The Project: Kuwait

1:46 – Meg talks about how the training game is different in the States and tells Mahdi and Haya about her new client base, those in assisted living facilities who are 70-90 years old.

5:20 – Mahdi tells about his grandmother and how her health deteriorated after she had a bad fall.

8:18 – Social health also has an impact on physical health.

10:00 – Meg says that the initial goals of most of her clients are very conservative and they are shocked by how much more they can do than they thought.

11:57 – A comparison between “Goldeners” in Kuwait and the States.

14:48 – Meg talks about a client of hers who learned how to swim at age 61 and a family member who is doing triathlons in all 50 US states after the age of 50.

16:41 – Meg and Mahdi talk about the tendency of trainers in Kuwait to just give every client the same blanket program.

18:08 – In other countries, best practice is for trainers to personalize programs for each client and adapt their programming based on their clients’ current situation.

20:57 – Haya and Mahdi talk about ways to gauge your progress and work your way up by starting with the basics.

24:40 – Meg and Haya talk about their love/hate relationships with pull-ups, dips, ring rows, and negatives.

26:53 – Mahdi brings up the point that many guys try to do certain exercises or weights just because they saw some guy on Instagram do it.

29:14 – Getting the mechanics of workouts down takes the longest and it is important to have the right mindset in order to make the biggest gains as well as know when you need to slow down or rest.

32:48 – Haya’s coach often has her load up her goal weight for a movement and just hold it to get a feel for it before she starts working up to it. They also talk about the importance of you and your coach knowing where you are in your hormone cycle.

35:17 – Haya talks about the stigma surrounding being a female weight lifter.

Links: 

“Dynamic Aging” book: https://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Aging-Exercises-Whole-Body-Mobility/

“The Brain that Changes Itself” book: https://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/

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https://www.instagram.com/theprojectkuwait/

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Speaker 1:             00:01                what do we do with negative messages? They haunt us. It's a decision you have to make to get rid of your negative messages. So we got to reprogram our mind to look at negative, not so negative, and to build positive on a daily basis. So everybody listening start thinking this episode is awesome. No, we, this really teaches people how to reprogram. I think people think mine is a mind and it does not change. I totally disagree with that. So enjoy the episode. If you have any questions, all this and more in today's episode talking about this topic, like what do you do when people like all their life, I can understand like I could learn a language when I'm 30 but what do you do with people who all their life hurts? Comments like you're stupid. You're never gonna make it out to anything.

Speaker 1:                    02:24                That doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen by having a mindset of, oh, I can't do this and me not setting up the structures in place in order to get there. And I'm sure you have the terms that go along with that are probably what I did. But I find it very hard to believe when people say, no, no, no, I just can't do it. I just can't do it. I think that's the easy way out for them. Well, I mean, the thing is, is that that's true. And then what they're doing is they are setting up their subconscious to believe these negative messages. So what you're saying is like, have you ever noticed it? Like the more I say, I can't do this, I can't do that. The more I feel like I can't. It all starts from the morning. If you get up and you say to yourself, today, I'm going to have a good day today, I'm going to have a great day.

Speaker 1:                    06:07                This is your traumatic experience. Have you ever done that? I have. No, but I've never said that. I mean, you can't dismiss that their trauma is their trauma. You're 100% right. Yeah, 100% right. You're a psychologist. So I like that you think that way. Whereas if I was in your shoes and someone's like, oh, I lost in this, I'd be like, dude, are you kidding me? Yeah, I can't believe I've heard some really traumatic things that I was like, wow, they were other things. I mean I've heard people saying like, I lost my job. I mean maybe for some people they lost their job but they were not like they were not there that long or the money wasn't dependent on them. Like I just lost my job and then I ended up sleeping all day. Like that's dramatic. Sometimes you put like dimension, like they've had traumatic experience, like somebody dying, but there weren't even that close to the person.

Speaker 1:                    07:43                Is this coincidence? Why do I need all the losers? Let's talk about that. Now the idea is, is that if it's already going, why do I meet all the losers? Why do I meet all the losers? How can we retrain ourselves or we&

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Time Stamps:

1:28 – How did Eelay become a Project superfan?

2:41 – She shares her favorite episodes: steroids, eating disorders, and Haya Sharhan.

3:38 – She has lived in Kuwait her whole life and went to ASK.

5:07 – Mahdi talks about his experiences in the Little League World Series.

6:28 – Eelay recently posted about the difference between a trainer and a coach. Mainly, a coach invests in the personalized goals of each person and looks at the long-term.

9:53 – Why she decided to be a coach in Kuwait.

12:20 – Shout out to the previous Project episode about what makes a good coach.

13:12 – The phenomenon of trainers being impatient with newbies in classes and the negative impacts that can have on that person’s workouts.

16:58 – How can trainers make females more comfortable at the gym, now that it is more acceptable for them to work out?

18:07 – Mahdi mentions the “Freakonomics” concept of investing in the weakest of the group to make the whole group more successful.

19:18 – Mahdi, Eelay, and Liam talk about females in Kuwaiti sports and what coaching should look like.

25:48 – Eelay speaks into the social media scene for the “younger generation.”

30:20 – How youth interact with social media and their phones rather than traditional forms of communication.

33:08 – Aiming for a certain body goal rather than to be healthy. Liam’s struggles with meal prep companies.

37:12 – Eelay just started a YouTube channel about food.

40:25 – Many people in Kuwait rely on their cooks, but it might be better to prepare food for yourself.

43:11 – Eelay talks about the area of town where her gym is…and Mahdi shows his age.

47:37 – “Abs are made in the kitchen” and the implications of this statement on the quality of the foods you are consuming.

50:46 – Don’t deprive yourself, but rather focus on balance and moderation.

53:29 – Track your diet to make sure you are getting enough of the right things and try to use discipline, but give yourself the ability to indulge a craving every now and then.

Links: 

“Freakonomics” book: https://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Economist-Explores-Hidden-Everything/  

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YouTube: 

Connect with us:

https://www.instagram.com/theprojectkuwait/

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00:01The project pride Kuwait Lit. Hey everybody, welcome to this episode, ca eight you're like, wait, we got an awesome episode for you. [inaudible] so Dr Danco, are you going to practice the infomercial? Question? When was it again? Are you struggling with your identity, struggling with your identity? Have you wondered who you are and the real life? Can you identify, do you belong here or there? Are you just trying to find out the secrets to life? No, but in reality, everybody, today's episode, we are talking about identity. I know and it's great because we're bringing it from the perspective of individuals that live in Kuwait. While most people really believe in identity that has something to do with immigration or adolescence, we want it to give it a little bit more of a twist and understanding. People that live in a country, they are majority, but they're really a minority.

05:13And he's like, that's what he realized. Oh this lady has got to Kuwait. And I was thinking, wow. He's like, no, no, no, it doesn't work that way. Even though there is, I'm totally Kuwaiti, I feel Kuwaiti, but I don't have that passport. And therefore her parents would probably refuse me and will cost a lot of hardship for our kids or whatever. And this guy was so depressed because he felt rejected by the country or within himself, that he was being rejected from a culture that he totally has been raised to believe it's yours. And you are part of this. So today I think it's very important that we really, I mean, what do you do with these individuals have, and this is one of the numbers, but then after that I started practicing and I realized how people really constantly struggle. I mean there are some families here, they're like three generation.

10:32  And ultimately it all stops there for whatever reason is like a family's here are very protective of that because they obviously are thinking of the offspring and they're thinking of the grandparent, their gang kids, and the struggle. And to be honest now, after 1415 years where I have seen couples that she's Kuwaiti, married to an [inaudible] and less therefore my western kind of a citizenship, they usually, their kids don't have a lot of benefits. Some kids are depends on the school. They really bully you for your nationality. And it's a struggle for them that some families I've known, they've even like had gone to the u s for example, or have brought their kids somewhere else because they feel like they're not going to be able to survive.

17:50 right. So the boundaries are created by society and what we have made it. That's right. Exactly right. Look at me. I'll be smart. Now when we look at male and female identity and what they identify as, because here in Kuwait, like everywhere else in the world, there are huge issues with identifying as a male or identifying as a female. Right? Right. And the rights and privileges you get, the rights and the privileges that you do because we know males, especially white males, they get all the privilege. [inaudible]. Exactly. And if you're a white female, you're not going to get paid the same as a white

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1:10 – Kathrine talks about a recent infuriating experience of unsolicited advice.

4:34 – Jessem is a Spartan racer and CrossFit athlete who began in martial arts at age 6. He attributes his passion for endurance athletics to these early experiences in karate.

8:02 – In addition to weight training and Pilates, Kathrine is an endurance athlete actively competing in triathlons. Her journey started when her doctor recommended she start swimming to rehab a back injury and when she began to enjoy swimming, she joined an elite group who got her into triathlon competition.

11:58 – Kathrine recommends getting a triathlon coach and joining triathlon groups to support yourself along the way.

18:54 – Jessem says that his support group was also crucial to his success and involvement in Spartan races, and CrossFit helped him with the endurance aspect.

22:20 – Even though Jessem was invited to go to Lake Tahoe for the elite Spartan race, he has decided to focus on CrossFit instead. His coach is in Poland and he has Jessem working on endurance 4 times per week and strength training 3 times per week.

24:56 – Kathrine’s training involves doing a “brick” twice per week, which means doing either the swim to bike or the bike to run using open water, a road bike, and an outdoor run to prepare her for actual competition. Once per week, she does a mini triathlon to build her stamina.

30:27 – Jessem has a 6-day program involving swimming, machines, running with a vest, accessory work, endurance in his WOD.

33:32 – Jessem and Kathrine talk specifically about what they do to be endurance athletes.

40:02 – Mahdi asks about the element of lactic acid buildup during triathlons.

41:00 – Kathrine describes her consistent diet and the impacts on her speed and endurance when she eats for the sport.

45:40 – Jessem says that his physique definitely changes based on his training, and he subscribes to a meal plan which helps him stay on track.

51:03 – Jessem talks about his year of being vegan and what it was like to reintroduce meat.

53:22 – Jessem got into CrossFit by people around him pushing him to try it out and stick with it. He emphasizes the importance of prepping yourself mentally.

55:40 – Kathrine got into endurance athletics as a result of an injury when she was a dancer and her discovery of fitness classes at that time.

Links: 

“Pathetic Triathletes” group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pathetic.triathletes/

Jessem’s coach: 

Kathrine’s coach:

Connect with us:

https://www.instagram.com/theprojectkuwait/

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The project Kuwait . Hey guys, welcome to this episode. Me and doctor d are sitting down talking about victimization and we hit on so many different topics within the victim card. Okay. Any other self fulfilling prophecy going into how we don't want to be around people that play the victim card. I think you summed that up really nicely. And people with locus of control, right? Internal and external, how to avoid to be a victimizer. That's right. And you gotta stick around to understand all these smart terms. That's right. Later in the episode. And I think it was awesome how you gave a lot of people different keys to look at when in a relationship, whether it's with your parents or someone around you so that they're not sucking the energy sucking lights. Right? So I mean, stay tuned and enjoy this episode guys is all this and morning today's episode is Dr Juliet.

That's the day. See, see how I chased my name. I love that. Yeah, I love it. I've been calling you Dr d since I was your student. But I liked Dr Jay actually. And a lot of people call me back today or Jay, you know, do to choose your [inaudible]. That's all we call it. That's why I call my niece, her name is Jude. So we call her Juju. And it was funny back when I played softball, I'd be like, yeah, you don't want any bad juju. And it's like, cause the magical term Juju like bad juju. And it's like now I can use that. Or it's like, but yeah, no, but I mean everyone are like, whenever I'm signing d yeah. So it's nice. And maybe because I feel like it's better than saying Dinka. You know, sometimes it might be longer. So when my friends call me j or two Oh [inaudible] oh that's awesome.

So yeah, it's a new show on the project. I know this is an awesome segment. I think it's something quite needs. Yeah. And I'm so excited actually, I think with needs and a lot of people need, and it's an opportunity to be able to talk about things that are related to psychology. And, and I want to emphasizing it to more people than things that people can really relate to. Yeah. But the t back and taboo. Yeah. T back in Deborah. That's very true. And, and it's so interesting because when I'm teaching there's certain things like you feel that people, my students, they're like very ambivalent about talking about or are we supposed to say this like just recently finished geno grams of family therapy class and people like I could see how like they're not really into deep because they know you talk about their family and this part of the region, everything is like so secretive and personalized.

No, no wants to say my mother's, my dad's cousin who is his sister. Who is that? That's right. No one wants to come out and say that, but it's part of our culture. You know, our second marriages are third or affairs, you know, because then they feel like they're putting themselves out there. And it's a good point. Is that a small country? So it seems like with one student is saying, you know, my dad is tree, this is this family, this is family. You always get one person or two from the class saying, oh you're related to me. Oh I know this. So in a way it makes it awkward for the person, but I think we really need to talk about it. These are psychological things or these issues. I think everyone has gone through. You are me 100%. My Dad's been married six times.

Yeah. I can't even throw a rock into a school playground. My brother or sister or even six times, I don't know. I lost count at six. My Dad, he was married to my mom for 18 years and we see the longest and he married my stepmom, Cindy, who is awesome. Really Nice Lady. They were married for a decent amount of time too, I think like 10 years or 15 years now. Cindy's American also? No, she was British Indian. Oh, okay. And then he married a Kuwaiti woman. Okay. They were married for eig

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Time Stamps:

1:35 – Abdullah Al Askari is an entrepreneur and fitness guru who is involved in many fitness and health related businesses.

2:55 – He says that the biggest problem in Kuwait’s gyms is the service.

3:45 – The biggest problem with coaches and trainers at gyms is that the owners feel pressure to have “big name” coaches at the expense of having a variety of trainers for all levels of clients.

5:31 – Gyms fall into the trap of being overly concerned about making money and not concerned enough about providing great service.

7:11 – In terms of trends, he encourages proprietors and clients alike to know their specific needs and not get too caught up in the next big thing.

9:37 – In the future, Abdullah expects the training industry to become more regulated, but it will likely be a while.

11:31 – Liam says that he sees trainers at the extremes: either having a ton of certifications and experience but no talent or no certifications but being great coaches. It’s important to find one in the middle.

12:57 – High level trainers also need to have a good personality and the ability to coach their clients.

15:25 – Abdullah says that from a gym’s perspective, having a trainer on staff who is an influencer is seen as a necessary risk.

16:25 – Abdullah’s ideal gym experience, from the front desk interaction to the workout area.

21:05 – Liam says that while some gyms are popping up for one specific purpose, the most versatile gyms have multiple modalities in one place.

22:54 – The start up cost for a 500 square meter gym space is about 120-150 KD in Kuwait because of the high rent.

24:30 – Mahdi and Liam talk about their experiences at old school basement gyms.

28:45 – There are a lot of consumers out there who are buying the trendy fitness tools but lack the education about what they really need to be doing.

30:40 – Abdullah talks about the dynamics of gyms that are not innovating, what can cause them to succeed or fail.

32:29 – Abdullah stays in shape by having no social life and getting to the gym every morning at 5:00am.

33:11 – He talks about shifts in bodybuilding over the years.

36:55 – Liam describes the difficulty of his clients getting contradictory information from multiple sources which impacts the effectiveness of their training. There are not enough legitimate sources out there, but physicians can give you the proper tests and sample dosages.

40:38 – These days, the trainer also serves as the steroid dealer because the clients put pressure on them to deliver results. This comes with many additional challenges.

44:48 – Abdullah talks about 70/30, a meal prep service that he started in November 2018. They work with clients and trainers to personalize their meals to their specific needs based on their preferences and their planned workouts for each day. There are four packages: Shred, Fuel, Build, and Bulk.

49:18 – Kuwait loves the copycat business model, so Abdullah sees the oversaturation in the market of meal prep services right now as par for the course. Those businesses with great quality and service will outlast the rest.

53:48 – They talk about the phenomenon of Kuwaiti owners who don’t truly take ownership of their business, which leads to their downfall.

55:39 – There is also an influx of Kuwaiti trainers, and Abdullah says that the ones who are truly passionate about it will outlast the rest.

Links: 

http://cclubkuwait.com/

https://www.instagram.com/abdullaalaskari/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/cclubkuwait/

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02:20 They have all these stories about how they feel on just so what do you think, do you think life is life is his life is fair? Do you feel there is justice in the world? Yeah, I think Karma is a bitch, but some people don't get the Karma. Yeah, that's true. I think they don't get it now, but of eventually eventually it catches up. It's dead by no, but I mean I think, I honestly think eventually it catches up to them in some way, shape or form. Whether it's in this life or the next, cause I opened this lie. There's just, there are those people and you're like, son of a bitch. How is he still doing this? And he's just a crappy person. That's right. But eventually I think it catches up to them. And I mean if life gives you lemons, make lemonade, life's fair.

05:01  So you and I were talking about certain places where people we know and how they've moved up to certain positions and we know they're not qualified 100% and I was like telling you, the idea is is that some people, they don't move up to certain places because they don't know the right people. And that's unfair. Like we should all be evaluated according to our output. For example, we should all be given opportunity to climb up the ladder. And it's not fair that someone else, they know the boss or they've invited them to dinner or they become good friends with them, that they are able to get a promotion and I don't. But then on the other hand, I feel like however, took the boss out to dinner and gave them gifts. They're smart. That's intelligence. Big Grease the wheels the right way. Yeah, that's right.

08:54 Good to realize. I said for life. See that's what we think they're set for life. So is it truth? How can they go, Bro? What are they doing? Traveling business and first class or giving money. What else? Give money to people that blow through it. How many millionaires have you heard of that do piss through all their money and then they're left with nothing and they're living with their parents again. It happens a lot. It happens a lot. Oh I gotta find it now these people can say life is unfair. They're just stupid. I'm sorry. Like the first thing you should do, like I was telling one of my friends, she's a bloggers, she does a lot of things right. So I was saying to her, now that you're making all this money, the good thing to do is that you have to invest it.

24:49  He did me wrong and he got screwed later on he got tackled. It's like giving a person who lives on the street $10 and then going and winning $1,000 on a scratch ticket. And that's happened to me. Oh really? Twice. Twice. That's happened twice. I swear to God. That's maybe why I haven't paid any of this grant. I don't play scratch. I don't play Lotto tickets. I have too, but I don't play it anymore. All right. By one, I give it to my nephews whenever I'm in the u s on my kid because truly I believe nothing is going to happen to me by luck. I just know it and maybe that's a self fulfilling this way I'm not winning. I just know I'm going to work hard the rest of my life, but I'm okay with that because I know that I'm a hard worker and I'm going t

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Time Stamps:

0:56 – Where did Hajar’s interest in CrossFit and strength training begin?

3:35 – Hajar discusses the stigmas around being a female trainer and being a female who is getting big because of the way she lifts.

5:40 – She has seen many waves of girls get into CrossFit in hopes of losing weight, only to find out that they will really be building muscle in addition to burning fat.

8:01 – What are the psychological benefits of lifting?

9:12 – Hajar talks about the CrossFit competitions that she has participated in.

12:05 – While she might have a tough exterior during competitions and workouts, she is deeply emotional beforehand, often doubting her own abilities.

14:09 – She discusses the rising stars in female Middle Eastern athletes.

17:03 – Hajar recognizes that she is in the spotlight and that there is pressure to make those around her better.

18:41 – Hajar and Mahdi talk about different training modalities and training pitfalls.

23:38 – The telltale signs of a trainer who is half-hearted.

26:25 – She gives her perspective of things that trainers post on Instagram and what is realistic or helpful.

28:32 – There are certain things to keep in mind when choosing your own trainer.

29:21 – Hajar’s main takeaways for her clients regarding lower back pain and technique for cleans.

34:48 – How to balance risk vs. reward in your workouts.

35:26 – The importance of doing the right exercises and using positive self-talk.

37:38 – Hajar and Mahdi discuss tendencies that they are seeing in our society and how that impacts people’s workouts.

40:32 – If you love what you are doing, you will be good at it.

41:18 – How Hajar deals with the politics involved with what people think about female trainers.

44:26 – Hajar’s perspective on qualified vs. unqualified trainers and what it takes to do a good job.

47:26 – Her current workout/recovery routine and how she did during Ramadan this year.

48:58 – Hajar and Mahdi talk about good CrossFit trainers in Kuwait.

50:19 – What the future looks like for Hajar in terms of competitions.

Links: 

https://instagram.com/_hajoor_cf?igshid=1lf01zjunbfql

Connect with us:

https://www.instagram.com/theprojectkuwait/

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Time Stamps:

1:13 – Mahdi and Dr. Dinkha reminisce about the topics they talked about when Mahdi took her class.

3:35 – Mahdi’s love for psychology started in Dr. Dinkha’s classes.

4:34 – There has recently been research to support the use of low dosages of hallucinogens to treat PTSD and other mood disorders in the US, but nothing like this is being done in Kuwait.

6:44 – During Dr. Dinkha’s abnormal psychology class, she takes students on a field trip to the psych hospital and drug rehab unit.

8:23 – She emphasizes the importance of not trying to diagnose yourself or people you know based on your limited knowledge of psychology.

10:58 – Dr. Dinkha discusses the influence on young adolescents of social media. It is dangerous to compare yourself to others’ distorted realities that are curated to make you think they are always happy.

14:17 – She is seeing increases in the amount of loneliness people feel as well as a decrease in social skills and the ability to express your feelings. This is the perfect formula for cyberbullying, eating disorders, and other harmful actions.

17:50 – While Kuwaitis are known to be more impressionable, research has shown that narcissism levels have not really increased with the wider adoption of social media.

22:16 – Dr. Dinkha recommends a regularly set-aside time for technology detox to allow yourself a break from the expectations and pressure that are so prevalent there.

23:38 – Mahdi asks if social media is influencing unhealthy habits such as poor nutrition, use of steroids, and surgeries for appearance purposes. While social media could be a factor, the truth is that plastic surgery is more affordable than it has ever been and people would rather eat the way they want to and then have surgery than stick to a healthy diet.

29:00 – Playing into this phenomenon is the element of “social masks” and putting forth only the best parts of your life on social media.

31:09 – Mahdi shares his observations about several of his friends and relatives who have had surgery for this purpose and have fallen right back into their old habits afterwards.

32:58 – Dr. Dinkha underscores the need for working on the root of the problem and developing self-discipline and self-involvement. There is still a stigma about mental health, but there shouldn’t be. There needs to be a culture shift that encourages people to be honest and reach out for help when they need it, learning how to focus on the present moment rather than the past or the future.

37:25 – Dr. Dinkha talks about simple steps people can take to increase their productivity and satisfaction.

41:08 – Oprah is famous for saying that her phone is the last thing she grabs before walking out the door, placing the priority on herself in the morning rather than checking her phone before even getting out of bed, like most people do.

42:11 – Regret about the past and fear of the future are really just excuses for why you can’t live in the present moment. Use your past as a learning tool for the future, which you can’t control, and realize that everything you have gone through is building up your “psychological immune system.”

47:10 – Dr. Dinkha talks about the factors that could contribute to the difference between someone getting into drugs/crime as a coping mechanism.

50:29 – Dr. Dinkha has started her own podcast intended for common people with common problems and questions. She wants to break down the barriers between people so we can see how much we have in common.

55:02 – Ways to get in touch with her (links below).

Links: 

https://www.instagram.com/dr.jdinkha/

http://pikwt.com/

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