I Tried “Love Island USA” Star Leah Kateb’s Workout, and It Was the Perfect Burner – POPSUGAR Australia

Spoiler alert: Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi, runners-up on season 6 of “Love Island USA,” are still together – and their workout game is strong. Kateb recently posted a TikTok video of her and Harichi at the gym, proving exercising with your SO is way more fun than going it alone.

As a massive “Love Island” fan, I knew I had to give their sweat sesh a try when I saw the video pop up on my FYP. They started out with a warmup where they danced it out a bit, and I instantly knew I was going to have a blast following along.

Next up: push-ups – one of my least favorite exercises (but one of the best for building upper-body strength). Kateb did knee push-ups while Harichi did standard push-ups, but I opted for a middle-of-the-road variation: the hand-release push-up. Two of my favorite moves, sit-ups and scissor kicks, came after. I followed along for three sets of 10 reps of each exercise.

Then, we took a stretching break that consisted of the butterfly stretch and pigeon pose. I admittedly don’t stretch as often as I should, and my hips were really feeling it. This was a good reminder to incorporate more mobility into my workouts.

Last up was one set of 20 weighted Russian twists and one set of 10 crunches with knee tucks – two more moves I was excited to see in this routine. (Can you tell I love a good core workout?)

Maybe it’s because I was already a bit sore from a full-body workout I did the day before, but I really felt the burn during Kateb and Harichi’s routine – and I definitely felt achy the next day, too.

While Kateb’s video is sped up, the whole workout took me about 15 minutes to complete, which is less time than I’d normally spend exercising. (I aim for at least a 30-minute session.) But it was a great way to break up sitting at my desk working, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

You can obviously do this workout solo like I did, but enlisting your SO does have some science-backed benefits. A small 2021 study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships suggests that regularly exercising with a romantic partner increases the likelihood of maintaining a workout routine and increases satisfaction in the relationship. Even working out with a friend boosts your motivation and the probability you’ll reach the recommended physical activity guidelines each week, according to a 2023 study in the Journal of Aging and Health.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your partner or bestie and follow along with Kateb and Harichi’s sweat sesh. You won’t regret it.

Danielle Zickl is a freelance writer who has 10 years of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. You can find her work here on PS and in many other publications, including Self, Well+Good, Runner’s World, Outside Run, Peloton, Women’s Health, and Men’s Fitness.