Trainer Kirsty Godso's No BS Guide To Hitting Your Fitness Goals

Kiwi-born Nike Master Trainer Kirsty Godso spends her days running sessions at Nike’s private gym in their NYC headquarters, putting locals through gruelling HIIT sessions in the city’s coolest new space, Project by Equinox, and juggling projects such as being the global face of CliniqueFit. She's also describes herself as a “PyroGirl".

“It’s now gotten so big, it’s turned into a movement,” Kirsty tells Women's Health. “When we talk about PyroGirls, we say, ‘Be the fire that burns inside-out!’ So if you have things that light you up, you’ve got to do something about it. You can’t sit around being complacent. You’ve got to blaze some trails!”

Feeling fired up? Good. Here's some more of her no-BS fitness advice.

1. JUST START

“A lot of people say, ‘I wanna come to your HIIT class but it’s too hard.’ And I go, ‘Do you think it’s going to get easier by just not coming? Or do you think that by coming you’ll start getting used to it like everyone else does and then build up all this strength, and then I’ll have to make my burpees more hot saucy because you get too good at them?’”

2. IF I WALKED THROUGH A CYCLONE TO GET TO THE GYM, YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE TO SKIP TRAINING

“There was a bomb cyclone [in New York] at the start of the year. I had no idea what that meant but I was sure people were being hypochondriacs, so I threw on my big coat and walked to the gym, Equinox Tribeca, which is five minutes from my house. When I got outside, it was minus 16 degrees, hard to see, and there was ice flying at me in the wind. I had to walk down the whole block in reverse. A sensible person would have just gone home. When I got to the gym, I’m not even joking, I had icicles on my face. It was pretty funny! So if people are like, ‘I couldn’t come to class because I was hungover,’ I’m like, ‘Guys, I made it to the gym in a bomb cyclone. Get over yourselves – you can turn up.’”

3. YOUR ATTITUDE IN THE GYM REFLECTS YOUR APPROACH TO LIFE

“I don’t like the word ‘preach’ but in a sense I’m trying to preach a mindset about how training directly applies to all areas of your life. So if you’re turning up to training and you’re like, ‘Oh no, it’s too hard’, and you’re just going to give up on it, that’s actually your mentality towards your job, relationship, and all these other important areas of your life. If you can build up the resilience, confidence and trust in yourself to be able to push through things and get a little bit uncomfortable, you will be so amazed by how unstoppable you’re going to get in other areas.”

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself ⚡️✨Don't delay, this is your life calling 📞💥🔥 #niketraining #1800PYROGIRLS

4. YOU DO YOU

“I see my pilates trainer three times a week and nothing gets above that time. I need my other training [like HIIT], too, but pilates is my time for me. It’s amazing, it makes you feel in real harmony with your body and I’d say my recovery [from other workouts] is better than ever. I’m addicted.”

5. PUT YOUR ALL INTO IT

“When I teach a class, I’m going to leave my soul on the floor, because I’m going to teach my heart out to make sure these people not only have an amazing workout but also – not to sound like Tony Robbins – I want them to have a transformational experience through exercise. You can really build up confidence, then it becomes this accumulative effect – not an arrogance, there’s a difference. It’s a confidence to just go after stuff.”

6. SAVE TIME: SIMPLIFY YOUR BEAUTY ROUTINE

“I leave the house at 5am and get home at 7pm, sometimes 9pm, and I don’t want to be stopping and reapplying my face all the time. That’s not who I am. The CliniqueFit range is cool, because the make-up is made to stay on for busy people like me.” Check it out on p66.

7. THOSE “NOS” WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER

“I’ve built the thickest skin in my life living in the States. You have to learn to be really resilient and not get broken down. If someone ... kicks back at [my] ideas, I always choose to look at it like, ‘Cool, they’re helping me refine my process.’ My end product, or whatever it is, will come out better because I’m having to think through, or I’m really having to stand by, what I truly believe in.”

Lizza Gebilagin

Lizza Gebilagin is Women's Health deputy editor by day and boxer by night (and early morning). She powers through work with help from long blacks and, despite being told by numerous experts not to eat at her desk, that’s what you’ll find her doing as she edits stories. Training twice a day to prepare for a fight will do that to your hunger levels.