THE 12-MINUTE BODY REVOLUTION

Exercise has become another stick for women to beat themselves with, says Pilates PT Hollie Grant. But there is another way, she tells Cyan Turan

Pilates personal trainer Hollie Grant brings you exercises to try at home

“We’re lovely as we are,” insists Hollie Grant, personal trainer and owner of Pilates PT.

It’s an unusual thing to hear from a woman who has crafted a career in fitness and nutrition, industries often associated with yo-yo dieting, guilt and body shaming. But Grant has made a name for herself by crafting her own philosophy, one which she describes to me over almond-milk cappuccinos at a café five minutes’ walk from the exposed-brick, succulent plant-filled studio in London’s Parsons Green where she trains her private clients. Her fitness journey began, somewhat unusually, after an ill-fated career as a pastry chef, which left her suffering from depression.

“I was underweight, overworked – it was a horrible environment and everything people say a professional kitchen is,” she remembers. “One day, I physically couldn’t go to work, and never went in again.”

Grant took a job as a receptionist at a Pilates studio, discovered she loved it and worked her way up to head trainer. But something was missing. “Pilates is great on its own,” she explains, “but, for me, it’s missing something cardiovascular.”

Research taught her HIIT (high-intensity interval training) could be the addition she’d been looking for. When she added it to one of her Pilates classes, it was an instant success, and word spread. Three years ago, she opened her own studio and hasn’t looked back.

To prove her point, Grant leads me through a workout, combining Pilates on a reformer machine, and short bursts of sweat-inducing HIIT (think squat jumps, lunges and box steps), bookended by warm-up and cool-down sessions on her treadmill.

It doesn’t take me long to realise that this is a woman who really knows her stuff. I’m a cynic when it comes to ‘fitfluencers’ who post ab selfies and chug green juices, but despite her 14,000 Instagram followers, I buy into Grant’s no-pressure, no-guilt ethos. She’s gentle, but thorough, like your favourite schoolteacher. Exercising with her doesn’t feel like a chore, but an act of self-care.

NOW, GRANT HAS POURED HER WISDOM INTO A BOOK, The Model Method: Recipes, HIIT and Pilates Exercises for Lifelong, Balanced Wellbeing.

I’m glad to report that, like its author, it is sensible, logical and overwhelmingly helpful. Divided into three sections, ‘Nourish‘ (recipes, including corn and lime fritters, warming chicken stew and steak burritos – yes, burritos), ‘Strengthen’ (Pilates exercises), and ‘Sweat’ (aka, HIIT). Together, they make up a no-nonsense, real-life toolkit for how to get and stay well.

“The three sections encompass the three things that are really important,”

says Grant, who wants to “rewire women’s brains” so they focus less on how their bodies look. And Grant knows a lot of the current confusion around fitness, diets and nutrition can be attributed to her wellness industry peers.

“Scroll through Instagram,” she says, with a withering sigh, “and you’ll see my colleagues who work in fitness posting pictures of their amazing bodies, wearing few clothes, and providing little explanation as to how they got their figure. How is that helping anyone? They just want to show off. The fitness industry can, ironically, be incredibly damaging to women’s self-esteem.

“We jump from beautiful person to beautiful person, following their dietary advice. It might be ‘don’t eat sugar’ or ‘don’t eat gluten’, and because they have a gorgeous body, we eat like them in order to look like them. Instead, we need to think about what works for us.”

All this noise and conflicting advice is confusing women, says Grant, and they’re struggling to “take ownership of their own bodies”.

“I’ve spent eight years listening to women say, ‘I hate my bum’, or ‘Can I get rid of this bit of skin?’ I want women to realise they are so much more than their dress size or their weight. I want them to think about how their bodies function, rather than trying to ‘fix’ bits they don’t like.

It’s about how we feel, not how we look. Diets don’t work. Women shouldn’t be fearful of food. If you want a chocolate

bar, eat one, and move more.”

INDEED, WITH RELATIONSHIPS, CAREERS, FAMILIES AND SOCIAL LIVES TO JUGGLE,

“we can’t spend all day exercising”, so these fitness bloggers, with their seemingly perfect figures, “are simply making women feel worse about themselves”.

Grant advises a “little but often” approach to exercise. “We think we’ve got to do a 90-minute Bikram class, but when you count the shower you’ll need after, that’s two hours. Who has the time?

The way to fit exercise into your life is by doing 15 minutes a day. Break it down and be kind to yourself.”

Grant herself is a self-confessed “anatomy nerd” and eminently qualified in everything she teaches, but “doesn’t have a six-pack” and “eats and drinks

“IT’S ABOUT HOW WE FEEL, NOT HOW WE LOOK”

everything”. She admits she’s lost out on work to “prettier, skinnier models”. She adds, “But I don’t care! I don’t need to have the best body in the world. Exercise should be a small part of your day. When we turn it into a big deal, it becomes another stick for women to beat themselves with. That’s not what I’m about.”

I’m inspired by her common-sense attitude. Grant says we just need to “get out of breath every now and again, do some Pilates exercises, and have an appreciation of food. That’s my philosophy.” I couldn’t agree more.

The Model Method: Recipes, HIIT And Pilates Exercises For Lifelong, Balanced Wellbeing by Hollie Grant is out now (Piatkus, £16.99)