Fitness guru Kayla Itsines goes back to her roots

She’s the fitness mogul who built a global empire on at-home workouts. Now, Australia’s most famous personal trainer is going back to bootcamp basics.

Kayla Istines. Picture: Julian Andrews

Kayla Itsines built a multimillion dollar fitness empire on at-home workouts by and for women.

Now, the 32-year-old is going back to her roots, telling Confidential she signed on to headline Sydney’s FitHer expo in October “because virtual was great, but there’s nothing like in-person energy.”

Between 2014 and 2017 — years before every gym franchise had HIIT classes — Itsines’ Bikini Body Guide (BBG) PDF was ubiquitous.

The then 22-year-old personal trainer was running exercise classes on the beach in Adelaide. By 2015, she had launched a $20-a-month app called Sweat with Kayla, followed by a subscription-based model.

In 2021, Sweat (with more than 30 million downloads) was sold to US fitness tech company iFIT for a reported $400 million.

Kayla Istines in Barangaroo. Picture: Julian Andrews

Itsines still calls herself a personal trainer and “doesn’t think of [her]self as famous”, despite having 16M Instagram followers.

“Ten years ago, women used to come to me with a photo of a celebrity and then they would tell me why they were in the gym, and it was always a negative. They got fired or cheated on. I wondered if we could change the narrative, and still ask: If you were the best version of yourself, what would you look and feel like?

“Most say, ‘I don’t know.’”

One month is all it takes to form a good fitness habit, Itsines says, but “if the motivation is negative, that fades and then you lose your why. If you want to feel powerful, inspired, motivated; you’ll have that forever and it turns into discipline.”

On the re-emergence of fad diets and restrictive eating backlashing the body positivity movement, Itsines said our relationship with working out is “going round in circles”.

There’s no perfect answer, except for people like her to continue.

Kayla Istines is still a PT. Picture: Julian Andrews

“The thing I’m most proud of is that I’ve stuck to being a PT, who builds community and trains sustainably,” Itsines said.

Her first pregnancy with daughter Arna, 4, whom she had with ex-fiance and ex-business partner Tobi Pearce was challenging.

“You don’t worry about looking different but everything feels so different,” she said.

“It’s hard to get back because you’ve lost track for a year and a half of what’s going on with your body. Especially being so fit, so strong, so in control and that’s taken away from you, it’s hard.”

Itsines had her son Jax in January, with fiance Jae Woodroffe, and continues to live and work in Adelaide, “30 seconds” from her large and loving family.

“With Jax, I laughed it off. The second one isn’t easier, you’re just more educated,” Itsines said.

Her ultimate piece of fitness advice, though? “Stop caring so much.”

“People care if you’re a good person. Do they care what you look like? No. Too many people are so focused on themselves, they don’t realise everyone else is too.”

Originally published as Fitness guru Kayla Itsines goes back to her roots