Well with Arielle Lorre - 459: Sustainable Fat Loss, Strength Training & How to Crave Workouts with Kenny Santucci

Episode Date: May 25, 2026

Kenny Santucci is a fitness trainer, founder of Strong New York, Strength Club, host of Strong AF podcast and one of my favorite people to talk wellness with because he genuinely tells it like it is. In a space full of extremes, gimmicks, and overcomplicated advice, Kenny has a very practical approach to fitness, nutrition, and building a body that actually feels good long term.In this episode, we break down what people get wrong about weight loss, why eating less can sometimes make fat loss harder, and how to create a sustainable routine that doesn’t completely take over your life. We talk about everything from the ideal workout split and the best forms of cardio to flexible dieting, GLP-1s, walking, processed foods, and how to actually build muscle without burning yourself out.Kenny also explains why so many people sabotage their own progress, how to start craving workouts instead of forcing them, and the difference between training for aesthetics versus longevity and overall health. This episode is packed with straightforward, no-BS advice that’s actually realistic to apply.We discuss:* The best time of day to work out* Heavy weights vs. lighter weights and higher reps* The ideal workout breakdown for results* Why most diets fail* Flexible dieting and sustainable fat loss* How to actually build muscle* The real benefits of walking* What sabotages most people’s fitness progress* Why eating too little can backfire* GLP-1s and weight loss drugs* The best types of cardio* How to order at restaurants without obsessing* Hyper-processed foods and modern eating habits* Cold plunges, saunas, and recovery tools* How to make workouts something you actually craveThis episode is brought to you by:Find Tru Fru’s new greek yogurt product in the frozen aisle of your grocery store now.Go to saltandstone.com/WELL and use code WELL at checkout for 15% off your first order.Visit qualialife.com/WELL for 50% off and use code WELL for an additional 15% off.Head to ogee.com/WELL and use code WELL for 20% off. Find the plan that’s right for you at HomeServe.com.Use code WELL for 15% off the Premium Starter Kit at BranchBasics.com. Get 15% off your sitewide purchase and use code well at drinkspindrift.com. This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a dear media production. This is Well, a podcast about wellness in all its forms. I'm Ariel Lori, and each week I'm sharing unfiltered conversations with the people shaping how we feel, live, and look. Come for the substance, stay for the honesty, and leave with the tools to be well, inside and out. Today, I have one of my favorite guests back for a long overdue part two. I am talking about Kenny Santucci. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with him.

He is a fitness expert. He's an entrepreneur. He's the founder of Strong New York. He hosts the Strong New York podcast, which has become a huge voice in the New York City fitness scene. He also owns Strength Club, gyms in New York and New Jersey. And he has spent over 15 years helping people completely transform the way they train, eat, and approach their health in a way that's actually sustainable.

And I have to say he's one of my favorite people because he really tells it. like it is. He really makes me laugh, which you'll hear in this episode, because he just doesn't sugarcoat anything. And he delivers his message with that, like, signature New York, no BS kind of delivery, which I appreciate so much in a space that's become so full of extremes, full of misinformation, full of quick fixes, saying whatever is trendy or sexy. He's just very direct, but it always comes from a place of genuinely wanting people to get results and feel better without making themselves miserable in the process. And I have to say that I went to train with him after we recorded this. And he genuinely does care. Like he lives and breathes his work because he

wants people to be the best that they can be. And he pushed me, but he also listened to me when I was hitting my limits. And we appreciate that. We love a tough man who is also going to listen to us and respect our bodies. And that is Kenny. So in this episode, we get into everything from the best workout split for real life. heavier weights versus higher reps, the actual benefits of walking, flexible dieting, GLPs, why people sabotage their own progress, how to order when eating out the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight, why under-eating can actually make fat loss almost impossible.

We also talk about how long it really takes to build muscle, the best types of cardio, recovery tools like saunas and cold plunges, how to create a routine you can stick to long term. It is practical. It is unfiltered and packed with advice that people can actually apply to their lives. I know you're going to love this one. So please enjoy Kenny Santucci. I did Pilates yesterday. I saw. Pilates here versus Pilates. L.A. is hard, but that was like, I want to take you. Yeah. I'll go. I think it would be so. I'll train with you and then I'll take you to Pilates. Done. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Which where did you go? Forma in Soho. So there was a girl who used to have a private studio on 27th and 8th Avenue.

And I used to go to her once, maybe twice a week. Okay. I was having crazy, crazy back in like 2020, 2021. And I used to go and do Pilates with her. And it was the only thing I made my back feel better. Really? Yeah. And she was awesome.

She closed her studio here and now has a studio in Connecticut. But she's probably one of the best Pilates instructors I've ever worked. Now I haven't taken a lot of it. So I can't say who's great and who's not. Yeah. But she was really good. Took her time. She, you know, very well educated in the space.

Okay. I usually, in L.A., I do one that has two reformers. So it's like very hands on. This was like 12. Okay. It's more of like a class. Class base. It was.

And I feel like I want your opinion on it. Yeah. I'm very interested in the, oh, my goodness. I almost forgot. Sunglasses? Well, I have my sunglasses if you want to put them on. But I had, I wanted to do it again, but I only had really, really dark ones. And I'm like, that might be weird.

Do you use these? Dr. Dennis Gross. You did like a wipe before. You know what? This, for a guy, this is the best product in the world because, yeah. It's like the peel ones? Yeah. I've never had a, I don't even wash my face with soap.

I'm just very, call me a dirt bag. Men are so, men are so lucky. Well, because I don't do any, like, I don't like doing anything. I have no skincare regimen, but they sent me these. They asked me on Instagram. They were like, hey, would you want to push this? I'm like, what is it? I don't want to do a bunch of lotions.

I love them. I was like, oh, yes, you're doing this. Yeah. And I was like, wait, all I have to do is wipe my face with these two things. Yeah, I'm in. So, but I found out that I have to wait too much. How often do you do them? Anytime I'm on camera, because my face just looks better.

after I'm done. Yeah. You get like a glow. Men are so lucky. Yeah. You guys, I do not envy the life of women. The amount of women I train that are like multiple pregnancies, your body gets

fucking demolished or hormones go shit. How about just not even pregnant? Like, I don't know how old you are. Okay. At 40, I'm like, I have four good days a month.

Four. Literally where I'm like. Half the month. It's not just the week. No, no. For me, it's the week after and then the week before and then the week of. So I have one week where it's like kind of steady and then there's four days in there where I'm like, this is how normal people feel.

I push any woman I train over the age of 35. I'm like, you need to get blood work done right now. Yeah, no, I need to do that. Go see one of my doctors. Like I work with a couple different companies that do this stuff. And I go, get your hormones check. I rather live to 50 and feel really good than the day I die. where live to 110 and feel like dog shit every day.

Oh, yeah. My hormones are like sputtering out. Yeah. I can't believe you're 40. I mean, you don't look fun. Thank you. It's impressive. It's my claim to fame.

I get shit on sometimes because I'm like, well, the other, it's younger people always think I'm younger. And older people are like, no, you look your age. How old are you? I'm 43. Okay. Yeah. But I. You just started.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is like the extent of my skin care. I love that you're still going for it. Dr. Dennis Gross. I love him. He's been on the show.

Yeah. Friend of the pod. I'm trying to get him on mine because I was like, for men, you're like the Messiah. Yeah. You should have them on. Yeah. I go, you have simple. Okay, good.

I was going to say I can connect here if you want. Yeah. If you got somebody else over there because we, we, I met him a couple weeks ago when we got invited to, he had like a little pop up here in the city. And I said, I go, you have. changed my game. I go because I didn't, I would never wash my face or do anything. Skin's looking good. Yeah. Yeah, I like it. It's looking even. Yeah. Balances my, my, my, my, my face.

Oh. That whole thing is going on YouTube, by the way. Good. Put it up. They should pay you, honestly. I tell you what. Dennis Gross, sponsored this guy. Yeah. Yeah. I am an advocate for what he's doing because for me, I just wanted something. The more simple and functional With my clothes, with my routines, I just want, I want to get the most bang for my book. I don't care. I care what it looks like, but it's function over fashion. Really? I'm the opposite.

I'm aesthetic over function. Oh, no. Always. I need to work. Like for me, when I was getting a car, I wanted to get, I originally went in and I was like, I'll get the range over and I'll do this whole thing and spend way more than I should on a car. The guy at the dealership was like, we have a Toyota dealership.

He goes, if you get a new Toyota, it's just going to last longer. It's a better car. You'll never have to worry about any. I go, give me the Toyota. And it looks cool. I like it. So you're practical. Yeah.

I'm more like, I don't want to have to worry about like driving it in and, you know, having the electrical system. Everybody I know what a range rovers, yes. It's issue after issue. Yeah. So I'm like, we're so relatable right now. Simple. Simple.

Okay. Well, welcome back. Thank you so much for having. me back. I want to start with this or that and some rapid fire. And then I want to get into like what's the hot topic right now, which is everyone wants to like get tight and toned for summer. Yeah. And I love your takes on all of that. You're like the perfect person to to delve into that conversation with. But anyway, okay, early morning workouts or night workouts. Early morning. If I could get it in the morning, it just sets my day up so much better. And for anybody out there, it's the most

important thing you could do on a daily basis, get it done in the morning and you don't have to worry about it. We were talking about hormones before we started recording. Do you think when it comes to females specifically and our hormones, a certain time of day is best or no? I'm not an expert in that, but I do see, it just set you up for a better day, right? Your hormones are obviously all the positive hormones in your body get released after a workout or during a workout. So it's just going to set your day up just a whole lot better. I mean, whether your hormones are in the dumps or they're really, you know, on point, you're optimal, you still will get more benefit out of doing workouts. So get it done in the morning. I think a lot of people avoid it and push it off and don't

want to get up in the morning. But I think the most important thing is getting that in in the morning and moving on with your day. Heavy lifting or higher reps? As I get older, I've leaned into the more reps. But there's a good balance, right? I think there's certain lifts that I'll have clients do and myself that are, I will stay somewhere between eight and ten. Ten years ago, 15 years ago, I was more in the one three five area just for more strength. But I think if you you shouldn't be doing low reps until you have some sort of structural integrity and years under your belt where you can handle that type of weight because that's where you're going to start to get hurt. Most new clients, anybody who comes through the door that's very green when it comes to

exercise, I start them out with like 10, 12, 15 reps is a good sweet spot for people to practice form, get used to the movement, gives me an opportunity to see how they move and adjust. And as they get more versed and better equipped to handle heavier weight, then I'll start to move them down to the six to eight category. Strict diet or flexible dieting? Oh, flexible dining. I think most people can't handle the downfall of like missing, you know, if they skip a meal or they mess up. The unraveling that happens. Yeah. Now they're like, oh, they throw the whole thing out the window. It's all the buckets. Yeah. And the amount of times people say fucking on a daily basis,

for almost everything in life, it doesn't serve you. So you're better off giving yourself a little bit of grace and leniency and moving through life that way. Group classes or solo training? I do both. I love both. There are days I need a partner. My gym is solely focused on group exercise. You're either going to work out with a trainer or you're going to work out with somebody else or multiple people. I believe that we are losing the art of communication and more people need to communicate and some people sit on a computer all day and no human interaction. So I force people into that group setting. And it gives you that. one-to-one ratio, right? You get to work out, work hard and then rest. Work hard and then rest. So I think for me, group training is 100% a necessity for your mental health and your physical

health. But sometimes I need to do things on my own and I think other people do as well. So nowadays with gyms, I tell people you should have two or three gym memberships. I'm trying to change the psychology around, well, I should only pay $10 for a gym. It's like, no, you're going to go every day or you should be going every day. It's like hygiene of any kind. So do it where it's some days you're working out on your own or you're going for a run. And then other days get that communication and work out with other people, take a class, 100%. I feel validated because now my split is I do two Pilates, one with Harley, one with another, three different strength training people and then Pilates.

Okay. And it's fun. It's like different social. You look forward to it. I think that's the most important thing. That's why. Yeah. Because I need the variety and the different personalities and like the different personalities.

and like the different style of workout that we're doing. When you live in L.A. or New York, I mean, listen, there's great trainers everywhere and I'm trying to build out this network because when I have clients, I just sent a couple people over to Harley. They're like, who can I go train with in L.A.? So I want to start to set up this network around the country of like, oh, I'm in Chicago or Texas, wherever they are. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, you're so lucky because you have such a plethora of great people there.

Yes, we're definitely fortunate on the coasts. Okay. Okay. Now I want to do Quickfire and we're going to circle back on some of the things. So one sentence answers only. Best workout for fast results. Strength training. Most overrated workout trend.

Cycling. Like any indoor cycle. Okay. I want to come back to that. Most underrated habit. Sleep. One thing everyone should do daily. Side from working out.

Communicate. Workout wise, one thing everyone should do daily. push-ups. Interesting. One thing people waste time on. Worrying. Biggest diet mistake. Healthy fats.

Mistake how? Too many? Too little. Yeah. It's like, oh, it's a good fat. I'm going to eat a whole avocado. Yeah, like my mother, I'm still trying to talk her, but it's a good fat. I go, yeah, but you had all of them.

Yeah. You had peanut butter and avocado. Your whole diet's healthy fats. You've now eaten too much of it. This is so true, by the way, I have to say, because I've fallen into that trap before as well with all the oils and all the nuts and all the avocado and like, yeah, you don't realize. No, and everybody's like, especially when it comes to salads, right? They're like, oh, but it's a healthy fat. I go, you have nuts. Yeah. You have oil. You have avocado. The whole salad is dried fruit. Yeah. Throw some sugar in there. And the whole thing's like 900 calories. Yeah. I love a 900 cow. salad. Okay. Best way to stay consistent. Accountability coach or a friend. Okay. All right. So we'll

circle back to some of those. But we are what? We're in May right now. And the theme for a lot of the fitness type episodes that I've been doing for the last few months have been like blowing up for summer because that is a huge motivation for people this time of year. Obviously we want to be looking beyond the summer. But first I want to start kind of like in the negative. What do you think a lot of people do when they're trying to get in shape for something, whether it's summer, whether it's an event, whatever, that completely sabotages their progress. Well, I think just planning for something like that and then backing off from it, they're like, all right, well, I need to be in shape for summer and then I'm done.

I think that idea is starting to change. I think more people, especially the medical industry and the health care system, is shifting the view towards, hey, you should be healthy all year round. you know and here in the northeast it's a little different than in l.A. or Miami you guys are fit all year round weather's obviously better so here we have this like bulking season of winter where people are eating a lot more and they're always wearing black and oversized clothes but i think what happens is you have this destination right whether it's a wedding or a trip you're going to take or summer and then you start to fall off i think creating a healthy habit i think changing your

habits is the most important thing. And that's the hardest thing to do. We all have bad dating habits. We all have bad eating habits. So how do we change our habits? And it's not going to happen all at once. There are micro changes that lead us up to where we should be. So when it comes to adopting an idea for summer or like what we want to do for summer, I think taken in smaller increments and realize that there's not going to be these big changes. Unless you're taking like GLP1s and peptides and stuff. This has been, which pretty much everyone, which pretty much everyone is. But again, even those, you have to adopt some sort of healthy habit. The big fear that I hear from a lot of clients is like, all right, but as soon as I start taking this stuff, what happens when I come off

it? I go, well, that's when you have to adopt these healthy habits. If you're not going to the gym, start going to the gym, if you're not starting to have an idea of like what you consume on a daily basis and realize that you could survive off that, that you don't always need a snack or some sort of drink or something in your hand to satisfy those cravings. You just need to kind of talk yourself off a ledge. There's definitely those voices. I've been, I'm one of those people. Like, you hear this voice in the back of your head, you're like, maybe I should have something. You don't really need as much as we think we do. I'm one of those people too. Yeah. Like you snack a lot. Oh my God. I'm a grazer. I'm like, oh my God, my blood sugar is going to like, I don't know.

No, yeah. If I see fruit, I'm like, I'm going to have some of that. Yeah, I'll eat fruit all day long. Yes, same. Okay. So if somebody is wanting to basically build like a sustainable routine from the ground up, they're starting at zero. Where do you like to start people? I start people. I think this is my philosophy. The gym is the gateway drug, right? Everybody needs to start with some sort of gym routine and find something they enjoy. or find someone they enjoyed being around.

If they could find that one to two days a week, that's a great place to start. You can't go from zero to 100. Very few people are successful. When they do that, there's a lot of burnout. Your body's not used to that much volume, so you want to start nice and easy. For instance, I had a guy start yesterday.

53 years old, never really worked out, had a bunch of issues. He has some knee pain. He has some neck pain. And we're just trying to find where he's comfortable. I want to start him out very simple, and I want to make sure he's not in any pain. If people start to feel pain, it's going to be a huge deterrent from them going to the gym. Now when you start to get them feeling good, their hormones are getting released through a workout,

they're feeling really good. Now I'm going to set him up with my doctor, where he gets some blood work done. We're going to try to find out what he's actually lacking when it comes to his hormones or whatever might be going on in his body. But I think the gym is the gateway drug, but finding something, because he would, was he was afraid to go to a gym you know and people don't realize it might not be this like oh scare fear but there's a hesitation to walk into a space that you don't feel comfortable and a lot of people feel like that 30% of the country actually has gym memberships maybe 40 or 50% of

that actually use the gym so when you're talking about 350 million people less than 30% have a gym membership and use it. So there's a lot of people who still need exercise and some sort of routine. And there's definitely different tiers of where people can join a gym. If you're a $10 a month person or if you're a $500 a month person, there's so many options out there and it's becoming more and more relevant. We are locking in for summer. And if you are trying to hit your protein goals or just clean up your snacking a little bit

without feeling deprived. I feel like frozen snacks are having a major moment. And one thing that I've have been personally reaching for lately is the new Greek yogurt line from Truefrew. So you may already know Truefrew from their frozen chocolate covered fruit, but they also just launched a Greek yogurt version. And it's honestly such a good lighter sweet option when you want something cold and refreshing, but still satisfying. What I like is that it starts with real frozen fruit and then it's covered in creamy Greek yogurt. So you get that take. refreshing flavor instead of something overly heavy or overly sugary and the texture is just so good too, especially straight out of the freezer. They have strawberry, raspberry, and banana. And I would say

the raspberry is probably my favorite right now, although they're all so good. And because we're talking fitness in this episode, I will say this. One of the hardest parts of staying consistent with your goals is feeling like you can never have anything fun or sweet. I am personally not into that approach at all. I think having easy options on hand that actually taste good makes staying on track feel way more realistic long term. So these are great post-workout as a post-dinner or late-night snack or honestly just for that afternoon moment where you want something sweet, but you don't want to totally derail your day. They're made with real fruit. They're frozen and refreshing and they genuinely feel like a treat while still being a little more balanced. So you can find the new

true fruit Greek yogurt bites now in the freezer aisle at your grocery store. So definitely keep an eye out. let's talk about scents and deodorant since we are talking about fitness and working out in this episode. And in doing so, I need to talk about salt and stone because I wear their santaul deodorant constantly and every single time I have it on, somebody asks me what scent I'm wearing and the funny part is it's deodorant, it's not even perfume. So the santaal scent is just so good. It's fresh, it's clean, it's slightly woody and somehow still sexy without being overpowering. It gives you that effortless, you naturally smell amazing vibe instead of smelling like you sprayed on a heavy fragrance, which one, I don't like to do ever. And two, especially in the summer when it's hot and you want to feel fresh all day, it's become one of my staples.

And I don't necessarily want to be wearing perfume during the day when I'm at the beach and out in the sun and sweating and all of the above. So beyond the scent, the formula is why people are obsessed with it. Salt and Stones deodorants are aluminum-free formulated for food. 48-hour protection and they genuinely hold up through workouts, long days, travel, all of it. I also love that they have discovery sets because picking one scent is honestly difficult. You can try Sontal, Bergamot, Saffron, and Noroli and figure out which your signature scent is going to be. So right now you can try Salt and Stone's Discovery Set to find your signature scent.

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Go to qualiaLife.com slash well for 50% off. And as a bonus, you can use the code well for an additional 15% off your order. That's Q-U-A-L-I-A-Life.com slash well and use the code well. Thanks to Qualia for sponsoring this episode. You know when your makeup looks amazing when you first put it on and then by the middle of the day, somehow it starts looking heavier, drier and cakeier. Like it's sitting on your skin instead of melting into it, especially in the summer. I feel like that's the difference between makeup that's just pigment and filler versus makeup that actually works with your skin. And that is honestly why I love OG so much. I genuinely use these products all the time, especially in the summer because they give that effortless, bronzed,

glowy, healthy skin look without feeling heavy at all. Their crystal contour collection is basically my ideal summer makeup. The products blend so easily. They layer beautifully and they somehow make you look polished while still looking like yourself. And what's really interesting is that the formulas are nearly 90% skincare ingredients. Things like green coffee oil, elderberry extract and cold pressed hohoba. So it's makeup, but it almost wears like skincare on the skin and the finish is super breathable and natural. It stays looking fresh throughout the day. Instead of getting patchy or overly matte, I also love how streamlined it makes getting ready. collection has three sticks, copper for warmth and contour, rose courts for flesh and opal for glow.

And you can literally do your whole face in five minutes. It's that perfect. I just got back from vacation makeup. That's especially good this time of year. So if you're ready to raise your beauty standards, OG's got you covered. Go to OG.com slash well and use the code well for 20% off. That's OGE.e.com slash well and the code is well for 20% off. Okay. So say that somebody is in that position where they have the membership or whatever and they want to start. What is like a very basic routine? What should we be focusing on? How many days a week should we start with? Like do you have kind of a prescription that you give people? Yeah. Like for him, I told him. I was like, I want you here one day a week. I think we talked about this last time too. Yeah. The restraint, which is like the hardest thing. And it's like I should be doing more. It's like, yeah, but you haven't. I was like, I want you here one day a week. I think we talked about this last time too. Yeah. Yeah. The restraint. And it's like, I should be doing more. It's like, yeah, but you haven't. I don't. done anything up to this point. You're 54 years old. You haven't done anything. He's like, well, what should I do? Go walk. Walk more. Chalk up good habits in other areas and don't worry so much about the gym. The gym will come. For people like us, you're paying trainers, you're going

to studios, you're doing all this stuff. You can't not go. That's why I do it, by the way. That's why I pay people because otherwise I'm not going to work out. Exactly. But for somebody like me, I can't not, and I know there's a lot of people like this. You get to a point where you're like, I need to do something on a daily basis. Even though you have that accountability coach, you're just trying to find things that you find fun or keep you engaged. But in reality, mentally, you can't go a day without it. So why do we have half the, or more than half the population who won't even step foot in a gym? To me, that's mind boggling. What the fuck do you do with your day? And then there's people like us who are like, well, I can't miss. I got to go do something.

Now it's just a matter of deciding on what that something is. So for most people, if you're not doing anything, I say start with one day week and start to crave it, right? It's like taking a hit. You're like, oh, this feels good. Then we could go to two days a week. So now, like, let's front load and backload it. So it's do Monday and Friday or Saturday.

Then you want to sneak another day in there. And you'll slowly build up to this point where you want to do that. For instance, I had a guy who's a very busy guy, very successful guy, started me in December and we started one day week. Then we went to two days a week. Now we're at four days a week. And he loves it. And now when he's not with me, he's like,

fuck it, I signed up for a triathlon. So now he's doing a triathlon. So the day's not with me. He's running, biking, swimming, doing something else. He went from doing nothing at 48 years old to now he's doing something every day. But it was a gradual progression. It took six months for him to get there. Yeah, I think that's such a good approach because you're kind of

tricking them into it. Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah, you're tricking them. You want them to start to want to have it around. Yeah. Yeah. And you want what you can't have. For sure. That's like the psychology thing. Well, because now it's, it's so readily available and people see it's there, but they don't use it. You know, there are, for instance, running a gym, having a, they're always like, could you add a class at this time? Could you get this? And then you put it there and nobody uses it, right?

Everybody's like, oh, I want a cold plunge. I want a sauna. I get, yeah, yeah. And as soon as I There are so many gyms. I worked at Equinox for a while. I worked at multiple different gyms. We'd always like get all this shit, do all this stuff, and no one uses it. So you want to try to find something, you want to try to trick them into be like, okay, hey, on Saturday we're going to have the cold plunge. So now everybody's there on Saturday, use the pole plunge. And so that's how you get people that kind of get used to going to the gym or using whatever amenities you're trying to get used. Yeah. What about the person who's like walking every day and doing Pilates a few times a week.

Here's my thing. I recommend walking to everyone. I truly do. I think it's great. Obviously, you burn a ton of calories. You're burning a lot of energy doing it. It's the most simple thing you can do. Everybody should be able to do it.

Everybody should be doing it. But when people are like, why walk today? I'm like, great. But don't stop there. You need to level up. You need to do something else. So I encourage people to, yes, I keep walking. 10,000 steps is a great number.

Try for 12 next week or 15. Move as much as you can. The body loves to move. We feel so much better for a reason, right? We're meant to do these things and we should do them more often. And what are you saying about Pilates? Like the person who's walking and doing Pilates. Do you think that's sufficient?

If that's your gateway drug, great. But you can't just stay there. I'm taking you to this class. I was telling Kenny before we started recording that I went to Forma yesterday in Soho. it was, it was like torture. It was so hard. And yes, you're using your body weight. So you're not adding additional weight to that.

But it was crazy. I think we've associated hard with results. And it's not necessarily the case. If I held this coffee out here for the rest of this time, eventually I'm going to be like, this is getting heavy. Could I put my arm down? Okay. So I think we.

We've added this layer. So, for instance, within the strength and condition world, there's these guys who own a gym in New Jersey, and they started doing these, like, crazy workouts. And it's like 100 deadlifts and all this shit. And there was like, oh, that's crazy. Eventually, your body's going to start to break down and get hurt from it. If you're only doing Pilates, I want to encourage people who are only doing Pilates to add and adopt some more strength training into their regimen, and vice versa.

If you're only strength training, I encourage people. There was just a video I actually sent my friend. I was texting my friend Stephanie last night. And I sent her a video of, what's that guy who was washing his face with the lemon water and shit? Anyway, he was running. Why is he washing his face with lemon water? I know. Yeah, he was doing like, but he was using like Saratoga Springwater to wash his face.

Anyway, he was running with this very famous bodybuilder. and the bodybuilder looked like a fat kid running. He couldn't move out of his own way. So I encourage everyone to adopt more of a wide range of skill sets because we want to be able to do everything. If I'm just bodybuilding, add some Pilates in there. If I'm just doing Pilates, add some bodybuilding. Run, lift, move, go outside, play with your friends,

you know, have a pickup basketball game. Whatever it is, I think we just need to, because we are going to do it every day, people ask me, I own two gyms. I also have four gym memberships. If you're like, hey, come do Pilates, I'm in, let's do it. I want to do everything and anything I could because I never want to get to the point where I can't move or something's difficult. So anything that challenges me in different planes of motion, I want to do that. Yeah, that's the most important thing too, right? Because we're talking so much about aesthetics, but like at a certain point in your life, it becomes about mobility and balance. And, you know,

you see so many people like be healthy and then they fall and then that's it and aesthetics are the cherry on top of the cake yeah if i'm doing all these other things if i'm challenging my shoulder strength by doing handstands and yoga if i'm testing my mobility and stability through Pilates then that's going to lead to a better version of myself and now when you start to do these things even the other day one of my clients said to me he goes i like coming here because then when i go out at night. He works in the restaurant industry. He's like, when I go out at night, I'm not as tempted because I feel so good after I work out that I'm not drinking and eating like shit. So move as much as you can. There's no reason why you can find something on a daily basis

to do because there are so many options now. If you want any type of class at any given moment or a run club or something, just find something, hang out with other people. I get it. there are times when I'm in my apartment, I don't want to leave and I want to do anything. I force myself to go out sometimes. I force myself into community situations as much as possible because one, you never know who you're going to meet. And two, it's always going to be more beneficial to be around people than to sit at home by yourself.

You mentioned like your client who works in the restaurant industry and how working out makes them feel so good. Do you think that because it's kind of like a chicken or the egg, right? And a lot of people have different opinions on like what's more important. when it comes to your physique, especially nutrition or exercise, what do you normally see? Do you see that people get into like the healthy habit where they're starting to walk? They're doing the one day of strength training and then they start to feel so good that they don't want to eat the whatever, you know, junk food it is or vice versa. I think when if someone starts, so for instance, my doctor will send me clients.

these tend to be people who have just started on a GLP1 or some sort of peptide where she's like, okay, you can't just take this. Now you need to start working out. So when they start losing weight, their cravings go down. You start taking any type of GLP 1 or GLP 2, 3, whatever it may be. You start taking these things and now you're starting to have less cravings. That voice gets a little lower in your head. those people will start to adopt, hopefully, better nutritional habits, and that'll be like,

well, I'm skinny now. Now I need to change this. Now I need to put some muscle on, and I see it all the time. And then the people who start in the gym are like, I feel really good. How could I dial this up? I think as humans, we always want more, right? Yeah. Give me an arm. They want a leg. Yeah. So we want to, again, trick people into how do I level up? And what we talk about, at my event, at my gym, the whole philosophy behind my business is like, I want to create as many winners around me as possible so that I level up everyone. When you see yourself, you're, I'm guessing the catalyst or the lightning bolt in your friend group where you're like, well, I'm doing this, I'm doing that. And other girls are like, oh, shit, your friends are like, I want to do that too.

I should do that. You want to be that person in your friend group or the people you're surrounded by. Hey, I'm trying this. I want to do this. I want to level up. And if you have a bunch of winners around you, eventually you're going to win. You know, even when I go and do jiu-jitsu, a couple of guys I was talking to, they're like, hey, I started doing judo. I'm like, man, maybe I should go do that. It's only going to make me better. Hanging around winners and people. And you want to have as many winners around as possible, whether it's your friends, your family, your significant other, whoever it is, help them win because it's only going to level up your game.

That's true. And it kind of goes both ways. That's that saying? Like the rising tide. Raise all ships. Yeah. And you also are kind of a sum of the people that you spend your time with. You know, we're so heavily influenced by that. I say that, you know, there's so many times when I'm, my brother loves to go out and party and drink. And him and his friends are all in that cycle.

They're all in their like 40s, you know, mid to late 30s, 40s. And they're always like, oh, come here and we're going to go eat pasta. I'm like, I ain't eating that shit. None of my friends would even dare ask me. Oh, you want to go eat pasta? I'm like, what? Fuck out of here. No.

No shot. Really? I don't even think about it. Okay. So what are you eating when you go out? Steak, chicken, fish, vegetables. I try to stick to that. Every once in a while I'll cheat.

I'm not like a complete lame ass with that stuff. Every once in a while I'll have a glass of wine. But if I'm going to cheat, I want it to be worth it. If I'm going to have a glass of wine, I want it to be really good wine. If I'm going to smoke a cigar, I want it to be a really good cigar. I'm not. doing it all the time. So it's like once, maybe once a week, once every two weeks is fine. But when you abuse it, these are things that were meant to be enjoyed. Yeah. Not like,

I'm sitting home by myself. I'm going to order a box of wine to the house and drink that. Like, I think that's when you start to. Can I still make them? I don't know. But if you're doing that, you should really check yourself in the area. I mean, I was doing that when I was like 18. Yeah. But our generation in our 20s, that was like, if you weren't going, out and drinking. Oh my God. And spending a ton of money at a club or something. You were a loser. That was the lifestyle. Yeah. It was so different. Wellness was not a thing when we were in our 20s. Not like this. No. Not like this. It's a totally different ballgame. Yeah. People, I mean, we're going to sound so old. I'm going to sound so old. But people that are like in their teens and

20s now are so lucky because they have everything at their fingertips. And there is such an emphasis on health and longevity. And I mean, opposite for us. Or at least I was smoking. cigarettes every day doing drugs in the club, up for days, like drinking all the time in the sun for 10 years. Did not stop. You were, if you went to bed before 1 o'clock. Oh my God. It's like, what are you a loser? I wouldn't go out until one in the morning. No, we wouldn't go. And then I'd sleep for about two hours and go to work. Yeah. And I did that for 15 plus years. And you felt completely fine, right? I would literally like come home at six and be like, oh, got to get ready for work. and go and be totally fine until I wasn't.

But for a while, I was able to sustain it. Now, forget it. If I don't get eight hours, it's like... No, I need to get in that routine. Like, even last night, I went to bed at like 10 o'clock and woke up so good. Like, sleep is so important. So important. And I've denied it for so...

Like, I've just avoided it. I'm like, no, I just got to keep the foot on the gas the whole time. But sleep definitely helps me think better. helps me make better decisions. Yeah. Yeah. Sleep more. Kids, back there, sleep more.

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What are some other things that sabotage results? I mean, obviously we know, like, excessive alcohol, excessive, you know, eating, like, no food is bad, right? inherently, quote unquote, unless it's like super, super hyper processed. I think people know to not be eating that all the time. Well, you would think, but it's still, it's still a thing. Like, the obesity rate is still climbing. But that's also like food accessibility thing.

I mean, a lot of people don't have access to the food that we have here. You can fight me on that if you want. No, I think when I think about it, yes, there are food deserts in the country. Don't get me wrong. However, you go to a Costco, most a Costco or Walmart, there are better options. Yeah, frozen vegetables. You go into any convenience store or gas station. And the fact that there's still like Cheetos and shit like that on the wall, people are

are buying this shit. Yeah. If you didn't make it an option, you know, most people need to be told, hey, don't do that. They're still choosing to buy and eat that stuff. A bag of Cheeto, like, let's say you go into a wah-wa or 7-Eleven. There's fruit options. But people aren't choosing those. No. They're choosing. And when you eat a bag of chips, what's the first thing you think? Well, I could have finished another bag. That's the problem. They're high calories. low nutritional density. There's nothing in them. So you're just eating and eating and eating

and you're not full. So that's the problem. It's like people need to double down on what is gonna satiate you a little bit more. And I think that's a problem. But listen, there's definitely a voice in some people's heads that growing hormone in our body that tells us I we're still hungry.

I definitely suffer from that. I know other people who do. I sympathize with people when GLPs and stuff first came out. I was telling people, if you're struggling from this, try it. I'm not saying stay on it all the time. I'm not saying use it as a crutch. I'm saying use it as a catalyst to get you started, feel better. Realize how good you can feel.

Because as humans, our body is very good at adapting to stress and pain and we normalize it. We're like, okay, this is what I should be dealing with. When in reality, no, there's a better life for you. There's a better alternative. We just don't feel it because we normalize that pain. And then as soon as you get out of the pain, you're like, how do I live like that for so long? Yeah. So I encourage people to try whatever you can and make better choices.

There are other options out there. And I love what we do with my event is we try to get as many of these new CPG brands. I just went to what's the food event? Expo. Yeah, Expo West. They're putting protein and everything. Oh, my God. It's crazy.

For sure. Yeah. There's like, yeah, it's like protein, protein, protein, protein, fiber, like fiber maxing, protein maxing, yeah. Yeah, protein maxing, fiber maxing. Yeah. We're just putting it at everything. Yeah. So there are better options out there. For instance, my friend, have you ever heard of legendary foods?

Mm-hmm. So my buddy Bruce owns that company. If you are craving, if I'm craving a pop-tor, I'm going to go eat their pop-tor. Mm-hmm. You know, we all have these same cravings. I want a donut. I want some. So there are better options.

Mm-hmm. You know, I don't tell people. people avoid the food, but when you want it, just make a better choice. You know, and there's artisanal versions of it that are made with better ingredients. My friend owns a restaurant over here called Impact Kitchen. Is it the healthiest thing to eat? No, but it's a better option than eating Drake's coffee cakes or tasty cakes or whatever the hell is out there at a 7-Eleven.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Got it. Okay. If somebody is wanting to like tone up quickly, so we have the food part down. What are the best exercises or like what is the best split? It depends on how often you're lifting or how much you're working out. I tell everyone, use Pilates, yoga, a lot of that stuff as accessories.

If you want to change your physiology, look at the extremes. Who looks aesthetically the best or has the extremes of what most people want to look like? It's a bodybuilder. So what is a bodybuilder doing? You know, if I want to look more like a runner, I'm going to go do it, If I want to look like, you know, an athlete, a boxer, I'm like, okay, I'm going to go do what they do. Cardiovascular work has always been at the forefront of like, oh, you want to lose weight, do cardiovascular work. But it's called cardiovascular. I'm working my cardiovascular. So my heart and my lungs are

working. Yeah. But I'm not necessarily changing my aesthetics. If I want to change my aesthetics, then I need to load up equipment and start doing that stuff. So for most people, I'm like, If there's not some sort of strength. And it takes a very long time. I've said this a thousand and one times in every, you know, forum that I've been in, I say, if I want to, if I want to get strong, it's going to take me a very long time.

It's going to take me six years. If I want to get you fast, it'll take me six weeks. I could get you prepared for a race, almost any sort. If I put you through cardiovascular work and you'll improve your VO2 max, your cardiovascular. a lot faster. You could adapt to that a lot faster than you could with strength. You want to get strong, it takes a very long time and strong relative to who you are. I'm not saying, oh, hey, we'll start training tomorrow and in six years from now have you be a power lifter, no. Yeah. But relative to who

you are at this point in your life, we could get you to hear if you really dial this in. But if I came to you, well, I'm going to train with you tomorrow and I say, I want to look, lean and toned and I go away in five weeks. What would you do? Here's the thing. If I have someone who come to me and I've taken shit for it because I do promote any peptides or g-l-ps, but it's a resource like anything else. But if you were like, hey, I'm getting married in five weeks from now, I need to be in

the best shape of my life. I'd be like, go get some blood work done. Let's see where we could get you. with the help of these compounds and this stuff and strength training, I'll get you there as fast as we possibly can. I wouldn't have you do hours of cardiovascular work. I'd say, hey, do something in the morning or something at night. Obviously, anything we ramp up or do, you're going to get more benefits out of.

We want to balance your diet, make sure you're eating enough because people now think like, oh, I want to lose weight and I want to be lean, I should stop eating. When in reality, you're only making it worse. Sometimes your body will start to hold on to anything you give it because now you're stressing it to the point where you're in starvation mode. So it's not good. So we want to go through what your goals are, where we could potentially be in five weeks, but we just to really adhere to that plan. But if you were in a crunch and you

want this to happen, for instance, I have a client who's June, it's his 50th birthday. And he said, goes, I want to look my best. I'm like, okay, he's like, but I don't want to use anything. That's fine. I respect. I'm not pushing anybody to do anything. They don't want to do. But I said, I go, we need to do strength training at least four times a week and then do some other type of walking or cardiovascular work. There's other days on top of the days we're doing. So move as much as you can. You're going to burn more calories. And one, it's just going to get you into a better routine. You're going to feel better. And then you're going to get the best results. But having some sort of four to six day program is going to be a good place to start.

How quickly can somebody put on muscle to where it's visible? It takes a long time. It does take a long time. Okay, we'll close with a couple more rapid fire. Sure. Well, I know the answer to this, but cardio versus weights, which matters more. I mean, weights. Do you have to do cardio?

Yeah, I think so. Okay. Like sprints or like what are we talking about here? I think it's a combination of all of it. Okay. I think if you want to live a longer healthier life, the O2 Max, you know, because so many people are like, the science, the science, like, I'm not in a fucking lab. I don't do that. I'm on the floor and I've been on the floor for 15 years training people.

So do I have medical practice, you know, have I been in a lab or studied people's day? No, what I've studied is the practical application of training somebody in person. So I've had clients for years, 10 years I've had some of my clients. And I know it works and I know it doesn't work. I know when they fall off. I know when they're not. I know what they need to live a longer, healthier life. I have clients from four years old to 84 years old.

Everyone needs to do as much as they possibly can. I have my older clients do, especially when they're older, they're doing two, three days a week. I want to give them some sort of cardiovascular work to keep their heart and lung strong. and then I want to give them some sort of strength training to bone density and muscle tissue and everything else. So yes, you should be doing both. If you're going to choose one, which I think is the dumbest idea in the world, you know, strength training.

Yeah. Yeah. But I encourage people to sprint, you know, because it works on a different system in your body than just walking. Okay. Cold plunges, saunas, all the extras. Helpful or distraction? For the beginner, for a new user towards to health.

longevity, I think it's, I think it's a bit of a distraction. It's the final five percent of which you should be doing. But if it's a gateway drug for you to meet people and, you know, get you into the gym more and get you eating right, then it's great. For me, I use it every once in a while, like if I could work it into my routine, but it's, it's the last of my priorities. You know, I think, I was explained to somebody the other day on the wellness spectrum of like events that are out there. There's the Arnold and the Olympia and bodybuilding and the avatar that goes to that specific event is a younger kid who wants a workout, loves like wearing gym shark clothes and taking supplements. And then on the far left, you have these wellness oasis and the coffee and chill.

And that avatar is more of a 35 to 45 year old woman who likes wearing like bohemian style shit and big hats and stuff. They're more concerned about doing cold plunging and red life therapy and breath work. Breath work and all this shit. So on the two extremes, you have people who are doing too much on this end, too much on this end. We try to fall in the middle where we're like, yes, this stuff's great. And it gets people excited and, you know, enters them into this world of taking better care of themselves. And so is this stuff. So we try to kind of merge those two worlds a little bit more.

Amazing. Well, tell everybody where they can find you. At Strong New York. Obviously, my brand. We're doing a big event. September 26. Very branded. Yes, very branded.

September 26th, we're having our 10th event where we'd love to have you there. When? September 26th. Okay, just remind me. We'll get you on the calendar. And then at Kenny Santucci. We have a YouTube page with Strong New York, so go check it out. Thank you so much.

Thank you. I hope you enjoyed that episode. If you liked the episode, and if you like the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes such a long way in supporting the show. Follow the show over on Instagram at well.pod. You can also follow my personal Instagram at Ariel Lorry. I'm always sharing great clips from the episodes. And we also have full episodes on YouTube as well if you want to watch in entirety.

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