Most people wouldn’t mind being a little bit fitter. But the fittest? That seems unreachable. However, many argue that all-conquering CrossFit athlete Tia-Clair Toomey is, by objective measures, the fittest woman in history.

Toomey, who is an ambassador for the fitness app Pliability, has won the CrossFit Games – an annual competition to find the fittest man and woman on earth – an unrivalled six times on the trot. In 2023, she paused to have her first child, then returned in 2024 and won the competition two more times.

In the midst of her winning streak, the 32-year-old also represented Australia in weightlifting at the 2016 Rio Olympics, won gold in the same event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics in the two-woman bobsled and completed a Hyrox doubles race in a lightning-fast 54 minutes 24 seconds.

In short: Toomey is incredibly fit. The average person might not be able to emulate her superior fitness levels, and most don’t want to – they simply want to be fit and healthy enough to thrive in everyday life. You can, however, benefit from her insights about how to approach exercise.

Read more: Do these three things each week to be fitter than most Brits

1. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good

“You can’t be perfect at everything all the time,” says Toomey. “Trying to juggle too many things at once is where many people come unstuck, because you’re stretching yourself too thin. So it’s important to find balance.”

The aim is not to do everything immaculately, but to identify the things that are truly valuable to you – these might be your workouts, work or supporting your family – and take pride in throwing the (cluttered) kitchen sink at them.

“Even if it’s just a simple workout, you can feel really fulfilled at the end of the day knowing you gave it your best,” Toomey says. “I think a workout is a perfect place to demonstrate this.”

Read more: Walking experts reveal the number of daily steps you need to boost health – and it’s not 10,000

2. Small changes make a big difference

Most people set themselves lofty fitness (and life) goals, then fall short of them. Just look at how many New Year’s resolutions have been discarded by the time February rolls around. Toomey suggests a more manageable approach.

“If you can get 1 per cent better every day, you can’t ask for any more than that,” she says. “It’s when you create excuses, stop challenging yourself and give up on pursuing your chosen goal that you stop progressing and plateau.”

She recommends making small tweaks to improve how you feel each day, rather than obsessing over a daunting target.

For example, you could head to bed 15 minutes earlier and keep your phone out of the bedroom, drink an extra glass of water, go for a walk after dinner or eat an extra portion of fruits and vegetables. Small changes soon accumulate to make a big difference over time.

“It takes a lot of pressure off people when they break their goals down like that,” Toomey says.

Read more: Study reveals the small changes to your diet, sleep and exercise that can add years to your life

3. Be open-minded

A lot of people use the phrase “exercise isn’t for me”. This is likely linked to a less-than-pleasant experience at some point in their past.

But exercise is a very broad umbrella, and Toomey urges people to remain open-minded when approaching it. This is something she learned firsthand.

“I enjoyed my first CrossFit session, but I didn’t really enjoy the coach, so I opted not to go back for two months,” she says. “Who knows where I would be now if I never went back because of that one interaction.”

Toomey ended up trying a different gym and finding a coach who was more passionate and encouraging. “Then I was hooked and fully committed,” she says.

For the everyday exerciser, this could mean changing the variables to make your workouts more fun. For example, if you don’t like how running feels, you could swap to a lower-impact activity like swimming or cycling. Or if you find solo strength training sessions boring, you might join an exercise class.

There is no need to suffer through a certain type of exercise just because someone told you it’s the best. Take a playful approach to your workouts and continue to experiment until you find something you enjoy. Because if your exercise plans are fun, you are far more likely to stick to them.

Read more: The easiest way to strengthen your entire body, according to this expert coach

4. Put your ego aside

If you have ever watched Toomey compete, it’s hard to imagine her struggling with anything exercise-related. But, she says, when she first started CrossFit training she found it difficult to hold a barbell overhead in a stable position.

This was exposed in a CrossFit workout named “Nancy” – five rounds of a 400-metre run and 15 overhead squats (squatting while holding a 30kg barbell overhead).

“I was a runner prior to CrossFit, so I would race ahead during the 400m runs, but then the overhead squats were very challenging for me,” Toomey says.

To learn the correct technique, she started by scaling back the overhead squats, using an empty barbell rather than one loaded up with weight. Then, as she improved, she gradually increased the load on the bar.

“It’s all about building confidence,” Toomey says. “Everyone wants to go from zero to 100, but you need to put your ego aside, take your time and put the work in to actually learn a movement. That is how people evolve.”

If Toomey is willing to scale back exercises to learn them properly, the rest of us should be too. That might mean starting with goblet squats rather than barbell squats, wall press-ups rather than full press-ups, or walking rather than running.

There are exercise options to suit all fitness levels – you just have to find the appropriate ones for you and gradually progress them over time.

Read more: Sitting all day wreaks havoc on your hips and spine – here’s how to stop that from happening

5. Variety is the spice of life

What is the one exercise Toomey wishes more people would do? She struggles to pick just one before prescribing variety.

“I just love seeing people active,” she says. “But constantly doing one thing will have a lot of impact on the body. I think it’s really important to have a variety of exercises. That way you’re constantly working different muscles, building broad fitness and stimulating the mind in different ways.”

This is good advice for any exerciser. The body works on a rough use-it-or-lose-it basis, so if you don’t use a joint or muscle to its full potential, it can weaken and tighten over time. Greasing the groove on a wide range of movement patterns is the best way to prevent this and stay mobile for decades to come.

Read more: After 50 you need to train smarter – the eight rules for strength training in midlife, according to experts

6. Commit to a plan

A one-off workout cannot transform your fitness, but a progressive exercise plan can. This is why Toomey recommends finding a structured programme to follow over a longer time period than just a single session.

“That is going to help you stay motivated, particularly if it’s linked to some sort of sports or fitness goal like your first 10K, triathlon or pull-up,” she says.

“It gives you something to aim for. Otherwise people think, ‘Oh, I’m just going to keep doing this forever,’ and it can feel quite overwhelming. Following a programme helps you build healthy habits that you integrate into your daily routine and actually stick to.”

Read more: I specialise in coaching people aged 40-plus – do these six things for immediate results

7. Look after yourself

Muscle isn’t built in the gym. What you do during your workouts triggers myriad positive physiological changes, but the actual adaptations happen while you are recovering.

For this reason, Toomey places a great emphasis on sleep and nutrition, prioritising quality fuel and recovery between her training sessions.

As part of this, she regularly uses a sauna, breathwork and completes a stretching and mobility protocol via the Pliability stretching app shortly after waking each day.

“I tend to wake up feeling a bit stiff and sore from the previous day,” she says. “But I want to walk into the gym feeling strong and confident. That stretching session acts as a form of meditation as well, helping with both mobility and mental clarity.”

Read more: Swap the gym for this trainer’s six-move kettlebell workout to build full-body strength at home

A huge new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine – which analysed the activity levels of more than 17,000 participants – suggests that to achieve a substantial (defined as greater than 30%) reduction in heart attack and stroke risk, adults should aim for 560–610 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week. That’s considerably more than the current 150-minute minimum guidelines for health benefits, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that only 12% of people in the study achieved it.

It’s not to say there wasn’t any reduction in risk for lower totals – just not what scientists class as ‘substantial’. And it’s also important to note that the study was observational, meaning it cannot prove any kind of direct link; just association. It could be the case, for instance, that participants were already healthier and fitter than the general population. Plus, neither sedentary time nor less vigorous exercise were measured.

When WH put the findings to personal trainers, they were very keen to stress that something is always better than nothing – and they also had some useful tips for giving it your best shot at getting those golden 10 hours in.

Olivia Horncastle is a personal trainer helping busy women and mums fit exercise into their schedules.

Habit stack

‘I get my busiest clients to habit stack movement – so every time they fill up a kettle, they might do some squats, when they brush their teeth, they might do a wall sit,’ says Horncastle. ‘Other small things like trying to take calls while walking, or stretching in front of the TV at night work well. It doesn’t need to always be adding a full workout – all small additions help.’

5-minute workouts matter

‘Even starting with a 5-minute bodyweight circuit and building that up over time starts a habit – something is always better than nothing.’

Set yourself daily or weekly challenges

That might be trying to do 50 squats throughout the day, increasing your steps by parking further away at the shops, or taking the stairs instead of the lift, says Horncastle.

Tie exercise into your social plans

‘Instead of drinks with friends, I might suggest we go for a walk and grab a drink at the end, or try a new Pilates class instead of brunch etc.’

Michael Baah is a strength coach and oncology exercise specialist working with busy professionals, athletes and people recovering from cancer. ‘All that protection for your heart works best if you maintain your muscle mass, too,’ he cautions. ‘If you walk a lot but never do any strength work, you actually lose muscle faster, and after age 30, women naturally lose about 1% of their muscle every year unless they use it.’

Baah recommends doing three 45-minute strength sessions a week, using simple, compound moves (think: squats and deadlifts) that work your whole body. ‘You should finish each exercise feeling like you could maybe do just one or two more reps – this is the safe and effective method we use in clinics.’

‘The rest of your target comes from walking,’ adds Baah. ‘Just 40-50 minutes of brisk walking every day gets you there easily. Add a swim, yoga or dance class once a week if you like, and you’re all set.’

But don’t forget to adequately fuel, notes Baah. ‘Once you’re moving regularly, food matters, too. You need enough protein every day to help your body get stronger – aim for 1.4-1.8g for every kg of bodyweight. Without this, you do the work but miss out on the best results.’

If you’re more deterred than motivated by the recent study results, Horncastle wants to leave you with a few words. ‘Start small and slow, whether that’s one workout a week and building up, or starting with a few small walks – that’s how you achieve long-term, consistent change.’

‘And don’t compare yourself – who cares if Susan does hot yoga five times a week? She isn’t living your life. You need to find what works for and benefits you, but is realistic, too.’

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Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis.  She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity.  A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.