Coach Erika

Dr. Erika Katherine Tabur, DPT ✅️ 8/23/25

Some of you caught this in my stories a month ago👀 but now that I've made my official decision - I'm so pumped to announce I'm going to be part of Tufts School of Medicine's DPT Class of 2025. It's been a wild year of living as a nomad, taking online courses, and learning the ins-and-outs of running my own business all at the same time. Plenty of downs (I will forever remember crying in a cabin in Denmark over my chemistry homework yet somehow getting an A- anyway 😅) but so so much growth and experiences that I'll cherish for the rest of my life.

Thank you for being here and to those who have supported me on this unconventional path💖 I know it's been weird and confusing, and some of you have had to deal with more of my breakdowns than others 🤣 but I won't forget it. LOVE YOU, GUYS💕

For those that will ask - no, this doesn't mean my fitness business is going away, but it will be evolving. I haven't been as vocal as I should about my upcoming program, but I've been preparing for this transition for months and can't wait to tell you more about it😁

It's still a wild ride ahead, but HERE I GO✌️

Today's the day I leave the US for MONTHS. I have been working towards this day for 7+ years and it's surreal.

If I've got your attention, I'll use this moment for some soapboxing/thought-sharing:

💫This s**t took YEARS. Setting myself up with a remote training career took thousands of dollars in investments to business coaches/seminars (shoutout to and .rotstein), more than a decade working on my skills in my niche, and ability to look past the slow, monotonous day to day toward the bigger picture.

💫There were times I felt embarrassed to tell people my goals/plans for my life because it was taking me so long to get there. BUT I'M HERE. Talk about your goals and don't be discouraged by how long it takes.

💫It's hard pursuing a goal that so many people question or don't understand (even if they try to be supportive). It can be a lonely goal. If you have a goal like this, surround yourself with voices that tell you it's possible. Even if that's just in the form of books, podcasts, YouTube etc...

💫One of my key motivational questions to myself has been "why NOT me?" Other people have figured this out, why can't I? I urge you to ask yourself that the next time you doubt yourself.

💫How I'm pulling this off looks completely different than I thought it would. I had this idea that I needed to travel a certain way and have a certain boatload of money to be able to do it all. That belief likely delayed this moment more than necessary. Sometimes, flexibility in your vision ✨️ is key to success. Asking "why" you think things need to be a certain way and if there's another possibility can really open up opportunities.

💫I've been met with a lot of concern for my decisions. But, honestly, me failing at being a digital nomad would be far from the worst thing that ever happened to me. I can always come back. I can always get another apartment. And even if that ends up being the case, I won't be sitting in my rocking chair one day wondering what would have happened if I took this chance.

So, here goes! 👋✈️🌍

It's my BiRtHDaY and that means a lot of reflection and goal setting for me. Not because age and birthdays matter a ton, but they're anice built in "review" points like you might get annually at work 🤓

Reflections:

💫 Damn, I've been through a lot of physical (and emotional) pain. But, I made it. I'm stronger and getting even stronger. And this experience taught me a LOT about how to help others dealing with similar.

This hike was a mile to the summit with a 2000 foot elevation gain at a LOT higher than the sea level I'm used to😅. In 2014, I remember I couldn't walk a flat mile without a lot of pain. Major progress.

💫 I've been training people for 11 years 🤯 when most people give up this "passion career" after about 2-3. Still not sure if I'm dumb or passionate but thats still pretty cool 😅

💫 I can't believe I finally work for myself. Its been a looonnggg time coming. I still get freaked out by it but I'm sticking it out! 😜

Looking forward:

🔥 Keep building up my strength and endurance to get to a point where my body can handle all of the adventures 💪

🔥 Keep working on growing my own virtual training business 📈

🔥 REMEMBER to take advantage of this new time/location freedom I have and live a life full of adventures - big AND small 😁

$20 says my baby bro comments on this post saying "Erika's from the 80's!" To remind me how old I am.

ONCE UPON A TIME:[📸 - 2015] I thought I needed visible abs, boat loads of professional photos, a body that wasn't too broken to do thousands of burpees, perfect social media posts, and thousands of followers to work for myself as a virtual personal trainer. *LOLS* 😅

FLASH FORWARD to 11 years into my training career and 8 months into working solely for myself on my laptop and I hilariously have taken a major hiatus from any form of social media marketing and I still have clients 🤷🏼‍♀️

I haven't been showing up on here because I've been hating fitness A LOT lately.. I hate the instability of this career choice (especially in the wake of 2020), the incomprehensible bulls**t I'm up against (lookin at you keto, detox teas, waist trainers, and instructors that insist lifting more than 5 lbs will make women bulky), and the feeling that I constantly need to prove myself extra because I haven't prioritized being lean. Those are just my top-of-mind reasons right now.

I had lost all excitement for learning more and growing in this field. Maybe it's the residual 2020 blues, maybe it's that I'm seeing fewer clients, or maybe I've just had enough.

BUT - every now and then there's the little flicker that reminds me why I do what I do.

On Saturday, someone asked me what the most rewarding part of my job is and I'm tearing up thinking about it.

I talked about my client who was scared of the weightroom who eventually felt confident enough to bench press among all the meatheads in a gold's gym.

I thought about my client who told me she could finally get down on the floor to play with her grandson and pick him up out of a crib without back pain.

OH, and my client that's always asking me "why" questions about human movement and loves when I geek out on how to apply that knowledge to improve his progress. I LOVE questions like this.

And basically all the times that my knowledge and experience got to be used to EMPOWER my clients and help them figure out what fitness looks like for them because it IS for them.

That's the s**t that lights me back up and reminds me why I'm still here. That's also probably the s**t that makes it so I still have clients despite no marketing whatsoever 😅.

And that's the s**t I've decided I'm going to start sharing again. I'm coming back to posting and I'm doing it with blinders to all the bulls**t that makes me hate this space😉

We're talking exercise science, movement health, cardiovascular health, getting stronger, nourishing our bodies, and all things to help keep us moving.

Let's give one last lol to this photo of baby Coach Erika trying to fit in with alleged industry standards and get to spreading some useful knowledge. Leave me ONE question OR one thing you've learned from me down below👇

Some throwbacks for mom's day. The fact that you had the patience for intricate 80's hairstyles still amazes me 😜. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!💗

Have you ever said "no" to an adventure because you couldn't trust your body? Have you ever turned down a hangout, a hike, a walk, a tour, sightseeing, going to the park with your kids/grandkids, or anything because you weren't sure if you'd end up in pain?

I know I have and I know how isolating and...well just terrible it feels. Not being able to do something because you feel betrayed by your body or your fitness just plain sucks.

For me my trip to the UK and Ireland in 2017 was a major step for me being able to trust my body again. Being able to tolerate the long flights, hours on buses, and being able to actually enjoy being on my feet all day exploring was absolutely elating.

This photo is from my trip to Denmark in 2018. You might be wondering why anyone wants to spend a summer vacation day on a cold, grey beach but this was a trip I've dreamt about since I had even a vague understanding that this is the country my grandparents came from. This is THE beach my grandmother played on summer after summer as a little girl and I got to run into the same water she would've splashed around in.

On this trip I was able to do even more - we even walked a total of 14 miles one day. My legs were spent but they recovered the next day. Just a few years prior, I couldn't go a mile without pain🤯

And I really owe this recovery and this experience to my dedication to finding exercises that helped move me forward and the help I received along the way from physical therapists and fellow strength coaches. There were times when my "workouts" could only consist of breathing and stretching. It felt like I was getting nowhere but I believed in the fitness process and I knew it would all matter in the end.

Experiencing this for myself makes it that much more rewarding to help my clients who are struggling with "bad knees", a "bad back", "tricky shoulder", or chronic issue and see them get stronger and more resilient through the training process. It really IS magic when you know how to apply it 😉

If you're looking for a little help to get ready for adventure, sign up for my Adventure Prep program for $1/day for the month of May! Link in bio. Let's gooo✌