Chanel Collette on Moving Past Body Image and Toward Health

Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

In this podcast, I interview Chanel Collette all about her experience transitioning from a long-time physique competitor to embracing other forms of motivation in her training, and all of the mindset shifts and body image hurdles that come with that.

Most people get into strength training and bodybuilding to achieve a certain look, whether it’s losing fat, building muscle, or both. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with training to look good, but once you have a few years of proper training under your belt, progress is so slow that it becomes unnoticeable.

So how do you stay motivated and keep training fun once you’re no longer seeing changes in the mirror every week, month, or even year? That’s one of the topics I discuss in this podcast with Chanel.

In case you’re not familiar with Chanel, she’s a former physique and wellness competitor who competed in various bikini shows and won Ms. Bikini Universe in 2014 and overall champion at Fitness Universe in 2016. She’s also a strength and conditioning coach, currently serving as the CEO and head coach of Audacious Athletes, who has helped thousands of people (and women in particular) get stronger, not smaller. We’re also glad to have her on board as a long-time Legion Athlete!

In this episode, we discuss her history competing and how it led to a body image and scale weight-focused mindset, the psychology of being stage lean, how her concept of a “good physique” has changed, managing training stress, how she’s made training more fun and enjoyable, and a lot more.

So if you want to learn how you can move beyond an image-focused training mindset and incorporate other forms of training motivation, definitely listen to this interview!

Timestamps:

8:24 - What’s your history with training? Why did you start competing?

14:29 - The psychology of being stage lean.

18:39 - What has helped you deal with body image issues?

19:49 - Has your idea of a good physique or what you like to see in the mirror changed?

25:36 - What elements of your training motivate you? What do you pay attention to in terms of performance?

29:03 - What are your favorite unilateral exercises?

31:00 - Do you track reps in reserve (RIR)?

37:42 - Managing training stress.

41:07 - Now that you’re no longer competing, have you changed your training in ways to make it more enjoyable? Are you doing things in the gym you wouldn’t have before?

56:48 - Should you put accessory exercises near the beginning of your workout if they're not progressing?

1:04:33 - Where can people find you and your work?

Mentioned on the Show:

Chanel’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chanelcollette/

Chanel’s website: chanelcollette.com

Audacious Athletes: audaciousathletes.com

Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/