Performance coach Joe Holder has helped sculpt some of the most famous bodies in fashion, training the likes of Naomi Campbell, Bella Hadid and a string of Victoria's Secret models ahead of their biggest runway moments.

But according to the trainer, the secret behind their enviable physiques is not punishing daily workouts, endless cardio or spending hours in the gym.

In fact, Joe said one of the biggest mistakes women make when trying to get fit is assuming every workout needs to be hard.

Speaking on popular podcast Well with Arielle Lorre, he revealed how he treated his Victoria's Secret clients more like professional athletes than runway models, strategically cycling through periods of strength, conditioning, explosive movement and recovery.

'It was a Super Bowl. So, to me, it was like getting athletes ready,' he said.

'The VS show to them was the race, so then I would sit down and create phases for each person.'

The interview has since racked up more than 700,000 views, with his refreshingly measured approach to exercise, food and body image striking a chord with women across the globe.

Building a solid fitness base first 

Joe's approach begins with something far less stressful than a gruelling celebrity workout and focuses more on building a solid fitness base.

When preparing a model for a Victoria's Secret show, he first takes them through a general preparation phase designed to gradually increase their 'work capacity', rather than throwing them straight into punishing sessions.

'You have to get people used to doing work for a longer duration of time,' he explained in the one-hour episode.

This includes a mixture of strength training alongside aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, allowing the models to build fitness while retaining the ability to recover.

From there, he moves them into heavier strength training, particularly important when a model is eating in a calorie deficit ahead of a show.

Rather than the light weights and endless repetitions traditionally associated with women's workouts, Joe favours heavier weights and fewer repetitions.

He typically has his female clients perform five to eight reps, with heavier weights and long rest periods between sets, sometimes stretching for up to three minutes.

The purpose, he noted, is to preserve muscle as body fat is reduced. It is then followed by the final stages of preparing that muscle to move. 

Joe likes to incorporate explosive power exercises such as jumping and medicine ball throws, explaining that many women aren't accustomed to moving quickly.

The aim is to create what he dubs 'neurogenic tone', essentially priming the brain and muscles to work together so that when a model walks, turns and poses on the runway, her muscles and stabilisers naturally activate.

His goal thereafter is to keep the model's body 'primed', nourished and recovering well so all of the work already completed shows when the cameras start flashing.

Naomi Campbell's balanced approach to exercise

Joe saw first-hand just how entrenched the belief that harder equals better had become while training Naomi Campbell in New York.

He recalled one of his friends walking into the gym during one of the supermodel's easier sessions and being surprised by what he saw.

His friend remarked that he had expected Naomi to 'always be working out hard'.

'It's more of a cohesive recipe, and rest and recovery and things like that are very much a part of it because that's how the body adapts.'

For Joe, exercise is a stress placed on the body, and the benefit comes not just from applying that stress but allowing the body enough time to recover and become fitter as a result.

Instead he recommended doing a hard workout approximately every four sessions, with the others geared towards recovery, aerobic fitness and strength.

He suggested that tough sessions might occur every two to three times every 10 days, depending on how the individual recovered.

'Just because you work out on Monday, go to sleep, and then work out again on Tuesday, doesn't mean that's giving the body enough time.'

The reason working out harder doesn't always work

It's a scenario many women will recognise when they throw themselves into a new fitness regime expecting to quickly look leaner, only to feel inexplicably puffier instead.

According to Joe, the instinct to respond by exercising even harder can be exactly the wrong move.

'Especially for women, if you're constantly going back to back to back to back, what ends up happening?' he said.

'You look a little bit puffier. You're not sleeping as well. Those things aren't working.

'It doesn't even have to be hard all the time, right? Then you have those smaller moments of those more difficult workouts or difficult phases.'

He believes these hard sessions need to be introduced intermittently, giving the body sufficient opportunity to recover and adapt before it is subjected to another major stressor.

He also noted that lower-intensity exercise still has an important role during that recovery period, including aerobic or Zone 2 work, alongside strength training.

For him personally, he said it could take two to three days for his body to properly recover from a difficult workout.

But instead of spending those days on the sofa, he advocated staying active with lower-intensity movement, eating well and prioritising sleep before pushing hard again.

The 'open secret' models use with their diet

Joe revealed that one of his go-to nutrition strategies was carb cycling, or adjusting carbohydrate intake according to the intensity of the day's training.

On harder training days, or while recovering from one, the VS models would typically consume more carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores, which could also help muscles appear fuller.

Lower-intensity days could involve fewer carbohydrates because the body didn't require the same 'high octane fuel'.

He described carb cycling as an 'open secret' in the industry and one of the easiest ways of getting in shape, fast.

He also favoured what he calls 'circadian rhythm eating', generally having the first meal an hour or two after waking and finishing the last around two hours before bed.

And despite models potentially being in a calorie deficit ahead of a show, he strongly rejected the notion that women should stop eating.

During periods where preserving lean mass was important, he would instead slightly increase protein intake, while stressing the importance of having enough energy available for the body to function and train.

Why women should stop feeling guilty about food

Perhaps the most refreshing part of Joe's philosophy has little to do with achieving a runway body at all.

Asked what he wished people would stop doing, the trainer took aim at the language women use around food, particularly labelling enjoyable foods a 'guilty pleasure'.

He also criticised the proliferation of 'what I eat in a day' content online, which he said could become overwhelming, especially for women.

Asked what he would choose for his ultimate 'death row meal', the trainer listed a West Indian roti, sweet plantains and baked macaroni and cheese, followed by apple pie with vanilla ice cream and his mother's vanilla strawberry cream cheesecake.

Earlier in the conversation, Joe also explained that indulgence has its own place in a healthy lifestyle, particularly when food is being enjoyed socially and without guilt.

The message underpinning his approach, for a man who has helped prepare some of the world's most famous models, is shouting that exercise and nutrition should ultimately make you feel better, not become another way to punish yourself.

'You deserve to feel good. You don't deserve to work yourself to the bone every day.'