“I’ll never forget standing in the shower at just 10 or 11 years old, already ashamed that my stomach wasn’t flat,” recalls Daniella Corder, an online fitness coach whose social media wellness content is as binge-worthy as a new season of Netflix’s Emily In Paris. Growing up in the heyday of the ‘heroin chic’ era, Daniella absorbed toxic mantras such as: “No pain, no gain!”, “Cut carbs!”, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!” and “No rest days” – messages that shaped her earliest ideas of wellness.
By her teens, Daniella was severely underweight. As a result, she lost her period for a year and battled hormonal acne. “…I didn’t realise how much my training, eating and lifestyle were affecting everything – my skin, my mood, my cycles.” And so her journey to learning began.
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Daniella went on a full-on mission to school herself on women’s health and the menstrual cycle, saying the biggest lesson was: “I realised women are not tiny men – our hormones are far more intricate,” she explains. True transformation and healing showed up at her doorstep when she started eating more, swapping endless cardio for strength training as well as tending to her hormonal rhythms.
“I realised women are not tiny men – our hormones are far more intricate.”
Today, Daniella shares that hard-earned wisdom with clients through her new app, Sync Strong, which offers personalised strength training and nutrition guidance tailored to each hormonal phase, from periods right through to perimenopause. “I want women to understand that fitness isn’t about punishing your body, but working with it.” While her approach to wellness is intentional, Daniella doesn’t believe in working out to the point of being near-lifeless. Asked about her favourite post-workout ritual for instance, Daniella says: “I love doing Shavasana on the mat and imagining my cells high-five each other.” *Shavasana is a restorative yoga pose and meditation technique where one lies still on their back, arms and legs spread comfortably, to achieve deep relaxation for the mind and body. It’s usually performed at the end of a yoga session.
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Trivia
Exercise you should be doing, but that you avoid…
Anything that remotely resembles a pull-up. Like seriously, why so hard though?
Favourite food that you wish to turn into a low-calorie superfood?
The infamous ‘three puff-keteers’ – Ghost Pops, Flings and Cheese Curls. Name a more deliciously dynamic trio, I’ll wait!
Fitness trend you’ve sworn off…
Thinking to myself after a workout: ‘I’m not sweaty and absolutely wrecked…therefore it wasn’t a good workout.’
Biggest challenge on your fitness journey…
The biggest challenge was unlearning everything I thought was true growing up. I overcame it by educating myself, tuning into my own body and doing what actually felt right for me. I finally learned that starving myself and doing endless cardio wouldn’t give me the results I wanted. Hormonal health is essential for sustainable physical and mental results.
Get To Know Daniella
Check out the Sept/Oct 2025 issue of Women’s Health SA for the inspiring stories of the other WH Cover Search finalists. On sale NOW!
