Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - Gemma Atkinson on Getting Strong and the Power of Keeping it Real

Episode Date: August 13, 2020

In today’s episode, Women’s Health’s Editor-in-Chief Claire Sanderson chats with radio presenter, mum-of-one and serious fitness lover Gemma Atkinson (who might be the one guest who loves challenging herself with workouts just as much as Claire does). Gemma so exemplifies what we love and value at Women’s Health - the passion for fitness, the balanced, no-BS approach to living well, the cracking sense of humour - that she’s been on the cover of Women’s Health twice. Once, at the beginning of 2018 and again earlier this year, six months after giving birth to her daughter, Mia. In this conversation she talks about what it was like to shoot that cover and how proud she was was to celebrate her evolved, un-airbrushed body. She and Claire also candidly discuss the pressures on young women today and how they plan to raise strong, body-confident daughters. Plus, Gemma shares the approach to fitness and nutrition that helps her stay strong, fit and happy. Follow Gemma Atkinson on Instagram: @glouiseatkinson Follow Claire Sanderson on Instagram: @clairesanderson Follow Women’s Health on Instagram @womenshealthuk Topics The surprising way competing on Strictly changed Gemma’s body The importance of doing the exercise you find hardest Gemma's postnatal training learnings Why chips and pizza have a place in Gemma’s diet  Two mums talk building their daughters’ self-esteem Like what you’re hearing? We'd love if you could rate and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, as it really helps other people find the show. Also, remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you’ll never miss an episode.   Got a goal in mind? Shoot us a message on Instagram putting ‘Going for Goal’ at the start of your message and our experts could be helping you achieve your health goal in an upcoming episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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goals that matter most to you. Now, if you feel like your motivation to work out has taken a summer holiday, then you have 100% tuned into the right show. today's episode, Women's Health's editor-in-chief Claire Sanderson calls up radio presenter, fitness fanatic and mum of one Gemma Atkinson, who might be the one guest who loves challenging themselves with fitness as much as Claire does. In fact, Gemma so exemplifies what we love and value at women's health, the passion for fitness, the balance, no BS approach to living well, and the cracking sense of humour, that she's been on the cover of women's health twice. Once back in 2018 and again, earlier this year, months of.

after giving birth to daughter Mia. In this conversation, they cover a lot of ground. There's the current training regimen Gemma uses to get strong, including the exercise she absolutely dreads, how she built her body back up slowly after giving birth via emergency caes and a really thought-provoking discussion on how vital it is that women who train really also work to cultivate body acceptance, not only for ourselves, but also for the young women around us.

ready for some clear-eyed health and fitness chat and serious motivation to dust off that kettlebell and train to fill your absolute best? Of course you are. Let's hear from Gemma and Claire. So hello everyone. My name is Claire Sanderson and I am the editor-in-chief of women's health. Welcome to our podcast going for goal. Today I am joined by someone who has the rare privilege of being on the cover of women's health twice. There's not many women that are have achieved that. She is a radio presenter. She has her own training program. She's a mum. She was on my favourite TV show of all time. I'm a massive Strictly fan. I'm joined today by Gemma Ackinson. Hi Gemma. Thanks so much for joining this. That's a lovely intro. Thank you.

Well, you know, I'm a massive fan. When you were on Strictly, do you remember, you invited me down and it was the highlight of my life? I was so excited. You got to sit ringside strictly, so to speak, dance side. I did, and I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that all this program that I've watched for years was happening in front of my eyes and seeing all the, what goes on in the background was absolutely fascinating. So thank you. And that was when you were on your first woman's health cover, wasn't it, just before, which was, well, you're on Strictly 2017.

Yeah. Yes, and you are. We shot the cover during the rehearsals for Strictly. I remember coming to shoot it and I was mid, midway through filming the series. That's right. Because I think it was the one day Aliash let me have off. I was like, look, I can't train today. And he was like, why?

And when I said, I'm shooting women's health, he was like, oh my gosh, absolutely. Yes, go and do it. It's fine. Because all those pro dancers are complete sergeant majors, aren't they? I've met a few of them now since. And they tell me the sheer sweat and tears that goes in to train them for that program. Was it one of the hardest things you've ever done? For me, it was, I mean, I think I'm the only contestant who gained weight during Strictly.

And I always say that openly because the training is hard. It's intense. But because I train differently anyway, my body kind of went backwards a bit. And the main reason was because I let my diet slip massively on Strictly. I was doing my radio show in the morning. So I was up at half four, doing my show live six till 10, meeting Aliash at half 10. and dancing until half six. Yeah.

So we were just kind of, I was running on, not empty, I was running on everything, but everything that was kind of wrong. We trained above the cabaret shop. So I was having a Toblerol, nearly every day, fast food, anything that was just quick and easy really, which isn't like me at all.

And so although I was doing the dancing, it wasn't as intense of exercise I was used to, combined with eating way more unnecessary foods than I needed to. I think I put on about six, seven pound by the end of it. And I remember wardrobe having to, you know, every week they were like, oh, this corset's a bit tight on you this week, isn't it? And I was like, you know, that I'm with a pizza and Toblerone,

I had for tea every day last. Well, I was speaking to one of the strictly pro dancers a week before last. I'm not going to say who because we actually shot her for a forthcoming cover. So I won't spoil the surprise for everyone. And she said that she puts on weight during the series as well for that reason that she just eats more to get her through the sheer volume of training that you're doing. She said that she eats more. So you're not alone.

You're not alone in that experience. No, it's definitely intense. You need the energy. But I think if I was to redo the Strictly journey, I'd try and get my energy from good food sources and not the bad ones. So we're talking today remotely, obviously, because we're all in the sort of semblance of lockdown, many of us working from home. So you're in Manchester. What has lockdown been like for you and Gorka and little Mia? I'm one of the lucky ones with lockdown, whereby I've managed to keep working from home.

I've been doing the show from home, which is fine. And also, obviously, Gorker's tours have all been cancelled. Well, I say cancelled. They've been postponed. They're all going ahead next year. But we've kind of embraced it in that. Gorka would have been away for more or less the first year of Mia's life. He would have been, you know, back and forth, having the odd week with her at a time.

but he's managed to have all this time with her, which has been so beneficial, not for us as a family, but more so just for Mia as an individual, because she's learning and absorbing so much from him. And I think it's very rare that, you know, a family has mum and dad present all day every day. I mean, ours isn't like that at all normally.

So the fact that we've managed to have that, we just kind of said, you know what, let's just embrace it for what it is and make the most of it because we won't ever get this time back again. You know, it's, I think, well, hopefully, anyway, hopefully it won't happen again. So, yeah, we've really enjoyed it, to be honest. You put a really lovely post on Instagram this week.

It was a picture of Gorga with Mia and you said that you fall in love with your partner and even more when you see him with with Mir. And I thought that was beautiful because there is nothing more lovely than a loving dad and a hands-on dad. So, yeah, I completely agree with you saying that this is a strong. stressful time for everyone, but there are many positives to come out of it. And I would agree that looking after my kids, although homeschooling and working is an ongoing huge challenge, that we have to look at the positives on this. And I think it's made us reassess what's important in life as well. Would you agree with that? People's priorities have shifted. Yeah, massively. I think it's a case of not kind of appreciating what you want. It's appreciating what you've got. I mean, one of my,

one of my best friends, she's got two children, and she said to me she's discovered during lockdown that she doesn't have to spend the fortune on them at weekends, taking them to these fancy places or restaurants out. And she said they were more than happy to just do kind of a family walk slash treasure hunt, as she called it, and have a picnic. She said, so of course we're still going to go to these places

and, you know, obviously support them. She said, but I felt as a mum I had to do something every weekend and that was just burning a hole in my pockets for my children. She said, and I don't. She said homeschooling has been extremely stressful. But again, she said it's been quite cute and fun seeing a kids, you know, in the school environment, so to speak, and, you know, what they've been learning and stuff.

So I think for a lot of families, I mean, the stress is there, absolutely. And I'm sure people have had good days and bad days. I know I have. But I think if you focus on the positives, I've always tried to, in any situation in life, I've said, right, that's quite annoying, but let's look at the positives. And I think that's what a lot of people have seemed to do in lockdown, which is great. Everyone's kind of come together more.

Now, I've been rather envious of your lockdown. And the reason for that is your home gym. Wow, you have such a brilliantly kitted out home gym. And I've been watching you and Gorka train. And I'm very jealous of your weight stack, because I'm one of the people that try to buy more weights in lockdown and realise that they were rather expensive and I think the prices have been hiked up.

But you've managed to consistently train in lockdown because you do have the kit at home. So that must have been a huge relief as well that you can carry on training because I know I've spoken to you. You and I are very committed to training and it defines us in who we are. Yeah, definitely. I think for me mentally, if I have a day where I'm, I've not done anything.

I mean, I don't train every day. I train maybe three to four times a week, but Gawker can tell the days where you'll say, you need to go and take the dogs out for an extra walk today. You need to go and do something. And we're extremely fortunate. I mean, we've had our home gym now. As soon as I found out I was pregnant,

I remember Gawker was asking me about push presents. He said a lot of his friends in the UK have said, oh, you know, what you're going to get to Emma for a push present? And he asked me what it was. And I said, to be honest, I said, I don't really believe in them. I think, you know, it's normally a guy gets, So he's your partner a present for delivering the baby. I said, but it's, you know, it's all a bit naff and this and that.

I said, but if you were to get me on, I'd love a gym at home because I know from speaking to other mums and just from, you know, seeing other mums in action, I said, I know how much more difficult it's going to be to find time to get to a gym. I said, so you know how important training is to both of us? And he was like, okay. And then literally within a month or so, bless him, these guys arrived and they put all the flooring down and we like you say we have got a proper proper good rig set up um but i think it's it's something i mean i've had people say oh it's easy for you because you've got it you got the

home gym and i always say it's easier to get in the gym absolutely like i don't have to drive at four in the morning to my local gym like i used to so it makes getting in the gym a lot easier but it does not in any way shape or form make the workout any easier you still have to do the graph you still have to do it it's kind of like you know if you're a teacher and you your classroom is in the garden, it makes it easier to go into that classroom. But I'm sure it's not easier controlling and teaching and managing like all the kids. So I think a lot of people, not use it as an excuse, but use it as a throwaway comment of, well, you look like that because you've got a gym at home.

But, you know, I've trained for nearly 15 years and I've had my gym for maybe two. So, you know, I think that there is a difference in getting in the gym and actually doing the physical work. And sometimes it's harder to motivate yourself to work out. from home anyway. I find it easier to work out in a gym when you're surrounded by people and, you know, it keeps you motivated. So I work out from home a lot, but sometimes it is hard to motivate yourself to do it because you just haven't to rely on your own dedication to get you through. Especially when you're the arse cooking. I've been in the middle of sessions and I've

smelled like the most incredible banana red in the oven and I've gone in the kitchen and said to go, what are you doing to me? I'm trying to get in the zone and I can smell this amazing. in banana bread. When you were on the cover of woman's health last, which was earlier this year, wasn't it? It was March time this year. Yeah, the issue came out sale. Christmas, yeah.

Yeah. And you said a lovely quote. You said, my body doesn't look like it did before. It's changed that for having a baby. It's not better or worse. It's just different. Now, I've been following your journey on Instagram and I'm a great believer that we don't train for aesthetics. We do train for our mental health primarily and for our holistic health.

But you do look incredible, Jebber. So do you still stand by that quote? Because to me, you look as in shape and out as you ever have. Yeah, I think, well, it's funny. I was looking at pictures of myself before and after mea. And I think aesthetically, I'm tighter now. I'm in better shape to look at. But obviously, like you said, it's not all about that.

But for me physically, my training levels have gone so beyond now, whereby, you know, Gorka's been training me and doing his programs. And it's kind of my cardio, my cardiovascular has gone through the roof and I think just changing how you train now and again. At first, it's very, very scary and daunting and you feel like the beginner. You know, I started doing kind of circuit training more and, you know, kind of CrossFit-style training. And it literally flawed me to the stage where I said to go, I don't like this. I feel like I'm so unfit, I'm so unhealthy. And he said, but that's the new challenge. You have to, you know, your body gets used to what you're doing and you need to shock it and you need to like do new things.

And, you know, I've not altered my diet. my diet's been the same really for as long as I can remember. So it is, I think, the form of training, you have to switch it up. I think people do the same thing for too long and, you know, you kind of plateau. And it's about having the guts to start again, start something new. That's going to be hard at first, daunting in the middle, but feeling amazing at the end. So let's break it down then. What was your training like before and what have you done to change it up? What's a typical week of Gemma's training now? It tended to be a lot more just weight training

with a little bit of cardio at the end. I'm talking like I'd do my weight session in the gym and my cardio would be, you know, kind of sled pulls or a quick hit session on the bike. Whereas now it's kind of, it's like, well, this morning I train before I came in here and the program I did. It was only 20 minutes because I was short for time. But it was 14 calories on the bike.

into 10 burpees over the box, into 10 IDLs into a minute on the ski-hurg. And I did that constantly for 20 minutes. So I was literally dripping in sweat by the end of it, but it was 20 minutes and it was done. So it's kind of like, you know, keeps my heart rate up, power lifts, whereas I probably would have done instead of that if I was in the gym, 45 minutes to an hour of weight training,

which, you know, it would have took long, took long, to do and I probably wouldn't have got my heart rate up as much. Well, I know for a fact, I wouldn't. So it's adding those kind of sessions in maybe twice a week, but I do still love weight training. I don't think there's any better feeling than just going, throwing your weights around. But I just realized it's, you know, I want to keep my heart healthy as well. I don't want to be kind of get to later in life and not be able to play with my grandkids. You know, my my parents, my mum and stepdad Peter, crawl on the floor with Mia,

they run around with her, and I think that's the kind of grandparent I want to be. You know, my granddad, bless him. He passed away years ago. But for the last two, three years of his life, he was just stuck in a chair. He had his leg amputated. He was on a machine, breathing machine.

And I thought, that's no way to be at the end of life. You know, I want to kind of be active and keep as healthy as possible, really. So you think mixing, throwing the cardio in with the weight training, now as has definitely led to a more rounded wellness, a more rounded holistic health benefits.

Yeah, yeah, I think and the wellness I think comes from, it changed when I had me as well. I kind of think women don't give themselves enough credit. I have women messaging me saying, oh, I'm really struggling. You know, I had my baby six, seven months ago, and I'm still this. And I think you've just answered your own question. You just said you had your baby. growing and birthing a baby is the biggest workout you will ever do in your life.

You know, from the minute you find out you're pregnant, I believe it's a workout because you're constantly trying to monitor what you eat and what you do. Especially for the first three months, I was a nervous wreck. I was kind of like, can I lift this now? Can I eat this? You know, you hear so many things. And as you bump gets bigger, everything else gets bigger, you're tired, you're lethargic, but you still get life done.

You're still going to work. You still do the shop. you still sometimes look after your other kids if you've got them. Then you go through the birth process, whichever way you bring your child into the world, it's difficult. You know, I don't think there's any way that's easier than the other. I think childbirth is hard. And then you bring your child up.

So I think for women who say to me, oh, I've had a baby, so I'm struggling in the gym, it's like you've done the work. You've done the hardest work you will ever do in life. Now the gym's the walk in the park. It's believing that you can do it. And if you don't believe in yourself, then you might as well quit because, you know, that's where it starts. No one else is going to believe in you as much as you believe in yourself.

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you carried on training during pregnancy. I know you said you were very anxious in the first three months. I've spoken to many other women in the public eyes saying they come under quite a bit of criticism when they put it out there that they were training during pregnancy. Did you come under any scrutiny for that? Yeah, I had a few people telling me I was selfish. for maintaining training

because I shouldn't be trying to lose weight while pregnant. And my response to that was I've never trained to lose weight. That's not why I'm training. I'm training to stop myself getting sciatica. I'm training to stop the fact that I'm carrying a massive bump

and my back's aching. I'm training to mentally feel strong and prepare myself mentally for the fact I'm going to have to birth this child when the time comes. And I think a lot of people go back to the, you know, I don't want to say the olden days, but back in the time where pregnancy was considered almost an illness whereby you can't do anything.

Eat everything you want and don't move. Just you relax and we'll do everything for you. And that's not how it is now. You know, I was encouraged by my midwife and doctors to try and be as active as I could within the safe guidelines. I mean, don't get me wrong. I wasn't doing my hit training or lifting, you know, 90 kg squats and stuff. But I was still moving.

You know, I dropped my weights to a lot lighter. I did loads of walking. you know, I think walking so underrated as a form of exercise. And I just kept myself, you know, ticking over. So that once I'd had me here, I knew that coming back into my training, it wouldn't feel as daunting. And you had quite a traumatic birth, which has been well documented, and you ended up having an emergency cesarean.

So it took you a while to get back to training, didn't it? I think you said in the interview that you did with women's health, it was a good 15 weeks of recovery. and like you say, women completely underestimate the trauma or bodies go through, whether it's a cesarean or whether it's giving birth. And they try and rush back to training. But you're an example of you don't need to rush back, take your time. And when you eventually do, you will get back to your previous fitness levels, if not more. Yeah, I think, you know, when I was due me, everyone kept saying, oh, I bet you'll snap back.

I bet you can't wait to get back in the gym. And I hate that term snap back. because it takes nine months to grow a baby and I always believe, you know, nine months in, nine months out at least. And like you say, it was 15 weeks before I did anything. Mainly because, you know, at first, I didn't even want to train. I wanted to just sit and be in my bubble with my little girl.

Like I wasn't bothered about anything other than this little life that I'd created. And then with regards to the C section, it was really sore. And, you know, I did a lot of research and reading myself. and the amount of, you know, articles are read whereby women had healed externally, so the scar was healed up and the stitches were out. But internally, you know, it's seven layers that they cut through to do a section. And those layers each have to knit together bit by bit. So just because a scar looks healed on the outside,

it's probably not healed at all internally. And that for me was kind of the main thing. I think once you know your body and, you know, I, I do a lot of research on training. Part of recovery is the respect you have to have for your body and I had to take a step back and respect the fact what it had been through and just kind of give it a break. You know, there was no rush, there was no pressure.

And it was just, I used to say to myself, as and when you are ready, body, you will let me know, you'll, you know, I'll stop aching and I'll do it. And until the aching stopped, I didn't start because it's all about listening to your body and having the relationship with your body, which I think if you have that, you're very, very lucky because it just makes everything so much easier.

The negative comments, the negative, you know, throwaway snide jibes, once you're comfortable in the relationship you have with your body, it just doesn't affect you and it's a brilliant, lovely feeling. And how did you reintroduce training? What were the baby steps that you took initially? First of all, it was walking with the pram. I used to take me here on walks and it's funny because there's a hill near where we live and I used to push the pram up the hill

and it used to take me ages and I used to think oh my gosh I'm never going to be able to get up this hill and now that very same hill I do sprints up with my weighted vest on no problem so you know it's kind of at a time when you start you think I'm never going to get back to where I am

but you always will if you're consistent and you're dedicated you will do it I also started yoga as well while I was pregnant and after, just to kind of elongate the muscles and relax them when needed. I did lots of core work, not sit-ups, obviously, because I had a two-centimeter split in my abs after mea. So it was more so planks and deep core work, trying to just strengthen them and rebuild them. And I still do that now.

I still do my core rehab and recovery just because I feel it has tightened everything up in my ab area. I've never been bothered about having a visible six-pack. But, you know, you can kind of, well, I can notice when my core's stronger, the back, my back feels better. I used to have quite a bit of back injuries while I was carrying me. My back would go. And I think it's because my core wasn't tight. So I think people, people who train the rabs for a six-pack

and missing the point that if you have a strong core, everything else in your body will be stronger. it'll be less injury, your postural benefit, everything, especially like when you sat at desks all day at work, but a lot of people slouch. I'm very cautious now of keeping myself upright and shoulders back when I'm sat down, which I learn from having me doing all my core exercises. I think women forget or maybe are not aware that their pelvic floor is actually part of their core.

And obviously women, postnatal women often suffer with pelvic floor issues. And if you were to go on and have another baby, having a strong pelvic floor is absolutely crucial. So, yeah, core work is so important. But overlooked, I think, because people tend to, yeah, people concentrate more on their glutes or having nice shoulders or triceps or something. It's funny you say about pelvic floor or a woman, I put some pelvic floor exercises on and a woman messaged me and she said, it's irrelevant your pelvic floor because you didn't have a

vaginal birth. And I said back to her, I said that there's nothing to do with the birth. It's, you're carrying a child for nine months on that area. It's bound to be weakened whether you deliver a bi-sisection or, you know, vaginal birth. She was missing the point that she discredited me having a weak pelvic floor because I had a C-section. And it's like, come on, you know, what's been carrying the child for nine months, your pelvic floor? Yeah, because it's a sack, isn't it? And it's holding the baby in place. Yeah. It's like a hammocks. Yeah. absolutely I did quite a lot of research and was very devoted to Mike Eagles, you know, when I was pregnant with my two. And I have to say that I fared quite well as a result. I did have two

vaginal births. And so I would say to any woman, please don't ignore the midwives and do an above and beyond what they advise as well. Do the minimum what they say, but you need to do to do more to really protect it in the long term. If I can take you back to training in the present day, can you take me through a typical week then? So you say you train three or four times a week and maybe two of those sessions would be sort of hit conditioning type thing. So would the other two be straightforward 60 minute strength training? Yeah, I kind of try and do an upper and lower body split.

So I'll if I'm doing a, you know, or I'll do a full back day where it literally will be my triceps, my back, my glutes, my hamstrings, and then the following day it will be shoulders, chest, abs and quads. So I always try and split it up. But I just love back to basics, your dumbbell curls or your chest press or you know, your rack pulls and an old school basic weight training for me. I just, I love. But I also kind of love, you know, me and Gorka do.

We've got a ski urg machine and we try and do 4,000 metres between us. on the ski erg and while gorecha's on, I have to do 10 burpees and I finish my burpees and then swap. So I carry on and he does his 10 burpees and it's really annoying because he does his burpees so much quicker than me. So I've got less time on the skier before I have to go back to my burpees. So he's like, it's like, oh, but I think things like that, you know, you're conditioning. I just really enjoy it and especially if it's for a time as well because you think it's just 20 minutes, just get it done. Do you know what I mean? It's quick, it's fast, it's explosive. And I've grown to love that kind of training. When you're doing these partner workouts,

as Mia sat in the corner looking at you thinking, what are mommy and daddy doing? She loves the gym already because the floor's padded. It's kind of like a real safe area for her. It's a big, big padded floor. So she learned to walk in there, to be honest. She just crawls about and then she just stood up randomly. But yeah, she does watch us train. And again, it's great. I'm very mindful. I love the fact that she's growing up watching me in the gym. I don't want her to grow up watching me kind of moaning about what I'm eating

or covering up a bit of salioli or moaning about my weight and stuff. And I think the fact that she sees me in the gym every day, she'll one day turn around and say, what did you do that for, mummy? And I'll be like, because it makes me strong. You know, I'm strong like Popeye. Oh, she will do. My four-year-olds is doing squats all the time

because she's seen me. doing them at home and you look around and suddenly she's she's got a hands in front of her clasps even though I don't squat like that so I don't know where she's got that technique from and she's and she's squat and she's squat and she gets into a really deep squat as well you know how kids are just so much more yeah like really she is like bummed the floor almost with her squat and it's like oh I wish I could do that but yeah so it's they do they do follow they want to be we're their biggest heroes we're children's biggest heroes and good for you so I'm sure me we'll be swatted in Lundging soon like my two bar.

You've talked about what you love in the gym. Is there something that you really hate? Is there one body part where you're like, oh, I can't stand training this? Leg day for me, I always go, I say to go from my own upper or lower body today. And when he says lower, I kind of go, oh, just because I'm 5'9. So anyone who's tall and, you know, when you're doing squats or dead lifts, it's still hard no matter what your height, don't get me wrong. but when you're a shorter person,

like my friend who trains me, she's an absolute beast, she's incredible in the gym, she's five foot two. So she does a deadlift and her floor to like upright position ratio is half of mine. So I always say to her,

listen, you've got more weight but you've got less movement. So anything squat and stuff, I have to work on it. I always kind of think, right, come on, just do your squats. And it is that fear of, for me, I love going heavy,

but only when I have someone assisting me. I kind of, if Gawker's not there or evil Steve, I'm kind of good in my little comfort zone. But Gawker always says to me, like, the comfort zone, you do have to go past it. And I saw a quote which said, a ship looks very lovely and it's very safe in the harbour, but that's not what ships are for.

And I thought, oh, God, it's so true. You know, you've got to get out there. You've got to push past it. So the other morning, I actually put the story on my Instagram. I got up at six, set my alarm, them two were in bed, and I just came down and I just squatted and squatted for a good half an hour, just increasing the weight every now and again. And I actually enjoyed it, and Gorka got up, and he says,

what have you been doing? I said, I've been squatting. And I showed him the videos, and he was so chuff for me, because he knows that's my least favorite exercise. And I think the one that's your least favorite you have to do more of, because again, it's like pushing boundaries, so to speak. So for me, your shoulders, anything else? overhead.

Really? Rubbish at it. Squats, love it. But I do agree with you, if you're shorter, those type of movements are easier. Burpees, for instance, if you are shorter or easier. If you're quite tall, I'm 5'7, so I'm not 5'5 foot 9. But I'm still tallish for a woman.

And if I watch someone shorter than me doing burpees, it's like, yes, but you've got less to go down to the ground and less to come back up. So you mentioned Evil Steve there. He's from Ultimate Performance, isn't he? The gym that you trained. in consistently before me a review. Are you going to go back? I don't know whether it's open.

Some gyms are, some gyms aren't. But do you think you will end up going back to a public gym? Yeah. I mean, me and Steve, we've agreed from September. We're going to be training once a week together. I mean, it's great because I love Steve. We've got such a great relationship whereby he knows how far he can push me. And he knows, you know, when I did my 12 weeks at UP, the shape I was in afterwards

was incredible. But when we have a gym at home as well, it's a case of I get to spend more with me before I go to work. But it's usually a Wednesday, we said. Every Wednesday I'll go in and I'll train with Steve, you know, 12 to 1. We do. Have a little bit of lunch after. Then I go to work on the radio.

But it's nice. I think the environment of a gym, of a good gym, you know, it's great because everyone's in there for the same reason. And I've had people message me and say, they're scared of going in the gym because, you know, they've never been in before. And I just always say, well, if you're in the gym, your main purpose with everyone else is to better yourself and to train. I said so nine out of ten times people aren't even bothered about anyone else in the gym.

No one's looking at you, no one's laughing, you're just getting it done. It's like if you go to a restaurant, everyone's purpose in that restaurant is to eat the food. Everyone's purpose in the gym is to train. So they shouldn't be, you know, scared of going in there. They should go in, embrace it and kind of enjoy the atmosphere. I always say that. I think if somebody's going to laugh at you in the gym, then they are really not worth even a millisecond of your time.

No. But gyms can be an intimidating environment, especially the weights area, I think. And in a lot of gyms, they are still very male-dominated. And my advice to anyone, if they want to start weight train, is if you can afford it, booking just a few sessions with a trainer just to give you, yeah, and give you the technique.

And I know a personal trainer is far beyond the means of most people. It's an indulgence and a luxury. But I think if you can afford it, a good way to get your confidence in the gym, is to get an expert just to help you get the technique, put a routine in place as well. So like you say, upper, lower, push, pull, that type of knowledge is not known to a lot of people, especially someone who hasn't weighed trained before.

And headphones as well in the gym. Half the time I have my headphones on. I have no music on. It's just because I don't want people to speak to me. And I think that that's always key. If you go in there with a big set of headphones on, regardless of if you've got music on or if you've not, you're kind of more in a zone.

I think you're in your own personal space more that way. Yeah. I think that helps. Yeah. Although I'm, you know, have been music, there's nothing better than some music to get you in the mood. Especially if you're women's health has a Spotify play list called Get Fit Done and it is the collective training tracks of all the team and honestly

go and download it today or follow it. It is a hybrid between a hen party soundtrack. Brilliant. Sold already. Can we talk about your diet and nutrition, Gemma? You said you haven't changed the way you eat. So do you follow any particular eating program or is it more of an intuitive approach? It's kind of, I always trying to go, I always just try and go for food, not a product. I'm vegetarian. I've not had any red meat since I was about 27, 26, 27, and I'm now 35, stopped chicken and fish last November. So, yeah, I didn't eat a lot of meat, to be honest, anyway. So for me, it's vegetarian diet, so lots of, you know, lentils, chickpeas, rice, beans, veg

I think people assume people say to me what do you eat other than pasta if you're a vegetarian and I think you know there's so many foods

that I eat and that I love and that I enjoy but it's kind of I never deprive myself and I think because I've got control over my body

like I said before you know the relationship with your body I've never been like I can't remember the last time I was like oh my gosh I need some chocolate

I need some sugar I need something it's, I've always been, oh, I fancy a bar of chocolate, I might go and have one. You know, it's never been a craving or an urge that I've had to satisfy whereby it used to. I used to get excited about having to go for petrol because I knew I could pick up some haribos in the petrol station. Whereas now, I can walk past them. And if I think, oh, I fancy them, I'll get them. But if I don't fancy them, I don't.

And it's kind of, you know, sugar is such an addiction. It's, you know, it's the worst addiction that everyone. one in the UK has experienced or is experiencing now. And I always say to people, if you can just do those two weeks, you'll be surprised at the mechanics of your body how they will change an alter and you'll stop craving those processed rubbish foods. And, you know, I have a pizza once a week or a chippy tea once a week, depending on which one I fancy.

And it's not a case of, oh, no, I've had a pizza. I need to go and do 500 calories tomorrow. It's kind of, I don't even think about it now. and I think it comes down to I always think you know 80, 90% what my body needs, 20, 10% of what I want and obviously at different times of the month you know I kind of when I'm on my period

I kind of want more carbohydrates but I think a lot of people deprive themselves so much during a diet or a period of time that they just resort to binging the other end of it and it's no good not only for your body your physical mechanics of your body and your gut mentally it's draining it would be exhausting for me to constantly count and monitor and watch what I eat and I do feel for any people who have been in that situation one of my close friends had a

terrible relationship with food and she's been fine now for the last five years but there was a time when she'd literally count the number of chips on her plate before she'd eat them because she was just so terrified of putting weight on and it was so heartbreaking to see because, you know, it's something I think that's so common, but a lot of the time it shunned or it's hidden very well for people. And then she did it where all she did was have juices for like two or three weeks. She had nothing else. And she just, I don't know, she just wasn't herself.

And she's addressed it now. And she keeps saying how much happier she is. And it's like a freedom. She said, I feel like I'm free and that I'm in control and I make the choices, not that little person in my head saying that food's going to make you fat, that food's going to do this and, you know, it's one of my biggest fears for Mia growing up, especially, you know, in the environment we're all in now with the Instagrams and the filters and the quick fix, you know, these jabs and pills and stuff, it terrifies me that she'll come to me

and say, mum, I've read that if I do this injection, it'll make me thin. I'll be like, oh my gosh, no, I'll have to just major, major intervention at that point, and it's terrifying for me. It's a big responsibility being a mother of a daughter, isn't it? because you want to protect them. And all, my daughter, she was around at a friend's house last year. And she'd come up and she looked upset. And bear in mind she was only three at the time.

And she said, he called me fat about another little boy. And she looked upset and it broke my heart. And I said, you tell him you are big and strong like your mummy. And off she went and she said to this little boy, I'm big and strong like my mummy. but it does, it does, it does worry me. And I look at Nell and I see myself because I was always, for want of a better word, on the chubby side as a child. You know, I was always bigger than my friends.

And she is the mirror image of me in looks, in temperament, in stubbornness, but also in her body shape. And I, I was a huge responsibility to instilling her the confidence that when she goes to school in September, that if she does, is on the receiving hand of any negativity, TV from other children, because children can be nasty, can't they? But she has a thick enough skin to be sure of who she is. But it's more of a worry, isn't it, being the mother of a girl. I've got a boy as well, and I don't worry as much for him in that respect.

There's other worries, of course. But, yeah, it's the body image thing. And social media, when you were not, you're a bit younger than me, but when we were growing up, there wasn't social media, was there? There wasn't when we were teenagers. No. It's funny, I've, there's, um, for Hollyoaks turning 25 years old, they've been rerunning some episodes and they've had a week of, uh, my episodes, my storyline I did. And people have

actually DM me, a guy actually DM'd me. And he said, wow, never realized at the time, but you were fat in Holyoaks, weren't you? And, and I, and I, and I, I, I went back to him and I said, I said, well, I was 15. I said, so I was, you know, chubbier than what I am now. I said, but please, please don't let your daughter think that that's your, idea of fat. If, you know, size 12, 10, 12, 15 year old girl is your idea of fat. I said, please do not let your daughter think that, because she will have problems for the rest of her life if that's the case. Yeah. And people don't take into account with teenagers. My niece is, she's 16 now and her dad's Italian. So she's got the natural, she's already got the J-Lo bum, the one that I'm

squatting daily for. She was just born with. And of course she hates it. And I'm like, are you insane? Look at it. It's incredible. But I think it's hormones as well. For women, you know, for girls between, I think, like age 11 and 16, the hormones are up and down and the body's physically changing. That combined with pressures of social media, seeing what the apparently should look like when, let's be honest, they've all been heavily filtered.

You know, I've seen transformations on social media, which have been taken on the same day. It's just the ladies stood differently. Yeah. On her before picture, she's not smiling and she stood slouched. her after picture she's side on popping a hit popping a glute smiling and she can sell it as a 12-week transformation um so you do have to be careful and i constantly say to her but you know if you saw them in real life trust me you won't look like that you've just got to do you and embrace what you have

we all know a lot of these these influencers take 150 pictures and then choose the choose the best one yeah it's and they have the lighting and everyone's everyone's guilty of kind of, you know, it's very rare that people will post a pick on social media where they don't look the best. You know, it's kind of if you have a night out with the girls and you get tagged in the morning on the Facebook pictures, there's always one of one girl in our group will go, oh, remove that tag, I look awful. And it's obvious, you know, you do want to look your best, but I think you have a responsibility as a fitness professional or someone in the fitness industry, like, you have that responsibility to show people that you don't look like that all the time. And

it kind of dawned on me when I was doing my book and obviously working with you guys. Like your magazine is so, like I remember when you first asked me to shoot, I said, oh yeah, I'd love to. It'd be great. And I remember saying to my agent, Becca, they're not going to really edit it. They'll airbrush me, are they? Because I've worked so hard in the gym. I don't want them to think it's not real.

And I remember you sending an email to my agent saying, just so Gemma knows, there's no air brushing. We're not going to be, you know, if the satellite on show, that's what it is. if the tummy's out that's what it is and if she's happy with that then she's welcome on the cover and I instantly thought that's the best way for any magazine to be because you don't want to see a heavily edited picture

and read about how they've achieved that because you think they've not achieved it an editor as but when you see like when I shot with you guys when Mia was six months old I still had a little bit of my pouch from carrying Mia and my bum was a little bit bigger I think I said in the interview I've got my J-Lo bum that's gone now but at that time

it was there and it was visible. And now I've got that forever to show Mia, that that little pouch that's on this, you know, magazine cover, that was from carrying you. You know, and I'd hate it if it was airbrushed out and edited to be this slim, perfectly ripped physique that I'm saying to women, oh, I had a baby six months ago

and look how incredible I look, because it's just not real life and it's not fair to put pressure on people. I mean, the irony is we got accused of airbrushing that cover because people said that you didn't have a cesarean scar, do you remember and um they expected it to be under my belly butter yeah and and and you come out and said it's so low down that's just for me and gawker and the fact that you didn't have stretch marks on your tummy women were well you must have a brush stretch marks out and it's like we didn't and it is genetics some women have

some elasticity in your skin some women don't some women don't and with my my c-section i remember sains or someone i could show it you but it's there's a lot of hair down there as well it's that low down you You would see everything, not just my scar. You'd have to part my hair to see it at that time. Because the last thing I was going to do is wax over a fresh scar. And on that lovely note, I think we're out of time, Jevers. Thank you so much for joining me today. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Thank you. And I will keep on following your fitness journey and being inspired by your home gym. I want to be in your support bubble so I can come and use that gym. Yes, you come and train. And I'll keep having your monthly mag. It's my go-to with my brew and carrot cake.

So I think it's great. So keep doing what you're doing. Keep inspiring women and keeping it real, as they say. Don't you love her? I just think she's brilliant. And I love that she eats carrot cake whilst reading women's health. So I probably should have said that at the start, get a brew on and cut yourself a slice of carrot cake.

Do the Gemma Atkinson method. Anyway, I'm waffling. I so hope you enjoyed that conversation. That was Gemma Atkinson in Conversation. with Women's Health Editor-in-Chief Claire Sanderson. If you enjoyed the episode, please remember to rate and review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you get your podcast

so that you never miss an episode. That's all from me. I'll be back next week. Bye.