Power Up

Kelsey Wells grew up in suburban bliss, dreaming of becoming a dancer. Life had other plans. Injury, post-natal depression and a death in the family took her to the edge – and exercise brought her back.

Now she has thousands of followers and a workout program that is as much about making women fit on the inside as on the outside.

Kelsey went to school and college in Salt Lake City, where her mum raised four kids and her dad worked in real estate.

Dancing was her passion, and she was set on being a fairy princess/singer/ballerina/ ice skater. Into adolescence and she wanted to be a professional dancer and eventually go on to teach. She lived and breathed it. But at 16 she had to stop due to a serious knee injury.

Putting that behind her, Kelsey went to complete a bachelor's degree in interior design, married her beau Ryan and had a bouncing baby boy they named Anderson.

It should have all been “happy families”, but PND soon reared its ugly head.

“Giving birth is such a miraculous journey and new motherhood is an incredibly beautiful time of life. But it can also be a very real struggle. I had just given birth to the most beautiful and amazing little boy, but post-natal anxiety set in and I remember feeling very alone and ashamed that I wasn't feeling the happiness that I so badly wanted to feel,” Kelsey recalls.

“Back then not many people spoke of postnatal anxiety or depression, so I wasn’t sure where or who to turn to. A year later, when fitness had provided such a healing balm for my mental struggles, I felt a huge sense of longing to help others going through what I had.

“This, coupled with other private challenges I was facing in my personal life at the time which left me very alienated, pushed me to finally take the plunge and create my account. I wanted to help other women but also desperately needed an outlet, a safe place where I could be myself, share my knowledge and passion for fitness, and connect with like-minded women.”

Every woman who has been down a hard road knows that fitness is more than physical activity. Your mental and emotional wellbeing are every bit as important. The body can only go where the mind leads.