Have you been wanting to lose weight?
Do you want to transform your body with your workouts?
Senada Greca is widely known as Kim Kardashian’s Personal Trainer as well as a renowned fitness and wellness expert. Senada shares her transformative journey from struggling with depression and anxiety to becoming a thought leader in fitness. She is the founder of We Rise, a female empowerment platform focused on health, wellness, and personal development, and Zen toa, a women's athletic apparel brand. Senada has trained high-profile clients such as Miranda Kerr, Bebe Rexha, and Kim Kardashian.
Senada's turning point came when she discovered the mental health benefits of strength training, shifting her focus from aesthetics to holistic well-being. Emphasizing the importance of building consistent fitness habits, she advocates starting small and integrating workouts into daily routines. Senada underscores the myriad benefits of strength training, particularly its role in enhancing bone density, muscle mass, and longevity, and preventing injuries, especially as one ages.
Together with Jay, Senada advises against relying on motivation alone and suggests finding ways to incorporate physical activity into busy schedules. Senada gives tips on the importance of a holistic approach to health, combining physical fitness with mental and emotional well-being practices like meditation, gratitude, and visualization. She also gives easy habits to implement in your daily nutrition.
In this interview, you'll learn:
How to start a fitness routine
How to optimize your nutrition
How to use strength training for longevity
How to stay active every day
Remember, motivation isn't just about feeling pumped up every day; it's about building habits that become second nature.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
02:59 Do You Have a Fitness Goal?
06:06 What Can You Do in 5 Minutes?
09:29 Were You Always Fit?
12:01 The Dangers of Depleting Your Body
13:25 What Workout Works for You
15:03 How Strength Training Affect Longevity
18:20 What Most People Struggle With
23:50 The Right Reward System to Being Fit
25:14 Biggest Misconceptions About Strength Training
26:50 What Should You Eat Before Workout?
28:32 Genetics
30:12 Low Body Fat Percentage
31:13 Cardio
34:05 Practicing for a Marathon
35:17 Nutrition Plan
38:04 Muscle Loss
41:28 Anxiety and Depression
43:40 Do You Workout Everyday?
45:21 Working with Kim
47:13 Are You Serious About Working?
49:43 Managing Nutrition vs. Workout
50:51 Workout without a Trainer
52:26 The Power of the Mind
55:45 Senada on Final Five
Episode Resources:
Senada Greca | YouTube
Senada Greca | Instagram
Senada Greca | Facebook
Senada Greca | TikTok
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
There's a lot of talk about mindfulness these days, which
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(00:22):
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(00:43):
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your Mind, Change your Life.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I started dealing with depression and anxiety at the same time,
and working with physicians. You know they're a little bit
quick to push medication on you. It wasn't until I
found a physician that was running marathons herself who was
she suggested actually getting stronger, and when I saw what
kind of a difference working out did for my mental
(01:21):
health is when everything changed.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Hey everyone, I've got some huge news to share with you.
In the last ninety days, seventy nine point four percent
of our audience came from viewers and listeners that are
not subscribed to this channel. There's research that shows that
if you want to create a habit, make it easy
to access. By hitting the subscribe button, you're creating a
(01:44):
habit of learning how to be happier, healthier, and more healed.
This would also mean the absolute world to me and
help us make better, bigger, brighter content for you and
the world. Subscribe right now the number one health and
wellness Jay Setti, Jay Sheetty, je Zy Jay Set. Hey everyone,
(02:07):
Welcome back to on Purpose, the place you come to
to become happier, healthier and more healed. Now in twenty
twenty four, I want to help you get fitter, stronger, calmer,
and feel like you have more courage. And in order
to do all those things, I'm looking for guests, experts,
and thought leaders who can help you build different muscles.
(02:30):
Today's guest is a friend of mine and she is
incredible here to help us get fitter and stronger. I'm
speaking about Sonata Greca, a world renowned thought leader in
fitness and wellness. Sonata is the founder of we Rise,
a female empowerment platform that takes a holistic approach to health, wellness,
(02:50):
and personal development. Sonata is also the founder of Zentoa,
a women's athletic apparel brand that has outfitted thousands of
women around the world. The high performance and stylish active wear.
Sonata has been sought after by some of the biggest
names in the world. She's trained in Mirandaka Bebbe Rexa,
amongst many others, and currently Sonata works with Kim Kardashian.
(03:14):
I'm so excited to welcome to the show my friend,
an incredible thought leader, Sonata Greca.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Sonata, Welcome, Hi, Thank you so much, Thank you for
having me here.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I am so happy to have you. We've been looking
forward to this. I remember when I DMed you a
while ago and we got connected. You came over to
our home, we were hanging out. You've got to know
Radi and I definitely feel like before we dive into
the fitness conversation. I felt like there was a sole
connection when we met, absolutely and I think that's what
made me so excited to have this conversation with you.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So thanks, Jam, thank you so much for having me here.
I'm so excited. And like you said, there was a
spiritual connection with both yourself and Rabi and yeah and honored,
So thank you so much for having me Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Well four is here. We're already a few months in
and most likely people have fallen short of some of
their fitness goals. Some people might be kind of just
holding on. Maybe some people are doing well as well.
If someone has fitness goals, if someone has strength goals,
(04:19):
how do you start by setting a goal? How do
you stop? How do you start?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Actually, a great statistic that I just reviewed from the
Rearrise app is that people were on average by week
doing three and a half workout. So I was like, yes,
something is working so far as about a week ago.
So hopefully everybody keeps the momentum going. But if you're
looking to start, I always say start small. You know,
(04:44):
you want to climb that mountain one step at a time,
versus you know, doing a day long trip so to speak.
So take the smallest step, you know, start with twenty minutes.
If we cannot start with twenty minutes, start with five
minutes or even one minute, and then build that habit,
because it's about creating that consistent habit day after day
(05:07):
that will carry you through. You know, a lot of
the time we think the motivation is what's needed, and
it's it's that habit that we create on a daily basis.
So start small, Start with what is attainable. Create a
daily calendar and make sure that you're placing hopefully that
workout at the same time every day. You're most likely
(05:31):
to stick to it. Create an environment that is supportive
of you working out. So if you are working out
at home, create a little space for yourself with all
of your items workout items, and if you're going to
the gym, then lay out your workout clothes, lay out
your shoes.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
The night before.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Some people actually even wear their workout clothes and just sleep.
And because it eliminates another step, So how can you
make it more accessible and easy for yourself to accomplish that?
And then what is the time of day that does
actually work best for you when you feel more energetic
there is no specific time that is you know, this
(06:11):
is the best time to work out.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
For whatever reason.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
It's like what time is best suited for your life
and lifestyle. I would suggest, if possible, for most beginners
to have it in the morning, so you you know,
kind of get it out of the way and don't
leave it up to chance. For later in the day
things occur, you know, work and kids and a million
things that you have to do throughout the day. So
if you leave it up to chance, you're most likely
(06:36):
are not going to do it. But if you're confident,
if you're if you you know, set that time aside,
even if it's in the afternoon, which is when I
work out myself. That's when I find it that I'm
most energetic, and when I find in the afternoon for myself.
There is some studies that suggests that the optimal time
(06:56):
might be between eleven AM and uh and five p.
But again, I say, when is it more accessible to you?
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's key absolutely that Let's say someone and I think
this is the world we live in today where we
look at five minutes and go, what's the point of
working out for five minutes? So what's the point of
working out for five minutes, Like what can you get
in five minutes?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
You'll start to create a habit.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
And that's what's key about making fitness long a life
long activity, because I see it as not you know,
a sprint, it's a lifelong marathon. You want to stay
active throughout your entire life for as long as you can.
So five minutes is just creating that habit. You won't
see drastic results, you might see no results from five minutes,
(07:44):
but five minutes today for a week, ten minutes the
next week for a week, and then you start building
from there again. That makes it just more accessible and
creates that habit. And it does take some time for
a habit to be especially when it comes to fitness,
to to be established. Somewhere between twenty one days might
be when you're like starting to create a foundation, but
(08:06):
some research shows that it's actually around like sixty sixty
six days when you really solidify that habit of working out.
So while in the you know, in the immediate term,
like it doesn't really provide results, that five minutes will
just set you up for success.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Absolutely. I think that's such a good point, Like we
look at it as like, oh, five minutes doesn't have
any value. But you committing to something exactly five minutes
a day, every day, and you keeping that promise to
yourself exactly turn up every single day. That's what matter
is about the five exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
It builds that self confidence too in yourself. You know,
your body listens as in with meditation too. Five minutes
might not break you through to where you need to be,
but five minutes every day and you're setting up that
habit and you're also saying like, yes, I got this,
I'm doing it. You know, I'm dedicating five minutes to
myself for myself absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
So Let's say someone's listening right now and they say,
Sonata Jay, I'm with you. I only have five minutes.
What do I do with five minutes? What should they
do in a five minute work if that's all they
have and they're starting out.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, there's five minutes. Just jump on you can. Let's
start with the treadmill. You know, we can just warm
up for a minute, do maybe a few squads, do
some of the basic movements and maybe dead lifts.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
You know where I'm going to this.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
It's a little bit more strength training focused for me,
but you know, do something to warm you up for
a minute or so, and then go into some squads,
go into some dead lifts, go into some like major
movements that will target some of the biggest muscles in
your body. Maybe do some rows, and then you've got
a few movements covered.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
There. Someone's at home and they don't have any gym equipment.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And no equipment, you still utilize your body weight. It's
perfectly fine to do so, even if you're starting out.
Squad to seat, so basically just squat to your seat,
stand up, squat to your seat stand up. You can
do hip thrust, back of your shoulders on the couch,
feed planted on the ground, hip thrust, body weight perfectly fine.
(10:14):
Grab a kid, put them on your hips, crust the
kit or any object.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
I'm a big.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Believer that you can turn anything around your house into
something to work out with at a little bit of
extra resistance, and it's doable.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Will you always fit and energetic and strong? Was that
always been a part of your life or is it
something that you had to develop at a certain point.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
As a kid.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I've always been active. I love being outdoors, playing with friends.
Whenever I could be outside, I would I would be
on trees, picking fruit because you know, in albeing we
have to kind of like forge a little bit for
ourselves and or like on rooftops, just an active kit.
I played sports, so I've always been active, not necessarily
(11:04):
like strong, fit, more active into the teenage years. Unfortunately
that's shifted where you know, your body changes. So I
was trying to deal with this extra way that I
was like starting to carry and I started to work
out for the wrong reasons, which I would consider is
(11:24):
you know, trying to be as skinny as possible, limiting
food intake to be as thin as possible. So it
shifted in that fashion, and that was not a healthy
way to work out. And then you know, I started
dealing with depression and anxiety at the same time. I
think everything kind of like hit at the same time.
(11:45):
And working with physicians, you know, they're a little bit
quick to push medication on you, which I did. I
did take, but it wasn't until I found a physician
that was running marathons herself, we which she suggested, you know,
actually getting stronger. And that's what made the biggest difference
(12:07):
for me, is gaining that strength working out for the
right reasons, which for me at the time were mental.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
For my mental health.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
And when I saw what kind of a difference working
out did for my mental health whenever, it is when
everything changed. Now I was nurturing my body for health
versus dieting it to be as skinny as possible. So
it has taken the journey of fitness for me has
(12:36):
taken a bit of a path, of a different path
throughout the years. And then but when I found strength,
When I found strength training is when I found the
strength in me and I was able to overcome a
lot of the things.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
That were.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
There were weighing on me, that were affecting me, like
depression and anxiety and then eating disorders.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
We'll go us through how just you know, walk us
through the dangers of I guess the way like you
said the wrong reasons. Walk us through some of the
dangers physically and biologically of what happens to the body
when we're starving the body or when we're not really
(13:22):
helping ourselves in the right way.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Of course, I mean you if you're working and there's
there's extremes to everything. So while working out is good,
doing workouts to the extreme for hours on and while
malnourishing the body can be detrimental to your physic or
you're not incorporating those nutrients that your your body needs,
so you're depleting yourself to to extreme levels, both with
(13:47):
the nutrition and the physical activities.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
So it's it is not healthy.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It's not healthy mentally, it's not healthy physically, your your
your body starts to deteriorate. You know, you see your
like comes and teeth interior rate, and you know everything
else that goes on internally that goes with that. So
it is not healthy. It is not healthy. While being
thin naturally can absolutely be healthy, there's nothing wrong with that,
(14:17):
but when it happens in a forced manner, when you're
starving yourself and when you're working out to extremes, that's
when it becomes unhealthy.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Hey everyone, it's Jay here. My wife and I have
had so much fun creating our own sparkling tea Juny,
and I've got big news for you.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
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(14:56):
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a target near you. Walk us through the different types
of exercise. You obviously focus on strength training. I want
to hear about the benefits of that, but you know,
people are trying to make sense of like do I
(15:17):
need to do pilarates?
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Do I need to do yoga? Do I need to
do hit workouts? Do I need You know, there's just
so much on offer today, especially in LA, but there's
so much on offer all over the world. Absolutely, people
are just wondering what's going to work. I was telling
you earlier that you know, if I'm doing a workout
and I'm not seeing progress, either in strength or physique
or whatever it may be, then you get discouraged and
(15:39):
then you let go of it. So walk us through
the different benefits of different exercises and why strength training
is a priority for you.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
In my actual programming, I also incorporate some higher intensity
and I try to weave in a little bit of
fun cardio. So I do incorporate different modalities. It is
not strictly you know, strength training or and it's not
power lifting by any means training, but I do incorporate
like hit sessions and some cardio because you need I
value all of the components, all of the different modalities.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
But for me, strength training.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Is sort of like the golden standard because that is
what is going to strengthen your bones, That's what's going
to build muscle mass and a vast array of other
benefits that not every modality has. You know, strength training
is proven to increase, like I said, bone density and
(16:32):
muscle mass, which are so crucial to longevity and a
healthy longevity. And you know, longevity now has become such
a buzzword. And if you could do one thing for
your longevity is strength?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Is strength train?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
What's actually happening when we do strength training? Like why
does it link to longevity? The bone density is an
important part? What else is happening because of strength training?
Because what I always hear about is you know, as
you get older, if you fall over, you need the
strength to pay yourself back up. But like how strength
training in other ways really impacting our longevity.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, I mean, because it is our bone. Our bone
density max is reached at about age twenty five to thirty,
and from there we start to lose bone density, and
by the age forty and on, we start to lose
bone density faster than we can build it. So then
what happens at that point is that when we do fall,
(17:27):
we break a hip or a wrist, and then the
chances of recovery from that are much less, so that
leads to deaths. I think there is like thirty two
thousand deaths cost from fall injuries in adults like sixty
five and older. And obviously, if you can build and
muscles the same way, you start losing after the age
(17:49):
of thirty, believe it or not, you start losing muscle
mass at about three to eight percent every decade. So
that's as sets in incredible. Those are incredible numbers. I mean,
at the age thirty is a little bit slower, but
then it starts to pick up at forty fifty, and
then by sixty is even faster. So if you can
(18:10):
build as much as you can in bone and muscle
as when you can, that will just help you carry
They will help you carry yourself through and healthier in
the older years in the later years of life, because again,
you can either prevent yourself from falling or you can
(18:30):
recover faster from an injury because your bone density is
where it is more optimal than it would have been
if you hadn't been building that bone mass. And especially
for women, women are more prone to ostroporosis, which is
bone density laws than men, and by menopause, the numbers
(18:51):
are staggering as to that bone density loss. And for men, actually,
even though dester porosis is less than women, their causality
of death, their death due to falls is higher than women.
Oh wow, So I mean a lot of the time,
I know, it's like when we're in our twenties or
(19:12):
even our thirties, we think of ourselves it's invincible, you know,
we've got these amazing bodies. They're incredible, of course, but
how do we prepare ourselves now when it is possible
for the future ourselves? Our future self will will thank us.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
This is really powerful stuff, Sonata. This is really going
to connect with the audience to hear these reset studies
and recognizing the changes that are happening in every decade.
Because I think so many of us, like you said,
and I remember that. I remember being twenty two years
old and thinking I was Superman, right, and thinking nothing
could defeat me. And I remember my dad kept telling me,
(19:50):
you need to focus on your health. You need to
focus on your health, and I was like, I'm healthy,
it doesn't matter. And then, you know, when I had
a couple of my own personal challenges with health, really
kind of stuck with me as to what an investment
it needed to be. What are some of the biggest
things that you consistently see getting in people's way when
(20:10):
they're trying to get fitter and stronger. What are the
challenges the most common ones that you see people that
you've trained over the years that you find they struggle with.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Well, the first one is relying on feelings. A lot
of people rely on motivation. I don't feel motivated, So
you know, how or how do you get motivated.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
To work out?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
A lot of the time, it just I'm not motivated.
I don't want to necessarily work out. The coziness of
the home is a lot better than you know, getting
up and getting moving, But it's we don't rely on that.
You know, you take that, you take those feelings, you
put them aside, and you put your shoes and you
keep going because that's what you do. It's like brushing
your teeth. There's no For me, there's no. It's a
(20:54):
non negotiable. Working out is a non negotiable, not just
for right now, not because of usthetics, but for longevity.
Like we were talking about quality longevity, aesthetics come. It's
beautiful once you do the things, the right things for
your body with nutrition and working out, aesthetics are a
byproduct that will come. Because a lot of people take
(21:16):
that approach of like wanting to look a certain way,
which I find can be motivating, but for it's short lived,
especially if the results are taken a little bit longer,
which could take longer for some people. But if you
are doing it again for those right reasons, for the
reasons of like I want to be as strong as
I can in this body, so this body can carry
(21:38):
me forward in a healthiest possible way for as long
as as possible. So that is the biggest one that
I face, is like how do you How do I
get motivated? How do I stay motivated? It's like act,
don't wait for the feelings.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Act. The other thing is I'm too busy. I'm too busy.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
There's always time. I'm sorry, but you can always make
time for yourself. You can find that time. A lot
of the time we find I'll even there. There's been
even arguments back and forth with people on Instagram. You know,
I don't have time, yet two hours later they're still
responding to that same chain of communication. Well you had
(22:20):
two hours right there. You have time. A lot of
the time is just analyze your day. Just analyze your
day as to where you're you're spending time that you
could carve out. Not saying don't watch TV or don't
don't be on social media exactly do that? How can
you incorporate it incorporated?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Exactly?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I'm a big, big believer of like not doing all
or nothing. So even when it comes to nutrition, it's
like you want to eat a burger, fine, just how
can you maybe take one of the sides of the
bun out?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
How can you substitute half of the fries with a salad?
I don't don't completely take things out, try to incorporate
in your life. So find out there there is definitely
always a little bit of time that you can find
absolutely Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
When going back to the feelings point, yeah, I found
that things that are good for me feel bad before, yes,
but feel amazing after exactly. And the things that are
bad for me, they feel really good before, yeah, but
they don't feel so great. And so I'm the same
as you. When I wake up in the morning, I
often go on a hike. That's like how I like
(23:33):
to start my morning.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
That's very fresh, I'm going out for a while.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, And I like being active, and I don't want
to do something too strengo because my day is quite
busy exactly. And I found that when I wake up
in the morning, I don't want to work out. I
don't feel like you, And You're so right that I
just have to say to myself, I have to remind myself,
but I know how I'll feel after. And when it
comes to eating a burger, trust me, I want to
eat a burger all the time and I have to
(23:58):
run myself, but I know how it's going to feel after.
And so it's almost like you've got to connect your
brain to the after feeling, absolutely, because the after feeling
is so much more what you have to live with,
because the feeling before kind of comes and go exactly.
I want to eat burger, eate burg and now I
don't feel so great. I don't want to work out.
I ignore working out. I didn't work out. Now I
(24:19):
don't feel so great, And you're living with that feeling
after for much longer than you're living with the feeling before.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
True, So that's definitely helped me. And the busy one
is so true. I mean, I feel like if I
work out while watching I love watching football soccer highlights
and miss watching soccer, and I don't get to watch
it full. I don't get to watch full games anymore
because there are different timings because I live in LA
the games are in London or England, and I will
(24:48):
put on a highlights of the game which are like
twenty minutes, and I'm like, this is perfect for a
twenty minute workout. I can watch the highlights, I can
work out, and it's going to force me to get
through twenty minutes. If I didn't have the highlights on,
I know what give up in like six yeah, And
so when the highlights are on, I know that I'll
be able to get through a full twenty minute workout,
which is what I'm trying to do if I'm traveling
(25:09):
or moving around. So I love that idea of incorporating.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Things, incorporating thing, And that's true when it comes to
creating habits that are tough to create in the beginning.
How can you tack on something that is enjoyable, like
a little bit of a reward system, And a reward
system doesn't have to be that I get to eat.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
You know, what is the words?
Speaker 1 (25:33):
What is the right reward system for being fit? Because
I think a lot of people think it is getting.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
You Yeah, yeah, yeah, you could be you know, like
you said, you like to watch the highlights, you know,
a show that you that you enjoy, or another activity
that's enjoyable, you know, or if you want to treat yourself,
find maybe when it comes to food, find a healthier option.
I'm a great believer also in substituting. You know a
lot of the recipes that I post are I have
(26:01):
a sweet tooth, a major sweet tooth. So how can
I create recipes that are healthy, that will satisfy and
it will taste just as good as the naughty.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Food.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
So it's just for every person. It could be, it
could be different. What that reward for them is but
tack it onto it and you know are in the
we Rise app we have doctor Gina whose a habits expert,
habits building expert, one of the I think four leading
researchers of habits, and she has so much input and
(26:38):
so much information on how to make habits sustainable. You know,
I wish I had a doctor pocket Gena.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
That I.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Ask, Yeah, but yeah, she she'll have such amazing insight
as to how to create and sustain these habits.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yeah, what's the biggest misconception with strength training? What do
you think people get wrong?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
That woman will get like bulky and big and and gigantic.
That's like the biggest thing is like I don't want
to get to bulky. I don't want to get to
what you hear a lot. That's what I hear a lot.
And that is a huge misconception because in females, our
hormones are do not allow us to get to the
levels that for example, a man's physique can get naturally.
(27:26):
It is not biologically. There's obviously different levels of hormones
and different women that will promote growth in some more
or less than others. But I always say, at the
very at the end of the day, you can just
back off, back off if you are feeling But I
guarantee you that once you start gaining a little bit
(27:46):
of muscle, you will be addicted. You will because the
the feeling of strength and confidence that it that it
gives you, like a stronger body gives you. At least
for me and for the peeople that I've worked with,
those feelings that it gives them are far outweigh any
negative misconceptions. I'm going to say misconception because it is.
(28:10):
It's you're not going to get big. You're not going
to get huge, You're not going to be like Hulk.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I don't. Rady love strength training like it's such a
passion of hers and she loves that feeling of being
stronger and loves that feeling of like it's amazing to see.
Because I think you are right that we have this
worry that our body is going to change and look
away that we don't want it to.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Look yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
What should someone eat right before a workout and right after,
especially a strength training workout?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So before a workout about an hour maybe thirty minutes
at most, because you only need to close. I would
eat a combination of protein and carbs, maybe a little
bit higher in carbs, and then afterwards meal that is
higher in protein, so at least at least twenty grams
(29:01):
of protein in that meal after the workout. I mean,
the studies are a little bit all over the place
when it comes to this. Obviously, for somebody that's been
working out for a long time, you're a little bit
more flexible with that, or for somebody that is trying
to that is trying to gain muscle mass or weight, again,
(29:23):
it's a little bit more flexible versus a beginner. Then
you have to be a little bit more strict with
strict a little bit more on top of your nutrition
when it comes to not just before and after, but
throughout the day and at the end of the day.
Is what you're consuming throughout the day that is most important.
So are you're reaching so not so focused because a
(29:45):
lot of people focus so much on before and after.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I would start with how do you feel before a workout?
Do you feel?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
You know, if you're working out in the morning and
you're energized enough, then feel free to work out out
on an empty stomach, that's completely fine. And if you
can carry that energy through. If you feel like you
need to have a little bit of nutrition beforehand, that's
great too. It's how do you optimize for yourself? How
(30:14):
do you optimize for yourself?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
How did genetics play a role in achieving your goals?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Genetics, they do play a role, a big role in
the sense that, well, genetics will not get you out
of bed because a lot of the time, you know,
people see my physique and say, you know, it's all genetics.
I actually had to fight against a lot of my
genetics to get out of bed and work out. I'm
(30:42):
pretty disposed to the depression and anxiety, so battling those factors,
that's a genetic factor that goes into play. But then
when it comes to actual physique building, yes, you'll vary
as to like the muscle mass that you will put on,
but you can always improve. You know, there's not let's
(31:04):
not even bother working out because I don't build bigger muscles.
You know, you don't even know till you've tried to
what capacity you can build. Genetics will play a bit
of of a factor in the body that you're trying
to achieve. You know, some people will carry a little
bit more weight around their stomach, so their APPS will
(31:25):
not be as easily visible as others. So they'll have
to in a healthy way, potentially diet if they can,
but to see the visible abdominal abdominal abdominal muscles, not
that that is a golden standard of anything, just hypothetically
saying that it will take them longer than others to
(31:47):
to to achieve that, because again genetics do play a
role in that.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Talking about that, what is the health benefit of having
a lower body fat percentage? What is the goal? Right,
because we know that people are trying to lower their
body of percentage in order to have APPS, But what's
the actual health benefit of having a lower body fed percentage?
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah, and or even with that, you want to maintain
a healthier one, so you don't want to go too low.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
You don't want to be too high.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
If you're going too low, then your hormone start to
get messed up, and we don't want to if it
goes too low, so then we start to you know,
women will start to miss their period, so it will
affect them that way. Obviously, that puts a body in
a little bit of a frenzy. It's not homeostasius anymore.
When it goes too high, then you're starting to deal
(32:38):
with cardiovascular issues, you know, insulin resistance and all of
the things that will then lead to an unhealthier individual.
So there's a range there that we should be.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Talking about cardio. You said that you incorporate cardio. Yeah,
how much is cardio important inn strength training practice and
how much is it not needed?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
The question would be what are the reasons for adding cardio?
So are you adding cardio because a lot of people
think that cardio is what's going to help them lose weights,
and that's not necessarily that's not true. It's all about
calories in versus calories out. So if you're talking about
strictly losing weight, is how many colors are you putting
in your body and how many calories you're expending. So
(33:20):
if you're deciding to utilize strength training as a way
to expand those calories, great, If you're utilizing cardio, greade,
there is some studies again that suggest that you'll get
faster into that fat burning phase if you're doing strength
training before and then cardio after, and also cardio. If
you're doing strength training also before and cardio after, you're
(33:43):
you're not compromising your strength training process, as if you
were to do cardio beforehand, how much cardio That also
is an individual basis cardio. A lot of people hate cardio.
So what I try personally to do, I'll incorporated on
upper body days, so I'll do somewhat of an interval training.
(34:05):
So I'll do an exercise at upper body focused and
then thirty seconds to a minute of sprinting, and then
another you know exercise or set of an upper body
focused and then So that's how I make it fund
in my personal training and for everybody in the wee
Rise app. And obviously if you're wanting to add more
(34:26):
cardio because you feel like, you know, adding a steady
state cardio session after a separate day, a separate part
of the day, because you're wanting to be at more
of a caloric deficit, that's completely fine.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
As well, it sounds that you don't like cardia.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
I don't love cardia.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
So I ran marathons and that was great. I've run
three marathons.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
I enjoyed it. You do put your body through.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
A lot, But I have found personally what I've achieved
through strength training when it comes physically and mentally, has
been far more rewarding than cardio. There's some you know,
benefit to cardio in the sense that some people feel
more of the endorphins and the feel good hormones during
hit sessions or cardio, So there is a benefit to that.
(35:17):
And at the end of the day, what is so wild?
So let's say, while I value strength training, pick your
poison at the end of the day, or pick your remedy.
I should say, pick your elixir. You know, what would
that be for you? As long as you can get
some activity. And so while there is hierarchies of what
you want to achieve. So if you want to build muscle,
(35:38):
strength training really is like the golden standard, right, But
if you know you absolutely hate it, what is your
activity of choice at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Is what I would say.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Walk me through what your regime was for running the marathons,
like what did you how did you build up to that,
what was your practice? What was your work routine and
the nutrition plend.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I wish I could say that I followed one of
the one of the plans because this was quite a
few years ago. They've kind of build slowly and it
worked on like hill sprints and you know, just a
different variety of things that you need.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
To work on when you're running a marathon.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
But it basically started to started with three miles and
then increased to five miles, and then after a week
or so, increased so incrementally increasing the length that I
would run till I got to the marathon. I guess, yeah,
I never you never run the whole marathon when you're
doing when you're practicing, it's more like up to like
(36:43):
eighteen miles. But it was just slowly over time building
after that end, definitely feeding that that those calories that
were burning almost couldn't couldn't keep the weight on me
at that point.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Yeah, because you're expending so much energy.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
What would you now say is a great nutrition plant
while someone's strength training, Like what kind of things have
you found to be really integral and useful to have?
And then what have you found to be useful to
leave out?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Definitely prioritizing protein. So if you're consuming about point eight
to just a little bit over one gram per pound
of body weight of protein per day, that's a good
place to be, and then filling the rest with carbs
and fats. But that's what I always say, prioritize protein.
(37:36):
That's what's going to help not just building muscle, but
just your physiological needs. You know, protein is the building
block of our body. And what you can leave out
is the infamous sugars, you know, the refined sugars and
so op more for complex carbs. I still like eating fruit.
(38:01):
I know there's been fruit suddenly has become controversial. Like
if you're eating fruit and vegetables, you're good. Just fit
into that macro, especially if you're starting out and you
want to you have a specific goal, It is important
to find out what your appropriate macros are for the day.
And macros are the macro nutrients. So what is your
(38:24):
daily intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. But I always
prioritize protein.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
And with the protein, I mean most of us are
not getting close to that much.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
The protein of us are not like I said, for
let's say one hundred and twenty pound person, like a gram,
so you need one hundred and twenty grams of protein
or around that per day. So you know they're in
a piece of like palm of your hand of let's
say chicken, there's like twenty grams of protein, So you
(38:59):
need to be a little bit more discerning of your meals,
So always include protein with every meal and maybe even
worthier snacks.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Yeah. I think for most of us it feels like
protein takes up probably that twenty grams and then we're
filling the rest, yeah, with carbs, fats, anything else. But
I've definitely found that when I first learned about that,
I just couldn't believe how hard it was to actually
prioritize getting and I'm doing that plant based, which is
even harder even for my friends who eat me. Even
(39:31):
they were saying just how challenging it was for them,
like it's not easy across the board, and so raising
that up to.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
That, Yeah, yeah, it's important, especially as we age, believe
it or not, like we need to intake even more protein.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
You shared so much amazing research and studies with us today.
Are there any others that really come to your mind
that you think this is really important for women to know?
Speaker 2 (39:51):
What?
Speaker 1 (39:52):
This is really important for strength trainers to know, because
some of the studies you've shared with us have really
been powerful.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
Yeah, I mean the muscle loss is huge. The like
I said, the thirty two thousand deaths per year, which
actually crazy enough, has has almost doubled from like twenty
twelve to twenty twenty one, if I believe, if I
remember correctly, and I wonder what's gone into that, Like
why there's been such a drastic increase, and like that's
(40:22):
due to falls during this time, Like maybe we've become
less we've become less mobile, Maybe there's medications in the
market that are affecting our bone density. It's actually when
it comes to depression and anxiety mood disorders, it has
been found that even as little as one hundred and
(40:44):
fifty minutes of activity per week can relieve symptoms to
about forty to sixty percent forty two to sixty percent,
while as compared to psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals, the numbers are
twenty percent to thirty percent in relief of symptoms. So
(41:04):
even the highest the higher upper end limit of pharmacological
products and psychotherapy doesn't even come close to what you
can achieve by physical activity. And that's only at one
hundred and fifty minutes per week. So to me, like
that's that's mind blowing what you can achieve because and
(41:24):
I'm not negating the need for psychotherapy or or from
pharmacological products. Absolutely, you know where it's necessary, but why
not start with exercising, Like, start there you will achieve
results that might be even higher than what you can
do with pharmaceutical products.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
That's like just over twenty minutes a day.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Yeah, exactly, just over twenty minutes a day.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (41:51):
Yeah, absolutely, that's.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Pretty amazing to know. Yeah, wow, Like yeah, and the
difference too, Like you're saying instead of twenty to thirty percent,
reduced forty to sixty So.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Absolutely exactly or exactly exactly, that's.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Yeah, And you're right again, we're not telling anyone not
to take things that they need to take, but absolutely
the idea that why not have the full package?
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Exactly? Why not have the full package?
Speaker 2 (42:17):
That's what it is because a lot of the time,
it can be that psychotherapy or pharmacologics don't necessarily work
for some people. I think there's some statistics of like
around forty percent of the people don't experience the relief
that they need. So either in conjunction or starting with
an exercise program that will provide significant relief. I mean, firsthand,
(42:43):
I'm standing here as somebody that has achieved that kind
of relief without now being on any pharmaceuticals. This is
why I work out every day. I don't want to
experience those symptoms of the pression and anxiety and ever.
(43:04):
So this is why I keep going.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
So powerful, so powerful, so inspiring to hear that as well,
Thank you, so inspiring to hear that. What was it
for you that was causing that? Where was that coming from?
For you? Personally?
Speaker 2 (43:18):
It's been I mean, there's so many factors. I think
when you're talking about being anxiety in the question experiencing that,
I think some of it is genetic. Some of it
is being a teenager and moving countries, going from Albania
to the United States and completely in a new world,
(43:42):
a new space. My family didn't know English at the time.
I was the only one that did, so I had
to support them. So I had to assume the role
of an adult at a fairly young age. So I
was fourteen fifteen at the time where I had to
become an adult in my family. So I think there's
a cornucopia of like things that that kind of came
(44:07):
together for me to experience anxiety and depression and trying
to fit in and not you know, being a foreigner
at the time, and the teenager and being bullied and
made fun of all kind of let pave the path
a little bit for me to experience that. And I
(44:30):
do feel for for for teenagers, and I do feel
for the the generation that is that that is living
through through these times.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
It's not easy. It's not easy, but.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
Find find find comfort in that discomfort of working out
and in that physical activity because it will help.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you so much.
I wanted to talk to you a bit about steps.
What's your take on the ten thousand steps.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
It's a good place to start, Like I said, like walking,
that's great, ten to twelve thousand. My dad does it
every day, is committed to it. It's a good starting point.
It's a good starting point, but it's how you make
those steps quality quality steps.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
You know, do you work out every day of the
week most days?
Speaker 3 (45:26):
But I don't.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I find that it is great to keep yourself active,
even if it's something light. So if I'm not working out,
I'll go for a long walk or a hike. I
think it's so important to keep ourselves active because we
do end up spending most of the day sitting. So
even working out for an hour a day if you
spend most of your day sitting, it doesn't negate that sitting.
(45:51):
So it is important, even speaking like throughout the day
to get up and take a little bit of a walk,
like every half.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
An hour, every hour.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
So I do. I do try to keep active every
single day. So if I'm not doing a full workout,
I'll go for a walk like et cetera, hike.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
No days are days are? I love it.
Speaker 3 (46:09):
A body in motion stays in motion.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
No, I know what you mean. It's it's so interesting
how much, Yeah, staying sedentary is the cause of so
many of our issues. We had doctor darsh and Sean
a few months back, and he talked about the idea
of just how much our quality of life changes because
we're not getting up from our seats all day, whether
(46:33):
at our desks or work or wherever else it may be.
And so I love what you're saying about the idea
of moving, even if it's not a full workout exactly.
Your rest day is my best workout day, basically basically
my ideal work day. She's like, I go on a
hike when I'm not working out, and I'm like, here,
I am going. My hike is my workout. I love
(46:53):
that you do you work out.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
You just told me you're into calisthenics.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Yeah, that's so funny. I love it. One thing I
wanted to dive into about as we're coming to her
close here is you train some of the most well
known people in the world who seem to work really hard. Obviously,
Kim's been on the show and we always see Kim
posting you and you guys training together. What have you
(47:22):
learned about training with her? What have you learned about
her from training with her?
Speaker 2 (47:26):
So one thing that I've learned about Kim with training
with her, it's her dedication.
Speaker 1 (47:31):
She is.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
She shows up, shows up on time, and it's ready
to go. Never does she complain or backs away from
something that I put her through, and I put her
through a lot.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
She never backs away. She always pushes through.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Well.
Speaker 3 (47:48):
Is very impressive.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
I'm not surprised she did say her workout was one
of her favorite things.
Speaker 3 (47:52):
She's very dedicated for sure.
Speaker 1 (47:54):
Yeah, and you guys get organized right if she has
a shoot coming up or she's got a specific out
fit to wear for an event, like you get really.
Speaker 3 (48:02):
We dial it in. We dial it in.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
I did, and I ended up staying here for a
little bit longer.
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Than I was Yeah, I was expected.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
What was it like when you first resear and said
I need you to come over? What was that like?
What was that conversation?
Speaker 2 (48:18):
Like?
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Yes, I'll be there.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
Because obviously it is Kim, But I believe in working
with these people that have such high influence because of
the impact that they will have on the larger population.
So if they can send if through them, I can
send a message of strength for women. So strength is beautiful,
strength is confidence, whatever that looks like. Strength doesn't have
(48:44):
to come with big muscles, you know. But if I
can send a message of strength to especially young women,
then to me, I've done.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
My purpose is fulfilled.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
It's beautiful. What's the first thing you asked someone when
they come to you, anyone that comes to work with you,
what's the first thing you ask them?
Speaker 3 (49:02):
How serious are you about this?
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Right?
Speaker 2 (49:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Great question about this?
Speaker 2 (49:07):
Like, you know, are you going to give me a
day here and there? Because that's just not going to
achieve anything for you or myself. So you have to
be serious about your help. And I like to make
it even though somebody comes to me saying that they
need to look a certain way. I always try to
(49:29):
make it about help and longevity.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Yeah, it's similar in coaching. Actually, whenever I take on
a client, I found that clients who are willing to
dedicate and commit time exactly see phenomenal results. Other clients
that I have met for two hours a day every
day for two years, and other clients that have met
twice a week, thrice a week for three to six months.
(49:52):
And then I have someone who's like kind of checking
in once a month, kind of checking in once a quarter, cancel,
doesn't have and you just start to know notice, And
it's hard because it's not that someone is not wanting
to work hard, or it's not that they're a bad
person or right persons, just people have different discipline levels.
But it's like, in order to really see an impact
(50:15):
and see the results, there has to be that.
Speaker 3 (50:16):
Committment, that commitment. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
You talked about the purpose of strength training. What is
the purpose of workouts like pilates and yoga and other forms.
What is the purpose of those kind of workouts compared
to strength training?
Speaker 2 (50:29):
They like I said, I respect and utilize, have utilized
myself all modalities. You know, I love yoga, but I
think there are great additives. They're a great in addition
to strength training because they will not most likely build
muscle mass in the way that strength training can. They
(50:49):
will build maybe endurance. They will build some endurance, They'll
build flexibility and some strength, but not to the level
that lifting weights will will not so in the way
that lifting weights will build your bone density. Yoga and pilates,
unless you're doing some crazy yoga or mulatti, is that.
Speaker 3 (51:13):
They will not do that.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
But again, there is a great place and time. In addition,
I believe to strength training to incorporate yoga and pilates.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
What's the difference in the workout you prescribe to someone
who wants to gain muscle versus someone who wants to
lose weight through strength training.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
They don't have to be the same at all. They
could be one and the same, because again, at the
end of the day, when you're building muscle, you're challenging yourself.
You're challenging your muscles with a weight that you're lifting,
which is expanding calories, and that's what you need in
weight loss as well. You need expenditure of calories that
(51:55):
but at a caloric deficit. So that's the only changing
component is that caloric deficit. So it's more in the
nutrition versus in the workouts. I mean there is you know,
you can work out, you can challenge yourself with the
duration of the workout and then maintain your nutrition. Or
you can eat less basically so be at a deficit
(52:20):
in calories and then lose weight. So it doesn't have
to be any difference there. It's just how you manage
nutrition versus output.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Got it, got it? And if you're working out on
your own without a trainer, it's much harder. How do
you know what to add to make you more challenging
to continue to get stronger or to continue to shift
because I find like most people are working out without trying,
and of course they can use the we rise at
the Yeah, have that that's what we rise up.
Speaker 4 (52:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Absolutely, So I'll give you the guideline if you'll give
you the workouts. What you can do on your own
is challenge yourself with the weights that you're lifting. So
if for example, the recommended reps are between eight and twelve,
when you get to that eight or ten, nine, ten
twelve rep, like, how are you challenged?
Speaker 3 (53:07):
Can you do ten more?
Speaker 2 (53:08):
If you're doing ten more after that, or if you
can't do you're doing you're doing two little weights, so
you need to increase the weight. That's why you have
to keep in mind. I also value strongly that mind
muscle connection, so truly thinking about the working muscle. Let's
actually studies that show that if you are thinking of
the muscles that you're working, then that actually creates the
(53:31):
muscle gets bigger. There is their studies to that. So
if you are slowing down the movement thinking about the
muscles that you're working, I sometimes try to touch you
know this is working. It sends that signal from your
brain to the muscle that hey, we're working here, we're
working here, and that will increase strength, will increase muscle mass.
Speaker 1 (53:52):
Actually, yeah, I've heard about that, seeing the idea of
people almost doing weights in their mind.
Speaker 3 (53:57):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
There are studies that simply did that without any weight
lifting and they found a significant difference.
Speaker 3 (54:06):
Yeah. Yeah, that's the power of the mind is incredible.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
What else have you done for the power of the
mind to affect your body? Like, what other practices have
you taken on at a mental or spiritual level that
you feel have positively impacted your physical health well.
Speaker 2 (54:20):
Meditation is huge in my opinion, for mental health, but
also if you're wanting to visualize certain results. I feel
like whenever I've been in a place where I needed to,
I've competed, for example, in bodybuilding competitions in the beginning level,
so that I found when it came strictly to like
(54:42):
the physique, if you are it's basically manifestation, you know,
at that cellular level, when you're thinking about the way
that you want to look, or feel or present yourself.
So meditation is huge. I try to incorporate that every
day journaling. I am also gratitude. Every night before going
(55:06):
to bed, I practice gratitude.
Speaker 3 (55:09):
Not sure how that relates to the physique, but it
relates to the mental ass for your body absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
I had to learn that. I had to learn that
I definitely was very grateful for my mind and my
intelligence and my abilities, but it always felt like my
body was letting me down, and that negative approach to
my own body only made my body let me down more. Absolutely,
It's like someone in your life. If you feel like
that person in your life always lets you down, guess.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
What they're going to let you down because you're gonna look.
Speaker 1 (55:39):
For that, yeah, exactly. And so I was always talking
to my body subconsciously in that way where I was like, oh,
my mind is amazing, but my body lets me down,
and that my.
Speaker 2 (55:48):
Words that we use are so important, you know, just
in the in this recent journey that is shared about
before with you, that was one of the big lessons
that I learned, is the way that sometimes we talk
to ourselves. The words that we use, whether they're out
loud or even just spoken in silence to ourselves are.
Speaker 3 (56:11):
Huge, are huge. So if you tell yourself, you know, like.
Speaker 2 (56:17):
I hate my body, like I want to change this,
like I hate I don't know, like my stomach. Like
that's not coming from a place of love, we are
less likely to achieve results if they're if that's coming
from a place of negative sentiments towards yourself. I always
that's another thing that I always try to impart on
whoever I'm working with, especially in person, is like I
(56:38):
want us to start from a place of love for ourselves,
not from I need to lose twenty pounds, because that
again comes from like I hate this twenty pounds that's
on me. But yeah, starting from a place of love
for wherever we were at and for I want to
do this because I want to become a healthier version
(56:59):
of myself.
Speaker 1 (57:01):
Fantastic, Sonata has been so informative talking to you today.
I feel like there's been so many great insights that
we can I think I'm going to be pulling on
a lot of your insights to gain drive and gain
focus to connect back in with my body because a
lot of what you've shared with me has made me
realize just how important strength training is, especially in my
third is where I am now and how important it's
(57:23):
going to be long term, even if I don't feel
it right now. So thank you so much. We end
every episode with a final five. These have to be
answered in one word or one sentence, and so Sonati Grecor,
these are your final five. The first is what is
the best health or fitness advice you've ever heard or received?
Speaker 2 (57:43):
Well, the advice not necessarily Well, it's the best advice
ever was to stay true to myself and to my uniqueness.
So I don't think it necessarily has to deal with
that's the first part, but it's to embrace your unique
self and stay true to it. The advice that I
would give when it comes to fitness, So it would
(58:07):
be to just start, just start.
Speaker 1 (58:09):
Second question, what is the worst advice you've ever had
or received?
Speaker 2 (58:15):
Stop lifting weights? He'll get you to be masculine and bulky.
That's yeah, yeah, at the end of the day, it's also.
Speaker 3 (58:27):
Let's not judge people for how they want to look.
Speaker 2 (58:30):
You know, if they want to appear a certain way,
if that's what drives them, that's what they want.
Speaker 3 (58:37):
Let's allow.
Speaker 1 (58:38):
Question number three, what's your hope for people in twenty
twenty four?
Speaker 2 (58:42):
Just to do everything from a place of love, whatever
that is. So whether it's working out, nutrition, or anything
in their life, just start from a place of love
for themselves and for everybody around them.
Speaker 1 (58:57):
Question number four, what's the first thing you do in
the morning and the last thing you do atnight?
Speaker 2 (59:02):
First thing I meditate? Last thing I say my gratitudes beautiful?
Speaker 1 (59:07):
And fifth and final question, if you could create one
law that everyone in the world had to follow, what
would it be?
Speaker 2 (59:14):
I would say because this was one of my biggest
lesson was to allow. I don't know if it makes sense,
but one of the biggest lessons for me recently was
to allow and stop being so much needing to control everything.
So maybe this is more on a personal level, but
(59:38):
I think if we allow for the good in our
life or the love for the right type of circumstances,
I think there's so much to gain from that.
Speaker 1 (59:49):
It's beautiful, Sonata, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (59:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (59:53):
Everyone's been listening or watching. Sonata's app is the we
Rise app. We can find fitness and helped it and practices,
and of course if you don't already, you can follow
her on Instagram at at Sonata dot greca. Please go
and follow her right now for more fitness tips, for
great workouts, to get you started, to get you going.
I want twenty twenty four to be a year you're stronger, fitter,
(01:00:15):
and better, and Sonata is going to be a big
part of making that happen. Thank you so much, Sad again,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:00:20):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (01:00:21):
Energy, I'm so grateful.
Speaker 3 (01:00:22):
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here.
I truly appreciate it. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
If you love this episode, you'll enjoy my conversation with
Megan Trainer on breaking generational trauma and how to be
confident from the inside out.
Speaker 3 (01:00:36):
My therapist told me stand in the mirror, naked for
five minutes.
Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
It was already tough for me to love my body,
but after the C section scar with all the stretch marks.
Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
Now I'm looking at myself like I've been hacked.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
But day three, when I did it, I was like,
you know what, her thigh is a cute
There's a lot of talk about mindfulness these days, which
is fantastic. I mean, we all want to be more
present and self aware, more patient, less judgmental. We discuss
all these themes on the podcast, but it's hard to
actually be mindful in your day to day life. That's
where Calm comes in. I've been working with Calm for
a few years now with the goal of making mindfulness
(00:22):
fun and easy. Calm has all sorts of content to
help you build positive habits, shift yourself, talk, reframe your
negative thoughts, and generally feel better in your daily life.
So many incredible options from the most knowledgeable experts in
the world, along with renowned meditation teachers. You can also
check out my seven minute daily series to help you
(00:43):
live more mindfully each and every day. Right now, listeners
of On Purpose get forty percent off a subscription to
Calmpremium at calm dot com Forward slash j that's Calm
dot com Forward slash jay for forty percent off. Calm
your Mind, Change your Life.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I started dealing with depression and anxiety at the same time,
and working with physicians. You know they're a little bit
quick to push medication on you. It wasn't until I
found a physician that was running marathons herself who was
she suggested actually getting stronger, and when I saw what
kind of a difference working out did for my mental
(01:21):
health is when everything changed.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Hey everyone, I've got some huge news to share with you.
In the last ninety days, seventy nine point four percent
of our audience came from viewers and listeners that are
not subscribed to this channel. There's research that shows that
if you want to create a habit, make it easy
to access. By hitting the subscribe button, you're creating a
(01:44):
habit of learning how to be happier, healthier, and more healed.
This would also mean the absolute world to me and
help us make better, bigger, brighter content for you and
the world. Subscribe right now the number one health and
wellness Jay Setti, Jay Sheetty, je Zy Jay Set. Hey everyone,
(02:07):
Welcome back to on Purpose, the place you come to
to become happier, healthier and more healed. Now in twenty
twenty four, I want to help you get fitter, stronger, calmer,
and feel like you have more courage. And in order
to do all those things, I'm looking for guests, experts,
and thought leaders who can help you build different muscles.
(02:30):
Today's guest is a friend of mine and she is
incredible here to help us get fitter and stronger. I'm
speaking about Sonata Greca, a world renowned thought leader in
fitness and wellness. Sonata is the founder of we Rise,
a female empowerment platform that takes a holistic approach to health, wellness,
(02:50):
and personal development. Sonata is also the founder of Zentoa,
a women's athletic apparel brand that has outfitted thousands of
women around the world. The high performance and stylish active wear.
Sonata has been sought after by some of the biggest
names in the world. She's trained in Mirandaka Bebbe Rexa,
amongst many others, and currently Sonata works with Kim Kardashian.
(03:14):
I'm so excited to welcome to the show my friend,
an incredible thought leader, Sonata Greca.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Sonata, Welcome, Hi, Thank you so much, Thank you for
having me here.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I am so happy to have you. We've been looking
forward to this. I remember when I DMed you a
while ago and we got connected. You came over to
our home, we were hanging out. You've got to know
Radi and I definitely feel like before we dive into
the fitness conversation. I felt like there was a sole
connection when we met, absolutely and I think that's what
made me so excited to have this conversation with you.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So thanks, Jam, thank you so much for having me here.
I'm so excited. And like you said, there was a
spiritual connection with both yourself and Rabi and yeah and honored,
So thank you so much for having me Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Well four is here. We're already a few months in
and most likely people have fallen short of some of
their fitness goals. Some people might be kind of just
holding on. Maybe some people are doing well as well.
If someone has fitness goals, if someone has strength goals,
(04:19):
how do you start by setting a goal? How do
you stop? How do you start?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Actually, a great statistic that I just reviewed from the
Rearrise app is that people were on average by week
doing three and a half workout. So I was like, yes,
something is working so far as about a week ago.
So hopefully everybody keeps the momentum going. But if you're
looking to start, I always say start small. You know,
(04:44):
you want to climb that mountain one step at a time,
versus you know, doing a day long trip so to speak.
So take the smallest step, you know, start with twenty minutes.
If we cannot start with twenty minutes, start with five
minutes or even one minute, and then build that habit,
because it's about creating that consistent habit day after day
(05:07):
that will carry you through. You know, a lot of
the time we think the motivation is what's needed, and
it's it's that habit that we create on a daily basis.
So start small, Start with what is attainable. Create a
daily calendar and make sure that you're placing hopefully that
workout at the same time every day. You're most likely
(05:31):
to stick to it. Create an environment that is supportive
of you working out. So if you are working out
at home, create a little space for yourself with all
of your items workout items, and if you're going to
the gym, then lay out your workout clothes, lay out
your shoes.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
The night before.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Some people actually even wear their workout clothes and just sleep.
And because it eliminates another step, So how can you
make it more accessible and easy for yourself to accomplish that?
And then what is the time of day that does
actually work best for you when you feel more energetic
there is no specific time that is you know, this
(06:11):
is the best time to work out.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
For whatever reason.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
It's like what time is best suited for your life
and lifestyle. I would suggest, if possible, for most beginners
to have it in the morning, so you you know,
kind of get it out of the way and don't
leave it up to chance. For later in the day
things occur, you know, work and kids and a million
things that you have to do throughout the day. So
if you leave it up to chance, you're most likely
(06:36):
are not going to do it. But if you're confident,
if you're if you you know, set that time aside,
even if it's in the afternoon, which is when I
work out myself. That's when I find it that I'm
most energetic, and when I find in the afternoon for myself.
There is some studies that suggests that the optimal time
(06:56):
might be between eleven AM and uh and five p.
But again, I say, when is it more accessible to you?
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's key absolutely that Let's say someone and I think
this is the world we live in today where we
look at five minutes and go, what's the point of
working out for five minutes? So what's the point of
working out for five minutes, Like what can you get
in five minutes?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
You'll start to create a habit.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
And that's what's key about making fitness long a life
long activity, because I see it as not you know,
a sprint, it's a lifelong marathon. You want to stay
active throughout your entire life for as long as you can.
So five minutes is just creating that habit. You won't
see drastic results, you might see no results from five minutes,
(07:44):
but five minutes today for a week, ten minutes the
next week for a week, and then you start building
from there again. That makes it just more accessible and
creates that habit. And it does take some time for
a habit to be especially when it comes to fitness,
to to be established. Somewhere between twenty one days might
be when you're like starting to create a foundation, but
(08:06):
some research shows that it's actually around like sixty sixty
six days when you really solidify that habit of working out.
So while in the you know, in the immediate term,
like it doesn't really provide results, that five minutes will
just set you up for success.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Absolutely. I think that's such a good point, Like we
look at it as like, oh, five minutes doesn't have
any value. But you committing to something exactly five minutes
a day, every day, and you keeping that promise to
yourself exactly turn up every single day. That's what matter
is about the five exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
It builds that self confidence too in yourself. You know,
your body listens as in with meditation too. Five minutes
might not break you through to where you need to be,
but five minutes every day and you're setting up that
habit and you're also saying like, yes, I got this,
I'm doing it. You know, I'm dedicating five minutes to
myself for myself absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
So Let's say someone's listening right now and they say,
Sonata Jay, I'm with you. I only have five minutes.
What do I do with five minutes? What should they
do in a five minute work if that's all they
have and they're starting out.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, there's five minutes. Just jump on you can. Let's
start with the treadmill. You know, we can just warm
up for a minute, do maybe a few squads, do
some of the basic movements and maybe dead lifts.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
You know where I'm going to this.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
It's a little bit more strength training focused for me,
but you know, do something to warm you up for
a minute or so, and then go into some squads,
go into some dead lifts, go into some like major
movements that will target some of the biggest muscles in
your body. Maybe do some rows, and then you've got
a few movements covered.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
There. Someone's at home and they don't have any gym equipment.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And no equipment, you still utilize your body weight. It's
perfectly fine to do so, even if you're starting out.
Squad to seat, so basically just squat to your seat,
stand up, squat to your seat stand up. You can
do hip thrust, back of your shoulders on the couch,
feed planted on the ground, hip thrust, body weight perfectly fine.
(10:14):
Grab a kid, put them on your hips, crust the
kit or any object.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
I'm a big.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Believer that you can turn anything around your house into
something to work out with at a little bit of
extra resistance, and it's doable.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Will you always fit and energetic and strong? Was that
always been a part of your life or is it
something that you had to develop at a certain point.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
As a kid.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I've always been active. I love being outdoors, playing with friends.
Whenever I could be outside, I would I would be
on trees, picking fruit because you know, in albeing we
have to kind of like forge a little bit for
ourselves and or like on rooftops, just an active kit.
I played sports, so I've always been active, not necessarily
(11:04):
like strong, fit, more active into the teenage years. Unfortunately
that's shifted where you know, your body changes. So I
was trying to deal with this extra way that I
was like starting to carry and I started to work
out for the wrong reasons, which I would consider is
(11:24):
you know, trying to be as skinny as possible, limiting
food intake to be as thin as possible. So it
shifted in that fashion, and that was not a healthy
way to work out. And then you know, I started
dealing with depression and anxiety at the same time. I
think everything kind of like hit at the same time.
(11:45):
And working with physicians, you know, they're a little bit
quick to push medication on you, which I did. I
did take, but it wasn't until I found a physician
that was running marathons herself, we which she suggested, you know,
actually getting stronger. And that's what made the biggest difference
(12:07):
for me, is gaining that strength working out for the
right reasons, which for me at the time were mental.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
For my mental health.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
And when I saw what kind of a difference working
out did for my mental health whenever, it is when
everything changed. Now I was nurturing my body for health
versus dieting it to be as skinny as possible. So
it has taken the journey of fitness for me has
(12:36):
taken a bit of a path, of a different path
throughout the years. And then but when I found strength,
When I found strength training is when I found the
strength in me and I was able to overcome a
lot of the things.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
That were.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
There were weighing on me, that were affecting me, like
depression and anxiety and then eating disorders.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
We'll go us through how just you know, walk us
through the dangers of I guess the way like you
said the wrong reasons. Walk us through some of the
dangers physically and biologically of what happens to the body
when we're starving the body or when we're not really
(13:22):
helping ourselves in the right way.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Of course, I mean you if you're working and there's
there's extremes to everything. So while working out is good,
doing workouts to the extreme for hours on and while
malnourishing the body can be detrimental to your physic or
you're not incorporating those nutrients that your your body needs,
so you're depleting yourself to to extreme levels, both with
(13:47):
the nutrition and the physical activities.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
So it's it is not healthy.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It's not healthy mentally, it's not healthy physically, your your
your body starts to deteriorate. You know, you see your
like comes and teeth interior rate, and you know everything
else that goes on internally that goes with that. So
it is not healthy. It is not healthy. While being
thin naturally can absolutely be healthy, there's nothing wrong with that,
(14:17):
but when it happens in a forced manner, when you're
starving yourself and when you're working out to extremes, that's
when it becomes unhealthy.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Hey everyone, it's Jay here. My wife and I have
had so much fun creating our own sparkling tea Juny,
and I've got big news for you.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
It's at Target and we'd love your support. If you
can go out grab a Juny. You'll be adding adaptagens
and new tropics into your life with mood boosting properties
aimed at promoting a balanced and happy mind. Through our
commitment to our wellness journey and striving to fuel our
bodies with the healthiest ingredients. It's been our purpose to
(14:56):
make healthy choices accessible for all, which is why you
is now on shelves at Target. So head to our
store locator at Drinkjuni dot com and find Juni at
a target near you. Walk us through the different types
of exercise. You obviously focus on strength training. I want
to hear about the benefits of that, but you know,
people are trying to make sense of like do I
(15:17):
need to do pilarates?
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Do I need to do yoga? Do I need to
do hit workouts? Do I need You know, there's just
so much on offer today, especially in LA, but there's
so much on offer all over the world. Absolutely, people
are just wondering what's going to work. I was telling
you earlier that you know, if I'm doing a workout
and I'm not seeing progress, either in strength or physique
or whatever it may be, then you get discouraged and
(15:39):
then you let go of it. So walk us through
the different benefits of different exercises and why strength training
is a priority for you.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
In my actual programming, I also incorporate some higher intensity
and I try to weave in a little bit of
fun cardio. So I do incorporate different modalities. It is
not strictly you know, strength training or and it's not
power lifting by any means training, but I do incorporate
like hit sessions and some cardio because you need I
value all of the components, all of the different modalities.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
But for me, strength training.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Is sort of like the golden standard because that is
what is going to strengthen your bones, That's what's going
to build muscle mass and a vast array of other
benefits that not every modality has. You know, strength training
is proven to increase, like I said, bone density and
(16:32):
muscle mass, which are so crucial to longevity and a
healthy longevity. And you know, longevity now has become such
a buzzword. And if you could do one thing for
your longevity is strength?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Is strength train?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
What's actually happening when we do strength training? Like why
does it link to longevity? The bone density is an
important part? What else is happening because of strength training?
Because what I always hear about is you know, as
you get older, if you fall over, you need the
strength to pay yourself back up. But like how strength
training in other ways really impacting our longevity.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, I mean, because it is our bone. Our bone
density max is reached at about age twenty five to thirty,
and from there we start to lose bone density, and
by the age forty and on, we start to lose
bone density faster than we can build it. So then
what happens at that point is that when we do fall,
(17:27):
we break a hip or a wrist, and then the
chances of recovery from that are much less, so that
leads to deaths. I think there is like thirty two
thousand deaths cost from fall injuries in adults like sixty
five and older. And obviously, if you can build and
muscles the same way, you start losing after the age
(17:49):
of thirty, believe it or not, you start losing muscle
mass at about three to eight percent every decade. So
that's as sets in incredible. Those are incredible numbers. I mean,
at the age thirty is a little bit slower, but
then it starts to pick up at forty fifty, and
then by sixty is even faster. So if you can
(18:10):
build as much as you can in bone and muscle
as when you can, that will just help you carry
They will help you carry yourself through and healthier in
the older years in the later years of life, because again,
you can either prevent yourself from falling or you can
(18:30):
recover faster from an injury because your bone density is
where it is more optimal than it would have been
if you hadn't been building that bone mass. And especially
for women, women are more prone to ostroporosis, which is
bone density laws than men, and by menopause, the numbers
(18:51):
are staggering as to that bone density loss. And for men, actually,
even though dester porosis is less than women, their causality
of death, their death due to falls is higher than women.
Oh wow, So I mean a lot of the time,
I know, it's like when we're in our twenties or
(19:12):
even our thirties, we think of ourselves it's invincible, you know,
we've got these amazing bodies. They're incredible, of course, but
how do we prepare ourselves now when it is possible
for the future ourselves? Our future self will will thank us.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
This is really powerful stuff, Sonata. This is really going
to connect with the audience to hear these reset studies
and recognizing the changes that are happening in every decade.
Because I think so many of us, like you said,
and I remember that. I remember being twenty two years
old and thinking I was Superman, right, and thinking nothing
could defeat me. And I remember my dad kept telling me,
(19:50):
you need to focus on your health. You need to
focus on your health, and I was like, I'm healthy,
it doesn't matter. And then, you know, when I had
a couple of my own personal challenges with health, really
kind of stuck with me as to what an investment
it needed to be. What are some of the biggest
things that you consistently see getting in people's way when
(20:10):
they're trying to get fitter and stronger. What are the
challenges the most common ones that you see people that
you've trained over the years that you find they struggle with.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Well, the first one is relying on feelings. A lot
of people rely on motivation. I don't feel motivated, So
you know, how or how do you get motivated.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
To work out?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
A lot of the time, it just I'm not motivated.
I don't want to necessarily work out. The coziness of
the home is a lot better than you know, getting
up and getting moving, But it's we don't rely on that.
You know, you take that, you take those feelings, you
put them aside, and you put your shoes and you
keep going because that's what you do. It's like brushing
your teeth. There's no For me, there's no. It's a
(20:54):
non negotiable. Working out is a non negotiable, not just
for right now, not because of usthetics, but for longevity.
Like we were talking about quality longevity, aesthetics come. It's
beautiful once you do the things, the right things for
your body with nutrition and working out, aesthetics are a
byproduct that will come. Because a lot of people take
(21:16):
that approach of like wanting to look a certain way,
which I find can be motivating, but for it's short lived,
especially if the results are taken a little bit longer,
which could take longer for some people. But if you
are doing it again for those right reasons, for the
reasons of like I want to be as strong as
I can in this body, so this body can carry
(21:38):
me forward in a healthiest possible way for as long
as as possible. So that is the biggest one that
I face, is like how do you How do I
get motivated? How do I stay motivated? It's like act,
don't wait for the feelings.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Act. The other thing is I'm too busy. I'm too busy.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
There's always time. I'm sorry, but you can always make
time for yourself. You can find that time. A lot
of the time we find I'll even there. There's been
even arguments back and forth with people on Instagram. You know,
I don't have time, yet two hours later they're still
responding to that same chain of communication. Well you had
(22:20):
two hours right there. You have time. A lot of
the time is just analyze your day. Just analyze your
day as to where you're you're spending time that you
could carve out. Not saying don't watch TV or don't
don't be on social media exactly do that? How can
you incorporate it incorporated?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Exactly?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I'm a big, big believer of like not doing all
or nothing. So even when it comes to nutrition, it's
like you want to eat a burger, fine, just how
can you maybe take one of the sides of the
bun out?
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
How can you substitute half of the fries with a salad?
I don't don't completely take things out, try to incorporate
in your life. So find out there there is definitely
always a little bit of time that you can find
absolutely Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
When going back to the feelings point, yeah, I found
that things that are good for me feel bad before, yes,
but feel amazing after exactly. And the things that are
bad for me, they feel really good before, yeah, but
they don't feel so great. And so I'm the same
as you. When I wake up in the morning, I
often go on a hike. That's like how I like
(23:33):
to start my morning.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
That's very fresh, I'm going out for a while.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, And I like being active, and I don't want
to do something too strengo because my day is quite
busy exactly. And I found that when I wake up
in the morning, I don't want to work out. I
don't feel like you, And You're so right that I
just have to say to myself, I have to remind myself,
but I know how I'll feel after. And when it
comes to eating a burger, trust me, I want to
eat a burger all the time and I have to
(23:58):
run myself, but I know how it's going to feel after.
And so it's almost like you've got to connect your
brain to the after feeling, absolutely, because the after feeling
is so much more what you have to live with,
because the feeling before kind of comes and go exactly.
I want to eat burger, eate burg and now I
don't feel so great. I don't want to work out.
I ignore working out. I didn't work out. Now I
(24:19):
don't feel so great, And you're living with that feeling
after for much longer than you're living with the feeling before.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
True, So that's definitely helped me. And the busy one
is so true. I mean, I feel like if I
work out while watching I love watching football soccer highlights
and miss watching soccer, and I don't get to watch
it full. I don't get to watch full games anymore
because there are different timings because I live in LA
the games are in London or England, and I will
(24:48):
put on a highlights of the game which are like
twenty minutes, and I'm like, this is perfect for a
twenty minute workout. I can watch the highlights, I can
work out, and it's going to force me to get
through twenty minutes. If I didn't have the highlights on,
I know what give up in like six yeah, And
so when the highlights are on, I know that I'll
be able to get through a full twenty minute workout,
which is what I'm trying to do if I'm traveling
(25:09):
or moving around. So I love that idea of incorporating.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Things, incorporating thing, And that's true when it comes to
creating habits that are tough to create in the beginning.
How can you tack on something that is enjoyable, like
a little bit of a reward system, And a reward
system doesn't have to be that I get to eat.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
You know, what is the words?
Speaker 1 (25:33):
What is the right reward system for being fit? Because
I think a lot of people think it is getting.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
You Yeah, yeah, yeah, you could be you know, like
you said, you like to watch the highlights, you know,
a show that you that you enjoy, or another activity
that's enjoyable, you know, or if you want to treat yourself,
find maybe when it comes to food, find a healthier option.
I'm a great believer also in substituting. You know a
lot of the recipes that I post are I have
(26:01):
a sweet tooth, a major sweet tooth. So how can
I create recipes that are healthy, that will satisfy and
it will taste just as good as the naughty.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Food.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
So it's just for every person. It could be, it
could be different. What that reward for them is but
tack it onto it and you know are in the
we Rise app we have doctor Gina whose a habits expert,
habits building expert, one of the I think four leading
researchers of habits, and she has so much input and
(26:38):
so much information on how to make habits sustainable. You know,
I wish I had a doctor pocket Gena.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
That I.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Ask, Yeah, but yeah, she she'll have such amazing insight
as to how to create and sustain these habits.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yeah, what's the biggest misconception with strength training? What do
you think people get wrong?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
That woman will get like bulky and big and and gigantic.
That's like the biggest thing is like I don't want
to get to bulky. I don't want to get to
what you hear a lot. That's what I hear a lot.
And that is a huge misconception because in females, our
hormones are do not allow us to get to the
levels that for example, a man's physique can get naturally.
(27:26):
It is not biologically. There's obviously different levels of hormones
and different women that will promote growth in some more
or less than others. But I always say, at the
very at the end of the day, you can just
back off, back off if you are feeling But I
guarantee you that once you start gaining a little bit
(27:46):
of muscle, you will be addicted. You will because the
the feeling of strength and confidence that it that it
gives you, like a stronger body gives you. At least
for me and for the peeople that I've worked with,
those feelings that it gives them are far outweigh any
negative misconceptions. I'm going to say misconception because it is.
(28:10):
It's you're not going to get big. You're not going
to get huge, You're not going to be like Hulk.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I don't. Rady love strength training like it's such a
passion of hers and she loves that feeling of being
stronger and loves that feeling of like it's amazing to see.
Because I think you are right that we have this
worry that our body is going to change and look
away that we don't want it to.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Look yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
What should someone eat right before a workout and right after,
especially a strength training workout?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So before a workout about an hour maybe thirty minutes
at most, because you only need to close. I would
eat a combination of protein and carbs, maybe a little
bit higher in carbs, and then afterwards meal that is
higher in protein, so at least at least twenty grams
(29:01):
of protein in that meal after the workout. I mean,
the studies are a little bit all over the place
when it comes to this. Obviously, for somebody that's been
working out for a long time, you're a little bit
more flexible with that, or for somebody that is trying
to that is trying to gain muscle mass or weight, again,
(29:23):
it's a little bit more flexible versus a beginner. Then
you have to be a little bit more strict with
strict a little bit more on top of your nutrition
when it comes to not just before and after, but
throughout the day and at the end of the day.
Is what you're consuming throughout the day that is most important.
So are you're reaching so not so focused because a
(29:45):
lot of people focus so much on before and after.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I would start with how do you feel before a workout?
Do you feel?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
You know, if you're working out in the morning and
you're energized enough, then feel free to work out out
on an empty stomach, that's completely fine. And if you
can carry that energy through. If you feel like you
need to have a little bit of nutrition beforehand, that's
great too. It's how do you optimize for yourself? How
(30:14):
do you optimize for yourself?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
How did genetics play a role in achieving your goals?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Genetics, they do play a role, a big role in
the sense that, well, genetics will not get you out
of bed because a lot of the time, you know,
people see my physique and say, you know, it's all genetics.
I actually had to fight against a lot of my
genetics to get out of bed and work out. I'm
(30:42):
pretty disposed to the depression and anxiety, so battling those factors,
that's a genetic factor that goes into play. But then
when it comes to actual physique building, yes, you'll vary
as to like the muscle mass that you will put on,
but you can always improve. You know, there's not let's
(31:04):
not even bother working out because I don't build bigger muscles.
You know, you don't even know till you've tried to
what capacity you can build. Genetics will play a bit
of of a factor in the body that you're trying
to achieve. You know, some people will carry a little
bit more weight around their stomach, so their APPS will
(31:25):
not be as easily visible as others. So they'll have
to in a healthy way, potentially diet if they can,
but to see the visible abdominal abdominal abdominal muscles, not
that that is a golden standard of anything, just hypothetically
saying that it will take them longer than others to
(31:47):
to to achieve that, because again genetics do play a
role in that.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Talking about that, what is the health benefit of having
a lower body fat percentage? What is the goal? Right,
because we know that people are trying to lower their
body of percentage in order to have APPS, But what's
the actual health benefit of having a lower body fed percentage?
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah, and or even with that, you want to maintain
a healthier one, so you don't want to go too low.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
You don't want to be too high.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
If you're going too low, then your hormone start to
get messed up, and we don't want to if it
goes too low, so then we start to you know,
women will start to miss their period, so it will
affect them that way. Obviously, that puts a body in
a little bit of a frenzy. It's not homeostasius anymore.
When it goes too high, then you're starting to deal
(32:38):
with cardiovascular issues, you know, insulin resistance and all of
the things that will then lead to an unhealthier individual.
So there's a range there that we should be.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Talking about cardio. You said that you incorporate cardio. Yeah,
how much is cardio important inn strength training practice and
how much is it not needed?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
The question would be what are the reasons for adding cardio?
So are you adding cardio because a lot of people
think that cardio is what's going to help them lose weights,
and that's not necessarily that's not true. It's all about
calories in versus calories out. So if you're talking about
strictly losing weight, is how many colors are you putting
in your body and how many calories you're expending. So
(33:20):
if you're deciding to utilize strength training as a way
to expand those calories, great, If you're utilizing cardio, greade,
there is some studies again that suggest that you'll get
faster into that fat burning phase if you're doing strength
training before and then cardio after, and also cardio. If
you're doing strength training also before and cardio after, you're
(33:43):
you're not compromising your strength training process, as if you
were to do cardio beforehand, how much cardio That also
is an individual basis cardio. A lot of people hate cardio.
So what I try personally to do, I'll incorporated on
upper body days, so I'll do somewhat of an interval training.
(34:05):
So I'll do an exercise at upper body focused and
then thirty seconds to a minute of sprinting, and then
another you know exercise or set of an upper body
focused and then So that's how I make it fund
in my personal training and for everybody in the wee
Rise app. And obviously if you're wanting to add more
(34:26):
cardio because you feel like, you know, adding a steady
state cardio session after a separate day, a separate part
of the day, because you're wanting to be at more
of a caloric deficit, that's completely fine.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
As well, it sounds that you don't like cardia.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
I don't love cardia.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
So I ran marathons and that was great. I've run
three marathons.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
I enjoyed it. You do put your body through.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
A lot, But I have found personally what I've achieved
through strength training when it comes physically and mentally, has
been far more rewarding than cardio. There's some you know,
benefit to cardio in the sense that some people feel
more of the endorphins and the feel good hormones during
hit sessions or cardio, So there is a benefit to that.
(35:17):
And at the end of the day, what is so wild?
So let's say, while I value strength training, pick your
poison at the end of the day, or pick your remedy.
I should say, pick your elixir. You know, what would
that be for you? As long as you can get
some activity. And so while there is hierarchies of what
you want to achieve. So if you want to build muscle,
(35:38):
strength training really is like the golden standard, right, But
if you know you absolutely hate it, what is your
activity of choice at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Is what I would say.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Walk me through what your regime was for running the marathons,
like what did you how did you build up to that,
what was your practice? What was your work routine and
the nutrition plend.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I wish I could say that I followed one of
the one of the plans because this was quite a
few years ago. They've kind of build slowly and it
worked on like hill sprints and you know, just a
different variety of things that you need.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
To work on when you're running a marathon.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
But it basically started to started with three miles and
then increased to five miles, and then after a week
or so, increased so incrementally increasing the length that I
would run till I got to the marathon. I guess, yeah,
I never you never run the whole marathon when you're
doing when you're practicing, it's more like up to like
(36:43):
eighteen miles. But it was just slowly over time building
after that end, definitely feeding that that those calories that
were burning almost couldn't couldn't keep the weight on me
at that point.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Yeah, because you're expending so much energy.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
What would you now say is a great nutrition plant
while someone's strength training, Like what kind of things have
you found to be really integral and useful to have?
And then what have you found to be useful to
leave out?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Definitely prioritizing protein. So if you're consuming about point eight
to just a little bit over one gram per pound
of body weight of protein per day, that's a good
place to be, and then filling the rest with carbs
and fats. But that's what I always say, prioritize protein.
(37:36):
That's what's going to help not just building muscle, but
just your physiological needs. You know, protein is the building
block of our body. And what you can leave out
is the infamous sugars, you know, the refined sugars and
so op more for complex carbs. I still like eating fruit.
(38:01):
I know there's been fruit suddenly has become controversial. Like
if you're eating fruit and vegetables, you're good. Just fit
into that macro, especially if you're starting out and you
want to you have a specific goal, It is important
to find out what your appropriate macros are for the day.
And macros are the macro nutrients. So what is your
(38:24):
daily intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. But I always
prioritize protein.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
And with the protein, I mean most of us are
not getting close to that much.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
The protein of us are not like I said, for
let's say one hundred and twenty pound person, like a gram,
so you need one hundred and twenty grams of protein
or around that per day. So you know they're in
a piece of like palm of your hand of let's
say chicken, there's like twenty grams of protein, So you
(38:59):
need to be a little bit more discerning of your meals,
So always include protein with every meal and maybe even
worthier snacks.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Yeah. I think for most of us it feels like
protein takes up probably that twenty grams and then we're
filling the rest, yeah, with carbs, fats, anything else. But
I've definitely found that when I first learned about that,
I just couldn't believe how hard it was to actually
prioritize getting and I'm doing that plant based, which is
even harder even for my friends who eat me. Even
(39:31):
they were saying just how challenging it was for them,
like it's not easy across the board, and so raising
that up to.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
That, Yeah, yeah, it's important, especially as we age, believe
it or not, like we need to intake even more protein.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
You shared so much amazing research and studies with us today.
Are there any others that really come to your mind
that you think this is really important for women to know?
Speaker 2 (39:51):
What?
Speaker 1 (39:52):
This is really important for strength trainers to know, because
some of the studies you've shared with us have really
been powerful.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
Yeah, I mean the muscle loss is huge. The like
I said, the thirty two thousand deaths per year, which
actually crazy enough, has has almost doubled from like twenty
twelve to twenty twenty one, if I believe, if I
remember correctly, and I wonder what's gone into that, Like
why there's been such a drastic increase, and like that's
(40:22):
due to falls during this time, Like maybe we've become
less we've become less mobile, Maybe there's medications in the
market that are affecting our bone density. It's actually when
it comes to depression and anxiety mood disorders, it has
been found that even as little as one hundred and
(40:44):
fifty minutes of activity per week can relieve symptoms to
about forty to sixty percent forty two to sixty percent,
while as compared to psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals, the numbers are
twenty percent to thirty percent in relief of symptoms. So
(41:04):
even the highest the higher upper end limit of pharmacological
products and psychotherapy doesn't even come close to what you
can achieve by physical activity. And that's only at one
hundred and fifty minutes per week. So to me, like
that's that's mind blowing what you can achieve because and
(41:24):
I'm not negating the need for psychotherapy or or from
pharmacological products. Absolutely, you know where it's necessary, but why
not start with exercising, Like, start there you will achieve
results that might be even higher than what you can
do with pharmaceutical products.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
That's like just over twenty minutes a day.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Yeah, exactly, just over twenty minutes a day.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (41:51):
Yeah, absolutely, that's.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Pretty amazing to know. Yeah, wow, Like yeah, and the
difference too, Like you're saying instead of twenty to thirty percent,
reduced forty to sixty So.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Absolutely exactly or exactly exactly, that's.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Yeah, And you're right again, we're not telling anyone not
to take things that they need to take, but absolutely
the idea that why not have the full package?
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Exactly? Why not have the full package?
Speaker 2 (42:17):
That's what it is because a lot of the time,
it can be that psychotherapy or pharmacologics don't necessarily work
for some people. I think there's some statistics of like
around forty percent of the people don't experience the relief
that they need. So either in conjunction or starting with
an exercise program that will provide significant relief. I mean, firsthand,
(42:43):
I'm standing here as somebody that has achieved that kind
of relief without now being on any pharmaceuticals. This is
why I work out every day. I don't want to
experience those symptoms of the pression and anxiety and ever.
(43:04):
So this is why I keep going.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
So powerful, so powerful, so inspiring to hear that as well,
Thank you, so inspiring to hear that. What was it
for you that was causing that? Where was that coming from?
For you? Personally?
Speaker 2 (43:18):
It's been I mean, there's so many factors. I think
when you're talking about being anxiety in the question experiencing that,
I think some of it is genetic. Some of it
is being a teenager and moving countries, going from Albania
to the United States and completely in a new world,
(43:42):
a new space. My family didn't know English at the time.
I was the only one that did, so I had
to support them. So I had to assume the role
of an adult at a fairly young age. So I
was fourteen fifteen at the time where I had to
become an adult in my family. So I think there's
a cornucopia of like things that that kind of came
(44:07):
together for me to experience anxiety and depression and trying
to fit in and not you know, being a foreigner
at the time, and the teenager and being bullied and
made fun of all kind of let pave the path
a little bit for me to experience that. And I
(44:30):
do feel for for for teenagers, and I do feel
for the the generation that is that that is living
through through these times.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
It's not easy. It's not easy, but.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
Find find find comfort in that discomfort of working out
and in that physical activity because it will help.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you so much.
I wanted to talk to you a bit about steps.
What's your take on the ten thousand steps.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
It's a good place to start, Like I said, like walking,
that's great, ten to twelve thousand. My dad does it
every day, is committed to it. It's a good starting point.
It's a good starting point, but it's how you make
those steps quality quality steps.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
You know, do you work out every day of the
week most days?
Speaker 3 (45:26):
But I don't.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I find that it is great to keep yourself active,
even if it's something light. So if I'm not working out,
I'll go for a long walk or a hike. I
think it's so important to keep ourselves active because we
do end up spending most of the day sitting. So
even working out for an hour a day if you
spend most of your day sitting, it doesn't negate that sitting.
(45:51):
So it is important, even speaking like throughout the day
to get up and take a little bit of a walk,
like every half.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
An hour, every hour.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
So I do. I do try to keep active every
single day. So if I'm not doing a full workout,
I'll go for a walk like et cetera, hike.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
No days are days are? I love it.
Speaker 3 (46:09):
A body in motion stays in motion.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
No, I know what you mean. It's it's so interesting
how much, Yeah, staying sedentary is the cause of so
many of our issues. We had doctor darsh and Sean
a few months back, and he talked about the idea
of just how much our quality of life changes because
we're not getting up from our seats all day, whether
(46:33):
at our desks or work or wherever else it may be.
And so I love what you're saying about the idea
of moving, even if it's not a full workout exactly.
Your rest day is my best workout day, basically basically
my ideal work day. She's like, I go on a
hike when I'm not working out, and I'm like, here,
I am going. My hike is my workout. I love
(46:53):
that you do you work out.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
You just told me you're into calisthenics.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Yeah, that's so funny. I love it. One thing I
wanted to dive into about as we're coming to her
close here is you train some of the most well
known people in the world who seem to work really hard. Obviously,
Kim's been on the show and we always see Kim
posting you and you guys training together. What have you
(47:22):
learned about training with her? What have you learned about
her from training with her?
Speaker 2 (47:26):
So one thing that I've learned about Kim with training
with her, it's her dedication.
Speaker 1 (47:31):
She is.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
She shows up, shows up on time, and it's ready
to go. Never does she complain or backs away from
something that I put her through, and I put her
through a lot.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
She never backs away. She always pushes through.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Well.
Speaker 3 (47:48):
Is very impressive.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
I'm not surprised she did say her workout was one
of her favorite things.
Speaker 3 (47:52):
She's very dedicated for sure.
Speaker 1 (47:54):
Yeah, and you guys get organized right if she has
a shoot coming up or she's got a specific out
fit to wear for an event, like you get really.
Speaker 3 (48:02):
We dial it in. We dial it in.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
I did, and I ended up staying here for a
little bit longer.
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Than I was Yeah, I was expected.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
What was it like when you first resear and said
I need you to come over? What was that like?
What was that conversation?
Speaker 2 (48:18):
Like?
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Yes, I'll be there.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
Because obviously it is Kim, But I believe in working
with these people that have such high influence because of
the impact that they will have on the larger population.
So if they can send if through them, I can
send a message of strength for women. So strength is beautiful,
strength is confidence, whatever that looks like. Strength doesn't have
(48:44):
to come with big muscles, you know. But if I
can send a message of strength to especially young women,
then to me, I've done.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
My purpose is fulfilled.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
It's beautiful. What's the first thing you asked someone when
they come to you, anyone that comes to work with you,
what's the first thing you ask them?
Speaker 3 (49:02):
How serious are you about this?
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Right?
Speaker 2 (49:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Great question about this?
Speaker 2 (49:07):
Like, you know, are you going to give me a
day here and there? Because that's just not going to
achieve anything for you or myself. So you have to
be serious about your help. And I like to make
it even though somebody comes to me saying that they
need to look a certain way. I always try to
(49:29):
make it about help and longevity.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Yeah, it's similar in coaching. Actually, whenever I take on
a client, I found that clients who are willing to
dedicate and commit time exactly see phenomenal results. Other clients
that I have met for two hours a day every
day for two years, and other clients that have met
twice a week, thrice a week for three to six months.
(49:52):
And then I have someone who's like kind of checking
in once a month, kind of checking in once a quarter, cancel,
doesn't have and you just start to know notice, And
it's hard because it's not that someone is not wanting
to work hard, or it's not that they're a bad
person or right persons, just people have different discipline levels.
But it's like, in order to really see an impact
(50:15):
and see the results, there has to be that.
Speaker 3 (50:16):
Committment, that commitment. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
You talked about the purpose of strength training. What is
the purpose of workouts like pilates and yoga and other forms.
What is the purpose of those kind of workouts compared
to strength training?
Speaker 2 (50:29):
They like I said, I respect and utilize, have utilized
myself all modalities. You know, I love yoga, but I
think there are great additives. They're a great in addition
to strength training because they will not most likely build
muscle mass in the way that strength training can. They
(50:49):
will build maybe endurance. They will build some endurance, They'll
build flexibility and some strength, but not to the level
that lifting weights will will not so in the way
that lifting weights will build your bone density. Yoga and pilates,
unless you're doing some crazy yoga or mulatti, is that.
Speaker 3 (51:13):
They will not do that.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
But again, there is a great place and time. In addition,
I believe to strength training to incorporate yoga and pilates.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
What's the difference in the workout you prescribe to someone
who wants to gain muscle versus someone who wants to
lose weight through strength training.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
They don't have to be the same at all. They
could be one and the same, because again, at the
end of the day, when you're building muscle, you're challenging yourself.
You're challenging your muscles with a weight that you're lifting,
which is expanding calories, and that's what you need in
weight loss as well. You need expenditure of calories that
(51:55):
but at a caloric deficit. So that's the only changing
component is that caloric deficit. So it's more in the
nutrition versus in the workouts. I mean there is you know,
you can work out, you can challenge yourself with the
duration of the workout and then maintain your nutrition. Or
you can eat less basically so be at a deficit
(52:20):
in calories and then lose weight. So it doesn't have
to be any difference there. It's just how you manage
nutrition versus output.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Got it, got it? And if you're working out on
your own without a trainer, it's much harder. How do
you know what to add to make you more challenging
to continue to get stronger or to continue to shift
because I find like most people are working out without trying,
and of course they can use the we rise at
the Yeah, have that that's what we rise up.
Speaker 4 (52:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Absolutely, So I'll give you the guideline if you'll give
you the workouts. What you can do on your own
is challenge yourself with the weights that you're lifting. So
if for example, the recommended reps are between eight and twelve,
when you get to that eight or ten, nine, ten
twelve rep, like, how are you challenged?
Speaker 3 (53:07):
Can you do ten more?
Speaker 2 (53:08):
If you're doing ten more after that, or if you
can't do you're doing you're doing two little weights, so
you need to increase the weight. That's why you have
to keep in mind. I also value strongly that mind
muscle connection, so truly thinking about the working muscle. Let's
actually studies that show that if you are thinking of
the muscles that you're working, then that actually creates the
(53:31):
muscle gets bigger. There is their studies to that. So
if you are slowing down the movement thinking about the
muscles that you're working, I sometimes try to touch you
know this is working. It sends that signal from your
brain to the muscle that hey, we're working here, we're
working here, and that will increase strength, will increase muscle mass.
Speaker 1 (53:52):
Actually, yeah, I've heard about that, seeing the idea of
people almost doing weights in their mind.
Speaker 3 (53:57):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:57):
There are studies that simply did that without any weight
lifting and they found a significant difference.
Speaker 3 (54:06):
Yeah. Yeah, that's the power of the mind is incredible.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
What else have you done for the power of the
mind to affect your body? Like, what other practices have
you taken on at a mental or spiritual level that
you feel have positively impacted your physical health well.
Speaker 2 (54:20):
Meditation is huge in my opinion, for mental health, but
also if you're wanting to visualize certain results. I feel
like whenever I've been in a place where I needed to,
I've competed, for example, in bodybuilding competitions in the beginning level,
so that I found when it came strictly to like
(54:42):
the physique, if you are it's basically manifestation, you know,
at that cellular level, when you're thinking about the way
that you want to look, or feel or present yourself.
So meditation is huge. I try to incorporate that every
day journaling. I am also gratitude. Every night before going
(55:06):
to bed, I practice gratitude.
Speaker 3 (55:09):
Not sure how that relates to the physique, but it
relates to the mental ass for your body absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
I had to learn that. I had to learn that
I definitely was very grateful for my mind and my
intelligence and my abilities, but it always felt like my
body was letting me down, and that negative approach to
my own body only made my body let me down more. Absolutely,
It's like someone in your life. If you feel like
that person in your life always lets you down, guess.
Speaker 3 (55:36):
What they're going to let you down because you're gonna look.
Speaker 1 (55:39):
For that, yeah, exactly. And so I was always talking
to my body subconsciously in that way where I was like, oh,
my mind is amazing, but my body lets me down,
and that my.
Speaker 2 (55:48):
Words that we use are so important, you know, just
in the in this recent journey that is shared about
before with you, that was one of the big lessons
that I learned, is the way that sometimes we talk
to ourselves. The words that we use, whether they're out
loud or even just spoken in silence to ourselves are.
Speaker 3 (56:11):
Huge, are huge. So if you tell yourself, you know, like.
Speaker 2 (56:17):
I hate my body, like I want to change this,
like I hate I don't know, like my stomach. Like
that's not coming from a place of love, we are
less likely to achieve results if they're if that's coming
from a place of negative sentiments towards yourself. I always
that's another thing that I always try to impart on
whoever I'm working with, especially in person, is like I
(56:38):
want us to start from a place of love for ourselves,
not from I need to lose twenty pounds, because that
again comes from like I hate this twenty pounds that's
on me. But yeah, starting from a place of love
for wherever we were at and for I want to
do this because I want to become a healthier version
(56:59):
of myself.
Speaker 1 (57:01):
Fantastic, Sonata has been so informative talking to you today.
I feel like there's been so many great insights that
we can I think I'm going to be pulling on
a lot of your insights to gain drive and gain
focus to connect back in with my body because a
lot of what you've shared with me has made me
realize just how important strength training is, especially in my
third is where I am now and how important it's
(57:23):
going to be long term, even if I don't feel
it right now. So thank you so much. We end
every episode with a final five. These have to be
answered in one word or one sentence, and so Sonati Grecor,
these are your final five. The first is what is
the best health or fitness advice you've ever heard or received?
Speaker 2 (57:43):
Well, the advice not necessarily Well, it's the best advice
ever was to stay true to myself and to my uniqueness.
So I don't think it necessarily has to deal with
that's the first part, but it's to embrace your unique
self and stay true to it. The advice that I
would give when it comes to fitness, So it would
(58:07):
be to just start, just start.
Speaker 1 (58:09):
Second question, what is the worst advice you've ever had
or received?
Speaker 2 (58:15):
Stop lifting weights? He'll get you to be masculine and bulky.
That's yeah, yeah, at the end of the day, it's also.
Speaker 3 (58:27):
Let's not judge people for how they want to look.
Speaker 2 (58:30):
You know, if they want to appear a certain way,
if that's what drives them, that's what they want.
Speaker 3 (58:37):
Let's allow.
Speaker 1 (58:38):
Question number three, what's your hope for people in twenty
twenty four?
Speaker 2 (58:42):
Just to do everything from a place of love, whatever
that is. So whether it's working out, nutrition, or anything
in their life, just start from a place of love
for themselves and for everybody around them.
Speaker 1 (58:57):
Question number four, what's the first thing you do in
the morning and the last thing you do atnight?
Speaker 2 (59:02):
First thing I meditate? Last thing I say my gratitudes beautiful?
Speaker 1 (59:07):
And fifth and final question, if you could create one
law that everyone in the world had to follow, what
would it be?
Speaker 2 (59:14):
I would say because this was one of my biggest
lesson was to allow. I don't know if it makes sense,
but one of the biggest lessons for me recently was
to allow and stop being so much needing to control everything.
So maybe this is more on a personal level, but
(59:38):
I think if we allow for the good in our
life or the love for the right type of circumstances,
I think there's so much to gain from that.
Speaker 1 (59:49):
It's beautiful, Sonata, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (59:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (59:53):
Everyone's been listening or watching. Sonata's app is the we
Rise app. We can find fitness and helped it and practices,
and of course if you don't already, you can follow
her on Instagram at at Sonata dot greca. Please go
and follow her right now for more fitness tips, for
great workouts, to get you started, to get you going.
I want twenty twenty four to be a year you're stronger, fitter,
(01:00:15):
and better, and Sonata is going to be a big
part of making that happen. Thank you so much, Sad again,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:00:20):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (01:00:21):
Energy, I'm so grateful.
Speaker 3 (01:00:22):
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here.
I truly appreciate it. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
If you love this episode, you'll enjoy my conversation with
Megan Trainer on breaking generational trauma and how to be
confident from the inside out.
Speaker 3 (01:00:36):
My therapist told me stand in the mirror, naked for
five minutes.
Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
It was already tough for me to love my body,
but after the C section scar with all the stretch marks.
Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
Now I'm looking at myself like I've been hacked.
Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
But day three, when I did it, I was like,
you know what, her thigh is a cute
Host
Jay Shetty
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