PT Tally Rye pulls apart the body myths behind exercise
PT Tally Rye is pulling apart the body myths behind exercise
If exercise had zero impact on your weight or appearance, would you still step up to the treadmill? That’s the question personal trainer and Instagram fitness guru Tally Rye (@tallyrye) constantly asks her followers in her quest to change how we think about getting sweaty.
Her latest book, Train Happy, encourages us to get active for the purpose of feeling better, rather than just to shed a few inches. Trust us, it’s a whole lot easier than you think…
What inspired Train Happy? I wanted a fitness book people could really relate to and see themselves in. I think a lot of people don’t feel confident in exercise, or feel like they don’t belong in a fitness space because they don’t see any other people who look like them. Why did you decide to switch the goal of your training? I realised that I couldn’t keep up with the time and energy it took to maintain this supposedly healthy lifestyle that got me a six pack – it was really consuming. I was exhausted, and I couldn’t keep doing it. I found that it was getting in the way of me living my life and going out with friends. My mental health wasn’t great – when they tell you being smaller makes you happier, it’s not true. Did you struggle to change your mindset at first? It was a slow process for me to realise that I didn’t want to micromanage things, although
when I stopped controlling what I was doing, my body changed, which was really disorientating – and concerning. I used to freak out, thinking that I needed to do something, but I didn’t want to go back to that controlling place. You have to trust yourself and trust your body – it knows what it’s doing. It’s hard to step away from diet culture and to trust yourself. So, how can we change our own mindsets? I think fitness has got to a point where people come up with the most confusing and elaborate
‘Fit people come in all shapes and sizes’
exercise plans, and actually the basic stuff works really well. There’s more than one way to train – I appreciate some methods aren’t for everyone, and it’s important that people find the movement that works for them. No exercise is a waste of time if you truly enjoy doing it, because you’ll keep doing it regularly. If you dread working out, then it’s not the right exercise for you. What are your healthy mindset tips? If you measure success only by your body changing aesthetically, or whether the number on the scales goes up and down, that will detract from the amazing progress you’re making. Follow people who represent different ways of moving and you’ll see that they come in all different shapes and sizes – and you’ll realise that fit people come in all shapes, too. Fitness doesn’t have a certain look, even though we think it does. Do you still suffer with gym-timidation? It happened a few weeks ago, even though I’m a personal trainer! I went to a super-cool gym, different from my usual, and although I knew how the machines worked, I still felt like people would judge me. Even people who work in gyms still feel it – it’s the fear of being judged and it’s there for everyone. I had to check myself and tell myself that it doesn’t matter what people think. What is “intuitive fitness”? Part of intuitive fitness is learning to trust yourself and knowing when exercising isn’t going to be beneficial for you. It’s also understanding that fitness will make you feel better, so you just need to go and do it – there are two sides to the coin. Start up a journal after exercise and write down how you feel – it’s cheesy, but it will help you understand the benefits of fitness. Use exercise as self-care rather than self-punishment to look a certain way. ■
Train Happy (Pavilion, £14.99) is out now