Good Technique
I will never ask you to do something you cannot execute with good technique.
Meet Katie
My own journey with health and fitness hasn’t been a straight line. It’s taken me through injury, rehabilitation, personal training, nutrition and naturopathy, and taught me that there’s no single path to feeling your best. For the past 15 years, I’ve used those experiences to help people build strength, move well and create healthier habits that work for real life.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Helping people become stronger, healthier and more capable in their own bodies
I didn’t start out as someone who had always been fit and healthy. In my early 20s, I was putting on quite a lot of weight, partying, smoking, not eating or sleeping properly, and really giving no thought to my health whatsoever. Then one day, I asked a girlfriend at work what she did to get her legs looking so toned. She said, “I do boot camp.” So naturally I said, “I want to do that, let’s do it together!” We found a trainer and went all in. Six days a week, personal training, group sessions, spin classes, running and pretty much anything else we could fit in. I did that for about a year, and it completely changed how I saw myself and what I thought I was capable of. Then injury brought everything to a halt.
When training became rehabilitation
0 Years
In personal training
0 Degrees
In Health Science
0 Years
Studying health & nutrition
0 Approach
Built around the individual
Whilst training for the Bridge to Brisbane, I developed shin splints and had to all but stop training. At the same time, I was experiencing severe back and neck pain. At its worst, I couldn’t shoulder check in my car because turning my neck would send shooting pain through my entire body.
I spent years working with physios and trying to rehabilitate properly. One physio told me I had the second worst case of nerve root irritation he’d ever seen. I couldn’t even sit comfortably through a movie.
Training had been supporting my mental health, so being unable to do it was incredibly frustrating. What made it harder was feeling like my trainer didn’t really know what to do with me. I was hyperflexible, needed rehabilitation and required more attention to my technique. As I became more difficult to train, I felt like his attention shifted elsewhere.
Looking back now, I think he probably felt out of his depth. But at the time, the experience stayed with me.
Everyone should be able to feel welcomed and supported in their journey, no matter where they’re at.
Around the same time, I was feeling increasingly unsatisfied with my career in the music industry and started thinking that maybe I might enjoy helping people get fit and healthy.
So, I became a personal trainer.
MY JOURNEY
15 years of learning, training and changing
I started my career with Boot Camps Australia in 2011, learning about functional training, kettlebells and CrossFit. I absolutely loved it.
I loved helping people get fitter, lose weight and feel healthier.
But my own health journey was far from over.
In 2014, I went through a severe depression. I’d built a boot camp business, had trainers working for me and my own gym, and then two trainers left and took about half the client base with them. At the same time, my long-term relationship was falling apart and I wrote off my car.
I was working huge hours, drinking heavily and eventually stopped caring about pretty much everything.
A year or so later, I found bodybuilding. I competed in my first show in 2015 and again in 2016. It gave me discipline and helped me lose the weight I’d gained, but the way I was eating was making me very unwell and I had no idea.
Later in 2016, I saw a naturopath who told me I was experiencing severe liver damage. After years of drinking, taking medication, eating poorly and then heavily restricting my food, my body needed me to pay attention.
I needed to slow down, rest and begin to heal.
That experience eventually led me back to university to study health.
Looking beyond exercise
I spent five and a half years studying nutrition and naturopathy full-time, qualifying as both a clinical nutritionist and clinical naturopath. That education completely changed the way I understood health, and it highlighted for me the enormous gap that can exist between nutrition advice in the fitness industry and what our bodies actually need to be healthy and energetic.
Exercise was an incredibly important part of my journey, but understanding what was happening inside my body through changing my own nutrition was a turning point. Although I don’t currently offer clinical nutrition or naturopathy services through my personal training business, my experience and expertise informs the general nutrition and health education I provide to clients working towards more energy, weight loss and body composition changes.
It has also shaped the way I train people.
I’m interested in helping you build a body that works well for your life. Stronger, more mobile, more capable and, where possible, with fewer aches, pains and niggles getting in your way.
What training with me looks like
There are three things I’d like every client to know before we start:
Collaboration
Your program is a collaboration, not a dictatorship. Everything is customised to you and your lifestyle.
Real Results
Your results matter to me. I want to help you build strength, improve mobility and feel healthier.
I’m not a one-size-fits-all trainer.
Everything I recommend is customised to you and your lifestyle, from the exercises your body needs to improve function, strength and mobility, to how frequently you train, how long you train for and the setting that suits you.
Nutrition is approached in the same practical way, based on what you can realistically achieve around your current lifestyle and circumstances.
And we don’t do six-week challenges because life is longer than six weeks! Quick fixes rarely last. Sustainable, consistent programs are what stand the test of time.
You also won’t find me yelling and screaming at you to hurry up or work harder, unless it’s in jest! I’ve already retired from boot camp life!!!
The people I love working with
I love working with people who are open-minded, love to learn and use the process of improving chealth and fitness to support growth in other areas of their lives.
I particularly enjoy working with women who haven’t yet found a solution that works for them. It’s incredibly rewarding to see someone finally achieve results and change the trajectory of their life.
I also really enjoy working with male clients who want to injury-proof themselves and care enough about their bodies to work at the level that suits where they’re currently at.
And I LOVE working with mature clients, both women and men. When someone discovers how much easier life can be when they’re strong and moving well, the joy is so lovely to witness.
Whether the goal is losing weight, becoming stronger, improving mobility, getting back into exercise or learning how to train around injuries and niggles, the starting point is always where you are now.
WHAT DRIVES ME
Why I’m still doing this 15 years later
What’s kept me in this job is the challenge of continuing to learn and finding better ways to help people.
I’m still learning and growing every single day.
The best part is seeing someone achieve the result they dreamed about, get themselves out of pain, or do something they genuinely didn’t think they could do.
Seeing someone feel empowered to live more of their life in a way they thought they’d lost is what keeps me going after all this time.
I feel so honoured to help people become healthier, stronger, more mobile and energetic.
It’s honestly the best job in the world!
I’m still learning and growing every single day.
The best part is seeing someone achieve the result they dreamed about, get themselves out of pain, or do something they genuinely didn’t think they could do.
Seeing someone feel empowered to live more of their life in a way they thought they’d lost is what keeps me going after all this time.
I feel so honoured to help people become healthier, stronger, more mobile and energetic.
It’s honestly the best job in the world!
Qualifications & Credentials
- Qualified Personal Trainer (Cert III & IV Fitness)
- Clinical Nutritionist (Bachelor Health Science Nutrition & Dietetic Medicine)
- Naturopath (Bachelor Health Science Naturopathy)
- Qualified Hypnotherapist & NLP Practitioner
- 15+ Years Experience
BEYOND TRAINING
Outside the gym
My Love for Music
Music is still a huge part of my life. I’ve been singing since I was young, played piano from the age of five and studied music technology at the Conservatorium of Music from 2005 to 2009. I currently sing in a choir and a small female vocal ensemble, as well as continuing with singing lessons.
Life with Troy
My husband Troy and I have been together for ten years and got married in New York in 2019. We love watching movies, listening to records and supporting each other in the things we create.
Simple Pleasures
I also love lying on the beach with a book, spending time with family and friends, and cooking healthy meals. I get a lot of enjoyment out of making something delicious and surprising people who were convinced that healthy food couldn’t possibly taste good!
Begin your journey
Book your free discovery call
What to expect on your discovery call
A 15-20 minute conversation about your goals and where you are right now
We'll explore any injuries or limitations and what sustainable progress looks like for you
Katie will walk you through her holistic, injury-aware approach
Together, you'll decide if personal training is the right fit
Why choose Katie Henderson
Complimentary discovery call
Injury-aware, posture-focused training with hands on adjustments and cues
Holistic approach: movement + nutrition + mindset
In-person at Goodlife Health Clubs Wynnum, Brisbane or Online
15+ years of experience