“Are you living or existing?” – This is one of those questions Seth Wickstrom likes to pop on his Instagram. And he continues: “Does the way you are living make you feel free and alive? Or does it make you feel as though you aren’t living to your full potential?” Mental and even philosophical suggestions on a fitness page – does this fit together? It does optimally. This is due to the author. Seth is 22 years old and an online transformation coach. He hails from Washington State and is now living in Florida. On Instagram he shares his values in life and tells how they showed up in his fitness career. For him fitness is an attitude to life. Therefore his fitness advice is always life counseling and vice versa. His knowledge is profound, his argumentation is easy to follow and conclusive, his messages are inspiring. “Fitness is not about being better than someone else, it’s about constantly striving to be better than you used to be. Mentally and physically”, he explains.

Seth himself is the living proof that he is right. He always looks fresh-faced on his posted photos, his shredded physique motivates thousands of fitness enthusiasts, his powerfully written lines make more and more fans follow him.

The way on which Seth got where he is today is as impressive as his appearance and charisma. “All my life I have been an active kid”, he tells. “Growing up as an only child, sports definitely took up most of my time. I played every sport you can think of. Football, lacross, cross country, motocross, baseball, wrestling, basketball, etc. As a kid I wanted so desperately to become a professional football player. After seven years of playing I finally got burnt out. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school when most of my friends moved away that I began my fitness journey.”

Here Instagram played a decisive role. Seth remembers: “I saw all these people on Instagram with my ‘dream body’ and thought to myself ‘if they can do it, I can do it too.’ I kept grinding and working out five to six days a week and expanding my knowledge to learn as much as I possibly could. Finally after years of research I found what really worked. I started to see the results I had always dreamed of. Started seeing changes on a weekly basis, and my confidence slowly started to rise. I felt like I was finally becoming who I’ve always wanted to be.”

At this point in Seth’s life, others were seeing the progress he was making and many people were coming to him and asking for help with their fitness goals. He says: “This is when I found my love for helping people and became a personal trainer. The satisfaction of helping others succeed and reach their goals is what led me to branch out into online coaching. I love my job and I love my clients. Getting to help others on a daily basis and have a much wider reach than I would training in person is what keeps me going.”

He wants his clients to profit from his experience on his fitness journey. Indeed, he had to overcome several obstacles. The biggest thing holding him back from reaching his goals has always been diet. Seth: “I always struggled with sticking to bland foods, and struggled with over eating. Until I found out I could eat what I want, make my food taste good, and still have treats on a daily basis while reaching my goals.” Now he is proud of having helped hundreds of men shred fat and build lean muscle without giving up their favorite foods.

But finding proper diet was not the only difficulty on his fitness journey. The hardest lesson he had to learn was that progress doesn’t happen overnight. Seth: “When I first started my journey I wanted so desperately to go from my current state to a recognizable aesthetic physique overnight. I learned quickly that it wasn’t attainable overnight and that progress comes from endless trial and error. Once I found what works I realized quickly that consistency was key and that I couldn’t maintain a ‘shredded’ physique without dieting and doing cardio all the time.”

It’s not just that getting fit takes time. If you love the process everything becomes much easier, Seth declares. Now he applies what he has learned to his job. “It took me years to figure out what really works and what gets results in the quickest way possible. My goal is to spread my knowledge and save time for my clients so they don’t have to go through the trial and error phase trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t for themselves.”

Is there anything else what makes him different from other coaches? Seth: “I care. I can’t stress this enough. I’m constantly in contact with my clients, communicating back and forth to see if their program is something sustainable. Something they can stick to long term. I’m genuine with my clients, meaning I’m focusing less on people perception of me, instead I’m getting to know who they really are, building friendships with them and overall letting them get to know me.”

For Seth it’s easy to say what the biggest reward in his job is: “The feeling you get from someone looking you in the eyes and saying ‘You changed my life’ is a feeling I’ll never forget.” And he adds: “Damn I love my job.” Seth Wickstrom is not existing. He is definitely living.

Seth Wickstrom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sethwickstrom_fitness/