This week, we’ve got Valerie Waters on the podcast. Val is a personal trainer to the stars. No, really. She’s been training Cindy Crawford for twelve years now, as well as Jennifer Garner, and she has an entire book of A-listers to her credit. She’s one of the go-to trainers for Hollywood agents, directors, managers, and actors who have goals and deadlines they absolutely, positively have to meet. She can meet them — and does.
Val and I go back about twenty years. In the mid ‘90s, I was a professional adventure racer and I started an adventure camp for women with two of my best friends. It was called Girl Teams. That’s where I met Val. She was a camper — a trainer in search of adventure. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, just enough to know what the other is up to, but never much deeper than that.
After our podcast discussion, I can’t say that anymore!
I was really interested in talking with her about how she does it — how does she get her clients to achieve their goals by specific deadlines? What is her “magic”? What are her workouts like? How does she get hired? What’s it like to be on set? What’s it like to be “friends” with Jennifer Garner? We talk about all of that during the podcast.
But, I also wanted to hear how she got to where she is in life. How does someone become a celebrity trainer? What are the qualities that are important for a job like that? What do you need to be good at? How do you prepare? How do you talk differently to Cindy or Jennifer than to anyone else you’re training?
What I found out is that Val was never in it for the fame and fortune. She has a deep desire to help people and she loves the work — both the working out and being the coach in the corner. She’s built her life around it, and she has some very specific things she does that we all can learn from when it comes to achieving our goals.
Links Mentioned
ValerieWaters.com — Val’s official website.
Instagram — @valslide and @valeriewaters
Where Are They Now: Rachel McLish — Flex article on female bodybuilding pioneer that inspired Valerie.
Beware the Bad Trainer — Article on what to look for in a trainer by Valerie’s New York mentor.
A-List Look with Valerie Waters — Valerie’s video series in partnership with Livestrong
Valslide — Valerie’s fitness tool invention.
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us — Val’s current non-fiction read.
Slide Board Exercises — YouTube video showing 21 different exercises.
Andy is a certified CHEK Practitioner and holistic lifestyle coach. He holds a spectrum of certifications from CrossFit and is also a Vivobarefoot certified running coach. He has trained as a Zen buddhist and graduated with a Master’s degree in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica.
Andy founded CrossFit LA one of the first and most successful CrossFit training centers in the world and the first to be featured in national media. He is the co-founder of the Whole Life Challenge, Inc, currently its president, and is also a consultant and life/business coach. Andy lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Julia, and son, Dashel.
