Podcast No. 13: Kirsty Godso, Master Trainer and Energy Dealer

Today’s guest is Kirsty Godso, master trainer, fitness model, and self-described "energy dealer."

You’ve probably seen her as one of the faces of our #inthegreen campaign across whoop.com and social media. Kirsty and I discuss her training philosophies and how they incorporate into her clients’ lives outside of the gym, as well as the workouts, nutrition, and recovery techniques that she finds most beneficial. We also talk about what she’s learned from WHOOP and how it’s helped her optimize her high-energy lifestyle, something that is very apparent from the minute you meet her. Kirsty has an infectious nature that exudes positivity, it really made for a fun conversation that I hope you'll enjoy.

Show Notes:

2:58 - What Does She Do? “I always describe myself as an energy dealer … take the work we do in the gym and amplify it outwards into your life.” 5:25 - Starting Each Day with a cold shower. “You feel so alive. … I’m awesome at waking up just before my alarm.” 8:12 - Nutrition. “I was keto for a long time, even when I’m not strictly keto I’m always loosely following a keto style. I won’t use the word diet, I think it’s really a restricting word. … It’s a conversation with your body.” 9:46 - Where Her Energy Comes From since she doesn’t eat carbs. “The fat and protein. I could never be a vegetarian. I really struggle when I have no meat. … I come from New Zealand where we have phenomenal meat.” Kirsty also puts a protein supplement in her morning smoothie. 11:27 - Unnecessary Stuff. “People are just used to putting unnecessary stuff into their food, training … we talk about hoarders, a lot of people do that with their diet and their training.” 12:30 - Her Workouts. “I am obsessed with pilates.” She is also a fan of strength training, HIIT, boxing and yoga. 12:54 - Exercise vs Training. “Exercise is hoping for the best … training, I know what I’m doing. I have a plan, me and my body attain.” 13:28 - Workout Intensity. “I am so obsessed with my WHOOP Strap … it’s giving me an accountability that in years prior I didn’t have.” Kirsty discusses how she used to “overtrain like crazy.” 14:58 - Strain of Teaching. “I never really had an accurate measure of how hard my body was working when I’m teaching a class.” Her WHOOP strain when she teaches is higher than when she works out. 16:30 - What is Pyro? “Pyro is very high [strain]. You can kind of get an idea from the name. … If you want it to work for you, you have to take it in the right dose.” 17:57 - Heart Rate Recovery. “That’s a really great measure of your fitness. … It’s a great accountability metric.” Will explains how to use it as a training tool. 19:47 - Highest Strain Ever. “I only worked out once that day … the majority of my strain was from working, I was so mentally dialed in to what I was doing.” 24:01 - People are Hard Work. “I love humans, but there are a lot of energy zappers out there. … Complaining is one of the most unattractive qualities in the world.” 29:04 - Vibrational Frequency. “If you take on board other people’s sh*t energy all day, you best believe you’re crashing your own. Your vibrational frequency is going to be so far down.” 29:55 - Recovery = Strength. “I rely a lot on fitness to be both my celebration, but also my counselor. … I don’t care how fit you are, if you can’t recover you have no real strength.” 30:56 - Strategic Laziness. Kirsty credits Joe Holder for this term. “We have a very high-maintenance recovery regime.” 32:52 - Hangover vs Sleep Deprivation. “I could operate a lot better on a hangover than on a sleep hangover.” She’s currently reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. 34:39 - In the Red. “Generally if I put myself there it’s not from training, it’s always from the rest of life.” 37:03 - Most Valuable Possession. Your body. “If you can’t put that first, you have no wealth at all.” Other people and relationships bring value, but “you can’t be giving out fumes.” 37:55 - Mindfulness or Meditation? “My meditation is like when I’m doing my own training in the gym. Don’t come and talk to me, that’s my own time. … That’s what’s calming to me.” 38:50 - Training Celebs, Models, CEOs. “They come in more vulnerable than what you’d expect. They want help, they want to be told what to do.” She helps them manage stress and find time to work things into their busy schedules. “You have to be dialed in to everything else that’s going on with them. That’s our job as trainers.” 41:32 - What is Success with a client? “Do they feel more connected to their body?” This includes helping them make intelligent nutrition and sleep choices. “Success for me is when my clients feel at their best.” 51:01 - WHOOP as a Support System. “It’s just there, like my support dog. It helps instill behaviors more than you’d think just because it’s sitting there telling you to check yourself. … I like that there’s no face to it, I don’t want to see the time, I’m sick of screens flashing at me.” 54:12 - Training Like the Opposite Sex. “I love to lift heavy things, box jumps, pull ups are my favorite thing to do in the gym. … I want to be a surprise.” Kirsty also trains a lot of men with pilates stuff. “It is an ego check.” 57:25 - Partnership Not Dictatorship. Her philosophy on working with your body. “Can you listen to your body as much as you can talk at your body. … You have to understand you.” 59:17 - Overtraining. Before she started using WHOOP, Kirsty burnt herself out to the point that she got shingles. “I was just fried from every sense. … I work in the health industry, I should know better.” 1:04:13 - Upside to Injury? “I finally released all of this unnecessary stress in my body because I slowed down. … It was almost like getting another certification.” 1:07:05 - Supplements. She takes magnesium and whey protein daily for recovery. “If I get sick I’ll take echinacea and goldenseal, I love that Lypo-Spheric C by LiveOn Labs. … I don’t rely on pain killers, I don’t think we’re meant to take them. There’s a reason that stuff crashes your digestion.” 1:08:16 - No Magic Pill. “People want the expressway, they want the magic pill. There isn't one and you shouldn’t want one. … You learn so much about yourself through any process, it’s actually the process that is the most important part.” 1:09:58 - Influences. “I’m always reading, at the moment I think I’m listening to 3 different audio books and reading 4 physical books, but I love it. One’s on gut health, one’s on sleep, one’s on HRV.” Relentless by Tim Grover is one of her favorites. “I’m really motivated by people and the people that surround me … I really believe in ‘the currency of humans.’” 1:14:44 - Find Her Online. Instagram @kirstygodso, and check out her businesses PYROGIRLS and MADE OF.