Tiffiny Hall first came to the public’s attention almost 20 years ago as Angel on Gladiators and then as the expert trainer on The Biggest Loser. Since then she has become a prominent figure in the Australian health and wellness industry as a fitness expert, media personality, blackbelt, entrepreneur and best-selling author. Last year Tiffiny sold her fitness and nutrition business TXO which is now hosted on the online platform, 28 by Sam Wood, where she is still a trainer. She teaches women’s self-defence, either through her own company Defend Her, or her family’s business, Hall’s Taekwondo. Her parents started the business the year she was born and it has grown into the biggest martial arts school in Australia, with six locations around Melbourne.
Tiffiny grew up in Melbourne, and lived in Manly for four years while shooting The Biggest Loser. She has now settled back in Melbourne with her husband, comedian Ed Kavalee, her four-year-old daughter Vada and her eight-year-old son Arnold.
“I start every day at 4am. I like to move my body straight up and get some endorphins and then I’m not negotiating with myself all day trying to fit it in. I didn’t used to be as disciplined, but when I had kids, it became ‘me time.’ I just love it. I’ll usually do about an hour of exercise and then it’s putting the washing on, unloading the dishwasher, getting the uniforms ready for school, all that stuff.
My son and daughter usually wake up at about 6am, so I feed them breakfast and get my son ready for school and my daughter ready for kinder. On a typical day, I will either work in our martial arts family business, Hall’s Taekwondo, which I cap at 24 hours a week, or film for 28 by Sam Wood. I have rules with how many hours I spend on things so that I can accomplish everything. Sometimes things get pushed or I don’t get back to people until a day later, but I usually get it done.
On a typical filming day, I need to leave by 4am to drive the hour and a half to the studio. I don’t train in the morning on filming days, as I usually do five or six hours of exercise on camera, so I have to conserve all of my energy and strength for the on-camera workout.
I have my own company called Defend Her, which specialises in women’s self-defence. I do team bookings, corporate bookings, schools, you name it. If you want to learn self-defence, I will come and teach you. My passion is teaching women’s self-defence.
“It feels like a good day if I’ve contributed in some way.”
I usually finish work around 3pm, whether it’s a filming day or I’m working in the family business, and I will pick up the kids from kinder and school. Then it’s running around to activities: my son does taekwondo, baseball and rugby. My daughter does gymnastics and taekwondo.
Then we do homework and make dinner. My husband will be home at that point, and we’ll have dinner as a family.
We eat healthy, but aren’t super strict. I’ve had times in my life where I have had to diet to maintain a certain physique for television, especially when I did Gladiators. That was quite intense and really not fun.
I’m not a ‘no sugar’ household. My kids have dessert. They have sugar. I think it’s really important for them to know that some foods are ‘sometimes’ foods you don’t have every day, so they don’t want to binge on them because they feel deprived.
After dinner we wind down and get the kids to bed. My phone goes to sleep at about 7.30pm. If I could change something about my day, I’d be more disciplined in not checking email all the time and the WhatsApp work groups – they are out of control and they go off all day, all night.
Every night I lay out my clothes next to the bed, so I don’t disturb my husband rummaging around in the morning. I just get up, grab the pile next to the bed, go downstairs and get dressed. I have glamorous active wear that I wear when filming, but the stuff I like to train in is worn and comfy and I wear the same thing pretty much every day. I’m minimising decision fatigue.
It feels like a good day if I’ve contributed in some way. I really do love coaching people, whether it’s fitness or self-defence. If I’ve made an impact in a small way, whether they’ve learned something in three seconds that can save their life, or they’ve learned a new way to really switch on their glutes, I feel good about myself.
Something else that makes me feel good and helps me switch off is playing the piano. I’ve played since I was a little kid and I’ve kept it up. When I had my daughter, we needed space in the house, so our grand piano moved to my mum’s place a street away. I often walk around to mum’s and play the piano for 40 minutes to an hour. I lose time doing that. I love it.
I like to end the day relaxing and watching something with Ed. I find that really cosy. Then I go to bed by 9pm and read for a little bit. My favourite way to end the day is reading. I love reading, all sorts of things, fiction, nonfiction.”
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Instagram: @tiffhall_xo
