“My teammates, training partners and competitors all strived to be better and exuded excellence.”

Lawrence Ringwald is a former International Track & Field Athlete. He now lives in Ottawa and dedicates his time to helping others achieve personal fitness goals. LBR TRAINING is a personal training and Sports Conditioning service in Ottawa, Canada. They service business professionals and athletes helping individuals achieve personal fitness and health goals. Their programs are designed with individualized flexibility in mind and they aim to streamline business and sport psychology with each client. LBR TRAINING also works with clients around the world online.

BusinessInterviews.com: Where does your passion for training and coaching come from?

Lawrence: Competing in athletics as a collegiate and then professionally afforded me the opportunity to be surrounded by some of the world’s best coaches and trainers. My teammates, training partners and competitors all strived to be better and exuded excellence. I think when a person is exposed to such an intense environment long enough they begin to recognize patterns that are conducive to success and consequently self-empowerment. For me the thought of helping others through this process of self-discovery is a natural and comfortable progression from my educational and sporting background. Coaching affords me a mutually beneficial sense of reward and achievement while I help direct programs for individuals.

BusinessInterviews.com: Can you expand on how a minimalist philosophy influences your approach to training and fitness?

Lawrence: I don’t complicate training or fitness and I am purposeful in this methodology. The fitness industry is deliberately complicated and meant to confuse the general public. Writers, trainers, business interests, and pseudo scientists, all thrive on keeping the intended audience (those seeking better health through exercise and diet) confused In order to pander product. People are pulled in a multitude of directions when trying to evolve a lifestyle that will maximize healthy conditions. Trainers and companies promote chaos, misinformation, deliberate deceit, all directed at people in the name of profit and at the ultimate risk of the public’s health. My philosophy and training principles are a reaction to what I see. The reality is that diet and nutrition are not complicated. Training and nutritional improvements come from individualized methodical changes that are implemented consistently over time. In fact, a popular adage around LBR TRAINING is ‘consistency over time yields the greatest results’ and I think this is true for many aspects of life, especially business.

BusinessInterviews.com: What’s one marketing strategy that’s worked really well for you?

Lawrence: Using imagery via social media portraying everyday clients performing safe sound movements provides the most leads for our company. Void of Photoshop, and obscure or too advanced exercises, everyday people get a glimpse through video and photography what training really looks like. I am of the opinion that this attracts more lasting clients and creates realistic expectations from the start. The modified before/after pictures and using models and athletes to ‘sell’ is something we stay away from and it works. Honest images yield a higher quality client whereas the alternative methods tend to alienate. People are much smarter than marketers often assume, it doesn’t take long for the public to discern the fakes from the facts.

BusinessInterviews.com: Can you talk about your desire to divide the sports and personal training into separate facilities and business models and how that would impact the LBR?

Lawrence: Our long term strategy is simple for the division of personal training and sports. To be great at what you do you need special focus and individualization. I don’t think this is different for any business. We strive at being great coaches and trainers but there is a point in our growth curve where the separation of facilities will be essential in order to avoid one resource interfering with the other. Ideally, we want to provide the absolute best environment for coaches and the best environment for trainers. The greatest challenge will be the timing of this split. We are not there yet, but we are constantly looking forward. Ultimately, both businesses will be separate but still work symbiotically from a marketing and image perspective.

BusinessInterviews.com: What tips would you give to someone who has taken a long break from fitness and is now ready to ease back into an exercise routine?

Lawrence: I would encourage any new trainee or those returning from a long hiatus to make a plan based on the following criteria: set an ultimate goal (weight loss, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, etc.), set a budget, consult a physician and tell your physician EXACTLY what your goals are and how you intend to achieve them. Find a coach or trainer but look around until you find someone who understands what you are trying to achieve and that you feel is easy to communicate with. Last, accept that goals are not archived overnight and many biological processes take place before major changes can be seen.

BusinessInterviews.com: What would your ideal client look like?

Lawrence: The ideal client takes the above advice and is ready to implement it and ultimately is willing to accept their mistakes and is open minded enough to partake in an experience that will inevitably teach patience, humility, and self-empowerment.