Indecisive About Exercise? Listen To The Workout Habits of Three Pros

The schedule of a serious athlete? Think again. This is in fact a timetable of classes at a particularly popular London gym – over one day. To look at the week schedule, you’re treated to celebrity themed dance workshops and four other forms of yoga, with some 80s aerobics thrown in. To a ClassPass junkie, it’s a dream come true, but to a fitness virgin? Yeah. Pretty intimidating.

Exercise classes have come a long way from Legs, Bums & Tums (not to say we don’t still enjoy those). In 2015, we want non-committal, pay as you go contracts that offer us access to not just one fitness tribe, but all of them. Even belonging to just one gym can cause you to feel like you’re missing out, especially if you live for the next-big-thing. Frankly, it’s overwhelming, or –  if you’re not ready to get with the programme – enough to put you off the idea entirely.

One woman who really understands our pain on this matter is Amy Lawrenson, Beauty & Fitness Editor at Women’s Health. She of all people is bombarded with new crazes, and as a Personal Trainer-to-be, she knows a thing or two about buns of steel.


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“My role involves being ahead of the biggest trends in fitness and beauty, and investigating which products and trends are really worth buying into,” Amy begins. “For the last 18 months I have been lifting weights. I lift heavy for 6-8 reps and follow a split body approach (my back one day, shoulders the next, and so on). This works for me because I really enjoy it, but also because it takes me a long time to recover from exercise – I ache for days! Working different areas also allows me to train more times per wee,” she continues. “Since I started lifting, I have also been training to become a Personal Trainer, and should be qualified soon. What’s so interesting is that now I go into the ‘men’s area of the gym’ and don’t feel in the least bit intimidated – knowledge is power, and where I once used to feel shy when doing free weights I now feel confident.”

“I enjoy running and have completed the London Marathon twice, but it’s not something I’m hugely passionate about – probably because I am all run out! Aside from the weightlifting, I’m pretty inconsistent – I enjoy HIIT, TRX, reformer Pilates and yoga, and will do a class here and there. As long as I exercise 5 days per week then I’m happy, and I try to workout in the mornings because it puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day.”

Cat Meffan, health & fitness blogger and jewellery designer, has been working with Adidas to tackle this problem too, with a summer series of digestable workout videos. Naturally, she has her go-to’s though that really work.

Indecisive About Exercise? Listen To The Workout Habits of Three Pros“In an ideal week I like to run twice, do 3-4 resistance/weight workouts and do 2 yoga sessions,” she tells me, “but I’ll be training as a yoga instructor later this year, so my schedule will change dramatically with yoga 6 days a week. That being said, I’ll still go running when I can and HIIT circuit workouts at home.”

“I really like the format of Kayla Itsines’ workouts, as they are pretty full-on, but over within 30 minutes! I often switch the exercises with my own, to mix it up and make it tougher for myself (which I then regret when I can’t breathe…) I’m also a lover of yoga and anything dance related, like barre classes.”

“My little bit of advice to everyone is enjoy it! Enjoy the exercise you do and the foods you eat – that way it becomes a happy lifestyle, rather than a fad or a chore. There are so many types of exercise out there, sometimes you just need to spend a little time figuring what’s right for you.”

Aj Odudu, a trained nutritionist turned TV Presenter and blogger, has also been recruited by Adidas for their summer series.

“HIIT training is fantastic when you’re pushed for time,” she enthuses. “I can do a killer workout at home, with no equipment in 10 minutes and still see the benefits. My typical HIIT circuit would include 1 minute of push-ups with shoulder taps, 1 minute of high knee sprint with jumping squats, 1 minute of burpees with a rotational twist jump and 1 minute of Russian twists. I then rest for a minute and repeat 2-3 times.”

“When I have time for longer workouts I love a 10K run around my local park, ro to a friend’s house for dinner, which I do at least once a week. Running to food is always a good incentive! I also like doing an hour of weight training in the gym each week and a spin class, which is a great cardio workout.”

“If you want to stay motivated, pack your gym bag the night before. Also, create a workout playlist, find a friends to work out with and, most importantly – don’t stress! Loads of people overthink classes before they attend them, or worry about what others may or may not think about them when at the gym. Don’t worry. No one’s judging you and everyone has to start somewhere.”

Portraits of Amy Lawrenson by David Nyanzi with artistic direction by Naomi Mdudu.