Lean with Lesley: working out with Cork's favourite fitness guru

Lesley Giltinan may well be Ireland’s answer to a happier, healthier life. Orla Neligan talks to Cork’s favourite personal trainer on fitness, fears and switching off.

Lesley Giltinan: "I played hockey and tennis in school but mainly under duress. I’d say all my school friends are having a good laugh seeing me now"

If there’s one thing that’s going to push you through a miserable winter morning, it’s Lesley Giltinan. It’s 7am and she’s standing in her garden in the dark wearing a wool beanie, looking more like a 20-year-old Californian than a 50-year-old Corkonian. The music is pumping as she lifts dumbbells over her head with a big beaming smile, exuding that kind of morning energy you wish you could package and sell. Thumb through her Instagram feed and it’s clear she rarely presents anything less than a perky, upbeat persona but then, that’s the currency for most personal trainers, fitness professionals, and Corkonians I’ve found.

“We’re a pretty tight-knit community here,” she tells me, referring to her strong band of followers which jumped from a few hundred to nearly 4,000 in lockdown after she launched her app, Lean with Lesley (she’s reaching a wider audience this month, running classes in Kildare Village, on January 14 and 21). “The girls in my class are so loyal to me and they’re with me most days in my classes which I now stream online for a wider audience. They’re my safety net.”