If you’re looking for some royalty-certified health and fitness tips, Princess Di’s former trainer Cameron Falloon shares everything he knows.
I was very lucky to have the pleasure to train Princess Diana. It started out by training alongside her and her PT for a year, which meant I was able to build a relationship of trust before training together one-on-one.
She was an incredibly hard worker – no doubt due to the limited time she had, but she always got the most out of every session in the gym. She was also amazingly personable which is no surprise given her title of the People’s Princess.
Here are some of my top tips for when it comes to getting results with your training:
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Resistance over cardio
Not everyone has the time to spend an hour in the gym every day, Diana being one of those people. In fact, we would be lucky to get her three days a week due to her schedule.
So, when we had her around weights, we made the most of it. Focusing on building lean muscle was the priority, as it gives you the most bang for your buck: the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when at rest. Research also shows that you can burn calories for up to 38 hours after a strength workout.
With Diana, our focuses were predominantly around training legs and core and we did a lot of postural exercises. We did 8-12 reps of most exercises as that is the ideal rep range for hypertrophy and the main exercises, we did with her were deadlifts, RDL, squats or lunges.
Her famous Vanity Fair shoot in 1997 was at the end of a really intense strength training block. We had been able to build a huge amount of lean muscle through her back.
When doing cardio work, focus on short and intense training
Although most of our time was spent doing resistance training, any cardio programming was short and intense for Diana. The reason being it is a great way to raise your metabolism, burn fat and build muscle.
Unless you are someone who really enjoys running or has endurance goals, I would recommend integrating more metabolic conditioning into your training to replace the stand-alone cardio work to get the best results.
Program your workouts in blocks
Just like elite athletes do, and with Diana, it’s best to structure training into six-to-eight-week training cycles which gives you the chance to progress and develop loads and movements over periods of time.
If you are training for results, it’s important to set goals and progress your training over time to be able to achieve them. Our bodies can’t go from 0-100 in a week, so give yourself time and a plan to be able to build week to week.
Personalise your program
You won’t do it if you don’t enjoy it. Tailor your training to suit not only your goals but also what you enjoy! We all have different ranges of movement, injury history, training experience, likes, and dislikes. That is why our BFT programs are progressive and allow for personalisation within the group environment so that members never stagnate and are always progressing with their health and fitness.
Don’t skip your warmup or cool down
Range of motion and mobility plays a huge part in being able to perform at your peak! Increasing your range of motion allows for a greater force-generating capacity and increases in strength. Get the most out of your body by making sure it’s moving in the right way.
Cameron Falloon is the co-founder of Body Fit Training.
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