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