As a content creator, I thrive on the feeling I get when someone benefits from the media I share. This past week was exciting because it kicked off what will be a year of prolific blogging in the areas of fitness, nutrition, and self development. Below you’ll find a roundup of the content I created from August 28th to September 3rd, 2022.

Content Creation Type: Blogs

Although I love taking photos, filming videos, and designing graphics, writing has been my #1 skill since I was in elementary school. Naturally, blogs make up the mainstay of this week’s content. Main areas of focus include self reflection, strength training, and mobility.

Weight Loss: Reflections from a Former Big Girl Turned Skinny

The first blog is a long-form piece of content that describes my experience being skinny, as someone who used to be bigger. As a coach who had trained for most of her career in gyms and weight loss studios, I know that the number one goal that those who get memberships set is to lose weight. This is consistent across individuals of varying shapes, sizes, and genders. Although there were only a few times in my life when I considered myself to be overweight, for most of my life I had some wild misconceptions about what life would be like if I were thin. You know what they say. Reality can be a REAL… well, you know what I mean 😉 I wrote this piece for those individuals who, like I did, are still wondering what it might be like. And if you couldn’t guess by the the graphic, being skinny is not all it’s cracked up to be. Interested? Head over to the Transform with Nadia blog to give it a read.

Oblique Exercises: My Top 5 Picks

Students in my group classes LOVE to work their abs. Although it doesn’t tone or reduce belly fat, which is a common misconception, ab-work has a ton of benefits. Often left out of ab routines are exercises to work the obliques. These are actually my favorite kind, because they help increase spinal mobility and rotational power. I could go on, but I wont because you can check out the list yourself. Like the previous piece, it is also on the Transform with Nadia blog.

Grow Your Glutes with These 4 Exercises

You know what they say. Never skip leg day. Why is it then that so many people DO skip it? If there’s one way to make your rear look fantastic while reducing back pain and increasing flexibility in your hips, it’s by working your lower body. You can benefit quickly by focusing on your glutes, which is why I wrote this blog sharing 4 solid exercises to help grow this muscle group.

Tone Your Arms: 4 Awesome Biceps Exercises

You say accessory exercises, I say my arms look awesome in sleeveless outfits 🤷🏽‍♀️ I jest, but in contrast to some trainers, I actually like arm work. It’s especially important for situations when you may have to pick things up (like groceries or children). Having sexy, sculpted biceps is simply a bonus 💪 Click here or tap the graphic to check out the blog.

Yoga for Back and Hips: 10 Beginner Poses

This is one selection you won’t want to miss. This list of beginner yoga poses contains a solid selection of stretches that will open up your hips and back, the areas that most of my strength clients who work at desks say are the tightest. Back and hip pain can stem from too much sitting or standing in place. I wrote this blog to help! You can read it and view video demos of the poses here.

Content Creation Type: Instagram Reels

I post a variety of content on my Instagram channel. However, the vast majority of what I post are reels and stories.

Method3 Fitness

For the following reel, I used a portion of a pre-written video script, filmed the audio on my own, then created the bulk of the video using Canva. Since the audio was glitchy after downloading it, I used Adobe Premier Pro to attach the audio and make final edits before rendering and uploading to Method3’s Instagram Channel.

Transform with Nadia

Because I’ve shifted my main focus to blogs, I’ve been posting less content to my main feed lately. However, I do like to share the occasional workout or #FilmingFail. My latest reel is the latter. It’s simple, with just my original audio. The video is horizontal because I was filming it for YouTube.

YogaSix

Among all of the formats that I teach, yoga is my favorite. This is probably because it requires strength, flexibility, and (in my personal practice) grace. I filmed this preview of my latest slow flow sequence to share it with the students who follow me. The studio owner @yogasixmorganhill asked if I could send him a copy to share on their channel too.

Content Creation Type: YouTube Quick Demos

Last but not least are the video demonstrations. I film for two main reasons:

  1. When I need to include a new exercise in the programs I create for my clients via TrueCoach
  2. When I am writing a blog that highlights an exercise or a list of exercises (like the ones above)

New exercises are always at the top of the grid under the “Videos” tab on the Transform with Nadia YouTube Channel.

Most of my recent videos are the ones I included in the blogs listed above. Head over to my channel now to check them out. Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button and click the bell if you want to be notified when I post new videos.

Looking for An Experienced Content Creator?

If you’ve been looking for someone to create tailored content in the areas of fitness, nutrition, and/or wellness for your company, I may be the right fit for you. I recently created space in my schedule to take on new projects. For the fastest response, DM me @transformwithnadia on Instagram. You can also send me a message via LinkedIn. I look forward to hearing from you 😊

Light,

Nadia

YouTube Exercise Demos from Transform with Nadia

I launched my first online coaching program in the Spring of 2020. At the time, I was using a website plugin to deliver lessons and workouts. However, my clients disliked the platform and requested something simpler. I knew that an app was the way to go. As I gained more online coaching clients, I wanted a simple, yet effective way to deliver workouts when they couldn’t workout with me live. After reading reviews and checking out features for a variety of platforms, I chose TrueCoach because it allowed me to embed my own YouTube exercise demos, so that my clients could feel like I was by their side even when they were working out alone! So I shifted my focus to building a library of exercise demonstration videos I could pull from.

Although I knew it would take some effort, I soon recognized that there were 3 key pieces I needed to consider when creating demos: exercise choice, filming location, and style of video.

How I Choose Exercises to Demo

In my online programs, I focus mainly on resistance training for strength gain, performance, and weight loss. Certain days have elements of mobility oriented core and cardio training while the bulk of training days are split between lower, upper, and full body resistance work. Each month, I:

  1. Assign a new program that hits all major muscle groups.
  2. Check to see which exercises already have demos.
  3. Make a list of exercises without demos
  4. Schedule a day to film and upload missing demos

I’ve been actively filming workout demos for about a year and a half!

The Slider Fly Pushup exercise was filmed and programmed for July 2021. It was part of the first round of demos filmed for the purpose of embedding into TrueCoach! Location: A friend’s house in Sunnyvale!
The dynamic lunge demo was filmed in May 2022 for the June program. Location: my mom’s house 😊

How I Choose Exercise Demo Filming Locations

I travel every few months. My clients have said that they really enjoy seeing different backgrounds for my videos, so I make it a point to film a few videos wherever I go! When I’m not traveling, I film at home in my living room, kitchen, or bedroom, at a local park (if the weather is nice), or at the yoga studio!

This exercise demo was filmed at home in San Jose.
The donkey kicks YouTube exercise demo was Filmed at a local park in San Jose

How I Choose the Style of Demonstration Video

There are 3 main styles of videos I have created for my YouTube exercise demos:

  1. Detailed cueing with voiceover
  2. On-camera cueing
  3. No cueing

Each style has a purpose.

Detailed Description with Voiceover for YouTube

I used this style for my first free online challenge “The One Exercise a Day Challenge” which launched in the summer of 2020 (more information here) when the gyms shut down and everyone suddenly found themselves at home. Since this program was designed to cater to total beginners or those who had stopped working out completely and needed something to get them back in the game, I focused on creating 90 days worth of strength and cardio moves using bodyweight only. The Pike Jump was featured toward the end of the program.

As you can see, this video style also includes music to help keep community members excited and engaged. However, I have since shifted away from using music, because it takes much more time to edit and strays from the main purpose. That is to show clients how to execute the exercise safely and effectively.

YouTube Exercise Demos without cues

I use exercise demos without cues for exercises that are fairly simple to complete. They are also my go-to when I am at an ideal location without any audio equipment or when I plan to post the videos on Instagram instead of YouTube.

On-Camera Cueing

This is the exercise demo option I most commonly use. I find that it not only comes more naturally to me, but it also reminds me to show options for modifications and progressions.

Other Types of Workout Videos

In addition to the exercise demos, I occasionally share follow along workouts:

Follow Along Core & Cardio

These serve as a warmups for my online clients AND are a great way for anyone who is subscribed to my channel to get some simple, quick movement in.

Follow Along Yoga Practices

I get a lot of requests for yoga videos from friends and clients alike. Since they are busy professionals, I keep the practices simple and under 30 minutes. You know what they say… The best practice is the one you complete.

What’s Next?

There are an unlimited amount of exercises out there. I currently have over 200 videos in my YouTube exercise demo library and believe me… I’ve barely scratched the surface. In addition to adding new exercises to the channel each month, expect to see more roundup videos (i.e. 4 Awesome Exercises to Work Your Arms) and exercise highlights that take a deep dive into some of my favorite strength and cardio moves!

And in case you didn’t know… I’m a writer in my soul, so keep an eye on transformwithnadia.com, where I plan to share more fitness, nutrition, and wellness content to help you live a happier, healthier life 😉

Light,

Nadia