Kayla Itsines: The 23-year-old Aussie personal trainer changing the face of fitness

SHE’S got more Instagram followers than Gwyneth Paltrow, and yet you rarely see her face. So who is Kayla Itsines, and why do people love her?

SHE’S got more Instagram followers than Lena Dunham and Gwyneth Paltrow, and yet you rarely see her face. So who is Kayla Itsines, and why do people love her?

Well, it might have something to do with the fact that she loves food, advocates just 28 minutes of exercise a day, and posts super-inspirational body encouragements on social media more frequently than Kim Kardashian posts a selfie.

Ms Itsine’s Instagram account alone has more than 1.4 million faithful followers, and while it’s true that she rarely posts a photo of her face, it’s not for the reason you might think — it’s because the personal trainer from Adelaide doesn’t want to be “one of those glamour people. I want the account to be about physical transformations and your body. I want all the attention to be motivated by the body.”

Kayla’s instagram account.

It’s no small matter that Ms Itsines has managed to create an exercise empire in an already saturated market. After training at the Australian Institute of Fitness straight out of school, the 23-year-old saw a gap in the market which inspired her to create a 12 week Bikini Body e-guide which has now been downloaded by more than a million people worldwide.

“I started uploading client transformations on Instagram, and then all of a sudden people started asking if I could come and train them from over the world,” she tells news.com.au.

“Obviously I couldn’t get to everyone, so I started developing an exercise plan people would be able to do at home.

An ‘inspiration’ post.

“My plan is 28 minutes of high intensity work. I played a lot of basketball and netball going up so I got some of my training styles from there, as well as elite athletes, standard gym moves, and I created 150 different exercises from that.

“Then I paired it with a nutrition plan which I developed, but was approved by two accredited practising dietitians. The two go together, but it’s the training guide is what everyone is loving at the moment.

“Girls are loving the fact that it’s easy, they can download it by an e-book, it’s high intensity, it challenges you, it’s something new. It’s not a quick fix, it’s real hard work and it’s a lifestyle change.”

By all accounts, Ms Itsines’ program is a huge success. “I have not had one complaint. Not one person who has said, I hate this program,” she says.

Kayla demonstrating one of the exercises.

“People share with me their progress all the time, and I love sharing these with my followers to encourage them. One I uploaded two nights ago, her body was amazing. She went from eating terrible foods to being lean and strong. Another girl was anorexic and became healthy and strong. It works both ways — for fat loss and for putting weight on. Your body is designed to be healthy and strong and lean.

“It’s so frustrating when I hear about people trying fad diets and crazy exercise regimes to try and get healthy. You don’t have to have steamed chicken and raw broccoli. Eat what you ate in school, don’t restrict fruit, I’m trying to get rid of this thought process. Don’t cut out carbs! It’s so frustrating to see. If you just eat healthily and eat right, your body will love you. Don’t torture your body.”

Kayla’s fridge.

It what is sure to inspire her followers, eating well and following the 28-day plan is something Ms Itsines commits to in her own life.

“I definitely follow the plan — there’s nothing worse than having a trainer who hates what they’re doing and doesn’t do it themselves. The only thing I do extra is back work for posture, I hunch because I’ve played basketball for so long. But I am developing a back guide at the moment, so that will be out soon.

“And as far as my eating goes, it’s pretty normal! Last night I had grilled chicken parmigiana with a low fat cheese. For breakfast I’ll have 2 pieces of rye bread with two eggs, spinach and grilled tomato, with a black coffee or a green tea. I have fruit and yoghurt as a snack. For lunch today I had a tuna sandwich with red onion and cucumber.

“I mean, it doesn’t take much to be fit and healthy, everyone can do it. Everyone’s got half an hour.”

Fit, healthy and strong: Kayla Itsines.

In case you’re thinking, no, I don’t have half an hour, Ms Itsines still has you covered. She’s just teamed up with Cotton On BODY to launch their ‘Hello Summer’ e-book, which contains a ‘Bikini body in ten minutes’ program, just in time for summer.

Centred around incidental excise, the 10 minute workout is perfect “if you’re a mum or if you’ve only got ten minutes before work. We’ve got tips in there for what you can do while getting dressed, when you’re brushing your teeth, squats while you’re getting stuff out of the drier. How to do little things around the house, basically.”

The Cotton On BODY ‘Hello Summer’ ebook can be downloaded free at cottononbody.com.

Kayla Itsines’ 12 week program is available at kaylaitsines.com.au