Women In Wellness: Robyn Bumgarner On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Wanda Malhotra
Be confident enough in your skills and knowledge to self-promote with passion and honesty. Be aware of your limitations and refer people on to other services or professionals when appropriate. The result will be a schedule full of ideal clients reaching goals with your expert guidance, which is an overall heart-warming and fulfilling experience for both coach and client.
Today, more than ever, wellness is at the forefront of societal discussions. From mental health to physical well-being, women are making significant strides in bringing about change, introducing innovative solutions, and setting new standards. Despite facing unique challenges, they break barriers, inspire communities, and are reshaping the very definition of health and wellness. In this series called women in wellness we are talking to women doctors, nurses, nutritionists, therapists, fitness trainers, researchers, health experts, coaches, and other wellness professionals to share their stories and insights. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Robyn Bumgarner.
Robyn Bumgarner is a certified personal trainer, health coach, yoga instructor, and Level 2 Reiki practitioner. She is also the sole owner and operator of Robyn Bumgarner Health & Fitness, a thriving niche coaching practice rooted in functional movement, nutrition, balance training, breathwork, and yoga. A freelance writer and thought leader in the health and fitness space, Bumgarner earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Kansas and an Associate of Applied Science. She lives in Illinois with her dogs, husband, and two teenage sons.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
My personal wellness journey began after a breast cancer diagnosis at 32 years old. I had bilateral mastectomies and autologous tissue reconstruction in January 2011, and finished the Chicago Marathon a mere 9 months later in October of 2011. I had to stop training midway to undergo one final surgical revision. Every step I took in training and on race day was fueled by equal parts rage and determination, and running wove its way into every fiber of my being. I embraced survivorship and honored my drastically altered body by training for races, exploring all kinds of strength training modalities, and falling in love with yoga.
In 2014, after numerous nudges from the universe, I became a certified personal trainer and Robyn Bumgarner Health & Fitness was born. The last 10 years have been such a wild and wonderful ride; it’s the highlight of my life (so far) to see just how many people have offered me their trust and earned for themselves the rich reward of better health and strength. My passion for this industry runs so deeply that I continued to coach even during a cancer relapse and subsequent aggressive treatment protocol in 2019–2020. When I work with clients, I lean hard into the mental health barriers and benefits to exercise; I coach techniques I perfected in my own physical and mental recoveries to create positive associations with exercise. My client retention rate skyrocketed as I honed my skills, and I realized quickly that it was specifically because of the positive associations with exercise curated and executed on the gym floor. Put simply, people are happy to go places that make them feel good in one way or another, including the gym.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I was fresh out of my personal training certification, and one of my very first clients found me based on my bio discussing my journey through binge eating and subsequent massive weight loss. We sat down together so I could learn more about her injuries, surgeries, and other challenges. She began to list and I dutifully began to write it all down. The panic rose deep in my soul as she continued to list all of her joint replacements and additional challenges. One of my very first clients turns out to have both knees replaced, both hips replaced, low spinal fusion, and a rebuilt shoulder. Session by session, we learned together where she could grow and where she was limited. Today she kayaks for miles, plays golf, cycles, hikes, and plays pickleball. I learned to be creative, listen closely, and then stand back when my client decides it’s time to rise beyond their perceived limitations and smash their goals!
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
In the early days of my career in wellness, the biggest mistakes I made were undervaluing myself and undervaluing my time. When I undervalued myself, I allowed others to define and limit my capabilities. As a result, I didn’t grow myself and approached client sessions with insecurity. When I value my knowledge and experience, I am able to deliver coaching from a place of honesty and confidence. It took years of seeing my techniques succeed again and again to truly build that confidence.
When I undervalued my time, I allowed others to take over my schedule and dictate when I would work. As a result, I ended up overscheduled and exhausted, working late at night only to get up early to begin again the next day. I am more centered and focused on my client’s experience and progress when I limit my hours to times and days that work well for me.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
For the last decade, I have been bridging the gap between mental health conditions and exercise adherence one client at a time. Getting “stuck” in fight or flight can be a common occurrence for folks experiencing anxiety or PTSD, and exercise mimics some of the physiological responses that occur in a fight or flight response. The brain can choose to enter into fight or flight based solely on physiological responses to exercise like increased breathing or heart rate. Using exercise carefully and constructively can break the cycle of anxiety and condition the brain toward calm even as the body works hard exercising. The benefits are exponential; my clients often report they are better able to manage some mental health challenges outside the gym. The brain is a muscle of its own sort; it can be strengthened and trained to choose new and more beneficial thought pathways.
Cultivating exercise programs for people experiencing an array of chronic physical health conditions is also a focus of my coaching practice. Language is incredibly important for these clients and is individual to each situation. It’s important to communicate well to understand if the goal is to heal a condition or deal with a condition. It’s irrelevant whether the condition can be healed if the client prefers to deal with it, and other times, even when a client might want to heal their condition, dealing with it is the best science can currently offer. Wise coaching comes from knowing the difference for each client and choosing words, techniques, and movements that align with the client’s goal of healing or dealing with any chronic health condition.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing?
1 . Make half your plate vegetables. If you want seconds, take more vegetables. The other half of your plate is up for some debate or another, and choosing whatever combination of minimally processed protein, fat, and carbs fit your life and budget are always smart choices.
2 . Get up early and spend time on yourself in some meaningful way. Read, exercise, journal, meditate, sip a warm beverage while the sun rises, work a puzzle, practice your faith, or any combination of things. The important part is making it for you and you alone.
3 . When incorporating physical fitness and exercise, begin from a place of curiosity and celebration about your strengths and capabilities. True lifestyle change comes from a place of love and care for yourself. You are absolutely worth the work, all the time and every time!
4 . Go outside, even if just to stand on your porch and let the sun shine on your face. Humans were not meant to spend so much time indoors.
5 . Choose situations and humans where you are supported and celebrated. My capacity to learn and expand my talent as a wellness coach grew exponentially when I was in a work environment that encouraged me and celebrated my craft. When I grew, my capacity to help others also grew.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would package my training methods to teach other personal trainers and wellness coaches how I coach the brain to train the body. I have watched my methods work over and again personally and professionally; more trainers versed in my methodology would guide even more people to reach their health and fitness goals.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- Growing professionally can mean leaving people or situations behind. Know when to walk away and rest assured that another door will open to you.
- Be confident enough in your skills and knowledge to self-promote with passion and honesty. Be aware of your limitations and refer people on to other services or professionals when appropriate. The result will be a schedule full of ideal clients reaching goals with your expert guidance, which is an overall heart-warming and fulfilling experience for both coach and client.
- Construct an efficient lead call and client intake process. You will save yourself time and deliver a professional and efficient experience to your potential client. Design 2–3 questions to discern whether your skills are a fit, and when your new client books, follow up with a more in-depth questionnaire for them to complete and bring to the first session.
- Learning to say no professionally is as important as learning to say yes emphatically.
- Listen more than you talk. Your clients will tell you what they need from you as their coach.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental health by far is the dearest to me, both professionally and personally. Humans struggling with a variety of mental health conditions are directed regularly by doctors and therapists to go exercise. Patients sometimes struggle to adhere to fitness programs because exercise can be nearly impossible when the brain resists further stress of any kind, mental or physical. Exercise strategies and training methods that center around the brain and create positive associations with exercise can help someone with a mental health condition regulate themselves more effectively both during a workout and in life outside the gym.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
www.linkedin.com/in/robynbumgarner
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com .
