Few people are as committed to movement as mum-of-five, author, podcast host and Women’s Health cover star, Kate Ferdinand. ‘I’ve been training for 20 years and I’ve always spoken about how important it is to my life,’ she tells Women’s Health. Speaking of fronting the magazine, she adds: ‘This shoot is something I’ve always wanted to do – now I am, and that’s amazing.’
What her training looks like has changed over those two decades, but right now it means working with Dubai-based PT Amandio Costa (since her and husband Rio relocated to UAE). Here’s exactly what a week of workouts involves:
‘The goal is injury prevention and longevity, so we keep everything functional,’ Costa tells us. ‘Only free weights and accessories – squats, hinges, lunges, vertical and horizontal pushes and pulls, core work, rotational movements and plyometrics.’
Want to train like Kate? Her PT, Amandio Costa, has created a training plan exclusively for members of WH COLLECTIVE. Join WH COLLECTIVE to access the plan, or existing members can head straight into their app.
Beyond structured workouts, walking is another non-negotiable in Kate’s weeks. ‘Rio and I walk a lot. In Dubai, we probably walk three or four times a week in the evenings. We’ll just go for a 45-minute walk and debrief about our days. I just love it,’ she says.
As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism. She secured her first role at Look Magazine, where her obsession with fitness began and she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!. Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red.Now, she oversees all fitness content across womenshealthmag.com.uk and the print magazine, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, where we showcase the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise. She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how.Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.