Get inspired by fitness trainer's words of advice

"THERE'S an undertone of, if you don't look like the after photo you're not doing it right"

Fitness Manouvers personal trainer Kate Cairnduff is encouraging people to remember that physical activity is as much about the positive mental health affects as it is about the physical affects. Picture: Marc Stapelberg

THE best thing about being active can't be seen in before-and-after photos.

It's how moving can change you for the better on the inside.

That's the ethos behind Project Every Body, a body-positive idea through which Lismore-based personal trainer Kate Cairnduff will bring together past and present clients to celebrate their strengths.

As a trainer in her 40s, Ms Cairnduff said she was big on showing clients the inner benefits of being active should be their first priority.

This approach has led her to bring current and former clients together in a photo shoot next month in the lead up to International Women's Day.

"It's a celebration," Ms Cairnduff said.

"You come in, get mental health right, and the rest will follow."

She said while it can be too easy to grow fixated on the aesthetic benefits of exercise, there were more important reasons to get moving.

While she didn't dismiss the social media culture of much of the fitness industry - agreeing it can help to inspire young people to get active - Ms Cairnduff said this didn't always send the most productive message.

"(Sometimes) there's an undertone of if you don't look like the after photo you're not doing it right," Ms Cairnduff said.

"And that's so not true.

"It's so much more than that.

"Just train for the lifestyle, not for a certain look.

"If you train to feel better, the rest will all just come together.

"It's just a bit of a celebration... and a nice way, at the beginning of the year, to get people focused again on their healthy lifestyles and their families."

Ms Cairnduff said the photo shoot would be a celebration of "the lifestyle that movement in itself can give you".

She hoped the project - which she said 60 to 70 women may take part in - could also inspire women who have trained with her in the past to reconnect.

She will be gathering past and present fitness clients for the photo in Lismore next month, and it's expected to be unveiled on International Women's Day, on March 8.