I’m going gym geek

It’s that time of year when our Wonder Women start disappearing to warmer climates.

Thailand.

Italy.

Croatian cruises.

Family holidays.

Solo adventures.

Anywhere that isn’t Melbourne in winter.

And, without fail, I start getting the same request.

“Can you write me a workout to do while I’m away?”

Absolutely.

The eternal optimist in me lovingly writes strength sessions, imagining them being completed on a hotel balcony overlooking the Mediterranean or on a quiet beach at sunrise.

The realist in me knows those beautifully crafted workout emails are probably sitting unopened somewhere between the boarding pass, the breakfast buffet and the second Aperol Spritz.

And honestly? That’s perfectly okay.

Holidays are for recharging, making memories and occasionally eating gelato before lunch.

What I love, though, is what these requests lead to. They open the door to some wonderfully geeky conversations about why we train the way we do.

Almost every client tells me a similar story. They have every intention of training while they’re away. They find the hotel gym, walk confidently through the doors… then stand there looking around wondering where on earth to begin.

“Should I do legs today?”

“How many exercises do I need?”

“Why do we always start with squats?”

“Why do you pair those exercises together?”

These are brilliant questions because they remind me that what looks like a random collection of exercises is actually anything but.

Every Wonder Woman session has a purpose.

There’s a reason we usually start with the big lifts. Squats, deadlifts, presses and rows ask the most of your body and your brain. They recruit the most muscle, demand the most concentration and give you the biggest return for your effort. It makes sense to do them while you’re fresh, not after you’ve already exhausted yourself doing six different machines and three varieties of bicep curls.

There’s also a reason I have you bouncing between upper and lower body exercises. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because I enjoy watching you mutter under your breath. While your legs recover, your upper body works. While your upper body rests, your legs are ready to go again. It’s an efficient way to train hard without wasting half the session scrolling your phone between sets.

And then there’s the belief that every workout has to annihilate one body part. Leg day. Arm day. Chest day.

For professional bodybuilders, maybe.

For busy women juggling careers, families, travel and everything else life throws at them? Not so much.

I’d rather see you regularly practising the movements your body was designed to do—squat, hinge, push, pull, carry and rotate. Those patterns don’t just build muscle. They make you stronger for carrying shopping, lifting grandchildren, hauling a suitcase into the overhead locker and getting up off the floor without making those interesting little noises we’ve all started making.

The other myth I see in hotel gyms is that more must be better. Twenty exercises. Every machine. Every angle.

In reality, a handful of well-chosen exercises performed well will beat an hour of random wandering every single time.

Which brings me to my favourite part.

Could you absolutely walk into a gym and build yourself a solid workout using these principles?

Yes.

Will it replace having someone who knows your body, your injuries, your strengths, the exercises you avoid, the ones you love to hate, and exactly when you’re capable of one more rep than you think?

Not a chance.

That’s the bit no blog can teach.

No app can coach.

No AI can replicate.

It’s the art behind the science, and it’s why personal training is still personal.

So if you’re heading away this winter, enjoy every minute. If you complete every workout I send, wonderful. If you manage one or two, brilliant. If my carefully crafted program remains unopened until you spot it in your inbox on the flight home… I won’t take it personally.

We’ll simply get back to doing what we do best.

Because strength isn’t built during one perfect week on holiday.

It’s built over months and years of consistently showing up.

And that’s something Wonder Women are exceptionally good at.