If you’ve ever tried one of Kirsty Godso ’s workouts at New York’s Sky Ting studio—where she teaches a combination of yoga, strength, and cardio—or fired up one of the lead global trainer’s Nike Training Club videos, you know that they’re no joke. Whether it’s hip dips, mountain climbers, fire hydrants, or even hot-sauce burpees, Godso’s Pyro fitness brings the burn. Her signature high-energy style, however, is as much about mental health as it is physical, which is perhaps why Godso’s attracted celebrity clients like Kaia Gerber, Olivia Rodrigo, and Maddie Ziegler, who’ve come to rely on the trainer to support their busy lifestyles. The good news? Now you can too.
Godso has just launched her own website, which is home to all things Pyro. The name dates back to a high-intensity class that she taught with a friend in New York in 2016 where everyone was showing up in an intense mood, really fired up. It became an outlet where folks could get their anger or whatever they felt out of their systems. Plus, it was really, really hard. “Pyro is all about energy, a force and fire within you,” Godso explains. “You are the fire. Without being cringe, it’s just about feeling lit up in yourself and confident.”
The website features an extensive library of workout routines designed for at home or the gym that can be used on the go and are great if you, like me, have absolutely no idea where to start with equipment. The at-home workouts include signature strength, sweat, sculpt, and stretch classes that vary in length, intensity, and equipment options and are somehow just as difficult as taking Godso’s classes at a local studio. Plus they come with a fire endorsement: “Ayo Edebiri’s sending me photos of her screen while she’s in Tokyo, and she’s like, ‘You bitch!’, holding up her Pilates ball,” Godso laughs. “It makes me so happy that people are using the videos while they’re away.”
It’s no surprise they’re hooked. The videos feel as if Godso is in the room with you, adjusting your form, providing words of encouragement, and cracking jokes. She’s an expert, after all. Godso grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, which is known for its gym culture and being super outdoorsy. Alongside playing sports, she was into fitness videos: P90X, Insanity, Brazilian butt lift, and even Cindy Crawford’s workouts. She got really into the gym when she was in college and began starring in a handful of high-intensity workout videos. In 2012, Nike found her, and she decided to get certified as a personal trainer. Godso’s now one of their lead global trainers, also working across brand marketing and strategy.
“I always say I never wanted to be a trainer,” Godso explains. “I just wanted fitness to be different. And I did realize at a point that it would be quicker to change it if I infiltrated it.” Specifically, she wanted to see unhealthy, toxic gym marketing in the form of extreme results and before-and-after photos disappear altogether. This 2000s/2010s fitness culture suggested, particularly for women, that you always needed to be a lesser, skinnier version of yourself. “It was never about aesthetics for me,” Godso says. “I just love moving my body. It’s my happiest time of day because it’s mental escapism. You can come in, work hard, and just do it to feel good about yourself and feel strong. I predominantly work with women, and you can tell that when a woman feels strong, there’s such a shift in her confidence.”
Unfortunately, in women’s fitness and wellness circles the word strong still carries a stigma. People are shocked to see Gerber doing a hip thrust with 175 pounds, but she’s just very strong, Godso says. “There’s this idea that being strong means you’re bulky, and it’s not,” she adds. “That’s what I always try to prove to women.”
Though it’s good riddance to the flashy fitness videos of the past, there’s still something to be said for a celebrity endorsement. With Godso, it’s genuine, though. It’s quite impressive that she’s become the go-to trainer for a cohort of young women who want to care for their bodies and minds and see fitness differently. “Obviously, physically, they need their body to be in a certain position,” she says, recalling when she supported Rodrigo on tour, helping build her stamina for the stage. “But they are so mentally attached to their wellness routines because it’s what makes them feel good and cared for.”
In December, Godso will release her own fitness app, and there’s an endless supply of her high-intensity, mood-boosting workouts on the way, plus challenges to get even the most gym-averse moving. Just for Vogue readers, she’s shared her top three exercises for at-home use.
Glutes
When you’re sitting a lot, your glutes turn off, but don’t fear; there are plenty of ways to activate them at home with no gym equipment! To simplify, we’ll be using a wall for all three exercises suggested below, as I know you will all have access to one.
Lay on the ground and press your feet into a wall with knees bent, stacked over your hips. Head is on the ground, and arms are resting by your side. Push your feet into the wall to lift your hips into a glute-bridge position, stopping when there is a straight line between knees, hips, and ribs, then slowly lower back down. To maximize the work in your glutes, think about driving your foot into the wall and especially pushing through your heel. Use your exhale on the way up and inhale on the way down. Do 15 to 20 reps, three rounds. Advanced: Try a single-leg glute bridge with one foot pushing into the wall while the other leg is straight up in the air.
Posture
This one is so important given that so much of our life is pulling us forward: phones, laptops, cars, bags, etc. Try this stretch daily, if you can, to keep your real estate open and stacked. Stand against a wall with head, hips, and heels touching the wall, feet hip distance apart. Take your arms out into a goal-post position so elbows align with shoulders and forearms reach up the wall, pressing into it. Slowly, with control and using an inhale, try to slide your arms up the wall to straight, keeping the forearms as close to the wall as you can, then slide them back down with elbows driving toward your hips as you exhale. Try six to eight reps slow, two to three rounds. These are harder than you think but very effective.
Core
Honestly, one of the most simple ways to use your core in everyday life is to try to stand up from most seated positions without using your hands to assist. This is a super-simple way to get a lot of reps in during the day. Otherwise, an easy one to do at home or the office is using the wall again. Press your hands completely into the wall, and step your body back three or four feet so you’re on a diagonal to the wall, and come up onto your toes. Keep your spine long and straight, and while pushing generously through your hands into the wall, drive one knee at a time in toward your chest, then alternate. The more you push through your hands and drive into the ground with your grounded foot, the more you’ll feel your core. This exercise mimics a sled march that you’ll often see my girls doing on a curve treadmill. Try for 20 marches counting slowly, three rounds.