Since beginning her transformation journey in 2011; personal trainer, influencer, cover model and full time athlete Paige Hathaway has become a global sensation.
Her current following on Instagram is an amazing four million strong. The key to success Paige says, is by setting weekly goals. That and taking the time to appreciate the other wonderful improvements fitness brings into our lives.
Her journey is a true rags to riches success story. Having risen from the humblest of beginnings and surviving a particularly rocky childhood to get to her star status today.
The 26 year old says she never planned for a career in fitness. Well, not strategically anyway. It was only after deciding she wanted to transform her skinny body seven years ago she first hired a personal trainer.
This decision would change her entire future. As not long afterwards, she decided to completely take a wild jump out of her comfort zone and enter a bikini competition.
At this point Paige had decided she wanted to be a “strong fit woman”. Something she also empowers women all over the world to become today.
Here’s a workout inspired by the way Paige trains. As she undeniably a fan of advanced systems, we’ve included super sets, trisets and drop sets to get the most from every muscle.
For Superset 1, complete exercise 1a. and immediately follow it with 1b. with minimal rest. Then, once you have completed each set, rest for 60 seconds. Perform the triset in the same way, resting fully only after smashing set 2c.
When you’re ready to hit the drop set load the bar with a weight that challenges you for 12 clean reps. By the end of the third set, you should reach exhaustion.
At this point strip away small increments of weight (5-20%) and force out the last remaining reps. This gets every last ounce of work out of the muscle by offering a weight it can move but is still effective.
If you’re a fan of the cover model you’ll know her favorite workout is always legs. She’s not afraid of the day after DOMs and has the great shape to prove it.
So, in true Paige Hathaway fashion, we’ve put together a routine to specifically target the glutes, hamstrings, quads and lower legs. Here goes:
| Exercise | Reps | Sets |
|---|---|---|
| Skip Rope | 5mins | 1 |
| Air Squats | 10 | 4 |
| Leg Swings Front and Back | 10 | 2 |
| Leg Swings Side to Side | 10 | 2 |
| Dynamic Side Lunges | 10 (Each Leg) | 2 |
| Exercise | Reps | Sets | Rest | Training System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a. Back Squat | 12 | 3 | - | Superset 1 |
| 1b. Forward Lunge | 12 (6 each leg) | 3 | 60secs | Superset 1 |
| 2a. Leg Extension | 10 | 3 | - | Triset 1 |
| 2b. Leg Curl | 10 | 3 | - | Triset 1 |
| 2c. Kettlebell Swing | 10 | 3 | 60secs | Triset 1 |
| 3a. Glute Bridge | 12 | 3 | 60-80secs | Standard Hypertrophy |
| 4a. Plyo Box Dumbbell Step Up | 12, 12, 12 (failure), 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, | 3+ | 60-80secs | Drop Sets |
| Exercise | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cross Trainer | 5 mins | Lower heart rate and keep a slow steady pace. |
| Stretch | 5-10 mins | Focus on each lower body muscle group for 30 seconds. |
F45 is a global fitness craze that has seen a massive growth since its creation back in 2012. The idea was to create a group training environment that borrowed from the most effective and dynamic styles around.
Once you understands the name, it kind of gives the whole thing away. The ‘F’ stands for functional, whilst the 45 stands for the total time of each class. In minutes that is, not hours thankfully.
Each workout is created by the F45 Athletics and Peak Performance Department. There is typically a brand new workout for every day of the week, creatively put together from a database of over 3000 exercises.
No two F45 workouts are ever the same and every single session is designed to develop functional fitness. Therefore, the exercises chosen specifically mimic or recreate movements we encounter in real life.
Functional fitness is one of the hottest topics right now, as more people are realizing the restrictions of traditional bodybuilding style training. One of the leading figures in the surge is the phenomenon of CrossFit and the rising popularity of kettlebell training.
The social media star likes to get into the gym around five days per week. When she gets there, she likes to lift heavy.
Some of her PB’s include:
Paige is also a fan of advanced training techniques. Out there on the gym floor she can be spotted pairing exercises together into super sets, or pushing hard through a tough drop set.
This style of training can be super taxing on the body and definitely isn’t for the faint hearted. However, it can bring about amazing results and can add a whole new creative challenge for more experienced athletes.
Plyometrics are usually used as a way to increase athletic performance; but they’re far from one dimensional.
They’re actually super effective at fighting fat, increasing strength and raising the bar of any athletes endurance.
To keep things interesting Paige will also lace up the gloves once or twice a week for a boxing session. Boxing is a great way to improve cardio, get creative and to learn new skills. Plus, just as importantly, it’s a lot of fun too.
Once a week the cover model will also perform some kind of fasted cardio. This is a great method to train both the body and the mind. Doing a light workout on an empty stomach ensures the body uses up any left over fuel that if left hanging around may turn to fat.
Paige has been pescatarian for just under twelve months. So, whilst she doesn’t eat any meat, she gets all her essential fats and proteins from fish instead.
Her reasoning behind saying no to red meat especially was because she had faced dietary issues in the past. She says that once she cut out red meat entirely, these problems were quick to vanish.
As a pescatarian, her go to protein sources are eggs, beans, white fish and salmon. She will also enjoy a plant based protein shake as a snack throughout the day.
To stay in such amazing shape Paige centres a varied diet around wholefoods such as:
Whole foods are essentially foods that haven’t been broken down and refined into other products. They are as nature intended and are great for our overall health.
These foods are nutrient dense, meaning that they’re especially important for anybody who works out. Also, by switching to a whole food diet it’s easier to cut out any excess calories that creep in from junk food.
So, not only does eating whole foods help to keep Paige in the best of health, they keep her lean too.
Eating is a great way to help yourself stay on track. Both physically and mentally, as not having a break from routine quickly becomes boring.
Not only that, but it gives the mind a break. Constantly having to tell yourself no to a cookie can be exhausting and will only be effective for so long. Allowing one treat every once in a while will do far less damage than breaking into a binge.
Some people could every one day in five as their 20%. Others just use a little rationale and honesty to track it through the day. However you do it, the key is to be consistent and not to overstep the boundaries. After all, even the best laid plans are floored if not executed right.
Paige says that healthy eating should become your lifestyle. If you want to transform your body or be the best you can be that is.
Seeing diet as an overall lifestyle can make food decisions a whole lot easier to make, simply by saying to yourself “I am” rather than “I should”.
As an athlete it’s crucial that Paige feed her body all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals it needs to recover from an intense F45. Meaning supplements are a key component in her optimized diet plan.
Supplements should never be used as a replacement for a varied diet rich of goodness. Paige knows this, and uses only the essentials to ensure she has all bases covered and keep herself bringing her A game.
In order to ensure she is giving her muscles the complete amino acid profile they deserve she takes a BCAA supplement. Branch chain amino acids are an important part of any athletes diet, as they’re the primary building blocks for lean growth.
She also takes a healthy dose of creatine daily to help optimize her recovery and energy output in the gym. As a pescatarian, Paige may not necessarily get the same amount of natural creatine as a meat eater. So, she makes the smart choice to supplement.
Creatine is one of the most effective supplements on the planet. Out of all the products on the market today, none has been as rigorously tested as this one. Some of creatine’s benefits include:
If we can learn anything from Paige’s rapid rise to fame it’s to embrace fitness as a lifestyle. Not just something we feel we must do or should do to make us happy.
The only sustainable path to a true transformation is to set goals, to strive for them and to work hard each day. We should appreciate every little step we make, as it’s another achievement taking us one step closer to our dream physique.
Paige also stays grounded despite her superstar social media status. So, if we progress and the Instagram follow count shoots up, we should use our platform to inspire other women.
Finally, we should give our hard working bodies the proper nutrition they deserve. Although we can let ourselves enjoy a tasty pizza slice as part of our 20%.
This post was last modified on Nov 29, 2018 12:21 pm
Strength training is a crucial component of any workout plan for women over 50. As…
As women age, they may experience a decline in muscle mass, strength, and bone density.…
Building a bigger and stronger butt is a goal that many people strive for. While…
Feeling bloated is something we all can relate to. It's uncomfortable, frustrating, and can even…
If you're looking to strengthen and tone your glutes without putting any strain on your…
Soylent is one of the most well-known meal replacement shakes on the market, and it…
View Comments
I just attended HeatFest in Mexico yesterday and met Paige, she is not only in a good shape but she looks healthy , in my opinion that is the most important factor. Healthiness should be first priority an this is something that people forgets while getting obsessed on keeping a good looking. Paige is also a very nice girl, I just became her fan!