July 11, 2025 • 28 mins
Today, Kat gets honest about her problem with the fitness industry and why so many of the messages aimed at women are built on fear, confusion, and half-truths.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
✅ Why your body isn’t a project to fix
✅ How social media turns normal life seasons: pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, into profit centers
✅ The truth about diastasis recti and why one-size-fits-all “fixes” fall short
✅ The facts (not hype) about weighted vest walking
✅ How to tell the difference between an influencer and an experienced coach
✅ Why you don’t need to buy into gimmicks to feel strong and capable
✅ What Kat does differently in her coaching approach and how she helps women make sense of the noise
If you’re tired of feeling like you’re always behind, always broken, or always needing the next big thing, this is your reminder that your body already has wisdom, and you deserve evidence-based support, not scare tactics.
☎️ - Schedule a complimentary call to see if KatFit Strength is a good fit for you: https://katfit.moxieapp.com/public/katfit/consultation-call
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kat (00:00):
Today I am pulling back the curtain on what's really being
sold to women from postpartum tofixes, to midlife fear mongering
and how to separate the helpfulfrom the height.
But let's start with this.
You're not broken, you're notbehind, but the fitness industry
makes a lot of money convincingyou otherwise.
We're gonna talk about variousthings and.
(00:23):
Why most of what you see onlineis just noise.
Let's get honest and grounded inwhat actually works.
Welcome to MilesFromHerView, thepodcast powered by Kat Fit
Strength, where busy women likeyou find practical solutions to
fuel your fitness journey withauthenticity and resilience.
I'm Kat, your host, a mom of twoactive boys, a business owner,
(00:46):
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
motherhood.
All while building strength andresilience and reconnecting with
you from a place ofself-compassion and worthiness.
(01:08):
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.
Welcome back.
I'm Kat, your host, and I am inthe thick of all things Summer.
I don't know where you're at inyour day or when you're
(01:31):
listening to this.
You could be listening to it inthe winter, but for right now,
it is summer and my kids arehome.
For the most part.
They are doing their respectivesports and keeping up with their
instruments But this week hasbeen a doozy of a week.
Let me tell you.
It has been a week that I feelthe universe has been throwing
everything at me, but.
(01:52):
I'm gonna give myself a pat onthe back right now, and I hold
this space for you to celebratea win of anything, no matter if
you feel it's small, celebrateit.
I have been able to stayfocused.
I've been able to show up formyself for my workouts.
Yes, there's been a lot offlexibility in adapting the
workouts, but no matter what.
(02:13):
Catastrophe has come my way frombasement flooding to my husband
being stranded due to canceledflights and everything else in
between.
I have been able to manage andget everybody to where they need
to be and fulfill all ofclients' needs.
But today I really wanna diveinto a real conversation about
what's happening in the wellnessworld.
(02:36):
Because honestly, it is so loudout there, so loud, and it's so
easy to forget already just howmuch wisdom you have in your own
body.
The wellness space is wild, andI'm gonna take a guess that
you've probably seen endlessposts telling you you're broken.
(02:56):
You need the powders, theprogram, the reset challenge to
feel, okay, I've watched thesetrends over the years.
When I was first starting out inthe personal training world, the
fitness world, I was, startingmy second pregnancy and I.
(03:17):
It was kind of mind boggling andI started out really focusing on
that postpartum, prenatal area.
Not because of the trend, butbecause I saw there was a vast
void.
But then what I saw as Iprogressed through my pregnancy,
and after that the entirefitness trend was filled about
diasis recti.
(03:37):
It was like your body was doomedto fail because you had a baby,
and pregnancy ruined it.
Now I see it shifted again, andthe same fear is pointed at
midlife women.
You're told you need thousandsof dollars in supplements and
elimination diets and biohacksfrom influencers with no
(03:57):
business prescribing any of it.
And look, I'm not here to saythese things never have a place
because maybe they do.
A lot of this stuff, it's out ofmy own expertise, my own
certifications, but the pressureto believe that you must do all
of it to be respected orhealthy, that's the part that
(04:19):
needs to stop.
So let's zoom out for a second.
I've been in the industry for 12years.
Before that, I coached collegeathletics, track and field to be
more specific.
Plus, I also was a strength andconditioning coach for all teams
at the college level.
When I made this switch toserving the general population,
I struggled big time and here'swhy.
(04:40):
What I saw was.
There's a big machine pushingworkouts that punish people in
the name of calories burnt.
The obsession was all aboutgrinding yourself into the floor
every day.
Nuance, no context, no respectfor the complexity of the human
body, and for especially womenthen that prenatal postpartum
(05:05):
fitness.
Just became this massive trend.
Everyone suddenly brandedthemselves as an expert because
there was money to be made, Ihad been studying for my pre and
postnatal certifications goingthrough understanding like women
deserve better.
They didn't need to be told,well, you had a baby.
(05:25):
Your body's broken, so just dealwith it.
It was, no, there's.
Better way to train a womanduring this season of her life.
And I wanna be very clear, youare not fragile or broken when
you go through this season.
Yes, there are specificconsiderations to take into
account because your body wentthrough monumental shifts.
(05:49):
Let's briefly talk about thecore but if you think about a
textbook pregnancy, roughly 40weeks, your body has to make
space for a growing baby.
Organs move, muscles stretch,and some muscles compress.
The abdomen just doesn't bounceback because an influencer said
so one of the biggest issuesthat I saw during that time, and
(06:10):
it's still going on with DiasisRecti is just the focus on the
gap when it is a little bitdeeper.
Diasis recti presents.
Differently in a lot ofdifferent cases, like there's
the gap, you can have a twofinger gap, a three finger gap,
a four finger gap.
But there's also a tissue thatholds the two, rectus abdominis,
(06:31):
which are your six pack musclestogether called the linea alba
in the tension or a lackthereof.
Tension in that can also be thecause of challenges in the core.
Does not mean you will neverhave a strong core again, but
what I see is social mediastarts hawking belly binders and
cookie cutter programs with thepromise of closing that gap.
(06:53):
But here's the truth, it'sdiasis recti is just not
permanent in most cases.
It's not just about how wide thegap is.
It's about a lot of the depthand the pressure in the core
canister from the diaphragm downto the pelvic floor.
And each woman's healing looksdifferent.
(07:15):
The timeline looks different.
Each person is different.
So what works for one woman maynot work for another.
I've seen many women come in whohave, I'm gonna say a
traditional diasis recite,whether it's a gap and, lack of
tension in the linear elbow.
What client A needs is differentthan client B.
(07:37):
Each body's gonna responddifferently, does not mean that
certain exercises are offlimits.
You might see on social media,don't do crunches.
That's going to cause anincrease in your gap.
Don't do X, Y, Z exercise.
Don't run.
Yes, run It is mind boggling.
(07:59):
it's all about marketing.
If you don't fix it, they'lltell you something bad will
happen because it's about fearmongering.
Now it's shifted from scaringnew moms to scarring midlife
women who are navigatingperimenopause and menopause.
Every time I open Instagram, Iliterally get whiplash from,
(08:20):
don't do this.
You'll ruin your hormones or ifyou don't eat this one weird
food, your metabolism is toast.
And if you're not wearing aweighted vest while walking, do
not even bother taking anotherstep.
It is exhausting, and I'm gonnasay the truest, most powerful
two words you'll ever heartoday.
(08:42):
Bodies change.
Those words are neutral.
It's not good.
It's not bad.
It's just true.
And I wanna share with you whatI believe.
Fitness is not linear.
Health is not a reset challenge.
Nutrition is not aboutpunishment and breaks with
(09:02):
working out and eating a wholefood diet.
They happen and they're notfailures.
It's all about.
Being a human with a full life,here are a few things I want to
remind you of when you'refeeling pulled into this noise.
One small action is better thannone.
(09:23):
A 10 minute walk still counts.
A 10 minute workout stillcounts.
You do not need to overhauleverything.
Start with one strength workouta week and build from there.
It doesn't have to be a strengthworkout.
Start what is the mostaccessible and build it by one.
You do not have to earn yourrest.
(09:44):
Recovery is where adaptationhappens from all your movement
and all your workout.
We want rest there.
These things that I just said iswhat I do.
I write strength, cardio,mobility plans that meet you
exactly where you are, whetheryou're in prenatal, postpartum,
(10:05):
perimenopause, menopause, orjust trying to feel at home and
better in your body.
I don't believe en forcing youinto a template or telling you
you have to be perfect to belongbecause there's no one size that
fits all.
As a matter of fact, one of thebest things that, my clients say
this over and over again is.
(10:25):
My program is not a one sizefit.
All I know, I call it program.
I switch in with programcoaching, et cetera.
But when I meet a client, it'swho are you specifically?
Because who you are, there maybe some, correlations between
you and client A, client C Butultimately you have unique
(10:47):
needs.
Your life is unique and that is.
The beautiful part of being ahuman.
And I'm not here to scream thatyou need me.
I'm not in the business ofshaming you to sign up, and I'm
not in the business to convinceyou.
You need to sign up at all.
This is not what this podcast isabout, but if you're ever
wondering how to start wheneverything feels overwhelming,
(11:09):
try this.
Pick one pillar to focus on thismonth.
Maybe that is boosting yourmovement, so if it's easier for
you.
Walk for 10 minutes after dinneror find the most easiest and
accessible part of your day tofit that in.
Maybe it's adding strength,maybe it's adding one more
(11:31):
vegetable or a fruit to yourmeal.
Just pick one.
Movement, cardio or nutrition.
One pillar to focus on thismonth, There's no time limit,
there's no effort.
Too small.
There's no time limit on, it allcounts.
And then notice how you talk toyourself.
If you catch yourself saying, Ishould be doing more, pause
(11:56):
yourself and ask, is thatactually true?
Finally, let your season dictateyour priorities for some
seasons.
Maintenance with your wellnessplan is what it is, and some
seasons it's growth, it'spushing more, and both are valid
and needed a while back wasprobably like a month or two
(12:17):
ago, someone called me aninfluencer.
Ooh.
It cut me to the core and Ipushed back.
Yes, I sell a service.
Yes, I share my perspectiveonline, but here's the
difference.
Influencers sell an image.
Coaches build a foundation.
My background isn't in fitnesstrends.
(12:39):
It's in coaching at a collegiatelevel.
That shaped everything on how Isee my work.
Each person I coach is anathlete in life, not someone who
needs fixing, someone who wantsto win in their own way to feel
strong, resilient, and capablein every season.
(13:00):
The season they're in and theseason they're about to enter.
And social media makes it soeasy to assume Everyone with a
good camera and a big followingknows exactly what they're
doing.
But a lot of what you see ismarketing.
It's edited, it's designed tomake you feel you're missing
something.
So you'll buy whatever they'reselling.
(13:22):
This does not mean everyinfluencer is bad or
unqualified, but you have to askbetter questions before you hand
over your trust, your money, oryour health.
And here's a couple ways you cantell the difference.
Check their credentials.
Real coaches sharecertifications, education and
(13:46):
experience without gettingdefensive.
Real coaches will share multipleviews, Look beyond before and
after photos and glowingtestimonials.
These can be cherry picked orshow only the best case
scenarios.
A professional can clearlyexplain how and why their
(14:09):
approach works, not just that itworked for one or two people.
Watch how they respond toquestions.
Professionals will not panic ifyou ask.
Can you point me to the researchon this, or how do you adapt
plans for different needs?
Pay attention to their language.
(14:30):
Are they constantly telling youyou're broken?
That you must buy their programto be worthy or speaking in
absolutisms.
Or they are selling a programthat is tied to their affiliate
marketing.
And finally look for a trackrecord for working with real
humans, not just modelingworkouts for social media, but
(14:52):
coaching clients over months andyears showing they know how to
work with real humans and helpthem troubleshoot.
And the bottom line is youdeserve to work with someone who
respects your autonomy and canback up their claims.
Now, this is.
A, gimmick or whatever you wannacall it, but I'm gonna present
(15:13):
both sides on this.
What I have been seeing amassive uptick right now all
over the socials is weightedvest walking and context matters
here.
The thing that you'll see a lotof influencers touting is a
small study.
(15:35):
The thing is, with this smallstudy, yes, it showed a.
Small percentage of positiveimpact on strength and increase
of bone density.
Fantastic things.
We want this as humans.
We want to maintain our bonedensity and we want to maintain
our muscle percentage for aslong as possible.
(15:58):
These things are great things.
I will not deny it now.
However, the study had.
A weak design and there was nocontrol groups, and there have
been multiple studies that havelooked at weighted vest walking.
There have also been studiesthat have shown very little
improvement of strength gainsand bone density.
(16:20):
So studies also have shown itdoesn't apply automatically to
everyone.
So here's my honest take onweight vest.
They have their place, okay?
If you love walking and youwanna add load, fantastic.
They will make you work a bitharder during a walk.
(16:42):
But please, let's not pretendthat's the only way to get
stronger.
Walking in any form isincredible.
As a big runner, I applaudwalking and embrace my walks.
It can improve cardiovascularhealth, support, longevity, and
it also helps maintain stressand mood.
(17:04):
You can make walking morechallenging without a vest.
So if you're on the fence oflike, oh, I need to get this
vest, our friends telling you,maybe an influencer, because
it's just everywhere.
Here's ways you can.
Make your walks more challengingwithout a vest.
Increase your pace whilewalking.
Vary your pace while walking.
(17:25):
So walk very, what I say.
Walk with a purpose, veryintense, quick walking, and then
slow it.
That's gonna help increase yourheart rate and bring it down.
Walk hills.
So walking up and down, a hillytrail or paved uh, path.
Get on trails, change it up.
(17:46):
Again, like I said, useintervals for faster and slower
paces.
And the other one is leave yourphone in your pocket and just be
present.
That one's gonna have a reallygood mental health clearing and
stress mitigation effect.
So in the end, do you need aweighted vest to walk?
Absolutely not.
But I'll say if you wanna tryone, that is totally fine too.
(18:09):
But the things I want you totake away with is your body's
gonna adapt.
To the weighted vest and you'regonna stop gaining the benefits.
It's a natural process, and ifthis is your only strength,
stimulus is the weighted vest.
Your body will plateau.
And to maintain or buildstrength and bone density, you
(18:29):
must continually increase theload or the challenge just with
any other progressive overloadprinciple.
Again, I can't say this enough,I'm not for or against weighted
vest.
What I'm against is thisfear-based messaging that if you
aren't wearing one, your walkingis worthless or that you're
failing.
(18:50):
And if I'm being honest, I'drather see people combine
walking with a progressivestrength training program that
includes resistance training,jumping and plyo metrics,
because this is gonna have ahigher impact on stronger bones.
Hormone regulation and bloodsugar management than a weighted
vest ever could.
If it's your only form ofresistance training.
(19:12):
Now, if you're like, well, Ihave one and I wanna maximize
this, well, here are some thingsthat can help walking on a 10%
incline.
So if you are walking inside, agood controlled place to do this
is a treadmill at a 10% incline,however.
Do not hold onto the handrailsbecause when you hold onto the
handrails or the, the hand gripsin front of you on the
(19:35):
treadmill, because once youstart holding on, you take the
load off and you clear out theincline.
So walk at a pace and if 10% istoo aggressive, build up to it.
Again, there's nothing magicalabout 10, 10%, but it's going to
help increase that challenge.
But if you are walking at a 10%and a speed and you're holding
onto the treadmill, it's goingto cancel out using a higher
(19:59):
weighted vest.
So ideally, it's about 20% ofyour body weight is going to
help increase that caloric burn.
So for example, if you areroughly 140 pounds, that's gonna
be about a 30 pound weight vest.
That's a lot of weight on you.
And I'm gonna say for fulltransparency, I would never walk
with a 30 pound weight vest onnow.
(20:20):
Okay.
I've gone backpacking.
My backpack has been about 30pounds, but that's a little bit
more ergonomically fitted to mybody.
It's distributed throughout thewhole back.
It's, a little bit different Ihave a weight vest.
So in full transparency here,again, I don't want you to think
I'm a hypocrite because I have aweight vest and I'm saying it
doesn't really matter if youhave one or not.
But I don't use it for walking,not because I'm against it, and
(20:43):
we're gonna get more into thatin a moment.
But it's for strength training.
I use it when I'm doing strengthtraining workouts where the
focus is 20 to 30% of my bodyweight, and it's primarily those
lifting sessions are after mysecond long run of the week.
If you're new here, I train forultra marathons where I do, two
long runs a week.
(21:05):
And what I found was when Iwould hold a kettlebell or a
dumbbell or a barbell, my formwould be off because my body was
tired from some weeks puttingon.
A total of on those two days, atotal of 20 to 30 miles, or even
(21:27):
more.
So what I found was using aweight vest allowed me to add
more resistance to my body, butmaintain better form when I'm
doing lunges, step ups, orwhatever the exercises are for
that strength training workout.
There are some risks involvedwith weight vests and they're
(21:51):
not good for every person, andhere are a few things that you
may find yourself in if you'reprone to lower back pain just in
everyday life.
It can increase your lower backpain if someone has osteoporosis
or history of vertebrae,fractures, or injuries.
(22:11):
It can irritate or cause furtherinjury.
'cause again, you're putting anexternal load on the body which
is going to compress the spinemore.
So also if you have core orpelvic floor dysfunction.
To be, go back to my earlierpoint.
If you are in that newlypostpartum area and you are
(22:31):
someone who may be suspected ofhaving diasis recti or you have
pelvic floor challenges I wouldnot recommend using a weighted
vest.
These three areas can be justhighlighted areas where it can
cause harm to your body.
And influences out there are nottalking about this.
(22:51):
They're just saying walk withone because they are selling a
product.
I have clients that wear aweighted vest.
We've talked over, is this theright choice.
Clients come to me all the timeasking about.
Things they see on social mediaand we have a clear conversation
and I help point them to theresearch clients who wanna wear
(23:13):
a weighted vest, and it's aright decision for them.
I work with building a strengthplan that is gonna set them up
for success.
I'm in conversation with them.
How are they feeling?
Is there any lower back paincropping up?
Do they have core, or pelvicfloor issues that might be
popping up?
We talk about these thingsbecause I wanna make sure that
(23:35):
their plan is matching wherethey're at and that the loads of
stress are,, working together.
I wanna be fully transparent.
I am not here to convince youthat you need personal training
to be valid or successful.
I've alluded to this a littlebit more, but I wanna drive this
point home is I help clientsfigure out where their body is
(23:56):
right now, where they wanna go,and what activities actually get
them excited and fit into theirlife.
Because a successful fitnessplan is one you actually wanna
do that you don't have to.
Grit your teeth and you know,white knuckle your way through,
it's one that you're gonnaactually be excited about and
(24:16):
want to continue over time.
And the plans are right forthem, are unique to them, and
it's progressive strengthtraining, mobility and movement
that respects the season thatthey're in.
As I said, if a client wants towalk with a way to vest,
awesome.
We're gonna do it thoughtfully,and I'm gonna make sure that her
strength plan also addresses thepostural integrity, the core
(24:38):
strength, the long-termprogression, so she feels
stronger and more capable on herwalks.
I'm solely here to support andnot sell you an image or tell
you that you're broken orpretend.
There's only one right way totrain.
So if you're listening andfeeling tired of the pressure to
(24:58):
prove yourself, I see you.
You don't have to be perfect tobe worthy.
And here are three takeaways Iwant you to carry into your
week.
Your body is not a project tofix.
It's a vessel to care for and itdeserves respect.
Small actions build big change.
(25:22):
Consistency matters more thanperfection.
This one, the last one is.
Something I continuously believein and let my clients know.
You already have the authorityon your body and you get to
choose what fits your life andwhat doesn't.
(25:46):
This is what I'm here for, tohelp you return to health
without gimmicks, to remind youthat you are the expert on your
body to coach you through theseasons of challenge and seasons
of growth.
And if you ever want supportthat feels grounded and real,
I'm here.
If you just needed to hear thistoday.
(26:07):
Know, that's enough too.
You're always welcome here andthank you for being here.
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
(26:30):
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
(26:52):
every step of your journey.
Until next time, keep movingforward one mile at a time.
Today I am pulling back the curtain on what's really being
sold to women from postpartum tofixes, to midlife fear mongering
and how to separate the helpfulfrom the height.
But let's start with this.
You're not broken, you're notbehind, but the fitness industry
makes a lot of money convincingyou otherwise.
We're gonna talk about variousthings and.
(00:23):
Why most of what you see onlineis just noise.
Let's get honest and grounded inwhat actually works.
Welcome to MilesFromHerView, thepodcast powered by Kat Fit
Strength, where busy women likeyou find practical solutions to
fuel your fitness journey withauthenticity and resilience.
I'm Kat, your host, a mom of twoactive boys, a business owner,
(00:46):
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
motherhood.
All while building strength andresilience and reconnecting with
you from a place ofself-compassion and worthiness.
(01:08):
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.
Welcome back.
I'm Kat, your host, and I am inthe thick of all things Summer.
I don't know where you're at inyour day or when you're
(01:31):
listening to this.
You could be listening to it inthe winter, but for right now,
it is summer and my kids arehome.
For the most part.
They are doing their respectivesports and keeping up with their
instruments But this week hasbeen a doozy of a week.
Let me tell you.
It has been a week that I feelthe universe has been throwing
everything at me, but.
(01:52):
I'm gonna give myself a pat onthe back right now, and I hold
this space for you to celebratea win of anything, no matter if
you feel it's small, celebrateit.
I have been able to stayfocused.
I've been able to show up formyself for my workouts.
Yes, there's been a lot offlexibility in adapting the
workouts, but no matter what.
(02:13):
Catastrophe has come my way frombasement flooding to my husband
being stranded due to canceledflights and everything else in
between.
I have been able to manage andget everybody to where they need
to be and fulfill all ofclients' needs.
But today I really wanna diveinto a real conversation about
what's happening in the wellnessworld.
(02:36):
Because honestly, it is so loudout there, so loud, and it's so
easy to forget already just howmuch wisdom you have in your own
body.
The wellness space is wild, andI'm gonna take a guess that
you've probably seen endlessposts telling you you're broken.
(02:56):
You need the powders, theprogram, the reset challenge to
feel, okay, I've watched thesetrends over the years.
When I was first starting out inthe personal training world, the
fitness world, I was, startingmy second pregnancy and I.
(03:17):
It was kind of mind boggling andI started out really focusing on
that postpartum, prenatal area.
Not because of the trend, butbecause I saw there was a vast
void.
But then what I saw as Iprogressed through my pregnancy,
and after that the entirefitness trend was filled about
diasis recti.
(03:37):
It was like your body was doomedto fail because you had a baby,
and pregnancy ruined it.
Now I see it shifted again, andthe same fear is pointed at
midlife women.
You're told you need thousandsof dollars in supplements and
elimination diets and biohacksfrom influencers with no
(03:57):
business prescribing any of it.
And look, I'm not here to saythese things never have a place
because maybe they do.
A lot of this stuff, it's out ofmy own expertise, my own
certifications, but the pressureto believe that you must do all
of it to be respected orhealthy, that's the part that
(04:19):
needs to stop.
So let's zoom out for a second.
I've been in the industry for 12years.
Before that, I coached collegeathletics, track and field to be
more specific.
Plus, I also was a strength andconditioning coach for all teams
at the college level.
When I made this switch toserving the general population,
I struggled big time and here'swhy.
(04:40):
What I saw was.
There's a big machine pushingworkouts that punish people in
the name of calories burnt.
The obsession was all aboutgrinding yourself into the floor
every day.
Nuance, no context, no respectfor the complexity of the human
body, and for especially womenthen that prenatal postpartum
(05:05):
fitness.
Just became this massive trend.
Everyone suddenly brandedthemselves as an expert because
there was money to be made, Ihad been studying for my pre and
postnatal certifications goingthrough understanding like women
deserve better.
They didn't need to be told,well, you had a baby.
(05:25):
Your body's broken, so just dealwith it.
It was, no, there's.
Better way to train a womanduring this season of her life.
And I wanna be very clear, youare not fragile or broken when
you go through this season.
Yes, there are specificconsiderations to take into
account because your body wentthrough monumental shifts.
(05:49):
Let's briefly talk about thecore but if you think about a
textbook pregnancy, roughly 40weeks, your body has to make
space for a growing baby.
Organs move, muscles stretch,and some muscles compress.
The abdomen just doesn't bounceback because an influencer said
so one of the biggest issuesthat I saw during that time, and
(06:10):
it's still going on with DiasisRecti is just the focus on the
gap when it is a little bitdeeper.
Diasis recti presents.
Differently in a lot ofdifferent cases, like there's
the gap, you can have a twofinger gap, a three finger gap,
a four finger gap.
But there's also a tissue thatholds the two, rectus abdominis,
(06:31):
which are your six pack musclestogether called the linea alba
in the tension or a lackthereof.
Tension in that can also be thecause of challenges in the core.
Does not mean you will neverhave a strong core again, but
what I see is social mediastarts hawking belly binders and
cookie cutter programs with thepromise of closing that gap.
(06:53):
But here's the truth, it'sdiasis recti is just not
permanent in most cases.
It's not just about how wide thegap is.
It's about a lot of the depthand the pressure in the core
canister from the diaphragm downto the pelvic floor.
And each woman's healing looksdifferent.
(07:15):
The timeline looks different.
Each person is different.
So what works for one woman maynot work for another.
I've seen many women come in whohave, I'm gonna say a
traditional diasis recite,whether it's a gap and, lack of
tension in the linear elbow.
What client A needs is differentthan client B.
(07:37):
Each body's gonna responddifferently, does not mean that
certain exercises are offlimits.
You might see on social media,don't do crunches.
That's going to cause anincrease in your gap.
Don't do X, Y, Z exercise.
Don't run.
Yes, run It is mind boggling.
(07:59):
it's all about marketing.
If you don't fix it, they'lltell you something bad will
happen because it's about fearmongering.
Now it's shifted from scaringnew moms to scarring midlife
women who are navigatingperimenopause and menopause.
Every time I open Instagram, Iliterally get whiplash from,
(08:20):
don't do this.
You'll ruin your hormones or ifyou don't eat this one weird
food, your metabolism is toast.
And if you're not wearing aweighted vest while walking, do
not even bother taking anotherstep.
It is exhausting, and I'm gonnasay the truest, most powerful
two words you'll ever heartoday.
(08:42):
Bodies change.
Those words are neutral.
It's not good.
It's not bad.
It's just true.
And I wanna share with you whatI believe.
Fitness is not linear.
Health is not a reset challenge.
Nutrition is not aboutpunishment and breaks with
(09:02):
working out and eating a wholefood diet.
They happen and they're notfailures.
It's all about.
Being a human with a full life,here are a few things I want to
remind you of when you'refeeling pulled into this noise.
One small action is better thannone.
(09:23):
A 10 minute walk still counts.
A 10 minute workout stillcounts.
You do not need to overhauleverything.
Start with one strength workouta week and build from there.
It doesn't have to be a strengthworkout.
Start what is the mostaccessible and build it by one.
You do not have to earn yourrest.
(09:44):
Recovery is where adaptationhappens from all your movement
and all your workout.
We want rest there.
These things that I just said iswhat I do.
I write strength, cardio,mobility plans that meet you
exactly where you are, whetheryou're in prenatal, postpartum,
(10:05):
perimenopause, menopause, orjust trying to feel at home and
better in your body.
I don't believe en forcing youinto a template or telling you
you have to be perfect to belongbecause there's no one size that
fits all.
As a matter of fact, one of thebest things that, my clients say
this over and over again is.
(10:25):
My program is not a one sizefit.
All I know, I call it program.
I switch in with programcoaching, et cetera.
But when I meet a client, it'swho are you specifically?
Because who you are, there maybe some, correlations between
you and client A, client C Butultimately you have unique
(10:47):
needs.
Your life is unique and that is.
The beautiful part of being ahuman.
And I'm not here to scream thatyou need me.
I'm not in the business ofshaming you to sign up, and I'm
not in the business to convinceyou.
You need to sign up at all.
This is not what this podcast isabout, but if you're ever
wondering how to start wheneverything feels overwhelming,
(11:09):
try this.
Pick one pillar to focus on thismonth.
Maybe that is boosting yourmovement, so if it's easier for
you.
Walk for 10 minutes after dinneror find the most easiest and
accessible part of your day tofit that in.
Maybe it's adding strength,maybe it's adding one more
(11:31):
vegetable or a fruit to yourmeal.
Just pick one.
Movement, cardio or nutrition.
One pillar to focus on thismonth, There's no time limit,
there's no effort.
Too small.
There's no time limit on, it allcounts.
And then notice how you talk toyourself.
If you catch yourself saying, Ishould be doing more, pause
(11:56):
yourself and ask, is thatactually true?
Finally, let your season dictateyour priorities for some
seasons.
Maintenance with your wellnessplan is what it is, and some
seasons it's growth, it'spushing more, and both are valid
and needed a while back wasprobably like a month or two
(12:17):
ago, someone called me aninfluencer.
Ooh.
It cut me to the core and Ipushed back.
Yes, I sell a service.
Yes, I share my perspectiveonline, but here's the
difference.
Influencers sell an image.
Coaches build a foundation.
My background isn't in fitnesstrends.
(12:39):
It's in coaching at a collegiatelevel.
That shaped everything on how Isee my work.
Each person I coach is anathlete in life, not someone who
needs fixing, someone who wantsto win in their own way to feel
strong, resilient, and capablein every season.
(13:00):
The season they're in and theseason they're about to enter.
And social media makes it soeasy to assume Everyone with a
good camera and a big followingknows exactly what they're
doing.
But a lot of what you see ismarketing.
It's edited, it's designed tomake you feel you're missing
something.
So you'll buy whatever they'reselling.
(13:22):
This does not mean everyinfluencer is bad or
unqualified, but you have to askbetter questions before you hand
over your trust, your money, oryour health.
And here's a couple ways you cantell the difference.
Check their credentials.
Real coaches sharecertifications, education and
(13:46):
experience without gettingdefensive.
Real coaches will share multipleviews, Look beyond before and
after photos and glowingtestimonials.
These can be cherry picked orshow only the best case
scenarios.
A professional can clearlyexplain how and why their
(14:09):
approach works, not just that itworked for one or two people.
Watch how they respond toquestions.
Professionals will not panic ifyou ask.
Can you point me to the researchon this, or how do you adapt
plans for different needs?
Pay attention to their language.
(14:30):
Are they constantly telling youyou're broken?
That you must buy their programto be worthy or speaking in
absolutisms.
Or they are selling a programthat is tied to their affiliate
marketing.
And finally look for a trackrecord for working with real
humans, not just modelingworkouts for social media, but
(14:52):
coaching clients over months andyears showing they know how to
work with real humans and helpthem troubleshoot.
And the bottom line is youdeserve to work with someone who
respects your autonomy and canback up their claims.
Now, this is.
A, gimmick or whatever you wannacall it, but I'm gonna present
(15:13):
both sides on this.
What I have been seeing amassive uptick right now all
over the socials is weightedvest walking and context matters
here.
The thing that you'll see a lotof influencers touting is a
small study.
(15:35):
The thing is, with this smallstudy, yes, it showed a.
Small percentage of positiveimpact on strength and increase
of bone density.
Fantastic things.
We want this as humans.
We want to maintain our bonedensity and we want to maintain
our muscle percentage for aslong as possible.
(15:58):
These things are great things.
I will not deny it now.
However, the study had.
A weak design and there was nocontrol groups, and there have
been multiple studies that havelooked at weighted vest walking.
There have also been studiesthat have shown very little
improvement of strength gainsand bone density.
(16:20):
So studies also have shown itdoesn't apply automatically to
everyone.
So here's my honest take onweight vest.
They have their place, okay?
If you love walking and youwanna add load, fantastic.
They will make you work a bitharder during a walk.
(16:42):
But please, let's not pretendthat's the only way to get
stronger.
Walking in any form isincredible.
As a big runner, I applaudwalking and embrace my walks.
It can improve cardiovascularhealth, support, longevity, and
it also helps maintain stressand mood.
(17:04):
You can make walking morechallenging without a vest.
So if you're on the fence oflike, oh, I need to get this
vest, our friends telling you,maybe an influencer, because
it's just everywhere.
Here's ways you can.
Make your walks more challengingwithout a vest.
Increase your pace whilewalking.
Vary your pace while walking.
(17:25):
So walk very, what I say.
Walk with a purpose, veryintense, quick walking, and then
slow it.
That's gonna help increase yourheart rate and bring it down.
Walk hills.
So walking up and down, a hillytrail or paved uh, path.
Get on trails, change it up.
(17:46):
Again, like I said, useintervals for faster and slower
paces.
And the other one is leave yourphone in your pocket and just be
present.
That one's gonna have a reallygood mental health clearing and
stress mitigation effect.
So in the end, do you need aweighted vest to walk?
Absolutely not.
But I'll say if you wanna tryone, that is totally fine too.
(18:09):
But the things I want you totake away with is your body's
gonna adapt.
To the weighted vest and you'regonna stop gaining the benefits.
It's a natural process, and ifthis is your only strength,
stimulus is the weighted vest.
Your body will plateau.
And to maintain or buildstrength and bone density, you
(18:29):
must continually increase theload or the challenge just with
any other progressive overloadprinciple.
Again, I can't say this enough,I'm not for or against weighted
vest.
What I'm against is thisfear-based messaging that if you
aren't wearing one, your walkingis worthless or that you're
failing.
(18:50):
And if I'm being honest, I'drather see people combine
walking with a progressivestrength training program that
includes resistance training,jumping and plyo metrics,
because this is gonna have ahigher impact on stronger bones.
Hormone regulation and bloodsugar management than a weighted
vest ever could.
If it's your only form ofresistance training.
(19:12):
Now, if you're like, well, Ihave one and I wanna maximize
this, well, here are some thingsthat can help walking on a 10%
incline.
So if you are walking inside, agood controlled place to do this
is a treadmill at a 10% incline,however.
Do not hold onto the handrailsbecause when you hold onto the
handrails or the, the hand gripsin front of you on the
(19:35):
treadmill, because once youstart holding on, you take the
load off and you clear out theincline.
So walk at a pace and if 10% istoo aggressive, build up to it.
Again, there's nothing magicalabout 10, 10%, but it's going to
help increase that challenge.
But if you are walking at a 10%and a speed and you're holding
onto the treadmill, it's goingto cancel out using a higher
(19:59):
weighted vest.
So ideally, it's about 20% ofyour body weight is going to
help increase that caloric burn.
So for example, if you areroughly 140 pounds, that's gonna
be about a 30 pound weight vest.
That's a lot of weight on you.
And I'm gonna say for fulltransparency, I would never walk
with a 30 pound weight vest onnow.
(20:20):
Okay.
I've gone backpacking.
My backpack has been about 30pounds, but that's a little bit
more ergonomically fitted to mybody.
It's distributed throughout thewhole back.
It's, a little bit different Ihave a weight vest.
So in full transparency here,again, I don't want you to think
I'm a hypocrite because I have aweight vest and I'm saying it
doesn't really matter if youhave one or not.
But I don't use it for walking,not because I'm against it, and
(20:43):
we're gonna get more into thatin a moment.
But it's for strength training.
I use it when I'm doing strengthtraining workouts where the
focus is 20 to 30% of my bodyweight, and it's primarily those
lifting sessions are after mysecond long run of the week.
If you're new here, I train forultra marathons where I do, two
long runs a week.
(21:05):
And what I found was when Iwould hold a kettlebell or a
dumbbell or a barbell, my formwould be off because my body was
tired from some weeks puttingon.
A total of on those two days, atotal of 20 to 30 miles, or even
(21:27):
more.
So what I found was using aweight vest allowed me to add
more resistance to my body, butmaintain better form when I'm
doing lunges, step ups, orwhatever the exercises are for
that strength training workout.
There are some risks involvedwith weight vests and they're
(21:51):
not good for every person, andhere are a few things that you
may find yourself in if you'reprone to lower back pain just in
everyday life.
It can increase your lower backpain if someone has osteoporosis
or history of vertebrae,fractures, or injuries.
(22:11):
It can irritate or cause furtherinjury.
'cause again, you're putting anexternal load on the body which
is going to compress the spinemore.
So also if you have core orpelvic floor dysfunction.
To be, go back to my earlierpoint.
If you are in that newlypostpartum area and you are
(22:31):
someone who may be suspected ofhaving diasis recti or you have
pelvic floor challenges I wouldnot recommend using a weighted
vest.
These three areas can be justhighlighted areas where it can
cause harm to your body.
And influences out there are nottalking about this.
(22:51):
They're just saying walk withone because they are selling a
product.
I have clients that wear aweighted vest.
We've talked over, is this theright choice.
Clients come to me all the timeasking about.
Things they see on social mediaand we have a clear conversation
and I help point them to theresearch clients who wanna wear
(23:13):
a weighted vest, and it's aright decision for them.
I work with building a strengthplan that is gonna set them up
for success.
I'm in conversation with them.
How are they feeling?
Is there any lower back paincropping up?
Do they have core, or pelvicfloor issues that might be
popping up?
We talk about these thingsbecause I wanna make sure that
(23:35):
their plan is matching wherethey're at and that the loads of
stress are,, working together.
I wanna be fully transparent.
I am not here to convince youthat you need personal training
to be valid or successful.
I've alluded to this a littlebit more, but I wanna drive this
point home is I help clientsfigure out where their body is
(23:56):
right now, where they wanna go,and what activities actually get
them excited and fit into theirlife.
Because a successful fitnessplan is one you actually wanna
do that you don't have to.
Grit your teeth and you know,white knuckle your way through,
it's one that you're gonnaactually be excited about and
(24:16):
want to continue over time.
And the plans are right forthem, are unique to them, and
it's progressive strengthtraining, mobility and movement
that respects the season thatthey're in.
As I said, if a client wants towalk with a way to vest,
awesome.
We're gonna do it thoughtfully,and I'm gonna make sure that her
strength plan also addresses thepostural integrity, the core
(24:38):
strength, the long-termprogression, so she feels
stronger and more capable on herwalks.
I'm solely here to support andnot sell you an image or tell
you that you're broken orpretend.
There's only one right way totrain.
So if you're listening andfeeling tired of the pressure to
(24:58):
prove yourself, I see you.
You don't have to be perfect tobe worthy.
And here are three takeaways Iwant you to carry into your
week.
Your body is not a project tofix.
It's a vessel to care for and itdeserves respect.
Small actions build big change.
(25:22):
Consistency matters more thanperfection.
This one, the last one is.
Something I continuously believein and let my clients know.
You already have the authorityon your body and you get to
choose what fits your life andwhat doesn't.
(25:46):
This is what I'm here for, tohelp you return to health
without gimmicks, to remind youthat you are the expert on your
body to coach you through theseasons of challenge and seasons
of growth.
And if you ever want supportthat feels grounded and real,
I'm here.
If you just needed to hear thistoday.
(26:07):
Know, that's enough too.
You're always welcome here andthank you for being here.
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
(26:30):
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
(26:52):
every step of your journey.
Until next time, keep movingforward one mile at a time.
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