Fitness Spotlight: A Profile of Kayla Itsines and Her Famous Workout Routine

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Meet Kayla Itsines: a 27-year-old Australian personal trainer whose workout routines dominate the fitness world.

Itsines completed her Master Trainer course at the Australian Institute of Fitness and founded The Bikini Body Training Company in 2014.

Through social media, Itsines has built an online presence of over 11.3 million followers, inspiring many people to live a healthier and happier lifestyle.

“This is my mission; I want to help as many women as possible achieve their ideal body, their confidence and their happiness!” Itsines wrote in her book, “Bikini Body Guide Workouts: Exercise and Training Plan.”

Itsines’ guide provides strategies for effective exercising and training.

“Living healthy is essential for everyone. I am NOT in the business of promoting exclusionary diets (i.e. no ‘carbs’), outrageous amounts of exercise or poor body image. But I am in the business of advocating a balanced, healthy lifestyle based on clinically proven science and my own personal results with clients,” Itsines wrote.

In her bikini body guide, Itsines outlines three important steps to take:

Step 1: Tracking Your Progress

Itsines believes that before getting started, you must assess your starting point for future progress checks. Weight measurement and progress pictures will help you stay dedicated to your routine. Without visible progress, it’s very easy to lose motivation.

Step 2: Your Weekly Training Breakdown

Itsines encourages people to focus on resistance training, cardiovascular training and stretching over the course of 12 weeks.

Resistance Training:

According to Better Health Channel, “resistance training increases muscle strength by making your muscles work against a weight or force.”

Circuit training, a form of resistance training, involves two or more exercises performed in a set amount of repetitions.

Itsines’ program consists of seven minute circuits with four exercises in each, making up a 28 minute workout. In between each circuit, you can rest for about 30 seconds to 90 seconds as needed.

One of Itsines’ circuits includes 15 reps of jump squats, 24 reps of knee ups and 24 steps of walking lunges.

As for arm and abdominal workouts, Itsines encourages 15 reps of pushups and tricep dips and 40 reps of mountain climbers, along with other exercises.

Cardio Training:

The most common types of cardio exercise include low intensity steady state (LISS) and high intensity interval training (HIIT).

LISS maintains the same intensity throughout the workout and includes simple activities like walking.

HIIT consists of two intervals, typically one rest and one working period. Itsines recommends a 30 second sprint at 90% to 100% capacity followed by 30 seconds of rest.

Stretching:

Itsines believes that although stretching is often overlooked, it’s a very useful aspect of training. Stretching has many benefits, including increased flexibility, better muscle condition and injury prevention.

According to Itsines, you should start stretching at the lowest muscles. So if you’re stretching legs, start from your feet and calves.

“Always stretch both sides of your body, not one, and hold for an even amount of time,” Itsines wrote in her book, “Bikini Body Guide Workouts: Exercise and Training Plan.”

Step 3: Staying Educated

Itsines encourages individuals to educate themselves on health and fitness. With a lack of education about food intake, you can end up with hormonal, nutrition and digestive issues.

“The potential damage done to your own body can be long term and sometimes irreversible,” Itsines said.

In her guide, Itsines provides health information on all aspects of her workout routine, including the importance of each type of training.

On her Instagram account, Itsines posted a photo with the words, “Never forget how wildly capable you are.”

“You are capable of ANYTHING,” Itsines captioned the photo.

With her focus on maintaining a positive mentality, exercising effectively and maintaining healthy eating habits, Itsines’ fitness plans continue to influence many.