#63 This woman got me loving fitness aged 22 (and my first job, kind of)

Almost a decade later, Kayla Itsines speaks to me about motivation, misinformation and moderation...

It’s funny how life works out. Back in the long, hot summer of 2015, I found myself stepping foot in a nondescript branch of The Gym Group off Walworth Road in London’s Elephant & Castle. A welcome break from balancing bruising first proper heartbreak with anxieties about landing my first job (is there a world record for number of cover letters drafted? This 22-year-old might have won it).

My friend, a fellow SE1 resident and gym member, was working her way through a 12-week workout plan that had gone viral (within the parameters of social media’s infancy). What was this, I asked, at seeing her log lunges and squats in an intense but time-efficient 28 minutes? ‘Kayla Itsines,’ she answered between sets—introducing me to the Australian personal trainer with a penchant for sleek ponytails and coordinated lycra who would change my view on exercise once and for all.

Before that, my usual workout ‘routine’ had pretty much involved flailing around the gym floor (mostly anywhere men weren’t intimidatingly flexing their biceps). I’d paid less than the price of a Topshop sundress for my monthly membership, after a hiatus from regular exercise that had spanned most of university—when feeling like I didn’t ‘fit’ caused my prior enthusiasm for school sport to fade. My objective? To do what I thought working out should do: make me as lean as possible.

However, Kayla soon changed all that for me, and I got in on the action to the newly released soundtracks of Taylor’s ‘Bad Blood’ and Rihanna’s ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’. Her neat circuits incorporated resistance, HIIT and LISS (low-intensity steady state cardio, like a long walk or swim) training—using either bodyweight or minimal free weights. After gradual progression over several months, I was left feeling stronger and more confident.

While these elements are now par for the course within today’s fitness scene, this was a cutting-edge way to workout at the time. A period, when women didn’t really lift weights for fear of ‘bulking up’. When it was assumed you needed to spend hours breaking a sweat to see ‘results’, which often simply code for looking smaller. The hangover of noughties diet culture still lingering before body positivity had a chance to take hold.

But this felt like an exciting gear change, to the extent that I vividly remember discussing Kayla—whose ascent to global domination was, by then, already secure—in an interview for my first journalism job at the UK edition of Women’s Health a couple of months later. That coming January, she graced the cover in a bestselling issue of the magazine, which also happened to feature my first ever proper print bylines.

Just under ten years later, Kayla’s status as one of the world’s most famous PTs is absolute. Along with nurturing a 16 million-strong following on Instagram, her multimillion-dollar fitness empire has seen her Bikini Body Guides (or BBGs, that my friend had inspired me to try) evolve into the Sweat app—and now also a brand new podcast Sweat Daily, that encapsulates her compassionate but no-nonsense approach. In a pinch-me full-circle moment, she’s speaking to me all the way from Queensland for this newsletter…

WELL, ACTUALLY: I love that your podcast Sweat Daily covers such broad subject matter—from sleep and nutrition, to biohacking and the menstrual cycle—do you think we’re beginning to truly appreciate that fitness goals will only be realised with a holistic approach?

KAYLA ITSINES: My biggest learning from Sweat Daily is that when we’re having these conversations about health and fitness, everything is connected somehow. You can’t be talking about the gym without also discussing about gut health or hydration or hormones or stress. That’s why we cover such a wide range of topics—not just because they’re interesting.

And it’s fascinating, every time we interview another expert, they naturally bring up the key topic of another week that’s coming up. It’s all intertwined, and our guests continue to prove that week after week. I’ve learned something new or taken away a valuable lesson from every episode—it’s bettered my life, but I’ve also been able to help those around me with the knowledge I’ve learned.

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A post shared by @kayla_itsines

WELL, ACTUALLY: When you launched your original BBGs in 2014—which evolved into your Sweat app—I found having a framework for weekly workouts really motivating. In an era of ‘intuitive movement’, how can people tell when they really need to rest and when they should actually push themselves?

KAYLA: This is something I wish more people understood! We’re not machines. Life can get crazy, and there are absolutely days when your body is going to need rest or when skipping your workout is genuinely the best thing for you. I take plenty of days off training because of my endometriosis, kids, exhaustion or being sick. But it’s far too easy to use ‘listening to your body’ as a cop out when the truth is your motivation is just low.

The trick is to know the difference between ‘listening to your body’ and listening to your mind. Are you physically drained or stressed? Or are you mentally putting the brakes on when deep down you know you’ve got enough in the tank for a great workout? Don’t let a lack of inspiration become an excuse for never taking action towards your goals. I want you to make sure that ‘listening to your body’ helps you to unleash your potential, not ignore it.

WELL, ACTUALLY: Your incredible career has run parallel to the rise of social media, and there is much debate about its impact on fitness (I’m thinking of those questionable viral workout trends on TikTok). What are your thoughts about its influence, and whether the positives—like accessibility of information about exercise—needs to be balanced with the negatives of misinformation?

KAYLA: Be influential—say and do what you want, but if you’re giving advice it’s important to make sure you know what you’re talking about and have the qualifications to back it up. I’m not an influencer who does fitness as a side hustle or as a hobby. I’m a qualified and experienced personal trainer who lives and breathes health and fitness.

I personally follow so many fitness influencers and am inspired by them, but you need to know the difference if you’re going to be taking advice from someone. When it comes to your health and fitness journey, qualifications are important.

WELL, ACTUALLY: What has been your biggest health and wellness breakthrough in recent years, that saw you take a different approach to looking after your body and mind?

KAYLA: I’ve always been so focused on health and fitness, and motherhood didn’t change that—but I’m definitely focusing on or incorporating different things in this new stage of life. I’m prioritising hydration, rehab and stretching, I regularly use saunas (which I never did before!), and my workout routine is heavily focused on strength training. I’m not doing too much high-intensity training at the moment.

I always knew what amazing role models my parents and grandparents have been for me in terms of having a healthy body image, a positive relationship with food and leading an active, balanced lifestyle—but now more than ever I also want to be a role model of those things for my own family, too [she has a one-year-old son and five-year-old daughter].

WELL, ACTUALLY: What I think is so inspiring about your fitness journey is that it started with simply playing sport as a kid—as opposed to being about particular body aesthetics. As we await the start of the Paris Olympics, do you think that whatever exercise women choose, it’s so important that it’s something they enjoy and feel a sense of connection from?

KAYLA: Community has always been so important to me, and I think we all have a new appreciation of it now that it’s back after the pandemic. During lockdowns, many of us learned how to workout consistently by ourselves which in some ways was very empowering, but in other ways it was super lonely.

A sense of community has now returned with the world having opened up again, and we’ve held some amazing Sweat Community events that have reminded me why I do what I do—it’s about the people. Whether you’re into group training, playing a team sport or are doing your own thing in the gym, exercising amongst a community of other people is a game-changer. It feels like we have our power back.

*You can tune into Sweat Daily with Kayla Itsines, every weekday, wherever you usually listen to podcasts*

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