Why Instagram-Famous Trainer Alexia Clark Doesn't Post Bikini Photos

"It has never been about 'look at my body.'"


Alexia Clark promises you'll never do a boring workout again. This brunette badass doesn't believe in rocking the same workout twice—she's always tweaking a rep count, move combo, or tempo variation. "Every day presents new challenges, and no two days go exactly the same," says the 27-year-old from Scottsdale, Arizona. "The same should apply to your fitness regimen, to keep it mindful." That's why Alexia's videos—from the circuits she uploads daily to the full 30- to 60-minute routines she creates for the paid subscribers on her site—are some of the most inventive yet functional workouts you'll find in digital form.

For Alexia, who left her marketing job to pursue personal training full-time almost seven years ago, social media is still relatively new. About a year ago, she started using Instagram and Snapchat to post videos to show friends and family what kind of moves to try in the gym. Word got out fast about her creative mix of exercises using dumbbells, landmines, mini bands, and TRX suspension cables—clearly people craved novelty as much as she did.

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"It has never been about 'look at my body,'" says Alexia, who doesn't do bikini photos (no judgment—it's just not her bag). "It's always been, 'I want to help you, here's exercises that you can do, here's how to do them, here's a way to modify them, and here's something different.'" In essence, fitness doesn't have to be boring or rote to be effective.

That, ultimately, turns exercise into a lifestyle. As does having a community to rely on. (Just ask her Queen Team, the name of her Fit for a Reason subscribers and followers.) "The feeling that we get from sharing obstacles we go through with somebody else... that's so much more than the physical payoff."

With Friends Like These...

Who needs a trainer? Recruiting a workout buddy won't just motivate you, it can actually make you more efficient in the gym, and thus stronger and more toned. Here, Alexia's top three ways to max out a tag-team sesh.

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Not all partners are on the same fitness level. To even things out, count time, not reps: Perform the same exercises for the same amount of time (say, mountain climbers for one minute), but do as many reps as you can in that frame. "You both get to go at your own pace but are also in sync enough to encourage each other along the way," says Alexia.


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Working out together doesn't mean always doing the exact same thing. Try trading off exercises for a different kind of challenge. For example, have your partner perform walking lunges (with or without dumbbells) from one wall to the other while you do pushups; as soon as she's done, you swap. You'll likely push yourself harder to relieve your buddy.

RELATED: This Pushup Variation Will Get You Rock-Hard Abs


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There will always be exercises she knows that you don't, and vice versa. At the end of each workout, stop to show each other a favorite move. Then take a few minutes to do it, focusing on nailing proper form rather than how many reps you're doing. You'll get a bonus burn while slowing your heart rate before heading out the door.


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