Kirsty Hendey - THE DISCOMFORT ZONE
Social-media fitness guru and SAS: Who Dares Wins star Kirsty Hendey wants to find out what she is capable of, writes Joe Bill
Scouting around on Instagram in my pyjamas, eating some peanut butter on toast, sometimes it’s hard to not feel a little lethargic in the mornings… never more so than when I scroll past Kirsty Hendey’s latest live workout.
Taking ‘at home exercise’ to a whole different level, the Bexley-raised fitness guru took lockdown by the scruff of the neck and turned her flat and balcony into an interactive keep- fit fortress.
But, after meeting Kirsty at a wellness retreat in Dymchurch the previous summer, where I grossly misread the vibe, drank too much and missed her early-morning beachside live session (yes, I’m aware of the irony), I already knew that a little lockdown was never going to stop her.
For those who watched it, Kirsty’s willingness to push the boundaries was obvious from her stint on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins – the popular TV show that follows 25 individuals on a course designed to recreate the SAS’s selection process.
If you think that sounds like a stroll in the park for TV purposes, it ain’t. It’s filmed on a remote Scottish island with sideways rain and contestants falling backwards out of helicopters into freezing lakes, kidnapped and blindfolded and thrown around with heavy gunfire, not to mention the occasional bit of psychological duress. It’s not really most people’s idea of a laugh, but then Kirsty isn’t most people.
“Yeah, it was so dangerous that at times I was thinking ‘How is this even legal on this show?’. The guys take it very seriously. They do their best to replicate the SAS selection course as thoroughly as they can.
“You go through a lot of therapy before, during and afterwards. And I remember saying to the therapist ‘This show is insane’ – when we were on top of the mountain, carrying a log up there, it was so windy I couldn’t even hold myself up. It was severe.
“There were moments when I was thinking ‘You must be mad’, but it was still a great experience.”
Back to her lockdown fitness routines, and with the introduction of press-ups in the snow, cold winter showers and various physical beastings, it could be argued that Kirsty has quickly become as much an adrenaline hunter as a fitness guru.
“I love challenges and being in the discomfort zone, that’s kind of what I thrive in,” she says. “I want to inspire a community of people who are super-passionate about finding their discomfort zone, taking a risk, harnessing their power and exceeding their expectations… I’m trying to find more crazy people like me!”
And she has done just that… with two major challenges on the horizon.
“..it was so dangerous that at times I was thinking ‘How is this even legal on this show?’”
“This crazy idea that my friend got into my head, that I should swim the Channel. I thought it was a great idea until I realised I actually can’t swim very well,” she explains.
Most of us would give up at that point… guess again. With only just over two months of intense training, Kirsty entered as part of a team of six to swim the Channel in relay for the Children’s Air Ambulance Charity.
“I’m excited but starting to realise that acclimatisation to cold water is a bit of a challenge in itself. There’s a big difference between a quick dip for two minutes or being in it for an hour or 90 minutes.”
The Relay Channel Swim is 21 miles, with each swimmer doing an hour or so throughout the night until the team reach France.
“It can take anywhere between 14 and 28 hours to do it as a team,” says Kirsty. “I didn’t realise just how challenging it is until we started training, so massive kudos to the people who have done it solo.
“There’s a lot of different factors that you might not think about, like the seasickness on the boat to currents, so we’ve been going down to Dover to practise in the sea to get used to the waves and currents.”
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing – anyone who has been keeping up to date with the training will know there have been tears and numerous shivering self-interviews. But never enough to back out.
“I can’t put my finger on why I enjoy it so much,” she says. “I just feel like, as humans we are capable of so much, it would be such a shame to die without knowing what we are capable of in terms of physical and mental challenges.”
Meanwhile, the social-media star, who has more than 35,000 followers, has also signed up to an ultramarathon in Jordan (the country in the Middle East) in October.
“I’m not really a runner, the most I’ve done is 30km,” says Kirsty. “But the ultramarathon is 250km. It’s going to be another challenge to acclimatise to the hot weather, and then of course the distance. But I’m super-excited for that.”
But why… why would you put yourself through all this?
“I don’t know where this urge comes from, I just love meeting people with that similar mindset. And it’s such a good feeling when accomplishing something that you didn’t think was possible.”
The good thing about Kirsty is that she videos so much of her punishing challenges, we can experience it all, too, without having to break a sweat. God bless social media keeping us safe.
Insta: @kirstyhendey
