluence of these young women and the power of sport to unite us.”

[2:46] Behind the scenes look at the U17 Women’s World Cup

“So it's a celebration of these young women and their hard work and dedication, and the people around them who work with them to develop them not only as athletes, but the really important piece that I think people sometimes overlook is, these young women are future leaders, and certainly data has proven that women who take part in sport are able to carry the skills learned into life and be very successful.”

[5:22] Founding All About Sports

“Sport governance is so critical to all levels of sport, and really provides the foundation for successful sports organizations and systems, and I strongly believe that all of the crises and endemic problems that we've seen throughout the history of sport are all rooted in governance issues.”

[8:49] Addressing governance issues in sports

“When we talk about governance, we talk about the role of a board of directors, we talk about risk management, strategic planning, and really delivering on a mandate to provide a strong organizational structure so the athletes, coaches who are coming into these organizations, being part of these organizations are having number one, first and foremost, safe experiences, and they are provided with environments where they're not only able to excel, but they're resourced and empowered to excel by virtue of these organizations being properly run and and managed.”

[11:07] Protecting athletes and coaches

“So it's one thing to write a policy. It's another thing to enforce it and live every day with the goal of protecting your athletes, your coaches, your employees.”

[12:47] Averting crises with good governance

“I think more and more people are realizing that the best course of action is to be proactive and address any governance shortcomings before something horrific happens.”

[15:38] Challenges and opportunities in the field

“Walking soccer is something that I don't think 20 years ago was really thought of, but as our populations age and are living longer, there's a need to keep people active, and it's programs like this, innovations like this that I think are huge opportunities when we look at how we keep people moving and healthy and ensure that they have access to opportunities like this.”

[21:02] Increasing sports participation

“So, it's how do we get more people to fall in love with it at an early age and stay with it and keep having those positive experiences?”

[25:18] Why sports matter

“So I think sports matter because of the elements that we discussed, better health outcomes, keeping people active, keeping people engaged, socially, together, is critically important around mental health, particularly as we age. But I also think that sports do unite us, and it's especially important living in contentious times.”

Amy Bantham 11/4/25 Amy Bantham 11/4/25

Using Technology to Accelerate Physical Activity Prescription and Referral [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Andrew Mock

Dr. Andrew Mock is Medical Director at Hoag Medical Group.
He is also the American College of Lifestyle Medicine representative to the Physical Activity Alliance Board of Directors, gym owner, and strong man.

[1:13] Inspiration for becoming a board certified lifestyle medicine physician

“And I always had this dream of like, what if, rather than people coming to us at the hospital when they're sick, what if we went to them in the places where they were taking care of their health? Why can't the gym be the same place that we are seeing patients? And that's how I started my first year of medical school, is thinking about, what does the gym clinic look like?”

[5:19] Moral imperative for prescribing physical activity

“You have to have appropriate discussion of risk and benefits of all of the available treatments. And if we have this very powerful tool for improvement of so many chronic health conditions and quality of life, if we are not discussing it, is that an ethical concern? And I would argue it very much is. There's a lot of reasons we don't discuss it, but I do think we have a moral imperative to make sure that we are finding ways to have exercise be part of the conversation.”

[9:36] Pillars of lifestyle medicine

“We always have to make sure that we are having the and conversation, right?, with these treatments. And that goes for lifestyle as a whole, because it is physical activity and adequate sleep and health promoting dietary pattern and, when needed, medications and, when needed, right?, greater level of surgical intervention.”

[12:04] Being a trusted voice on physical activity

“The single most important thing that clinicians can do is do the exercise yourselves, like full stop. That is the most important thing for exactly the reasons that you highlighted. You are more likely to discuss it with your patients. Your patients are more likely to ask you about it. You're more likely to counsel your patients and encourage them to do it, and then your patients are more likely to follow that advice. So that is so important, and at the end of the day, like, what's the worst case scenario? We now have happier, healthier healthcare professionals which will take better care of their patients because they're taking better care of their health.”

[16:22] Reimbursement for physical activity referrals

“So with my physical therapy department at Loma Linda, we created a sarcopenia referral, right? So all the patient had to do was report loss of muscle mass and function, and we could send them to physical therapy one day per week to really just focus on compound movements in a progressive fashion to get stronger and then eventually bridge them, right?, to a community based exercise program, whether that was with a personal trainer, a medical fitness program or a self-directed exercise program.”

[19:07] Cash-based programs versus reimbursement

“It is certainly very easy to create cash-based programs, and so many people pursue cash-based programs just because of the complicated nature of the insurance piece.”

[21:48] Incorporating lifestyle medicine education into medical school training

“I'm actually very excited to see what things will look like when we are incorporating additional exercise education into medical school curriculum, because it does take a conscious effort. At Loma Linda, we incorporated 100 hours of lifestyle medicine education across all four years. And there's actually only two schools in the country that have achieved that Platinum Plus designation. It's Loma Linda University and University of Greenville, South Carolina.”

[26:22] Using technology to accelerate physical activity prescription and referral

“And that creates not only a very interesting workforce solution, but it also creates a very interesting public health data collection. Because now I know exactly what someone is doing for their physical activity, and the implications in terms of physical activity research and healthcare Improvement are just huge when that sort of things become possible.”

Amy Bantham 10/16/25 Amy Bantham 10/16/25

Mindful Movement as Medicine [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Elaine Economou

Elaine Economou is Co-Founder and CEO of MOVE Wellness, a Pilates and Gyrotonic studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

[1:25] Inspiration for entering the health & fitness industry

“I used to say that people were coming for a six pack, and I was teaching them how to be mindful and more self-aware.”

[3:00] Supporting clients through their whole health journey

“I realized there was this missing piece of the pie that I didn't know how to address, but it felt compelling to me to figure it out. So I did a wellness coach training early on, Well Coaches, which is such a great evidence based training, and I began to have a vision of a place where we could help meet clients and support them through their whole health journey.”

[5:52] MOVE Wellness mission

“Our mission is to help people get as strong as they want to live a life they love, and our vision is to live in a world where fitness is defined by how you feel and not what you look like.”

[7:36] Building relationships with healthcare providers

“So when I opened MOVE, I had a really strong foundation of we're going to work with healthcare. We're not going to be afraid to go out and meet healthcare partners in the area who might have patients that they can send to us. And so we did a couple of things. First is we talked to our clients, and when clients would have issues that they found we were helping them with, I was not afraid to ask the client, Hey, your doctor said you look great, and you're really progressing in this area, would you mind asking your doctor if you would meet me or talk to me?”

[12:04] Helping healthcare partners solve problems

“But then the other question, that the other learning for me has been not to be afraid to ask the question of, what problem are we trying to solve when I talk with a potential healthcare partner, because once I get them to tell me what it is that they would like to see for their patients, it becomes much easier for us to say, well, this is the part of it that we really feel strongly, that we can make a strong impact on.”

[17:59] Inspiring empowerment and change

“And, to me, it feels like there's an opportunity to shift the dialog for providers, to say, I really believe you can do this. What's one thing you love to do, to move? And I'm sure people are, I'm very, having those sorts of conversations, but we know that that's how behaviors change, right? Is that feeling empowered to actually make, effect change.”

[22:05] Being trusted experts

“Well let's get together and help me figure out what it is we do better than anyone else in the world, right? And the words that came out of that night, about 20 people with white sheets on the wall and markers, and I had doctors, physicians and university professors. I had all kinds of people here, where, that we were the trusted experts. And so ever since then, I thought, okay, we know where we are in the world of, of how we help and support our clients is that we, people trust us.”

[28:15] Michigan Fitness Association annual conference

“This panel discussion that you will be facilitating, I think, is such a wonderful way for people to hear others’ voices, because it's such a diverse group that you will be having share their experiences about healthcare referrals. We have a presenter on leadership and culture. We have a presenter on lifestyle medicine and behavior change science. So we have experts coming from all of those areas, people who are very well known.”

Amy Bantham 9/30/25 Amy Bantham 9/30/25

Unifying People Around the World Through Movement [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Chris Powell

Chris Powell is the founder of Move One Million.
He is a fitness professional, author and TV host.

[1:07] Inspiration for Move One Million

“So I thought, I'm going to take all of my resources and I'm going to build a free resource for the world, for every child out there, but also to get the support of all the parents as well, and everyone else who's suffering. Let's move together. I think it can help the world.”

[8:26] Creating a total body warm–up

“OK, we just need a modern version of this. And by the way, three and a half minutes nowadays is a little bit too long, because who's got three and a half minutes? And so I shortened it to two and a half minutes, but also to honor the origins of the inspiration behind it, I kept it as 13 movements, and it is a total body, top down warm-up. My degree is in exercise science, but my concentration was biomechanics. And so it is a biomechanically sound, total body warm-up.”

[15:31] Unifying people around the world through movement

“It's people around the world, and there's every race and there's every religion, and there's every political preference, and there's, it is fully inclusive, because in movement and in humanity, that's, we see through all of it. There is no, when you're doing Move One Million, there is no race, there is no religion, there's no politics, there's nothing. That's off the table. It's humans moving together to the same music. And it's, that's the beauty of it is it is fully inclusive, and it's everybody moving together toward a better quality of life.”

[16:02] Moving kids and parents

“We're in 76 countries. We're moving about 150,000 kids a day, which is really cool. It's just, yeah, it's amazing to see happening. And then, of course, you know, we created the apps so that we could have the support from parents as well, so that they could have, the parents could move with their kids, in addition to all the kids that are moving on the screens with their online portals. And so it's just been a lot of fun.”

[20:28] Starting Move One Million as a service project

“It was a massive investment and to be honest with you, I never even started it as a nonprofit. I started it as a service project. And so I was, I was blessed to have done well earlier in life, and I was, I had a great opportunity with my TV show and so and to have a development team that I was working with, a full time development team. And so it was a service project.”

[23:38] Supporting people with journeys of transformation

“The journey of transformation is not about diet and exercise to achieve a weight loss goal. The journey of transformation is about learning how to love yourself and to build confidence and esteem. And most people, when they come to me, they're in a place of darkness and despair and hopelessness, and they think that they got there….everybody, every single person who comes to me looking for help, 99.9% they believe they got there because, well, I tried this and I failed that. I tried that and I failed, and I tried this and I failed. What they don't realize is that if you look through all the noise of all the diets out there, and all the exercise out there, and all the programs, if you look through them, there is a path of transformation that is invisible to the human eye. But if, again, if you look beyond the noise. It's the same path, and that is the path of integrity.”

[29:08] Being a trusted voice on health & fitness

“So I think now is the time, more than ever, to fall back on trusted science. And then on the flip side, to actually remain trusted. I think it's important that we acknowledge when we were wrong.”

[31:53] Building trust by working within scope of practice

“Well, I think honesty and transparency are always going to be the best policies for anybody who's actually in a position to share information and to be a trusted voice. Of course, it's really important that you can lean back on some credentials that you're coming from, whether it's a university or a trusted organization like NASM, which is the National Academy of Sports Medicine, but to be able to fall back on those credentials, it means that you put actually put in the time and the energy to learn and to educate yourself. But then again, also to share openly and honestly that you are there to make suggestions, and you're there to help and you're and the fact that we are committed to serving at the highest level, but sharing what we do know, but then also being open and transparent about what we don't know, and staying within our scope of practice.”

Amy Bantham 9/23/25 Amy Bantham 9/23/25

Leading with Science When Supporting Lifestyle Change in Patients Taking Obesity Medications [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guests, Dr. Renee Rogers and Dr. Michael Hosking

Dr. Renee Rogers is Senior Scientist, University of Kansas Medical Center.
Dr. Michael Hosking is Creator of Revocycle Mind and Body Cycling.

[1:16] Convening a group of experts for obesity medications in fitness

“[I] saw that there was a potential clash of cultures from obesity care and fitness, and I thought that we could, in some fashion, facilitate the meeting of these two worlds, healthcare and fitness, which has been trying to speak to each other effectively for decades at this point.”

[2:57] The role of lifestyle with the use of obesity medications

“Let's really remember that obesity is a multi-faceted metabolic disease, and just because a really awesome resistance training program maybe works over here with a person that doesn't have obesity, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to work in this new landscape of these highly effective pharmacotherapy agents. It may. I'm hopeful that it will, but I, it just is a reminder for us to lead with science.”

[7:14] Guiding the health & fitness industry into a new era

“And it is my belief that by putting this group together and leading with science, as Renee was saying, that we can guide the industry into a new era, one that is less about the extrinsic rewards of exercise, body-based changes, building particular body types and more towards holistic health and well being.”

[8:57] Building trusted, collaborative comprehensive care networks

“And so each member of this care network needs to be credentialed, needs to have the education, the expertise, the ability to communicate with other members of the network. And so really thinking about comprehensive care and the infrastructure that supports that comprehensive care.”

[13:10] Putting the patient with obesity first

“So that trust aspect that you talk about is critically important. Because if we don't have the trust of the human that we're serving, long-term trust, not just short-term programmatic trust, right, but long-term trust, we also will not engage in the larger trust network of the dietitian that we must refer to for the metabolic disease and the medication needs of patients on these meds or the provider that you're speaking to.”

[15:15] Building trust with providers and patients

“[I]f we can build trust, and I think for both those paths, credential degreed experts speaking for the industry, and speaking to the healthcare industry and speaking to the patients, I think, can help build that trust, which will, as I said earlier, give us the opportunity to really change the lives of many, many millions of people.”

[16:28] Recognizing the importance of lifestyle change

“So one is identifying what we know and what we don't know and why lifestyle is important. And then I think the second is really important in that we can start to lay out what a comprehensive care network might look like and how it might function.”

[18:39] Leading with science

“The one thing, though, that hasn't changed is they’re still humans that live with obesity and maybe have internalized weight bias and stigma that we can continue to learn from. So I think our big tone of all of this is, is while the science keeps going forward, and it can feel overwhelming, we can feel like we don't have a place, or we don't have an answer sometimes. If we step back and go back to the human and meet them where they're at, rather than trying to fix something or have a solution, I think we can make a really great impact.”

[23:17] Health benefits of exercise independent of weight loss

“Even people who are obese can build cardiorespiratory fitness, and their mortality is decreased in the absence of weight loss, which I just think is so profoundly important for the industry to understand, that we don't have to constantly be changing people's bodies in order to do them a service and help them with their health.”

[26:47] Addressing weight bias and stigma in the health & fitness sector

“So how we make an impact on weight bias and stigma and all of that, I think, is, is so, so important and not and realize that it's, it's not just beyond this one client that I sell a personal training package to, right? It's so much bigger to make an impact in this space.”

[28:47] Calls to action to health & fitness professionals

“If you don't know the answer to something, it's okay to say you don't know the answer to something and that you'll look into it. And I think that's a really important space for building trust with your patients.”
“I would say to the boots on the ground fitness professional, if they could learn to shed their pre-existing biases and their thinking about why people exercise, why someone might be coming to the gym, and especially why a person in a larger body, a person who might be obese might be coming to the gym, if they can learn to understand that fitness is a culture with certain shared beliefs, practices, recognize what those are, and learn to see the patient, the person coming in as as a whole human being…”

Amy Bantham 9/3/25 Amy Bantham 9/3/25

Becoming an Outcomes-Driven Health & Fitness Industry[Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Ross Stewart Campbell

Ross Stewart Campbell is Founder and CEO of Beyond Activ.

[1:09] Switching to the health & fitness sector

“I should move into a career where I'm really helping people, serving people, and that is health and fitness.”

[3:39] Health & fitness sector positioning

“Look I went from the highest capitalized industry segment in the world. Energy is a multi, multi trillion dollar industry. And you move into health and fitness, which, and by comparison, especially the fitness component, is a relatively small industry, hugely under capitalized, mostly under appreciated, but the passion and the enthusiasm and the sacrifice behind the people that are behind these brands, I think, is second to none.”

[4:40] Shining a light on the impact of the health & fitness sector

“I think we're also pretty substandard when it comes to producing data and research reports that validates the outcomes that we know happen. But of course, we struggle to put them in credible ways in front of the people that matter.”

[7:22] Health & fitness industry best practices

“So I think experience, facilities, the adoption of wellness, longevity, becoming mainstream, the application of marketing and getting out positive health messages, the excitement, the passionate industry we have, I think these are all positives and they resonate across the globe.”

[14:27] Shifting to an outcomes-driven industry

“I think only in the past five years have we really made true strides in becoming a technology-enabled, data-led, outcomes-driven industry, and with that short window of maturity, I don't think we can beat ourselves up too much that we haven't achieved too much in that space of time.”

[18:52] Bridging the credibility gap

“I think there's an education gap, maybe a credibility gap as well, with the fitness and wellness industry truly proving their credibility as trusted partners in the delivery of outcomes for patients, whereas doctors, I think maybe, don't necessarily trust what we can do.”

[22:28] Social wellness trend

“And one of those areas I think is very exciting is social wellness. And by that, I mean social bathing, social plunging, social sauna, traditional infrared. That, for me, is a very exciting area where you can go and bond with people and quite a relaxed environment and still have a benefit to your health and well being.”

[26:45] Meeting the needs of a broader demographic base

“As an industry, we struggle to try and find the commercial angle, to try and make sure we're monetizing the services that we need to bring these populations in. I think that is a challenge we're always going to face. Can we come up with exciting experiences and a commercial ROI, and then can we have room in these facilities to bring these populations in and engage them as regularly as we do, and engaging the already fit?"

[30:57] Beyond Activ origin story

“So we created Beyond Activ in Asia as a bridge between these different islands and to try and break down the barriers between health, fitness and wellness. As we grew through the pandemic, we started having more discussions—and the pandemic prompted this—around preventative health, around best practice, around growth and investment.”

Amy Bantham 8/12/25 Amy Bantham 8/12/25

Messaging Enjoyment and the Short-term Benefits of Physical Activity[Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Chloë Williamson

Dr. Chloë Williamson is Lecturer in Physical Activity for Health at the University of Edinburgh in the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre.

[1:10] Motivation for researching physical activity messaging

“I think the main one was just sort of why people are active, and thinking about my own experience of the only reason I do it really is because it makes me happy. And just from experience of having family members who have health issues, and they would say that physical activity, they know it's important, but they just, they just don't do it, and it's just sort of, well, why not?”

[3:28] Effective physical activity messaging

“And that's one of the reasons why I like Move Your Way because even though those messages are in there, sort of just because they need to be, there's so many messages that are, whether intentional or not, based on this emerging evidence around promoting enjoyment and the short-term benefits. So yeah, I think there's a gap to be filled in the UK for effective physical activity messaging alongside guidelines.”

[7:46] Physical Activity Messaging Framework

“So the framework is basically the PAMF, an evidence-based tool that organizes different physical activity messaging concepts into a framework that can be used to create new messages. That's the primary purpose to sort of retrospectively categorize existing messages and pick out concepts within messages, and also to help plan evaluation of messages.”

[11:06] Checklist for physical activity messaging

“And there is a checklist that is published alongside the framework that almost puts the framework into a step-by-step. And it's not to say that you have to include everything in the framework, because there's a lot of concepts in there. It's more like, I think of it as, like a menu of considerations.”

[14:49] Messaging physical activity to new mothers

“So then trying to understand what would be important to them to get from physical activity, and it was all about the short-term social, mental health benefits. So talking to other mums, that was huge, and that could be done while walking. Getting fresh air, clearing your mind, just feeling relaxed, having time to yourself, all of that. Improving mood, those were the things. None of them were talking about losing weight. None of them were talking about reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.”

[19:29] Matching messaging to messaging channels

“So part of working through the framework is that consideration of who, where, when, how the message will be delivered, and part of that would be what channel it would go through, what delivery platform it would be on, and also who it's coming from, that's coming through in all of our research is super important. So ideally that whatever delivery channel is being used as one that's been informed by the target audience. So they’ve told you this is where I am open to receiving a message…”

[23:27] Changing how people think about physical activity

“We're not rational, and the guidelines and the way they're traditionally messaged and have been messaged assumes that humans are rational and that they'll do things that they know is good for them. But in actual fact, your day to day behavior is driven by what you enjoy. And if people can find a physical activity they enjoy and if that's how we can change the way people think about physical activity, to not being a chore, to not being a punishment, not being a way to just burn calories, but a way to have fun and feel good, then I think that's what we need to see.”

[29:16] Prioritizing enjoyment and short-term benefits in physical activity messaging

“Don't care about 150 minutes, don't care about 75 minutes, don't worry about all of that. Just focus on enjoyment and moving in a way that feels good, and doing more of that, basically. Those short term benefits are just the most important thing.”

Amy Bantham 7/29/25 Amy Bantham 7/29/25

Making the Case for Reimbursement of Supervised Exercise Therapy in Cancer Care[Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Kathryn Schmitz

Dr. Kathryn Schmitz is Interim Director of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
She is Past President of the American College of Sports Medicine, and an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor.

[1:16] Evidence for exercise as a standard of care in cancer treatment

“And what this trial shows is the first randomized, controlled trial evidence of a 28% improvement in disease free survival, which means not having a recurrence. And this was specific to colon cancer. And a whopping 37% improvement in overall mortality by the time we get out to about eight years.”

[6:58] Improving access to exercise oncology programs

“In order to change the legislature's mind, what we needed was good stories. And I think we have, you know, we could kill them with evidence at this point. We could bury legislators in evidence in exercise oncology at this point. So, the evidence base is extremely strong, and yet, right? And yet, it's not happening. And it is happening, but it's, it's sporadic. The likelihood that the average cancer patient in the United States has access to a high quality exercise oncology program is based on whether or not there happens to be a champion at the local hospital they're going to or the cancer center that they're a part of. There are 58 comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Less than 10 of them have an adequate exercise oncology program. It's not paid for. It's not mandated.”

[13:25] Making the case for reimbursement for exercise oncology programs

“We have one randomized control trial showing, in one group of cancer patients, that there is a disease free survival benefit and a mortality benefit, and we know that there's a lot of nice to have outcomes, right? Nice, nice to have is quality of life, things that are not going to be something that the payer pays for. So there's our challenge, that's the truth, that's the truth of our situation. That's why it's going to be difficult. And I think the challenge provides us one of the first opportunities to be able to really lay all of that bare. And then the question becomes, how do we motivate hospitals, healthcare systems and payers to pay for something when there is no profit in it for them?”

[18:52] CMS coverage of supervised exercise training for people with cancer

“And so the question is, is there a way to leverage those interests in a direction of trying to move CMS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, towards coverage of supervised exercise training for people who have had a diagnosis of cancer? And what I can tell you is that I think the answer is yes, and I think there is interest, and I think that there are a number of questions that need to be answered. And, you know, there is a team of people interested in trying to help CMS to answer those questions.”

[24:20] Moving Through Cancer areas of focus

“And we came up with five sort of topic areas that we needed to focus on. One of them was stakeholder awareness and engagement. And stakeholder meaning writ large, meaning we need the patients to understand. I mean, I think if patients were to rise up tomorrow and demand these services, it would happen quicker. So there's stakeholder awareness from the patient, there's also the providers, and then the workforce as well, because most exercise trainers are not aware that there is specialty training that is necessary for them to be working with cancer patients.”

[30:46] Prognosis for 2029

“So I think, I think we will have it in a patchwork by 2029. Will we have it for every patient, everywhere? That’s that remains to be seen.”

Amy Bantham 7/15/25 Amy Bantham 7/15/25

Navigating the Wild West of Wellness Law [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Barbara Zabawa

Barbara Zabawa is a Wellness Lawyer, Entrepreneur, Author and Law Professor.

[1:08] Differences between healthcare and wellness law

“Well, the glaring perspective on the surface between healthcare and wellness is that, from a legal perspective, healthcare is highly regulated, wellness is not, which is why we call it the Wild West. From a regulatory perspective, no one is from really paying close attention to what's going on in the wellness world. So there's a lot of nefarious activity that is happening.”

[7:01] Use of HSAs/FSAs to pay for wellness expenses

“And then with the IRS, if you spend money on fitness or diet programs that doesn't have any sort of medical element to it, so no prescription or recommendation by a licensed physician that you engage in that activity as part of a treatment protocol, then you're on your own. There's, you're not going to be able to use your HSA or your FSA dollars to pay for those expenses.”

[10:49] The impact of the PHIT Act on wellness law

“I celebrate things like the PHIT Act, but at the same time, the lawyer in me doesn't want to see a slippery slope and have…it's the the beginning of well, now people are using tax dollars, tax-favored accounts, to spend on wellness. Maybe we need to start looking more closely at regulating wellness. Now, I'm, don't want the Wild West necessarily. I mean, I don't think that's a good thing either. But again, as I said at the beginning, I'd like to see a balance, and not go into the complete direction that healthcare went, which is a law that pretty much, that dictates everything on how it needs to be done.”

[14:51] Working within the law as an exercise professional

“If you try to treat, diagnose, cure, some illness, injury, disease, that's the practice of medicine. And as a fitness professional, you are not licensed to practice medicine.”

[18:56] Establishing trust through standards

“The law does permit these otherwise competing individuals or organizations to convene to develop standards to improve the trustworthiness and effectiveness of whatever industry that they're working In.”

[22:45] Developing standards for exercise professionals

“It's having those accredited credentials that would then lead to this recognition by others outside of the industry that, Oh, you, I see that you have met these standards, that you're affiliated with this group, with this, you have this certification, and that's recognized as credible. So I can trust you more, because that is an important piece of it.”

[25:59] Meeting the wellness needs of empowered consumers

“The nefarious wellness practitioner, the ones that are going to give wellness a bad name, wouldn't turn away the vulnerable patient. In fact, they may prey upon the vulnerable patient, and that is wrong and should not be tolerated, and…so the wellness practitioner that wants to give wellness a good name will focus on the empowered consumer, the consumer that even if they have some kind of ailment or condition, they are seeing someone in conventional medical care, they are doing what they can on that side of things, but they want to just empower themselves with additional information, additional tools, additional resources to elevate their well being.”

Amy Bantham 6/20/25 Amy Bantham 6/20/25

Building Strength, Power and Confidence[Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Anne Marie Chaker

Anne Marie Chaker is former Wall Street Journal reporter and author of LIFT: How Women Can Reclaim Their Physical Power and Transform Their Lives.

[1:23] Motivation for writing LIFT

“[I] was intrigued, and so I got the name of her coach. And when I got home, I reached out to this coach, a retired bodybuilder named Tina Peritino, who kind of set me on this wellness path. And that's where my life changed.”

[6:12] Changing views on fitness

“It's always about becoming less and never kind of attaining it, right? So, the fascinating thing about working with this coach and my journey into bodybuilding was it was all about moreness.”

[12:36] Building a movement of strength

“I think we're really in a moment right now, of strength becoming—I don't even want to say, it's more, I think, than a trend—I really think it's a movement for both men and women, but I think especially for women.

[18:34] Connecting strength and confidence

“There is still so much research we don’t have on women. The vast majority of research is on men, but the history paints a picture of female strength that I think has been long ignored and that I feel is our birthright and and that..it is high time that we stop with the nonsense and start embracing that OG woman who was this, who was this buff and strong athlete of long ago.”

[24:11] Making strength training appealing to the general population

“And I guarantee you, afterwards when you come back to your desk or deal with your kids or whatever it is, you're gonna feel like a brand new person, like, my confidence level just soars after, afterwards. And I just love that. And I want that for every woman.”

[28:53] Call to action

“And I want women to start thinking of themselves as more rather than less, and to really lean in into that, and find your strength, and you will feel so good. And that's, that's what I want for them, for all of us.”

Amy Bantham 6/10/25 Amy Bantham 6/10/25

Training the Future Physical Activity and Public Health Workforce[Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guests, Dr. Marzell Gray and Dr. Alan Beck

Dr. Marzell Gray is Chair of the Physical Activity Alliance Professional Development Sector and Assistant Professor of Public Health at University of Minnesota Duluth.
Dr. Alan Beck, Past Chair of the PAA Professional Development Sector, current Chair of American Public Health Association Physical Activity Section and Project Manager for Interdisciplinary Public Health Research at Washington University in St. Louis.

[1:36] Historical intersection of public health and physical activity

“I think it all began truly with the London double decker bus study, where we found out that the folks that were more active on the buses were actually less susceptible to chronic disease.”
“And then if you continue and you fast forward, they’ve kind of been merged even more so together, where people that are in the public health field are working with those in physical activity, working with different organizations and groups to really promote physical activity, because we know that is a true foundation of being able to have healthier lifestyles and well-being.”

[4:52] Integration of public health and physical activity

“How does your background fit into public health, or vice versa? And I'm like, how doesn't it? Like health promotion is key to overall health for everyone and globally it has become a huge piece as well.”
“The most common one is, somebody begins in exercise science. like personal training, and they work one on one with individuals, and then gain an interest in more of a population level impact.”

[8:57] Training the future workforce

“The PAA Development Sector is really big about bringing students into the fold and starting them off, and like having them begin as a student in this area and then become the chair of the sector, or what have you, down the road. I think it's a beautiful integration now.”

[11:12] Finding your people

“So what I've been doing is I've been working more with people that are in exercise science, for instance, and able to collaborate with them in terms of my background and their specific work that they do…”
“There's no right or wrong way to do this, but you do have to be willing to put yourself out there to find these folks. Once you're in there and people learn who you are, we hold on to you with open arms, and we'll make sure and grasp you and move you forward in this as well.”

[14:45] Hot topics in physical activity and public health

“We have evidence-based interventions that work. They have been shown to work. There are all kinds of toolkits on government, like CDC, websites. We know these things work. I think we're moving more into the implementation science world of like, how do you implement these things?”
“They're doing it because they want to be able to help others that look like them and have the knowledge, or the base knowledge, to be able to motivate them and keep them motivated.”

[21:00] Mentoring future professionals

“And that's something that I know, even with the Physical Activity Alliance we've created this pilot for an internship where we can start having someone come in that way and start kind of seeing the background things that are going on in these nonprofit organizations.”
“Yeah, whenever somebody reaches out and says, Will you be my mentor? That sounds really official. You know, the American Public Health Association, they have a mentoring program. Our specific physical activity section has a mentoring program. But there's also unofficial mentors too.”

[26:02] Physical Activity and Public Health Specialist Certificate

“It's a, the physical activity public health specialist certificate that is based off of the ability to work and kind of learn on both sides. So it gets kind of a dive into both sides of things, and it allows you the ability to really kind of see how they kind of can be, how they work together.”

[29:15] Call to action

“Everything is local here. We're trying to make this big impact in increasing physical activity across our population, but that takes all of us to do that, and I think a bottom up approach is just as effective as a top down approach.”
“People like physicians and nurses that are meeting and seeing patients and clients on a regular basis could easily work with those in the fitness professional world that put a lot of time and effort into their education and certifications, whatever it may be, and working together to really just better population health.”

Amy Bantham 5/27/25 Amy Bantham 5/27/25

Prioritizing Physical Activity for Your Health and Advocacy for Your Healthcare[Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Archelle Georgiou

Dr. Archelle Georgiou is a physician, podcaster, former healthcare executive and journalist.

[1:07] Clinician perspective on healthy aging

“And that's striking to me, because our bodies early in our lives are pretty consistent, and then later in our lives are not. And so I have to believe that in between, it's about how we live our lives, and that's important.”

[2:17] Starting healthy aging early

“If you really want to impact it, you have to be thinking about it much earlier in your life, because it is the environment you expose yourself to, how you live your life, your lifestyle, what your priorities are, that make a difference about how you're going to age when you're in those advanced years.”

[3:48] Teaching health literacy

“It is just as important to be literate in health as it is to be literate in science and math and English and all of those other very important subjects, and yet we don't have an infrastructure in the country and a method in the country to do that.”

[7:13] Learning how to advocate for your health

“I explain that learning how to advocate for your own health is not a skill that we develop as we age and as we have chronic illness. And it is a set of skills that one has to learn. They're not innate and they're not natural, especially in the paternalistic healthcare world that we live in.”

[11:10] Establishing that patients and clinicians are on a level playing field

“Clinicians and patients are on a level playing field when it comes to your health. We have to have that mindset in order to move forward.”

[15:28] The importance of community in Blue Zones

“And so what the striking thing I saw, besides aging individuals who were incredibly strong and alert and awake and just so vibrant. But it was that the community didn't segregate itself into age demographic groups where the young people hung out and the old people hung out and people were isolated. It was all one, and that actually is one of the core elements of the Blue Zones, is that there is community.”

[20:38] Moving naturally as part of healthy aging

“I've been to Ikaria many times. I have never once seen a piece of exercise equipment or a facility called a gym at all. They might exist. I certainly haven't seen them, and that's because they don't work out. They just move naturally because of the, of the type of life that they live.”

[23:39] Making a difference in your health

“I do try to frame everything through the lens of what can you do to make a difference in your health given this topic.”

[29:08] Prioritizing physical activity for your health

“I think the most important piece of news you can use for health is that physical activity is the single most important thing that you can do for your health. Hands down, no question. Nothing holds a candle to the impact of physical activity on your health.”

Amy Bantham 5/13/25 Amy Bantham 5/13/25

Reframing Healthy Aging as a Journey and Adventure [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Vicki Shepard

Vicki Shepard is Founder and President at Healthy Aging Coalition.
She is a consultant on healthcare strategy and healthy aging.

[1:12] May as older Americans month

“It's a time to rejoice on aging, to respect and appreciate our caregivers, who are also engaged in taking care of older people and perhaps disabled people.”

[1:55] Healthy aging definition

“And so when you are born, you start your aging process, and that process as part of a longevity of looking at your aging process. And so what becomes important is, every single day, how do you live your life to assure that it's healthy?”

[7:11] Valuing older adults

“We have to stop, as a society, taking older persons and putting them in a corner and not recognizing the value, the knowledge and the expertise they bring.”

[11:38] Owning your age

“Well, then, after reading the book, I said, dang it, I'm going to embrace and own my age, which is why I tell people how old I am, because, you know, I'm going to own it. I feel proud of it. I've lived a long life, and I plan to continue making contributions as I go in this aging process to new adventures.”

[16:01] The importance of movement to healthy aging

“There is nothing as significant as continuing to exercise and working through that, because you're going to feel psychologically better and physically better.”

[18:17] Healthy Aging Coalition history

“One of the other outcomes was this is awesome for these stakeholders to meet, because everyone goes in their own swim lane, and no one communicates across different industries and different disciplines. That was the birth of the at that time, we called it the Rural Aging Advisory Council, and we had several summits that we did, one on social determinants of health, another one on social isolation and loneliness. And then later we changed the name to The Healthy Aging Coalition.”

[23:20] The art of advocacy

“So the concept of the art of advocacy is, how do we need to reposition ourselves to be effective advocates, as this constant churn changes, and I'm going to say chaos is taking place? And so one of the things in our meeting was the ability to stay calm and not to panic and not to feel despondent or to feel depressed about what's going on.”

[27:23] Advocating for reimbursement for supervised exercise therapy

“We have to have good evidence, good outcomes, good messaging, meet with the right people. And I think Physical Activity Alliance is actually extremely well positioned for that.”

[30:41] Call to action

“I say that because when I was working with Silver Sneakers, I had every single one of our Congressional and Senate staff visit one of our Silver Sneakers sites. Put a face on what you're trying to do. It isn't just a program. It's a person. It is a face. They can make all the difference in the world.”

Amy Bantham 4/29/25 Amy Bantham 4/29/25

Learning Life Lessons Through Sports[Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Scott LaGrand

Scott LaGrand is a former professional hockey player and current Senior Director Corporate and Institutional Partnerships at the United States Tennis Association Foundation.

[1:12] Learning life lessons through sports

“And for me that, that just kind of drove me to, obviously drove me to sports, playing collegiately at Boston College and being drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers and spending nine years playing professional hockey. And that, I believe that sports really kind of is such a positive influence on our lives in so many different ways. How to interact within a team environment, being a team player, having a work ethic, and dealing with, dealing not only with winning, but dealing with losing. And those are all kind of life lessons that I think are critically important.”

[4:30] Providing access to safe spaces to play sports

“One of the main focuses of both of those organizations is infrastructure and helping build infrastructure in communities, particularly in under-resourced communities, to really provide those young people with safe play spaces to be active and move...”

[9:37] Role modeling as a professional athlete

“I don't think as a young person you realize that the impact that you can have on these youth and it's tough, because you're very focused on your career and being an elite athlete, and the time for giving back is limited. But those ones that do and recognize that, like Frances Tiafoe, like Steph Curry, they see this opportunity that they have, and it's just incredibly impactful.”

[12:38] Creating more opportunities for kids to play sports

“How can we create more of these opportunities for youth to participate and play without the pressure of, ‘I need to be, I need to be an elite athlete.’?”

[17:27] USTA Foundation efforts to improve the lives of American youth

“At the USTA foundation, I think the focus is really on bringing education and tennis together to help improve the lives of those young people, really improving their skills both on and off the court. We're not trying to find the next Frances Tiafoe or the next star American player. We're really trying to prepare these kids for life down the road, and so how they can be successful, both in the classroom and both from a health perspective.”

[21:07] Transitioning from a professional athlete to a healthy, active adult

“And I remember, I remember this vividly coming home that night, and I kind of looked in the mirror and I said to myself, you're at your peak physical condition. And I just said to myself, I'm going to stay this way the rest of my life. And obviously it's not realistic to stay at your peak physical condition of 31 at 55 but the bottom line is, I never stopped training.”

[27:21] Making an impact in your community

“And then depending on where you are in your own career and what level of expertise or connections that you might have, how can you make a difference with some of the organizations that are doing good work in your community? I think that time, talent, treasure, those are all areas where you have the opportunity to make an impact.”

Amy Bantham 4/15/25 Amy Bantham 4/15/25

Taking the Best Ideas from Commercial and Medical Fitness to Impact Population Health [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Jeff Jeran

Jeff Jeran is Senior Director at Power Wellness.
He has been working in the medical fitness space for about 20 years and currently oversees three centers in three states.

[1:14] Medical fitness calling

“What I kind of sometimes talk about is I found my purpose in medical fitness. You know, I may not be able to help my father anymore, but what I find is I'm able to help other people's mothers and fathers continue their life and improve their life, and really have been able to create something really special.”

[5:04] Medical fitness reaching the 80%

“It's the 80% of the population that didn't exercise, that's what medical fitness attracts. And I think that's why I fell in love with it, because, like I said, I was able to take care of other people's parents and get them to improve their life and increase their lifespan.”

[7:43] Medical and commercial fitness

“I don't like putting things in labels. Medical fitness, commercial fitness. Fitness is fitness. It's just taking care of different types of clients, and how do we work with those individuals?”

[10:59] Mobile app connecting members and physicians

“So this new product that we've launched, it's our mobile app that all of our members are able to take advantage of and monitor their health, communicate with their physicians. It's a nice way to kind of have a product that commercial facilities then could take advantage of and become medically based without doing everything a medical fitness center does.”

[13:24] Integrating into the electronic medical record

“They've figured out a way to do this and package it to where they can make it affordable for other centers to be able to offer this without being a managed facility.”

[16:52] Expanding access to medical fitness

“For the first five, six years of the center, individuals thought you had to be a sick individual to come and use the hospital wellness center, and they didn't realize it's just a fitness center, just with a few different things and ways that we do things, and so it was just educating the population on that aspect.”

[19:36] Finding a fitness center that meets your needs

“But what we tell folks is it's you got to go where you're going to be able to, one, if you afford it, and two, where you feel safe, because where you feel safe and you feel part of a community, it's going to help you stay in your exercise routine and continue to make it a habit.”

[22:12] Building a community in a medical fitness center

“And I think that's, that's what makes a medical fitness center so special. It's just, it's a community very similar to group exercise. The reason why group exercise is so successful is it builds a tribe, and everyone is part of that, and hold each other kind of accountable when they show up. So I think that's, that's kind of the big part of what makes medical fitness successful.”

Amy Bantham 4/8/25 Amy Bantham 4/8/25

Recognizing Group Fitness as the Heartbeat of a Successful Health & Fitness Center [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Michaela Brown

Michaela Brown is General Manager at VIDA Fitness & Aura Spa.
She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Health & Fitness Association Foundation.

[1:13] Group fitness meaning

“What it was for me back in the day was a way for me to be authentically me in the health and fitness space. So I am naturally a social person. I am a rhythm based person. I am a person who draws on the power of numbers and tries to be a contributor to the power of others.”

[3:35] Group fitness and community

“There's a unique buy-in, and again, a unique relationship that's forged, where the person who's motivating you is right there, having to be motivated in that same way.”

[6:30] Group fitness as a revenue-generating vital organ

“So group fitness is certainly not a trend. It is a vital organ of health and fitness. We like to think of group fitness as the heartbeat of our gym here. It sells memberships, right?”

[10:25] New generation of fitness instructors

“So I'm always excited by the new generation of instructors that come in here, and what is their take on fitness, and what's their range, and what's their expertise, and how can they breathe new life into some traditional methods and some methods that they're going to create?”

[14:26] DEI in the fitness industry

“We're in a people-centric business. We deal with people of all different types and sizes and backgrounds and needs and conditions. We have a vested interest in the well being of others. Diversity, equity and inclusion is just, those are keywords, catch phrases for what this industry already has been doing.”

[19:00] Representation and inclusion

“Once you get the buy-in, and once you have the representation, then the next level of growth and inclusive leadership, or organizational inclusion, is now pooling all of that knowledge, pooling all of that difference in trying to flip it or leverage it into a wellspring of knowledge. And start looking at policies, marketing, behaviors, leaders under the lens of inclusion. And going through a transformation, sometimes big, sometimes small, where now you start to meet the standard of inclusion and not just look the part.”

[25:09] Health & Fitness Association Foundation meaning

“The legacy that I want to leave on an industry that has meant so much to me and has done so much for me, and an industry that I still very much live in and am a part of, and so this was an amazing opportunity to give back to communities that I want to I want to be represented and to be serviced.”

Amy Bantham 3/18/25 Amy Bantham 3/18/25

Running Health & Fitness Centers That Get Entire Communities Physically Active [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Mark Harrington, Jr.

Mark Harrington, Jr. is President at Healthworks, Republic Fitness and GymIt.
He is a passionate supporter of Healthworks Community Fitness.

[1:12] Healthworks origin story

“All these women that were looking for a supportive environment to be physically active and feel the benefits of physical activity and kind of the joy of being active with other people finally had an avenue that they could partake in.”

[3:36] Running a family-owned business

“So I kind of got a jaded view of all the issues and challenges with running a health club and, but in hindsight, it gave me a really, kind of good view of really what what happens here, and I've really known to love, kind of all the positive impacts we get.”

[5:56] Building community within clubs

“When we look back at our origin story, our first club was not big and was not beautiful, but what it did have is really amazing customer service, and this really amazing sense of, of community.”

[7:53] Being a good community partner

“So some of the things we look at is, is, how do we get the word out that we're not we're not just some company from another city or owned by private equity that is coming in here to make a buck. How can we be out front and talk about how we really do care about this, and all of our teams care about this, and we were looking for local community partners that share this vision and we can work together to kind of make the entire community more physically active.”

[9:23] Giving back with Healthworks Community Fitness

“Doctors and nurse practitioners can write prescriptions to Healthworks Community Fitness and their patients can come in and get a free, high quality workout, gym and workout program to help with those ailments.”

[12:52] Advocating for the industry

“So I see the hard part of advocacy as the daily connections, or not, not daily, but the regular connections and regular outreach explaining what we do, why it's important, and specifically how it helps improve our local economies, how it helps improve the health of our economies, and how it helps our communities in general.”

[15:45] Overcoming bad perceptions of the industry

“And people have short memories for good things and long memories for bad things, and kind of some of the stuff that's happened more recently has brought fear that kind of industry hasn't evolved into this more public health focused industry that a lot of us are really working for hard. So I think that is, that that is a big part of the problem is, is trying to ungroup potentially bad actors from the majority of the industry that is really helping their communities…”

[19:12] Fitness trends for 2025

“So specifically, when we're looking at our clubs, there is a major desire to lift heavy weights, to say it another way, and we're looking to see kind of how can we satisfy that need, and how can we safely and effectively teach more people to lift heavy weights.”

[21:01] Focus on advocacy and education as part of the HFA Board of Directors

“So how can we educate fitness professionals, which will help uplift the entire industry, which will then kind of improve the industry's, industry’s image, and also improve, improve the effectiveness of, of kind of what of our advocacy, also improve the effectiveness of actually making our communities across the country and across the world healthier.”

[22:33] The PHIT Act

“I do expect there's going to be a lot of positive trends in recognizing physical activity in the public health equation, and whether it's the PHIT Act by name, I do expect significant progress to be made this year.”

Amy Bantham 3/4/25 Amy Bantham 3/4/25

Delivering Comprehensive Care to People Living with Obesity [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Joe Nadglowski

Joe Nadglowski is President and CEO at Obesity Action Coalition.
He is a member and has led the organization for 20 years.

[1:10] Obesity Action Coalition mission and membership

“One of the hardest things about living with obesity in this world is that everyone in the world thinks they're an expert on obesity, right? Everyone, all of us have either gained or lost weight at some point in our life, and so therefore we think we are the, everyone thinks they're an expert. But the reality is, we have to help people find the right experts to do this, and make sure that those experts are well trained as well.”

[4:28] Addressing weight bias and stigma

“When I talk about stigma and bias, I like to remind folks that somehow, in our rush to make obesity bad, we made the people with obesity bad. And like, if we took another health condition, like cancer or something like that, like we have empathy and compassion. Cancer is definitely bad, right? But we have empathy and compassion for people with cancer and and we don't necessarily have that with, with obesity, and it does make our advocacy work difficult, right?”

[8:15] Benefits of physical activity independent of weight loss

“Now I want to be very clear here, like, I'm a firm believer in the health value of physical activity. I think everyone listening here is that, but I just think we need to be cautious in what we're promising about Can physical activity, on its own cause significant weight loss? And the reality is, the data around that's pretty slim.”

[10:19] Exercising while taking obesity medications

“None of these things are meant to replace another, and it is, it is really naive to think that, oh my gosh, people are going to exercise less because they're using these medicines. No, they're likely going to exercise more and, because it gives them the ability and the peace to do so as they engage and really enjoy those mental health and other cardiovascular benefits that they may receive.”

[12:49] Partnering with healthcare providers to provide obesity care

“I think it’s worth, every person who's engaging with someone who you think is using one of these medicines, and you're counseling them, if you're serving as their fitness professional, to make sure that they're engaging with their health, with a health care provider around these, especially their primary care provider, if not an obesity medicine physician, right?"

[17:55] Delivering comprehensive care to people living with obesity

“In fact, in our advocacy work around comprehensive care, we say people should have access to nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and then, and then medicine, surgery, whatever else they need, like that comprehensive care. And I think in my ideal world, if I could wave a wand and create the, the new healthcare system, all of those services would be reimbursed, right?”

[20:51] Compounded obesity medications

“And honestly, I worry about that because it has created a system where it's not necessarily about comprehensive care, and it's also not necessarily where people are getting advice from a healthcare professional. They're getting it from somebody on Tiktok or, or, some random stranger.”

[25:29] Access to obesity medications

“Most people are saying, hey, Medicare should cover these services. The public believes that, by the way, all the surveying shows that the public believes these medicines should be covered.”

[28:26] Defining clinical obesity

“But I think it's a good first step to actually put some further definition around that, and then kind of just push back on the idea that's out there right now that we determine whether someone has obesity, not solely based on body size, right? Because that's not, this is, again, about health, not about body size, right?”

Amy Bantham 2/25/25 Amy Bantham 2/25/25

Advancing Health and Movement through Education and Science - ACSM [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Katie Feltman

Katie Feltman is CEO of the American College of Sports Medicine.
She is also an avid cyclist.

[1:07] American College of Sports Medicine roles

“And I always like to say that that first job at ACSM really uniquely served me and my ability to learn about who ACSM serves right off the bat. You think about our journals, and you think about ACSM serving the bench side to the bedside to the park side concept. We actually have a journal that really addresses all the different audiences toward the end of supporting movement for all. And so I had an early crash course into the heart and soul of this organization, which was amazing.”

[3:10] Delivering education and scientific content to ACSM audiences

“One of the things that's most exciting for me, which it sounds like you were able to really, one of the things that inspired you when you were back at Intermountain all those years ago is, even though we're focused on serving our core members like you and the exercise professionals, we have such an important downstream effect on the larger population and getting folks moving, and how that affects population health and the ability to live a rich life, and so that gets us out of bed every morning. I mean, it's really, really important, inspiring work, but really just that magic of listening to you all and understanding what you need and then figuring out the right vehicles to deliver that education and scientific content.”

[7:16] Intersection of physical activity and public health

“And I think when you look at the common thread pulling everybody together within ACSM, everybody's passionate about movement for a better life, whether it's elite athletes moving more effectively in safety, safely to someone like me, right? I just want to be able to ride my bike a little faster to keep up with my friends. I'm not in competition. I'm a great example of how these kinds of changes can really have an effect on public health.”

[11:40] Building community through volunteer service

“And I think these different volunteer service opportunities, whether it's serving as the board president or an editor in chief, or being able to be on one of our subcommittee or an editorial board, or one of our strategic health initiatives, it is now very obvious to me that you all get as much out of that in finding community as you all give back to this organization.”

[16:24] ACSM vision statement

“And so we really created this new vision statement about movement as our rallying cry. And when you actually sat down and forced that to be the lens through which everything passes, it was magic. It was truly magic.”

[20:57] Physical Activity Alliance partnership

“The work that the PAA is doing directly empowers our members and our exercise professionals, and I think about, in particular, this work that we're doing to really get exercise professionals recognized as healthcare providers, as a key part of this chain of impacting public health.”

[26:46] Exercise is Medicine past, present and future

“But I think we are really poised with EIM to start going to the next level, particularly targeting specific groups across the health span. And so how Exercise is Medicine can benefit older adults, how Exercise is Medicine can benefit our youth.”

Amy Bantham 2/11/25 Amy Bantham 2/11/25

Preparing Health & Fitness Professionals to Achieve Success - NASM [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, David Van Daff

David Van Daff is Vice President, Industry Development and Public Affairs at National Academy of Sports Medicine
He has almost 30 years experience in the health and fitness industry.

[1:22] Health & fitness industry entrance

“I found that I really enjoyed working in fitness. My passion had been sport, but I did not want to give up a career in fitness to go back to trying to pursue in that avenue. So it became my lifelong career.”

[4:28] Industry evolution

“The evolution of fitness has been so inspiring and so interesting to see over time and a lot of that came about with more and more chains and independent gyms and smaller boxes and franchises that really flooded the market then, in a good way, making it more convenient and accessible for Americans to be able to get to a health club and start sustainable programs and achieve their goals.”

[7:02] Industry staffing and development challenges

“A problem that has plagued our industry forever is we take passionate fitness professionals, we educate, certify them, and very often they start into the workforce, have difficulties and phase themselves out and don't achieve success and have frustrations and have to adapt to the business development elements and sales elements of the position.”

[9:46] Preparing health & fitness professionals to achieve success

“We are consistently trying to prepare, coach and motivate our professionals to achieve success in the space. That, to me, is, is more of that professionalism, not just standard certification, but really continually be side by side education, tools and resources to help you in your career. Be an effective fitness professional. Do things with evidence based programming, safety and efficacy.”

[13:54] Creating comprehensive programs to help people look and feel better

“This is a, this has just become so important based on client demands and and for professionals to be able to offer a wide variety of services, for them to be able to capitalize on the in-person training, also doing online, creating comprehensive programs to, over a course of months, to be able to help people to look better and feel better.”

[18:12] Contributing to the greater good

“The fitness industry is a wonderful industry to be a part of, and a number of different perks, but ultimately, you can go to bed at night knowing that your work is contributing to the greater good.”

[23:57] Finding the fun in physical activity

“And if we can peel back layers, whether it's early childhood to seniors, where it's just a, just get moving, you know, let's figure out some things that you enjoy, if we can combine enjoyment and fulfillment with activity and movement.”

[25:29] Educating health & fitness professionals

“It's critically important for us to make sure that we are doing the right things, the most effective things, not only as a business, but as a, as a provider of education to fitness professionals.”

[28:28] Benefits of a strategic advisory board

“It's so great to have people that you can bounce ideas off of at a minimum, or come to them and say, I'm seeing things from this perspective. Do we have consistency, if not tell me what I'm missing?”