03Think fit, think Kirsty Godso. The New Zealand-native, now residing in New York where she has spent the last few years, is best known for her killer training sessions and infamous hot sauce burpees. When she’s not sweating it out at the gym, you can find her at her favourite healthy food cafe, The Village Den in NYC eating all the avocado.
As for her morning routine? She never hits snooze, makes her bed straight away and jumps into a cold shower. Before any food or coffee, she’ll guzzle down a big glass of water to kickstart her digestion. Disciplined? That’s an understatement!
Read on as we quiz the Nike Master Trainer—and creator of Made Of protein powder—on all things health and fitness where she reveals what a typical day looks like for her, her all-time favourite exercise moves, the biggest fitness myth she wants to help bust and her weekly workout routine that puts everyone else’s to shame…
What a day in the life of Kirsty Godso looks like…
“5am alarm, cold shower, cold brew coffee, morning clients from 6-10am at the private Nike gym or around New York then breakfast, my own workout, meetings and emails, late lunch, more clients and evening Pyro classes. I like to try and cook my dinner or am usually with my fellow Pacific fam, Georgia Fowler and Dougie Joseph for a group dinner.”
On her favourite pre and post workout foods…
“If I’m working out first thing in the morning, I will do fasted cardio and just make sure I’m well hydrated. Otherwise, I will have half a scoop of Made Of Whey Protein isolate mixed with water. I don’t like to have anything dense in my stomach when I’m working out, especially when I’m doing a big conditioning workout! Post-workout, I always do 1 scoop of Made Of with water to speed up my recovery then I’ll eat a proper meal with protein, veggies and healthy fats like avocado an hour later.”
On creating her own protein powder…
“The most important thing for me was transparency. I really wanted to create something that people could feel confident using. There are so many unnecessary ingredients in products and that’s why so many people are experiencing strange and new allergic reactions to things. Made Of only has four ingredients and was truly designed with the end user in mind. It’s not a white labelled product, we worked on it very carefully ourselves and chose each ingredient purposefully so you could have a high performing protein with only the ingredients you need.”
On her healthy eating regime…
“I strictly followed keto for years and it works incredibly well for me. I’m celiac so it’s very easy for me to follow. Energetically, I feel so alive from it and it was good because it made me sure I was actually eating enough to support all the training I do. I am not strict keto anymore as my work lifestyle and living in New York is quite different from New Zealand, but I still follow a lot of the keto guidelines.”
“I avoid all grains, I thrive from eating meat and seafood and an array of good vegetables, I tend to eat less starchy vegetables and always make sure I have healthy fats in my meals such as raw nuts and avocado. I do no dairy aside from Made Of Whey Protein (many of our users are lactose intolerance and are happily consuming the product every day with no irritation). I drink A LOT of water and very rarely drink alcohol.”
On her approach to workout recovery…
“I am very diligent about my recovery protocols. I wasn’t always this way but the benefits are undeniable and it’s a huge thing I work with all my clients on! I always foam roll and use my Hyperice Hypervolt (this travels with me always!). Every workout starts with mobility, glute and core activation so my body is ready to receive when my workout starts.”
“I do regular acupuncture, cryotherapy and infrared sauna to keep me burpeeing to my best! I swear by magnesium and whey protein for muscle recovery and I love yoga and Pilates. Recovery is part of our training and must get more of a focus. Way too many people are overtraining and limiting their results in the process.” As for other supplements, Kirsty has L-theanine with her coffee and takes Basis by Elysium which helps support sleep and energy.
On her current fitness routine…
“My biggest battle is getting time for my own training around all my clients and classes but my current regime is…”
2x Strength workouts
2x Cardio interval workouts using the curve treadmill, incline treadmill pyramids, rower, ski erg and assault bike
1x Conditioning workout. This is my ‘max out’ workout of the week where I go my absolute hardest
2-3x Pilates per week (my fave is mat or tower with my private trainer)
2x Yoga classes at Sky Ting Yoga
The biggest fitness myth Kirsty wants to help bust…
“Overtraining! This is a real problem. More is not more! We need to be better at taking recovery seriously. Overtraining is the biggest problem in fitness at the moment. It’s amazing to be healthy and love exercise but working out multiple times a day with no rest days or proper recovery protocols in place are causing people to burn out, hold cortisol and get injured. When we don’t recover properly we can never fully receive the benefits of exercise. Don’t work against yourself by overdoing it!”
Kirsty’s top 5 exercise moves that work your entire body…
1. TRX single leg pistol squats
2. Chin-ups
3. Hot sauce burpees
4. Single leg hip bridges
5. Modified forearm plank with arms extended
Try them as a circuit… you’re welcome!
