TITANS OF TRANSITION
The Leap That Shaped Her Philosophy: Abby Clapper on Fitness, Fear, and Finding What Works for You
Recorded: April 17, 2026
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────


Abby Clapper (00:00)
So motivation ebbs and flows. It's not the same every day. So when we talk about someone who doesn't have autism or ADHD, we'll call that neurotypical.

You know, you might feel like no matter how you're feeling, it's on your schedule, you're gonna go to the gym every day that it's scheduled because you know you have to do it. Whether the motivation is there or not. Someone who is neurodivergent, someone with autism, ADHD, on the spectrum — whatever — if they're lacking in that motivation, even if it's on the schedule, they might not still go because they wanna work on something else, they don't find it enjoyable that day, maybe their body isn't feeling like it has enough energy, maybe their brain capacity doesn't, they don't think they have enough in order to complete it.

So that's why it's so important to look at every person differently instead of giving everyone the same type of workout and the same type of workout schedule. It's really important to find something that you enjoy and that you are going to stick to, even if it doesn't look like the influencers that you see online.


Joe Miller (00:59)
Abby Clapper, welcome to Titans of Transition.


Abby Clapper (01:02)
Thank you so much.


Joe Miller (01:04)
It was great meeting you. Was that back in January — we met at Podfest? Yeah, there was a great mixer in the Buzzsprout booth. I connected with you because of what you do and my need for more physical activity at my age.


Abby Clapper (01:11)
Yep, Podfest in Orlando.


Joe Miller (01:24)
You were just so gracious. I really appreciate that. I'd love to hear you tell us about how you got into doing what you're doing. I know you have a formal background, educationally, in kinesiology. How do you say that word? Thank you. That's one of the ones I always get tripped up on.


Abby Clapper (01:41)
Kinesiology.


Joe Miller (01:48)
Yeah, just tell us how you ended up doing what you're doing today.


Abby Clapper (01:53)
Yeah, so funny thing about kinesiology — when I tell people kinesiology, people are like, "So you're into the holistic? You can tell me what minerals I'm missing in my body?" And I was like, whoa, hold on a second, no. So I usually break it down as exercise science — that's a really basic way to explain what I do and what I went to school for.

So I decided to go for exercise science because I was a three-sport athlete in high school. I spent a lot of time with the athletic trainer because I would get injured in these sports. And I thought it was so cool that there was a job where you could work with people in sports. And so as I explored that a little bit more, I found that I didn't want to do all the clinical hours that it took to be an athletic trainer, but along the same lines, I could still work with people and help them find ways to exercise and keep people healthy. So that's what really got me into it.


Joe Miller (02:42)
And so being a trainer — were you always a trainer right out of school or did you do something in between?


Abby Clapper (02:45)
Yeah, so I did corporate wellness for about five or six years. Corporate wellness — not many people know that it's a job that exists unless you work for a company that has a gym in the building specifically for its employees. So that's what I did. I helped manage fitness centers for employees of big companies, and I was teaching classes, doing personal training, running step challenges and health challenges to help keep office people healthy, because sitting at a desk all day can get really hard on the body.

And so that's how I really got my start, and I absolutely loved doing it. And then it came to a point — I think it's probably been about two and a half years now — where the company I was contracted to work with was moving to a different building. They didn't have a need for my position in a fitness center in that building. So I was able to launch my own business. Now I do personal training and I get to teach group exercise classes and do a little bit of both. So I'm loving it.


Joe Miller (03:49)
That's great. And you're a podcaster. What's the name of your podcast for everybody?


Abby Clapper (03:52)
I am. Yeah, it's called Talk Your Abs Off — a fun little play on my name and abs. So it's a fitness podcast and we talk about sustainable ways to keep fitness going in everyday life. And then I also have some episodes that really narrow in on helping people with fitness who are neurodivergent or have chronic conditions and what they can still do.


Joe Miller (03:59)
I like that one. So really interesting because — you know, I think people often get into physical training to try to impact their overall health. Our healthcare system has been so focused on the blood marker of glucose for so long, which is way downstream. And then in recent years that's been all about GLP-1 agonists and Ozempic. Just kind of curious how much that has come up in your conversations with your clients.


Abby Clapper (04:44)
Yeah, it's come up a lot recently, and it's funny because I actually did a podcast episode with a doctor who does weight management and gives GLP-1s because I wanted to learn more about it. I didn't know much. Right out the gate when I first heard about it, I thought GLP-1s were the easy way out. I thought it was the next fad because we've seen a lot of fads over the years. But as I talked to her and as I kind of dug into it a little bit more, I see it more as a tool — as opposed to a fad — because there is a lot of insulin resistance and a lot of conditions that come with insulin resistance that people might not realize.

So I do work with some people who are on GLP-1s, and I'm so happy that I can, because it's so important when you're taking a GLP-1 to still continue to exercise and eat well. Because I think a lot of times we see people taking GLP-1s and not changing any of their other habits.


Joe Miller (05:30)
Yeah, not their lifestyle — kind of the root cause. And I think that's also why a lot of doctors in this space are looking at micro-dosing, staying below the recommended therapeutic dose given the side effects of potential protein mass loss. And that's why it's so important to keep your exercise up and eat right. Because yes, your appetite will be suppressed and your digestion will be slowed. And there are other factors depending on which agonist cocktail you take. But if you don't address the underlying lifestyle change, then I think after a few years the GLP-1 agonists become less effective anyway, and then people want to get off them because of the side effects. And if they haven't addressed the lifestyle, they slingshot. It's like The Biggest Loser thing all over again — using a hack to get you there.


Abby Clapper (06:33)
Oh my gosh, yeah.


Joe Miller (06:40)
You basically are using a hack to get you there.


Abby Clapper (06:48)
Right, yeah. And I think the way I talk about GLP-1s is that it's for a very specific type of person. Now obviously anybody has access to GLP-1s, but I don't think they're for everyone. When we look at it, it is an appetite suppressant. So if someone is having trouble managing food noise, and if their BMI is high enough that insurance will cover it, then more than likely they're a really good candidate. But if someone's BMI is low or quote unquote normal, GLP-1s might not be effective or a very good choice at that time. So yeah, I kind of think it comes down to the individual.


Joe Miller (07:22)
Yeah. Okay. Sorry about that sideline — it was just an area of interest for me. And just out of curiosity, what's the age spread of your clients?


Abby Clapper (07:26)
Great question. So I live in Clearwater, Florida, so the spread is very wide. I work with people from their 30s to their 80s. Really wide group here.


Joe Miller (07:38)
Yeah, so I'm about two and a half hours south of you in Port Charlotte. And you look around — there are a lot of people my age, a lot of folks retiring down here. So maybe we can touch on advice for older folks. I looked at your LinkedIn profile and your byline said something about helping people live a healthier and fulfilling life — is that close?


Abby Clapper (07:50)
Yeah, happier, healthier life.


Joe Miller (08:13)
Right. So Abby's not just the gym person who helps you work out. You're really concerned about the person's overall health.


Abby Clapper (08:19)
Absolutely. And that they're enjoying how they're getting healthy too, because a lot of times fitness can seem really boring. Some people feel like fitness isn't for them if they've had bad experiences in the gym in the past. So I'm really creating a space for people with different bodies and brains — bodies and brains of all kinds — creating a safe space for them to feel like they can find a fitness routine that feels good for them. Because not everyone needs to be in the gym doing dumbbells or lifting really heavy weights to get healthy. There are so many ways to do it and I love exploring those options.


Joe Miller (09:11)
That's really cool. I want to swing back to a little bit more about what you see as being successful, but I want to reconnect with the reason my podcast exists — and that's transitions and lessons learned. Now maybe you don't view yourself as having a huge, massive transition, like going from being a vet to a combat physician or something like that. But you did do that transition between the corporate world and your own business. Tell me a little bit more about that change and how you adjusted to it, and maybe some of the lessons learned.


Abby Clapper (09:49)
Yeah, it was a very uncomfortable time in my life and it's still pretty recent. Like I said, maybe about two and a half years ago. I had really enjoyed corporate. I loved working with big groups of people. I loved the stability of a paycheck every two weeks. And when you make that transition to work for yourself, it's so scary because you don't really know how stable it's going to be, but you have to make the jump.

So I was very lucky that I had some clients I was working with on the side during my nine to five. Either before or after work, I would go see other clients on my own. So I kind of started this business just to have something on the side. And then I'm so grateful I did, because when the time came, I had something to lean back on — because the fitness industry is really tough. Either you're a trainer in a corporate gym or you're doing corporate wellness, and there's not too much in between. So it's a really hard place to be.

Being able to find my own place in it was exciting, but also very scary and very uncomfortable. The not knowing is terrible for me. I have anxiety. It was a really, really hard time — feeling like I was getting rejected from the corporate world and trying to find my own place. Looking back now, it's one of the best things I ever did, because now I control my schedule, I get to do everything that I like to do, work with people that I like, and it's really fulfilling.


Joe Miller (11:19)
Yeah. It probably took you six months to a year just to get to the point where you felt like, okay, I don't have to freak out because next month's bills are coming in. I find that people going through the working-for-yourself transition — it really depends on how they're wired. Like the difference between myself and my wife: I'm much more of a dive-in kind of person, figured-it-out-as-I-jump-off-the-cliff kind of guy. She's more structured, wants more understanding upfront, does more research. To me, research is a few data points and I can extrapolate from there. Based on how you're wired, you have different levels of stress. There are downsides to being like me — you can crash and burn and make too many ill-informed changes. So what kind of person are you? How would you describe yourself in that regard?


Abby Clapper (11:35)
Exactly, that's exactly how long it took. Yeah.


Abby Clapper (12:21)
Yeah, I think I'm a lot like you. I kind of was ready to just make the jump, whether I was ready for it or not, and then I figured it out along the way. And I think that happens to a lot of people as they leave corporate and go into entrepreneurship — you just kind of have to figure it out. But that's the thing: you have to. You don't have a choice. And that's really motivating when you have to pay the bills and figure out how to do that.

I've quoted this friend before — she owns her own photography business — and her husband had said one time, "Entrepreneurs, you just make money show up out of thin air." And it really is amazing. Like, you're right — we're providing services. And I'm also really bad at sales. So that was one of my biggest fears. I was like, how am I going to sell to people when I hate selling? But I think when you're really passionate about what you do, people can see that and they want it. And then all you have to do is help them along and sign them up, which is the best part.


Joe Miller (13:25)
Yeah, that's interesting — the hate-selling part. Years ago I went through a transition where I supported the launch of a software product in the US, and I had to go out and sell, market, form partnerships with major vendors, and then once I sold a few large systems, I had to support them. The lesson I learned was that you get to a certain point where you realize there are certain things you're doing that you can kind of ad-lib your way through, but you need to find people to help you — even if it's not a formalized thing, even if it's just, "Hey, can I have coffee and pick your brain on how you do these things?"

But the whole idea of relationship selling came up and how important it is to think for the long term, which is really the opposite of where you're being pulled in the early days, right? And so through word of mouth — which I'm sure after you had this kernel, which was really smart — I suspect you had an intuition that you were going to want to make a shift anyway, or that you saw it coming. And I'm sure that once you had a few more clients, you started getting referrals.


Abby Clapper (14:43)
Yeah, actually my business is almost 100% referrals, which I love. I've never done Facebook ads or any of those different ads because I'm afraid of them and I don't know how to use them. So I'm very grateful for happy clients who want to share what I do with their friends. And it's also easier to sell to someone when someone they trust already trusts you. That's the best part.

And just through meeting people organically too — telling them about what I do, having that one-on-one conversation — they're like, "Hey, maybe I might be interested in that." I will take that over leads off the internet any day, mostly because I don't even know what kind of leads you get. I don't know how to do it, so.


Joe Miller (15:11)
Yeah, there's your social proof right there. And you know, if you're trying to persuade people in the way our paradigm of the negative salesperson works — it's just not authentic. And usually your churn rate on people you have sort of, you know, bamboozled into signing up with you, it's just not worth the effort.

Really, so anyway — that's kind of my two cents. So let's go back. Can we talk about your experience in this private business you have and the different clientele? What are some of the principles you think are important for people to understand in order to be successful at getting themselves in shape?


Abby Clapper (16:27)
Great question.


Joe Miller (16:28)
Maybe some of the hidden ones we don't think of. Like, the person is just lazy and doesn't want to do it — that's obvious. Maybe some of the non-obvious ones.


Abby Clapper (16:34)
Right. Well, I think some people think it comes down to having a really high level of motivation. But the reality is, at a lot of points, you're not going to have motivation — but you still need to continue. So I work with a lot of people who have autism or ADHD. Motivation ebbs and flows. It's not the same every day.

When we talk about someone who doesn't have autism or ADHD — we'll call that neurotypical — you might feel like no matter how you're feeling, you're gonna go to the gym every day it's scheduled because you know you have to. Whether the motivation is there or not. Someone who is neurodivergent — autism, ADHD, on the spectrum — if they're lacking in that motivation, even if it's on the schedule, they might not still go because they wanna work on something else, they don't find it enjoyable that day, maybe their body isn't feeling like it has enough energy, maybe their brain doesn't have the capacity. So that's why it's so important to look at every person differently instead of giving everyone the same type of workout and the same workout schedule. It's really important to find something that you enjoy and that you are going to stick to, even if it doesn't look like what the influencers post online.

A lot of times those influencers have so much time on their hands that they're at the gym all day. They can do whatever they want, but that's not realistic for the rest of us.


Joe Miller (17:57)
Yeah. Right, exactly. That's wild.


Abby Clapper (18:02)
Yeah, so that's one of the big things. And then I think — giving yourself grace. Hustle culture and workout culture, all the influencers are gonna scream at you that you just have to dig in and do it. But giving yourself grace on days when you're really not feeling it, and allowing your body to maybe take a walk or focus on stretching — those things are just as important as a hard workout in the gym.


Joe Miller (18:25)
That's interesting. I like the way you talked about ADHD and neurodivergent versus — what did you call it?


Abby Clapper (18:35)
Neurotypical.


Joe Miller (18:36)
Anyway, my kids have said I'm probably ADHD before they were diagnosing it. Could be true. That's really interesting. It also takes me into the territory of habits. I think about the author of Atomic Habits. One of the big principles — I want to see what you think about this idea, if you're familiar with his work — is that you really don't change behavior until you work on your identity. Instead of saying to yourself, "Here's my schedule. I have to do this. I'm checking off that day on the calendar" — instead of doing that, ask yourself: what would the person I'm identifying as do? "I'm a person who takes care of my body. I'm a person concerned for my health. What does a person concerned for their health do?" It's kind of an interesting little nuanced shift rather than this guilt-inducing, "I'm going to be disciplined."


Abby Clapper (19:26)
Yeah, right. I'm so glad that you brought that up. So I read part of Atomic Habits and that happens to be a part I did read. And I actually love that perspective shift, because if you can say "I'm a person who exercises" instead of "I really need to get to the gym" — it really changes your value around exercise, which is what we want. So many people feel that guilt around exercise, but we want to remove that guilt, because it's gonna bring you negative self-talk and negative feelings every time you want to go but don't. And we don't want to feel that way, because otherwise we're gonna snowball into "I'm gonna give up again."

So I think that's something a lot of people have — who have tried the gym and failed multiple times, or who yo-yo diet. "These things just aren't working, I just can't do it." But if we change the perspective and shift it more into your value system and why you wanna make the change — that's where we see a lot more of the habits actually sticking.

When we have "I wanna do this because I wanna be able to play with my kids and my grandkids" or "I wanna run my first 5K" — whatever realistic goal someone can set — instead of "I wanna lose 50 pounds in a month," we're not setting ourselves up for failure. If we have something realistic we can track, a goal we're reaching towards, and we start to see those little things add up — we get little hits of dopamine that are gonna keep us going. So yeah, I think the identity piece and finding the value within yourself that you want to achieve really makes a difference.


Joe Miller (21:18)
So I guess that's part of getting a feel for the person who signed up with you — beyond the surface level "What are your goals?" It's kind of, what's driving you? What's the motivation behind it? Is that part of how you feel people out to know how to work with them?


Abby Clapper (21:24)
Mm-hmm. Absolutely. So one of my biggest things is making sure that I'm really hearing the person and listening. A lot of trainers might hear you, but they might not really listen to what you want. All they're thinking is, "Okay, I want to do this and this and this with them" instead of "What do you want to do? What does meaningful movement look like for you?"

I'm finding as a trainer that having a lot of empathy is really important. I've been an empath for as long as I can remember. I mean, I get sad when I see animals outside getting wet. My husband and I save all the bugs. So I have very strong empathy, which can almost be to a fault sometimes. But having empathy when it comes to people and exercise — really finding their pain points and helping them overcome. I've had people come and say, "Well, I've tried this before, it hasn't worked." Well, then we don't have to try what you tried. We can try something else. Find something that feels good for you.

And I'm never the person who's gonna tell someone, "I'm really disappointed in you. You really do need to get to the gym." It's okay — take a day off and we'll regroup tomorrow and see what fits best into your schedule. It's really about allowing people that space to feel safe within the fitness industry.


Joe Miller (22:49)
There's a lot there. I think about a personal experience from years ago — probably 20 years ago — when I had a trainer at 24 Hour Fitness. I just felt like I was on an assembly line, and this guy was saying the same things to everybody. What you said just resonated. It was just, "This is what you have to do. Do this now. Okay, now go over here and do this." It was not very enjoyable. I didn't feel like the person had any real concern for what I was saying.

It's kind of the opposite of active listening. There was no deep concern or understanding in order to really coach and help people into the transition they actually want. Do they really own it? Or did the doctor tell them they needed to lose weight and they don't really want to do it?


Abby Clapper (23:44)
Mm-hmm. Right, yeah. Well, we run into that too — when we see people saying "calories in, calories out." I was that trainer for a while too. And I agree, because when we look at people's different health conditions, sometimes people don't know if they have a thyroid condition or something that's just not allowing them to release weight from their body.

I also used to be a trainer who would do before-and-after pictures, and there is a place for people who want to lose weight in a healthy way. But I tell all of my clients now — I don't guarantee weight loss, because your body is unique and I don't know how it's going to respond. But we want to aim for gaining strength, gaining muscle, making sure that you're eating well to support your active lifestyle. And I think that needs to be a bigger focus. In society, everyone's always been worried about weight, but there's so much more to a person than just what they weigh. It's about being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle.


Joe Miller (25:11)
Well, yeah — you could weigh exactly the same and your body composition can really shift in the wrong direction. I really enjoy some of the work by Dr. Jason Fung up in Toronto. He wrote The Obesity Code. I think it was probably around 2018 when I started doing intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating. I had never lost much weight before, but I lost 50 pounds just by doing that, and I've kept 45 of it off.

And calories — they're measured by putting things in a calorimeter and burning them. But you can put things in a calorimeter that your body won't even process. It'll pass right through your body and you won't get any of that energy into your system whatsoever. How insulin gets signaled by different foods, for example — it's completely different.


Abby Clapper (25:57)
Yeah, right. And I think that's something people need to remember too. We want to focus on putting good foods in our body that are going to sustain us and give us energy. But we also need to enjoy our life a little bit. If you want to have cake and cookies, as long as we're not swinging the pendulum the other way and going completely off the rails.


Joe Miller (26:33)
Right, don't go crazy. Exactly. So let's talk about how you get people started. You talked about how you assess them, your philosophy. Let's take a random case of someone who's 70-plus years old, wants to not lose any more muscle, and engages with you. What would you tell them? And then we'll get into injuries, because I think there's a story to tell there.


Abby Clapper (27:03)
Absolutely. Yeah, so I call myself a conservative personal trainer — conservative in the fact that I'm not going to start people with really heavy weights, because I want them to come back. I want them to lift with me one day and still want to continue working out. I don't want people to be extremely sore. I want you to feel like you worked out, but I don't think it needs to be so debilitating that you can't get up off the toilet — especially if you're 70 years old, right?

I am perfectly content starting people with two- and three-pound weights just to learn the movements. If it's someone who's never exercised before, I want to make sure there's proper form. I tend to do a lot of exercises laying down on the floor because you're more supported and at less risk of injuring shoulders, things like that. And just making sure that we have good solid movements before we start taking the weight up. I'll keep someone at those lower weights for two or three months, and then we'll maybe start adding some heavier weights, depending on how someone's feeling and how frequently we're working out.

But really, you can start with very light weights and still be building muscle. And especially as we get older, the most important thing is trying to avoid things like osteopenia and osteoporosis. The more muscle you have, we can also improve some of that bone density, or at least try to prevent losing more of it.

We're also losing muscle — after the age of 30, our muscle starts to decline significantly. So we want to keep as much as we can, especially as we get older. My main focus with older clients is really just building the base. And then for every client, I like to tell people: every person should be doing a squat, a hinge, a push, and a pull exercise multiple times a week. Those are the main things.

Those movements also help you live your life, right? We're bending over to pick things up, squatting to pick up boxes, reaching to get things. These are all movements we want to stay strong in, especially as we get older. So that's kind of where I would start someone, and then it's only up from there. We can start increasing weights, trying new movement patterns — but really starting with the absolute basics and very light weights makes people feel comfortable. They don't feel like they're going to hurt themselves or doing too much.


Joe Miller (29:30)
Right. I like the way you talked about starting slowly, because you are going to get sore — micro tears and all that. But again, it gets back to you not being interested in the quick fix that's not retained over the long term.


Abby Clapper (29:36)
Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah, we want this to be a lifestyle change and sustainable. We want people to keep doing it.


Joe Miller (29:52)
So weights, free weights, machines, bands — thoughts on all these different things?


Abby Clapper (29:57)
The TRX. I love a TRX.


Joe Miller (29:59)
TRX — I do too, but since my shoulders have gotten a little bit wacky it kind of hurts. It seems kind of silly when I'm...


Abby Clapper (30:08)
Right, yeah, exactly.


Joe Miller (30:10)
You're making me feel better now. I'm ready to hook it back up.


Abby Clapper (30:13)
That's funny. Yeah. It depends on what people have access to, right? A lot of times when I work with people, I go to their homes or I train them virtually and they have maybe a couple sets of dumbbells. Sometimes I'll go to someone's gym with them and they do have machines. A machine — when we're talking about gym machines, when you walk into a gym, it's the ones you can sit on. Seated shoulder press, seated bicep curls, things like that.

Those are really good initially to learn movement patterns. If you're uncomfortable with free weight dumbbells or feel like your stability muscles aren't very strong, it's a really great place to start. If you have access to machines and you're starting for the first time, great to start there. If we don't have that, I like dumbbells — as long as they're light and we're using them safely with good form. Like all you need is some dumbbells. If all you have is resistance bands, use resistance bands. There are a thousand things you can do with that.

So I like to look at what do you already have. You don't need to buy a whole home gym in order to get your fitness on. But if you are starting, I would say machines first, then dumbbells, and then you can get into all the other crazy equipment.


Joe Miller (31:02)
And what about the aerobics side of things?


Abby Clapper (31:29)
The aerobic side — yeah. So that's where it can be really tough because people will be like, "Well, Abby, I hate running." Well, the good news is that not everybody has to run. Walking counts as aerobic activity. You can do walking, dancing, Zumba classes. We have stair steppers, ellipticals, bikes — whether it's the recumbent bikes in the gym or an upright bike.


Joe Miller (31:49)
A ton of different options. Yeah.


Abby Clapper (31:53)
Truly, there are so many options and we can find one that someone might like.


Joe Miller (31:56)
Cool. Okay, let's get into injuries. Before we pressed record, I mentioned that my wife just had rotator cuff repair — she had actually fallen and put her arm out to break the fall, and the shock of that popped the cuff. She had to get it reattached and all that kind of jazz. So she's just started PT this week, but hasn't been able to sleep in anything but a reclining chair until about four days ago. She's back in bed now. And you mentioned that you've had something similar?


Abby Clapper (32:27)
Wow. Yeah.


Joe Miller (32:38)
Because you probably didn't follow your own advice on lifting or something.


Abby Clapper (32:42)
Yeah, no — I have a rotator cuff strain that I'm rehabbing right now. I was bench pressing, following a strength program from another coach. Even if it had been my own program, it could happen at any weight with anybody's coaching. I was barbell bench pressing and it was a little heavy, and I felt something weird in my shoulder, but I decided to push through it — which I should not have done. You've got to listen to your body, folks.

And so I did that, and then I couldn't use it for maybe about a month. I was just doing legs and I was like, "Let me just rest it, it'll be fine." Then I had gotten a massage and something happened and it flared back up again, and I couldn't push or pull my arm. And I was like, God, I really need to probably go to the doctor this time. And at the ripe age of 31, I was like, I need my shoulder. I can't just leave this.

So I went, and he said rotator cuff strain due to shoulder impingement. A shoulder impingement — a lot of times, if you think about your posture, if your shoulders round forward, that's essentially what a shoulder impingement is. Because my posture is bad, it wasn't really helping me. I wasn't bench pressing in the proper position. So I'm in physical therapy. We're working on pulling my shoulders back, strengthening through my back muscles. And now I'm really careful about lifting upper body.


Joe Miller (33:58)
How long did they predict it's going to take to get you back to full strength?


Abby Clapper (34:01)
Well, I went in on Wednesday for my appointment — so two days ago — and he told me I was good to go. And I was like, "Well, I would still like some more physical therapy for my own sanity, please." But so it took about a month of physical therapy to fix this. It was very minor, though. Everyone's shoulders are different. But making sure that our bodies are in the right positions and that we're warming up before exercise is super important.


Joe Miller (34:11)
Peace of mind. Yeah.


Abby Clapper (34:27)
Yeah, injuries and weightlifting happen all the time. It's just about being careful and listening to your body — that's the biggest thing.


Joe Miller (34:35)
Yeah. That's interesting. It's hard to believe I was a gymnast in high school. Yeah, I didn't go all-around — I just did the pommel horse and vaulting. I've had a couple of injuries there for sure. But yeah, I don't think I could climb the ropes up and down without my legs anymore.


Abby Clapper (34:40)
Were you really? That's cool. I'm curious if the gymnastics played a part in what your shoulders are doing now.


Joe Miller (35:03)
No, well — it did, actually. My right shoulder. I injured it initially in gymnastics and it was okay. And then I injured it again in volleyball doing a smash. And then I was also in martial arts, and that's when I had my right arm dislocated.


Abby Clapper (35:15)
Oh gosh. I can imagine.


Joe Miller (35:30)
Yeah, it's kind of crazy. Let's talk a little bit about your podcast and how it fits into your business. Is it completely separate? Is it the top of your funnel? How does it fit?


Abby Clapper (35:46)
Yeah, I initially started the podcast as a marketing tool. As anyone who starts a podcast — you think it's going to go viral and you're going to get all these listens. And I was like, this is going to be a great way for me to get new clients. Wrong. But I found that people really did enjoy listening to conversations around small, sustainable habits that other people do that they can maybe add into their lifestyle.

So when I first started the podcast, I was talking to a functional health nurse about gut health, a running coach about how to start running — super small things that are easy to add. I have some guests who were really inspirational in finding exercise through grief and all these different things. So the podcast is going to be two years old in June, I believe. And I've kind of changed how I approach it. It has not gone viral.

I get some pretty consistent listens and I love my listeners so much and all the new listeners that I get. But I've changed it to now focus more on — I've found my niche of people who are neurodivergent and have chronic health conditions, and really helping them find things that work for them. But what I also learned was it's a really great referral network.

Here's an example: I had a physical therapist who works with people with hypermobility. I have clients with hypermobility. So I said, let's talk about the importance of strength training with hypermobility. Had her on the show. She said, "I didn't know that there were trainers who worked specifically with people who were hypermobile." I said, "Well, I can, and I'm happy to." And so she referred me to two people — one she worked with directly and one from a networking group we were both in.

And I was like, this is fantastic. If I can connect with local people — or really people anywhere — I can build out this referral network, have these conversations, and we can all support each other in our different fields. I've really leaned into that too. It's a great way to network.


Joe Miller (37:44)
Yeah, hypermobility — maybe you should define that. I think I know, but.


Abby Clapper (37:49)
Yeah, hypermobility — sometimes called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome — is basically when your joints are extra flexible. The double-jointedness, yeah. So the cartilage, tendons, and ligaments are just a little bit loose. You'll see people be able to touch their thumb to their forearm, or their knees kind of look backwards when they lock them out, or their elbows pop up the opposite way when they extend their arms. Oftentimes that's what it looks like.


Joe Miller (37:58)
So it's the old double-joint designation.


Abby Clapper (38:10)
Exactly. And I can't do it — I'm not hypermobile.


Joe Miller (38:17)
Yeah, well, it seems like you would have to address that for people working out. There have to be other muscles that take up the role of keeping that joint stable. A stability kind of environment — kind of like how your core stabilizes your spine, right?


Abby Clapper (38:30)
Absolutely, yeah — building the stability around the joints. A lot of overcompensation. Yep, for sure.


Joe Miller (38:51)
That's interesting. That's crazy. Well, what haven't we talked about? What would you leave people with who know they should be working out — like me — and really should get started? I admit it — I can go to the gym for free. It's part of my medical benefit at my age. But I hate going mostly because the gyms nearby are so busy that I'd have to go at a crazy time at night. And the other option would be just to invest a little bit of money and do it at home. I know these things. How do you have empathy for people who are having trouble getting started?


Abby Clapper (39:17)
Absolutely. I usually tell people to start small and find something that you enjoy. Starting small can look like adding in walks around your neighborhood, or — I love YouTube videos. There are so many free, good YouTube workout videos. If you like Pilates, yoga, strength training with dumbbells or resistance bands, you can find any type of workout on YouTube from your home. Type in "bodyweight" or whatever piece of equipment you have, and something will pop up.

And then it's about finding something that you like. There are trainers on the internet who are into like video games, so they do video game workouts — all these different things. Finding something you enjoy, whether it's dancing, walking, running, finding a friend to bring in with you. There are so many ways to make it happen.

And that's the other thing I always like to leave people with: there is always something that you can do. Even if you have an injury, a chronic health condition, or feel like your brain works a little bit differently — there's something that's going to work for you. You just have to find it. And that's the most important thing.


Joe Miller (40:41)
So break it up, small chunks. Get started. Get momentum. Yeah.


Abby Clapper (40:46)
Yep. Find the thing that's going to get you started so that you can continue the snowball.


Joe Miller (40:53)
Yeah, I love it. Well, gosh — I've run out of questions. This has been a lot of fun. And I can already think of a number of people I would want to refer you to. Here's a question though — did you say you do remote classes too? How does that work?


Abby Clapper (40:58)
I think we covered it all!

Yeah, so I do one-on-one in person and virtual. I do it over Google Meet — it's just super easy. When I work with people over Google Meet, whatever equipment they have, I plan out their workouts for them, I take them through the workout, I can watch their form, correct their form, and we get to chat. It's like chatting with a friend while you're working out, right? But also getting the professional guidance.

I also have an app and a monthly membership. So if you don't want me to be there with you, but you just don't know what you want for your workout, you can sign up for a monthly membership with me. I'll customize your workouts around your schedule, your abilities, and the equipment that you have. You'll get your workout sent to you so you don't even have to think about it. All you have to do is open up the app, see what you're doing today, and just follow it. So a lot of different options. Yeah.


Joe Miller (41:59)
That's great. That's really helpful. All that information and how to get a hold of you — we will drop in the show notes and make it available to everyone. I just love the way you are so encouraging.


Abby Clapper (42:08)
Perfect. Thank you — I love to hear that.


Joe Miller (42:16)
I just thought you were very interesting when I met you at the mixer at the podcasting conference. And I don't know, you just put me at ease. And now I just don't feel so bad talking to someone who is in a space that I've been avoiding. So I love that.


Abby Clapper (42:25)
Yeah. I love to hear that. That makes me so happy.


Joe Miller (42:40)
That's great. And maybe you should have an episode that is like a webinar or a live stream for neurodivergent listeners in particular. I bet you'd get a lot of people to jump on that, if you haven't already done it.


Abby Clapper (42:54)
Yeah, absolutely. I try to cater some of my content on Instagram to that.


Joe Miller (42:59)
The dreaded IG. All right, listen — thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it, Abby. Thank you. All right.


Abby Clapper (43:01)
I know, it's the worst.

Thank you, Joe.


─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
END OF TRANSCRIPT
Connect with Abby Clapper:
  • Talk Your Abs Off Podcast
  • Instagram: [handle]
  • Website: [url]
  • Monthly Membership App: [url]

Resources mentioned:
  • Atomic Habits by James Clear
  • The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung
  • Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome / Hypermobility information
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────