Rachel Dellefield on Redefining Fitness as a Holistic Practice

At OLLY, we're big believers in starting small, celebrating the little wins, and meeting folks where they’re at. We sat down with a like-minded pal in the fitness space to talk about what sustainable wellness actually looks like—especially when life gets busy.

The list of her many contributions in this space goes on, but we’ll leave it there for now. Rachel's approach blends strength training, mobility, mindfulness, and rest—helping people build habits that actually stick. Sounds like an OLLY match made in heaven, huh? We think so, too.

Q: Rachel, how do you see fitness as something that serves the whole person, not just the body?

Rachel: For me, the journey to becoming a coach started when I was in high school. I played softball and had a lot of terrible coaches that were very focused on the “heads down & grind” approach.

But, I had one hitting coach that would spend time asking how I was doing and actually cared about what was going on in my life. On the days I’d walk in and feel lower energy or higher stress, he would spend more time talking about the game itself and allowed it to be less about "let's put our head down and work" and more about "let's look at the human being in front of me." This approach helped me fall back in love with movement.

That experience developed my philosophy, which is: leave people feeling better than when they came in. Focus on empowering someone rather than beating them down. Show people what their bodies can do versus putting them in positions where they feel like they're going to fail.

We don't exist in silos. Fitness is so inherently personal. There are so many stories behind it—body image, confidence, pain. All those personal experiences are so intrinsically tied to the actual fitness itself, that we can't just look at the reps and the sets. That’s the easiest part. How can I make the person in front of me feel confident and strong?

Q: What does "starting small" look like to you?

Rachel: I tell people that motivation itself is bullsh!t. Having to actually rely on motivation is so fleeting. It's more about the consistency.

“If you have 30% to give that day, and you give that 30%, then that's your 100%. That’s worth celebrating."

Over time, that's going to add up significantly versus going 100% for two days in a row, falling off for two weeks and then coming back to it. I would rather have someone start small and let it build up over time then go in at 110% and be unable to sustain it.

Maybe getting to the gym for 60 minutes, three times a week isn’t sustainable. Fine. How about 20 minutes at home, two times a week? If that's not sustainable, how about we take 5 minutes to go outside & look at the sun in our gym clothes a few times a week? A client and I actually worked on this as a practice once. After she started building the habit of heading out in the sun, she was like “Well, I’m already outside. I might as well just take a lap around the block.” And then eventually that turned into, “OK, well, I'm moving, I'll just get in my car and go to the gym."

Q: Why is it so important to celebrate the small wins?

Rachel: People need wins. When you're really in it day-to-day, it can feel like you’re in the trenches and wins can be hard to recognize. I had a session where a client was deadlifting. I said, "Hey, just so you know, what you just did is a really big deal." And she was like, "What? Why?" I go, "Well, this is 10 pounds heavier than you've done before. This is a big milestone that you've hit. We've been working towards this for about 6 months." And she was like, "Really? We have?"

She just shows up, I tell her what to do and she forgets that we've been working towards this goal. I'm keeping track of that, but because she's living it, it might not register. So, calling out wins is huge. Without those moments of reflection, it can feel like you're on a hamster wheel, which would make it really hard to keep showing up consistently.

Q: Can you talk about the mental switch that happens when you do show up, even when you don't want to?

Rachel: There is something to sticking to the promises that you've made for yourself. So, there's a mental rep there—"I'm going to do this thing even though it's hard and I'm not gonna enjoy it the whole time. And that’s okay." And that's a good mental rep.

The more of those reps that you get, the more confidence you build in yourself. You make a commitment to yourself. Resilience forms.

I have a client right now who has chronic pain. She decided that she wanted to learn how to scuba dive at 55 because her son wanted to do it with her. And this is someone who was terrified of body weight calf raises and wall sits but kept showing up and putting in the work to trust in her body and brain. So, to go from fear-based movement to "OK, I'm gonna keep showing up," builds the confidence to eventually try something truly bold.

Q: What advice do you have for someone training on their own at home, without a coach?

Rachel: Romanticize the sh!t out of whatever it is that you're doing. Like, hell yeah, I showed up today when I didn't feel like it. That's a win. Celebrate it. Be your own biggest cheerleader.

Q: Could you share your POV on what proper protein intake for women looks like?

Rachel: For women over the age of 30, the general rule of thumb is a minimum of 100 grams of protein per day. What we usually try to work towards is closer to 1 gram of protein per pound of desired body weight.

The more you focus on protein intake, the more satiated you feel throughout your day, the more energy that you end up having, the faster you will recover, therefore, the easier training will be. You might also notice your cravings start to disappear. It’s not always a matter of willpower. Sometimes it's your body telling you that it needs something else.

Q: Can you talk about strength training and how that's different for women as we move through key life stages like pregnancy, perimenopause & menopause?

Rachel: Two to three strength training sessions a week for 30 to 60 minutes is suggested. We call it the minimum effective dose—the least amount of work that you can do that's going to be the most effective—technically two strength training sessions a week.

At least two sessions a week can prevent sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and helps boost your metabolism. The more muscle we have, the easier those life transitions are going to be on our bodies. That lean muscle mass is going to help keep things moving and will ease the transition into perimenopause and menopause.

Strength training during pregnancy is going to end up making birth a little bit easier as well. Birth is basically a marathon that you're training nine months for.

Q: As you’re preparing to welcome a little one soon, how do you envision your own fitness practice evolving?

Rachel: I’m working on letting go of the idea that there need to be perfect conditions for a workout for it to be effective. I do things called movement snacks that I hope to continue doing—they’re small 5–10-minute intervals of whatever I can do at the time. Those little snackies definitely add up over time. Immediately postpartum, I’d love to bend down without peeing my pants.

Q: You're a big advocate for honoring rest. How have you helped people reframe rest from laziness to a performance booster?

Rachel: Rest is essential. It’s where the actual gains happen. So many people come to me that have super high intensity training sessions five to six times a week who feel like they've either plateaued, burnt out, or are in pain. As soon as we start adding in rest throughout the week, they start feeling better, are in less pain, and actually see results improve.

If we think of our capacity like a cup, we have all of our different stressors—relationship, job, family, all of that. Those are all rocks that go into this little cup. And if we add training on a day where the cup itself is already full, we’re gonna overflow, which can end in burnout or injury.

Q: At OLLY, we’re *huge* fans of a good night’s rest. How much sleep do you suggest per night, and what happens during those crucial hours?

Rachel: In an ideal world, I suggest as close to 8 hours as possible. 7 to 8 hours is the sweet spot.

During deep sleep and REM, we're able to mentally repair and process what has happened throughout the day, which helps us show up the next day more energized and ready to go.

There's a lot of great studies that show how on days where you haven’t slept as well, your body image tanks. You feel more stressed out. Your impulse control is impacted. It’s fascinating.

Q: Could you share a bit about your 1:1 training philosophy? For those unfamiliar, could you explain what a RPE 6-8 out of 10 means—and how it differs for women vs. men?

Rachel: I always aim to leave people feeling better than when they walked in. Every time someone does an exercise, I ask them how challenging it was, on a scale of one to 10. We call this RPE, rate of perceived exertion. The sweet spot is that 6 to 8, meaning we have two to four reps left in the tank.

If you're walking out of every session redlining at a 10, there's no room for improvement. From a physiological standpoint, your performance will actually get worse. From a psychological standpoint, it’s better to leave feeling like you could have done more, versus leaving feeling like you’re going to puke.

A lot of the studies run on strength training, HIIT training, cold plunges and intermittent fasting are only run on men. Women operate differently.

Intermittent fasting for long periods can really wreak havoc on our hormones. We don’t need cold plunges to be as cold as men do for it to be as effective. Same thing with strength training. We don't need to redline every workout, because there are hormones in our bodies affecting our RPE’s differently.

Q: What’s a simple fitness practice that even the busiest person can try today?

Rachel: Movement snacks! 5–10-minute intervals of whatever you feel you can do at the time. Something as simple as a wall sit while you're brushing your teeth. Or you set aside 5 minutes where you're off of your computer doing two to four exercises that you filter through so you can go back and be camera ready. No sweat required.

Those 5 minutes will stack up over time. It's also going to improve your productivity. If you can get out of the desk and get moving a little bit, maybe take a quick lap around the office or go outside for a second, you're going to boost your energy (and your mood).

That’s a key differentiator between someone who enjoys training versus someone who feels stuck at their desk and hopelessly stuck in the "I'm not gonna be able to do anything because I'm working” mindset. You can just take a step away, do a wall sit and then come back. You're gonna hit all of the things that you need to hit more effectively, promise.

Q: For those who don't see themselves as athletic, what advice would you give them to reconnect to movement in a joyful way?

Rachel: If you have a body, you are an athlete. It doesn’t matter how you move or what you're doing; you are inherently an athlete because you have a body. Period.

Celebrate all the things that your body can do, like picking up your grandchild or reaching up to grab a plate, or bending down to pick up your dog poop.

Focusing on what your body can do is going to feel a h*ll of a lot more joyful than harping on what it can’t. Start small, stay consistent. You’ve got this, I know you do.

Rachel Dellefield is a holistic fitness coach based in Los Angeles. She offers personalized programming and virtual training. To learn more about her approach to sustainable movement, follow her journey on Instagram. To book a session, contact her here:
racheldellefield@gmail.com | 949-633-3587 | racheldellefield.com