Biggest Loser trainer Tiffiny Hall: ‘Online fitness programs are the way of the future’

BIGGEST Loser personal trainer Tiffiny Hall reveals why she prefers to help others away from the glare of TV cameras.

WHILE there are those who would go to any lengths to secure a TV career, Tiffiny Hall’s was accidental — and made it more of a challenge to get ahead with her real calling.

Best known as one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser, the blonde martial arts expert — she’s a sixth dan black belt master in taekwondo — only ever wanted to be an author and teach kids self-defence.

She studied creative writing and communications at university and was interning at Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper when she spotted an ad for a group fitness test, with an emphasis on combat, and went along as a laugh.

That led to her role as Angel in the TV show Gladiators in 2008 before The Biggest Loser called her up out of the blue in 2011 to join the weight-loss show as a trainer. She stayed on for the 2012 series and then took a break before returning last year.

Tiffiny Hall is a personal trainer and author.

The 32-year-old Melbourne native spent seven months of the year filming in Sydney, which put a strain on her relationship with then boyfriend, now husband, comedian Ed Kavalee, and didn’t leave her with enough time to write.

Hall had signed a book deal with HarperCollins before her role on The Biggest Loser and the financial windfall of a TV paycheck meant she could take time off and devote herself to fulltime writing.

It was during her TV hiatus that she wrote her Roxy Ran books, a young adult series about a female protagonist who gets into martial arts.

“I had written a few sample chapters and an outline and pitched it through my agents Curtis Brown with the message of anti bullying in schools,” she says.

“I teach self defence in schools and it was important for me to be on the school circuit talking to kids. I did up to 10 schools a week, doing workshops and weaving in messages about confidence, standing up for yourself and using your voice.”

Tiffiny Hall when she was on The Biggest Loser with (from left) Shannan Ponton, Michelle Bridges, Fiona Falkiner and (far right) Steve ‘Commando’ Willis.

While the assumption was that a TV career helped her land a book deal, Hall says it actually worked against her, but she wasn’t about to change her personality to fit in with the assumption of what an author should look like.

“A lot of people think I got it easy peasy, I was on TV and I had an audience but I struggled against a lot of snobbery in literary festivals. I was seen as a TV star who wasn’t serious about writing, but for me writing came first,” Hall says.

“My books are well received, I have a quote from John Marsden, who was my English teacher, on the cover of White Ninja and despite that, because I work in TV there’s lot of snobbery, but who cares? I will go to literary festivals and teach kids ninja moves, I’ll be loud and boisterous and that’s OK. Other authors think that’s a bit too much but I don’t care.”

Hall’s thick skin came in handy not just at literary festivals, but also for her return to The Biggest Loser last year. Social media didn’t exist when she first tackled the role as trainer to the white squad and had changed what it means to be a public figure in the interim.

“It was fantastic because you could connect with fans, get direct feedback and create a community. It was a wonderful testing ground for my new fitness program but it also opens you up to criticism,” Hall says.

“I run anti-bullying workshops in schools and then I found I was being bullied. People can be so cruel, about your looks and your relationship, everything. I found it’s best not to engage. It’s the advice I give to kids, but when you’re going through it, it’s hard.  

“Sometimes it’s easier to dish it out than take it. Even though it’s my own advice, I’m only human.”

Tiffiny Hall takes her fitness seriously.

Tiffiny Hall with her husband Ed Kavalee.

This year, Hall is taking a break from the Biggest Loser in favour of a less demanding lifestyle role on The Living Room, and has collaborated on an activewear line with Fila and will be releasing her fitness program, TiffXO on November 7.

She says TiffXO takes her training experience from The Biggest Loser and uses it to motivate people to get off the couch and be the star in their own health and fitness story.

Online fitness programs are the way of the future, she says.

“We are all time poor these days and there are so many obstacles to get to the gym. I’ve seen it happen in my parents’ taekwondo schools, we have huge amounts of kids enrolling but the numbers are dropping off in adult classes. They’re too busy so this brings my training to them,” she says.

Hall believes her program differs from others because it includes a new, 20-minute video workout every day.

“The workouts are personalised and I take you through modifications for different levels. I feel it too, I’m sweating through it with you.”

Hall is thankful her time on TV gave her a voice and an audience, but the best thing about it was falling in love.

“Ed was on a breakfast radio show during Gladiators and I was tired of getting up early for interviews, so I asked him out,” she says.

“I’m still in his phone as Angel.”

THE BEST WORK OUT PROGRAMS

TIFFXO

DAILY video workouts of interval training exercises with a martial arts/boxing twist. Also includes meal plans, self-defence tips and mindfulness tactics.

$49 a month. tiffxo.com

MICHELLE BRIDGES 12-WEEK BODY TRANSFORMATION

AN exercise, nutrition and mindset training program that claims it will deliver a new you in three months. From the original celebrity TV trainer.

$19.99 a week for 12 weeks. 12wbt.com

DICED BY VARLAH

LUKE Istomin, the guy who turned Hugh Jackman into Wolverine and creator of F45 Training, promises to transform you in six weeks with high intensity workout and nutrition systems.

Three months for $69.95. getdiced.com.au

28 BY SAM WOOD

THE former Bachelor contestant says all it takes is 28 minutes of exercise for 28 days to change your body and change your life.

$55 per month. 28bysamwood.com

THE ROBARDS METHOD

ANOTHER Bachelor, another fitness offering. This app from the qualified chiropractor is based on strength training and used gasification, five levels with five stages in each.

$8 per month. therobardsmethod.com

SWEAT WITH KAYLA

A SOCIAL media sensation, over 10 million women have signed up for the influencer’s app. It started with the Bikini Body Guides and now also includes recipes and shopping lists.

$54.99 for three months. kaylaitsines.com