Lorraine Kelly has revealed her favourite ways to exercise and stay fit. The 65-year-old presenter and journalist credited exercise with changing her life ‘in an important way’, according to Daily Mail, and has even launched a video series on her programme’s YouTube channel featuring joint-strengthening and longevity-promoting workouts.
‘I want to be healthy for as long as I possibly can,’ she reflected to South Wales Magazine. ‘You’ve got to start looking after yourself. I want to enjoy life for as long as possible.’
Despite falling off her routine during the pandemic, in recent years she’s gotten back into exercising regularly, walking her dog Angus every day and doing online workouts as often as she can, according to South Wales Magazine. Recently, she’s also spending time running around after granddaughter Billie, says Daily Mail. But it’s Zumba and wild swimming in particular that she’s cited as her preferred ways to move.
Zumba
Lorraine’s favourite workout is a Zumba class with her instructor Maxine, she told Daily Mail. ‘Like so many people, I found excuses not to commit to a regular exercise routine,’ she explained. ‘But after finding exercise I really enjoy, and going to Maxine’s classes regularly, I feel better not only physically but mentally too. The class is amazing. There’s a real, “We’re all in this together” [atmosphere]. Maxine is like an agony aunt at the end.’
She added that movement was especially helpful in midlife. ‘We were talking last year about menopause and how difficult that can be for everybody, I did get quite anxious… and [exercise] really helps with that. It’s like I’ve had a spring clean in my head. It’s like being re-set.’
In 2022, she took to Instagram to share that she had taken up Zumba again, The Express reported: ‘Right, that’s my first Zumba class in two years and it was fantastic but look at my face!’ she said. ‘But I’m coming back tomorrow. It feels great and I feel like I’m back on track.’ Her caption showed just how ecstatic she was: ‘Knackered but so much fun! Finally on way to feeling healthier and happier!’ She also found a Zumba class while on holiday on Spain ‘fantastic – I’m absolutely sweating,’ reported The Express.
Daily Mail
Wild swimming
The presenter also revealed her love of wild swimming while discussing her debut novel, The Island Swimmer, last year, in which the activity is a central theme.
‘The first time I ever went wild water swimming… was [in] Antarctica and I went in at Deception Island [in the South Shetland Islands], she told The Scotsman. ‘I went in in my bikini, but I kept my hat on and my gloves, and ran in. I was numb from the neck down, but boy was I alive! It was the most alive I’ve ever felt. I was all tingly.
‘And I’ve gone swimming in Orkney a couple of times, on Inganess beach which features in the book. It’s beautiful crystal clear water, just fantastic.
She’s also taken in a dip in ‘a wetsuit in February’, but remarked that ‘it’s not the same. You don’t get the same benefit. You don’t get the same tingle. It’s really good for you.’ Noting its sociability factor, she shared: ‘There’s great camaraderie if you go with a bunch of girls and afterwards have a wee coffee and cake.
‘It’s great for your mental health if you are maybe feeling overwhelmed sometimes,’ she added to The Courier, saying that she sometimes swam in the estuary of Scotland’s River Tay’s.
Pandemic struggles
Lorraine thought she had established and settled into her routine, but Covid caused her to fall out of it. ‘I honestly thought I’d cracked it, because I was going to my exercise classes two or three times a week, I was really healthy with my eating,’ she told South Wales Magazine.
‘And then when the pandemic hit, like so many of us, I just went completely off the rails. It was a combination of comfort eating, not getting enough exercise, and drinking… not to excess, but more than I would normally.’
As well as signing up to Weight Watchers, she credits healthy eating, sleep, exercise and hydration for helping her to drop nearly a stone and a half since 2022.
Cut through the noise and get practical, expert advice, home workouts, easy nutrition and more direct to your inbox. Sign up to the WOMEN’S HEALTH NEWSLETTER
Related Stories
