{"id":384728,"date":"2026-03-14T11:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T11:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/384728\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T11:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T11:32:11","slug":"bbc-presenter-emma-barnett-41-on-how-strength-training-helped-her-reclaim-her-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/384728\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC presenter Emma Barnett, 41, on how strength training helped her reclaim her body"},"content":{"rendered":"

A friend. A pal. A proper mate. That was what I decided to become to my body the day I met my personal trainer. Having endured nearly three decades of endometriosis<\/a> \u2013 as well as seven rounds of IVF in order to have my two children; one round for my son, six for my daughter \u2013 my body had come to feel like the enemy. But I was determined to reconnect with it. And in Frankie Holah \u2013 a woman I now call my \u2018fitness fairy\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019d found my person.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been suffering from the condition \u2013 in which tissue similar to the womb lining, that\u2019s meant to leave your body, grows and builds outside the uterus \u2013 since my periods started at the age of 10. But it would be more than 20 years until I\u2019d be diagnosed at 31, after two years of trying to get pregnant naturally \u2013 which meant more than 20 years of enduring excruciating, bone-grinding pain without ever having a label for it.<\/p>\n

Another decade later, grinding pain remains the hallmark of the condition for me, as it does for many of the estimated one in 10 women who suffer from it. (The same number \u2013 including me \u2013 suffer with adenomyosis<\/a>: where the womb lining grows into the muscular wall, of which even less is understood.) My pain manifests as a drilling sensation from my pelvis that travels down my legs \u2013 making them feel as though I can\u2019t lift them to go up the stairs. Sometimes, the hurt spreads to my arms or chest, and comes with crippling nausea and loss of appetite. I also run cold; freezing even. It\u2019s like someone turned the heating off in my body. But honestly? It\u2019s difficult to find the language for the pain; I talk into a microphone for a living, and even I find it almost impossible to articulate how this differs from the \u2018normal\u2019 discomfort of your menstrual cycle.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this difficultly, I believe, that\u2019s behind the lack of airtime the condition suffers \u2013 most importantly in rooms where funding decisions are made. That there\u2019s been no groundbreaking research that\u2019s led to any gold-standard treatments for a condition that afflicts as many women as type 2 diabetes \u2013 let alone a cure \u2013 borders on criminal. It also makes sex painful, and while I\u2019m grateful I don\u2019t count myself as having that symptom, can you imagine if there was a disease that made intercourse painful for men? There would definitely be a cure. Almost instantly. And as much as I\u2019d love the scoop, having seen numerous doctors, I can say with some certainty that the best sufferers can hope for is settling on the most adequate \u2018fix\u2019 for them. Perhaps that\u2019s the coil, bio-identical hormones, tweaking your diet or even a hysterectomy \u2013 although that, I can\u2019t stress enough, is not a cure. And so it falls to each of us \u2013 the women in pain \u2013 to find our own \u2018fixes\u2019.<\/p>\n

Before movement, there was work. I love that my brain still functions when my body is against me. It\u2019s been this way on BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme, on Woman\u2019s Hour before that \u2013 and every job I\u2019ve had since I started my career at 21. And while I can\u2019t say discussing Britain\u2019s water policy soothes me the same way as clutching my trusted microwaveable heat pack, I do find focusing on something hard when I\u2019m in pain to be strangely helpful.<\/p>\n

\"emma<\/p>\n

Yet, the ultimate challenge remains: accepting I have a disease that destroys women from the inside out. On the occasions it\u2019s sunk its claws into my experience of motherhood, my husband, Jeremy, takes the lead; we\u2019re a team. But endometriosis became entangled into our fertility journey, too; a relationship that science is still unclear on, given I was simply told I had \u2018unexplained infertility\u2019 for years. Despite years of applying my problem-solving, information-obsessed brain to this problem, it\u2019s only recently that I came to understand the degree to which endometriosis is a hormonally driven and system-wide inflammatory condition.<\/p>\n

Indeed, my doctors and I now believe that I didn\u2019t have enough oestrogen \u2013 something IVF was able to swiftly provide, meaning it worked in just one round in order for me to have our son in 2018. I didn\u2019t realise just how fortunate we were until the terrible sequel; it took us six rounds to have our daughter. The pandemic hitting just as we started that process meant I had to attend hospital appointments alone with my masked-up NHS consultant. But worse still was that every time I came out of a failed cycle, the endometriosis was aggravated and my cycles were horrific. It felt like my body had become a pin cushion \u2013 a tool to achieve what so many other women could do with ease \u2013 as I injected drugs into any spare spot I could find.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018I wanted to level up physically in a way that endometriosis hadn\u2019t allowed me to\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I almost gave up. On my penultimate round, I had a miscarriage; how could I have finally got pregnant, I thought, only to lose the baby nine weeks in? It was like being in a casino where you never beat the dealer. It was a doctor friend who lived nearby, going through a similar experience, who encouraged me \u2013 on a brisk walk around our postcode \u2013 to \u2018seize the evidence\u2019. A pregnancy loss is heartbreaking, she acknowledged, but it also indicated that something was finally working. I arrived home to tell my husband \u2018one more time\u2019. Our daughter was born three days before that same doctor friend welcomed a son after her own eight rounds. We remain forever bound.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not \u2018woo woo<\/a>\u2019 when it comes to health. I tried reflexology, acupuncture and sipping brown herby water, but nothing worked with fertility until we tried IVF. That\u2019s why, when people ask me how I got pregnant, \u2018hard medicine\u2019 is my response. There\u2019s a lot of blaming and cocooning of women when it comes to fertility treatment, but my last injection to have my son was on a stressful day in Downing Street when I was interviewing then-Prime Minister Theresa May. During the cycle before my miscarriage I did nothing \u2013 the embryo simply wasn\u2019t viable.<\/p>\n

\"emma<\/p>\n

Still, while my endometriosis symptoms eased during pregnancy and breastfeeding<\/a> in the months after giving birth \u2013 due to your menstrual cycle pausing \u2013 it started up like a gremlin almost immediately afterwards on both occasions. And it was while searching for the next phase of my \u2018fix\u2019 that I found Frankie \u2013 in the pages of my local newspaper. She used to have a column in the Brixton Bugle, and the authority and empathy contained within her words told me I\u2019d found someone who could help me. \u2018I will always turn up,\u2019 I told her, when I booked my first batch of sessions. \u2018I don\u2019t know how I will be on the mat, but I will always be there.\u2019<\/p>\n

It helped that Frankie had walked in my postpartum shoes; that she had first-hand experience of the changes that accompany those weeks and months after having a child only underscored my gratitude that I found her when I did. Because while I wanted to level up physically in a way endometriosis hadn\u2019t allowed me to, I was also thinking about diastasis recti (the separation of the stomach muscles during pregnancy) and how I was growing back together after two C-sections.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018For anyone with diagnosed or suspected endometriosis, I can\u2019t recommend movement enough\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But, when it came to my body, Frankie listened. She understood that while my discomfort was nearly constant, there would also be days when the pain was so severe that I could barely leave my bed; on other days, my loose stomach \u2013 a symptom exacerbated by the fact that my endometriosis is on my bowel, confirmed by a laparoscopy<\/a> \u2013 would also leave me limited. And within her compassionate approach, I came to see just how valuable working out for 60 minutes, twice a week, could be for me.<\/p>\n

After years living with endometriosis and undergoing seven rounds of IVF, Radio 4 presenter Emma Barnett turned to training with PT Frankie Holah to rebuild strength and a more positive relationship with her body. Download the Women\u2019s Health UK app to access Frankie\u2019s full training plan.<\/p>\n

Get the app<\/a><\/p>\n

\"cover<\/p>\n

The more we worked together, the more adept Frankie became at reading me \u2013 and exploiting my energy levels. Some days, I\u2019d walk through the door feeling like a four out of 10 and she\u2019d adapt the moves based on what I could do. On others, I\u2019d arrive with a spring in my step \u2013 and she\u2019d gauge how she could push me to perform at my best.
<\/p>\n

If I was physically ground down when we first met, more than two years on from that first phone call, I\u2019ve started to rewrite the script on my relationship with my body. Left to my own devices, I\u2019ve got barely a shred of discipline when it comes to training \u2013 and I\u2019m woefully uneducated about how to move by myself. But armed with her notebook of workout plans, Frankie makes me feel held to account (something I love doing to others in my job); more important still, she\u2019s helped me understand how best to work with my own body.<\/p>\n

\"emma<\/p>\n

Emma with her personal trainer, Frankie Holah \u2013 the woman she calls her \u2018fitness fairy\u2019<\/p>\n

That I\u2019m in the privileged position of being able to afford a personal trainer isn\u2019t lost on me. I also know this financial investment in my physical health will stand me in a good stead through my forties and beyond; strength training<\/a> is vital for women navigating the hormonal fluctuations of the perimenopause, which is where I\u2019m also at right now (ah, the joys of womanhood). And yet, my physical health is only one part of the equation. Having a fixed, twice-weekly appointment in my diary to go somewhere and move my aching corpus has been invaluable on those tougher pain days that can change on a whim like the weather.<\/p>\n

For anyone managing endometriosis \u2013 be it diagnosed or suspected \u2013 I can\u2019t recommend movement enough, even if you\u2019re not able to access or afford a trainer. Instead, make a plan with a local friend to go for a regular walk. I personally love a \u2018kitchen disco\u2019; I\u2019ll regularly put on music, dance around with my kids and just shake myself out. I\u2019ve got a playlist for all moods, and it invigorates me. Although, I\u2019ll admit, that\u2019s not every day.<\/p>\n

Because, more than anything, Frankie has taught me how important it is to meet yourself where you\u2019re at that day or moment with exercise. To honour where you are on your fitness journey, whether you have a condition such as endometriosis or you\u2019re postpartum. If you\u2019re experiencing a lot of pain, it\u2019s important to move within the capacity you have \u2013 whether that\u2019s during a one-to-one PT session or a class \u2013 and, whatever you do, you should get to your cool-down feeling a little bit better able to cope. As she regularly reminds me, while your body might feel alien, it has done \u2013 and continues to do \u2013 incredible things. It shouldn\u2019t be about getting your previous figure \u2018back\u2019 but moving \u2018onwards\u2019. There\u2019s so much strength in that.<\/p>\n

Listen to Emma\u2019s new BBC podcast Ready To Talk With Emma Barnett, in which she interviews incredible people about the experiences that have unexpectedly reshaped their lives. Follow her on Instagam @emmabarnett<\/a><\/p>\n

Training with endometriosis<\/p>\n

PT and pre- and post-natal specialist Frankie Holah (@FrankieHolah<\/a>) shares some tools on how to move your body in a way that works for you, rather than against.<\/p>\n

Ease off<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018If Emma comes in on a bad day, we will keep it simpler,\u2019 she explains. \u2018That might be focusing on things she\u2019s really familiar with that we\u2019ve done a lot, as well as lightening the load or reducing the reps.\u2019<\/p>\n

Build upwards<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018In terms of structure, we\u2019ll often start low to the ground \u2013 lying on the mat doing some mobility,\u2019 shares Frankie. \u2018This allows her nervous system to feel safe and calm, which will hopefully help get her to a place where she feels able to start lifting.\u2019<\/p>\n

Prioritise strength<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018I encourage Emma to focus on big compound movements that are very functional<\/a> and will help her get through her day \u2013 enabling her to pick up her children with ease,\u2019 she notes. \u2018That\u2019s deadlifts<\/a>, overhead presses<\/a> and rows.\u2019<\/p>\n

Be flexible<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s about serving the person who walks through the door and not just trying to push through the plan,\u2019 she explains. \u2018Gauging whether the pain Emma is experiencing is something we can work with, or if we need to tone it back a little.\u2019<\/p>\n

Get checked<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018A women\u2019s health physiotherapist will go further than standard NHS visits in teaching mums where their bodies are at pre- and postnatally,\u2019 she explains. \u2018If you can afford to go, it\u2019ll benefit recovery and help trainers like me support you during workouts.\u2019<\/p>\n

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