Better Yourself is owned and run by Bridget Hicks and Pierce Ward.
Yoyo diets, workouts, gyms, jogging.
Most of us have been on the treadmill at some point in our life, looking for a quick fix to fit into an outfit or worse, trying to fix that feeling of helplessness when we look in the mirror.
It’s hard going it alone. Many of us quickly fall back into old habits and quite frankly, it can be depressing.
There is no easy fix. However, a Hawke’s Bay couple are on a mission to help people live a healthy and fit life.
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Better Yourself is owned and run by Bridget Hicks and Pierce Ward.
Bridget says “unfortunately our world is bombarded with quick fixes, fads and extreme approaches to get results fast with zero regard to health or keeping results long term”.
“That’s our point of difference. We ensure our clients have a sustainable and balanced approach to get results and maintain them long-term, prioritising their health.
“We create custom workout plans and nutrition plans for every individual. Each plan is personalised to the client’s needs, preferences and goals.
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“For example, workout plans can be designed for at-home or in-gym, set to their achievable amount of days and duration they can realistically commit to, their goals and abilities.”
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Before and after photos of one of Better Yourself’s clients.
Better Yourself designs nutrition plans to cater to all dietary needs such as dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan.
“The meals are easy-to-prep and budget friendly and cater to your likes, dislikes, allergies, preferred amount of meals per day, individual caloric and macro requirements, goals and meal flexibility.
“We do our best to stay accessible and affordable so our plans are delivered via our easy-to-use app from only $40 per month.”
Clients from around New Zealand follow their custom plans and Bridget says it’s great to see people improve their lifestyle and prioritise their health and fitness.
“However, because we are based in Hawke’s Bay, we want to make a big impact on our community so we have ventured into corporate wellness.
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“We are looking after a large local company with regular boot camps. Their staff have access to custom plans via our app. They love it so much they all show up at 5am, three days a week.”
Better Yourself’s latest project is pretty exciting.
“We want to help someone in Hawke’s Bay who needs a massive lifestyle change to save their health. So we are offering an Ultimate Lifestyle Transformation.
“Applications are open and the winner will receive more than $6000 worth of help to transform their health and body.”
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Better Yourself will provide workout and nutrition plans, personal training sessions and more.
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Other local businesses have come on board with Flex Fitness Hastings providing the winner with a 12-week gym membership and Evolt Body Scans, a private cooking lesson with Kieran, owner, chef and nutrition coach of The Shredded Kitchen and Raiseys Supplements will be supplying supplements to help start the winner’s journey!
Bridget says it’s a massive giveaway and has the potential to change someone’s life.
“We want to document the winner’s journey and share it to inspire others to make healthy lifestyle changes. Seeing someone else do it can be very inspirational and motivating.”
Before and after photos of a Better Yourself client.
Bridget qualified as a personal trainer in 2009, and achieved further qualifications in sports nutrition, pre and postnatal exercise and nutrition.
Pierce gained his qualifications in personal training about the same time, in his home country Canada.
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They joined forces in 2021.
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Bridget says the biggest mistake people make when it comes to health and fitness is choosing a diet approach that is not sustainable.
“Heavily restricted diets are not sustainable for long-term results. People fall off the wagon when it gets too hard and they realise eating in that way makes them feel miserable and it’s not worth it.”
The couple have always been sporty and fit.
“We have had a passion for health and fitness for as long as we can remember. Pierce and I started training in gyms at high school and have never stopped. We clicked so well when we met because of our shared passion and values in health.
“We knew when we started our business it could be a slow start. The industry is very saturated but our passion for helping others improve their well-being is what motivates us and things have fallen into place nicely.”
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Asked how they stay motivated to eat well and stay fit, Bridget said motivation did not play a part in whether they eat well and stay fit.
“Motivation is something that gets you started but habits are what keep you going and our daily habits reflect a healthy lifestyle.
“We exercise because we enjoy it and how it makes us feel and because we value our health. We eat well simply because of long-term habits.
“We would feel physically and mentally rubbish if we were to eat a poor diet long term. I think understanding the effects on your health and longevity from living an unhealthy lifestyle helps keep us accountable too – once you are educated on the matter, it’s much harder to turn a blind eye.”
But that’s not to say they don’t treat themselves.
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“We absolutely do. We live a balanced lifestyle and understand it’s about what you do most of the time and not about what you do some of the time. So most of the time we eat clean and sometimes we have treats.
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“We don’t restrict ourselves to the point of being unhappy. We all get cravings and we will satisfy them when we do. It’s all things in moderation in our eyes. There are no ‘bad foods’, just bad portions.”
To find out more or be in to win the Ultimate Lifestyle Transformation go to www.betteryourself.co.nz
Linda Hall is a Hastings-based assistant editor for Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 30 years of experience in newsrooms. She writes regularly on arts and entertainment, lifestyle and hospitality, and pens a column.
Actress Jennifer Aniston has launched a new four-week challenge with fitness app Pvolve to help people get into the right mindset to exercise.
The Worth It Everytime campaign, created in collaboration with mental wellness app Headspace, encourages people to view exercise as something that energizes them rather than punishes them.
Pvolve members can access 30-35 minute exercise classes—both in person and online—as well as 30 days of free access to the Headspace app, which offers guided meditations and stress-busting tools to build lasting habits and emotional resilience.
Members who complete all 16 workouts will receive a limited edition Everything Pouch, created exclusively for the challenge.
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Aniston, a Pvolve partner and fitness enthusiast, admits she doesn’t always feel in the mood to exercise.
“People assume I’m always motivated, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I have plenty of days where I don’t want to work out at all.”
However, she says training with Pvolve keeps her going on down days because the app makes exercise feel good rather than a punishment.
Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox.
“What I’ve learned is that the conversation in your head is actually part of the work. You show up for yourself anyway, you move a little, and then something shifts. You feel better. That feeling is what brings me back.”
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“I know I’m doing something good for my body long term, and that makes showing up feel worth it every time.”
Pvolve head trainer Dani Coleman adds that, “when movement and mindset work together, something clicks.
“Consistency becomes natural and a workout stops feeling like something you push through and starts feeling like something that truly supports your total-body health.”
To help new members get started, Pvolve is offering 10% off sitewide.
After a period of inactivity, getting your fitness back can feel like a tough slog.
Jason Smith, a personal trainer, nutritional advisor and founder of Fit in Midlife, knows this from personal experience. He got fit again at 50 after years of inactivity, then started training people of a similar age, helping them to do the same.
One type of client that Smith often works with is the ex-athlete—someone who was sporty in their teens or 20s, but became less active with age.
These people are often ready to jump back in at the deep end: running long distances or lifting heavy weights, but find their brain is writing checks their body can’t cash.
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“Your brain still thinks that you can do the things that you used to do,” says Smith.
“Your body has had the longest rest period it’s ever going to have and during that period of time, your muscles have gone into atrophy, your cardiovascular system has diminished and you won’t be as capable as you were when you were in your 20s. This is just an unfortunate fact of life.”
“It can be really demotivating because you don’t feel capable,” adds Smith. “You don’t feel as though you’re actually able to do anything. But of course, the truth is very different.”
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And in Smith’s experience, there are two things that will help you overcome the dejection that can come when expectations meet reality.
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1. Find something you enjoy
Smith tells me that the first run he went on after deciding to move more turned into a walk. “Once I’d run about 300 meters, I realised it was much harder than I thought it would be,” he says.
Instead of stopping, Smith decided he was going to do the distance he planned, but by walking, breaking into a jog now and then.
“Despite not being able to do what I intended to do when I left the house, I enjoyed being out in the fresh air, moving my body and being active,” he says.
Now he runs because he loves experiencing beautiful places.
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“You don’t have to set a personal best every time that you go for a run,” he says.
“It doesn’t hurt to enjoy the environment while you’re out there,” says Smith. “If you see something that you want to stop and look at, stop and look at it.
“You are still doing the run. You are still improving your cardiovascular fitness. You are still burning calories. You are still getting your heart rate up.”
2. Be consistent and add small challenges
Because he enjoyed his first outing, Smith tried again, and crucially, he tried to do a little more running than last time.
“The next time I went, I was able to run a little bit further and walk a little bit less,” he says. “And I went again. Over time, walks turned into proper runs.”
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“By being consistent, you will build up the strength, endurance and stamina that make you more capable,” says Smith. “Start easy and gradually increase the challenge.
“Go to that next lamppost if you’re running, or an additional repetition on each of your sets if you’re weight training.”
“These things add up and make all the difference.”
Three weeks later, he ran up his nearest hill without stopping at all. “It was such a great feeling,” he says.
And that’s how Smith advises formerly athletic midlifers to return to exercise. Find a form of movement they enjoy and aim for achievable, consistent progress. These two simple things will set you up for success in the future.
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“You will feel stronger. You will feel fitter. You will have probably lost a little bit of weight as well,” says Smith. “This will also mean you’ll feel a little lighter and more energized. Then you will feel good about the progress that you’ve made.”
You don’t need a gym to exercise. Here’s how to work out at home.
ProblemSolved, USA TODAY
Whether you’re focused on building muscle, improving your balance or working on your ability to complete longer, sustained workouts, one thing’s for sure: you’ll need to take small, actionable steps to reach your fitness goals.
Remember, you don’t need to drastically overhaul your life on January 1. In fact, before making any major changes to your dietary pattern and exercise routine, it’s best to have a conversation with your doctor first, especially if you live with any chronic conditions. In the long run, you’ll most benefit from taking small, actionable steps to help achieve your fitness and nutrition goals, the experts say.
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We asked fitness experts to break down their top tips to help you kick off 2026 stronger than ever.
How to fit exercise into a busy schedule
If you’re hitting the reset button on your fitness routine, start small and choose an exercise you enjoy, says Dr. Kimberly Burbank, a primary care sports medicine fellow and team physician at UCLA Athletics. You don’t necessarily need to do the movements traditionally associated with exercise to get a good workout in, either. “I really encourage people to choose (a movement) they actually enjoy doing, because they will probably stick with it more,” she says.
To help set attainable fitness goals, one route is to use the SMART framework of goal setting, recommends Dr. Brandee L. Waite, a professor and vice chair of Wellness & Community Engagement Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at UC Davis School of Medicine, the medical director of the UC Davis Health Sports Medicine Clinic and the director of Lifestyle & Longevity Medicine Innovation.
The SMART acronym stands for goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound, and what’s great about using this framework in an exercise context is that you’re able to approach fitness as you would any other appointment — if it’s scheduled on your calendar, there’s a greater likelihood you’ll honor it, Waite says.
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We all know physical fitness is crucial. But how many days weekly should you work out?
When it comes to fitting exercise into a busy schedule, “I try to encourage consistency over perfection,” Burbank says. Often, her patients will express frustration that they’ve missed a week of exercise — and therefore their entire workout schedule has been thrown off. While it’s important to “be as consistent as you can, (understand) that you don’t have to be perfect to still make a meaningful difference,” she says.
If you’re someone who prefers to exercise in the morning, try to make it easy for yourself when you wake up. “It’s so easy when that alarm goes off to just ignore it and move on. But if you have laid out your clothes the night before, have your coffee prepped (and) have your bag packed, then there’s so many (fewer) variables and barriers,” Burbank says.
How often should you exercise?
There’s no perfect cadence as to how often you should exercise. “What works really well for one person, will not work at all for another person. So, it does need to be personalized and realistic,” says Waite. However, there is something to be said about shorter, more frequent workouts. There’s a lower risk of injury, and they’re faster to complete and generally easier to stay consistent with, Burbank says.
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Ultimately, what’s most important is to meet a certain number of goal minutes every week, says Dr. Julia L. Iafrate, a sports medicine physician at NYU Langone Health and a team physician for the U.S. Ski Team. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend adults participate in 150-to-300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week. While this might sound intimidating, that breaks down to only 30 minutes of exercise a day over the course of five days, and could consist of a mix of pilates, yoga or brisk walking.
More: What were the popular workout classes of 2025? See ClassPass report
If you prefer vigorous-intensity aerobic exercises (like HIIT or running), it’s recommended you complete at least 75 minutes a week, which evens out to a little more than 20 minutes of exercise a day over the course of three days. On top of these exercises, the organizations suggest adults should partake in muscle-strengthening workouts at least two days a week.
What are the most beginner-friendly exercises?
There are a few forms of exercise that should be a central focus of your workouts: cardio, muscle strengthening and balance work. Practicing each type of exercise can help improve your ability to do the others and also reduce your risk of injury, Iafrate says.
Cardio. Incorporating aerobic exercises that get your heart rate up (such as running, swimming or cycling) is key to improving endurance, supports heart and lung health, and lowers your risk for a number of chronic diseases, Iafrate says.
Muscle strengthening. Resistance training with weights stimulates two types of muscle contractions: eccentric loading and concentric loading. When you perform a bicep curl with a dumbbell in hand, that’s considered a concentric motion. As you lower the dumbbell and your arm straightens, that is an eccentric motion, Iafrate says. Both movements are important for strength building, tendon health and bone mineral density, she explains.
Balance work. Functional movement training, including tai chi and yoga, is especially beneficial for maintaining flexibility, stabilizing your body and limiting the likelihood of falls down the line, Iafrate says.
Weight-bearing exercise. “Walking, especially for beginners, is super underrated,” Burbank says. Getting your step count up to 7,000 steps a day offers immense benefits for health, including lowering your risk for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, according to a 2025 study published in Lancet Public Health.
If you’re relatively new to exercise and don’t know what is helpful or harmful, Waite recommends having at least two-to-three sessions with a physical therapist to develop the right type of exercise program. For instance, if someone has a medical condition like hip arthritis, a professional can provide “modifications for a regular fitness training program that won’t further exacerbate the problem that is currently bothering them,” Waite says.
How can nutrition support fitness goals?
“Nutrition and exercise have such a symbiotic relationship,” Burbank says. Throughout your week, prioritize whole, fiber-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Americans aren’t consuming nearly enough protein, which is essential to muscle building, muscle recovery and satiety, Burbank notes. Your minimum daily intake of protein should hover between 0.8 grams to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. To increase your protein intake, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 recommends incorporating more lean meats, poultry, eggs, seafood, legumes, nuts, seeds and soy into your diet.
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More: Functional strength training provides many health benefits. But you need to be careful.
Hydration is particularly important, especially prior to working out. “When you’re dehydrated, (it will) increase your likelihood for fatigue and poor peak performance,” Iafrate says. Ideally, we should be drinking between 2.5 to 3 liters of water a day, Burbank says.
More: Consider these 4 doctor-approved tips to help maintain strong, healthy bones
