As some of you may know, in December I was asked to model for easyGym’s new ‘Set to Sweat’ programme, a 12 week guide aimed at beginner to intermediate women to improve their fitness, strength and physique. The shooting was done over 4 full days, filming each stage of each and every exercise.

I wrote this post to share with you some insights into the programme and what it was like to take part in such a big shoot.

But first, a HUGE shoutout to Felix the photographer and Sarah the assist (and fairy godmother/coffee bringer) for keeping the shoot interesting, relaxed and endlessly hilarious!

You’ll be seeing the full results of the shoot on the 8th March when the full guide comes out (also conveniently women’s day!). I’m so excited to see the final product – as you might know, I’m a huge advocate of getting women into the weights room, so it was so good to be able to partake in such an amazing shoot! Watch this space.

 

The gym:

Our shooting was done at easyGym in Wandsworth, one of their many locations around England. On the first day I arrived and was swiped in by the photographer, Felix up to their first floor (deceptively named, as it was about 7 flights up – thank goodness for lifts)! The gym was laid out almost totally open-plan, with cardio, floor, weights and free weights sections allowing plenty of space. It also meant there was little to no terror whilst entering the weights section because it was a continuous floor plan (no testosterone room, yay!). One entire wall was a huge window, which was really nice on the cardio machines that looked out onto the view (although it left a bit to be desired!). During our 4 days of shooting, there was only one piece of equipment that we couldn’t find (ab wheel) and there were plenty of each of the other machines, which meant no waiting!

The exercises:

The exercises ranged from isometric holds on the floor, to bodyweight exercises to some quite intense weights-based exercises: after 10 minutes of bench pressing I started to wonder if I was even fit enough to take the photos, let alone actually do the programme! But the range of exercises meant that no one body part got too tired to continue, and over the four days every part of my body was fully worked out!

 

The modelling:

Fitness modelling does not come naturally to me (or maybe for anyone?). I’m more than happy to workout and for people to take photos, but want a nice face along with that? Reeeeeeally tough! My workout face is probably NOT something you want blown up on a billboard. BUT, with a lot of practise (and some snazzy lighting from Felix), I finally got the hang of letting my face relax while my body did all the work. It’s the little things like licking your lips, scrunching your face and holding your breath that are difficult to get rid of, because you hardly notice you’re doing them.

I was able to choose my own clothes for the workout, but as a classic girl I brought along about four outfits every day to let Felix and Sarah decide which I should wear. Nothing that might clash with the easyGym orange, and nothing with big patterns, so that left basically my entire, mostly monochrome wardrobe.

Thanks to easyGym for the use of their amazing gym!