How Australian fitness leader Chontel Duncan stays fit, sane and present as a mum of five

I’ll be honest, when I approached Chontel Duncan at the Glow Festival by Prudential, I was not prepared. At 186cm with a physique that could only be described as the result of a decade of serious, intentional work, she wasn’t just towering over me, but she also gave off the aura of someone who makes everyone else in the room quietly aware of themselves. 

But during my first five minutes talking to her, I was quick to realise that the most compelling thing about Chontel Duncan has nothing to do with how she looks. But it was about how she thinks.

The 36-year-old entrepreneur has spent more than a decade shaping how women think about strength, discipline and lifestyle, and has the covers of Women’s Health Australia, Women’s Health South Africa and Women’s Fitness Magazine to show for it. But behind all of that is a woman who has had to learn, sometimes the hard way, that fitness isn’t always something you can show up for, and that’s perfectly fine.

When fitness had to take a back seat

For someone whose entire life revolves around movement, being forced to stop completely was something Chontel never saw coming. During her third and fourth pregnancies, she was diagnosed with a threatened miscarriage, a condition where a large haematoma forms in the uterus, putting the pregnancy at serious risk. The only way to keep her babies safe was full bed rest – which meant Chontel couldn’t workout nor could she move. “It was just walking to the bathroom and back,” she says. 

With young children at home and a business to run, she spiralled. “I couldn’t contribute to my kids, I couldn’t play with my kids, I couldn’t be there for my team, my community. I couldn’t show up for them,” she recalls. And on top of that, she was trying to protect her children from seeing her fall apart, all while quietly grieving a version of herself she couldn’t access.

But despite all odds, Chontel pushed through, and not only is she a mum of five kids, but she also came out the other side with a perspective that changed everything. “It made me a more compassionate trainer. I understand the power of fitness now. That it’s more than our body, it’s all about our mindset.” And perhaps most powerfully: “I will never take for granted moving my body, because I know what it’s like when life makes you pause.”

On mum guilt

Ask Chontel about mum guilt and she’s refreshingly honest. “It’s not anything that goes away,” she admits. “It just shows that you care.”

Rather than fighting the guilt, her approach is to work around it. In this case, by bringing her children into her fitness journey instead of keeping it separate. Recovery sessions become stretching sessions on the living room floor with the kids. Conversations about food become lessons about fuelling your body. Workouts at home become a daily family habit.

“I let my kids see what I do. I want them to understand that yes, I’m still mum, but mummy worked really hard and she’s a positive influence.”

And when her kids struggle with a new exercise? She uses it as a teaching moment. She walks them through the process of being bad at something, then getting better at it, rep by rep, day by day. 

The mindset shift 

For Chontel, the biggest thing holding women back isn’t time or energy, but it’s the all-or-nothing mindset. She uses a simple analogy that stuck with me: “If you had a slashed tyre, you wouldn’t walk around and slash the other three. You’d go get that one fixed.”

In other words, one missed workout doesn’t mean the week is ruined. One bad day doesn’t erase your progress. Her advice? Stop planning for your best week and start planning for your worst. 

It sounds simple, but hearing it in person felt like a weight off my shoulders. You don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to hit every session, and you certainly don’t have to beat yourself up when life gets in the way. That, to me, is what sustainable fitness is really about. It’s not about obsessing over your workouts, but showing up consistently in whatever capacity you can, and being flexible enough to pivot when your plans don’t go accordingly.

Why she built NEUFORM 

When it came to building her app NEUFORM, Chontel’s motivation was personal. “I created NEUFORM for someone like myself,” she says. “There are so many tabs open in my mind. I’m consistently checking on my staff, my children, my husband. If I could just take one thinking process, one mental load away from a woman, that’s what I wanted to do.”

The app is designed to be a one-stop shop for women who are juggling everything and just need someone to think for them. Workouts are laid out, instructions are clear, and nutrition is built in. “I want you to feel like you’re treated and you’re the queen when you come into NEUFORM,” she says. “You don’t have to think. Just show up.”

What she hopes every woman takes away

For all her achievements, what Chontel wants women to see when they look at her has nothing to do with any of it. 

“I hope when they see me, it’s not about my body. That’s the least interesting thing about me,” she says. 

Coming from a woman who looks the way she does and has built what she has, somehow, that’s the most reassuring thing she could have said.