WHOOP Podcast - Kirsty Godso, Master Trainer & Energy Dealer on taking the work she does in the gym and amplifying it outwards into the lives of herself and her clients.

Episode Date: March 5, 2019

Kirsty Godso, Master Trainer and fitness model discusses why she calls herself an energy dealer (2:58), her nutrition (8:12) and workouts (12:30), the strain of teaching vs working out (13:28), heart rate recovery as a training tool (17:57), the concept of strategic laziness (30:56), hangovers compared to sleep deprivation (32:52), the rare times she's "in the red" (34:39), how she defines success with a client (41:32), WHOOP as a support system (51:01), why working with your body is a partnership and not a dictatorship (57:25), finding an upside to a serious injury (1:04:13), and the 7 different books she's reading right now (1:09:58).Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

We discovered that there were secrets that your body was trying to tell you that could really help you optimize performance, but no one could monitor those things. And that's when we set out to build the technology that we thought could really change the world. Welcome to the WOOP podcast. I'm your host, Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of WOOP, where we are on a mission to unlock human performance. At WOOP, we measure the body 24-7 and provide analytics to our members to help improve performance. This includes strain, recovery, and sleep. Our clients range for the best professional athletes in the world,

to Navy SEALs, to fitness enthusiasts, to Fortune 500 CEOs and executives. The common thread among WOOP members is a passion to improve. What does it take to optimize performance for athletes, for humans, really anyone? We're launching a podcast today. deeper. We'll interview experts and industry leaders across sports, data, technology, physiology, athletic achievement, you name it. My hope is that you'll leave these conversations with some new ideas and a greater passion for performance. With that in mind, I welcome you to the Whoop podcast. I've never really had an accurate measure of how hard my body was

actually working when I'm teaching class because I'm so energetic. and when I teach a class, best believe I'm going to lay my soul on the floor for the people that are in there. My strain is higher when I'm teaching in class with bear in mind I'm doing maybe 10 to 15% of the workout with these people now. It will be higher than a workout that I've done in the gym.

Hi folks, today's guest is Kirstie Godzo, master trainer, fitness model, founder of made of and pyro girls. You've probably seen Kirstie and, her good friend Joe Holder, a fellow master trainer and recent guests on the show, as the faces of our In the Green campaign, whoop.com, I'll tell you what, Kirstie knows how to stay in the green despite a crazy lifestyle. She lives in Manhattan, where we sat down to discuss her training philosophies, how she incorporates them into her client's lives inside and outside of the gym,

all the workouts she does personally, nutrition, recovery techniques, ultimately. how she keeps up with New York City. We also talk about what she's learned from Woop and how it's helped her optimize her lifestyle. Kirstie has an infectious nature that exudes positivity, really made for a fun conversation. Without further ado, here's Kirstie. Thanks for doing this.

Thank you so much for having me. Well, I'm very excited to talk to you about all the various fitness habits and health obsessions that you have. I thought I'd first start by just asking you, how do you describe what it is that you do? That's a great question. Now that there's some coffee in the system, I would definitely say,

no, I always describe myself as an energy dealer. And people are like, what does that mean? I'm like, well, it's legal, mostly. But I prefer, I never describe myself as a personal trainer. I more think I work in the business of bodies. So everything that comes from the work that you're going to do in the gym to your lifestyle that you live out on the street, like really trying to help people.

evolve and create these healthy habits that don't seem like a discipline, they're more a choice and they become a behavior. So people are really empowered to, you know, take what the work we do in the gym and really like amplify outwards into their life because we know we're not living in the gym, right? Obviously you guys know that with whoop and everything that it tracks across our day. But the same with what I do. I'm like, okay, yes, we might spend an hour together in the gym, but I'm just preparing you for everything else that's going to happen outside of that. So separately aside from being a Nike master trainer which is another elaborate kind of confusing title in itself I run two companies by myself one being a protein powder one being pyro girls

which is I would say an extension of my personality but it's a workout kind of series and we make some fun merch and stuff but that's just like a fun way to engage with people and then I have private clients and I consult for various brands across the wellness space and basically anything that's going to try and motivate people to be healthier like I'm down the people that you meet and a majority of the people I've met has been through fitness like either they've come to one of my classes or I've met them at a Nike thing or through a mutual friend that's also in wellness and I've met some of the most amazing people in finance and tech and like music and stuff and in fashion and it's I think New York allows you to be a trainer but be

immersed into so many different cultural spheres that not many other cities were like if I was just a trainer in Australia or something I like trying to do my same thing here I would have yet to have as many of those touch points as you have getting to sit in New York which really is the epicenter of fitness but also many other things that are kind of happening and bubbling up well let's focus for a second on your lifestyle I mean you're a very healthy person you look incredibly fit I can tell you exercise all the time you can tell even though I'm wearing like a dad's sweater like baggy jeans I have also seen all the various social media things you put out into the world So, what does a day in the life look like?

Like, first thing you wake up in the morning, what do you do? Cold shower. Love it. Like, literally, I'm awesome at waking up just before my alarm, which I love because no one wants to wake up to that horrible sound. You know, I do that about half the time. Yeah. So half the time, I'll wake up not to my alarm.

Yeah. And I often tell people it's one of the best ways to figure out how relaxed your body is and also how well restored your body is. Yes, because I feel like it's just like, okay, it's go time. Yeah, well, it's a sign that your body got enough rest on its own. So that's always like, I love waking up before my alarm, even though my alarm's so early. It's not that I desire to wake up earlier. When do you wake up?

So usually I get up at like 5 or 515. So it's pretty early. Yeah, it's early. Okay, cold shower. Cold shower. How long have you been doing cold showers? Oh my gosh, yes. Probably like four years.

So I just got into cold showers maybe eight months ago. Thoughts? I absolutely love them. Love it. It's really changed for your metabolism too. Yeah, interesting. I've lost weight from taking cold showers, I think. Guys, you heard it here first.

Because I was reading about it. Yeah, there's a lot of control. And I wasn't trying to lose weight. No, but I think, I mean, more than, I mean, I don't do it for a weight loss perspective either. I do it. I'm like, wake up, let's go. Yeah, right. But I do like, I mean, I'd love to be somewhere hot for vacation and things like that.

But in terms of water, I would always pick a cold plunge over a spa pool. Like, I want to be in cold. It makes you feel, I think, much more energetic. Yeah. Right. And then there's also, it's shifted my point of view just on the cold in general. Yeah. You know, when you go outside and you're in the cold, you're kind of immediate reaction, the human reaction is I got to get out of the cold.

Yeah. But once you come to embrace the cold. Yeah. Well, it's funny because I do cryotherapy all the time and it might be a day where it's like, okay, I still took in Celsius. But say it's like, there was a day who was like minus 17 Celsius outside, which is cold in Fahrenheit. And I went into cryo and people like, why would you go and do cryo? Right. Like, while it's that cold, I was like, it's cold anyway.

I'm just following my regular routine. Like, my body actually, like, doesn't care. Like, if it's bad weather, I'm still going to go to the gym. Sure. Like, you know what? Yeah, the weather, you can't overthinked by it. Yeah. So, okay, so cryo is something you like, obviously.

I like cryo. I love him for it, sauna. Do you ever go back and forth between hot and cold? I mean, if I'm somewhere really, like, luxurious, like, one of the spas that you can do that, like, if I'm at, like, the air baths down in Tribeck, or if I'm at, at Great Drones Spa or something, but most facilities don't really, yeah, it's one or the other just because they're not right there next to each other. Okay, so you wake up in the morning, 515, cold shower, boom, get up.

Now what? Then I, while I'm like making a smoothie, because like I used to like, so smoothie for breakfast. So I love to eat eggs for breakfast, right? I was always trying to be, I was always, I was keto for a long time. And then even when I'm not strictly keto, I'm always loosely following a keto. style. I never talk about diet. I won't use the word diet. I hate it because I think it's like a really restricting word. Which is totally the right point of view. The fact that there's 10,000 diets show that diets don't work. You need to create some kind of lifestyle around eating.

Well, it's also, it's a conversation with your body. That's what it is. It's can you listen to your body as much as you can talk at it? Like I talk a lot, but I best believe I listen a lot to my body um describe what is included in a keto diet just in case anyone listening so keto diet you're going more high fat high protein low carb you cut out like basically all fruit and that's the hardest part for me is like because i love like blueberries i used to love i stopped eating bananas for like six years and i love bananas and now that i'm in new york i've added them back in so i'm not strictly keto you know i have bananas um but i'm also celiac and i always have been so keto works perfectly for me because I'm not going to be eating a lot of grains anyway and then

other grains that I could eat like rice and stuff that I'm not affected by allergy-wise I choose not to eat because I feel so much better without so I eat like I eat no grains and like I won't eat legumes and like I don't eat a lot of root vegetables even because they're just like I just know what my body digest and what it doesn't and I mean you seem like a very high energy person right it sounds like you have a very low carb diet. Yeah. What do you think is driving a lot of the energy that you build up throughout the day?

The fat and protein. Like, I really struggle when I have no meat. Right. I could never be vegetarian. I find it so funny, too, because I get a lot of comments on my Instagram and people being like, I really want to follow a vegan lifestyle like yours. I'm like, when have I ever, like, I've never even been close to vegan. Never suggested that.

Nothing that there's wrong with being vegan, but it's never been me. Like, I also come from New Zealand. We have phenomenal meat. That's true, yeah. Like, great meat. like, you know, grass-fired cows, like, but when I moved to the States, I noticed especially over, like, and there's really been a shift for me over the last year and a half where I cannot eat eggs here.

It just, I get such a hormonal reaction with my skin. So I can't eat eggs. It doesn't matter if I buy free range organic. It doesn't matter. Like, I'm used to eggs in New Zealand that come from my neighbor's farm. Like, I'm, like, really close to sauce. So you think the eggs are better over there? Oh, for sure.

Like, that's a fact. 1,000 percent. And you see the color of them as totally. different. Interesting. So I had to change. So I have a morning smoothie. While I'm having my smoothie, I always...

Now your smoothie doesn't have fruit in it. So I can put, sometimes I'll put in like half a frozen banana or I might use some frozen blueberries. And do you put different supplements in? You've got a protein. Yeah. So I put my protein in. So I made away protein isolate, which only has four ingredients because I was kind of

exhausted by trying to find the perfect protein for my body. And also, I never had anything to recommend. other people like honestly I had thought about doing this for a long time but never wanted to and then when I moved to the States I was like I have to do this because it is just terrible like a lot of this stuff okay well we'll come back to the person we'll come back to it so I put a scoop of that in okay and then I have I put a lot of ice in if I'm having like half a banana I might pour a little bit of cold brew in or something otherwise I just put water I never mix with coconut water arm milk or oat milk or anything it just if you have a good protein you don't need people are just used to putting

unnecessary stuff into whether it's their food, their training, everything, right? I totally agree with that. Cut the shit. Less is more. Like, we talk about like quarters in your house, like people that just keep everything. There's a lot of people that do that with their diet and their training. So just unnecessary ingredients.

Less is more. Yeah. And then I'm out the door. And usually I'm racing straight on the subway up to Midtown where the Nike offices, which is, we have a beautiful private space up there where we train, you know, a lot of editor-in-chiefs of magazines, we train stylists, train it might be models it might be athletes um it's people that are brought into us by the brand team and that's really fun because you end up working yeah you meet interesting people from all

different jobs and um it's a nice quiet space up there so i might be there from 6 a.m till like 10 30 and then i usually mid morning is when my workout might happen um and i am obsessed with pilates that's been something i've been doing a lot over the last year and a half because i realized i did need a little more calm to my pyro but I love to strength train I love to do obviously high intensity I mean I love boxing like I love yoga like I do love a lot of things but I always try and still have a systematic program in place because it's not about just like shooting your shot and hoping for the best like you need to have like specific you're turning up to train not exercise I think there's two different things exercise is the distinction exercise is like hoping for the best

like oh I go to salt cycle let's say Barry's this day I go yeah that training you're like I know what I'm doing like I'm going in I have a plan yeah I me and my body a team I like that as a mindset yeah yeah so okay let's put let's put this through a WOOP mindset for a second you've been on WOOP for a little while now what are some of the different strains of these different workouts because one thing I respect about your your workouts is that they seem to be all different types of intensity and different focus yes and that's what I like let's just be clear guys this is true. I am so obsessed with my whoop strap that I, so I don't shower with it. I was talking about this earlier, but I, um, because it's cold in New York at the moment, I could actually be

more diligent, allow more time to change my strap, but I'd love to know what my heart rate's doing when I'm like freezing myself in the shower, but otherwise I have it on all day. I sleep with it all the time. Sleep is the, is the biggest pain point for me. Like, I don't sleep well. It's a product of, I do drink coffee. I don't drink it after certain hours, but I, often I'm working from six in the morning until like last night, I finished teaching my last class at 8 p.m. It's tough. It's a lot of energy.

So it's giving me an accountability that in years prior that I didn't have, and I was getting a lot of signs from my body that I was burning out. Like when I used to teach a lot of high intensity, I would wake up a lot of days and just vomit. Like my body was so exhausted, and I'd have terrible. Yep, I'd vomit. Terrible nights. I was very relieved.

I wasn't pregnant for quite a time, but I was like, I was just doing so much hit that my body couldn't handle. it but at the same time as doing so much hit I was um strength training a lot and I was I was going ham in every direction over training you're over training like crazy and you know you're young and you think you're bulletproof and you know last year I was I mean a nature of part of my job is I fly a lot and we forget all these external things outside of training that are a stress and I was like you actually can't fly to L.A. back and four three times a week and get off red eyes go to a photo shoot go fly back teach five classes in a world not eating blah blah blah

blah. And I was never fully taking into account. I'd always say to people, no, no, when I teach a class though, that's not my own training. Well, sometimes, some days I teach three classes on top of private training, X number of people, and then I go and do my own training. So I never really had an accurate measure of how hard my body was actually working when I'm teaching class because I'm so energetic. And when I teach a class, best believe I'm going to lay my soul on the floor for the people that are in there. But my body, often when I track my strain, through whoop my strain is higher when I'm teaching in class where bear in mind I'm doing maybe 10 to 15% of the workout with these people now it will be higher than a workout that I've done in the gym where I'm really pushing myself because my heart rate is so high because I'm yelling yeah and I'm like you know you're you're trying to breathe at the same time as giving people so much energy and then you're doing that multiple times so now I'm using when I'm talking about training and making calculated decisions. I'm like, okay, maybe in my schedule, it is strength day today. But I know I'm teaching four classes or something or, you know, I'm like, this is just

not, it's a Pilates day. I'm like, you have to switch it and figure out what's going to do. So Pilates for you is going to be lower strain on. Lower strain. Lower strain. It's a lot lower. Now, the, the pyro concept. I imagine that's going to be on the higher. Hiro is very high. Yes. Describe pyro. So pyro, I mean, you can kind of get an idea from the name. But, But Pyro Girls is, and we like to abbreviate to Pyro because it's male-inclusive too. Pyrro Boys is a thing. Okay. And it's really a high-intensity and strength conditioning workout.

So we know with high-intensity you should only be doing it for 30 minutes, right? So if you're doing it effectively. So Pyrro is a 60-minute workout that incorporates, you warm up with a flow. You have proper gluten core activation. Then you really hit it hard. You have 30 minutes. And then you have a proper, like, more cooling down. do a really hard-focused ab and glute series, which is I bring in a lot of the principles

from Pilates that I've, you know, I've went, I'm obsessed with Pilates. I went off and got all these Matt Pilates certs because I just love it and I've noticed such a difference in my body. And I think there's a true correlation between bringing that over into hit as well. But we have people, it's an ego thing. We think we just have to sign up for workouts and just kill ourselves all the time. We don't understand this high and low. So Pyro, you're going to be, you're going to feel fried, right? You're going to actually really go off. it but let's be intelligent about it and then i don't want to see you doing that to yourself like four times a week you know this is where we say to three times max per week it's the same as proper

high intensity like if you want it to work for you you have to take it in the right dose and how high will your heart rate get on whoop during it so usually my heart rate will get to around like a hundred and what's your max like just over 200 yeah so but my i'm frustrating because like i'm so condition to high intensity that my recovery, and this is where I love leaving the app open while I'm training, is I base my recovery off when my heart rate gets back to a certain thing. Like, I know a lot of the time we might be like, okay, now recover for 90 seconds. But if my body's ready to go after 60 seconds, I'm like, damn, shit, okay, it's time. So that's a really interesting concept that you introduced.

So for our listener, she's describing using heart rate recovery to determine how soon she should go back to exercising. So if you get your max heart rate up to 180, for example, you want to see how fast in the next 60 seconds your heart rate drops. Because that's a really great measure of your fitness. Of course. And you must have really good heart rate recovery, sign of fitness. And so instead of you needing 90 seconds to get your heart rate back down to 120 or 100,

whatever you might use as the metric, you're doing that in 45 seconds or 30 seconds. So that's a Q2 to hit it again, right? Yeah. and it's a great like accountability metric because sure it doesn't leave you time to get distracted in the gym and it's not about like I think a lot of the time people like oh you shouldn't be on your phone when you're in the gym you shouldn't be I'm like it's just like having a coach there I'm like the same way that I'm your trainer with you in your workout I'm like oh well I don't deserve a coach so yeah I have my phone sitting there and I'm watching it and then sometimes like it must be funny for people around me the gym because I have my earphones in and then I'm like shit okay and then I'm like in my heart rate says it's It's time to go. Go again. You know, you might like, but it's also, it's a nice win when you're like, cool, my heart rate's coming down. But then also monitoring, like, when I'm on days where I'm traveling or I'm dealing with jet lag or just external stress, it might take longer to get back down.

So that kind of gives me another good metric. Like, the other day, it was so funny, I had my highest strain ever. And it gave me an alert. It was like 0% of athletes across whoop get to this level of strain. And I was like, the funniest thing was. You're probably over a 20. It was. Yeah, I only worked out once that day, and it wasn't even, like, crazy.

I did boxing. Like, it was, it was like, it was, it was, it was good, but, like, the majority of my strain happened before I even went to boxing. Like, it was already so high, and it was from working. It was not even from training people. It was from physics. I was doing shipping logistics for my protein, trying to air freight all these bags down to New Zealand, filling out all these forms.

And I was so mentally dialed into what I was doing that my body was like, And I was operating. Like I was like going like 3,000% and my strain was so high. And I was like, that is what so many people don't understand about when I'm saying to them. You are over training and they think I just mean about the gym. I'm like, no, think about you in your everyday life. You can't be high intensity at your job, in your relationship, and then in your workouts. Like there needs to be a bit of an ebb and flow.

And so I just think the accountability is awesome. I keep, I always check in. It's funny, like, even if I get off a heated phone call, I'll, like, go into the app and I'll be like, shit, did that, like, bump my, like, what happened on that and, like, just get a good idea. And, like, even with sleep, you know, it's, it's good for me because I'm so bad with my sleep. But my favorite thing on it is I love watching the HRV. Because especially in New York, and I track it differently when I'm in different cities,

like, I know my HIV is better when I'm in L.A. And when I'm in, like, New Zealand or Australia, because, New York is a bit of a toxic soup. Like you are in fight or flight mode a lot of the time. Totally. And it's noisy. It's honestly the noise gets to me so much. That's a thing that people underestimate. What is it with these horns?

Like why do people beep so much? Sirens. Like just everything. And so I'm always watching HIV and I'm really obsessed with heart rate variability. And it's funny because it gives me cues on nutrition, which I like. So we spoke about this earlier that nutrition is a really big part of. of my lifestyle obviously when you give out so much energy it's really important with how you feel your body but it will get it I can often get to a point where I'm working too much in a row that I just haven't had food not because I don't want to eat but because there hasn't been time you

literally haven't had time and I'm stressed like my body's so stressed because it's so hungry especially when you eat more high fat high protein it's you're kind of eating in a way that your body has to spend more energy to burn like the food than what you're going to get left dove with it. Totally. So you kind of end up in this deficit zone. So recently I was on a job in Hawaii and it was really stressful because there was no real breakfast or lunch and I was so hungry and I was on day three of nine and I was like, okay, you got to get it together KG. Like my brain was crashing on me and it was to do with my HIV and was specifically about nutrition and it was like your nutrition is way off like you need to like fuel up immediately like

fix your HRV and I was like it felt like the voice of God like coming in and being like and I was like

is there a helicopter coming to save me or like bring me food because I mean that's also where it's hard for me like I don't really want to compromise too much on the way that I eat for my body

because I am so dialed into the effects of when you eat something that you know isn't right for your body it's not just about like oh I might feel a bit bloated that day like it has a consequential effect over like the next few days

So sometimes I just need to bench my ego And I think I ended up finding a banana that day And I was so happy But like I thought it was interesting That it could specifically pull out from my HIV Like that the stress that I was experiencing Was nutrition related That's fascinating.

I mean that is one interesting thing about WOOP in general Where you can actually see how your physiology is responding To different diets and different things that you're putting in your system And it's one thing I always encourage people to think more about is, you know, what are the different things that you're doing in your life that may be affecting data that you're seeing on WOOP? Even people. Yeah, people are hard work.

Like, I love humans, but, you know, there's a lot of energy zaffers out there too. And so you have to make really conscious decisions about what's going to steal your piece every single day, regardless of what city you live in. You have to make a decision. And also, just by the way, you can be an energy zapper to yourself. That can totally happen. that complaining thing I was talking about earlier

like the moment I kicked that out of the door complaining I think it's like one of the worst Complaining is probably one of the most unattractive qualities in the world you could be the most attractive

thing you could have the best body of your life and if you complain you were the ugliest person to be around It just sucks energy out of the room and it's not like there's a difference

between kind of being like okay I've kind of got a problem and blah blah constructive criticism but like complaining is just so and my friend Dougie always brings out to me talks about you know

like iron slain's theory or something about like doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. But that's kind of what complaining people do. I'm like, you're just projecting this anger and upset about something. And usually you're doing more talking about it

than you are of doing a fixing of it. Totally. I have this book open. It's one of my favorite magazines. And I always leave this page open in my house. And one of the sentences in it says, the problem contains the solution, which it always does.

So I know a lot of, I think a big heart of, complaining comes from like procrastination or frustration or ego or all these different things. But those are all invitations for you to look inward and figure your shit out. Yeah. And I think as entrepreneurs, you're an entrepreneur as well, like we are constantly faced with this, the obstacle is the way moment. Like I often find the thing that maybe is most challenging or the thing I want to do the

least is the thing that I have to do the most. Yes. It's also they, it's, you can't run from this stuff. And there's no point. Because, and you learn every single time that you kind of come up against a challenge. And it's kind of exciting if you choose to think of it that way. And it's the same thing with discipline. Like discipline becomes a fun game that you win every time you flex on your discipline.

And then the next thing you know, it's not even discipline. It's just a habit and it's just a lifestyle. And that's what you do and you don't look back. Well, I play this interesting game with myself where when I tell myself I'm going to do something, do I do it? Or do I second guess it. You know how everyone's got this voice in their mind that's like the bad voice. Yeah. Oh,

and it's so interesting. I think over time you can actually learn to like make that voice disappear. Yeah, you can. I talk about having a handbrake. So you, like, how quickly can you rip the handbrake on that voice and be like, hang on? Well, like, even for me, say like, okay, probably second to complaining jealousy is a horrible trait. Really bad. Like, because if you, I'm really big on celebrating other people and I think if that's a hard thing for you to do,

it comes from something within you like that's a dark place that you need to address but if i say get jealous or i feel a type of way about something i make myself sit with it and be like why does that piss you off and i really dial into it and then i when i figure that out like and it's not just being like because there's you da-da-da-da like it no it comes from a deeper layer than that it's really figuring out what that is and then remembering that and being like it's not going to be that that derails me today. Like, that's actually not part of my trajectory. Like, stop, handbrake up, get over yourself, first of all, acknowledge it. Like, yeah, that's, that's what the thought is. And then every time you can stop and take that time to think, and you give yourself then space

to respond instead of react. Like, I won't say words that I'm not going to be proud of. Like, it's just, like, I won't have a fight unless, like, I used to, you know, when you're younger, like, you used to spitball back of people and it's, you know, you can, you can have a smart mouth. and stuff and like I don't know maybe I still do it with my brother occasionally but I'll just like I won't say anything or I'll be like are you done and then just walk away like that's it I'm not going to lose my peace over any of that stuff like it's just not worth it and so I think when we come back to talking about strain in terms of your relationships with people your relationship with yourself is the foundation for those next relationships that you have with other people so

you have to kind of understand what you are conditioned by and what you're willing to accept and then then your outer layers become a part of that and an extension of that so if you if you are a complainer you're probably going to allow a lot more complaining in your life however i know since i managed to cut that kind of bad habit out i'm so sensitive to other people complaining around me like it's the fastest way for me to start ignoring you and not because i don't care like i'm here to help my friends through thick and thin but i don't when my friends come to me with a problem that they need help with i think that's more like a task that we're working on together or where my clients you know stuff like that but there's a difference

between complaining and kind of asking for help right and just you know wanting to solve something no i think i mean i think that's very healthy advice and yeah i mean if you take on board other people's shit energy all day best believe you're crashing your own and like your vibrational frequency is going to be so far down like i like that concept vibrational frequency yeah like i mean i've said it to people before and they don't understand like one time i tried to use it as like a polite like hey i'm not not interested like thanks but no thanks and i was like we you know like i think that's great but we don't vibrate at the same frequency and someone was like what a guy at a planet are you on i was like i don't know i had a nice red eye coffee like i'm

probably on pluto at this point yeah right but i think vibrational frequencies are a real thing you you know what it feels like to leave you know a meeting or hanging out with someone or whatever it is and you feel like intoxicated, like, with joy. And just excitement and energy, and then you know what it's like to leave something that really crash and burn your energy. And I think that's one of the things I love the most about whoop is that I rely a lot on fitness to be my,

both my celebration, but also my counselor. So I use it in these different metrics, but sometimes to its detriment where I actually need to take more rest because I've been more stressed out by a lot of things than I probably acknowledge. And so maybe going in and blitzing it in the gym Isn't going to be the best thing for me to do that day And really prioritizing my sleep

So I love that a lot of it is geared towards Like how can you optimize your body Because I don't care how fit you are Like if you can't recover You admit you have no real strength Like there is a strength too And being like Okay I'm going to bench my ego today's a rest day

It wasn't in my plan Oh totally Clearly my body is like I need a rest day I'm like or you can walk around looking like a ball of cortisol and having all this fluid of your body, it's up to you. Your digestion will be off, your sleep's off, like your mood's off. You could just take a day, listen to your body. Well, in many ways, one of the most disruptive things that we did at Whoop was be the first

fitness product tell you not to exercise, tell you to do less, you know. I found that so many whoop users and athletes are highly motivated people, but to the point maybe of their detriment, you know, where you're just go, go, go, all the time. And so finding that balance is so critical. Well, that's what I love when Joe talks about strategic laziness all the time. And I think it's funny because Joe and I always joke, we're like, I think people think we work out way more than we do. Right.

But we have a very, like, high maintenance recovery regime. So let's talk a little bit about that. What are some of the things that you like to do to recover, to relax, to shut down? I love infrared sauna. Okay. And so when I sit in there for 45 minutes, I like to just. You'll go 45. 45.

I'll put a podcast on. Sometimes I just sit in total silence because I need that in New York. Sometimes I sit in there with my friend, Chrissy Jones, who's a Nike master trainer also, and she owns SkyTing Yoga, and she's one of my dear friends, and we work together. But we just sit in there, and it's like we have a catch-up because the energy is very peaceful and calming too. It's not stealing from that time of regenerating. Totally. And so I love infrared sauna.

I do use cryo as part of my recovery. I mean, I phone roll a lot. like I use like my hypervolt a lot um but I really try and find time like even if it's just pockets of time even if my day is so long and crazy what pockets of time do I have where I could be control I'm not breathing out my chest like you know like a vampire like slow down take control of my HIV like give back to myself and that might be I love to read like I really love reading books. Every book I read I highlight like crazy so you'll never get one of my books

because people are like oh can I read that after you I'm like a lot of notes in there, there's many notes but I don't read like Marion Keys and like love stories like I'm reading about one of the books I'm reading at the moment is called Why We Sleep. Right Matthew Walker. It's terrifying but it's amazing and I love how

it talks about like how humans are the only like species that will go against the grain so much there are own detriment in terms of not prioritizing sleep. Yeah, that's a fascinating cost. Like doing something where they have no gain. There is no gain for us to do that.

And, you know, obviously we've heard these things float around before how when you are sleep deprived, you're more dangerous than like a drunk driver. But I know for myself, like, I could operate a lot better on a hangover than on a sleep hangover. Interesting, yeah. Like, your brain, just like for me, if I don't have food and I don't have proper sleep, is the fastest way for me to not be functioning well. And part of the reason between that distinction is that people don't actually.

think sleep deprivation is a problem. At least when you're a little intoxicated, you're somewhat self-aware. Yes. Hopefully you're self-aware. Yes. Like you're intoxicated. You should be guys, kids, slow it down with the drinking. Yeah, you're somewhat self-aware.

But sleep deprivation, often people just will go weeks and months and got for a big year, sleep deprived. So they don't actually fully appreciate the deficit that they're living in. And then you never get it back. Right. Like you just have to really. I mean, sometimes you just have to, there's times where you have to kind of push beyond your means because circumstantially that's what has to happen.

Totally. But to what extent are you going to allow that? You know, like you can't keep doing that back to back to back for days and expect there to be no consequence. And, or weeks or months, whatever it is. So you need to, if you know that's going to happen and you have a super intense week coming up or two weeks with work or something, you need to then try find some other balance or you need to pull back on some of the other things you're demanding of yourself. So again, it's making calculated decisions, not guesswork, and really bringing in all those three different factors. You know, when you've got strain coming from all angles.

Like, you can, you see, it's always a sad day when your recovery goes into red. Yeah. On the app, I'm like, oh, forgive me, body, for I have sinned. Like, and it might not be, and generally I put myself there. It's not from training. Right. It's always from the rest of life. Right.

That pulls me into the red. so when I have routine and I'm training well and I'm eating well and I'm sleeping well I'm always in the green and that's I don't really like I don't get into the yellow too much like it just goes oh really I'm like just bouncing yeah yeah well in some ways that can be a that can be a method to get fitter like you see Olympic power lifters for example they're the sign that they lifted heavy enough on one day is that their bodies crushed the next day but then they'll shut it down completely they won't exercise at all yeah You know, so it's harder probably for you with your lifestyle to shut it down. Yeah, because then even if it's like a rest day for me, I might still be like having a teach class or like you're training people. Like you're, you know, a lot of my work is unseen as well. Like I know we share a lot on social media, but you won't see like 95% of the stuff I'm working on or doing.

And you won't see all the effort and the hours of time that goes into stuff and you don't need to see it because I'm validated by myself and my own self-work. And, like, often I feel like I spend less and less time sharing stuff because I'm busy working. Right. And, like, often I say to people, if they're getting too caught up in drama, I'm like, yo, start a company. You won't have time to even be caught up in this drama. That's a great point. Like, that is a great way.

And also, sometimes I'm like, wow, being a CEO is a good way to burn calories because it is stressful. I know. And the time can fly a lot. It's, you know, like, I think we get one opportunity to be here in this body. I like to preach when I teach classes. Like, I've been teaching classes for eight years. Like, I don't need to be there to teach them. Like, that's an easy part of my lifestyle I could take away.

But I love that. I say it's an energy exchange. I love that energy exchange. It's such a great time to connect with people, see what's really happening in their bodies, understand, especially if you're putting out products in the market, you know, or you're working with other brands with their products. Like, that's, you need to be in real time with people.

But I was saying last night in class, I was like, guys, you need to understand the true value and the biggest value that you have is never going to be a house that you own. It's never going to be the money you have in the bank or like a watch or whatever it is. It's always only going to be your body. And it's really, if you can't dial into that and you can't put that first, you have no wealth at all. And it's just, and I know it's about people that are in your life as well. and the relationships that you have that bring so much value, but you have to have value on your own first and then be able to have value with other people.

Put your oxy your mask on first. Yeah, I'm like, you can't be like giving out fumes. And so we need to just focus on, okay, like how can I be my best? And then so I can operate on my best. And accumulatively, we can all be at our best. Like that's the goal. Now, do you practice any kind of mindfulness or meditation? It's funny because I'm so,

I mean, you can, this is not shocking, but I'm not great at sitting still. But I would say my, you do seem bouncy. My meditation is, like, I can't actually just sit and meditate. But, like, my meditation is more like when I'm doing my own training in the gym. Like, I would say to people are like, don't come and talk to me. Like, that's my time. Yeah, right. Like, my brain is not, like, I can be flowing through all this crazy stuff that I'm doing,

but I'm listening to an audio book or I'm less, or my brain is just completely somewhere else while I'm listening to a lot of Drake. And that's where I have my best ideas is when I'm in the gym. But I would say that's my form of meditation, as just moving my body. Or when I go to yoga, like, that's when I really unwind. Or, like, I do like to FaceTime my family in the evening. And so it's a different form on what we would say of, like, meditation or something. But that's what's calming to me.

Now, you work with a lot of very interesting people, right? Yeah. And how do you find managing, you know, a CEO. or a top editor or a supermodel, right? Like, how do you, what's, what is the process for you in coaching that person? And mind you, these may be people that often aren't getting told what to do all that often. Yeah, it's funny because I think I used to be a little scared sometimes to be like, just call them on their shit. Right, which you probably can't be.

Yeah, yeah. But, like, I'm like, that's our purpose. That's what we're here for. And you actually realize that a lot of them, they are, they come in more to you a little more vulnerable than what you. expect just being like they want help they want to be told like that you know they might be so used to telling everyone else all the time what to happen but this is their one hour where they get told what to do sure it's the same as me wanting someone to train me sometimes yeah I want to be told what to do and not have to think that much and not think exactly but I think the biggest thing

across the board with all of them like any of the especially any of the actresses and models that I train and then people in really high power jobs is really managing their stress so whilst we're training I would say it's like, yeah, we're moving the whole time, but there's a lot of kind of like internal conditioning going on and really trying to figure out, okay, what other areas of your life can we give you some routine given that the nature of your schedule doesn't allow much or doesn't always allow physically what you would like

and trying to help them just like figure out, okay, when you land in the city, you can, we can book, you're going to go here and you're going to head an inference order, or you're going to do these stretches in your room, or you're going to make sure you eat at this place. And it's quite funny. It's like a lot of different little things. So you're telling them these things while they're exercising.

Yeah. We're like giving them like it's because it's not just like you see them for an hour and then you're like, bye, see you next week or see you on Thursday. Oh, of course. Yeah, and it's like you have to be dialed into everything else that's going on with them or you can just take a look at someone when they come in the rooms and you might have something planned for their session that day and you're like, oh wow, no, that is not happening today because you can just see the stress on their body or they might come in

really recovered and you're like cool we can like ramp it up today but i think it's just nice i think also like a job as trainers is to really look and identify and see the other things that are going on because you can pretty visibly see stress on someone's body and then don't you don't add unnecessarily or unintelligently onto that like you know we can use stress in good ways for training but there's also like anyone can smash someone in a workout that's not being intelligent. Like, what is the best thing for this person in this moment right now and taking into account their schedule? What does success look like for you with a client? I mean, obviously people always come in wanting to look their best, but my biggest success metrics are always based

off feel. So, like, do they feel more connected to their body in terms of, like, their digestion's working better? Their sleep's working better. They, like, you can see physically, like, their body's holding better and, you know, restructuring imbalances or, like, bad habits of, like, using hip flexes, not lower abs and properly using glutes and, like. The way their body's moving. Yeah, exactly. So we look at those kind of biomechanics, but, you know, controlling someone's expectations of themselves to and understanding that conversation they have with themselves around their

training, around their nutrition, because you'll never, I don't, I think it takes you a while to realize, like, how much you harass yourself all day with your internal dialogue. so like kind of getting a big piece on that like if you got up every day and you see these girls and they may be some of the prettiest girls in the world are really skinny and they all like have a great body or whatever and they might get up every day and I'm fat it's the first thing they say to themselves I'm fat I've got a casting today I'm so bloated I'm done da da and they've drummed that into themselves the whole time the moment so a big piece is taking control of that so you can give them the ability to see what we actually see and let their

body not feel so panicked and allow it to kind of work because because we forget our body is quite a miracle. Like, you know, we just shove stuff in our mouth and kind of like, don't really think about a lot of the process of how it's going to happen, but we're very quick to complain if we're bloated rather than being like, well, what did I eat? Or like, what kind of emotions are my digesting to get there? So, I mean, success for me is where my clients feel at their best.

And I think most people feel at the best when they feel strong. And that's an element of training, making really good choices with their food and sleep choices. I'm sure this has happened to you but let's say a supermodel comes to you and she's like look quite frankly I don't really eat I'm just stressed all the time I don't like the way I look

Yeah Yeah like I just smoke and drink coffee Or like you know that's terrible And or worse right People are on a jewel all the time these days I'm like this is disturbing to me Yeah Um yeah big thing is

First of all we're really We're like you gotta eat You want the best body of your life Like you need to eat So that you can train properly otherwise think about it every time that you're coming in you are never performing at your best it's the same thing when people don't want to breathe properly i'm like i now say it i'm like you're starving your abs like your abs to really work properly need your breath like that oxygen has to feed them so if you hold your breath in your chest all day and i do it myself too when i'm stressed but if you want to operate like that majority of your day your abs are not even getting the opportunity to really like come to the party it's the same thing with trying to get people to slow down and their workouts and you know It might be something as simple as, like, you're doing, like, an ab exercise and everyone wants to be able to lower their legs to the floor. But I'm like, you're not even using your abs.

Like, I'm trying to stop you at 45 degrees and get you to really, like, pull those legs back in towards you using your lower abs and, like, tilting through your pelvis of it. But you don't want to listen because it's more important for you to twerk your ego and then likely twerk your back. I'm like, what? I'm like, do you want to work your abs or not? So there's a huge, like, piece in play where you really have to coach people out of this mindset that more is better. better and advanced is always better because a lot of the time the modification is someone's progression like let's do things properly let's slow down let's not like guess if we don't have to like think think even years ago like this type of information like the information we get from

whoop like that wasn't easily accessible to everyone not at all and in a way where you can have it just following you all day like I don't have to have my phone with me the data is going to be stored and then when we sync back up like they reconnect right so it's nice It's not like you're saying, hey, you've got to be, like, strapped to devices, like, you can't move or, like, you can't be free of your phone. But if we have the ability to use information and make better decisions, why would we not? Totally agree with you. Let's talk about phones for a second. Let's talk about phones.

I mean, in Manhattan, phones are as omnipresent as anywhere in the world. But on top of that, I mean, you've now amassed, you know, a considerable social media following. part of your business it's part of driving um i imagine a lot of uh the success with your businesses my wife actually first found you on instagram which is in part how we're in this room together i love that shout out to your wife yeah yeah lately's a huge fan of yours um so how do you like how do you think about what your relationship should be with your phone and how do you manage time on it um that's a great that's a great point i mean like i'm also like because i have a double business degree and I'm running businesses.

Like, I've always prided myself on trying to be pretty great with communication. So I like to be able to respond to emails straight away if I can. Like, don't text me. If I don't need a no, I don't want to know. Like, unless it's a really funny meme, please send it. But I don't need, like, some people just love to text.

And, like, I think a lot of it is people sitting at their computer and, like, typing off their laptop. By the way, that's when I do 95% of my texting. It's like, oh, I can get through these quickly. Yeah, because it's easier. And, like, if you're texting about work, that's fine and like me and my designer who works with me on my protein like we'll like be like blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and then mix in there's a meme and then there's something else and

then there's me grilling him on training and nutrition or like whatever it is i try to have as few meaningful conversations over texas possibly because it's like all information flow exactly i'm like this is well no 930 this restaurant yeah boom done i prefer more on connecting in real life like that's where that's where it's going to happen but also now it's like i have to be very like i'm much better at saying no to things and not giving a reason why i just being like, no, I can't. Because I don't need to be everywhere for everyone else all the time. I have to be accountable to my businesses and be accountable to myself because my body is

a big part of my business. If I can't function, that's a lot of my income that's not being made. Like, I need to turn up. And like, giving energy to people all day is a lot. So, yeah, a lot of the time I want to sit in silence in the evening and cook my own dinner. Like, I don't want to be out for dinner. I like to cook. It's very calming for me.

And I want to get to bed at a normal time and not be, like, racing around. And, yeah. So that's, but with the phone during the day, too, like, I mean, that's one of the good things when you're training people. It's away. I don't have it on me. I don't film most of the people that I train. Like, you would never know the celebrities that I train because I don't need to tell you about it all the time. You'll see some of them because some of them like to be filmed.

But otherwise, like, my phone's in my bag or it's in a locker. And then I get back on it. I'm like, oh, like, got to do all this stuff for work. You do a ton of frantic things. But I notice the moment that my phone is in my vicinity, I'm panicked. Like, it's a very quick stress mode. I imagine, I mean, then I'm like, oh, imagine having to be like, ugh. Yeah, right.

And all the time. But at least it's, like, a living, breathing thing. But I think phones, like, I would encourage people to, like, maybe make it a goal. Like, could I be on my phone, like, 30% less? Like, does that, do I need to send this? Do I need to? And even the amount of people even stress about what they share on social media. I'm like, who cares?

Like, what do you really care about? Like, if you're like, is this photo going to do better or this photo going to do better? I'm like, for who's, like, are you seeking validation from everyone else? Or do you, like, because I know that for myself and a lot of my closest friends, like, you know, Joe and people like that, we, we share things with the purpose of just being like, hey, this is just an invitation for you to like, if you really care about this and you want to read up about it. Like, majority of the stuff we share is to do with wellness and enhancing your performance and things like that. Occasionally, it's like a very hype beast kind of, like, photo of what we wear because we happen to wear a lot of off white and things like that. But that's just our personality. That's what we love.

But it's less about, like, this is a selfie of me doing da-da-da. Like, I mean, we use it as a tool of just to connect with people. And honestly, like, the amount of support we get, especially whenever there's a podcast, people love that, is mind-blown. Like, and that is a rock-of-heel. We say it all the time. And I love when people ask really diligent questions, not just like, hey, I want lean legs like yours, how can I do it? I'm just like, fuck up.

Like, what? I'm sorry. Like, why do you talk about yourself like that? Like, that's so shameful. Yeah, very. Like, give yourself more credit. And like, but if people really want, like, I do read my direct messages. Like, and I really want to be able to help people, but don't, don't be so transactional

with your questions about yourself. Like, first of all, because. it's easy like you know you've got to pick and choose your battles and um but if people i think it's cool we're in a cool time people are really willing to open up now and really want to learn more and understand their body better and longevity is one of the biggest things that i always talk about and you know i i believe that we are here for a long time so let's make it a better time by kind of preparing our body for a longer life maybe than what we used to think 30 years ago yeah i've been fascinated by the things that even whoop users

have written to me, whether by email or things about their sex life and travel. You're like, oh wow, you're like a little too deep there, guys. Well, because people are realizing how all these different things affect them. Yeah, I mean, it's cool. I mean, I'd love to chat more about like really how you got to the idea of

like everything with Woot, but I think it's such an outstanding thing because it's so easy to have there with you all the day and it's just like a support system. Yeah. And I talked about it being like, it's that, you haven't, you know, how we were talking about the voices and you have the good voice and the bad voice. It's really

the good voice being like, you know, I think about it kind of being like my parents, darling, you should really get some sleep now. And then it'll get a bit more forceful when it needs to it's like, you need to sleep. Well, fortunately with college athletes and high school athletes, we've seen it be more effective than your parents. Because people don't want to listen to their parents, you know. And it's just showing you the data in full transparency. You can't lie about the data. You can't lie about the data. And also, it's really, accurate so that's a big thing i think there's been many things that have come out in the past and like it's people always want to talk about oh but what are my steps what are my like i like i like

i like that there's no face to it like i don't want to see the time i'm sick of screens flashing at me i hate that on the iphone any time you pick up the new ones that just flashed that you're like don't need to see that you can turn that off by the i need to oh my god thank god um and but i like that it's just there it's like my um my um my support dog kind of thing it's like okay stay calm and even sometimes just looking at it like if i know if i'm getting heated or like worked up on something i'm like oh god my HIV's probably like getting crashed right now yeah so it does it kind of helps instill behaviors more than you'd ever think just because it's just sitting there like check yourself now do you ever talk to your clients

about the way they use their phones yeah and like i tell people even like even when i teach classes, I'm like, why the hell are people bringing their phone into a high-intensity workout? You want me to jump on it and break your screen? Part of the reason I think I love exercise so much. It's a vacation from your phone. It's a vacation from your phone. Unless I'm using it for my, obviously, I'm, but that's not using my phone. That's not using your phone.

So that's using the data. But I say to people all the time, I'm like, hey, guys, bring in your water bottle, bring in the towel, but leave your phone on your locker. You don't need it. And then sometimes people still try to come in with it. I'm like, sorry, maybe that was my New Zealand English. leave your phone in the locker. Like, I don't want it in the classroom.

I don't need you to Instagram the class. The classes are sold out. Like, if that's what you think it's about, or like, I get it. Everyone loves to share when they're being fit. I don't need you to film in class. I need you to focus. So even when I'm doing like stuff with clients,

sometimes if they're like, oh, I'm working on a really busy thing at the moment. I need to blah, blah, blah. I'm like, do you? I'm not, like, I'm not talking down how important you are how busy you are but do you think you don't deserve one hour where you don't have to yeah like where you can just focus on what's happening because otherwise what happens is when you are trying to train and focus and you keep getting stressed out by something else you're so distracted like you know

there's no way that your mind and your body can really fully connect into what you're doing I want to talk for a second about some of the different uh things that I've heard you say or you and Jove said, one of which is my favorite is that men should train more like women and women should train more like men. Yes, absolutely. What does that mean to you? Well, I mean, I typically have trained a lot like how men would train my whole life. I love to lift things heavy.

I love to, like, you know, I love doing like box jumps and pull-ups. It's my favorite thing to do in the gym. I love doing pull-ups with weight, especially I love pulling a sled. I love doing a bear crawl with a sandbag attached to me, all these things that aren't girly. like I want to be a surprise and I don't do that for anyone's validation or someone to be like wow cool she can crush in the gym I do it because it feels amazing to me right but then a lot of the men that I train they notice the most when I train them more with a lot of the Pilates stuff put in there and teach them really on like cool you want you want to really be able to squat at your best or

deadlift at your best we've got to start to get you to use your glutes properly so we're going to be doing them a lot more stuff with bands and just Pilates type things and at first they're kind of like oh because it is an ego check and then they're like oh my gosh I'm so specifically saw and then they understand their reshape of behaviors but I think it's yeah I mean it all comes down to ego too like it's just about people being open to it and girls and same thing with girls not being like I'm going to get jacked if I train like this I'm like no I totally agree with you I think like when I was a college athlete I had a breakthrough when I just started stretching 45 minutes after practice instead of 10 minutes and even today now I find myself more drawn to things

like yoga or stretching than I ever was before in my life. Same. I used to make no time for yoga. And now when I go, even if I go twice a week, but I know my optimum is three times a week, I know it is such a difference. What kind of yoga do you like to do? I like Catona yoga, which is like at Skyting, we do ketona, but like, I also like, have you ever tried Kundalini? No. My lord. Wow. So hard. It's a lot of weird stuff in that. And like you do a lot of like crazy blockholds and it teaches you a lot of resilience and you do a lot of breath work but um yin is sometimes necessary where you really really hold like long poses but what i like at skyting is that they have like a

nice blend of a lot of different disciplines of yoga so and they're very articulate about the body the way they speak about the body and the way they really encourage you into these different stretches is it's such it's such like a glorification and beautiful way to to handle your body rather than just being like okay down dog up double i can't not do Bikram. It's just not for me. You know, interestingly, what about you? My first, the first yoga class that I ever did was a Bikram

class and it was like such a turnoff that I didn't go back to yoga for a really long time. It was just too hot. I was the same. And they were such assholes. Yeah. And it's the same. Like, I felt horrible in there and they're like, keep going, keep pushing.

My flatmate in New Zealand, he used to love it and I tried going with them a few times and I was like, I I just have, I mean, I, I'm very well hydrated all the time. And I was like, I have the worst headache of my life. Like, I don't want to go there. Whereas SkyTang, I go, and, like, I feel so at peace. And I feel like I've gone into a sanctuary, and they're funny. It's not like preachy yoga.

I'm going to try that. Yeah, you've got to go. Next time you hear, we'll take you. Okay, another philosophy that we've touched on. Working with your body is a partnership, not a dictatorship. Yeah. What does that mean to you? So, we were talking about a two-way conversation, right?

can you listen to your body as much as you can talk at your body? And it really is having the confidence, I would say, to listen to your body. Take time. Be like, okay, I ate that way and then I really don't feel good. Like 30 minutes later, what did I eat? Like, blah, blah, blah. Like, you know, figuring out a lot of things with digestion because it's not always obvious, you know? Like something like I can't eat zucchini.

That's actually a healthy food, but it doesn't work for me. it's the same thing with training like different disciplines aren't going to work for other people so you have to understand you and you have to that's why we talk about it being a partnership rather than a dictatorship would be like my ego driving me being like i see um joe holder training this way so i'm going to train exactly as joe trains or something like that trying to pigeonhole myself into something that i'm not and i talk to people all the time about i'm like you're you should be so unique and you're such a miracle that you couldn't be boxed into anything like there isn't a pigeon Even the way that we talk about eating styles that we associate with, or, oh, no, I just do hit, or I just do da-da-da-da-da. Like, are we really going to, like, simplify ourselves that much? Like, I think we're pretty, like, pretty phenomenal. So we should be able to understand specifically for our body. It's like when people hit you up without you ever meeting them or knowing them and they want you to give them a nutrition plan. I'm like, how could I ever honestly do that without understanding your body and seeing you and kind of observing you and understanding the way that you eat and different things that you're not.

nature but also I need you to do due diligence you've got to listen and figure some stuff out for yourself and you learn to speak very finely to your body but when you're speaking you've got to do as much listening you got to listen I like that now you had an injury recently talk about that and what did you learn from being injured and are there benefits to getting injured oh my gosh the best okay so I was pretty embarrassed actually about this last year until I realized disturbingly how common it is so I will share I actually burnt myself out into shingles last year and I always thought of shingles I was like a rash like gross like I didn't get a rash that wasn't what I got I had the most crazy sciatic pain of my life and this happened it started to build up I'd been going ham like non-star for

months like I had ignored every signal from my body that I needed to slow down this is pre-whoop this is pre-whoop Okay. I was going, like, hardcore, I wasn't eating enough because I was so dedicated to work. I was flying L.A. about three times a week. We had this huge thing open there with Nike. I would teach five classes in a row without eating. I'd drink just, like, two iced red-eye coffees and try and drink some water, and I'd keep, like, I'd be losing my voice. I wasn't sleeping.

I was, like, I was fried, like, I was just fried from every sense. And then I remember getting off a red eye, and the only sleep I got, I didn't, I put my back out on a Nike show. shoot from hyper-extending for this. It looked great for the shoot and for the just-doin campaign, but it was like swinging a lot of these bars and you really had to hyper-extend to get the shot and then backflip off and land on a little crash pad multiple times over and over. Because they want to get you in the air and some super beautiful pose. Exactly.

Not to mention how terrible my hands looked being completely ripped and bleeding everywhere, but it was really cool. But then I red-eyed back, got off a red-eye. mostly slipped 40 minutes in the car on the way home from JFK and then had to go to a full three-day Pilates course and also be teaching both ends of the day. So very early in the morning, very late at night. And that was kind of like the last little push with my body was like, you know what, KG, you don't listen. I feel my strain elevating listening to this. Yeah, it was like, you don't listen. And I remember near the end, the course is like, what you think after doing this Pilates

like all day kind of thing? Like I'd be feeling better. I was like, oh, my sciatic pain is crazy. And then it was starting to like, it was nauseating. Like, and then it was. got to the point where I was vomiting and then it got to the point where I actually like passed out and I was like okay I got to go to the doctor where did you pass up luckily at home where my friend was there and so at least it was kind of like you know when it's coming you're like oh I'm going I'm going down so you didn't have that kind of like blackout moment you kind of were able to walk over to the couch yeah I you well because usually like whenever I pass out I usually start to feel like I'm going to spew first like I really know and so I was

like I'm just going to crumble down for a second here. And so I also got knocked out by a barbell last year and passed out very bad. So I had, I knew I already kind of had like a pre-concussion like in the lead up where I should have recovered more before I really crashed and burned into the shingles. But I ended up going to the doctor and I was like, I was like, I don't know if I've got like periformis syndrome. Like I have the most wild sciatic pain. Like I'm so uncomfortable where I can't sleep. Like I was like bawling my eyes out. Like I was like, I'd finished teaching class and be like dying for everyone to get out of the room so I could be actually crying in the corner because I didn't want people to see how much pain I was in. And would you take ibuprofen or anything?

I wasn't like, I really don't like taking that stuff. Okay. And I remember at one point when I, I think it had been like three days in a row where I'd had to take like some Voltara or something and I was like, this is not good. And that it wasn't doing anything. There was no dent in it. And I know my mom used to get sciatic pain and I was calling her. I was like, I'm sorry, I was never sympathetic when you had this. This is terrible.

Anyway, luckily I went to this doctor, and I was, like, explaining everything to him, and he was kind of, he's like, you don't have periforma syndrome. And he's like, I never got a rash, but I had a dotted line on my, along the nerve, like, where you would get the, if you got a rash, where it would be. And the doctor was like, he's like, you have, because I was like, I don't know if this related, but I have this weird dotted line. It almost looks like it could be like burst capillaries or something. And he's like, you have shingles.

He was like, wow. He's like, do you know why you've got this? And I was like, I'm pretty well aware. I was relieved at the same time to know that it wasn't preforma syndrome, but I was also so disappointed at myself and I was quite embarrassed. For pushing yourself to that. Because I was like, I'm work in the health industry. I should know better.

The most interesting thing was once I got there and I slowed down. Actually, that's a kind of a lie, because that night that Joe and I, we went to a Drake concert and we're on stage with Virgil, but I, I, Well, good event. The one thing was the doctors gave me prednisone as part of it. So you take antibiotics for a week and they gave me prednisone as a painkiller. And I was like, oh, I was up at 7 a.m. the next morning still. And, like, it was not drinking or anything.

And I was like, this is not. I can not take this. This is not, yeah. So I was like, okay, this is really cool. You're going to recover properly and you're going to practice what you preach. So for a week you didn't do anything? So I didn't do anything. I prioritized.

It was so weird. I prioritized sleep. I went to cryotherapy, I went to infrared sauna, I couldn't even go to yoga, I was in so much pain. I couldn't fully straighten my right leg, like, and bend properly for two months, I think, pain, like, because of pain. And then my right leg was so weak, and that's my dominant leg, my good leg. And so I was like, wow, KG, that's cool, but I was so happy. I was so, like I finally released all of this unnecessary stress for my body because I slowed down.

So that's when I learned, we have this joke at Nike running with sexy pace. It's like the slow running group. And I was like, ooh, I'm going to do life in sexy pace for a while. And I was so happy. And I realized I had so much more. My brain was working better. And that was when the comp, where I really became into a partnership with my body and the marriage ceremony was through shingles. Wow.

So there's a happy ending to it. But I will say it was also like getting another certification. Like I can now help clients and other people, especially I train a ton of models. And a lot of people that just push themselves so much. And crazy enough, my best friend has just also recently burnt his love into it. So it's been awesome to be able to just be there and be like, no, we're going to take this seriously. And really to try and voice people, be like, hey, it's just not worth it. Like, we've got to be better to ourselves than that.

And so that was my, that was one of, but last year, yeah, there's like the concussion and that were like really wiped me out injury wise. And I didn't expect it to take that long to get my strength back in my right leg after the pain. And it took a while. Yeah. And the other thing you have to realize, too, is you can, it's always a looming thing. Like you could stress yourself back into it. Oh, totally. So I'm like, nope, nope, don't want to do that.

And whilst I hated going slow, because I kind of always joke that I thrive in sixth gear. um it was it was great and honestly my body had never looked better and people like wow what are you doing at the moment i was like nothing that's a good sign i was like i'm being calm and um yeah so that was cool and then um now i'm thankful because i know i'll never get there because woup will definitely tell me many times before i go but that's why i'm so invested in it and it is such a commitment to me it's an easy habit i get up in the morning after i show i put it on like i know i've got a accountability all day. Like, there's enough that I know on my own, but now I have someone even more intelligent

telling me. Oh, that's awesome. And we're pumped to have you on whoop. What are, you say you don't like taking various things, right? Yeah. Ibuprofen and others. Yeah. Are there any supplements that you'll take, anything that you recommend?

I love magnesium. I swear by a good weight protein, like for recovery. And those are really the only two things that I majorly take because. And will you take them every day? Yep. every day and then if I get sick like I just take like echinacea and golden seal or like I love that

lipospheric seed by Livon Labs like but that's that stuff like I will put those things in the show notes yeah I honestly don't rely on painkillers like I don't think that we're made to take them even if we get I don't like antibiotics I don't like I just there's a reason that that stuff

crashes your digestion like I only take something serious like that if I absolutely have to and then it actually has the chance to work like People forget, like, they just pop pills like crazy. I'm also taking, I'm really interested in NAD, and, like, I'm taking Elysium their basis product at the moment. How long have you been taking it? But I've only been taking it a week.

Okay, so I'm too soon to know. So I got to wait some time. So I'm, but I'm excited. And this is the other thing. People think, oh, but I've been taking this for two days and I don't look like Naomi Campbell or whatever. I'm like, oh my God. I'm like, Rome wasn't built in a day, people. I'm like, get over you.

yourself i know sometimes i meet founders who i can't tell if they're quite committed to starting something and they'll ask me for what the what was the hack to start in the company i was like you know i've been working really hard every day for like eight years yeah that was the and i can just see their face like it's sad yeah because it's not the answer they want it's not people want the quick they want to cheat they want the express well this is the other thing people want the magic pill right and i always say there isn't one and you shouldn't want one because you're going to develop so much in the world totally not only physically, but emotionally, intelligently, and you're just going to become, like, you learn so

much about yourself through any process. It's actually the process that's the most important part. That's why I don't, like, I don't care for before and after photos. I think that's so tragic because you missed the entire journey. Like, you actually missed, I know my shittiest days are my best learning experiences. My dad always calls it the University of Life. He's like, well. I like that.

Yeah. And so if you choose to look at everything as an opportunity to like learn something else, even if it sucked, even if it broke your heart, even if, you know, it's, it's always an opportunity to learn and then use that handbrake. And like, I mean, I'm, I always use the motivation of, this sounds kind of backward, but like I'm terrified of death. So I kind of really believe in like you have to make the most out of every single day that you're here and you can choose to let your fear run you or you can choose to let it

fuel you and just you always have the ability to make a new choice right so yeah i just think you can calm yourself down if you really want to even if it feels like the odds are against you now what are some influences for you that uh you listen to or read or things that you know help you well me and joe have a private book club uh so we're always reading i'm really bad at the moment i think i'm listening to three different audio books and reading four physical books but i love it i think that's fine by I think it's fine, because I kind of feel like I'm doing, I'm almost at university and I'm like taking bits and pieces. So one books on gut health, one's on sleep, one's on HIV, one's on like. So you read things that are super relevant for your job?

Yes, absolutely. And then I do love, one of my favorite books they ever read was called Relentless by Tim Grover. And that one really is like a kick in the face. Tim Grover's the Kobe Bryant trainer? Yeah, he's great. So I love all of that. I do love, I love listening to podcasts, but yeah, all the podcasts I listen to are actually about wellness. and, like, you know, elevating performance and optimizing stuff,

but then some might be about mindset. And other influences I have, I mean, I love hip-hop. Joe and I are going to Travis Scott this weekend. I'm excited. Nice. We'll probably go two nights in a row. I'll probably have really bad recovery. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's no surprise. I will probably have very bad strain when I get up for Nike 5 in the morning the next day. But I love people. I'm really motivated by people. and the people that surround me and I have a really awesome network of people that motivate me both who are in business or they might be in wellness and fashion and stuff

and I really believe in the currency of humans in the terms that like we can accumulatively like have such a powerful impact and when people are all like who's the most interesting person you've spent time with recently what you learned from that person? Oh God, that's such a good question. Well, I think at the moment

Can I have two? Sure. And they're two very good friends of mine. So I don't know if that counts. I talk about Joe a lot. Joe is, I think, one of the greatest humans ever. He's an anomaly, for sure. He is, I don't know anyone else that's that ripped that's plant-based.

That is a bit of an enigma. He is, everyone that's like, if I go plant-based, will I look like Joe? I'm like, I don't know. Can't promise. um but i just think he's so fascinating in his commitment and dedication to everything and to people like he really does put everyone before himself all the time consistently and he's always learning his dad is such an amazing doctor and like i've heard his dad speak before and it makes a lot of sense like why jo is the way that he is um but i just think again he was like me he did a degree

before he got into fitness and we also are really big on proving to people where like it's not about being transactional like you can always take jobs that are going to pay you more money but do you really care about what you do like and does everything that you commit to and and partner with is that like in partnership and alignment with your soul and your internal GPS because if it's not like your energy is way too expensive for that shit so I love having someone that to me that's that close that he can call me on my shit but we are always in sync and we like we just have we have a lot of similarities and we have a lot of differences. Like, I'm super high energy. He is, like, very good at being kind of more chill and quiet. So I like to try and, like, be a little more like that

sometimes. And then I pull him up a little more pyro. So Joe is one of those people. And then secondly, I would say, obviously I'm in the process of starting a business, which is, well, I'm going to have a business. It's not, it's started. One of my best friends, Jesse Andrews, she lives in L.A. and she runs four companies by herself. She's 26. Like, she's started doing that. She's like she gets shit done. She does it. She has one person that works for her. She is so inspiring to me and she's such like good energy. I've never seen her even in 2% of a bad mood. That's great. And like maybe one day when we couldn't get oat milk for our lack alone coffee. But like, it's just, optimistic is critical. Yeah. Optimism will always win. And like, but she's

funny and she's like, yeah, she's super culturally relevant. Like she's gorgeous and she's in fashion and she's in all these things but she is a she is really a young entrepreneur that is like kicking us and she's not selfish like she is out there doing events with shopify and stuff trying to teach everyone else than a new entrepreneur is to help and like she's always on the focus but no oh my gosh i can help you like i'm trying to work out international distribution that's real confusing especially when it's with food and like yeah and she's just this constant like positive force all day every day for me like not only as a friend but with business and um i i hope that i can be like that for young people in business at some point when you know when i know more well i keros i know

you're a huge inspiration for a lot of people out there um how can people find you online i am throwing down many weird burpees face-timing my cat a lot and eating a ton of avocado and hopefully bragging about being in the green even more often on at kirsty godso on instagram um i also run pyro girls and made of as my protein powder but instagram is probably where you will find the real me. Well, we'll add all those things in the show notes. Thank you so much for doing this, Kirstie, and pumped to have you on WOOP. Thank you.

Thanks again to Kirstie for coming on. She was a blast to talk to. Make sure you also check out her feature story on The Locker at Woop.com. If you're not already a member, you can join the Woop community now for as low as $18 a month. We'll provide you a 24-7 access to your biometric data. as well as analytics across strained, sleep, recovery, and more. The membership comes with a free whoop strap 2.0. And for listening to this podcast, folks,

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