The quick and easy fitness routine that anyone can do
Lucy Wyndham-Read, the country’s most watched fitness YouTuber, tells Madeleine Howell how a personal tragedy in her teens drove her to inspire the nation to get moving
‘We need exercise to boost our mood and mental health more than ever,” says Lucy Wyndham-Read, whose snack-sized, easy-to-follow workouts are highly addictive. I say this as a convert to her YouTube channel, which features more than 1,000 short, free workouts. While Government guidelines during the current lockdown still allow for outdoor exercise – which can include one other person, but should ideally be limited to once a day – her workouts welcome portions of brief, active relief from sedentary monotony.
With 1.6 million subscribers at the time of writing, Wyndham-Read – a former British Army corporal – racked up more than 58 million views last year, knocking Joe Wicks, the nation’s favourite PE teacher, off his perch as the country’s most watched fitness YouTuber – and taking her total number of views to a quarter of a billion.
Her free workout videos, split into manageable 60-second chunks of movement, are designed for all ages and fitness levels, including complete beginners. Her 11-minute Winter Wonderland low-impact workout “with added magic and sparkle” kept my eight-year-old niece Sylvie happily occupied in December while an older fan wrote in the comments below: “I’m 62 and have been isolated for months. I love your routines – they’re a vital part of my day”.
But success didn’t happen overnight for Wyndham-Read, who turned 50 in December, and was inspired by personal tragedy to pursue her career in the fitness industry. At 21, she lost her fiancé Mike to accidental fire at pointblank range during a prank that went tragically wrong at his barracks in Belfast. She has never married since.
“When I lost Mike, exercise was a release. I needed it. Everyone deals with grief differently, but exercise helped me get through the tough times,” she says when I meet her in Farnham Park near her home in Surrey to try a mood-boosting workout [see box]. “I wanted to channel my discovery that we can get through tough times if we’re mentally and physically as strong as we can be.”
Wyndham-Read and Mike had met aged 15 at Army cadet camp: he flew back from an overseas posting in Botswana to propose on her 18th birthday.
“We’d planned a life together, and I knew I could never replace him, so I decided that my journey would be helping others through fitness. He would do anything for anyone, and he’s been up there like my guiding star, keeping me on my path. I know he’d be proud of me.
“It was an accident, and the man who pulled the trigger was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I wrote to him to forgive him, but it was hard.” Mike was 22 at the time, and due to leave the Army six weeks later. “I really believe that one day I’ll be with him again, and that he’s somewhere better – but I don’t think we’re meant to know that until we get there.”
Despite being a qualified personal trainer with 25 years of experience and numerous books under her belt, including The No-Gym Workout Plan and Walk Off the Weight, Wyndham-Read has battled with anxiety throughout her life. Yet her mission to promote healthy habits through at-home fitness with easy modifications for beginners continues to gather pace after almost a year of restrictions. According to Ofcom’s recent Media Nation report, 12 per cent of British adults have watched fitness videos since last March.
“I want to reach the large percentage of people who don’t get on with fitness and who don’t feel confident,” says Wyndham-Read, who has 216,000 followers on Instagram.
“It’s not a quick fix, it’s a lifestyle, but my approach is simple, doable, practical and quick. I’ve been doing free home fitness videos since 2012, but this year more than ever we need to be prioritising our mental and physical health through exercise that we wake up every day and want to do.
“I question everything in the fitness industry and create all of my own routines. Everyone does planks and burpees, but why? A lot of people don’t like them, and it can put them off. I find it soul-destroying to see workouts aimed at beginners featuring really difficult exercises. A two-minute plank challenge isn’t achievable for everyone, but a two-minute march on the spot is.
“I’ve got a very tough side to me but also a sensitive side, because I was bullied as a child before I decided to join the Army at 18 and face my fears. I’ve been there on the other side of the fence, feeling shy and excluded when no one wants to pick you for sport.
“You’ve got to feel challenged, but exercise shouldn’t be painful. The Army taught me about self-belief, determination and discipline, and helped me realise I was stronger than I thought. I’ve never given up, even when I’ve had doors closed to me or ideas ripped off. I uploaded a workout to YouTube every single day for three years when I was living in a bedsit, balancing my iPhone on cereal boxes without a tripod.”
This year Wyndham-Read wants to find more ways to help people start exercising, and carry on exercising – especially those who can’t afford a gym membership or access open spaces.
“Exercise should be empowering. The more you understand how your body works, the more you want to work with it. I want everyone to feel good about themselves. I’m sure that if we could, we’d all buy the gift of health and give it to someone this year. We all need to move our bodies, believe in ourselves and eat healthily.
“I think people have realised designer handbags. aesthetics and having the ‘perfect body’ means nothing – but that health and being a good person is what’s really important, and is also kind of cool.”
‘I find it souldestroying to see workouts aimed at beginners featuring really difficult exercises’