COACHES' SERIES; Hillary Giuda Philpott-HGP Elite

In this episode, Celeste sits down and talks with Hillary Giuda Philpott, a mother of 2,  certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who started training competitors in 2017 & opened her own home gym in 2018. Hillary went into coaching full time in 2019 and is the owner of Team HGP Elite.

Celeste starts off the episode by asking Hillary to give a brief summary of her coaching philosophy. Next, Celeste asks Hillary about her “whole picture” approach she takes and how understanding her clients lifestyle outside of fitness helps her prepare and provide them the best tools for success.

Hillary shares an example of how stress can play a role in a clients results and how that can affect progress instead of the body’s response to the prescribed plan. After discussing how understanding lifestyle factors influences her coaching strategies, Hillary shares her thoughts on how she knows how hard to push a client given their goals. Celeste then uses a piece of Hillary’s response to transition into the topic of hormonal health and asks how Hillary how she prioritizes hormone health for her clients. 

Next, Hillary shares her thoughts on what she feels makes a good coach a good coach, or a team a good team. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the body’s functions, limits, and when it is and is not appropriate to push a client to certain extremes. Hillary highlights that it is important for a coach to have good people skills so their clients will not feel fear or anxiety during check ins. Regardless of whether a client has perfectly executed their plan or have encountered an obstacle, they should feel a level of comfort and peace to be able to openly discuss that with their coach.

After sharing her thoughts on client-coaching relationships and the trust that should come with that, Celeste asks Hillary if she has any pet peeves regarding coaching or the fitness industry as a whole. She shares a personal experience she had in where a coach made her feel like she wasn’t good enough and that she had to prove her worth as an athlete via the execution of her plan, and how she vows to never let her clients feel less than one another on her team.

Celeste briefly dives into the psychology behind athletes working to please coaches instead of for self gratification and affects, both positive and negative, that can have on ones mentality. Celeste then asks Hillary how she prioritizes her energy and focus on her clients of different levels, as she works with women who have goals for both lifestyle and competition. 

Switching gears, Celeste asks Hillary what qualities or characteristics she feels separates a good athlete from a phenomenal athlete. Hillary shares her thoughts on this topic with her personal experiences as a competitor. She also emphasizes that while she believes competing is possible for everyone, it must be made a priority for one to be successful.

After sharing her thoughts, Celeste asks Hillary how she personally deals with the physical, mental, and emotional tolls that come with being a coach. Once again, Hillary shares how her experiences as a competitor helps her empathize and relate to her clients on a deeper level, and the strategies she uses when facing difficult situations.

Next, Celeste touches on the camaraderie amongst the athletes on Hillary’s team and asks how she was able to foster such a supportive environment. Hillary admits that she isn’t quite sure how the strong camaraderie came to be, but expresses her pride in the fact that all her clients seem to connect, regardless of their goal, current fitness level, or physical location. 

Next, Celeste asks Hillary’s opinion on politics and competing. Hillary shares her thoughts, again both personal and from experiences with clients. She also shares her insights on a natural athlete’s potential for success in the NPC without being “genetically gifted.”

Hillary emphasizes the importance of understanding that while all goals are attainable, everyone’s timeline for achieving said goals will be very different. To conclude the philosophical round of questions, Celeste asks Hillary if there is anything she wishes potential clients would ask her, or any coach, in the initial interview process. Hillary shares that she feels a client should always feel comfortable to ask a coach the why’s behind their plan and be able to always have an open and honest line of communication.

Moving on, Celeste starts the hypothetical round of questions. 
Hillary highlights the strengths she brings to the table and the strategy she would take when bringing an athlete to the national stage.

While discussing her approach to programming and rebounds, Hillary addresses the importance of continuing to follow a reverse diet despite the setback instead of resorting to once again restricting food, as the focus should be on a client’s recovery instead of going back to caloric restriction as a form of punishment.

Both Celeste and Hillary discuss the importance of understanding the psychology aspect of a rebound and the strategies to use with clients to set them up for success in terms of getting their consistency back on track. To finish up the hypotheticals round, Celeste asks Hillary if a competition client has been consistent with everything except their posing, whether or not she would still let them step on stage. 

They reference Celeste's food relationship program and resources which Hillary has found success in sending her clients to.
Free Food Series: www.celestial.fit/foodseries
Food Relationship Healing & Discovery Program: www.celestial.fit/foodfreedom

Celeste then moves into the rapid fire round of questioning, where she has Hillary give a short answer on a handful of topics, including meal plans versus macros, waist trainers, and fasted cardio. After sharing her responses, Hillary expands on the topic of macros versus meal plans and she emphasizes that what matters most about a diet is not the type but whether or not it is sustainable.

Next, Celeste asks Hillary to elaborate on her opinion of fed versus fasted cardio, as Hillary had a strong reaction to the initial question. Hillary shares her reasoning behind her cardio preference and then gives some insights to her thoughts on supplements. To conclude the episode, Celeste asks Hillary to share her website and social media channels so listeners can connect with her further. 

CONNECT WITH HILLARY:
TEAM IG PAGE: https://www.instagram.com/team_hgp_elite/
HILLARY IG PAGE: https://www.instagram.com/hillary_giuda_philpott/​

CONNECT WITH CELESTE:
WWW.CELESTIAL.FIT
https://instagram.com/celestial_fit

Time Stamps:
[0:50] Celeste introduces Hillary Giuda Philpott of Team HGP Elite.

[2:10] Celeste asks Hillary to summarize her coaching philosophy. 

[4:15] Hillary shares how understanding the “whole picture” of a clients lifestyle helps her give them the best tools for success. 

[6:30] Celeste asks Hillary how she knows how far she can push a client.

[8:50] Hillary talks about how she makes her clients hormone health a priority.

[11:40] Celeste asks Hillary to expand on her thoughts about what makes a good coach or team truly a good coach/team.

[15:00] Hillary shares some pet peeves she has about coaches and the fitness industry.

[19:25] Hillary talks about how she prioritizes her time, energy, and focus amongst her athletes.

[22:25] Celeste asks Hillary her opinion on what she feels separates a good athlete from a phenomenal athlete.

[25:00] Celeste asks Hillary what physical, mental, and emotional tolls coaching takes on her and what she does to handle those emotions. 

[28:00] Celeste asks Hillary how she’s fostered an environment of camaraderie amongst the athletes on her team.

[32:00] Hillary shares her opinion on politics and competing.

[35:40] Celeste asks Hillary her opinion on athletes success in the NPC without being genetically gifted.

[37:40] Celeste has Hillary share what she wishes clients would or wouldn’t ask in an initial conversation or interview with a coach.

[44:30] Celeste starts the hypotheticals round of questions by asking Hillary if she were an athlete wanting to make a coaching switch before hitting the national circuit, why would she hire Hillary?

[46:00] Hillary shares how she would respond to a client who is questioning whether or not she is ready being 4 weeks out from a show.

[47:45] Hillary shares what she would want a potential competition prep client to know before committing to competing.

[49:50] Celeste asks how Hillary approaches nutrition and training plan for a client who’s had a bad rebound after a show.

[53:00] Hillary expands on why competitors shouldn’t continue to restrict after a rebound or slipping up on their reverse.

[57:00] Celeste asks Hillary if she would put a client on stage even knowing that she is not fully prepared in terms of presentation. 

[60:10] Celeste starts off the rapid fire questions asking Hillary about waist trainers, macros vs meal plans, fasted cardio, etc.

[61:15] Hillary expands on her response to macros vs. meal plans.

[63:35] Celeste asks Hillary to expand on the topic of fasted vs fed cardio.

[65:15] Hillary quickly expands on her opinion about supplements.

[66:30] Hillary shares where people can find & connect with her further

---