IT’S SAFE TO SAY that Keli Holiday didn’t grow up dreaming about flexing his muscles for a Bonds campaign. Skateboarding was how he spent much of his youth. And at that time, he had a rather negative view of gym scene. Fast forward a couple of decades and he’s the new face of Bonds’ Guyfront Trunk, stripped back in nothing but the brand’s most iconic undies to mark 25 years of the silhouette.
It’s a fitting bit of casting. The ‘ROCKING THIS BAND SINCE 01’ campaign is built around showing up exactly as you are. For Holiday, being unapologetically himself comes naturally. What didn’t come naturally was hitting the gym. “For a long time, I actually saw exercise, especially the gym, as something that was only what jocks would do,” he tells Men’s Health. “Or something that was a bit lame.”
Holiday tried everything on his fitness journey. “I had a running phase. I had a callisthenics phase. Bit of this, bit of that,” he says. “Eventually I substituted eating bad food and partying with holding myself accountable by making sure that I could move my body the next morning.”
So, he started going to the gym – even if he didn’t always enjoy it. “I still don’t enjoy the gym, per se, but I like to just get in, get the work done and then get out, because you feel incredible afterwards,” he says. “I know that if I do that, my mind and body will thank me for it every single time.”
These days his routine includes at least five gym sessions a week. But when Bonds came calling, he was both excited and aware that he would need to up his training. “When I got the call up, I was stoked,” he says. “I’ve loved Bonds forever. I mean, growing up in Australia, it’s synonymous. It’s woven into the fabric of Australia. But I was like, Okay, look, if I’m going to do this, I’m really going to have to whip myself into shape.”
A campaign like this doesn’t leave anywhere to hide. “I’ve been in good shape, but it’s never been aesthetics driven,” Holiday says. “But if I’m going to get my kit off for the legendary Bonds and follow in the footsteps of Bobby Irwin, I’ve got to get jacked.
“I was training six days a week and I made sure that my diet was really good; whole foods, lots of chicken and cottage cheese and veggies,” he says of the three-week prep window before the shoot. The results surprised even him. “Once I saw the photos, I was like, Oh, all these things that everyone says will get you in shape actually work.”
In the lead-up to the campaign, Holiday leaned on a classic: the bro split. Chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs, then a rest day – except the rest day wasn’t really a rest day. “On that rest day I’d be doing core and I’d be making sure that I went for a run,” he says. Light cardio capped off every strength session too.
Post-shoot, he’s evolved the approach with a personal trainer, switching to a push-pull-legs structure he says is more efficient and cuts down his time in the gym. And despite society’s general disdain for it, leg day is his favourite. “People shit on leg day, but I actually love it,” he says. “It’s good to have good strong legs, especially with this Bonds campaign where I’ve got my kit off and I’m rocking the Guyfronts. Got to make sure the legs are popping because you don’t want chicken legs for an underwear shoot.”
Keli Holiday’s push day workout
- Barbell bench press, 4 sets of 10
- High-to-low cable crossovers, 3 sets of 10
- Dips, 3 sets to failure
- Dumbbell shoulder press, 4 sets of 10
- Lateral half raises, 4 sets of 12
- Lying tricep extension / weighted curls (superset), 3 sets of 10 each
- Rotator cuff external rotations (band)
- Incline treadmill walk or StairMaster, 20 minutes
A few notes on the finer points, straight from Holiday:
Lateral half raises: “You lift the dumbbell all the way up, like a normal lateral raise, but you only bring it halfway down.” The shortened range keeps constant tension on the delts.
Rotator cuff finisher: A band-based external rotation closes out the session, just to “really make sure the arms aren’t too canned up afterwards.”
Cardio finisher: Twenty minutes on an incline walk or the StairMaster wraps things up because “cardio, in conjunction with a good diet, seems to have worked really well for me.”
With all his expertise, Holiday might sound like one of the jocks he once derided. But he is quick to point out that this campaign was never really about chasing a six-pack. “The beauty of Bonds underwear is that they feel great and they’re comfortable, but most importantly they make you feel confident,” he says. “Everyone should feel confident in their undies. It doesn’t matter how in shape you are, it’s just about rocking those undies.”
Holiday, for his part, brings the energy to match. “The energy encapsulated with this campaign is about being free, being yourself and just having a good time in your undies,” he says. Mission, by the sound of it, accomplished.
The new Guyfront range is out now. It is available online and at key retailers nationwide, RRP $28.99.
