June 13, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode of MilesFromHerView, host Kat, a seasoned strength trainer, ultra marathon runner, and mother, discusses how to tailor fitness programs to the various 'seasons' of life women go through. Kat shares insights on how to match workouts to one's current goals, energy levels, and life circumstances to build momentum and see real progress. She provides practical advice, using case studies and client stories, on creating exercise regimes that fit around busy lifestyles, whether you're rebuilding after an injury, maintaining during a hectic period, or pushing towards bold goals. Listeners are encouraged to discern their current season to ensure their training supports their life rather than competes with it.
00:00 Introduction: Finding the Missing Piece in Your Workouts
00:38 Welcome to MilesFromHerView
01:27 Understanding Program Design for Busy Women
02:12 Adapting Workouts to Life Changes
04:04 Client Stories: Real-Life Successes
04:59 The Evolution of Training Programs
06:42 Seasonal Frameworks for Training
07:17 Building Foundations and Progressing
12:12 Strength, Conditioning, and Skill Building
15:12 Rehab and Rebuild: Overcoming Setbacks
21:54 The Importance of Feedback and Adaptation
26:29 Conclusion: Aligning Training with Your Season
27:22 Closing Remarks and Call to Action
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kat (00:00):
Ever feel like you're doing the workouts, but something's
(00:03):
not clicking like you're showingup, but not really seeing the
progress you hope for.
In this episode, I'm breakingdown what might be missing the
right training season forwherever you are right now.
We'll talk about how to matchyour workouts to your goals,
your life, and your energy, soyou're not just working hard,
but actually building momentum.
(00:24):
I'll also share a quick clientstory that shows what can happen
when your plan finally fits.
By the end, you'll have aclearer path to move forward and
set yourself up for realprogress.
Welcome to MilesFromHerView, thepodcast powered by KatFit
Strength, where busy women likeyou find practical solutions to
(00:45):
fuel your fitness journey withauthenticity and resilience.
I'm Kat, your host, a mom of twoactive boys, a business owner,
and an ultra marathon runner anda strength trainer in her
forties with nearly two decadesof experience.
I'm here to help you cut throughthe noise of fads, hacks, and
quick fixes.
This is a space where wecelebrate womanhood and
(01:07):
motherhood.
All while building strength andresilience and reconnecting with
you from a place ofself-compassion and worthiness.
Whether you're lacing up yourrunning shoes to go out for a
run, driving your kids topractice or squeezing in a
moment for yourself, I'm righthere in the trenches with you.
Let's dive in.
(01:27):
Welcome to MilesFromHerView I amKat, your host.
And today I am walking youthrough how to approach program
design for yourself and also howI approach program design with
my clients who wear many titles.
They are women who might weartitles of career, woman, mom,
partner, friend, daughter, allthe things in between.
(01:50):
And they want more from theirtraining, but they also need
their workouts to work for them.
The truth is most women I workwith aren't new to fitness.
They've done the workouts,bought the gear, downloaded the
programs.
But at some point it stoppedfeeling aligned.
They didn't feel like themselvesanymore, not physically, not
mentally, because life shifted.
(02:12):
Maybe it was a job change, ahealth challenge, a new baby
perimenopause, or just plainburnt out, but their workouts
didn't shift with it.
Oftentimes when that happens, wefeel.
Like we go on pause.
We feel like we failed theprogramming, like we can't get
it together.
However, your training shouldshift depending on what season
(02:37):
you are in.
Are you rebuilding after aninjury or life change?
Are you trying to stayconsistent through a busy season
or are you ready to push and seewhat you're capable of?
Each one of these areas deservesa different kind of plan.
And in these different areas,you can cycle through them in a
(03:00):
year's time, multiple years, oreven in a quarter.
That's something I'm personallyworking through right now.
We're getting ready for summerhere.
My boys are about to be homefull-time, which means my
schedule, my own trainingwindows, and how I structure my
day all have to flex.
On top of that, I am gettingready to run a race that I've
(03:21):
been training for for severalmonths this weekend.
If you're new here, I'm a runnerand I do ultra marathon, trail
races.
What that means is anything overa marathon distance, which is
26.2 miles this weekend, is a 40miler.
I've run this distance numeroustimes.
My longest race, I've donemultiple hundred mile races and
(03:45):
this weekend I know is going tobe a huge mental and physical
goal for me.
It's been a stretch to balancework, family, and my own
training, and I know so many ofyou are living that same rhythm.
Now, you may not be training foran ultra marathon, but you are
doing so many other things andare at capacity.
So I'll dive into, again,utilizing client stories in case
(04:09):
studies.
There a lot has been extractedto keep their identities private
because I am really big on notoversharing my client's stories,
but giving you a taste becausechances are you are going to.
Understand, and maybe seeyourself in one of those client
stories.
Maybe you are someone who isalso training for or hopes to
(04:30):
train for an ultra marathon, butyou're just not sure how that
all can fit in.
So if you're feeling a littlescattered or unsure about how to
show up consistently in yourworkouts, you are not alone.
So let's dive into talking abouthow I build programs that fit
real life, not just idealscenarios because.
Real life gets lifey.
And like I said, all of theseseasons you can experience and I
(04:54):
have experienced in a trainingplan training for a peak race.
So with KatFit, and it's kind ofcrazy.
I started my business 12 yearsago.
My background is in collegeathletics.
I've talked about this manytimes before, but if you're new
here, and this is your firstepisode, listening, I was
(05:14):
shocked how training and it hasprogressed from when I started
in the industry, how trainingclients was more about the
isolated single session andsingle workout, not the
overarching plan I had beentold, and at the time,
certifications.
(05:34):
That I looked at had told youcan't program an everyday
individual.
So anyone who's not an athlete,in the essence of training for a
race on a sports team, beingpaid a professional athlete or
an amateur athlete, you can'tprogram for an everyday
individual because, their lifecan't support it.
(05:58):
That seemed odd to me.
If they come in with goalswanting to build strength,
wanting to have a bodycomposition change coming back
from pregnancy, um, goingthrough perimenopause,
menopause, I'm like, shouldn'twe be putting together programs
and programs that assess andaddress these situations.
(06:18):
It has evolved.
Programming has come a long way,and that is something that I
looked at is I took what I usedto do with athletes training
them to achieve their best.
Oftentimes, it was qualifyingfor the NCAA championship, and I
looked at this for my every dayclients who are athletes for
life.
(06:39):
How my programming has evolvedis.
Clients often fall into one ofthese five seasonal frameworks.
From there, I have pared it downto three, programs.
Again, these titles areintentional about progressions.
These ones are not what youwould find if you picked up.
(07:00):
And I'll go into the industryterms and what you might pick up
if you are reading a book onstrength training and phases but
these are the ones that I.
Chose to be intentional aboutprogressions and that align
where you are right now andwhere you wanna go.
So let's, let's break them down.
One is foundations first.
This is for rebuilding aftertime, away from just any
(07:23):
organized fitness or maybesomeone who has never done a
program Maybe you're coming backfrom injury or maybe there's
just been a lot of inconsistencybecause life.
Just as lifeing.
This is also where individualswho are prenatal and postpartum
are.
Because this is really workingon the foundations, getting you
(07:46):
to expand your capacity.
The second area where clientsmight fall into and, and they
will graduate up to built forthis.
It's for strength and structureand sustainable momentum, and
then from there they move intounstoppable.
This is for chasing those boldgoals with intensity and
(08:06):
strategy, and depending on whatyour body or life is calling
for, we layer in, hypertro skillbuilding and capacity for cardio
work Now.
I wanna preface that and I willgo into it a little bit more, is
that you will build muscle andfoundations first and build for
this.
You will develop skills in allthree and there will be, um, an
(08:30):
area to do cardio in all three.
They're just gonna lookdifferent and unstoppable.
With unstoppable, it's for thosewho have a very good confident
in lifting and they've kind ofgraduated up through the ranks.
If you first start working withme, you may start in unstoppable
or you may start in foundationsfirst.
(08:52):
It depends on where you're at.
So the, the, this structurereally makes sure that what
we're doing in the gym actuallyreflects what's happening in
your life and not the other wayaround.
So right now, just a little bitbehind the scenes in the KatFit
app.
I'm really trying to break thisdown and make it more user
friendly for my clients who theydo have so many titles.
(09:14):
They're training around schoolpickups, shifting schedules,
sport drop-offs, camp pickups,work, travel, partner work,
travel.
They are juggling a lot.
And as we're shifting intosummertime, it typically is a
higher time for.
Vacations and holiday travel.
So as I'm rolling out theseupdates, I'm also adding to
(09:35):
nutrition coaching because youwant to be fueled for success
and focused on quick grab and gomeals.
Not just to hit your macros, butalso things that you enjoy and
you can eat in the car betweendrop offs, and really setting
yourself up for success forthose busy seasons and for slow
seasons.
(09:56):
What your goal actually means inthe whole span of programming.
How this looks in action is, Iwanna be really clear and
intentional on how I programbecause.
Again, how I train my athletes,it was setting them up for
success and I want to set myclients up for success so that
the program is matching thespeed in which they can handle
(10:19):
and the intensity and thecapacity that they have.
So consistency and maintenance.
We're shifting into some moreindustry terms.
So consistency and maintenancemode is really what I program
for women who wanna stay moving,but life is so full right now.
They don't know which way iscoming and going, but they still
(10:39):
wanna prioritize themselves.
So it might look like two tothree full body sessions a week,
and they're short.
So 20 to 30 minutes with minimalequipment might look like with
super sets, circuits, andrepeatable patterns.
The reps are around eight to 12reps.
We're looking at moderate RPErate of perceived exertion so
(11:01):
that in this time.
They're moving their body, theirability to build strength is
there.
They're maintaining theircurrent strength and they're not
exhausted.
After the workout, they're ableto recover from the workouts
without being so depleted fromlife and depleted from workouts
that they're not recovering.
(11:21):
This is found in my foundationsfirst, and as you transition
into built for this.
Emily, who is a mom of two, shehad an extremely demanding job
and she came to me saying, Ineed something, but I just don't
have time for 90 minuteworkouts.
I get it.
I mean, I truly do.
And so we looked at what is thecapacity?
(11:42):
What feels right for her in theseason?
And we built a plan where shedid three workouts a week that
she could do in 30 minutes, andshe was able to stick with it.
And within six weeks she wassleeping better.
Felt stronger and actuallyenjoyed working out again.
She, you know, also thought thatshe just could never would have
to put herself on hold until herkids got older and her job
(12:05):
calmed down.
But we found the right intensityfor the season that she's in
now.
Muscle growth or hypertrophy isfor when you want to build
strength, you wanna, feelstronger.
Look.
Better in your clothes, feelstronger in your body and in
your workouts.
(12:25):
The rep ranges here tend to be10 to 15 plus you're working
with superset by muscle groupand shorter rest between 30 to
60 seconds.
The RPE is moderate, so in thisarea, this is where built for
this is.
Capacity and conditioning.
This is for women who are reallylooking to boost their fitness
like they wanna feel likethey're moving.
(12:47):
Again, here it's focused oncircuits, finishers, fast paced
formats and reps are tend to behigher, 12 to 20 reps, lighter
weights, shorter rest, higherenergy.
So this is also incorporated inbuilt for this and, you know, in
the early stages of Unstoppable.
So it's not like these differentindustry term phasings are not
(13:09):
seen in my programs.
It, they're sprinkled in againat the capacity of which the
client can handle it so we'reworking on building that,
capacity, making sure that it ismatching the season that they're
in so that the overwhelm isn'tthere.
And so they feel set up forsuccess.
The next one is strength gain.
So this is where you wanna liftheavier.
(13:32):
You wanna feel powerful, and youwanna see those measurable
gains.
So we're looking at compoundlifts like squats, deadlifts,
overhead press.
We're really focused on, uh,lower reps, three to six in the
rep range, and longer rest.
These workouts demand.
Energy, you wanna be fullyrested because you are going to
be pushing heavy weight.
(13:53):
You are going to be exhaustedafterwards, you might feel
increased muscle soreness.
So you wanna have the capacityto be able to rest and recover
more, as well as be able to showup to your workouts ready to be
focused and push more.
These workouts are found in mytier of unstoppable.
(14:14):
Mara was a a, a client who cameto me and she was already
training four to five days aweek, but she just felt stuck.
She felt like she wasn't makingprogress.
She was doing all the differentthings.
She was strength training, shewas doing all the cardio, but we
needed to simplify her programand we had to focus on quality
over quantity and push her loadwith purpose.
So within 16 weeks, she pulled a200 pound trap bar deadlift, and
(14:38):
she told me I finally feel likean athlete again.
Something she had lost.
From her college days, she was acollege athlete and she wanted
to feel that again.
Her kids were a little older.
She was more rested.
She was in control of hercareer.
She felt like she had thecapacity to push, and so she had
increased her workout days tofour to five days a week, but
(14:59):
the volume was high and she wasjust doing the work, but it
wasn't focused.
We weren't, she wasn't focusedon quality of her quantity.
It was no fault of her own.
We just needed to tweak theprogram so that she could find
that success that she waslooking for.
Rehab and rebuild.
For those, these are for theindividuals who are coming back
from injury surgery, or maybe along period of, of not working
(15:22):
out.
Also in this area, I put in myprenatal and postpartum
populations, rehab and rebuild.
As a trainer, it's not in theclinical version of someone who
is resorted to only physicaltherapy movements.
It's more bridging that gap.
Some of my clients, when they'rein this phase and when I'm
(15:43):
programming them, they might befinishing up a round of,
physical therapy.
Maybe they didn't have physicaltherapy from an injury, but
we're really working on gettingthe back end.
Maybe it's an old injury andthere has been this hesitation
to get back to working outbecause maybe they have and
reinjure their injury and weneed to build that.
(16:05):
Trust that capacity within thebody so that they can move more
confidently.
This tends to look like higherreps, 12 to 15 reps.
We're moving a little bitslower.
We're really focused onconnecting what I call the dots
in the body.
We're focused on understandinghow our body is moving, feeling
our muscles move and gainingthat internal connection, that
(16:26):
mind body connection there.
A lot of core work, stabilitywork is happening and it's often
combined with.
Light strength work andhypertrophy.
So clients who are in this phasestart in foundations first.
It is highly customized.
I'm really looking at gettingone-on-one with that person and
getting that feedback.
So Becky, she came to me in herearly fifties and she came to me
(16:49):
post-surgery.
She had multiple healthchallenges.
She was going through and whichresulted in multiple surgeries.
Now her lifestyle.
She has a very demanding, lifeoutside of her career.
She has horses and has a horsefarm where she does the work
herself.
(17:09):
And she had never reallyfollowed a formal strength
program, but she wanted to buildthat strength here.
She was, she.
It's like I'm getting older.
I am in my fifties, and I wantto be able to continue to care
for my horses and live thelifestyle that I want to.
So we started slow.
We started, we looked at, corestrength.
We looked at developing thatkinesthetic awareness.
(17:30):
We looked at her movements thatshe does in her everyday life,
caring for her horses.
And incorporated them in the gymso that she can move her body
more effectively without gettinginjured.
And here's the thing.
She's been able to get back upon her horses and be able to
stack hay bills without help orwithout injury.
All of this has been done withina short window.
(17:53):
It doesn't take.
Years to see solid progress.
What it takes is intentionalprogramming and doing the work
intentionally.
Oftentimes, it is breaking upwith what is seen on social
media of these dramatic resultsand fun flashy workouts.
(18:14):
Workouts are challenging.
I do my best to program withclients that they're feeling
that challenge, that they areunderstanding that we're going
to have to repeat motorpatterns.
Multiple times a week becausethe body learns through
repetition.
Alright?
If you're listening to this andthinking, okay.
I need help figuring out myseason.
(18:36):
This is exactly what I do atcafe.
Whether you're rebuilding,chasing strength, or just
staying consistent withoutburning out, let's bla build a
plan that fits your life.
Click on the link in the shownotes and book a quick consult,
zero pressure, just aconversation about what you need
and how to get there.
One of the reasons why.
(18:57):
Clients see success in theKatFit is how I look at when I
set up their training.
So I went through a lot ofphases.
I've thrown a lot at you withthis.
Clients do come in and yes, theywant to build on a skill.
So this is something, you know,two other phases or one other
phase that clients come inlooking at is.
(19:20):
Here, I've never been able to doa pull up.
I've never been able to dopushups.
And that's a training goal andwe infuse that in as well in all
the different phases, whetheryou're in foundations first
built for this or unstoppable.
That is programmed in with focuspractice.
So we're looking at three tofive sets of assisted reps or
variations, eccentric.
Tempo and holds, and it'scombined in that strength and
(19:43):
hypertrophy.
And this is to build thatconfidence based volume.
And it really does help withmotivation and variety.
So as I had mentioned, yes,we're gonna see exercises show
up because they have thedifferent motor patterns that
strengthen us and help our bodybe set up for success in
everyday life.
Easing those aches and painshelping us.
(20:04):
Maintain the rehab from maybeold injuries, helping us give
back to our body in which thoseearly postpartum time period
takes away.
Caring for a a baby is very hardon posture.
Programming for that is there,but I understand clients do have
aesthetic goals.
They have skill building goalsthat they want to do and see.
(20:26):
So in regards to the client,Becky, she had very specific
skill goals to be able to feedher horses, care for her horses,
and to be able to run the horsefarm.
So we.
Put in skill building movementsas well as helping her progress
through her rehab and recoveryfrom her surgeries.
(20:48):
This is seen in multiple ways inmy programs.
This is why when I start with, aclient, the question I wanna
know, and what I'm asking is,what do they really need from
their training right now?
Are they rebuilding after aninjury or a life change, trying
to stay consistent through abusy season?
Or are they ready to push andsee what they're capable of?
(21:10):
Because as I've mentioned, eachone deserves a different kind of
plan, and you can cycle throughthese in a year.
You can cycle through them in aquarter.
It really depends and we need tounderstand.
I'm in the process of shiftingup my seasons a little bit more
because my kids are coming up onsummer break.
(21:33):
I'm also in the process oftapering for an ultra marathon,
so my workout program is gonnalook a little bit different.
I'm also.
Pushing a little harder in mybusiness to bring more resources
to my clients, and all thatneeds to be considered for my
training plan.
(21:54):
Now, I've talked a lot aboutprogramming, but this doesn't
work and isn't successful if Iam not getting feedback from
clients.
This is where I see a bigdifference, where clients come
in and maybe they've.
Downloaded program.
Maybe they've gone to a gym anddone workout classes and they're
all great programming.
(22:15):
I'm not here to say mine is thebest or anything else, but
sometimes that feedback loop ismissing where we, you know,
workout classes are great.
My clients, I will say this, Ido program those in some go to
workout classes.
So again, I'm not here to bash,but.
This is where sometimesdownloading a program or picking
(22:37):
workouts at random don't alignwith our seasons because we're
not closing that feedback loop.
So one of the reasons why myprogramming also works so well
is they're not just followingthe plan.
We're tracking what matters.
I'm understanding.
How their stress levels are, howthey're sleeping, really what is
(22:57):
their focus, what is theirgoals?
Those are gonna change.
If you're coming into a weekwhere your partner's traveling,
you have work, travel, yourchildcare falls through, your
plan needs to change a littlebit and adapt, or else you're
gonna find yourself.
Quitting and not because you arenot capable, but because we're
(23:17):
not understanding that we're ina really crazy season.
So that's where we might have todip into a week or two of
maintenance so that when youcome out of that little bit of
busyness, you're able to meetback up with you know where
you're at in your strengthtraining.
So in the app, clients mightleave notes like, feeling tired
(23:38):
today, backed off my weight.
Awesome.
That's huge.
If you're feeling tired, let'ssay the baby was up all night.
Let's say you had a workproject.
Let's say your child had nightterrors and you had disruptive
sleep.
Disrupted sleep is a real thingin perimenopause and menopause.
You should not feel like youhave to show up and perform
(23:59):
because this all goes into it.
You need quality sleep.
In order to push heavy weightsor the weights that you had been
pushing.
Another note that I see often isI used a heavier dumbbell and I
was able to move the weight.
Okay?
Yes, you are gonna, I wantclients and I have a space that
(24:20):
they do that they can alwayspush harder.
And they have thatcomfortableness knowing that
they can choose a weight, andthey've picked up that weight,
pushed the weight, pulled theweight, whatever the movement
is, and recorded it, and thenmove back to the weight that
they have been able to movesuccessfully.
(24:42):
This is how we bridge the gap toget ourselves stronger.
Another one I love is whenclients, and I do fullheartedly
agree, split squats are just myarch nemesis, but they are so
good for you is when clientssay, Hey, I did this exercise
and it didn't suck.
That's huge.
That is so huge because it's notabout perfection and progress is
(25:04):
not linear.
We see on social mediaoftentimes Instagram because it
is very visual that.
The, quick snapshot, maybe youfollow a fitness influencer.
And it's just like they haveendless energy.
Their workouts are always onpoint.
There's never the setback or,um, depletion of energy.
(25:25):
And so in our minds, eventhough, yes, I'm saying this and
you're like, yeah, I know that'snot true.
It can present this.
False narrative that something'swrong with me if I'm not always
lifting heavier each session orable to lift the same weight I
lifted last session.
The fact that goes into it is.
Recovery, stress levels, fuelingall of the things.
(25:49):
So when you are not in abeautiful container, like my
college athletes were, wherethey were in their twenties, I'm
gonna say had little to noresponsibilities, I could push
them in a lot different ways.
So it's not about perfection,it's about pattern recognition,
and that's how we build realprogress over time.
(26:10):
And those little details is howwe make smart changes, how I
understand where my clients areat and I, know all the science
and I am the one who can helpprogram it for them so that they
are constantly set up forsuccess.
It's about responding and notjust powering through.
So I'm gonna leave you withthis.
(26:31):
What season are you in and isyour training actually
supporting that or fightingagainst it?
So as I mentioned right now, I'mpersonally in a season of
adapting and adjusting summershere.
My boys are almost outta school,and like many of you, I'm moving
things around to make space formy family, my work, and also for
my race This weekend.
(26:52):
It's not perfect and it's notalways gonna be pretty.
Trust me, if you saw, if I couldgive a detailed everything, my
life does not look pretty.
It's not like I have thisperfectly curated time to always
do my workouts.
I don't.
There's constant adjustmentswith my workouts, but it's
aligned to where I'm at andthat's what I want for you.
(27:16):
Your season that you're in isn'tforever, but it does deserve to
be acknowledged.
Thanks for listening toMilesFromHerView and if this
episode helped you thinkdifferently about your training.
Share it with a friend, and ifyou're curious about what season
you are in, I'd love to help youfind it.
Keep moving forward.
One rep, one step, one mile at atime and no matter the season,
(27:40):
progress is progress.
I'll catch you in the nextepisode.
Thank you for tuning in toMilesFromHerView, powered by
KatFit Strength.
If this podcast inspires you,don't keep it for yourself.
Hit follow or subscribe to stayupdated on the new episodes, and
leave us a review to help morewomen and moms discover this
(28:00):
space.
Your feedback fuels this podcastand I'd love to hear what's
working for you or what topicsyou want to dive into Next.
You can connect with me onInstagram at KatFit Strength, or
share this episode.
With a friend who is ready toembrace her strength.
Remember, fitness isn't aboutperfection.
It's about showing up foryourself and finding strength in
(28:22):
every step of your journey.
Until next time, keep movingforward one mile at a time.
Ever feel like you're doing the workouts, but something's
(00:03):
not clicking like you're showingup, but not really seeing the
progress you hope for.
In this episode, I'm breakingdown what might be missing the
right training season forwherever you are right now.
We'll talk about how to matchyour workouts to your goals,
your life, and your energy, soyou're not just working hard,
but actually building momentum.
(00:24):
I'll also share a quick clientstory that shows what can happen
when your plan finally fits.
By the end, you'll have aclearer path to move forward and
set yourself up for realprogress.
Welcome to MilesFromHerView, thepodcast powered by KatFit
Strength, where busy women likeyou find practical solutions to
(00:45):
fuel your fitness journey withauthenticity and resilience.
I'm Kat, your host, a mom of twoactive boys, a business owner,
and an ultra marathon runner anda strength trainer in her
forties with nearly two decadesof experience.
I'm here to help you cut throughthe noise of fads, hacks, and
quick fixes.
This is a space where wecelebrate womanhood and
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motherhood.
All while building strength andresilience and reconnecting with
you from a place ofself-compassion and worthiness.
Whether you're lacing up yourrunning shoes to go out for a
run, driving your kids topractice or squeezing in a
moment for yourself, I'm righthere in the trenches with you.
Let's dive in.
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Welcome to MilesFromHerView I amKat, your host.
And today I am walking youthrough how to approach program
design for yourself and also howI approach program design with
my clients who wear many titles.
They are women who might weartitles of career, woman, mom,
partner, friend, daughter, allthe things in between.
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And they want more from theirtraining, but they also need
their workouts to work for them.
The truth is most women I workwith aren't new to fitness.
They've done the workouts,bought the gear, downloaded the
programs.
But at some point it stoppedfeeling aligned.
They didn't feel like themselvesanymore, not physically, not
mentally, because life shifted.
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Maybe it was a job change, ahealth challenge, a new baby
perimenopause, or just plainburnt out, but their workouts
didn't shift with it.
Oftentimes when that happens, wefeel.
Like we go on pause.
We feel like we failed theprogramming, like we can't get
it together.
However, your training shouldshift depending on what season
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you are in.
Are you rebuilding after aninjury or life change?
Are you trying to stayconsistent through a busy season
or are you ready to push and seewhat you're capable of?
Each one of these areas deservesa different kind of plan.
And in these different areas,you can cycle through them in a
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year's time, multiple years, oreven in a quarter.
That's something I'm personallyworking through right now.
We're getting ready for summerhere.
My boys are about to be homefull-time, which means my
schedule, my own trainingwindows, and how I structure my
day all have to flex.
On top of that, I am gettingready to run a race that I've
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been training for for severalmonths this weekend.
If you're new here, I'm a runnerand I do ultra marathon, trail
races.
What that means is anything overa marathon distance, which is
26.2 miles this weekend, is a 40miler.
I've run this distance numeroustimes.
My longest race, I've donemultiple hundred mile races and
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this weekend I know is going tobe a huge mental and physical
goal for me.
It's been a stretch to balancework, family, and my own
training, and I know so many ofyou are living that same rhythm.
Now, you may not be training foran ultra marathon, but you are
doing so many other things andare at capacity.
So I'll dive into, again,utilizing client stories in case
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studies.
There a lot has been extractedto keep their identities private
because I am really big on notoversharing my client's stories,
but giving you a taste becausechances are you are going to.
Understand, and maybe seeyourself in one of those client
stories.
Maybe you are someone who isalso training for or hopes to
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train for an ultra marathon, butyou're just not sure how that
all can fit in.
So if you're feeling a littlescattered or unsure about how to
show up consistently in yourworkouts, you are not alone.
So let's dive into talking abouthow I build programs that fit
real life, not just idealscenarios because.
Real life gets lifey.
And like I said, all of theseseasons you can experience and I
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have experienced in a trainingplan training for a peak race.
So with KatFit, and it's kind ofcrazy.
I started my business 12 yearsago.
My background is in collegeathletics.
I've talked about this manytimes before, but if you're new
here, and this is your firstepisode, listening, I was
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shocked how training and it hasprogressed from when I started
in the industry, how trainingclients was more about the
isolated single session andsingle workout, not the
overarching plan I had beentold, and at the time,
certifications.
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That I looked at had told youcan't program an everyday
individual.
So anyone who's not an athlete,in the essence of training for a
race on a sports team, beingpaid a professional athlete or
an amateur athlete, you can'tprogram for an everyday
individual because, their lifecan't support it.
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That seemed odd to me.
If they come in with goalswanting to build strength,
wanting to have a bodycomposition change coming back
from pregnancy, um, goingthrough perimenopause,
menopause, I'm like, shouldn'twe be putting together programs
and programs that assess andaddress these situations.
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It has evolved.
Programming has come a long way,and that is something that I
looked at is I took what I usedto do with athletes training
them to achieve their best.
Oftentimes, it was qualifyingfor the NCAA championship, and I
looked at this for my every dayclients who are athletes for
life.
(06:39):
How my programming has evolvedis.
Clients often fall into one ofthese five seasonal frameworks.
From there, I have pared it downto three, programs.
Again, these titles areintentional about progressions.
These ones are not what youwould find if you picked up.
(07:00):
And I'll go into the industryterms and what you might pick up
if you are reading a book onstrength training and phases but
these are the ones that I.
Chose to be intentional aboutprogressions and that align
where you are right now andwhere you wanna go.
So let's, let's break them down.
One is foundations first.
This is for rebuilding aftertime, away from just any
(07:23):
organized fitness or maybesomeone who has never done a
program Maybe you're coming backfrom injury or maybe there's
just been a lot of inconsistencybecause life.
Just as lifeing.
This is also where individualswho are prenatal and postpartum
are.
Because this is really workingon the foundations, getting you
(07:46):
to expand your capacity.
The second area where clientsmight fall into and, and they
will graduate up to built forthis.
It's for strength and structureand sustainable momentum, and
then from there they move intounstoppable.
This is for chasing those boldgoals with intensity and
(08:06):
strategy, and depending on whatyour body or life is calling
for, we layer in, hypertro skillbuilding and capacity for cardio
work Now.
I wanna preface that and I willgo into it a little bit more, is
that you will build muscle andfoundations first and build for
this.
You will develop skills in allthree and there will be, um, an
(08:30):
area to do cardio in all three.
They're just gonna lookdifferent and unstoppable.
With unstoppable, it's for thosewho have a very good confident
in lifting and they've kind ofgraduated up through the ranks.
If you first start working withme, you may start in unstoppable
or you may start in foundationsfirst.
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It depends on where you're at.
So the, the, this structurereally makes sure that what
we're doing in the gym actuallyreflects what's happening in
your life and not the other wayaround.
So right now, just a little bitbehind the scenes in the KatFit
app.
I'm really trying to break thisdown and make it more user
friendly for my clients who theydo have so many titles.
(09:14):
They're training around schoolpickups, shifting schedules,
sport drop-offs, camp pickups,work, travel, partner work,
travel.
They are juggling a lot.
And as we're shifting intosummertime, it typically is a
higher time for.
Vacations and holiday travel.
So as I'm rolling out theseupdates, I'm also adding to
(09:35):
nutrition coaching because youwant to be fueled for success
and focused on quick grab and gomeals.
Not just to hit your macros, butalso things that you enjoy and
you can eat in the car betweendrop offs, and really setting
yourself up for success forthose busy seasons and for slow
seasons.
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What your goal actually means inthe whole span of programming.
How this looks in action is, Iwanna be really clear and
intentional on how I programbecause.
Again, how I train my athletes,it was setting them up for
success and I want to set myclients up for success so that
the program is matching thespeed in which they can handle
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and the intensity and thecapacity that they have.
So consistency and maintenance.
We're shifting into some moreindustry terms.
So consistency and maintenancemode is really what I program
for women who wanna stay moving,but life is so full right now.
They don't know which way iscoming and going, but they still
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wanna prioritize themselves.
So it might look like two tothree full body sessions a week,
and they're short.
So 20 to 30 minutes with minimalequipment might look like with
super sets, circuits, andrepeatable patterns.
The reps are around eight to 12reps.
We're looking at moderate RPErate of perceived exertion so
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that in this time.
They're moving their body, theirability to build strength is
there.
They're maintaining theircurrent strength and they're not
exhausted.
After the workout, they're ableto recover from the workouts
without being so depleted fromlife and depleted from workouts
that they're not recovering.
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This is found in my foundationsfirst, and as you transition
into built for this.
Emily, who is a mom of two, shehad an extremely demanding job
and she came to me saying, Ineed something, but I just don't
have time for 90 minuteworkouts.
I get it.
I mean, I truly do.
And so we looked at what is thecapacity?
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What feels right for her in theseason?
And we built a plan where shedid three workouts a week that
she could do in 30 minutes, andshe was able to stick with it.
And within six weeks she wassleeping better.
Felt stronger and actuallyenjoyed working out again.
She, you know, also thought thatshe just could never would have
to put herself on hold until herkids got older and her job
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calmed down.
But we found the right intensityfor the season that she's in
now.
Muscle growth or hypertrophy isfor when you want to build
strength, you wanna, feelstronger.
Look.
Better in your clothes, feelstronger in your body and in
your workouts.
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The rep ranges here tend to be10 to 15 plus you're working
with superset by muscle groupand shorter rest between 30 to
60 seconds.
The RPE is moderate, so in thisarea, this is where built for
this is.
Capacity and conditioning.
This is for women who are reallylooking to boost their fitness
like they wanna feel likethey're moving.
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Again, here it's focused oncircuits, finishers, fast paced
formats and reps are tend to behigher, 12 to 20 reps, lighter
weights, shorter rest, higherenergy.
So this is also incorporated inbuilt for this and, you know, in
the early stages of Unstoppable.
So it's not like these differentindustry term phasings are not
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seen in my programs.
It, they're sprinkled in againat the capacity of which the
client can handle it so we'reworking on building that,
capacity, making sure that it ismatching the season that they're
in so that the overwhelm isn'tthere.
And so they feel set up forsuccess.
The next one is strength gain.
So this is where you wanna liftheavier.
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You wanna feel powerful, and youwanna see those measurable
gains.
So we're looking at compoundlifts like squats, deadlifts,
overhead press.
We're really focused on, uh,lower reps, three to six in the
rep range, and longer rest.
These workouts demand.
Energy, you wanna be fullyrested because you are going to
be pushing heavy weight.
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You are going to be exhaustedafterwards, you might feel
increased muscle soreness.
So you wanna have the capacityto be able to rest and recover
more, as well as be able to showup to your workouts ready to be
focused and push more.
These workouts are found in mytier of unstoppable.
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Mara was a a, a client who cameto me and she was already
training four to five days aweek, but she just felt stuck.
She felt like she wasn't makingprogress.
She was doing all the differentthings.
She was strength training, shewas doing all the cardio, but we
needed to simplify her programand we had to focus on quality
over quantity and push her loadwith purpose.
So within 16 weeks, she pulled a200 pound trap bar deadlift, and
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she told me I finally feel likean athlete again.
Something she had lost.
From her college days, she was acollege athlete and she wanted
to feel that again.
Her kids were a little older.
She was more rested.
She was in control of hercareer.
She felt like she had thecapacity to push, and so she had
increased her workout days tofour to five days a week, but
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the volume was high and she wasjust doing the work, but it
wasn't focused.
We weren't, she wasn't focusedon quality of her quantity.
It was no fault of her own.
We just needed to tweak theprogram so that she could find
that success that she waslooking for.
Rehab and rebuild.
For those, these are for theindividuals who are coming back
from injury surgery, or maybe along period of, of not working
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out.
Also in this area, I put in myprenatal and postpartum
populations, rehab and rebuild.
As a trainer, it's not in theclinical version of someone who
is resorted to only physicaltherapy movements.
It's more bridging that gap.
Some of my clients, when they'rein this phase and when I'm
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programming them, they might befinishing up a round of,
physical therapy.
Maybe they didn't have physicaltherapy from an injury, but
we're really working on gettingthe back end.
Maybe it's an old injury andthere has been this hesitation
to get back to working outbecause maybe they have and
reinjure their injury and weneed to build that.
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Trust that capacity within thebody so that they can move more
confidently.
This tends to look like higherreps, 12 to 15 reps.
We're moving a little bitslower.
We're really focused onconnecting what I call the dots
in the body.
We're focused on understandinghow our body is moving, feeling
our muscles move and gainingthat internal connection, that
(16:26):
mind body connection there.
A lot of core work, stabilitywork is happening and it's often
combined with.
Light strength work andhypertrophy.
So clients who are in this phasestart in foundations first.
It is highly customized.
I'm really looking at gettingone-on-one with that person and
getting that feedback.
So Becky, she came to me in herearly fifties and she came to me
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post-surgery.
She had multiple healthchallenges.
She was going through and whichresulted in multiple surgeries.
Now her lifestyle.
She has a very demanding, lifeoutside of her career.
She has horses and has a horsefarm where she does the work
herself.
(17:09):
And she had never reallyfollowed a formal strength
program, but she wanted to buildthat strength here.
She was, she.
It's like I'm getting older.
I am in my fifties, and I wantto be able to continue to care
for my horses and live thelifestyle that I want to.
So we started slow.
We started, we looked at, corestrength.
We looked at developing thatkinesthetic awareness.
(17:30):
We looked at her movements thatshe does in her everyday life,
caring for her horses.
And incorporated them in the gymso that she can move her body
more effectively without gettinginjured.
And here's the thing.
She's been able to get back upon her horses and be able to
stack hay bills without help orwithout injury.
All of this has been done withina short window.
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It doesn't take.
Years to see solid progress.
What it takes is intentionalprogramming and doing the work
intentionally.
Oftentimes, it is breaking upwith what is seen on social
media of these dramatic resultsand fun flashy workouts.
(18:14):
Workouts are challenging.
I do my best to program withclients that they're feeling
that challenge, that they areunderstanding that we're going
to have to repeat motorpatterns.
Multiple times a week becausethe body learns through
repetition.
Alright?
If you're listening to this andthinking, okay.
I need help figuring out myseason.
(18:36):
This is exactly what I do atcafe.
Whether you're rebuilding,chasing strength, or just
staying consistent withoutburning out, let's bla build a
plan that fits your life.
Click on the link in the shownotes and book a quick consult,
zero pressure, just aconversation about what you need
and how to get there.
One of the reasons why.
(18:57):
Clients see success in theKatFit is how I look at when I
set up their training.
So I went through a lot ofphases.
I've thrown a lot at you withthis.
Clients do come in and yes, theywant to build on a skill.
So this is something, you know,two other phases or one other
phase that clients come inlooking at is.
(19:20):
Here, I've never been able to doa pull up.
I've never been able to dopushups.
And that's a training goal andwe infuse that in as well in all
the different phases, whetheryou're in foundations first
built for this or unstoppable.
That is programmed in with focuspractice.
So we're looking at three tofive sets of assisted reps or
variations, eccentric.
Tempo and holds, and it'scombined in that strength and
(19:43):
hypertrophy.
And this is to build thatconfidence based volume.
And it really does help withmotivation and variety.
So as I had mentioned, yes,we're gonna see exercises show
up because they have thedifferent motor patterns that
strengthen us and help our bodybe set up for success in
everyday life.
Easing those aches and painshelping us.
(20:04):
Maintain the rehab from maybeold injuries, helping us give
back to our body in which thoseearly postpartum time period
takes away.
Caring for a a baby is very hardon posture.
Programming for that is there,but I understand clients do have
aesthetic goals.
They have skill building goalsthat they want to do and see.
(20:26):
So in regards to the client,Becky, she had very specific
skill goals to be able to feedher horses, care for her horses,
and to be able to run the horsefarm.
So we.
Put in skill building movementsas well as helping her progress
through her rehab and recoveryfrom her surgeries.
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This is seen in multiple ways inmy programs.
This is why when I start with, aclient, the question I wanna
know, and what I'm asking is,what do they really need from
their training right now?
Are they rebuilding after aninjury or a life change, trying
to stay consistent through abusy season?
Or are they ready to push andsee what they're capable of?
(21:10):
Because as I've mentioned, eachone deserves a different kind of
plan, and you can cycle throughthese in a year.
You can cycle through them in aquarter.
It really depends and we need tounderstand.
I'm in the process of shiftingup my seasons a little bit more
because my kids are coming up onsummer break.
(21:33):
I'm also in the process oftapering for an ultra marathon,
so my workout program is gonnalook a little bit different.
I'm also.
Pushing a little harder in mybusiness to bring more resources
to my clients, and all thatneeds to be considered for my
training plan.
(21:54):
Now, I've talked a lot aboutprogramming, but this doesn't
work and isn't successful if Iam not getting feedback from
clients.
This is where I see a bigdifference, where clients come
in and maybe they've.
Downloaded program.
Maybe they've gone to a gym anddone workout classes and they're
all great programming.
(22:15):
I'm not here to say mine is thebest or anything else, but
sometimes that feedback loop ismissing where we, you know,
workout classes are great.
My clients, I will say this, Ido program those in some go to
workout classes.
So again, I'm not here to bash,but.
This is where sometimesdownloading a program or picking
(22:37):
workouts at random don't alignwith our seasons because we're
not closing that feedback loop.
So one of the reasons why myprogramming also works so well
is they're not just followingthe plan.
We're tracking what matters.
I'm understanding.
How their stress levels are, howthey're sleeping, really what is
(22:57):
their focus, what is theirgoals?
Those are gonna change.
If you're coming into a weekwhere your partner's traveling,
you have work, travel, yourchildcare falls through, your
plan needs to change a littlebit and adapt, or else you're
gonna find yourself.
Quitting and not because you arenot capable, but because we're
(23:17):
not understanding that we're ina really crazy season.
So that's where we might have todip into a week or two of
maintenance so that when youcome out of that little bit of
busyness, you're able to meetback up with you know where
you're at in your strengthtraining.
So in the app, clients mightleave notes like, feeling tired
(23:38):
today, backed off my weight.
Awesome.
That's huge.
If you're feeling tired, let'ssay the baby was up all night.
Let's say you had a workproject.
Let's say your child had nightterrors and you had disruptive
sleep.
Disrupted sleep is a real thingin perimenopause and menopause.
You should not feel like youhave to show up and perform
(23:59):
because this all goes into it.
You need quality sleep.
In order to push heavy weightsor the weights that you had been
pushing.
Another note that I see often isI used a heavier dumbbell and I
was able to move the weight.
Okay?
Yes, you are gonna, I wantclients and I have a space that
(24:20):
they do that they can alwayspush harder.
And they have thatcomfortableness knowing that
they can choose a weight, andthey've picked up that weight,
pushed the weight, pulled theweight, whatever the movement
is, and recorded it, and thenmove back to the weight that
they have been able to movesuccessfully.
(24:42):
This is how we bridge the gap toget ourselves stronger.
Another one I love is whenclients, and I do fullheartedly
agree, split squats are just myarch nemesis, but they are so
good for you is when clientssay, Hey, I did this exercise
and it didn't suck.
That's huge.
That is so huge because it's notabout perfection and progress is
(25:04):
not linear.
We see on social mediaoftentimes Instagram because it
is very visual that.
The, quick snapshot, maybe youfollow a fitness influencer.
And it's just like they haveendless energy.
Their workouts are always onpoint.
There's never the setback or,um, depletion of energy.
(25:25):
And so in our minds, eventhough, yes, I'm saying this and
you're like, yeah, I know that'snot true.
It can present this.
False narrative that something'swrong with me if I'm not always
lifting heavier each session orable to lift the same weight I
lifted last session.
The fact that goes into it is.
Recovery, stress levels, fuelingall of the things.
(25:49):
So when you are not in abeautiful container, like my
college athletes were, wherethey were in their twenties, I'm
gonna say had little to noresponsibilities, I could push
them in a lot different ways.
So it's not about perfection,it's about pattern recognition,
and that's how we build realprogress over time.
(26:10):
And those little details is howwe make smart changes, how I
understand where my clients areat and I, know all the science
and I am the one who can helpprogram it for them so that they
are constantly set up forsuccess.
It's about responding and notjust powering through.
So I'm gonna leave you withthis.
(26:31):
What season are you in and isyour training actually
supporting that or fightingagainst it?
So as I mentioned right now, I'mpersonally in a season of
adapting and adjusting summershere.
My boys are almost outta school,and like many of you, I'm moving
things around to make space formy family, my work, and also for
my race This weekend.
(26:52):
It's not perfect and it's notalways gonna be pretty.
Trust me, if you saw, if I couldgive a detailed everything, my
life does not look pretty.
It's not like I have thisperfectly curated time to always
do my workouts.
I don't.
There's constant adjustmentswith my workouts, but it's
aligned to where I'm at andthat's what I want for you.
(27:16):
Your season that you're in isn'tforever, but it does deserve to
be acknowledged.
Thanks for listening toMilesFromHerView and if this
episode helped you thinkdifferently about your training.
Share it with a friend, and ifyou're curious about what season
you are in, I'd love to help youfind it.
Keep moving forward.
One rep, one step, one mile at atime and no matter the season,
(27:40):
progress is progress.
I'll catch you in the nextepisode.
Thank you for tuning in toMilesFromHerView, powered by
KatFit Strength.
If this podcast inspires you,don't keep it for yourself.
Hit follow or subscribe to stayupdated on the new episodes, and
leave us a review to help morewomen and moms discover this
(28:00):
space.
Your feedback fuels this podcastand I'd love to hear what's
working for you or what topicsyou want to dive into Next.
You can connect with me onInstagram at KatFit Strength, or
share this episode.
With a friend who is ready toembrace her strength.
Remember, fitness isn't aboutperfection.
It's about showing up foryourself and finding strength in
(28:22):
every step of your journey.
Until next time, keep movingforward one mile at a time.
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