Nadia Murdock is a nationally recognized fitness coach, published author and regular on-air fitness expert as seen on E! News, Fox, Today.com, SELF.com and Life & Style just to name a few. She is living proof that her “strong mind, strong body” method works. After changing her life via her own weight loss journey, she achieved creating a healthier lifestyle for her mind and body. She became dedicated to sharing that power with others through her company Nadia Murdock Fit.
Nadia has a B.A. in Psychology and taps into the strength and power of the mind when advising others in achieving their fitness goals. She also enjoys all forms of fitness from weightlifting to Barre and never goes a day without breaking a sweat.
What does wellness mean to you?
Wellness is everything from what I use on my face to what I eat daily, what we clean our house with, to what we put on our faces, and getting enough rest. That became more prevalent for me once I was pregnant with my son. Even mentally, the people I surround myself with, the conversations that I have, the things that I read, and the things I have watched on television has to be enjoyable, or things that are going to encourage or motivate me so that I can be the best version of myself.
I started to be more conscientious of when I was picking up things to clean my house with. So now I’m big on essential oils and maybe making my own dish cleaning soap or finding brands that adhere to some of the values I have when it comes to cleaning my home, because now I have a little person inhaling things that I may not want them to inhale. And it just benefits the family as a whole.
So wellness for me is not just food, but the entire lifestyle.
***Listen in to Nadia Murdock as she elaborates how she is living proof that the “Strong Mind, Strong Body” method works in this podcast episode!***
When did you launch your own company, and did you always want to be in health and wellness?
Pursuing psychology was my original goal. Through that time of figuring out my personal career, I was also figuring out the best healthy ways to stay on track. However back in College, I was also introduced to so many unhealthy habits. I struggled as I was trying to fit myself in a cookie cutter, very thin shape. I’m very tall and I have an athletic build. I was doing the comparison game while trying to make myself something that I wasn’t.
I had gained a lot of weight and struggled to take it off and keep it off in a healthy way. After a lot of terrible yo yo dieting, I’ve found a way to just be strong mentally and physically. That’s when I really started to develop myself.
I retrained my mind to figure out how to fuel my body properly and figuring out what’s the right thing to eat, or is low calorie the right thing, or is it eating more vegetables? So I retrained my mind to get a colorful plate, and to drink more water. Real basic things that don’t require a fancy membership or a high end food delivery situation.
It took a couple of years, but once I started, I knew I wanted more. I wanted to learn more about supplements, protein, and ways to balance my diet in a proper way that worked for me. So now I’m able to really teach that to clients from a personal point of view because I’ve walked that road.
In due course I found my true niche within the wellness and fitness industry. So I officially launched my company Nadia Murdock Fit in 2012. I dove right in and worked full time from then on.
What do you love most about what you do? When did you start teaching Barre?
When you find something that you enjoy it is just a stepping stone to something else. Like when I taught Zumba most people love to dance. And then I would start seeing them do strength training classes, and then I’d see them in the spin room, or yoga. The most important thing is to get started. And in order to get started and actually stick to it the key is finding something that you love.
There’s not many forms fitness that I don’t enjoy, but I’m trying to think I would not want to get out of bed for something I don’t enjoy doing. I don’t like running, so if it’s running class that is not going to have me pop out of bed.
Once you get emerged in a fitness culture, you make friends and you start getting accountability partners. And so you look forward to it. It doesn’t happen overnight, but you just need to get started.
As I got certified as a fitness and Zumba instructor, I also found that I wanted something more. I was looking to dive into a discipline that I felt would have more longevity for me as an instructor. At the same time, I was writing for examiner.com for fitness reviews for local New York boutique studios. I interview fitness professionals and that’s when I discovered BARRE from the people that I used to interview.
BARRE is a marriage of different movements. From Pilates, ballet, to traditional strength training movement while working on small muscle groups. You’re really diving into those muscles and that’s why you’ll see a difference. There will be toning and shrinking, maybe not in pounds but in inches because you’re really diving into those muscles that have been dormant for a little bit.
***Here’s an at home BARRE workout by Nadia***
So I got BARRE certified the same month I found out I was pregnant and ended up teaching the whole nine months of my pregnancy, which was the best thing I ever did.
The thing that I like to do in my classes is to always offer something for everyone. I don’t have beginner classes or advanced classes. I offer modifications, I’ll show you how I’m going to do it, but I’ll also show you if you want to take it up a notch, or if you need to dial it down. So there’s always something for someone so they don’t feel that intimidation that most people feel in a group fitness class. I want someone to feel that they have something to work towards.
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Do you have anything new and exciting planned for the rest of the year?
I do incorporate mindfulness and meditation and I’m definitely exploring the world of crystals and essential oils in that practice and I’m really loving it.
When it first came about, I was thinking of a corner in my room, with fluffy pillows. But I can’t sit still. I feel like because everyone was meditating, I needed to meditate that way. 
And then over the course of time, as I talk to different people in the wellness field, I learned that meditation can be different for everybody. It could be five breaths in the morning and just closing your eyes in the car even, or rubbing some essential oils, inhaling it and taking a breath. So I’ve found different ways to meditate. I just started to figure out what works best for me.
As I go through sessions with clients that carry the ‘I can’t do it’ attitude, I just tell them not to let it get in their head as it would hinder them from achieving before they’ve even started to try. And the more I preach that, the more I see their confidence shine through and they feel good about themselves session by session.
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