604: Kim K's Trainer: Here's What Women Are Getting Wrong About Fitness with Senada Greca

She's Kim Kardashian's personal trainer. I'm curious, what does Kim's workout routine look like? Give me the real answer. What you really do. What does Kim do?

The Magic Palooza Welcoming Sonata.

We just became friends and I needed to get her here to talk about weight training, female health, and how we can actually get into the best shape of our lives. Fitness for women. What are some misconceptions you see out there being shared in the space?

Lifting weights is going to get you big and masculine. That will not happen. What I do guarantee, though, is once you start lifting weights, you're gonna fall in love with it.

What are your top three favorite glute exercises?

Since you're here, instead of giving you the top three, I'll tell you what's a good glute day.

Take notes. Do you ever do, like, Pilates? Mega Reformer machines. Have you tried that?

I tried it, actually. Kim invited me on her birthday to do the Reformer with her, and I'd never done it before. It was fun. But then I went and did my strength training workout after that.

I love how she walks away from the Mega Reformer class. Time to lift some weights. Yeah. Chest flow surrender Let go Chest FL.

Soon to let go I'm the one I've been waiting for Trust flow sooner Let go Trust flow soon to let go Trust flow sooner let go I'm the one I've been waiting for.

Welcome back to the Highest Self podcast. My name is Sahara Rose, and on this podcast, I love to talk about spirituality, the divine feminine matters of the heart, and make it modern, fun, gratted, and relatable so it can actually serve your needs. So if you haven't noticed, I've been on a glow up that keeps getting more glowed up. And I would say a lot of that was through my own fitness journey. So when I really started my spiritual journey over 10 years ago, I was just doing yoga. And at that time, I was a vegan, even raw vegan for a period of time. And I was of the belief that a lot of women are that weights will make you bulky. And I did not want to be bulky. I wanted to have a sculpted yoga body. So I was just doing that. And, you know, at first I was very, very thin, especially when I was raw vegan. But then I started to get into eating all the vegan desserts and went to culinary school and actually gained quite a lot of weight, maybe 30 pounds or something. And it wasn't until I really started to look at my protein intake and actually getting into fitness. And I remember someone telling me, they're like, no, the more muscle that you have, the more calories you're going to burn. And I was like, I don't know, like sometimes when I lift weights, like my arms look so big the next day. And I just had all of these fears because we're condition our society as women, like be small, be lean. And you know, we hear these things of like, build long lean muscle, as if doing workouts like this are going to make you taller, right? And it was like a long and a slow process of like doing bar with my little like 3 pound weights and my little like 1 pound ankle weights and like then getting a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more. And then around Covid time, really getting into fitness and actually like doing squats and deadlifts and learning more about like progressive overload. And it was at this time that I started following this queen who many of you likely follow on social media, Sonata Greka. And I was just, I think I found her through her recipes first. I was like, this girl makes everything with Greek yogurt is very inspiring. But I saw how she was just doing these really interesting, like functional movements with weights, and I was just very inspired. So I would like save all her videos and try to do them at home. And you know, that's that flash forward like a couple of months ago, I'm like walking my dog and I see her and I'm like, hey, I follow you. I love your Greek yogurt recipes. And we just became friends and she's deep in her spiritual journey and I needed to get her here on the podcast to talk about weight training and female health and how we can actually, you know, get into the best shape of our lives, you know, which is the opposite of what society tells us to do. You're going to peak in your 20s and it's all downhill from there. But what I've actually seen for her, for myself, and so woman is actually, it keeps getting better because we know more about our body. So I have a lot of questions. I'm sure more are gonna come out. And before we drop into this episode, be sure to hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast. That is the best way to stay up to date on the latest episodes. We've got this in video format, so if you're just hearing my voice, be sure to also watch our fabulous outfits on video as well on Spotify, YouTube or the Apple Store. This is the best way to stay in the flow with future conversations and also allows the podcast to reach more people. So hit subscrib so I can keep vibe with you on all future episodes. Now let's get into this one. So without further ado, let's welcome. She's a fitness expert. She knows so much about health, nutrition, diet. She works with many of the top celebrities out there. She's Kim Kardashian's personal trainer, and she's just an amazing sister. So welcoming. Sonata to the highest self podcast.

Thank you, Sahara.

So glad we're having me doing this. Okay, Queen. Well, first of all, where are you from? For people who are wondering where your beautiful accent is from?

A lot of people know that I am Albanian born, but now I've spent more, more time here in the United States than. Than Albania. So it used to. That used to be the identification. Now it's like both our home, you know, that Albanian born, that's where the accent's from. And I haven't gotten rid of it, and I kind of like to keep it for as long as I possibly can.

Okay, so I want to start with fitness for women. What are some misconceptions you see out there being shared in the space?

Yeah, I mean, you touched upon one of them. Like, lifting weights is going to get you bulky and it's going to get you big and masculine, and that will not happen. Weights will not get you to be the size that a man would get if they're lifting even to your maximum capacity. So say take a woman, take a man, they're lifting max capacities. They're not gonna. Female most likely is not, and I'm not going to say 100% of the time because there's a genetic component there, but it's not going to get to the level of muscularity that a man can because of our differences in hormone, hormones that do exist, that, that are there. So I guarantee you, you will not get bulky and you'll not get big, you'll not get masculine. And what is at the end of the day, like the definition? That's what I always ask. Like the defin. Masculinity, like what. What does that signify for you? You know, what I do guarantee, though, is once you start lifting weights, you're going to fall in love with it. It's going to become addictive because it gives you a sense of strength and confidence that I've never had before from any other modalities. You know, I've ran for most of my life. I ran marathons, I played sports, which was great. And it was kind of like my intro into, into being ph active. But not till I started lifting weights did I embody my strength, did I step into my strength. Everything changed, not just physically, how I looked and how I consistently stayed in my physique. Before I used to just yo, yo up and down in weight, do a ton of cardio. But then when I shifted to strength training is when everything changed mentally and physically. And that's what I promote. So then, so you have that one aspect of not wanting to look, you know, bulky and masculine. But I say why not focus on the health aspect of it, which is so important. It's huge. Muscles are a currency of health and that goes for males just as much as females. The more muscles we can accumulate when we can, the better off we'll be long term. So our longevity depends on it. Our quality of life depends on it. Yeah, but that's the biggest misconception. I started to go on, off on a tangent because I do, I am passionate about strength training, but I think that's the most common misconception, that weightlifting.

Will get you bulky, even on a health level. I remember I used to have such bad shoulder and back issues all the time that I was getting massages every single week because I always felt like I needed it. And since strength training I barely get massages. I really just don't need to. Maybe I'll like foam roll or something and sometimes get them, but because I'm able to hold myself up and my posture is better, whereas I'm hypermob, which a lot of us women who love yoga, we work, we like yoga because we're naturally good at it because we're hyper mobile. But then I was like loosening my ligaments so much that I was constantly needing to crack things and put things like my pop my hips back into place. And what I needed more was that like stability and strength and grounding, but that didn't come naturally to me. So do you find that people tend to be more on the flexible side or strength side and we need maybe the opposite.

I think it's good to combine if you can, if you're able to bring of these modalities together. But for me, strength training is, should be the golden standard, should be the first thing that we focus on. Doesn't matter if we're in our 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and so on, strength training should be primary to our training and then incorporate, you know, if you do enjoy running, if you do enjoy Pilates and yoga, that can be a great in addition to strength training. And when you're speaking about getting injuries while you're doing other things like yoga etc or running, and a lot of people have that misconception of like, no, I have to back off of weights because that's going to cause the injury. It's actually the opposite. You're like you said, a lot of the time you are stretching those ligaments to and that's not a bad thing. But where does the opposite of that come in? Of strengthening, of tightening, of building that muscle to support, to support, support your physique, to support your body?

Are you craving a more feminine approach to spirituality that honors the full you? I'm talking about your inner embodiment Queen, your joy priestess, your wise woman, your intuitive oracle. Well, if you love the themes on this podcast in my Sacred Sisterhood Collective, Rose Gold Goddesses, we dive even deeper every month with a zoom Goddess Circle in these Goddess Circles taught by myself and some of your favorite high self podcast guests. We actually take the teachings here from this podcast but bring them into practice such as mapping out your past lives, healing your ancestral lineage, connecting with your dark feminine, channeling from your highest self, manifesting greater abundance, womb healing, wisdom and clearing and working with many Goddess archetypes such as Isis, Hathor, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Yemaya. The list goes on. This truly is a mystery school that I have been running for over six years now and is filled with hundreds of workshops, goddess circles and practices that support the sacred feminine within you. And we have our very own app so you can connect with other like hearted queens all around the world. So if you're interested in joining or learning more, doors are open right now for Rose Gold Goddesses. Head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com that's rose gold Goddesses plural. You could also find that link in the show notes. As soon as you join, you walk through the five pillars of Rose Gold Goddesses, dive deep into your divine feminine embodiment and then have hundreds of workshops available for you. Plus you'll receive our calendar to join me live in our next monthly Goddess Circle. I'm so excited to have you there again. Head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com and you can find that link in the show notes. I'm curious, when you say strength training, do you mean free weights? Do you mean the machines? Do you mean like going as heavy as what have you found is the.

Best strength training in terms of you can do either or so you can do free weights, you can do machines, you can get benefits and equally you can Argue that they have equal benefits when it comes to free weights. You're utilizing slightly more your core to stabilize yourself versus a machine. You're a bit more limited in your movements and they've done so much research on this piece of equipment and your range of motion goes in, in certain way that it's more controlled. While you're with free weights, you have a little bit more flexibility, if you will, but that comes with some need for stability, which is great. So while the end result, if you're talking about building muscle, a certain amount of muscle you can achieve with either free weights or machines. And I would say, you know, whichever one you love, I'm always about what is your, your poison like, but your medicine rather, what is that for you? You choose what, what is more agreeable to you, what you enjoy. I would say a combination of both. Just because to get a little bit more of that stability that you would get with free weights. And when it comes to progressive overloading, it's, it's extremely important. So whether that, that comes with adding more weight because our bodies are amazing and getting adjusted and used to whatever, whether that's, you know, supplements or weights lifted, our bodies get adjusted to that. So increasing the weight if possible and if available, otherwise it is a great idea to maybe slow down your movement if the weight. If you're training at home and you only have a certain amount of dumbbells, for example, that go up until a certain height weight. So if you have a certain amount of dumbbells that go to a certain weight, then otherwise you can just slow down the movements more time under tension. That's another form of progressive overloading, doing more reps, although I don't necessarily recommend doing 30, 50 reps of in one set, but that's another form of progressive overloading. Again, if you're unable to increase the amount of weight or you don't like to increase the time under tension, how slow you're doing the reps and you can do, do a few more reps as long as you're like I said, not going to like 30, 40, 50.

Yeah, I've noticed with the machines, like it's definitely easier, right? I'm not like breaking a sweat as much, but I'm like targeting a specific muscle maybe in an easier way because it's like puts me, it allows me to get into positions. Right. That would just be harder with free weights, but I find with free weights I'm definitely, my heart rate is more involved and I feel it's more of, it's More challenging, it's more core. And I know a lot of yours, you use free weights and, and rocks and all sorts of things in such a unique way that it inspires me to. Because I think sometimes we want to go to the gym with like the fanciest equipment and it's like we actually don't need all of that.

Obviously, long time ago we did not have this fancy equipment. The fancy equipment is great because it does put you in that perfect, if you will, position to target specific muscles. For me, I'm a big proponent of whatever is going to get you to the gym. So if you totally, absolutely hate free weights, then go and do the machines because if that's what's going to keep you consistent, that is what will work for you. Consistency is, is key. If you hate free weights and that keeps you from going to the gym, then don't do free weights. So free weights are great. It does help you in that. Creating that stability. It will, yeah, maybe even have you break a little bit more of a sweat. But again, whatever is best suited to what you enjoy because there is that component of enjoyment in this as well that is very valuable.

Do you feel that for progressive overload, which is increasingly getting heavier, that it's good to do. Let's say you do three sets. Should you get heavier with each set in the one session or do the same weight and then just next time try to go heavier?

Every day is different. First of all, when you are. Usually what I personally try to do is that I will increase with each set with its subsequent set. And if I can't go to the, let's say my goal is to do 8 to 12 reps. So with the first set, if I went to 12 reps, then I increase the weight and I try to go to 12. If I can't go to 12, I go to 10 or I go to 8. So that's kind of my gauge. And then on the next, on the third one, again, I try to see if I can go to. My goal is usually 8 to 12 reps. Now that, that's like a magic number. But that's, you know, studies have over time proven that that's a good rep range for strength training, for increasing, for increasing muscle mass mostly. So that's what I personally try to do and that's what I find to be very effective. Not that you cannot stay in the same weight. That means that, you know, if you are doing 12 reps in that first set and you maybe are reaching failure at that point or have one or two reps. After that 12 rep, then you can maintain that same amount of weight and go again to 12 reps, which would most likely be your 10 reps, whatever that is for you. I always say if you can increase with great form, go for it. Like great form is, is key. If you're gonna break form, then it's time to back off.

Yeah, I find that sometimes my first set I'll go, let's say I'm doing deadlifts, right. So maybe the first one I'll do like 45s in each hand. Cause I want to almost like warm up my body, right. And then maybe I will do like 50, 55. I feel for deadlifts. The thing is my grip I can't hold. It's like my hands are what's giving out more than the legs. So do you feel that first of all, it's good to kind of maybe go a lighter weight for your first set to warm up?

Yes. If you haven't done your warm up, absolutely go for. Usually I'll, I'll do a little bit of a warm up, get the body moving. That's a great way to do it as well. For your first. There's, there's no like rule that this is what you need to do. I guess I personally, I'll start with warming up the entire body and then I'll go into my, about 80% of my rep max for the first set and go to, you know, 12 reps. And then for the next one I'll increase a little bit more and see if I can hit again that 12. If not, I'll back down. That's another great way to do it on that first set. Just warm up and utilize a lighter weight to get the form, to get that mind body connection going and then increase on the subsequent ones. And that is a common, not complaint, but a common occurrence where you're like trying to, you can lift more with your legs than your forearms that your grip can, can handle. So that's why a lot of people will use wrist wraps to, to be able to, to lift that weight. But that's good that you noticed that. I mean, working on that grip is also a very important aspect. That's why it is great to focus just as much on upper body strength as well as lower body strength. I know as women, a lot of us focus on our lower bodies. Nothing wrong with that. But also balancing that with upper body strength so that you are able to strengthen that grip and get stronger so that your upper body, lower body can balance and support each other when life feels overwhelming.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is slip into another world. Whether you need a break from the daily grind or just get lost in pleasure, Dipsea is your perfect escape. Dipsea is an audio app that lets you immerse yourself in spicy stories that transport you to your wildest dreams. Whether it is a tantric guru or maybe a fiery Cuban salsa dancing fling or fairy, sex in the forest or forbidden love. Whatever it is, Dipsea has a story for you. So it's created by women, for women and for the female gaze because, because, you know, we like things differently. We want a story. And now you can get a 30 day free trial plus 25 off your annual subscription when you go to dipseastories.com Sahara that's-I p s e-a stories.com Sahara for 30 days free and 25 off your subscription. Go to the Show Notes right now to click on that link and redeem that offer because I know you're going to forget later on and you're not going to regret this.

So trust your intuition. Trust you in the wisdom, trust you in the guidance.

Do you find that almost like the weight and repetition that we do can affect the way that our muscles grow? Like for example, let's say you're trying to grow your glutes. So I'm assuming it would be best to go as heavy as possible because you're trying to literally grow the size of muscle. But maybe your arms, you don't want to grow the size of the muscle. Then would it not be right to, to lift the heaviest with your arms but instead do something that's more maintenance or to go, you know, a lot of people go light on their arms because of that.

This is a way to see it. You can do either more weight or more reps and you can almost achieve a similar result. There's a lot of other things that come into play like central nervous system recruiting and whatnot and which becomes important as we get older, which is, which is important for that to lift heavier versus less weights. But yes. So basically not in a simplified way. Not pushing the weight can just help you stay at maintenance and not build, you know, bigger muscles on the areas that you do not want to build bigger muscles or you don't train as often that particular muscle group. Yeah.

So I'm curious, what is your daily and weekly fitness routine like?

I wish I had a very set routine because life for me happens pretty, pretty quickly. There's always, you know, trainings and photo shoots and team Meetings. But there's things that are non negotiables for me in a day and that's working out. Working out is non negotiable. My mindfulness practices like meditation and a few minutes of yoga are non negotiables. Like spending time in nature and walking are also my non negotiable. So I, I have the things that I cannot live without and then the rest of the time, you know, I have meetings, training. Right now Kim is actually Kim Kardashian is the only person that I train in person because I have very limited time. I'll walk you through what might be a typical day. I wake up in the morning around 6, 6:30. I can't say that I'm a super early morning person, but that's. I try to, I get up, I have my cacao and I also will have my protein smoothie, about like 20 grams of protein. I'll throw in some blueberries and my creatine in there and which. There's more and more studies about creatine. We can talk more about that and some nuts in there. Just get a good antioxidant.

Do you do fruits? Do you do fruits in your smoothie?

Did I not say the blueberries?

Okay, blueberries. But you don't do like bananas. Would that be too high glycemic?

So it's interesting enough, apparently there are studies that show that mixing bananas and an antioxidant like blueberries can affect the blueberries effect of an antioxidant. So I try to separate it. So I don't have a problem with eating bananas or fruit in general. Fruit is being, you know, as controversial as I say, which is funny to me because there's so, so many nutrients that fruits and vegetables have that, that, that a lot of people are lacking nowadays. So as long as again, it is not overdone. Right? But no, I don't have a problem with having fruits. Bananas just, I don't mix bananas and, and blueberries in the same.

Do you have certain macros that you hit every day?

I eat intuitively, so I don't anymore count macros. But I know in my head I always am calculating how much protein I'm having throughout the day. So I definitely prioritize protein. So if I'm hitting about 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight, then that's, that's good for me and that's what I recommend. Most people do and studies show that that's a good, a good.

Which is hard. I don't think I've ever done it one day in my life.

Yeah, on the lower end of it to hit like 100 grams of protein a day. You know, if you're doing three to four meals and if you're doing about 30 grams per meal, then it becomes a little bit easier. So if you're truly priority prioritizing protein with every meal and, and snacks, then it gets a little bit easier.

Okay, so you have your cacao, you have your smoothie then.

Yeah, that's my start my day, you know, more again. Studies show that as and becomes a little bit more important as we get a little bit older to, to nurture our bodies a little bit more effectively because of our hormonal changes. So as soon our cortisone level spikes up within that first 30 minutes of waking up and nurturing our body in that 30 minute span is important to say, hey, we're getting some food and don't panic. And then I start my day. I do it actually. Sorry, the first thing that I do, I do my meditation, my daily meditation. Sometimes is an hour, sometimes is a shorter version of it. I do go outside ground a little bit, do a little bit of sonata style qigong, moving around and shaking in the park, get some sun in my eyes to start that circadian blow of the day. I think that's all I do. Yeah, I know there's a lot of things but I try to fit them in in my day because those are important to me. And then I have usually meetings because we work with teams that are in the uk so early morning meeting. Why I am unable to get my workout in the morning. And if it's not that, it's training Kim. So I don't get to my workout till around noon or one or sometimes even later in the day. Usually I'll have like a little snack before again protein focused snack before my workout, like 30 minutes to an hour before and work out. I'll have kind of my breakfast lunch if you will, after that together and more work, content creation meetings, whatever there is.

And what do those, the snack and the breakfast lunch look like for you?

The snack could be a protein bar, like a high, high focus protein bar or I'll make protein bars. Some of the things that I've posted on my Instagram, I'll, I'll, I'll obsess over one recipe and then I'll move on to another one. And breakfast lunch will be ground chicken that I'll, that I'll put some herbs and spices and about two to three eggs with Some feta and avocados if available. I try to see whether like the avocados are good and in season and fresh. And I'll try to include some sweet potatoes, a little like a good complex carb, maybe some quinoa with that. And, and what about fats?

Are you kind of like just intuitively eating fats? You try to limit your fats?

I don't, I don't try to limit my fats. Really. I, I think our bodies are so intelligent. They know. I think if we listen to what works for us, for our digestive system and, and operate from that point, I think our bodies are so intelligent. But it is important as you're starting in your fitness journey to track your macros, to track your calories, if your goal, if your wanting to attain a specific goal or just to even create an idea of what a good day of eating, what your macros are. Because a lot of the time I feel like we misjudge what an item contains as far as calories go. Underestimate, overestimate, usually underestimate. So it is good to create that, that idea in the beginning. And then I think our bodies are so intelligent that they, that they just.

I realized I was eating 70% fat in my diet. Peanut butter bars, avocados, egg yolks, salmon. Like I just didn't, it wasn't only until I tracked it, but it hasn't gotten any better.

Again, calories are calories, right? So at the end of the day, yeah, from fat, if you're getting them from protein, if you're getting them from car, calories are, calories is just what, what's, what's your goal at the end of the day? Because obviously for building muscle, but even for every function of the body and, and just health wise, like protein is at the top. So I always think that protein should be prioritized. But if your goal is simply, you know, I want to achieve this weight, you know, I want to look a certain way, then say calories is calories. If your goal is simply drop weight because you're Gonna, if you. 2,000 calories a day, whether where that's coming from is not as important as again, when you're, when you're trying to focus more on body composition.

Yeah, because I feel so many of us like, you know, the 90s was all about low fat and you know, and then a lot of us, that term like skinny fat came to be that you were losing weight because you were eating the 100 calorie packs of like goldfish crackers. And things like that, but you weren't actually putting on muscle, you know, and so I feel like now we're so much more aware of the nutrient density of things and prioritizing proteins and fats and yeah, for me, I feel like I get kind of sensitive to eating a lot of sugars, like carbs and starches. Like I'll get like kind of digestive issues, which is why I'm a little bit more on the fats side than the carb side, but definitely more, more wanting to get protein in. And then at nighttime, do you have a dinner or what's your last meal and what are your thoughts on eating late at night and how many hours to wait till you sleep?

Sleep, Yes, I do eat. My dinner is usually early, around, you know, six, seven o' clock. And again, always prioritizing protein. Our go to dish has been like heavy protein nachos lately because it's so easy.

What's that?

I know, it's just not as what it sounds.

Not just with a ground beef.

Yeah. Stir frying ground or. Yeah, sauteing ground beef or chicken and throwing it on a very light bed of good quality corn chips, tortilla chips, and then throwing the meat on there and a little bit sprinkling some cheese and then making a huge salad. So that's been kind of like a, a go to when I don't have time to make like an elaborate meal. But again, you know, some of my favorites are again, on Instagram, I'm trying to make a little bit more savory recipes like the pizzas that I throw on there and, and, and less focus on like the protein snacks, which I love because I do have a major sweet tooth. And I'll, I'll always end my dinner with one of those yogurt high protein snacks.

What are some of your favorite current yogurt and cottage cheese. That's the other thing you love.

Oh my gosh, those pumpkin cupcakes came out amazing. So I've done those a few times. And then an easy go to is just like the banana or blueberry yogurt protein bark. Like those are super easy.

What's in the pumpkin thing?

It is puree pumpkin and if I remember correctly, there's like one or two eggs, some cottage cheese in there, I believe. I can't remember the recipe, but it's on, it's on there. It's just super easy. Very easy. Because that's like I don't have a ton of time to do a thorough meal that takes hours and and you're.

Good with digesting dairy, obviously.

I think I am. I don't.

You don't get like bloated because I know a lot of people do. But I wonder if it's just the quality of the dairy.

I think there could be an element of quality of the dairy, but there are some people that are predisposed to getting a little bit, getting more bloated than others. I think the less processed, more organic and like, the higher quality dairy, the less, you know, it affects. I think it's when you're adding like an ice cream, when you're adding the dairy and the sugars, that's when I think it becomes even more of a problem for.

Yeah. The food combining.

Yeah. But as far as, like to go back to what you were asking, as far as weight goes, or as far as, you know, it depends again, how, when, what your goal is. There's no specific study that says that you have to eat, you know, three hours, four hours before going to bed because otherwise it'll affect your weight. No, it actually will affect your sleep. So like I said before, like, calories are calories and when you eat them in the day, it doesn't really matter. More and more studies are showing that even intermittent fasting, you know, it's, it's not about. Because you're restricting it, it to a certain amount of time is because you're most likely restricting the amount of total calories that you're consuming in a day. But I personally try to eat at least two hours before going to bed, two to three hours, just to allow my body to digest before going to bed. So that you can get the quality sleep to then be able to recover, regenerate and recuperate your. Your body and brain. Yeah.

I'm someone that. It's really hard for me to eat first thing in the morning, so it's very easy for me to fast. Right. Because I'm not even hung until noon. Then I'll like eat lunch, but then by nighttime I'm so hungry. So then I'm like, just like, almost like making up. I feel like for the calories I didn't get in the day. So even like before bed, I always want to eat. But to be honest, I don't really have a hard time sleeping.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. Like, you're one of the lucky ones. Yeah, but I used to be like that and I still, to a certain degree, I kind of, I'm not super excited to have that protein smoothie in the morning. Because I'm not very hungry. Right. But I feel like once I've adjusted that, that I'm not so starving at nighttime where I'm like, just consuming this insatiable amount of calories. And I think also to just aid your body in digesting the foods. And some studies show that it's good to break it into a few different meals in the day versus having it in one sitting or in a couple of sitting.

So you do not recommend intermittent fasting for women?

Yeah, I've changed my opinion on that as far as, like, I used to do a bit of intermittent fasting and more studies show that especially for women, it's a little bit more forgiving for men. But for women, intermittent fasting, especially as we get older, is not beneficial because we're more into that sympathetic. You know, we work in that sympathetic phase of like fight or flight. And not nurturing our body puts us more into that wired but tired sympathetic phase. So we want to, by feeding our. Our bodies, we move ourselves from the sympathetic to parasympathetic. And that's beneficial to us. So that is why I've made that change. And a lot of people find that they even operate better. And while they might have operated in a way that felt good to them when they were women, that is intermittent fasting is like, how much better could you operate if you were to actually nurture your body? Yeah, for female horm day, it's huge. Because that does affect the hormone, the hormones, when you're intermittent fasting. It does.

So do you get your hormone levels checked and like, adapt? Do you. Do you take peptides or anything like that, bioidentical hormones?

Not very frequently, but I do, you know, once a year have my hormone levels check. Blood testing, that's a little bit more thorough to just optimize my levels. And no, I don't do any peptides. I do have started not long ago to again, like I said, optimize like the, the levels of nutrients in my system. Like if I am in the. I'm pretty much in the range with all of them. But if I'm slightly on the bottom level of the range, then I'll try to, to optimize for that specific big vitamin. You know, I think currently there's just a few, like a fatty acid. And in there I do a potassium vitamin D, which a lot of women are deficient in vitamin D, which is one of the things that most likely most women need. Especially if you're not outside exposing yourself to the sun or covering up with Sunscreen which blocks kind of that vitamin D production.

So do you wear sunscreen ever or.

No, I have that love hate relationship with sunscreen because I know, you know it does help with protecting our skin to a certain degree and not getting wrinkles. But I don't love it. No I don't love. I try to get some sun as, as long as it's not like overexposing and the you know, midday hours.

Yeah, I just wear a visor cuz I don't want to put the chemicals on my body so I just wear a visor so the sun's not getting on my face but I still want to get that sun on my skin for the vitamin D. Unless I'm like out on a beach for a long time and then I will but I'll try to use like a zinc based one so it's more of a shield. I actually recently got my hormones tested and I found out I was very low in testosterone which was really interesting. So I recently started just putting a cream of DHEA A which is like a natural vitamin that helps your body like optimize testosterone. And I'm like oh it makes total sense because for me no matter how much I strengthen, I don't like phys physically like see more muscle on me and it made sense because my testosterone was like super depleted. So I think a lot of women, I mean so many different hormonal things but a lot of women are more estrogen dominant and so they'll have a hard time with muscle mass.

Yeah, yeah, no that is true. And again if you have sort of exhausted like, like, like you said strength training will actually help increase testosterone. Also maybe try not intermittent fasting. That could also help too because I.

Had high morning cortisol and I've, I've taken coffee out of my diet as well.

Yeah, yeah that could be another factor. So I, I'm always for. Have you done all that you have within reach that is not you know, hormone replacement or something then? Because hormones are a little tricky. Once you start introducing them in your body then your body tends to stop reducing them but then comes into question. Well if my body needs it and that's totally fine. But have you exhausted all the other, other paths of, of increasing these, these things naturally? Increasing testosterone naturally which is you know, working out. Strength training, not intermittent fasting.

This episode is sponsored by Better Help. So therapy for me has been a place where I'm able to share my wife wildest thoughts, fears, those little like anxious things I have in my mind. I'M sure you have too, that you never really like take time to like really like unravel. And I feel like that's what therapy does because otherwise they just sit in the shadows of our consciousness and rot and ferment and cloud our choices. So I'm so grateful, especially this Mental health awareness month, that this conversation about mental health is increasing and people are actually getting, getting the help that they need and not having judgment around it. So if you've never tried therapy, I highly recommend giving better help a try because it's entirely online. You take a quick quiz, you're match with a licensed therapist. It's affordable, convenient, you can even message with them on your phone and change therapists at any time. And they have a wide range of different specialties. So let's be real, we're all better with help. So visit betterhelp.comsahar to get 10% off your first month. That's better than better help. H E L p.comsahara you can find that link in the show notes so I'm curious, what does Kim's workout routine look like?

Similar to what I would do and similar to what's on the We Rise app. The app that I have out there for women for their fitness and personal development. So it's, it's similar to that strength trainings, focusing, that's the primary goal to get her strong. And we'll do about three lower body days a week. A couple of upper body include some interval training as well.

Does she do because I always see on the show they're always doing like these hit workouts with the ropes. Is that a big part of your training or is that kind or are you more just like really slow and focused?

Depends what we have time for. Right. So it's more strength training, slow and focused, increasing weights to where she is able to lift with great form. But, but it is important to include some of those true high intensity workouts as well. When we're doing either sprints or on a bike where you're pushing for like 30 seconds and then taking a break or we'll throw in an upper body movement in that interval training. A true interval training. Not just you know, truly increasing that, that heart rate up to, to, to a level where you know things like an orange theory or F45 don't really get you to.

Okay.

Yeah.

So more of like the top of the style where you're going like all in for like one minute and then like what like what is the time in and out that you.

30 seconds. 30 seconds, all out, 30 seconds. And I like to either take full break or combine like light upper body movements, especially if she's just on the bike. Bike, for example. But yeah, that's again, what's, what's on the app and how I train myself.

How often do you do these, like, more hit intensity workouts?

One to two times a week. It doesn't have to be more than that. Yeah.

And what do you think when people say that to burn fat you have to go like slow and steady like on the, the StairMaster or something like that? Do you think that that's true? To hit the fat, burning, burning zone?

No, I, I always say strength train, strength train because again, the more muscle you build, the more calories you're. You'll burn, even at a rest state. So I think that's, that's a myth that you need to be at a slow and steady pace to, to, to burn fat and calories. Like I said, always calories are calories. So if you're burning them through strength training and at the same time you're building that muscle mass so that you can burn more calories at rest. For me, and studies show that a preferred way to go. But again, at the end of the day, what is your preferred option? While that might not be as effective because you're now having to be on a treadmill or a StairMaster for an extended period of time, while it could be slightly faster with strength training, but it's what is your desired method of getting to a similar goal? And if you absolutely hate strength training, which I hope you find a way to love it, but. And you prefer just being on a StairMaster, then again, getting you active is the goal.

Do you switch up the workouts for your clients based on, for example, they have a movie role, they need to be more thin or they're looking to grow their glutes, like aesthetically. Can you shift the workout for those goals or is it more like we each just have a unique body type and that's going to be our optimal.

Obviously there is genetics that will determine your top levels and in different areas of the body and even how you shed weight. There is moving around of, of workouts. You know, if you're wanting to have like we're talking about before, less defined upper body, more defined lower body, you can shift that around. I'm always a proponent of, I want to get you strong, as strong as you possibly can, as balanced as possibly can. And that's what I value most and that's what I try to impart on people that I work on. I'm not necessarily so focused on aesthetics as I say aesthetics come as a byproduct of doing everything else. Right.

So do you think that doing these hiit interval trainings actually burn fat or is it more just for your heart?

Heart rate? You can burn fat? Absolutely. You can burn fat. The what comes into question is again, and that could be fine when you're like in your 20s, as you get in your, I would say late 30s, early 40s, the, the hit training. That's not true. High intensity training can just exacerbate that fight or flight, those, the cortisol levels that then become hard to come back down and regulate. So it' more important to then kind of shift that training style. But if your goal is to strictly, you know, this is what I love to do and this is the only thing that I want to do and you know, I want to lose weight and this is the only way that I, I'm going to be active then. But again, we're talking about optimizing. Optimizing versus personal preferences to reach a certain amount, a certain goal. Goal.

I feel like we've been conditioned in our minds and it makes sense that like when I go to a sweaty HIIT class, like the F45 or whatever, I'm burning fat because I'm sweating and my heart rate's up and it feels really hard. Whereas when I'm just doing slow deadlifts, I'm barely even sweating. I'm like, I'm not really, I'm not burning fat. Right. And it's the opposite.

Yeah. I mean, it is a huge misconception just because you are sweating a ton that you, you're burning more fat than you were actually. Hot yoga and, and ex. Exactly. In a strength training session. And it's absolutely a misconception. And I, I, I think it's changing. You know, I think that was the old thinking. I think you see a lot more women in the weightlifting room and everybody's just getting more educated as to what truly is effective. And not just effective, but also important in longevity and in health and not necessarily just focusing on, on, on the aesthetics aspect of it.

Do you feel we even need to do cardio then?

Cardio is great, but cardio, you know, you go back to asking the question like, what is cardio? Cardio is doing a motion repetitively to get your heart rate to a certain point, which a lot of people can do from strength, strength training. And some people might not because they might not push themselves hard enough to get to that certain level of, or that certain heart heart rate. So in that case, then it is a good idea to incorporate a certain level of cardio so that you can get those cardiovascular benefits. But if you are doing true strength training and pushing yourself and increasing that heart rate to that cardiovascular rate, then you are doing cardio.

What are your thoughts on how long your breaks should be? Because I've heard some people say, say don't have your breaks be over a minute so you can kind of stay in that heart rate. And other people say take two three minute breaks so you can like really get your body back to a baseline before going back into your next set.

It depends what you're doing. So if you're doing strength training and if you're really pushing yourself like I, I, I say 30 to 90 seconds, no more than that. If you are doing anything like powerlifting, then that's when those longer rest times come in. If you're doing true interval training, when you're like 30 seconds, you're going all out sprinting or doing assault bike or row or whatever that is, then you take, you know, two to even four minutes to get completely back to baseline so that you can go back at it with the same intensity for another, you know, four to five rounds of that high intensity. So it depends on what you're doing when it comes to strength. The, you know, strength training, hypertrophy, stay within the 30 to 90 second range.

And now what about core? Because you know, obviously we grew up in a time that was all about. I heard Britney Spears does a thousand sit ups a day. So I will do a thousand setups a day. I used to try that and never made it past like a hundred, but, but then I saw kind of the movement is like you don't even really need to work your course specifically because you're already working it through just these unilateral movement. What's your take on that?

So your abdominal muscles are like any other muscle. They will grow with usage. And true. When you're doing deadlifts and squats and things that movements that need stabilization of the core like that will strengthen your core. Absolutely. I don't find, find it to be wrong to train your, your abs specifically. I do include one specific core ab training session and it's nowhere near a thousand sit ups a day. That's excessive. But we know abs are like any other muscle in the body with giving them the certain, the amount of attention that a muscle needs will help them grow.

So let's say Your goal for your abs is to like, have your, your waist, your stomach be smaller. Then would it be best to not work with weights or do you think working with weights will help you get there faster? Like, for example, sometimes when I do a plank, I'll put weights behind my back and it's like, it's harder. And I've heard some people say they got the results faster with weighted abs because it's just more resistance. But then other people say, well, then you're going to bulk your abs.

The abdominal muscles are not huge muscles, so you're not going to see huge growth. There is going to be a small amount of growth that comes with that and strengthening. But like I said with like, with everything else, you're progressive loading. The abdominal muscles are the same way. They can use that and they're not going to grow to such a big extent to where you're becoming bulky. So I say go for it.

The weighted abs.

Yeah, the weighted abs, yeah.

Do you ever do like, Pilates Mega Reformer machines? Have you tried that?

I've tried it. Actually. Kim invited me on her birthday to do the Reformer with her and I'd never done it before down, like floor Pilates a long time ago. So it was, it was, it was fun. It was fun. But then I went and did my strength training workout after that.

I find Mega Reformer sometimes even harder because of just the amount of like, micro muscles you have to use. So what was your take on it?

Sure, it gets you into that, like, oh, this burns. I need a little bit of a break, but I still need my strength right now.

I love how she walks away from the Mega Reformer class. Time to lift some weight.

Yeah, it's great. Like I said, every, everything has its place, like every modality, like yoga and Pilates, but they'll never replace strength training in my book, in my opinion.

And I think we're so conditioned to feel the burn. And so we feel. If I felt the burn, that means I worked it out. Like I was doing a lot of bar, like years ago, and you're shaking, you know, so I'm like, oh, my God, I really worked it. But do you think that that's actually creating, like, muscle atrophy just because you're shaking? Like, let's say you're doing a lot of, like, little, like, ups and down, ups and downs, like a hundred of them.

It activates the muscles. You can feel the burn. You can feel, you know, but it doesn't mean that it's growing the muscle. It. Not to the degree that you'd want to, you know, the strength training does, for example, it's not the most effective way to achieve muscle hypertrophy or muscle growth.

So when you're on vacation, you don't have access to your gym. What do you pack?

I try to pack a light pair of dumbbells if I can and then truly focus on like, like how many.

Pounds you bring in on the airplane.

Okay. You know, nothing big but at the end of the day you don't necessarily have to, you know, you can give yourself that time to, to engage in another activity.

I'm going to India for a month and a half. I'm freaking out right now listening to this. I'm like driving the water weights here.

That's a different scenario. I'm talking about like if you're going away for you know, five to seven days and you, you don't have to be so, you know, hard on yourself that I gotta, you know, the strength train every day. But I do, I do sometimes bring like seven and a half pounds. There is I, I like changing it up. That's my opportunity to like do something different. And why I've even included like on the We Rise app some either body weight or like lightweight. Follow along 20 minute workouts because get it done, get it over with and go on about your day. But hey, yeah, that's a good idea. Like big jugs of water.

They have these water weights. I brought them once to like Greece and I just, it was such a mess and I never ended up using them.

But do use, get jugs of water. Water maybe.

Do you use like bands? Resistance bands?

Bands are a good idea. Yeah, they're, they're a great option if you, there's multi resistance bands. You know, you can get the shorter ones for your thighs. You can get the longer ones that you can utilize for your squats or deadlifts. I mean during COVID that's what we were using. That's what everybody was using. So they're, they're effective? Absolutely, they're effective.

Do you do like plyometrics kind of stuff like you know, your own body weight? Is that, is that what they would call it?

There's body weight stuff that I sometimes will do and it's great to again do something different. We are human and humans love novelty and changing things up. And I think that's a great way to introduce something different. So I'll do you know what I guess people call the squads that lives are functional training. But people will think of functional training as being something more Dynamic do one day a week where it's, you know, full body type of dynamic training a week. Yeah.

And what are your thoughts on creatine? You mentioned it, because I've heard before that it could make you retain water. So what is your take on it?

I am incorporating creatine almost every day because the studies are undeniable. You know, I'm usually not one to jump on, on, you know, the trending supplement that. That just hits the market. I like to kind of see where things are going and the research and is just being proven more and more to be beneficial, not just in recovery muscle growth, but also for our brain. It plays a huge effect in our brain and cognitive function. So I'm incorporating creatine and the water retention is actually not like subcutaneous. It's not. It's actually in the muscle and muscles are water. Like, there's a lot of water. I think it's 70% water. There's 70% water, but 30% protein. And I hope I'm not inverting those two so that we need that. That water in the muscle for that muscle growth. So it's in the muscle. It's actually making the muscle muscles appear bigger. And usually for women, around 3 grams of creatine a day didn't really show that it would have that larger, like, water retention effect. It's when you're going like higher than like five grams a day.

And what about timing? Like, do you feel like you need to have protein creatine within 30 minutes after a workout or does it not really matter?

It doesn't really hugely matter. I have it in the morning with my, with my protein shake. I just kind of don't want, want to leave it up to chance to, to forget about it at some point during the day. So I just throw it in there.

Yeah. Because you hear, you know, before the thing was like, have car carbs right before, like 60 minutes before a workout and protein and then 30 minutes and how if you miss that window, then it's like your workout didn't even count.

And that's not true. Yeah, it's not true. At the end of the day, it's the. The we're. This is kind of like the. The If I want. If you. If you will like the minutia of like, little changes here and there, like get the big basic, like building rocks, like the foundation, right. And then maybe you can focus on like the little tweaks. But if you're getting the amount of protein in a day and if you're trying again, as a woman to, like, have some in the morning and bookend your workouts with some protein and some carbs. I think it's just the. The overarch, you know, foundation. Are you getting the right amount of strength training? Are you getting the right amount of protein a day? The other stuff is. Is just little tweaks that once you have the basics down, then you can, you know, maximize and you can really tweak.

Yeah. I feel like we overcomplicate things because then we see people who look like you, and we're like, she has to know something we don't know.

Right.

It's got to be doing something. And then it's like, you're like, no. Nope. I just lift heavy things.

Yes. There's no magic pill. I'm not taking a magic pill like this.

Give me the real answer. But you really do. What does Kim do?

Yeah, the answer is the magic pill isn't the hard work that people are trying to avoid. That's the magic pill.

I mean, I noticed in myself, too. That's why I follow these workout videos. I mean, we work out at the same gym, but if I don't, I will check my phone between every single rep and then, like, start whatsapping my friend. And I'm like, laughing. And then someone's like, are you using this machine still?

I'm like, yes.

And, you know, and so we, like, get ourselves, you know, out of it. That I do feel that's why it's important to, like, follow an app like yours, which we will link below. And just to have a plan, because I used to just, like, meander out the gym and be like, oh, that. But that one. That machine seems cool. Let me figure out how this one works. And then I didn't even remember how much I lifted the last time, so I was obviously never progressive overloading because I wasn't tracking anything.

Yeah, that's the beauty of, like, the fitness apps out there. It's also on the We Right app, the tracking of your reps and sets and weights so that you can go back and try to progressively overload. And also having a very specific guide that will carry you through the workout with. With rest times as well, so that you're not wasting time on the phone, because we all fall prey to that. You know, one thing leads to another. We're looking at something. A notification pops up, and then you, you know, five minutes later, we're still on the first set. So, yeah, put those phones away. Put those phones away. Give this time to Yourself to really be with your body. You know, I consider, while I, I meditate and, and do all those mindfulness practices, I consider working out on my. A moving meditation. Working out is a moving meditation that has been for me for a very long time. So if you're, if it's another way of coming into your body, if you're with every rep and if you're with every set and are feeling that pain and that suffering, that's just another way of connecting with your body and getting out of your head.

Oh my gosh. It's, it really is a spiritual practice because you're facing your edges, your resistances. And I, I find too, it's like a lot of times when you have weak legs, it's like, are you able to set boundaries? Are you able to have balance in your life? Are you able to step forth with what you really want? And you know, everything in our body is a reflection of our consciousness. And like, I noticed when I started this journey, like lunges, like single leg stuff was really hard for me. And so I would try to not do it. But now like, I'm able to like just move through life in a different way. Right. Like, I think the biggest thing for me was when I, you know, I travel by myself a lot and I could never get my heavy bag on top of the airplane. And so I would always be like nervous about that or nervous about how am I going to bring about bag upstairs by myself. And now the fact that I can just like lift it over my head and you know, carry things, it. It's empowering as a woman to be strong.

Absolutely. Absolutely. It's the one thing that has tremendously boosted my confidence and self esteem is strength training. And yeah, being able to do those things by yourself and not being fearful or anxious about not accomplishing a task like putting your luggage above the, on the overhead bin. Yeah.

And just looking good for you. I'm like, damn. Like, look at my booty in the mirror. Shoot. Like, I look good. So wait, just before we end this, what are your top three favorite glute increasing exercises?

Since you're here, it's just always like a combination of things, right? Like for me to have a good glute day, like you have to have a, some form of a. I'll just give you. Instead of giving you the top three, it's, I'll tell you what a good glute day.

Okay, take notes for me. Her glutes are addressed. I commented. I was like, girl, those pants.

It's a squatting movement. So it could be a squat or a lunge, that's one. And then a deadlift or an RDL that's more glute focused. Usually a step up. Again, working like a different vector vertically, an abduction. So working your side glutes and your abductors and then a hip thrust. That would complete a good glute day for me.

And how often do you do glute days?

I kind of lump lower body days into one because in most of the movements you're targeting your quads and your hamstrings as well. Three times. Three times a week. And on some days I'll put, there'll be glutes with a little quad focus or with a little, little hamstring focus. But yeah, three.

Yeah. I see a lot of people, they were will do all the glute booty building exercises, but they don't want to work their, their quads and their hamstrings. They don't want their legs to get bigger. But do you think it's even possible to really build your glutes without strengthening your legs?

To a certain degree. But I say why, you know, why just gain that muscle when you can because you're going to need it. It's like I call it the natural Botox and filler. Like with everything else, you know, skin will lose its elasticity. But when you're building that muscle, you're actually trying to maintain that elasticity. You're filling in the skin that otherwise be, be loose if that's, you know. But again, aesthetics always come if you're putting health and longevity and quality of life first. But yeah, to answer that, sure, you could focus on glute isolating exercise is maybe hip thrusts could potentially grow your, your quads slightly. But if you're doing more like kickbacks and they're still not as effective as, you know, your typical squats and deadlifts and, and hip thrusts and growing your glutes.

Interesting.

Kind of the two come hand in hand.

Yeah, it's often not the thing you feel the most direct burn on that's actually going to increase like a squat you might not feel because it's body, but that's actually helping you a lot more than just doing little booty band kickbacks.

Exactly, exactly. It's, it's hard to lift to the capacity that your glutes, your glutes are the biggest muscle in your body, so it's hard to utilize a band to the, have to, to the maximum maximal capacity that your glutes can move.

And I think I like what you said of just almost like your body. It's like, be a little scavenger hunt of like, can I get more muscle here? Can I get more muscle there? And because that's going help you. Like, I love how you said, it's our natural Botox. It's our natural filler of like, oh, this like, lat of mine or this delt of mine instead of like, oh, I don't want to grow my lats and delts. It's like the more pockets of like, you know, fat or skin that can turn into muscle, the healthier metabolism, bodies, you know, the more calories we're burning.

Every day you're filling those lats, you're not letting that skin lose and sag. If you're talking about aesthetics and how most women don't like the loose skin in the back and. But how else are you going to get rid of that? It's by bringing those muscles forth and forward and filling up that space. That's how I see it.

I love it. So for anyone right now who's feeling really inspired, where can people learn more from you? Try your workouts and get involved.

Well, Instagram, Sonata, Dog Reca, and then specifically the We Rise app. So We Rise app is not just a fitness platform, but a personal development platform that it's going to just get even more amazing as we bring a lot more experts that women need in different areas of their life. So I'm excited for what's to come. We're just in our baby phases and it's just amazing as it is, but it'll be even more incredible.

Yeah. Every time I see your workouts, I'm like, it's so innovative. And I feel like we, you know, as humans, we do want to try more, but I'm like, oh, we. Wow. That feels like it would work. A really specific muscle that I've likely never touched before. So that's what I love about, like, almost the artistry that you bring into everything that you do. And it really allows us to have that deeper mind body connection that is the basis of our spiritual journey.

Absolutely. Mind body connection is super important. Studies have even proven that that will actually help you increase results and achieve higher results. And I do include that aspect of novelty in a lot of my training because, as I mention before, novelty is almost a human necessity that will keep most people consistent and consistency is key.

Yay. So excited. Well, we will link that in the show notes. Thank you again so much for being on.

Thank you for having me appreciate it. It's so nice speaking with you today.

Of course I'll see you at the dog park. And thank you so much for tuning in. If you love this episode, share with your friend. Maybe this is going to inspire you guys to start working out together to like get more serious. Like girl, I know we've been doing doing some little YouTube videos here and there, but like let's really get into it. So share this episode on your stories as well. And if you loved it, I would love to send you a free gift for leaving a review. So leave a review in the apple store on YouTube, tell us what your favorite takeaway was from this episode, and as a free gift I will send you my Womb Meditation, which is a meditation that you can do to connect to this, the seat of your divine feminine and really receive your own inner inner answers. So leave a review, take a screenshot and email it over to me@saharaiamsaharose.com you can find that email and all of the links mentioned today in the show. Notes Please be sure to subscribe to this episode wherever you are listening on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music to stay in the vibe for future conversations and I will see you in the next one.

Trust your intuition, Trust your inner wisdom.

Trust your inner guidance. Close your eyes and listen.

So trust your intuition, Trust your inner wisdom, Trust your inner guidance.