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Groundwork Collective | Coach Rae — Strength Training, Reimagined This isn't training as you've known it. It's building strength that actually lasts—without breaking down your body in the process. Movement is your foundation. From there, we build the whole human back to safety, strength, and sovereignty. Are You Ready to Train Smart, Not Just Hard? Maybe you've tried strength training before and something didn't feel right. You got stronger, but you also got hurt. Or tight. Or burnt out. Maybe you're an athlete whose body feels different now—movements that used to be effortless now require negotiation. Or you're returning to fitness after time off and you're nervous about getting injured again. Maybe you've been told to 'just push through' the discomfort, but your body is telling you something else. You want to get strong. You want to build capacity. You want to feel confident in your body again. But you need an approach that actually respects how your body works. Here's what most trainers won't tell you: Your body isn't weak. It's protecting you. That stiffness? That restriction? That nagging pain that shows up when you train? It's not a sign you need to push harder. It's a signal your body doesn't feel safe yet. This is where strength training at Groundwork is different. Most trainers load you before checking if your body is ready. I prepare your body first so strength training becomes sustainable, not something that breaks you down over time. If your body's been asking for a different approach, this is your invitation to train smarter. Book your complimentary Root to Rise Clarity Call https://forms.fillout.com/t/3ueKNokqKZus Why Groundwork Might Be What You've Been Looking For Maybe you're carrying tension that won't release. Or you've been through injury and you're afraid of re-injury. Maybe you've tried 'regular' training programs and they left you sore in the wrong ways—not that good 'I worked hard' feeling, but that 'something's not right' feeling. You used to trust your body to handle challenge. Now you're hyperaware of every twinge, every compensation, every movement that might trigger something. You're not just looking for a workout. You're looking for an approach that won't betray your body. I know this place personally. Before Groundwork had a name, it was a story I was living. I remember standing in my kitchen in my 20s, reaching for a glass, and feeling my shoulder seize. That moment when I realized: My body has become my enemy, not my home. I had been the strong one. The one who pushed through pain. The one with all the answers as a trainer. But I didn't have the answers when I couldn't trust my body to move without compensation. When one restriction triggered another, and another, until I didn't recognize my own movement patterns anymore. The hardest part wasn't the physical limitation—it was the grief. Grief that my body, which had always been my ally, now felt like something working against me. Those struggles became the foundation for how I train clients today. Born from my own healing journey, refined through 15+ years of training bodies, and shaped by the wisdom we've discovered together. Through treating pain as data—noticing what my body was trying to tell me rather than silencing what I didn't want to hear—I learned something that changed everything: My body wasn't broken. It was speaking. And when I finally began to listen rather than force, everything changed. What I discovered became the foundation for understanding how all bodies communicate during training—not through symptoms to push through, but through signals to honour. In this work, I've walked alongside many humans in similar places: - Athletes whose bodies finally said 'enough' to traditional training - Former fitness enthusiasts who loved working out but kept getting injured - People returning to exercise after injury, pregnancy, or time off who need to rebuild intelligently - High-achievers who want to train hard but are tired of breaking down And maybe you've started to wonder: Do I have to choose between getting strong and feeling good? You don't. Your body isn't damaged—it's asking to be prepared properly, trained intelligently, respected fully. This journey taught me that real strength training means something different than what most of us have experienced. Your progress won't follow a straight line, and that's not a failure—that's how real capacity builds. Some days you'll feel powerful and capable. Others, more protective or tight. Both belong. Both are part of the journey, and we'll navigate them together. What you've been searching for isn't a harder program or more intensity. It's a smarter approach. A return to training that honours the body that has been waiting, patiently, for you to listen. So, What Makes Strength Training at Groundwork Different? Too often, training stays narrow—treating your body like a machine that just needs more load, more reps, more intensity. Trainers focus on what you can lift but ignore whether your body is ready to lift it. They build programs but miss the person inside the program. They chase results but overlook the nervous system underneath. At Groundwork Collective, strength training means something deeper. It's not just building muscle. It's movement preparation—getting your body ready to handle load, so strength becomes sustainable instead of something that eventually breaks you. I'm a Nervous System Strength and Integrative Movement Rehab Coach I work at the intersection of what your body feels and what it can do. I understand how our bodies hold stories—how past injuries create fear patterns in your movement, how stress lives in your jaw and shoulders during lifts, how overwhelm shows up as breath-holding and chronic bracing under load. When we've experienced injury, chronic stress, or too many 'push through it' training programs, our nervous systems can get stuck in protection mode—holding tension 'just in case,' guarding against certain movements, making you feel like training is always a threat to manage. You're not weak. You're brilliantly protected. But that protection has become the cage that keeps you from the strength you want. This work honors your body's protective responses. We move at the pace of trust, not arbitrary timelines or programs that ignore your individual needs. Book your complimentary Root to Rise Clarity Call https://forms.fillout.com/t/3ueKNokqKZus How Training With Me Is Different Most trainers force your body to perform. I help your nervous system feel safe in movement first—then we build real strength from there. This means: ✓ We Prepare Your Body Before We Load It Before we add weight, we check: Is your body ready for this? Through joint preparation, breath work, and movement assessment, I make sure your foundation is solid. Your shoulders mobile. Your core engaged properly. Your nervous system regulated. You don't push through restriction. You address what's creating it first. Most people don't lack strength—they lack preparation. Once your body feels safe and moves well, strength builds naturally and sustainably. ✓ We Address What's Underneath Your Movement Patterns Your tight shoulders during pressing movements might be holding years of stress and responsibility. Your restricted hips during squats might be protecting an old injury your conscious mind has forgotten. Your jaw clenching during lifts might be unexpressed boundaries showing up as physical tension. Strength training isn't just physical. Together we'll explore: - How your breath pattern reflects your nervous system state under load - How stress patterns show up in your lifting mechanics - How old injuries create lasting compensation patterns - What your body might be trying to protect you from This understanding changes everything about how you train. ✓ We Build at Your Body's Pace, With Progressive Intelligence Real strength takes time. Some sessions you'll feel powerful—ready to add weight, challenge yourself, test your capacity. Other sessions you'll need to pull back—maintain what you have, focus on form, let your nervous system catch up. You're not going backwards. You're building sustainable capacity. Both approaches belong. Both are part of intelligent training. We honour your body's readiness, never forcing progress faster than your system can integrate. There's no 'should' here. Only what's true for your body, today. ✓ You Learn to Be Your Own Authority on Your Training You won't need me forever. That's the point. You'll learn to: - Assess your own movement patterns before adding load - Read your body's signals during training—good challenge vs. threatening pain - Regulate your nervous system when training feels stressful - Modify any exercise to work for YOUR body - Progress intelligently based on your capacity, not a generic program - Trust yourself more than any external 'expert' You're not getting a workout program. You're learning movement literacy—the language of your own body under load. And once you speak it, you own your strength training for life. Book your complimentary Root to Rise Clarity Call https://forms.fillout.com/t/3ueKNokqKZus The Groundwork Journey 'Like all living things, we build strength in seasons: we root in safety, prepare through smart movement, and rise into authentic power. We train systematically, not symptomatically. That's sustainable strength—the Groundwork Way.' Here's what you'll experience as we train together: First, Your Body Will Settle Through breathwork and awareness practices, the protective tension you've been carrying—sometimes for years—begins to release. Your jaw unclenches during lifts. Your shoulders drop away from your ears. Your breath deepens under load. Movement that felt threatening starts to feel possible. This is where trust in training begins rebuilding. You'll notice: - Tension melting during warm-ups in areas you didn't realize you were bracing - Your breath moving from chest (stress breathing) down into your belly (power breathing) - A sense of ease returning to movements that used to create anxiety - Feeling more present in your body during training, less 'in your head' Then, Movement Quality Returns You'll rediscover how your body actually wants to move—not forcing patterns that don't fit you, but finding YOUR natural movement expression. Your squat will feel fluid, not forced. Your presses will feel integrated, not compensated. You'll sense stability where there used to be wobble. This is where you start moving well again. You'll notice: - Joints moving freely instead of feeling 'stuck' - Moving with awareness and control instead of powering through - Sensing what needs attention before pain tells you - Trusting your body's movement patterns again Then, You'll Build Real Capacity Slowly, progressively, we add load. Not by forcing, but by creating the conditions where your nervous system allows more challenge. We honor what your body can handle today, and intelligently progress from there—always with breath, awareness, and safety guiding us. This is where you get actually strong. You'll notice: - Lifting weights you thought were beyond you - Moving with power AND control (not just grinding through reps) - Building strength that feels sustainable, not fragile - Returning to training goals you'd given up on Finally, You'll Rise Into Embodied Strength Not just strong, but confident. Not just lifting weights, but owning your capacity. Not just capable, but FREE. You'll train without the constant background hum of 'will this hurt?' or 'am I doing this wrong?' This is where you step into the fullness of what your body can do. You'll notice: - Confidence in the gym you haven't felt in years - Trust that your body can handle challenge - Freedom to train spontaneously, joyfully - Embodying strength that comes from the inside out Progress spirals rather than climbs—some weeks you'll hit PRs and feel invincible, others you'll maintain and protect. Both are part of intelligent training. There's no rushing your body's timeline, and there's deep wisdom in honouring the sessions when lighter work is the medicine you need. This isn't temporary gains that break down—it's sustainable strength built through integration. It's the Groundwork Way. Your training path is personal: guided by what YOUR body needs, at the pace YOUR nervous system is ready for. No two paths look alike, but the goal is the same—strength and practices that sustain your capacity for life. What You'll Experience Training With Me In Our Sessions Together: I won't ask you to perform to some external standard. Instead, I'll ask: 'What do you sense? What do you feel? How does this movement feel in YOUR body right now?' We move intentionally, with full awareness—never rushing through reps or pushing past what feels safe. Everything adapts to YOUR body. Not a template pulled from the internet. Not a protocol from a textbook. YOU. You'll feel seen, heard, and safe—never judged, never pushed beyond what your nervous system can handle, never made to feel 'less than' for having limitations. Between Sessions: - Simple daily practices (10-15 minutes) that prepare your body for training—not another thing on your to-do list, but practices that become your training warm-up ritual. - Tools to regulate your nervous system when training feels stressful—breath work you can do between sets, body awareness check-ins that take 30 seconds, ways to shift from 'threat mode' to 'challenge mode.' - A framework for understanding your body that lasts forever—learning to read your body's training signals, troubleshoot form issues, adapt any exercise to what you need. Over Time, You'll Become: ✓ Confident in training—no more fear, no more second-guessing, no more 'will this hurt me?' ✓ Connected to your body's wisdom under load—you'll know what it needs before pain has to tell you ✓ Free from the injury-recovery cycle—not just working around issues, but truly building resilient capacity ✓ Your own embodied trainer—autonomous, capable, trusting yourself more than any external program Curious what this could feel like for you? Let's explore in a 30-minute Root to Rise Call—your complimentary clarity call to see what's possible. https://forms.fillout.com/t/3ueKNokqKZus No sales pitch. No pressure. Just a conversation about where you are with training, where you want to be, and whether this approach is the right fit. A Story of Transformation One of my clients came to me after months of working with trainers who kept loading her before she was ready. 'I did everything they told me,' she said. 'But my shoulder kept flaring up. Eventually I just stopped training because I was afraid of making it worse.' What we discovered together was that her shoulder wasn't just 'weak'—it was protecting an old compensation pattern from years of carrying everyone else's burdens. Literally and metaphorically. The other trainers had focused on making her deltoids stronger. But no one had addressed the pattern underneath: the way her shoulder blade wasn't moving properly, the way she held her breath under load, the way her entire upper body braced because her nervous system didn't trust that structure. Her shoulder wasn't weak. It was exhausted from overworking. As we worked together—not just on shoulder strength, but on preparing her joints to move freely, teaching her nervous system it was safe to load that pattern, exploring what that protective bracing was really about—something shifted. Three months later, she sent me a video: 'I pressed weight overhead yesterday and realized I wasn't bracing for pain. I was just... pressing. Like it was natural again. But more than that—I asked for help moving furniture instead of doing it all myself. And my shoulder feels better than it has in years.' Traditional training treats symptoms—'your shoulder is weak, let's strengthen it.' Here, at Groundwork Collective, we explore your whole movement story—not just from a physical lens, but understanding how your nervous system, your stress patterns, and your life experiences all shape how your body moves under load. That's what this approach offers: Not just strength without pain, but strength without fear. The Groundwork Promise Every body—and every training journey—is different. No two seeds grow the same. I promise to honour your individuality, your pace, and your lived experience. You'll walk away with: ✓ A body that moves with strength AND ease Return to training you love, perform at your best, trust your physical capacity ✓ Tools to regulate your nervous system during training You'll know how to shift from threat to challenge in seconds—during any workout, anywhere ✓ Movement patterns that feel sustainable Not extreme protocols or rigid form rules, but intelligent principles woven into how you naturally move ✓ A deeper trust in yourself and your capacity Confidence that you can handle challenge, that your body is your ally in training ✓ Freedom in movement—not just pain-free, but powerful Your body becomes a source of strength, capability, and joy—not something you have to manage or protect The Groundwork Gold Standard At Groundwork Collective, we live by golden principles that anchor everything we do. These aren't abstract ideals—they're the living foundation of how we train together: The Golden Rule—training begins with respect and reciprocity. You're met as an equal, never as someone who needs fixing. The Golden Ratio—balance, not force, creates sustainable strength. We work with your body's natural rhythms, not against them. The Golden Thread—capacity is never lost, only waiting to be rewoven. What feels fragmented can become integrated again. The Gold Standard—YOU are the measure, not numbers or aesthetics or someone else's program. Your experience, your truth, your body's wisdom guide our training. Worth Its Weight in Gold—every human carries intrinsic value beyond measure. You don't have to earn your worth through performance or perfect form. One client once told me this approach to training was 'worth its weight in gold.' I carry that humbly—because for me, the gold standard isn't about being flashy or revolutionary. It's about offering careful, thoughtful, whole-human strength training that blends 15+ years of training experience, injury recovery knowledge, movement science, and nervous system-aware practice into something rare: Training that honours your nervous system, respects your pace, and treats you as a whole human—not a set of muscles to fatigue. I work with an understanding of how protective responses live in our movement patterns during training, and how we can gently invite new possibilities instead of forcing past them. And Here's a Truth We Live By: ''Illness begins with 'I,' but wellness begins with 'we.'' Real strength isn't just self-powered—it's co-created. We create safety together in training, so you never feel alone in rebuilding capacity. We build foundations together—strength, preparation, and trust that hold steady under load. We rise together—moving into resilience, power, and freedom as a shared journey. Because transformation happens in relationship, not isolation. Start Your Groundwork Journey Now You don't need to wait for another injury, or another failed training program, or another year of wondering 'do I have to choose between getting strong and feeling good?' When you feel ready, intelligent training can begin—steadily, sustainably, powerfully. Book your Root to Rise Call—your complimentary 30-minute clarity call to explore what's possible. We'll discuss where you are with training, where you want to be, and the best way to support you (whether in-person, online, or a blend of both). https://forms.fillout.com/t/3ueKNokqKZus No pressure. No push. Just a safe space to explore what training could feel like in your body. Trust your timing. At Groundwork Collective, we don't chase quick gains that break down over time. We build steady foundations so you can rise with strength, confidence, and resilience. Sustainable strength through intelligent preparation. That's the Groundwork Way. Ready to Train Differently? Here are a few Groundwork signature programs that you can explore: Groundwork Strength - 4-week starter package Groundwork Foundation Package - Customized 6-12 sessions to build a solid foundation Groundwork Momentum - Monthly training (2 or 4 sessions) to maintain what you've built Groundwork Persona - A fully customized program experience Groundwork Depth - A complete 12-week transformation for pain-free movement Groundwork Immersion - VIP intensive for accelerated results All paths start with understanding YOUR body. Book your complimentary Root to Rise Clarity Call to begin. https://forms.fillout.com/t/3ueKNokqKZus Evolution through integration. Strength through preparation. Freedom through awareness. That's the Groundwork Way. ✨