Reuben Carter — head coach

Played football through high school, walked away after a torn ACL freshman year of college. Started lifting recreationally to recover. Got obsessed. Switched majors from finance to exercise science.

Master’s focused on strength + conditioning + sports nutrition. Thesis on RPE-based programming. Worked under Dr. James Trinity, who shaped my whole approach.

Assistant strength coach at University of Texas, working with track + field, soccer, and tennis programs. 4 years. Learned how to coach 60+ athletes simultaneously without losing individualization.

Left D1 coaching to start an online coaching practice. Wanted depth over breadth — deep relationships with fewer athletes. Capped at 12 1:1 clients from day one.

Articles in Men’s Health, Outside, BarBend, Stronger by Science. Podcast appearances on Mind Pump, BarBend Podcast, Strong Talk. Press list at /about-coach#press.

Anyone can sell you a program. Coaching is the relationship — weekly conversations, video form review, real-time adjustments based on how you’re actually feeling. That’s where 80% of progress happens.

I won’t add weight to a movement that’s technically broken. Months 1-3 of new client relationships are heavy on form work. Boring? Sometimes. Necessary? Always. Injuries set you back 3-6 months.

I don’t chase optimal. I chase sustainable. The program you’ll actually do for 12 months beats the ‘optimal’ program you’ll abandon in 4 weeks. We figure out what works for your life.

If your nutrition is the problem, I’ll tell you. If you’re overtraining, I’ll pull you back. If you need a deload, we deload. I’m here to coach, not to make you feel good about decisions that hurt your goals.

Every block of training has a purpose. Volume blocks → intensity blocks → peak blocks → deload. We don’t do random workouts. Programming follows a plan that maps to your specific goals.

Whether the goal is body comp, athletic performance, or longevity — strength is the foundation. Most clients spend significant time getting stronger before adding sport-specific or aesthetic goals. Strong bodies do everything better.

Strength + conditioning concentration. Thesis: RPE-based programming for collegiate strength athletes. Advisor: Dr. James Trinity, NSCA Coach of the Year 2011.

Switched from finance major sophomore year. Magna cum laude. Worked at the UT athletic performance center as undergrad assistant.

Certified Strength + Conditioning Specialist. The gold standard for strength + conditioning. Renewed every 3 years with 60+ continuing ed credits per cycle.

Master nutrition coaching certification. The framework I use for macro coaching + nutrition guidance. PN-L2 is rare among coaches.

Pre + post-natal fitness certification. Important for working with pregnant + postpartum clients. ~15% of my client base is pre/post-natal.

I attend 2-3 conferences per year (NSCA National, NSCA Coaches, Stronger by Science Live). Read 5-10 strength + conditioning research papers per week. The field evolves; my coaching evolves.

Weekly 30-min check-in + form review (1-2 hours weekly) + program design (1-2 hours weekly) + texts + emails (~1 hour weekly). 12 clients × 4 hours = 48 hours. That’s a full week without burnout.

Group coaching scales because the programming is shared. Self-paced programs scale infinitely because there’s no coaching involved. Both let me serve more athletes without diluting 1:1 quality.

Most online coaches scale to 50-100+ 1:1 clients (and use junior coaches behind the scenes). I’d make 4x more. But the quality drops, and that’s not the business I want to run.

I write every program. I review every form video. I run every check-in. One assistant handles operations + community. The coaching itself is 100% me. That’s the product I’m selling.

Average waitlist is 4-8 weeks. Sometimes 0, sometimes 12. I open new spots when existing clients hit their goals + transition to maintenance. Waitlist position confirmed during your free assessment call.

Many coaches ask why I don’t hire junior coaches + scale. The answer: that breaks the model. I’m a coach, not a coaching CEO. The 12-cap is permanent.

Op-ed on why ‘optimal’ programming isn’t actually optimal for most people. The piece that resulted in a wave of new client applications.

Long-form piece on dual-goal training (running + lifting simultaneously). Featured 4 of my hybrid athlete clients.

How to use RPE programming after age 40. Includes my 5/3/1 variant for masters-class powerlifters.

Hour-long conversation with Greg Nuckols on online coaching, periodization, and why I cap at 12 clients. Available on all podcast platforms.

Conversation with Sal, Adam, and Justin on coaching philosophy + the difference between coaching and programming.

Deep dive on RPE-based programming for general population (not just elite athletes). Most-shared episode of theirs that quarter.