Sports
YouTube star Lilly Sabri reveals how she built a fitness empire with just a yoga mat and a camera
In 2017, Lilly Sabri was renting out her local community hall for £25 an hour to host Pilates classes. “I would think, ‘OK, I just need three people to make a profit’,” she jokes.
Eight years on, she now owns one of the world’s leading fitness apps – Lean With Lilly – while boasting an online following in excess of six million. The catalyst? Posting at-home workout videos on YouTube.
Rarely before have fitness industry figures had this huge sphere of influence. A personal trainer tends to work with clients one-to-one, and even leading group classes might only grant them access to a few hundred faces per week.
By contrast, Sabri’s most-viewed video has been watched more than 87 million times – a figure larger than the population of 90 per cent of countries in the world. Such is her reach that one fan recently told her there are mornings when he hears her voice before his wife’s, with his partner often firing up follow-along workouts on the telly.
This popularity is especially impressive when you consider that exercise isn’t an appealing prospect to many. Most of us know we should probably move more, but we live in a world that makes it increasingly easy not to. According to the World Health Organisation, 31 per cent of adults and 80 per cent of adolescents do not meet the recommended levels of daily physical activity.
So how has Sabri motivated the masses to get moving?
The beginning
When she started posting on YouTube in 2017, Sabri was living with her mum and balancing three jobs. Without the platform, she admits, her life would look very different.
She began her working life as a physiotherapist. Her mum, an NHS nurse, had spotted physiotherapists working on wards and thought the job would be a good fit for her daughter. Sabri agreed, studying in Manchester to become a chartered physiotherapist before starting a junior rotation at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS trust.
“While I was working in the NHS as a physio, I was also volunteering in local football clubs – first Barnet, which was my local team, and then I worked my way up to Watford,” she says. “I was living in north London at the time, even though I was working in Lewisham, and travelling nearly two hours each way. But it was at a time when there weren’t many jobs around, so just getting a job was amazing. I couldn’t afford a place on my own, so I was still living with my mum.”
At the same time, she trained as a Pilates instructor and began leading classes in the evenings. This blend of professions led her to develop what she calls the Lean Method – “Core Pilates principles with a more athletic twist”. Social media provided the potential to share this approach with a wider audience.
“I wanted to reach more people from a physio standpoint as well as Pilates, and I thought, ‘How can I reach more people when I only have one pair of hands and X amount of patients per day?,’” she explains. “The only way was online. With that, I knew that all I needed was a camera, and then to upload it. “
In her own words, her first YouTube video was “not great”, but she hunkered down and dove headfirst into the strategy side of content creation – learning her craft, ironically, from a succession of YouTube videos.
Through this, she came to specialise in follow-along home workouts, using her background as a Pilates instructor and physio to provide constant verbal cues and accessible movement options for all fitness levels.
Read more: I tried a £1,900 at-home reformer Pilates machine – but is it worth the hefty price tag?
The great home workout boom
This approach saw her steadily grow a following of 30,000 in her first three years on YouTube. “A lot, but not enough to pay the bills,” she says. However, it was the Covid lockdowns that sent her channel stratospheric.
When Italy was plunged into lockdown on 9 March 2020, she saw a sudden influx of subscribers from the country. A similar pattern followed as more nations were told to stay at home, and people sought a way to get sweaty sans-gym.
“During that point when everywhere around the world was starting to go into lockdown, it was very much a strategy on my part, looking at how we can effectively use these lockdowns to help as many people as possible, but also utilise the old catalogue of content I already had [from three years of posting],” says Sabri.
“If you crack it and then you keep going with that same approach, maybe tweaking it along the way to make sure it’s aligned to your values and messaging, you can continue to ride that wave.”
Pitch perfect
As lockdowns continued around the world, people understandably grew more health-conscious, and many found they had more time on their hands than usual. As a result, home workout content was hoovered up like metaphorical hot cakes.
But, as supply and demand saw the internet become saturated with fitness tips, Sabri needed to stand out by pitching her content accordingly.
Firstly, she used her “biggest USP”. Unlike some fitness content creators, she has the requisite credentials to be imparting exercise wisdom, given her experience as a chartered physiotherapist and certified Pilates instructor.
“I’ll try to mention that occasionally and say, ‘I’m here to teach you a Pilates class, and as you guys know I’m a physiotherapist ,so I’m going to be correcting your form throughout’,” she says.
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Start your (search) engines
Because YouTube is a search engine, next on her agenda was developing a strategy that caters to key terms people are searching for – the titles of Sabri’s most-viewed videos centre around common fitness goals such as fat loss and obtaining a flat stomach, while many recent uploads are Pilates workouts targeting muscles in the abs and legs.
“You obviously need to make sure you’re giving people what they want,” says Sabri. “As an example, at the beginning of my YouTube journey, I started off posting things like ‘10 physio tips to help with back pain’.
“It would get views, but it wouldn’t get as many views [as her videos do now]. The reason is that, at that moment in time, there aren’t as many people searching for back pain tips as there are searching for strengthening your core.
“[Making fitness content is] about finding a balance between what the general population wants and what your skillset is. For me, it was combining the two and making sure I always had that physio background in there, while also producing content that people are looking for.”
The next challenge is, if you want your audience to keep coming back for more, the video itself has to deliver on the headline brief.
“The bulk of the video is where you’re going to make a difference,” Sabri says. “That’s when the person is with you for 10 to 15 minutes, or however long it is, so that’s where you’re making the change to their life, building a relationship with them, and you have the opportunity to get across whatever your core message is.”
“For me, it’s making sure they feel good about the workout and making sure they’re getting the form tips they need.”
This message worked. Through a combination of unerring consistency, live-streamed workouts, community-building and more, Sabri gained three million subscribers between March 2020 and July 2021. “I have uploaded twice a week without fail for the last five years – always on the same day, at the same time,” she explains.
Read more: I tried the walking method that offers ‘10 times the benefits’ of walking 10,000 steps per day
Making a career out of content creation
With the explosion of her YouTube channel over lockdown, Sabri was able to launch her fitness app Lean With Lilly in 2021. Over the years, this has seen her focus shift from content creation to building a business.
“All of this started because of YouTube, and I wouldn’t be where I am now without it,” she says. “But now YouTube probably only takes up 25 per cent of my [working], time. A huge part of it now is looking at the business strategy; how we can scale this, how we can help more people and how we can turn this into more of a sustainable business with a growth strategy.”
This change in her business reflects personal changes she has experienced over the years. Sabri has only recently returned to social media following a “1.5 year mental and physical health battle”, which came after she found out about her then fiance’s infidelity via a podcast.
One of the changes she has made is splitting her work and personal life. In a 2021 interview, she spoke about turning her apartment into a “YouTube studio” and being a “walking, talking, eating and filming machine”, but tells me: “thankfully, that’s now separate.”
“It’s definitely for the work-life balance, but also for the business,” she says. “It’s been really helpful to step into my [identity as a] businesswoman and make sure I’m not just known for content creation.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, being a content creator, and naturally I’ve evolved through that time. I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago when I first started, and it’s really important to me that I take my audience with me on that journey.”
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State track & field is set to begin its indoor slate with a three-meet split-squad weekend. The Nittany Lions will start their week in Philadelphia on Friday, Dec. 5 at the Penn Opener, also competing on Saturday, Dec. 6. On Saturday, there will also be Nittany Lions competing at the Bucknell Opener in Lewisburg, and the Sharon-Colyear Danville Season Opener in Boston on Saturday. Dec. 6.
Penn State is set to begin the 2025-26 indoor season while continuing to build off its success from a season ago. The men’s squad finished 12th in the Big Ten last indoor season while the women finished seventh. The squad returns six All-Americans from last year’s indoor team including 2024 First Team All-Americans Handal Roban and Hayley Kitching.
Head Coach John Gondak enters his 12th season leading the Nittany Lion track & field program. His coaching resume includes 62 First Team All-Americans and 11 Big Ten team titles.
PENN OPENER – Friday-Saturday, December 5-6
Live Results | Watch on Saturday (ESPN+)
Penn State will send seven athletes to compete at the Penn Opener. Maddie Pitts will be the lone competitor on Friday in the pentathlon.
BUCKNELL OPENER – Saturday, December 6
Live Results
The largest group of Nittany Lions will be headed to Lewisburg to compete in the Bucknell Opener. 36 athletes in field events and sprints will be the main competition group for PSU this weekend at Bucknell.
SHARON COLYEAR-DANVILLE SEASON OPENER – Saturday, December 6
Live Results | Watch (FloTrack)
Penn State will be sending 10 athletes to Boston for season opening action. The middle distance/distance group will make up the group competing against some of the top talent in the nation.
FULL 2025-26 INDOOR TRACK & FIELD SCHEDULE
Dec. 5-6 – Penn Opener | Philadelphia, Pa.
Dec. 6 – Bucknell Opener | Lewisburg, Pa.
Dec. 6 – Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener | Boston, Mass.
Jan. 17 – Nittany Lion Challenge | University Park, Pa.
Jan. 24 – Penn 10 Team Elite | Philadelphia, Pa.
Jan. 30-31 – Penn State National Open | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 7 – Sykes & Sabock Challenge | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 13-14 – Tyson Invitational | Fayetteville, Ark.
Feb. 13-14 – David Hemery Valentine Invitational | Boston, Mass.
Feb. 20 – Penn State Tune-Up | University Park, Pa.
Feb. 27-28 – Big Ten Indoor Championships | Indianapolis, Ind.
Mar. 13-14 – NCAA Indoor Championships | Fayetteville, Ark.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc). Live updates on race day regarding start times and other important notes will be posted on X.
Sports
#11 Creighton Volleyball Outlasts Northern Colorado to Advance to Second Round of NCAA Tournament
Courtesy of Rob Anderson, Creighton Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. — No. 11 Creighton Volleyball was pushed to the brink but survived to win its 21st straight match on Thursday evening, opening up NCAA Tournament play with a 3-2 victory over Northern Colorado. Scores of the Bluejay triumph were 25-12, 23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-8.
Creighton earns itself a Second Round match-up against Northern Iowa (26-5) after the sixth-seeded Panthers finished off their first reverse sweep in the NCAA Tournament since 2022 with a 15-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-10 win over Utah. Creighton defeated the Panthers at D.J. Sokol Arena on Sept. 14 to close out play at the Bluejay Invitational.
Five women had multiple kills in the first set as Creighton powered past Northern Colorado, led by six kills from Ava Martin. Martin also had a pair of aces late in the set to solidify CU’s 25-12 victory. The Jays hit .438 and had 17 kills to UNC’s six kills on .000 hitting and never trailed in the frame.
UNC snapped Creighton’s 17-set win streak with a 25-23 victory in the second set, which featured nine ties and five lead changes. Isabel Bennett had go-ahead kills to make it 23-22 and 24-23 and Alayna Tessena put down the winner on set point. Northern Colorado had 15 kills and 18 digs in the second set and held the Bluejays to 11 kills and .200 hitting. Martin had seven kills for CU in the second set, while Sydney Breissinger added six digs.
The Bears won the first three points of the third set and moved in front 8-4 to force an early timeout from CU head coach Brian Rosen. The stoppage did little to improve the fortunes for the hosts, who called another timeout six points later after falling behind 12-6 to the Big Sky Tournament champions. The second timeout did the trick, as the Bluejays countered with an 8-2 burst to even the score at 14-all. Northern Colorado settled down, never surrendering the lead, and led 23-20 before one last push from the hosts. Martin pounded her 18th kill of the night, and Nora Wurtz followed with her 56th ace of the fall to cut CU’s deficit to 23-22 and lead UNC coach Lydnsey Oates to call timeout. Martin slammed a cross-court kill to tie the score at 23-all, but UNC answered with a Zoe Gibbs kill for a set point opportunity. The Bears won the set on a Bluejay attack error, 25-23.
The Bluejays got off to a 6-2 lead in the fourth set thanks in part to three early UNC hitting errors, then extended the advantage to 14-6. The Jays won the set 25-17, with freshman Abbey Hayes stepping up with a team-best four kills. CU had 4.5 blocks in the set, including one of set point from Reinhardt and Martin.
Creighton got off to a quick start in the fifth frame, scoring the first three points on two Martin kills and a UNC attack error. CU led 8-3 at the changeover
Martin was dominant with 30 kills on 65 swings, while Jaya Johnson finished with 12 kills. Reinhardt rounded out the Bluejays in double figure kills with 10. Annalea Maeder closed the match with a double-double, delivering 53 assists and 20 digs.
Tessena led Northern Colorado with 14 kills, while Brynn Reines finished with 11 kills
First serve of tomorrow’s Second Round match is at 6:30 p.m.
NOTES: Creighton improved to 18-14 all-time in 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 12-3 mark in the First Round … Creighton has won 21 straight matches, its third-longest streak in program history … Creighton is now 8-4 in home matches in the NCAA Tournament, including five straight victories … Creighton has won its last 11 home matches this fall … Creighton is now 4-1 all-time against Northern Colorado … Creighton has won 68 straight matches over unranked foes and 56 non-televised matches in a row … Ava Martinmoved into third place in CU history in career service aces with 126 … Ava Martinhad her 25th straight match with 10 or more kills and 108th in a row with five or more kills … Ava Martin had her 13th career match with 20+ kills, and seventh this season.
LYNCHBURG – Propelled by a pair of personal-best performances in the weight throw, the Elon University women’s track and field team opened its indoor season Thursday at the Liberty Kickoff inside the Liberty Indoor Complex.
In the women’s weight throw, the Phoenix placed two athletes inside the top four. Adriana Clarke claimed runner-up honors with a personal-best toss of 18.14m, moving into third on Elon’s all-time performance list. Isabella Johnson finished third overall at 17.33m, also marking a new PR for the sophomore.
Elon also featured three competitors in the pentathlon. Senior Lizzie Lopez was the top Phoenix finisher, placing seventh with 3,510 points. She highlighted the event by tying for first in the high jump with a clearance of 1.65m. Freshman Greta Urbonaviciute debuted with a tenth-place finish and 3,309 points, landing inside the program’s top-10 performance list. Classmate Carolina Frada scored 2,832 points to place 11th in her first collegiate pentathlon.
ON DECK
Elon continues action at the Liberty Kickoff on Friday, beginning with the women’s 5,000-meter run at 10 a.m.
— ELON —
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference officially announced its Volleyball All-Academic team for the 2025 season on Thursday afternoon.
For San Francisco, Crystal Galaviz, Jamie Low, Shannon Knight, Astrid Puig, and Abby Wadas earned WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention honors.
At the conclusion of each athletic season, the West Coast Conference selects an all-academic squad for each conference-sponsored sport. To be considered, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average, while also being a significant contributor to her team and in at least their second year at their school.
The full 2025 West Coast Conference Volleyball All-Academic Team can be viewed below:
2025 WEST COAST CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
| Name | School | Class | GPA | Major |
| Genevieve Bane | Saint Mary’s | Gr. | 3.70 | Busiiness Administration |
| Olivia Bennett | San Diego | Sr. | 3.54 | Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Lucie Blazkova | Washington State | So. | 3.92 | Psychology |
| Maddie Boerstra | LMU | Gr. | 3.82 | Sociology |
| Nevaeh Bray | Portland | Gr. | 4.00 | Sports Business |
| Lucia Busso | Portland | Sr. | 4.00 | Marketing |
| Alyson Cox | Pacific | So. | 4.00 | Computer Science |
| Alyssa Eimer | Santa Clara | Sr. | 3.94 | Marketing |
| Grace Flanagan | Santa Clara | Jr. | 4.00 | Studio Art |
| Kate Herrick | Gonzaga | So. | 3.91 | Biology |
| Emma McMahon | Pepperdine | Sr. | 3.83 | Psychology |
| Chloe Pravednikov | Pepperdine | So. | 3.63 | Pre-Business Administration |
| Maui Robins | Portland | Sr. | 4.00 | Marketing |
| Lauren Rumel | Oregon State | Sr. | 3.91 | Speech Communication |
| Cate Shanahan | Santa Clara | Jr. | 3.83 | English |
| Lexi Trapani | Santa Clara | Jr. | 3.88 | Business |
For more information and updates on the University of San Francisco volleyball program, follow the Dons on Twitter @USFDonsVB, @USFDonsVB on Instagram, and @USFDonsVball on Facebook.
The Aggies ensured their third-straight tournament berth under the leadership of head coach Jamie Morrison, concluding the regular season and SEC Tournament with a 23-4 record. Their performance throughout the year earned them the highest AVCA ranking in program history of No. 6 and their first NCAA Tournament hosting opportunity since 2019.
Shining at home this season, the Maroon & White boast a 9-1 ledger at Reed Arena with its lone loss coming against then-No. 3 Kentucky (3-1). The 12th Man has been a force all year, as they helped break the program attendance record standing 9,801 strong versus Texas as well as accounting for another five top 10 attendances during the 2025 campaign.
Texas A&M’s depth of talent has been evident throughout the year and was rewarded during the SEC’s postseason honors, as a conference-high four Aggies were named to the All-SEC First Team including Logan Lednicky, Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, Maddie Waak and Kyndal Stowers. The honors didn’t stop there as Lednicky was named an AVCA Player of the Year Semifinalist, while the group accounted for 24 total accolades throughout the season.
The Matchups
Texas A&M enters its third NCAA Tournament with coach Morrison at the helm of the program, coming off a sweet 16 run during the 2024 season. The Maroon & White played the role of the hunter last season, downing No. 3 seed Arizona State in on their home court in the second round and came up just short in a five-set thriller against No. 2 seed Wisconsin.
The Aggies earned their highest seed since 2015 at No. 3 and welcome Campbell, TCU and SFA to Aggieland. They open their campaign versus the Camels who hold a 23-6 ledger and earned their second ever NCAA Tournament bid after winning the CAA Championship title in a five-set battle with Hofstra.
Friday’s meeting will be the first all-time between Texas A&M and Campbell. The Camels hold a strong 8-3 record when playing on the road but will come against the 12th Man and the Maroon & White’s 9-1 ledger in Reed Arena. On the stat sheet the Aggies hold the advantage in five of the seven team statical categories leading Campbell in kills per set, assists per set, hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage and blocks per set, while the Camels have the upper hand in aces per set and digs per set.
Tracks and Trends
Logan Lednicky sits nine kills away from climbing to fourth in career kills at Texas A&M, she would pass three-time Olympian Stacy Sykora who has 1,586 kills.
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla has 159 blocks on the year and is three away from breaking her single season best of 161 and six from recording the most in a season since 1999 (165).
Streaming & Stats
Fans can watch the match on the ESPN+ and follow stats on 12thman.com.
Tickets
Fans can purchase their tickets to the opening round matches through 12thman.com/ncaatickets.
Students will be granted free admission to tomorrow’s game if they show their student ID’s at the north entry of Reed Arena.
Parking
Make plans to arrive early and exhibit patience for the expected traffic and parking congestion around Reed Arena. Multiple parking options are available for fans:
- General parking is available around the arena on gameday for $5 – cash AND card payments accepted.
- Fans with a valid TAMU parking pass can park for FREE in lots surrounding the arena. Make sure to have your pass barcode ready to show the lot attendant.
Follow the Aggies
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.
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