Marina Kavkaeva. Building a beautiful and healthy body

On the way to a cherished goal, we so often draw inspiration from the people around us. But if none of your close friends are in a hurry to radically change their lives and go to the gym, social networks can help you find a lot of motivational stories, personal examples of transformation and useful advice. On the eve of the obstacle race “Reebok. Become Human” we met with the brand’s ambassador Marina Kavkaeva to find out how she is preparing and what such popular concepts as “proper nutrition” and “healthy lifestyle” mean to her.

– Marina, how did your trips to the gym begin? What were your initial parameters and what shape did you want to get?
– The first time I went to the gym was at school, more than 10 years ago, as an additional load for basketball and track and field. I had the most successful figure for these sports – slim build with high height, well-developed shoulder girdle, so in the gym I wanted to harmonize the bottom and top and did a lot of exercises on my legs.

– Many fitness bloggers get very carried away by the process and “pump up” their figure, in other words, they can’t stop and either lose too much weight or achieve a very obvious relief. How do you feel about it?
– I think that everything needs a measure, and it is important not to lose yourself in the pursuit of beauty. Many people start to ennoble their appearance from reasonable motives (health care, for example), but this is not the case where more is better. In any case, it should be understood that fitness mania is always about psychology: people muffle deficiencies in some areas of life with the help of self-realization through beauty and achievements in sports.

At some point it clicked in my head that I was becoming hostage to the regime and spending too much energy on conforming to unhealthy ideals.

– Have you had such periods and what is the right way to stop in such a case?
– I have, of course. At that time, my self-esteem was entirely dependent on capricious fashion, and having got into the wave of “I want to become a phytonyashka”, I was almost obsessed with proper nutrition and gym. At some point, it clicked in my head that I was becoming hostage to the regimen and expending too much energy on conforming to unhealthy ideals. The typical shape of a “phytonian” is a fat percentage too low for a woman and a high percentage of muscle. To my clients who have this “skewed” shape, I make the same point plus give them tools to work on their self-esteem.

On October 1, Marina will give a lecture “Fitness for Life: Building a Beautiful and Healthy Body” as part of the fitness festival “Become Human”. You can get to the master class by registering for the lecture at stanhuman.rf.

– There are various fitness methods. Some athletes divide their workouts into “leg day”, “arm day”, etc. for convenience. How do you feel about this approach? What methodology do you yourself train with?
– Both myself and my trainees train according to the fullbody system – the whole body is worked out in one session. This approach is much more reasonable from the point of view that the human body is a system, not autonomous body parts. Split training (with division into muscle groups) is justified only when the visual effect is the first priority. In this case, it makes sense to allocate separate muscles for “pumping”. Since I base my training on motor skills and physical qualities (external parameters are a nice bonus), it is logical to develop them, but it is practically impossible to isolate the work of individual muscles in motion, and there is no need to do so.

– What initially formed the basis of your training?
– My methodology is based on the idea that the training of non-professional athletes should be focused on improving their well-being, general fitness and posture. The desired result is optimal, not maximal, as in sports. Therefore, the choice of tools and techniques is radically different from the arsenal of famous athletes. And measure plays a key role here – there should be a balance in everything, including body proportions (I am amused by the fashion for overdeveloped buttocks in girls) and physical skills (when training strength, don’t forget about flexibility and endurance).

– Where did you get all the information you needed?
– I got the basis of my knowledge at FPA, when I studied to be a personal trainer and took additional trainings. They give you the right start – they immediately mark the boundary between fitness hysteria and a sensible approach. Plus I am a very inquisitive person, I am interested in everything, so self-education is a prerequisite for becoming a competent specialist. In addition to specialized literature and research on the topic, I study information on related disciplines (in particular, psychology, neurobiology). This allows me to look at the same task more broadly and think big, which is crucial when working with health.

Now I don’t worry about food – I eat everything, but in moderation. I try to listen to my body. As it turns out, it is much smarter than gadgets and knows better what and how much to eat.

– They say that proper nutrition is much more important on the way to a perfect body than training. What are your thoughts on this?
– On the one hand, weight is controlled by energy balance, i.e. we don’t get fat from looking at sweets – we have to eat them first. The other side is that the ideal body is a collective concept: not only weight as such is important, but also its distribution between tissues (fat and muscle), proportions, skin condition. All of these are tasks for the correction of lifestyle in general: quality sleep, active leisure, balanced diet, positive attitude – a partial list of necessary tools.

– What kind of eating style do you follow?
– Moderate. I passed the stage when I was meticulous about food, tried to eat only “clean” food, excluded sugar, gluten and lactose. I counted calories and BGU, ate by the hour, etc. Now I realize that this is unreasonable in terms of the basic law of productivity: 80% of effort brings only 20% of results. So now I don’t worry about food – I eat everything, but in moderation. I try to listen to my body. As it turns out, it is much smarter than gadgets and knows better what and how much to eat. My task is to keep track of my gastronomic cravings and not to miss the signal of satiety.

– Where do I start my transition to PP, so as not to make the process too abrupt?
– First, it’s important to understand what proper nutrition is. It is a diet that is suitable for a particular person in terms of their health characteristics, food preferences, habitual lifestyle and goals. This is not some “rules” or a set of products, as many people think about it, but a menu on which a person will be tasty and comfortable. And it is individual in each case. Someone likes porridge in the morning, and someone from it to sleep, but scrambled eggs – it’s another matter. Both breakfasts can be right and wrong for different people, so first of all it is worth to understand what suits you?

I used to like Cindy Crawford, and I used to work out to her videos when I couldn’t afford a gym membership.

– Do you follow any kind of drinking regimen?
– I drink when I’m thirsty. During the day it’s different drinks – clean water in the morning on an empty stomach (a habit from childhood), a couple of cups of coffee, I like tea. And then it’s all by feeling – intuitively you always know what you need at the moment.

– What does your training program look like now?
– Right now I’m training for the Become Human race, and my training replicates the trials. I’m training outside. The core of the workout is running, alternating with exercises that are common at the race. It can be an interval workout (a round of running, a round of exercise), or a run as a warm-up and a circuit workout afterward. Mood.

– Who motivated you at the beginning of your journey and who do you enjoy reading now?
– At the beginning of my journey, I really liked Pamela Anderson, it was probably her image in Baywatch that motivated millions of girls to join a gym. I also liked Cindy Crawford, and I used to work out under her videos when I didn’t have money for a gym membership. Now my motivators are far from fitness standards, or rather, I read them because of how they think, not how they look. From online resources it is Dmitry Kalashnikov’s (FPA president) blog and the association’s information portal. In my subscriptions I can find foreign colleagues – physiotherapists Jacob Harden and Vinh Pham. I like to read books more than anything else.