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

28:46It 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 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 will 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 far outweigh any negative misconceptions. I'm going to say misconception because it is, you're not going to get big.

29:32You're not going to get huge. You're not going to be like Hulk. 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's going to change and look away that we don't want it to look. Yeah, yeah, 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.

30:15And then afterwards, a 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.

31:01So 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 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.

31:48because a lot of the time, you know, people see my physique and say, you know, it's all genetics. I actually had to fight against a lot of my genetics to get out of bed and work out. I'm predisposed to depression and anxiety. So battling those factors, that's a genetic factor that goes into play. But then when it comes to actual physique building, yes, it will, you'll vary as 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.

32:34genetics will play a bit 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, in 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?

33:21Because 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. 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. What happens if it goes too low? 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.

33:53It'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. 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 true.

34:31It'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 expand 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 not compromising your strength training process as if you were to do cardio beforehand.

35:09How 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 you know, 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 WeRise app. And obviously if you're wanting to add more cardio because you feel like, you know, adding a steady state cardio session after the 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.

36:02It sounds like you don't like cardio. I don't love cardio. That's good for us to know. 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 good hormones during HIIT sessions or cardio. So there is a benefit to that. And at the end of the day, what is so wild? So let's say while I value strength training, pick your poison at the end of the day, or pick your remedy, I should say, pick your elixir, You know, what would that be for you as long as you can get some activity in?

36:54So 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 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, one of the plans because this was quite a few years ago. Um, they'd kind of build, um, slowly and it worked on like hill, hill sprints and, and, you know, just a different variety of, uh, of things that you need to work on when you're running a marathon.

37:43But it basically started to, started with three miles and then increased to five miles and then after a week or so increased so incrementally increasing the length that I would run till I got to the to the marathon I guess yeah I never you never run the whole marathon when you're doing when you're practicing it's more like up to like 18 miles but it was just slowly over time building up to that yeah and definitely feeding that that those calories that were burning almost couldn't couldn't keep the weight on me at that point yeah because you're expending so much energy what would you now say is a great nutrition plan while someone's strength training like what kind of things have you found to be really integral and useful yeah to have and then what have you found to be useful to leave out definitely prioritizing protein.

38:36So 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. You know, protein is the building block of our of our body and what you can leave out is the infamous sugars you know the refined sugars and um so opt more for uh for complex carbs um I still like eating fruit I know there's been fruit suddenly has become controversial like if you're eating fruit and vegetables you're good.

39:28Just, uh, fit into that macro. Um, what, what, 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, for the day and macros are the macronutrients. So what are, what is your daily intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fats? Um, but I always prioritize protein. And with the protein, I mean, most of us are not getting close to that much. Now, most of us are not. Like I said, for, let's say, 120 pound person, like a gram. So you need 120 grams of protein around that per day. So, you know, they're in a piece of like palm of your hand of, let's say, chicken.

40:16There's like 20 grams of protein. So you need to be a little bit more 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? But even for my friends who eat meat, even they were saying just how challenging it was for them.

40:53like 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 what this is really important for strength trainers to know because some of the studies you've shared with us have really been powerful parking shouldn't slow you down park whiz gives every driver a shortcut book ahead Save up to 50 % and skip the hassle of circling the block.

41:26Park smarter. Park faster. ParkWiz. Download the ParkWiz app today and save every time you park. Stop settling for weak sound. It's time to level up your game and bring the boom. Hit the town with the ultra-durable LG XBoom portable speaker and enjoy vibrant sound wherever you go. Elevate your listening experience to new heights because, let's be real, your music deserves it. The future of sound is now with LG XBOOM. And for a limited time, save 25 % at LG.com with code FALL25. Bring the boom. XBOOM. There's a lot going on in Hollywood. How are you supposed to stay on top of it all? Variety has the solution.

42:09Take 20 minutes out of your day and listen to the new Daily Variety podcast for breaking entertainment news and expert perspectives. Where do you see the business actually heading? Featuring the iconic journalist of Variety and hosted by co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton. The only constant in Hollywood is change. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Daily Variety, and listen now. 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 like 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.

43:00Like 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 percent. While as compared to psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals, the numbers are 20 percent to 30 percent 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.

43:52And 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 instead of 20 to 30 percent reduced 40 to 60 percent reduced so double on both the upper and lower and lower exactly exactly that's yeah and and you're right i again we're not telling anyone not to take things that they need to take but absolutely the idea that why not have the full package 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 for some people i think there are some statistics of like around 40 % of the people don't experience the relief that they need.

45:08So 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, when you're talking about being anxiety and depression, experiencing that, I think some of it is genetic.

46:06Some of it is being a teenager and moving countries, going from Albania to, 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 Like 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 pave the path a little bit for me to experience that.

47:03And 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 10 ,000 steps? It's a good place to start. Like I said, like walking, that's great. 10 to 12 ,000. 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.

47:58Do you work out every day of the week? Most days. 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 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 and take a little bit of a walk like every half an hour every hour so i do i do try to keep active every single day so if i'm not doing a full workout i'll go for a walk like a setter hike no days off no days off really i love it a body in motion stays in motion yeah no i know what you mean it's it's so interesting how much yeah staying sedentary is the cause of so many of our issues we had uh dr darshan shan 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 exactly 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 work out my best way is your worst day you're you're 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 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.

50:07She 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, 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 we dial it in we dial it in for sure you moved to la for i did i did and i ended up staying here for a little bit longer than i was uh yeah i was expected what was it like when she first reached out and said i need you to come over what was that like what was that conversation like yes i'll be there um because yeah 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 Like strength doesn't have to come with big muscles, you know, but if I can send a message of strength to especially young women, then to me, I've done, my purpose is fulfilled.

51:31That'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, you know, are you going to give me a day here and there? because that's just not going to achieve anything for you or myself. So you have to be serious about your health. And I like to make it, even though somebody comes to me saying that they need to look a certain way, I always try to make it about health and longevity. Yeah, it's similar in coaching, actually.

52:09Whenever I take on a client, I've found that clients who are willing to dedicate and commit time see phenomenal results. I've had clients that I have met for two hours a day, every day for two years. And I've had clients that I 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 quarter, 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. Just people have different discipline levels.

52:47But 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? 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.

53:24They will build maybe endurance. They'll build some endurance. They'll build flexibility and some strength, but not to the level that lifting weights will. will not in so in the way that lifting weights will build your bone density um yoga and pilates unless you're doing some crazy yoga or pilates um 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 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, but at a caloric deficit.

54:33So 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?

55:15Because I find like most people are working out without a trainer. Of course, they can use the WeRise app and have that. That's what the WeRise app does, right? 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 8 and 12, when you get to that 8 or 9, 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.

55:49That's what you have to keep in mind. I also value strongly that mind-muscle connection. So truly thinking about the working muscle. There's actually studies that show that if you are thinking of the muscles that you're working, then that actually creates, the muscle gets bigger. There is there 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.

56:28Yeah, 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. The power of the mind is incredible. What else have you done for the power of the mind to affect your body? 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.

57:15So 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 for your body absolutely absolutely i had to learn that i had to learn that i 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 gonna let you down because you're gonna 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 the in this recent journey that is shared about before with you um that was one of the big lessons that 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, are huge, are huge.

58:48So if you tell yourself, you know, like, I hate my body, like, I want to change this, like, I hate, I don't know, like my stomach, like, that's not coming from a place of love, you're less likely to achieve results if they're, if that's coming from a place of negative sentiments towards yourself. I always, that's another thing that I always try to impart on whoever I'm working with, especially in person is like, I 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 were at and for, I want to, I want to do this because I want to become a healthier version of myself.

59:36fantastic 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 and how important it's going to be long term even if i don't feel it right now so thank you so much. We end every episode with a final five. These have to be answered in one word or one sentence maximum. And so Sonata Greca, these are your final five.

1:00:12The 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 yeah yeah at the end of the day it's also let's not judge people for how they want to look you know if they want to appear a certain way if that's what drives them that's what they they want let's allow question number three what's your hope for people in 2024 uh just to do everything from a place of love whatever that is.

1:01:22So 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 lesson was to allow. I don't know if it makes sense, but one of the biggest lessons for me recently was to allow and stop being so much needing to control everything.

1:02:09So 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 um i think there's so much to gain from that it's beautiful sanada thank you so much thank you everyone who's been listening or watching sanada's app is the we rise app where you can find fitness and health tips and practices and And of course, if you don't already, you can follow her on Instagram at at Sonata.Greka. 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.

1:02:52And Sonata is going to be a big part of making that happen. Thank you so much, Sonata, again. Thank you, Jay. I appreciate it. I'm so grateful. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here. I truly appreciate it. Thank you. 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.

1:03:22But day three when I did it, I was like, you know what? Her thighs are cute. Parking shouldn't slow you down. ParkWiz gives every driver a shortcut. Book ahead, save up to 50%, and skip the hassle of circling the block. Park smarter, park faster. ParkWiz. Download the ParkWiz app today and save every time you park. Stop settling for weak sound. It's time to level up your game and bring the boom. Hit the town with the ultra-durable LG XBoom portable speaker and enjoy vibrant sound wherever you go. Elevate your listening experience to new heights, because let's be real, your music deserves it. The future of sound is now with LG X boom.

1:04:02And for a limited time, save 25 % at LG.com with code fall 25. Bring the boom X boom. There's a lot going on in Hollywood. How are you supposed to stay on top of it all? Variety has the solution. Take 20 minutes out of your day and listen to the new daily variety podcast for breaking entertainment news and expert perspectives. Where do you see the business actually heading? Featuring the iconic journalists of Variety and hosted by co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton. The only constant in Hollywood is change. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Daily Variety, and listen now. This is an iHeart Podcast.