Kelsey Wells is an all-around inspiring celebrity athlete, personal trainer, wife and mother. After having her son, she struggled with postnatal anxiety but overhauled her life by adopting a healthy eating and exercise plan to help increase her fitness. She vows that it completely changed the course of her life. The improvement in her overall health and fitness transformed many areas of her life for the better. It also evoked the desire to help women of all life stages to nourish and power their body, strengthen their self-love and self-belief through fitness.
She was in Singapore for FitnessFest 2019 by AIA Singapore on 27 April where she conducted her PWR (short for “power”) strength training, which encourages women to lift weights without being intimidated by them. She wants women everywhere to know that they can create change for themselves and feel more powerful than ever. Join The Wellness Insider to discover more about Kelsey as she talks about life, work and even gives us some fitness tips.
Q: How do you juggle being a personal trainer, wife and mother? How do you find time for fitness?
Juggling and finding a balance between being a personal trainer, a wife and a mother isn’t always easy and has changed during the different stages of my life. At the end of the day, we make time for the things that matter most to us and our health – physical, mental and emotional – must be a priority. When we prioritise our health and look after ourselves, it actually allows us to be better in all of the roles that we play – whether that be as a wife, a mother or in our professional careers.
Finding time for fitness is so important. For me, I schedule my gym sessions the week ahead and make my workout hours a non-negotiable meeting with myself that I respect as much as meetings or appointments with others. I find that this approach really helps me to prioritise exercise into my schedule.
Q: What has been the greatest achievement for you so far?
Aside from my husband and my son, becoming a Sweat trainer providing my PWR programs to women globally. It is very humbling and very surreal to be able to be a part of so many women’s journeys to living healthier and happier.
Q: Could you tell us more about your journey into healthy eating and fitness following your pregnancy? What was the most challenging part?
Prior to having my son Anderson, who is now 5 years old, I had never exercised regularly in my adult life. My pregnancy journey was tough on me mentally and physically and I knew that I needed to make a change in how I viewed and cared for my body. A few months after giving birth, and when I was finally given clearance from my doctor, I started to incorporate fitness into my weekly routine. At first, this was simply a walk or some squats in my living room when Anderson was napping. Slowly but surely, I started to recognise the benefits of incorporating exercise into my life, and I’m not talking about physical benefits. Before I saw any physical changes in the mirror I saw a shift in my mental and emotional health.
Looking back, I never could have imagined that what began as small efforts to live a healthier life would positively affect my mental, emotional, and physical health in such a significant way. Ultimately, I fell in love with fitness and women empowerment – now I honestly cannot imagine doing anything else. I am so proud to be a Sweat trainer and want to continue helping women to empower themselves through fitness.
Q: How do you motivate your family and friends to incorporate healthier habits into their lifestyles?
I try and educate them around the physical, mental and emotional benefits that living an active and healthy lifestyle provides. Particularly for my sisters and friends who are mothers, I know that incorporating healthy habits into their daily routines can sometimes be challenging as they are often so time poor and will take care of everyone else around them before taking care of themselves. But I always say to them that in order to be the best version of yourself, whether that’s being the best wife, the best mom, or the best friend – you need to take care of yourself first. Overall it comes down to prioritising your health. My older sister and my mom are actually both doing my PWR program right now. It’s such a rewarding feeling to be able to help them on their health and fitness journeys.
Q: What is your favourite aspect of your work? What do you find most difficult/challenging about it?
My mission is to help women empower themselves through fitness and I am so grateful to have a job that allows me to do that. Being a personal trainer and being a Sweat trainer enables me to help women from all over the world and there is truly no better feeling than hearing I have helped or inspired someone to change their life. My favourite aspect of my work would have to be travelling around the world and being able to meet women from my community, from Singapore to New York, Sydney and London and so on – it is the best! Sometimes being away from my family while travelling can be tough, but I’m so fortunate to have their full support and sometimes my son and husband travel with me on certain trips, which is so special.
Q: What does your signature 45-minute full body PWR Bootcamp entail?
I am so excited to bring my PWR Bootcamp to Singapore FitnessFest! The Bootcamp is inspired by my PWR (short for power) programme available in the Sweat app. PWR is a hypertrophy based weight-training program that is designed to help women gain strength and confidence from the inside out. The program blends proven, effective weight training exercises and techniques in a unique way that delivers maximum results.
During the 45 minute session, I will guide you through a full body workout that will get your heart rate up and get your glutes burning. It will be tough but ultimately will leave you feeling energised and empowered. Get ready to sweat Singapore!
Q: Many women struggle with issues of body image these days. What advice do you have for any of our readers facing this issue?
Ladies I hear you and I’ve been there. Early on in my journey, I suffered from postnatal anxiety and an unhealthy body image. I’m so grateful that I found fitness and discovered the positive impact that living an active and healthy lifestyle can have, especially on how we view ourselves. Again, far before I saw a physical transformation in the mirror, I felt a mental and emotional transformation and quickly learnt that for me fitness is primarily about health and not aesthetics. Now I choose to view my body from a place of positivity and appreciation for all that it does for me. Once you start to look at your body from a place of love and gratitude, you soon realise that how you look is less important than how you feel.
Q: Could you share a few easy workouts our female readers can try at home?
Quick and easy lower body workout
This is a quick and easy 3 move lower body focused workout that uses minimal equipment and can be done in the space of your own home, or hotel room if your traveling. The workout is three exercises in a tri-set format. After completing the three exercises, I recommend a 30-second rest break is taken before repeating this process as many times as possible for the 10 minutes.
Tri-set (10 minutes)
| Exercise | Steps | Equipment | Repetitions |
| Static Lunge
|
Complete half of the specified number of repetitions on the same side, before completing the remaining repetitions on the other side. |
– | 20 |
| Squat Pulse
|
Continute this pulse action for the specified number of repetitions. |
Resistance Band | 20 |
| Inch Worm
|
Repeat for the specified number of repetitions. |
– | 12 |
| Rest – 30 seconds |
Besides the main event on 27 April, FitnessFest by AIA has also created #FitForGood Charity Pop-ups happening for the rest of the year with different themes and venues each month. Tickets (S$10 each) can be purchased at https://fitnessfest.sg/fitforgood where 100% of the proceeds will go to supporting families from Children’s Wishing Well. Furthermore, participants can partake in the AIA Centennial Charity Challenge after each workout and raise more funds for charity as AIA Singapore will be matching a dollar for every compleed 10 reps of the challenge. Get fit for a good cause!
Tentative schedule for the next few pop-ups are as follows but do note that it is subject to changes. The latest updates are available in the above link.
| Date | Theme | Venue | Workout |
| 1 June 2019 | We are FitFam! | Dhoby Ghaut Green | Family Bootcamp |
| 3 August 2019 | Dance Red (National Day FitBash) | Capitol Piazza Atrium | Street Dance Cardio |
| 30 Oct 2019 | Halloween Action | Oasia Rooftop | Blacklight Flow |
| 15 Dec 2019 | X’mas is in the air! | Tanjong Pagar Centre | BalletBody |
Photos: FitnessFest and Kelsey Wells
