On Purpose with Jay Shetty - Why You are Wasting Your Time with Cardio & 6 Small Changes to Make For Weight Loss (The Secret Behind Kim Kardashian’s Workout) with Senada Greca

Episode Date: July 5, 2024

Have you been wanting to lose weight?  Do you want to transform your body with your workouts? Senada Greca is widely known as Kim Kardashian’s Personal Trainer as well as a renowned fitness and wellness expert. Senada shares her transformative journey from struggling with depression and anxiety to becoming a thought leader in fitness. She is the founder of We Rise, a female empowerment platform focused on health, wellness, and personal development, and Zen toa, a women's athletic apparel brand. Senada has trained high-profile clients such as Miranda Kerr, Bebe Rexha, and Kim Kardashian. Senada's turning point came when she discovered the mental health benefits of strength training, shifting her focus from aesthetics to holistic well-being. Emphasizing the importance of building consistent fitness habits, she advocates starting small and integrating workouts into daily routines. Senada underscores the myriad benefits of strength training, particularly its role in enhancing bone density, muscle mass, and longevity, and preventing injuries, especially as one ages. Together with Jay, Senada advises against relying on motivation alone and suggests finding ways to incorporate physical activity into busy schedules. Senada gives tips on the importance of a holistic approach to health, combining physical fitness with mental and emotional well-being practices like meditation, gratitude, and visualization. She also gives easy habits to implement in your daily nutrition.  In this interview, you'll learn: How to start a fitness routine How to optimize your nutrition How to use strength training for longevity How to stay active every day Remember, motivation isn't just about feeling pumped up every day; it's about building habits that become second nature.  With Love and Gratitude, Jay Shetty What We Discuss: 00:00 Intro 02:59 Do You Have a Fitness Goal? 06:06 What Can You Do in 5 Minutes? 09:29 Were You Always Fit? 12:01 The Dangers of Depleting Your Body 13:25 What Workout Works for You 15:03 How Strength Training Affect Longevity 18:20 What Most People Struggle With 23:50 The Right Reward System to Being Fit 25:14 Biggest Misconceptions About Strength Training 26:50 What Should You Eat Before Workout? 28:32 Genetics 30:12 Low Body Fat Percentage 31:13 Cardio 34:05 Practicing for a Marathon 35:17 Nutrition Plan 38:04 Muscle Loss 41:28 Anxiety and Depression 43:40 Do You Workout Everyday? 45:21 Working with Kim 47:13 Are You Serious About Working? 49:43 Managing Nutrition vs. Workout 50:51 Workout without a Trainer 52:26 The Power of the Mind 55:45 Senada on Final Five Episode Resources: Senada Greca | YouTube Senada Greca | Instagram Senada Greca | Facebook Senada Greca | TikTok WeRise See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And working with physicians, you know, they're a little bit quick to push medication on you. It wasn't until I found a physician that was running marathons herself where she suggested actually getting stronger and when I saw what kind of a difference working out did for my mental health is when everything changed. Hey everyone, I've got some huge news to share with you. In the last 90 days, 79.4% of our audience came from viewers and listeners that are not subscribed to this channel.

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Jay Shetty. The one, the only Jay Shetty. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the place you come to, to become happier, healthier and more healed. Now in 2024, I want to help you get fitter, stronger, calmer and feel like you have more courage. And in order to do all those things, I'm looking for guests, experts and thought leaders who can help you build different muscles. Today's guest is a friend of mine and she is incredible, here to help us get fitter and stronger.

I'm speaking about Sonada Grekker, a world-renowned thought leader in fitness and wellness. Sonada is the founder of We Rise, a female empowerment platform that takes a holistic approach to health, wellness and personal development. Sonada is also the founder of Zentoa, a women's athletic apparel brand that has outfitted thousands of women around the world with high performance and stylish activewear. Sonada has been sought after by some of the biggest names in the world. She's trained Miranda Kerr,

Bebe Rexha, amongst many others, and currently Sonada works with Kim Kardashian. I'm so excited to welcome to the show my friend and incredible thought leader, Sanada Grekha. Sanada, welcome to On Purpose. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here. I am so happy to have you. We've been looking forward to this. I remember when I DM'd you a while ago and we got connected. You came over to our home, we were hanging out, you've got to know Ravi.

And I definitely feel like before we dive into the fitness conversation, I felt like there was a soul connection when we met. Absolutely. And I think that's what made me so excited to have this conversation with you. So thank you for making the time. Thank you so much for having me here.

I'm so excited. And like you said, there was that spiritual connection with both yourself and Rad Ravi and just, yeah, and honored. So thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. Well, 2024 is here. We're already a few months in and most likely people have fallen short of some of their

fitness goals. Some people might be kind of just holding on. Maybe some people are doing well as well. If someone has fitness goals, if someone has strength goals, how do you start by setting a goal? How do you start? How do you start?

I actually, a great statistic that I just reviewed from the ReRise app is that people were on average by week doing three and a half workouts. So I was like, yes, something is working so far as about a week ago. Hopefully everybody keeps the momentum going. But if you're looking to start, I always say start small. You want to climb that mountain one step at a time versus doing a day long trip, so to speak. Take the smallest step, you know,

start with 20 minutes if we cannot, start with 20 minutes, start with five minutes or even one minute, and then build that habit because it's about creating that consistent habit day after day that will carry you through. You know, a lot of the time we think the motivation is what's needed and it's not, it's that habit

that we create on a daily basis. So start small. Start with what is attainable. Create a daily calendar and make sure that you're placing hopefully that workout at the same time every day. You're most likely to stick to it. Create an environment that is supportive of you working out. So if you are working out at home, create a little space for yourself with all of your

items, workout items. And if you're going to the gym, then lay out your workout clothes, lay out your shoes the night before. Some people actually even wear their workout clothes to sleep in because it eliminates another step. So how can you make it more accessible and easy for yourself to accomplish that? And then what is the time of day that does actually work best for you when you feel more energetic?

There is no specific time that is, you know, this is the best time to work out for whatever reason. It's like what time is best suited for your life and lifestyle. I would suggest if possible for most beginners to have it in the morning so you, you know, kind of get it out of the way and don't leave it up to chance for later in the day things occur, you know, work and kids and a million things that you have to do throughout the day. So if you leave it up to chance, you most likely are not going to you know, work and kids and a million things that you have to do throughout the day. But if you're confident, if you set that time aside, even if it's in the afternoon, which is when I work out myself,

that's when I find that I'm most energetic. In the afternoon for myself. There is some studies that suggest that the optimal time might be between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. But again, I say when is it more accessible to you? That's key. Absolutely. That, let's say someone, and I think this is the world we live in today, where we look at five minutes and go,

what's the point of working out for five minutes?, what's the point of working out for five minutes? So what's the point of working out for five minutes? Like what can you get in five minutes? You'll start to create a habit. And that's what's key about making fitness a lifelong activity. Because I see it as not a sprint, it's a lifelong marathon.

You want to stay active throughout your entire life for as long as you can. So five minutes is just creating that habit. You won't see drastic results. You might see no results from five minutes, but five minutes today for a week, 10 minutes the next week for a week, and then you start building from there.

Again, that makes it just more accessible and creates that habit. And it does take some time for a habit to be, and you start building from there. around like 60, 66 days when you really solidify that habit of working out. So while in the, you know, in the immediate term, like it doesn't really provide results that five minutes will just set you up for success. Absolutely. I think that's such a good point. Like we look at it as like, oh, five minutes doesn't have any value, but you committing to something for five minutes a day and Every day. And you keeping that promise to yourself.

Exactly. To turn up every single day. That's what matters about the five minutes. Exactly. It builds that self-confidence too in yourself. You know, your body listens as in with meditation too. Five minutes might not break you through to where you need to be, but five minutes every day and you're setting up that habit and you're also saying like, yes, I got this.

I'm doing it. You know, I'm dedicating five minutes to myself, for myself. Absolutely. So let's say someone's listening right now and they say, Sonata J, I'm with you. I only have five minutes. What do I do with five minutes? What should they do in a five minute workout

if that's all they have? And they're starting out. Yeah, there's five minutes, just jump on, you can start with a treadmill, you know, we can just warm up for a minute, do maybe a few squats, just some of the basic movements, and maybe deadlifts, you know where I'm going with this, it's a little bit more strength training focused for me,

but you know, do something to warm you up for a minute or so and then go into some squads, go into some deadlifts, go into some like major movements that will target some of the biggest muscles in your body, maybe do some rows. And then you got a few movements covered there. And if someone's at home and they don't have any gym equipment and don't have access. You still utilize your body weight. It's perfectly fine to do so. Even if you're starting out squat to seat. So basically just squat to your seat, stand up,

squat to your seat, stand up. You can do hip thrust. Back of your shoulders on the couch, feet planted on the ground, hip thrust, body weight, perfectly fine. Grab a kid, put him on your hips, or any object. I'm a big believer that you can turn anything around your house into something to work out with, add a little bit of extra resistance. And it's doable. Were you always fit and energetic and strong? Was that always been a part of your life or is it something that you had to develop at a certain point?

As a kid, I've always been active. I love being outdoors, playing with friends. Whenever I could be outside, I would. I would be on trees picking fruit because, you know, in Albania, we have to kind of like forge a little bit for ourselves and or like on rooftops. Just an active kid, I played sports. So I've always been active, not necessarily like strong fit, more active into the teenage years. Unfortunately that's shifted where you know your body changes so I was trying to deal with this extra weight that I was like starting to carry. And I started to work out for the wrong reasons, which I would

consider is, you know, trying to be as skinny as possible, limiting food intake to be as thin as possible. So it shifted in that fashion. And that was not a healthy way to work out. And then, you know, I started dealing with depression and anxiety at the same time. I think everything kind of like hit at the same time. And working with physicians, you know, they're a little bit quick to push medication on you, which I did take, but it wasn't until I found

a physician that was running marathons herself, where she suggested actually getting stronger. And that's what made the biggest difference for me, is gaining that strength, working out for the right reasons, which for me at the time were mental, um, for my mental health. And when I saw what kind of a difference working out did for my mental health, whenever it is, when everything changed, now I was nurturing my body for health versus, um, dieting it to, to be as skinny as possible. So it has taken the journey of fitness for me has taken a bit of a path, of a different path throughout the years. And then, but when I found strength, when I found strength training is when I found the strength in me. And I was able to overcome a lot of the things that were weighing on me,

that were affecting me like depression, anxiety and then eating disorders. Walk us through how just, you know, walk us through the dangers of, I guess, the way, like you said, the wrong reasons. Walk us through some of the dangers, physically and biologically, of what happens to the body when we're starving the body or when we're not really helping ourselves in the right way. Of course. I mean, if you're working, there's extremes to everything. So while working out is good, doing workouts to the extreme for hours on end, while malnourishing the body

can be detrimental to your physique where you're not incorporating those nutrients that your body needs. So you're depleting yourself to extreme levels, both with the nutrition and the physical activities. So it is not healthy. It's not healthy mentally, it's not healthy physically. Your body starts to deteriorate. You see your gums and teeth deteriorate and everything else that goes on internally that goes with that. So it is not healthy. It is not healthy. While being

thin, naturally can absolutely be healthy. There's nothing wrong with that. But when it happens in a forced manner, when you're starving yourself and when you're working out to extremes, that's when it becomes unhealthy. Yeah. Hey everyone, it's Jay here.

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Target. So head to our store locator at drinkjuni.com and find Juni at a Target near you. Walk us through the different types of exercises. You obviously focus on strength training. I want to hear about the benefits of that. But you know, people are trying to make sense of like, do I need to do Pilates? Do I need to do yoga? Do I need to do HIIT workouts? Do I need, you know, there's just so much on offer today, especially in LA, but there's so much on offer all over the world. And people are just wondering what's going to work. I was telling you earlier that, you know, if I'm doing a workout and I'm not seeing progress either in strength or physique or whatever it may be, then you get discouraged and then you let go of it.

So walk us through the different benefits of different exercises and why strength training is a priority for you. In my actual programming, I also incorporate some higher intensity and I try to weave in a little bit of fun cardio. So I do incorporate different modalities. It's not strictly, you know, strength training or, and it's not powerlifting by any means, it's strength training.

But I do incorporate like HIIT sessions and some cardio because you need, I value all of the components, all of the different modalities. But for me, strength training is sort of like the golden standard because that is what is going to strengthen your bones. That's what's going to build muscle mass and a vast array of other benefits that not every modality has. Strength training is proven to increase, like I said, bone density and muscle mass, which are so crucial to longevity and a healthy longevity.

And, you know, longevity now has become such a buzzword. And if you could do one thing for your longevity, is strength train. What's actually happening when we do strength training? Why does it link to longevity? The bone density is an important part. What else is happening because of strength training? Because what I always hear about is, you know, as you get older and if you fall over, Is it linked to longevity? The bone density is an important part. What else is happening because of strength training?

Because what I always hear about is, you know, as you get older and if you fall over, you need the strength to pick yourself back up. But like, how is strength training in other ways really impacting our longevity? Yeah, I mean, because it is, our bone density max is reached at about age 25 to 30. And from there, we start to lose bone density.

And by the age 40 and on, we start to lose bone density faster than we can build it. So then what happens at that point is that when we do fall, we break a hip or a wrist, and then the chances of recovery from that are much less. So that leads to deaths. I think there is like 32,000 deaths caused from fall injuries in adults like 65 and older. And obviously, if you can build muscles the same way, you start losing after the age of 30,

believe it or not, you start losing muscle mass at about three to 8% every decade. So that's incredible. Those are incredible numbers. I mean, at the age 30 is a little bit slower, but then it starts to pick up at 40, 50, and then by 60 is even faster. So if you can build as much as you can in bone and muscle as when you can,

that will just help you carry, um, it'll help you carry yourself through and, and healthier in the, in the older years, in the, in the later years of life. Because again, you can either prevent yourself for falling or you can recover faster from an injury because your bone density is where it is more optimal than it would have been if you hadn't been building that bone mass. And especially for women, women are more prone to osteoporosis, which is bone density loss, than men and by menopause, the numbers are staggering as to that bone density loss. And for men, actually, even though the osteoporosis instance is less than women, their causality of death, their death due

to falls is higher than women. So, I mean, a lot of the time, I know it's like when we're in our, in our 20s, or even our 30s, we think of ourselves as invincible, you know? We've got these amazing bodies. They're incredible, of course, but how do we prepare ourselves now when it is possible for the future ourselves? Our future self will thank us. This is really powerful stuff, Sonata.

This is really going to connect with the audience to hear these reset studies and recognizing the changes that are happening in every decade. Because I think so many of us, like you said, and I remember that. I remember being 22 years old and thinking I was Superman. And thinking nothing could defeat me. And I remember my dad kept telling me,

you need to focus on your health, you need to focus on your health. And I was like, ah, I'm healthy, it doesn't matter. And then, you know, when I had a couple of my own personal challenges with health, it really kind of stuck with me as to what an investment it needed to be. What are some of the biggest things

that you consistently see getting in people's way when they're trying to get fitter and stronger? What are the challenges, the most common ones that you see people that you've trained over the years that you find they struggle with? Well, the first one is relying on feelings. A lot of people rely on motivation. I don't feel motivated.

So, you know, how, or how do you get motivated to work out? A lot of the time, I just, I'm not motivated. I don't want to necessarily work out. The coziness of the home is a lot better than, you know, getting up and getting moving. But it's we don't rely on that. You know, you take that you take those feelings, you put them aside and you put your shoes and you keep going because that's what you do. It's like brushing your teeth. There's no there's no for me. There's no it's a non-negotiable.

Working out is a non-negotiable, not just for right now, not because of aesthetics, but for longevity. Like we were talking about quality longevity. Aesthetics come. It's beautiful. Once you do the things, the right things for your body with nutrition and working out, aesthetics are a byproduct that will come, because a lot of people take that approach

of wanting to look a certain way, which I find can be motivating, but for its short lived, especially if the results are taking a little bit longer, which could take longer for some people. But if you are doing it again for those right reasons, for the reasons of like, I want to be as strong as I can in this body so this body can carry me forward in the healthiest

possible way for as long as possible. So that is the biggest one that I face is like, how do you do? How do I get motivated? How do I stay motivated? It's like act. Don't wait for the feelings. Act. The other thing is I'm too busy. I'm too busy. There's always time. I'm sorry, but you can always make time for yourself.

You can find that time. A lot of the time we find I'll even there, there's been even arguments back and forth with people on Instagram, you know, I don't have time yet. Two hours later, they're still responding to that same chain of communication. Well, you had two hours right there. You have time. A lot of the time is just analyze your day, just analyze your day as to where you're spending time that you could carve out. Not saying don't watch TV or don't, don't be on social media. Exactly. Do that. How can you incorporate it? I found that for me, incorporating is so great.

Incorporated exactly. And I'm a big, big believer of like not doing all or nothing. So even when it comes to nutrition, it's like, you want to eat a burger. Fine. Just how can you maybe take one of the sides of the bun out? You know what I mean? How can you substitute half of the fries with a salad? It's like don't completely take things out, try to incorporate in your life.

So find out, there is definitely always a little bit of time that you can find. Absolutely, yeah. Going back to the feelings point, I found that things that are good for me feel bad before, but feel amazing after. Exactly.

And the things that are bad for me, they feel really good before, but they don't feel so great after. And so I'm the same as you. When I wake up in the morning, I often go on a hike. That's like how I like to start my morning. I like the fresh air. I'm going for a a hike. That's like how I like to start my morning. I like the fresh air.

I go out for a walk. I like sweating. And I like being active. And I don't want to do something too strenuous because my day is quite busy. Exactly. And I found that when I wake up in the morning, I don't want to work out. I don't feel like it. And you're so right that I just have to say to myself,

I have to remind myself, but I know how I'll feel after. And when it comes to eating a burger, trust me, I want to eat a burger all the time. And I have to remind myself, but I know how it's going to feel after. And so it's almost like you've got to connect your brain to the after feeling. Absolutely.

Because the after feeling is so much more what you have to live with, because the feeling before kind of comes and goes. Exactly. I want to eat a burger, I ate a burger, now I don't feel so great. I don't want to work out, I ignore working out, I didn't work out, now I don't feel so great. Right.

And you're living with that feeling after for much longer than you're living with the feeling before. Very true. Very true. So that's definitely helped me and the busy one is so true. I mean, I feel like if I work out while watching, I love watching football, soccer highlights, I miss watching soccer and I don't get to watch it full, I don't get to watch full games anymore

because there are different timings because I live in LA, the games are in London or England. And I will put on a highlights of the game, which are like 20 minutes. And I'm like, this is perfect for a 20 minute workout. I can watch the highlights, I can work out, and it's gonna force me to get through 20 minutes. Whereas if I didn't have the highlights on,

I know I'd give up in like six. And so when the highlights are on, I know that I'll be able to get through a full 20 minute workout, which is what I'm trying to do if I'm traveling or moving around. So I love that idea of incorporating things. Incorporating things. And that's true when it comes to creating habits that are tough to create in the beginning.

How can you tack on something that is enjoyable? Like a little bit of a reward system. And a reward system doesn't have to be that I get to eat, you know, whatever I want afterwards. What is the right reward system for being fit? Because I think a lot of people think it is getting to eat what you want. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It could be, you know, like you said, you like to watch the highlights, you know, a show that you enjoy or another activity that's enjoyable, you know, or if you want to treat yourself fine, maybe when it comes to food, find a healthier option. I'm a great believer also in substituting, you know, a lot of the recipes that I post are, I have a sweet tooth, a major sweet tooth. So how can I create recipes that are healthy, that will satisfy and will taste just as good as the naughty food.

So it's just for every person, it could be different what that reward for them is, but tack it onto it. And in the We Rise app, we have Dr. Gina, who is a habits expert, habits building expert, one of the, I think, four leading researchers of habits. And she has so much input and so much information on how to make habits sustainable. You know, I wish I had a Dr. Pocket Gina that I could ask. Yeah, but yeah, she'll have such an amazing insight as to how to create and sustain these habits.

Yeah. What's the biggest misconception with strength training? What do you think people get wrong? That women will get like bulky and big and gigantic. That's like the biggest thing is like, I don't want to get too bulky. I don't want to get too big. That's what you hear a lot. That's what I hear a lot.

And that is a huge misconception because in females our hormones do not allow us to get to the levels that, for example, a man's physique can get naturally. It is not biologically. There's obviously different levels of hormones in different women that will promote growth in some more or less than others. But I always say at the very at the end of the day, you can just back off back off if you are feeling. But I guarantee you that once you start gaining a little bit of muscle, you'll be addicted because the feeling of strength and confidence that it gives you, like a stronger body gives you, at least for me and for the people that I've worked with, those feelings that it gives them are far outweigh any negative misconceptions.

I'm going to say misconception because it is, you're not going to get big. You're not going to get huge. You're not going to be like Hulk. Yeah. I know Rod going to get huge. You're not going to be like Hulk. Yeah. I know Radhi loves strength training. Like it's such a passion of hers. And she loves that feeling of being stronger and loves that feeling of like...

It's amazing to see because I think you are right that we have this worry that our body is going to change and look away that we don't want it to look. Yeah. Yeah. What should someone eat right before a workout and right after, especially a strength training workout? So before a workout, about an hour, maybe 30 minutes at most

because you don't want to eat too close. I would eat a combination of protein and carbs, maybe a little bit higher in carbs, and then afterwards meal that is higher in protein. So at least 20 grams of protein in that meal after the workout. I mean the studies are a little bit all over the place when it comes to this. Obviously for somebody that's been working out for a long time, you're a little bit more flexible with that or for somebody that is trying to gain muscle mass or weight. Again, it's a little bit more flexible versus a beginner.

Then you have to be a little bit more strict with, strict, a little bit more on top of your nutrition when it comes to not just before and after, but throughout the day. And at the end of the day is what you're consuming throughout the day that is most important. So are you reaching, so not so focused because a lot of people focus so much on before and after. I would start with how do you feel before a workout? Do you feel, you know, if you're working out in the morning and you're energized enough, then feel free to work out on an empty stomach.

That's completely fine. And if you can carry that energy through, if you feel like you need to have a little bit of nutrition beforehand, that's great too. It's how do you optimize for yourself? How do you optimize for yourself? How do you optimize for yourself? How do genetics play a role in achieving your goals? Genetics, they do play a role, a big role in the sense that,

well, genetics will not get you out of bed. Because a lot of the time, you know, people see my physique and say, you know, it's all genetics. I actually had to fight against a lot of my genetics to get out of bed and work out my, I'm predisposed to depression and anxiety. So battling those, those factors, that's a genetic factor that goes into play. But then when it comes to actual physique building, yes, it will, you'll, you'll vary us to like the muscle mass that you'll put on, but you can always improve, you know, there's not, let's not even bother working out because I don't build

bigger muscles, you know, you don't even know till you've tried to what capacity you can build. You don't even know till you've tried to what capacity you can build genetics will play a bit of a Of a factor in the body that you're trying to achieve, you know Some people will carry a little bit more weight around their stomach. So their abs will not be as easily Visible as others so they'll have to a healthy way, potentially diet if they can, but to see the visible abdominal muscles. Not that that is a golden standard of anything,

just hypothetically saying that it'll take them longer than others to achieve that. Because again, genetics do play a role in that. Talking about that, what is the health benefit of having a lower body fat percentage? Like what is the goal, right? Because we know that people are trying to lower their body fat percentage in order to have abs. But what's the actual health benefit of having a lower body fat percentage? Yeah, and even with that, you want to maintain a healthier one.

You, so you don't want to go too low. You don't want to be too high. If you're going too low, then your hormones start to get messed up. And we don't want that. If it goes too low, so then we start to, you know, women will start to miss their period. So it will affect them that way. Obviously that puts the body in a little bit of a frenzy.

It's not homeostasis anymore. When it goes too high, then you're starting to deal with cardiovascular issues, you know, insulin resistance, and all of the things that will then lead to an unhealthier individual. So there is a range there that we should be. Talking about cardio,

you said that you incorporate cardio. Yeah. How much is cardio important in a strength training practice and how much is it not needed? The question would be what are the reasons for adding cardio? So are you adding cardio? Because a lot of people think that cardio is what's going to help them lose weight. And that's not necessary, that's not true. It's all about calories in versus calories out.

So if you're talking about strictly losing weight is how many calories are you putting in your body and how many calories you're expending. So if you're deciding to utilize strength training as a way to expend those calories, great if you're utilizing cardio, great. There is some studies again that suggest that you'll get faster into that fat burning phase if you're doing strength training before and then cardio after and also cardio if you're doing strength training also before and cardio after you're you're not compromising your strength training process as if you were to do cardio beforehand. How much cardio that also is an individual basis.

Cardio, a lot of people hate cardio. So what I try personally to do, I'll incorporate it on upper body days. So I'll do somewhat of an interval training. So I'll do an exercise that's upper body focused and then 30 seconds to a minute of sprinting and then another exercise or set of an upper body focus and then so that's what how I make it fun in my personal training and for everybody in the We Rise

app and obviously if you're wanting to add more cardio because you feel like you know adding a steady state cardio session after a separate day, a separate part of the day, because you're wanting to be at a more of a caloric deficit. That's completely fine as well. It sounds like you don't like cardio. I don't love cardio. That's good for us to know. I, so I ran marathons and that was great.

I've run three marathons. I enjoyed it. You do put your body through a lot, but I have found personally what I've achieved through strength training when it comes physically and mentally has been far more rewarding than cardio. There's some, you know, benefit to cardio in the sense that some people feel more of the endorphins and the feel goodgood hormones during HIIT sessions or cardio. So there is a benefit to that.

And at the end of the day, what is so while, so let's say while I value strength training, pick your poison at the end of the day or pick your remedy. I should say pick your elixir. You know, what would that be for you as long as you can get some activity in. So while there is hierarchies of what you want to achieve. So if you want to build muscle strength training really is like the golden standard. Right. But if you know, you absolutely hate it. What is your activity of choice at the end of the day is what I would say.

Walk me through what your regime was for running the marathons. Like what, what did you, how did you build up to that? What was your practice? What was your workout routine and nutrition plan? I wish I could say that I followed one of the plans, because this was quite a few years ago. They kind of build slowly and it worked on like hill sprints and just a different variety of things that you need to work on when you're running a marathon.

But it basically started with three miles and then increased to five miles and then after a week or so increased. So incrementally increasing the length that I would run till I got to the marathon, I guess. You never run the whole marathon when you're doing, when you're practicing, it's more like up to like 18 miles. But it was just slowly over time building up to that. And definitely feeding that, those calories that were burning, almost couldn't keep the weight on me at that point.

Because you're expending so much energy. What would you now say is a great nutrition plan while someone's strength training? What kind of things have you found to be really integral and useful to have? And then what have you found to be useful to leave out? Definitely prioritizing protein. So if you're consuming about 0.8 to just a little bit over one gram per pound of body weight of protein per day, that's a good place to be. And then filling the rest with carbs and fats. But that's what I always say, prioritize protein. That's what's going to help, not just building muscle,

but just your physiological needs. Protein is the building block of our body. And what you can leave out is the infamous sugars, the refined sugars. And so opt more for complex carbs. I still like eating fruit. I know there's been fruit suddenly has become controversial. If you're eating fruit and vegetables, you're good.

Just fit into that macro, especially if you're starting out and you want to, you have a specific goal, it is important to find out what your appropriate macros are for the day. And macros are the macro nutrients, so what is your daily intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. But I always prioritize protein. And with the protein, I mean,

most of us are not getting close to that much on the protein, right I mean, most of us are not getting close to that much protein. Most of us are not. Like I said, for let's say a hundred and twenty pound person, like a gram, so you need a hundred and twenty grams of protein or around that per day. So, you know, they're in a piece of like palm of your hand of, of, of, uh, let's say chicken, there's like 20 grams of protein. So you need to be a little bit more, um, discerning of your meals. So always include protein with every meal and maybe even with your snacks. Yeah. I think for most of us, it feels like protein takes up probably that 20 grams and

then we're filling the rest with carbs, fats and everything else. But I've definitely found that when I first learned about that, I just couldn't believe how hard it was to actually prioritize getting. And I'm doing that plant-based, which is even harder. It is harder, right. Even for my friends who eat me, even they were saying just how challenging it was for them. Like, it's not easy across the board. And so raising that up to that.

Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's important, especially as we age, believe it or not, like we need to intake even more protein. You've shared so much amazing research and studies with us today. Are there any others that really come to your mind that you think this is really important for women to know, or this is really important for strength trainers to know, because some of the important for strength trainers to know,

because some of the studies you've shared with us have really been powerful. Something that makes me crazy is when people say, well, I had this career before, but it was a waste. And that's where the perspective shift comes, that it's not a waste that everything you've done has built you to where you are now. This is She Pivots, the podcast where we explore

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I didn't know we were going to go there, Amir. I'm going to go down there because this is... People that I admire. When we say listen to your body, really tune in to what's going on. Authors of books that have changed my life. Now you're talking about sympathy, which is different than empathy, right? And basically have conversations that can help us get through this crazy thing we call life. I already believe in myself. I already see myself.

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Yeah, I mean the muscle loss is huge. Like I said, the 32,000 deaths per year, which actually, crazy enough, has almost doubled from 2012 to 2021, if I remember correctly. And I wonder what's gone into that, like why there's been such a drastic increase and like that's due to falls during this time. Like maybe we've become less mobile. Maybe there's medications in the market that are affecting our bone density. It's actually when it comes to depression and anxiety, mood disorders, it has been found that even as little as 150 minutes of activity per week can relieve symptoms to about 40

to 60 percent, 42 to 60%, 42 to 60%. While as compared to psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals, the numbers are 20% to 30% in relief of symptoms. So even the highest, the higher upper end limit of pharmacological products and psychotherapy doesn't even come close to what you can achieve by physical activity. And that's only at 150 minutes per week. So to me, like that's mind-blowing what you can achieve. Because, and I'm not negating the need for psychotherapy or pharmacological products, absolutely, you know, where it's necessary. But why not start with exercising?

Like start there. You will achieve results that might be even higher than what you can do with with pharmaceutical products. That's like just over 20 minutes a day. Yeah, exactly. Just over 20 minutes a day. That's incredible. Yeah, absolutely.

That's pretty amazing to know. Yeah. Wow, like yeah, and the difference too, like you're saying minutes a day. That's incredible. Yeah, absolutely. That's pretty amazing to know. Yeah. Wow, like, yeah, and the difference too, like you're saying, instead of 20 to 30% reduced, 40 to 60% reduced. Yes, absolutely. So double on both the upper and lower end living.

Exactly, exactly. That's, yeah, and you're right. Again, we're not telling anyone not to take things that they need to take. Absolutely. But the idea that why not have the full package? Exactly, why not have the full package? That's what it is.

Because a lot of the time it can be that psychotherapy or pharmacologics don't necessarily work for some people. I think there is some statistics of like around 40% of the people don't experience the relief that they need. So either in conjunction or starting with an exercise program that will provide significant relief. I mean, firsthand, I'm standing here as somebody that has achieved that kind of relief without now being on any pharmaceuticals.

This is why I work out every day. I don't want to experience those symptoms of depression and anxiety ever. So this is why I keep going. So powerful. So inspiring to hear that as well. Thank you. So inspiring to hear that. What was it for you that was causing that? Where was that coming from for you personally?

It's been, I mean, there's so many factors, I think. You're talking about being anxiety and depression and experiencing that. I think some of it is being a teenager and moving countries, going from Albania to the United States and completely in a new world, a new space. My family didn't know English at the time. I was the only one that did, so I had to support them. So I had to assume the role of an adult at a fairly young age. So I was 14, 15 at the time where I had to become an adult in my family.

So I think there's a cornucopia of like things that kind of came together for me to experience anxiety and depression and trying to fit in and not, you know, being a foreigner at the time and a teenager and being bullied and made fun of all kind of let paved the path a little bit for me to I do feel for teenagers and I do feel for the generation that is living through these times. It's not easy. It's not easy. But find comfort in that discomfort of working out and in that physical activity because it will help. Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that.

Thank you so much. I wanted to talk to you a bit about steps. What's your take on the ten thousand steps? It's a good place to start, like I said, like walking. That's that's great. Ten to twelve thousand. My my dad does it every day. He's committed to it.

It's a good starting point. It's a good starting point, but it's how you make those steps quality, quality steps. You know? Do you work out every day of the week? Most days, but I don't. Do you have a rest day? I find that it is great to keep yourself active,

even if it's something light. So if I'm not working out, I'll go for a long walk or a hike. I think it's so important to keep yourself active even if it's something light. So if I'm not working out, I'll go for a long walk or a hike. I think it's so important to keep ourselves active because we do end up spending most of the day sitting. So even working out for an hour a day, if you spend most of your day sitting, it doesn't negate that sitting.

So it is important even speaking like throughout the day to get up and take a little bit of a walk like every half an hour, every hour. So I do try to keep active every single day. So if I'm not doing a full workout, I'll go for a walk, like I said, or a hike. No days off. No days off, really. A body in motion stays in motion. No, I know what you mean. It's so interesting how much staying sedentary is the cause of so many of our issues. We had Dr. Darshan Shah on a few months back

and he talked about the idea of just how much our quality of life changes because we're not getting up from our seats all day, whether we're at our desks or work or wherever else it may be. And so I love what you're saying about the idea of moving, even if it's not a full workout. Exactly. So your rest day is my best workout day.

Basically, basically my ideal workout day. She's like, I go on a hike when I'm not working out. And I'm like, here I am going, my hike is my workout. I love that. You do, you workout. You just told me you're into calisthenics. So yeah, you work out. Yeah, that's so funny.

I love it. Um, one thing I wanted to dive into you about as we're coming to a close here is you train some of the most well-known people in the world who seem to work really hard. Obviously Kim's been on the show and we always see Kim posting you and you guys training together. What have you learned about training with her? What have you learned about her from training with her?

So one thing that I've learned about Kim with training with her, it's her dedication. She shows up, shows up on time and it's ready to go. Never does she complain or backs away from something that I put her through. And I put her through a lot. She never backs away. She always pushes through. Wow.

Which is very impressive. I'm not surprised. She did say her workout was one of her favorite things. She's very dedicated for sure. Yeah. And you guys get organized, right? If she has a shoot coming up or she's got a specific outfit to wear for an event, like you get really...

We dial it in. We dial it in for sure. I mean you moved to LA for... I did. I did and I ended up staying here for a little bit longer than I was... Yeah, I was expected. What was it like when she first reached out to you and said, I need you to come over? What was that like?

What was that conversation like? Yes, I'll be there. Because obviously it is Kim, but I believe in working with these people that have such high influence because of the impact that they will have on the larger population. So if they can send, if through them, I can send a message of strength for women. So strength is beautiful. Strength is confidence, whatever that looks like.

Strength doesn't have to come with big muscles, you know, but if I can send that message of strength to especially young women, then to me, I've done my, my purpose is fulfilled. That's beautiful. What's the first thing you ask someone when they come to you? Anyone that comes to work with you, what's the first thing you ask them? How serious are you about this? Right.

Yeah. How serious are you about this? Like are, you know, are you going to give me a day here and there? Because that's just not going to achieve anything for you or, or, or myself. So, uh, you have to be serious about your health. Um, and I, I like to make it even though somebody comes to me saying that they need to look, look a certain way.

I always try to make it about health and longevity. Yeah. It's similar in coaching. Actually, whenever I take on a client, I've found that clients who are willing to dedicate and commit time. Exactly. See phenomenal results. Exactly. I've had clients that I have met for two hours a day,

every day for two years, and I've had clients that have met twice a week, thrice a week for three to six months. And then I have someone who's like, kind of checking in once a month, kind of checking in once a week, thrice a week for three to six months. And then I have someone who's like, kind of checking in once a month, kind of checking in once a quarter, cancel, doesn't have, and you just start to notice. And it's hard because it's not that someone is

not wanting to work hard, or it's not that they're a bad person or a weak person. Right, right, of course. It's just people have different discipline levels. Absolutely. But it's like, in order to really see an impact and see the results, there has to be that commitment. There has to be that commitment, absolutely.

You talked about the purpose of strength training. What is the purpose of workouts like Pilates and yoga and other forms? What is the purpose of those kind of workouts compared to strength training? They, like I said, I respect and utilize, I've utilized myself all modalities, you know, I love yoga, but I think there are great additives. They're great in addition to strength training because they will not most likely build muscle mass in the way that strength training can.

They will build maybe endurance, they will build some endurance, they'll build flexibility and some strength, but not to the level that lifting weights will, will, will not in so in the way that lifting weights will build your bone density. were doing some crazy yoga, they will not do that. So, but again, there is a great place and time in addition, I believe, to strength training to incorporate yoga and Pilates. What's the difference in the workout you prescribe to someone who wants to gain muscle versus someone who wants to lose weight through strength training? They don't have to be the same at all. They could be one and the same because again, at the end of the day, um, when you're building muscle, you're, you're challenging yourself, you're challenging

your muscles with a weight that you're, you're lifting, which is expanding calories and that's what you need in weight loss as well. You need expenditure of calories that, but at a caloric deficit so that's the only changing component is that caloric deficit so it's more in the nutrition versus in the workouts. I mean there is you know you can work out you can challenge yourself with the duration of the workout and then maintain your nutrition, or you can eat less basically. So be at a deficit and calories and then lose weight. So it doesn't have to be any difference there. It's just how you manage nutrition versus output. Got it. Got it. And if you're working out on your own without a trainer, it's much harder. How do you know what to add to make it more challenging to continue to get stronger or to continue to shift? Because I find like most people are working out without a trainer.

Of course, they can use the We Rise app and have that. That's what the We Rise app does. Yeah, absolutely. So I'll give you the guideline. If you'll give you the workouts, what you can do on your own is challenge yourself with the weights that you're lifting. So if, for example, the recommended reps are between eight and 12, when you get to that eight or 10, nine, 10, 12 rep,

like how are you challenged? Can you do 10 more if you're doing 10 more after that? Or if you can't do, you're doing too little weight. So you need to increase the weight. That's what you have to keep in mind I also value strongly that mind muscle connection so truly thinking about the working muscle that's actually studies that that show that if you are thinking of the muscles that you're working then that actually creates the muscle gets

bigger there is their studies to that. So if you are slowing down the movement, thinking about the muscles that you're working, I sometimes try to touch, you know, this is working, it sends that signal from your brain to the muscle that hey, we're working here, we're working here. And that will increase strength, will increase muscle mass, actually. Yeah, I've heard about that study, the idea of people almost doing weights in their mind. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there were studies that simply just did that without any weight lifting and they found a significant difference.

Yeah. Yeah, that's- The power of the mind is incredible. What else have you done for the power of the mind to affect your body? Like what other practices have you taken on at a mental or spiritual level that you feel have positively impacted your physical health? Well meditation is huge in my opinion for mental health but also if you're wanting to

visualize certain results. I feel like whenever I've been in a place where I needed to, I've competed, for example, in bodybuilding competitions in the bikini level, so that I found when it came strictly to like the physique, if you are, it's basically manifestation, you know, at that cellular level when you're thinking about the way that you want to look or feel or present yourself. So meditation is huge. I try to incorporate that every day. Journaling, also gratitude.

Every night before going to bed, I practice gratitude. Not sure how that relates to the physique, but it relates to the mental aspect. I'm grateful for your body, I guess. Absolutely, absolutely. I had to learn that. I had to learn that. I definitely was very grateful for my mind and my intelligence and my abilities, but I'd always feel like my body was letting me down.

And that negative approach to my own body only made my body let me down more. Absolutely. It's like someone in your life, if you feel like that person in your life always lets you down, guess what? They're going to let you down because you're going to look for that. Yeah, exactly. And so I was always talking to my body subconsciously in that way, where I was like, Oh, my mind is amazing, but my body lets me down. And that language that we use are so important, you know, just in this recent journey

that I shared about before with you, that was one of the big lessons that I learned is the way that sometimes we talk to ourselves, the words that we use, whether they're out loud or even just spoken in silence to ourselves are huge. Are huge, so if you tell yourself, you know, like, I hate my body, like, I wanna change this. Like, I hate, I don't know, like my stomach.

Like, that's not coming from a place of love. You are less likely to achieve results if that's coming from a place of negative sentiments towards yourself. I always, that's another thing that I always try to impart on whoever I'm working with, especially in person, is like, I want us to start from a place of love for ourselves, not from, I need to lose 20 pounds,

because that again comes from like, I hate this 20 pounds that's on me. But yeah, starting from a place of love for wherever we're at and for, I want to do this because I want to become a healthier version of myself. Fantastic. So now there's been so informative talking to you today. I feel like there's been so many great insights that we can, I think I'm going to be pulling on a lot of your insights to gain drive and gain focus to connect back in with my body because a lot of what you've shared with me has made me realize just how important strength training is, especially in my 30s where I am now,

and how important it's going to be long term, even if I don't feel it right now. So thank you so much. Of course. We end every episode with a final five. These have to be answered in one word or one sentence maximum. And so Sanada Grekha, these are your final five. The first is what is the best health or fitness advice you've ever heard or received?

Well, the advice not necessarily... Well, it's... The best advice ever was to stay true to myself and to my uniqueness. So I don't think it necessarily has to deal with the fitness part, but it's to embrace your unique self and stay true to it. The advice that I would give when it comes to fitness though would be to just start, just start.

Second question, what is the worst advice you've ever had or received? Stop lifting weights. He'll get you to be masculine and bulky. And that's not the case. Yeah. Yeah. At the end of the day, it's also, let's not judge people for how they want to look. If they want to appear a certain way, if that's what drives them, that's what they want. Let's allow.

Question number three, what's your hope for people in 2024? Just to do everything from a place of love, whatever that is. So whether it's working out nutrition or anything in their life, just start from a place of love for themselves and for everybody around them. Question number four, what's the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night? First thing I meditate, last thing I say my gratitudes. Beautiful. And fifth and final question, if you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be? I would say because this was one of my biggest lessons was to allow. I don't know if it makes sense, but one of the biggest lessons for me recently was to allow and stop being so much needing to control everything. So maybe this is more on a personal level but

I think if we allow for the good in our life or the love for the right type of circumstances, I think there's so much to gain from that. It's beautiful. Sanada, thank you so much. Thank you. For being here. Everyone who's been listening or watching, Sonada's app is the We Rise app, where you can find fitness and health tips and practices.

And of course, if you don't already, you can follow her on Instagram at atsonada.grekker. Please go and follow her right now for more fitness tips, for great workouts to get you started, to get you going. I want 2024 to be a year you're stronger, fitter and better and Sonata is going to be a big part of making that happen. Thank you so much Sonata again for your time and energy. I'm so grateful. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here. I truly appreciate it. Thank you. If you love this episode, you'll enjoy my

conversation with Meghan Trainor on breaking generational trauma and how to be confident from the inside out. My therapist told me stand in the mirror naked for five minutes. It was already tough for me to love my body, but after the C-section scar with all the stretch marks now I'm looking at myself like I've been hacked. But day three when I did it, I was like, you know what? Her thighs are cute. The Black Effect presents Family Therapy and I'm your host, Elliot Connick. Jay is the woman in this dynamic

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