Namita Nayyar:
You started at the gym with a personal trainer because you were too intimidated to go alone. What was that first year like emotionally? And how did you know you were finally ready to train independently?
Audrey Martin:
The beginning was honestly very intimidating emotionally. For years, I had only used the gym as a place to burn calories. I would spend hours doing cardio, HIIT classes, stair machines or random exercises without really understanding what I was doing.
I was also extremely insecure and embarrassed because I felt like everyone around me knew more than I did.
When I first started training seriously with a personal trainer in Italy, I finally learned the basics properly. But the biggest transformation happened later in Portugal, where I trained with a bodybuilding coach who completely changed the way I saw fitness.
He introduced me to real gym culture:
- Proper technique,
- Mind-muscle connection,
- Training intensity,
- Biomechanics,
- Discipline and structure.
For the first time, I stopped chasing thinness and became passionate about strength and performance.
That’s when I realized I was finally becoming independent in the gym — because I was no longer training emotionally. I genuinely understood what I was doing and why I was doing it.
Namita Nayyar:
Today, your hobbies include boxing, swimming, running, weight training, golf, tennis, and surfing. Could you walk us through a typical weekly workout schedule? Do you combine these, or rotate them seasonally?
Audrey Martin:
The gym is still the center of my routine, but South Korea introduced me to boxing, which became one of my biggest passions.
I originally became interested in boxing after meeting and being friends with a Korean actor who was filming a drama about boxing. Through him, I became curious about the sport and decided to try it myself.
At first, I was too shy to join group classes, so I paid for private lessons instead.
Today boxing became much more than just a sport for me. The gym remains my foundation, but boxing became my emotional outlet. It’s the place where I release stress, emotions and pressure.
Usually my routine includes:
- Weight training 4–5 times per week
- Boxing 3 times per week (after weight training)
- Swimming, running or tennis on lighter days
- One full rest day every week
Korea made this lifestyle very easy because sports culture there is incredible. There are indoor gyms, boxing clubs, golf centers, baseball facilities and sports spaces everywhere, so staying active became part of daily life naturally.
Namita Nayyar:
You’ve said that “sport is no longer punishment – it’s therapy, balance, happiness and freedom.” For someone currently using exercise as self-punishment, what is the smallest first step you would recommend?
Audrey Martin:
For most of my life, exercise was punishment. I trained because I hated my body, because I gained weight or because I felt guilty after eating. If the scale didn’t go down, I thought I needed to suffer more.
The biggest transformation in my life wasn’t physical — it was mental. What truly changed me was education.
Learning about nutrition, hormones, metabolism and how the body actually works completely destroyed the toxic beliefs I had growing up.
I realized food was not my enemy. Food was fuel. It was what allowed my body to become stronger, healthier and more capable. The first step I would recommend to someone struggling with exercise as punishment is to stop associating movement with guilt. Movement should reconnect you to your body, not make you hate it more.
Namita Nayyar:
You’ve visited more than 50 countries. Which three destinations most profoundly changed your perspective on health, body image, or happiness – and why?
Audrey Martin:
South Korea, Japan and Italy probably changed my perspective the most regarding health, happiness and body image. South Korea changed my relationship with discipline, self-care and ambition. Korean culture inspired me deeply because people genuinely invest in becoming the best version of them physically and mentally.
Japan changed my understanding of food and longevity. I spent time in Okinawa studying the famous Blue Zone lifestyle and became fascinated by how much quality ingredients, movement, social connection and simplicity affect long-term health.
Italy taught me emotional connection to food, family and human relationships. Each country gave me a different version of what happiness can look like.
Namita Nayyar:
You often travel alone and seek extreme experiences: the Arctic, ice baths, the Amazon rainforest, remote jungles, indigenous tribes. What do you think you’re searching for when you push yourself that far outside your comfort zone?
Audrey Martin:
I think what I’m searching for when I push myself outside my comfort zone is perspective, resilience and freedom from fear. My goal in life is honestly very simple: I want to die without regrets. I want to die knowing that I experienced as much of life as possible, that I pushed myself beyond my limits and that I truly lived instead of simply existing.
That’s why I constantly seek extreme experiences, difficult environments and situations that challenge me mentally. Whether its ice baths in Sweden at -17°C, jungles in the Amazon, remote villages, scuba diving or traveling completely alone, I think what I’m really doing is training my mind. I often compare it to a vaccine for the brain.
Just like vaccines expose the body to controlled stress so it learns how to respond and become stronger, I expose myself to discomfort, uncertainty, fear and difficult situations so my mind learns how to adapt instead of panic.
Every difficult experience leaves me with something valuable:
- More resilience,
- More calmness,
- More confidence,
- More perspective.
But travel also changed me philosophically.
I grew up mainly between Italian and Moroccan culture, which naturally shaped my first beliefs about life, politics, religion, happiness and success. Traveling taught me that no culture owns the absolute truth. Every country has a completely different idea of happiness, family, beauty, work and freedom.
That realization changed me deeply because it made me understand that I wanted to form my own opinions through experience instead of simply inheriting the ideas around me.
Namita Nayyar:
Tell us about a solo travel moment where you felt genuine fear. How did you handle it, and what did that experience teach you about resilience?
Audrey Martin:
One of the scariest moments of my recent life was actually related to South Korea. At one point, I was temporarily unable to re-enter the country because of visa-related administrative issues, and emotionally it was incredibly difficult for me because Korea had already become home in my heart.
It was one of the first times in my life where I truly felt powerless and uncertain about the future. I panicked at first because suddenly I realized how attached I had become emotionally to that country, to my life there, to my friends and especially to my relationship.
But over time, I processed the situation calmly and realized that mistakes happen and that life is about learning how to handle those moments maturely instead of destroying yourself emotionally. That experience taught me responsibility, patience and emotional resilience. It also made me realize even more strongly how much South Korea means to me and how badly I genuinely want to build a stable and future there long-term.
Namita Nayyar:
One of your core messages is: “A healthy body is not necessarily an extremely thin body.” How do you respond to followers who say, “But I feel my best only when I weigh 48 kg”?
Audrey Martin:
I always try to explain that thinness alone is not health. A healthy body is not simply a low number on a scale. A healthy body is a body with healthy hormones, healthy blood values, healthy bones, energy, strength, balance and enough muscle mass to support long-term health.
A woman weighing 48 kg can absolutely be less healthy than a woman weighing 80 kg who trains consistently, walks daily, eats nutritious food and has strong muscles and healthy habits. I think sometimes people confuse “feeling mentally safer” at a lower weight with actually being healthier physically. Those two things are not always the same.
Today my priority is no longer extreme thinness. My priority is building a body that stays healthy, functional and strong long-term, even into old age.
Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
