![PS: How did you come up with the idea to create the Sweat With Kayla app? Was it almost a no-brainer?
KI: The girls [BBG community] were asking me for ages if I could create an app. Because they only had the guides that were sent to them as a PDF, they said it would be better for them to have it all in one platform — they just gave me the idea. When I went on the world tour we saw all the girls came by themselves but left as friends, and it was then we thought we need a platform to connect all the girls together.
The concept was, we wanted a personal trainer in your pocket. I want to have the girls feel like I’m there with them all the time, which is something they don’t have with the guides. With the app I’m able to send them messages and set new challenges — the app grows with you. I sat down the girls in my office and said, "You know what you want in a workout, you’ve done the guides before what would you like to see in an app?" I also asked some of the BBG girls, if there was an app, what would they like to see on it? I listened and made sure they felt comfortable, and built the features that women want. A lot of people build what they like, but I wanted to build an app that had everything girls want, not what I want.
PS: You’ve mentioned on Instagram that you don’t like to share photos of you wearing swimwear, is there are reason for this? Are you trying to move away from the Bikini Body Guides?
KI: The whole point about not wanting to wear a bikini is because I don’t feel comfortable standing in a bikini and posing while someone else takes a photo of me. I’m happy to obviously take photos of myself, like I’ll take a photo of me when I’m in Bali with Tobi, I don’t mind doing that at all. When I first started Instagram, I said that I would never sexualise myself to sell a product, ever, ever, ever! And with photos you never know, when someone else is taking them of you, what they’re taking and for me it was just a personal choice. The Bikini Body Guides, they’re obviously still there and the Bikini Body Guide is all about when you feel comfortable in a bikini and I still want that message to be heard and seen. I don’t want to say I’m steering away from BBGs with my new app because that was everything. I called my app Sweat With Kayla for all different reasons, I thought sweat showed dedication and hard work.
Then again, I don’t have any problems with people who do [post Instagram pics in swimwear], they’re confident and they feel good. As long as you feel good and you’re confident it’s fine. Because I don’t feel amazing I won’t push that boundary and put myself in an uncomfortable place, when it’s not needed. That’s why I asked if I could wear shorts and you said yes, and I was like, "What a legend! She made sure that I felt comfortable in what I was wearing", you know what I mean?](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Sz1nPPPIJYx4s4gOshzpmmLLwkaEKDEScQ2u8G5LH7sUNCy8c-um21eZPpqh3reRIXGIzeEqmnixe04yROzkBWl_UiJjLfWdbxWahRMtcJRK9I5c9dsEsT5A0m_u0cccX8lAhx_4 "PS: How did you come up with the idea to create the Sweat With Kayla app? Was it almost a no-brainer?
KI: The girls [BBG community] were asking me for ages if I could create an app. Because they only had the guides that were sent to them as a PDF, they said it would be better for them to have it all in one platform — they just gave me the idea. When I went on the world tour we saw all the girls came by themselves but left as friends, and it was then we thought we need a platform to connect all the girls together.
The concept was, we wanted a personal trainer in your pocket. I want to have the girls feel like I’m there with them all the time, which is something they don’t have with the guides. With the app I’m able to send them messages and set new challenges — the app grows with you. I sat down the girls in my office and said, \"You know what you want in a workout, you’ve done the guides before what would you like to see in an app?\" I also asked some of the BBG girls, if there was an app, what would they like to see on it? I listened and made sure they felt comfortable, and built the features that women want. A lot of people build what they like, but I wanted to build an app that had everything girls want, not what I want.
PS: You’ve mentioned on Instagram that you don’t like to share photos of you wearing swimwear, is there are reason for this? Are you trying to move away from the Bikini Body Guides?
KI: The whole point about not wanting to wear a bikini is because I don’t feel comfortable standing in a bikini and posing while someone else takes a photo of me. I’m happy to obviously take photos of myself, like I’ll take a photo of me when I’m in Bali with Tobi, I don’t mind doing that at all. When I first started Instagram, I said that I would never sexualise myself to sell a product, ever, ever, ever! And with photos you never know, when someone else is taking them of you, what they’re taking and for me it was just a personal choice. The Bikini Body Guides, they’re obviously still there and the Bikini Body Guide is all about when you feel comfortable in a bikini and I still want that message to be heard and seen. I don’t want to say I’m steering away from BBGs with my new app because that was everything. I called my app Sweat With Kayla for all different reasons, I thought sweat showed dedication and hard work.
Then again, I don’t have any problems with people who do [post Instagram pics in swimwear], they’re confident and they feel good. As long as you feel good and you’re confident it’s fine. Because I don’t feel amazing I won’t push that boundary and put myself in an uncomfortable place, when it’s not needed. That’s why I asked if I could wear shorts and you said yes, and I was like, \"What a legend! She made sure that I felt comfortable in what I was wearing\", you know what I mean?")
Photo courtesy of Dave Wheeler
Kayla Itsines. The name may or may not be recognizable to you, but it is hard to miss the countless gym photos on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter tagged with the hashtag #SweatWithKayla or #BikiniBodyGuide (BBG). Sweat With Kayla is an intensive e-workout program that was started by 23 year old Kayla Itsines. The Australian trainer, now having over 5.9 million followers on Instagram, got a modest start in social media.
“[Starting my Instagram] was kind of a fluke. I needed somewhere to put my photos … I'd go to people's houses and say, ‘Oh, look at my client's transformation.’ I'd scroll up my phone and then say, “I can't find it I'll show you later.” My little cousin said, ‘Why don't you just download Instagram and just start uploading new stuff on there?’ She didn't really explain it properly, so I downloaded it and started documenting transformations. Then I realized that it doesn't work like Facebook. Everyone could see what I was doing,” Itsines said in an interview with Popsugar Australia.
Photo courtesy of Nick Clayton
Itsines joined the health and wellness community after a brief visit with her doctor showed her health diminishing with her age.
“I was quite underweight as a kid and quite unhealthy. I went to the doctor and he said, ‘Look, if you continue at the rate that you're going, you won't be able to have kids.’ That hit me and that hurt. The doctor said, ‘Exercise. Go to the gym and be healthy and get strong.’ I joined the gym and I literally loved it. I got healthy. I got strong. I started eating way, way better. I felt better. I was more awake and that's when I thought, I'm going to start to inspire others.”
Because Itsines started her exercise career due to health concerns, she stresses to her clients and the public media that her program is meant to be not for fast, rapid weight loss, but instead to develop a healthy lifestyle.
“It's not about a certain body type. The whole point of this program is to get rid of the “skinny is better” thought process and focus on happiness and confidence. The plan gets harder and harder to push you mentally to do something that you haven't done before. It's not to make you smaller or to work your body harder. You can go at whatever pace you want to go.”
The goal of the workout is not only to become fit and healthier, but Itsines wants to make sure the program is easily acceptable to all consumers. She hopes that the workout is an easy lifestyle change, and wants to implement exercise throughout daily life, so it’s not just a separate aspect of it.
“Girls have got to realize, Okay, this is not going to make me lose tons and tons of weight. It's going to make you fit. It's going to make you strong — and mentally strong. That's what's hard … Just start. Follow like-minded people like yourself. That's why I'm doing the world tour and bringing these girls together for free … Try not to separate exercise and your life from your actual life. Why should you make another account? This is your life now. Include exercise in life. ”
Photo courtesy of HerCampus.com
In addition to wanting to make the program easily accessible for everyone, Itsines tries to distance her personal self from the company. She crops her face from pictures, in order to help do so.
“Everyone's like, ‘What's wrong with your face? Why don't you like it?’ There's nothing wrong with my face. I have no problem with my body or my face and no insecurities whatsoever. But a “bikini body” is not my body. A “bikini body” is when you feel comfortable in a bikini. I upload transformations to show that there are girls with completely different bodies and it's about feeling good. It's the community-building ... I don’t really feel like they’re looking up to me, I feel like we’re a big team ... At the world tour, the people who were organising it kept telling me the girls were really pumped up and excited to see me but I was really excited to see them.”
Not only is it Itsines’ goal to make everyone feel comfortable, but she also strives to touch as many people as possible, whether it be through Instagram or in real life at a meet and greet. She offers insightful, yet simple to follow advice.
“Do more than you did yesterday. Just do five squats. And then the next day, do ten squats. I know it feels like nothing, but it's something. And it's more than you did the day before. So just try. Just try and implement exercise into your daily life.”
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