Fitness Tips with Personal Trainer Kari Hoyda

I recently had the honor of interviewing Kari Hoyda. Kari is a certified personal trainer, nutritional consultant and fitness model.

She’s a spokesmodel for MET-Rx Nutrition and the new fitness columnist for FHM Magazine Online.

Q: What inspired or motivated you to continue to pursue fitness the way you have?

Kari: I have always been active ever since I can remember, so fitness has always been a part of my life in some respect – and honestly my passion for fitness just became so routine for me that I just knew I was meant to be in this field.

Once I built my confidence level up to know that I could help a lot of people with my passion and drive for the industry, and my constant thirst for knowledge, I just kept my head up and pushed through the rough spots to actually achieving my goals and working towards my dreams.

My dad has always said “if you love what you are doing then you will be successful,” and I definitely love what I do every day in this field.

Q: What advice would you give to someone who’s struggling to stay motivated, keep positive and stick to a proper nutrition and exercise program, especially someone who may not have a positive role model around?

After all, most of us are surrounded every day by a lot more negativity than we are positive people. It can be tough to break away from that.

Kari: Believe that you can do it and that you are worth it. Any goal or dream you have is achievable with the right guidance and support system.

And ask for help when you need it. Structure is the most important part of any healthy eating and exercise program, so get your structure down – all three aspects of your fitness routine too – cardio, nutrition and strength training are all equally important!

Q: One thing I’d like for you to address because I feel it’s a big one with women, is weight training.

Even nowadays, a lot of women shy away from weight training because they don’t want to look like Arnold. If they train at all, it’s with the tiny pink weights and they never even break a sweat.

Kari: If they are my clients they definitely don’t train like that! Haha! My lady clients are rock stars…they train properly and they train hard!

Like I mentioned before, strength training is an integral part of the overall structure of a successful fitness routine – it MUST be done and it must be done PROPERLY. I can’t stress this enough.

Most women shy away from weights because of the misconception that they will get “bulky,” or they are just intimidated by the idea of trying to maneuver their way through all the machines and free weights and equipment around the weight room floor.

In order to achieve a lean look, women must weight train. You must weight train to maintain your lean mass, to increase your metabolism, to turn your body into a fat burning machine, and to protect your body from what age naturally does to our bodies.

So ladies: weight train! Find a personal trainer in your area who understands what you want to accomplish physically, whose personality and work ethic fit well with yours, and get on a structured program with them.

Q: You’ve developed a gorgeous, sexy, lean hard body and you couldn’t have done it without weights. What do you say to these women to get them to not just train with weights but train hard and make it an important part of their overall program?

Kari: Well thank you for such kind words!

I have definitely tweaked my fitness and nutrition programs over the years to figure out what works best for my body…there’s definitely no quick fix to figuring out how to achieve what you want to physically without learning about your body and staying focused on the goals you’ve set forth.

As far as what I suggest to women in regards to weight training, I just tell them that they must do it. You can run on a treadmill until your legs go numb and you turn blue in the face, but if you don’t weight train you won’t increase your metabolism or lean muscle mass and you won’t get the results you want.

Weights do a sexy body good!

Education is a huge factor in getting women to weight train as well.

Women like to know why they are doing certain exercises and the reasoning behind it – so educating my female clients on proper weight training for their goals and body types is an important part of their overall fitness program.

Obviously each program needs the three components (cardio, strength training and nutrition) but education on each part is just as important.

My goal as a personal trainer isn’t to just get people to where they want to be physically, but to educate them enough through the process that they feel comfortable enough in the gym to go out and do the routines I have showed them and they understand their body well enough to maintain the results that they worked so hard to achieve.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake you made when you started and how did you correct it?

Kari: I didn’t know enough about my own body in regards to how it reacted to proper weight training and nutrition.

I spent a good part of the past five years perfecting my diet accordingly with how my body reacts to certain macronutrients at certain times during the day.

Also, I learned a lot about weight training by watching other trainers and training with other trainers – I learn something new every day so I am constantly correcting and tweaking my programs and training style.

Q: What do you think is the most important thing or skill you’ve learned with regard to health and fitness?

Kari: In all honesty, I think the skill that I have developed and utilized the most in regard to my career in health and fitness is the fact that I’m a people person and I love helping people.

It’s not a skill that can be learned; I was raised by two amazing parents who always looked at the positive side of life and that attitude is what has carried me through to being successful in fitness and in life.

Q: What are some common pitfalls you feel people can stumble upon and how do you help them avoid these obstacles?

Kari: Letting life get in the way of staying on track with their fitness goals is the biggest pitfall I see in some people.

Not every day is going to be perfect; I have my setbacks and downfalls and days “off the wagon,” but knowing that one day “off track” doesn’t have to turn into two days, then a week, a month, and so forth, is important.

I too have a life outside of the gym, so I understand that some things just take precedence in life over gym time; but teaching people to make it part of their lifestyle (just as healthy eating becomes a part of their life, not being on a “diet”) really helps them understand the importance and eventually helps them avoid the pitfalls of skipping the gym or letting a few bad days turn into a few bad months.

Education education education is the key factor!!

Q: Moving forward and knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently with your own journey, if anything?

Kari: I would have hired a trainer much sooner than I did! Even today, I still push myself harder during workouts if I have a partner to work out with, whether it be a fellow trainer, client, or friend.

Every day I still learn a new exercise or read a new piece of fitness information and try to make myself a better trainer through education.

Q: The most common excuse I hear from people who don’t eat right or train is that they don’t have the time.

Kari: That is exactly what you said it is…it’s an EXCUSE. Excuses don’t get results. Hard work, consistency, and determination do.

Q: What advice do you have for people who use ‘lack of time’ as an excuse to eat poorly and avoid exercise?

Kari: Is it really a lack of time or is it a lack of willingness to devote the time? There’s a difference.

My gym is open 24 hours a day, you can make time. I understand that some things in life just get in the way, but with all the stresses that come and go in life exercise is the perfect way to maintain balance.

Q: What’s a typical day for you when it comes to training and nutrition?

Kari: Nutrition wise I eat the same foods every day. The only thing that differs is on strength training days I will add a protein shake and banana within 20 minutes of completing my workout.

A typical day is as follows:

Breakfast: ½ cup oatmeal, banana, blueberries, 1-2 tbsp. all natural peanut butter
Snack: 1 oz. almonds and low carb yogurt
Lunch: 6 oz. grilled chicken and 1 cup steamed vegetables
Snack: apple and 2 tbsp. all natural peanut butter OR 1 oz. almonds
Dinner: 6 oz. grilled chicken and ½ cup steamed vegetables
Snack (optional): 6 egg whites

Six Pack Abs Diet

My training is 6 days a week, with cardio all 6 days and weight training 3 days. This routine is always changing due to the time of year, what I am training for, and what I am trying to accomplish.

Right now I am running a marathon in a few weeks, so my cardio is much heavier than normal.

After the marathon, I will go back to standard cardio days and some heavier weight training isolation days (so I can build some lean mass) before I will go back to circuit weight training (total body) 3 days/week.

If I want results, I have to continue to mix up my routines and workouts so I avoid any plateaus.

Q: How are you able to consistently fit them into your busy schedule?

Kari: I make it a priority. I have to; otherwise, I would let it slide like a lot of people. I also plan ahead. I cook all my meals for the week on Sundays (my day off and rest day from training) and I pack them in Tupperware and take them to work with me.

I eat the same thing at the same time every day so my grocery shopping list is easy and my body knows when it’s going to get fed so it utilizes all the calories I consume.

My workout times differ throughout the day based around when I am training my clients, but I make it a point to get my workouts in daily. It’s my time to relieve my stress, clear my head, and just get re-energized.

Q: What do you think are the keys to becoming successful, whether it’s competing or losing 15 pounds of fat?

Kari: A positive attitude, a willingness to learn, a great support system, a good mindset, and no excuses… ever.

Q: What’s one of the things you find most challenging about what you do?

Kari: Watching people make bad decisions in regard to not training or getting on a structured plan.

I feel like I am an accomplice to their failure if I let them walk out the doors of my gym not working with a trainer or learning something new that will help benefit them.

Some people just don’t want to help themselves, and it’s unfortunate to see – especially since I am fortunate enough to work at a facility that really has encompassed every part of health and fitness into their clubs.

If you walk into one of our clubs and don’t get results, then I guarantee you that you will not get them… period.

Q: What are your future plans?

Kari: In fitness….opening my own personal training studio, publishing my healthy cookbook, writing a few fitness books (I currently am the fitness columnist for FHM Online), growing in the fitness modeling world, and basically running my own fitness empire.

In life….getting married, having children, spending each day with the people I love, building a life that will make my parents proud, and helping as many people as possible.