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