TOP CELEBRITY WORKOUT SECRETS
Models and actresses have the most enviable physiques. What all have in common aside from good genes? High-energy, renowned, personal trainers!
Seven top celebrity trainers share their best tips as inspiration for meeting our own goals. This is what their best kept training secrets are…
SIMONE DE LA RUE
www.bodybysimone.com
Celebrity clients: Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Reese Witherspoon, Chrissy Teigen, Anne Hathaway, Naomi Watts, Emily Blunt, Sandra Bullock
- I don’t let women lift more than 10lb; I’m focusing on form, technique and using just one muscle group at a time. We don’t have a lot of equipment in my studios: we use resistance bands, trampolines and yoga mats but we don’t use machines. The idea is to use your own body weight.
- A n hour before [a workout], you should eat protein and carbs so that it fuels you and gives you the energy for the workout, and then literally within the hour after you finish working out, have a protein. You’re feeding the muscles and helping them grow, and then you’re keeping the metabolism firing.
- Cardio is important for women. As we’re getting older, our hormones are setting in as well, and it’s harder to shift the weight, and so really you have to do cardio to shift weight. It’s 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise, so you do really need to watch what you’re putting into your body, but the cardio is what’s going help the weight drop off. It sounds cheesy, but you really do have to think about it as fueling your body.
TEDDY BASS
www.teddybass.com
Celebrity clients: Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, Lucy Liu
- Workout in the morning. You’ll boost your metabolism for the day. If you wait, something else will come up.
- Indulge a little. I don’t like banning a food completely, because then you’ll crave it the most.
- Up your workout intensity. You can’t keep doing the same spinning class or a 20-minute jog and expect a different result.
- The biggest mistake women make when trying to work their glutes is not knowing how to contract their buns. If you don’t really feel the burn in your glutes, it means you’re not working the area as much as you should be, and so you’re not getting the most out of the moves.
TRACY ANDERSON
www.tracyanderson.com
Celebrity clients: Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Richie
- Don’t watch tv on the treadmill or elliptical. You don’t work out as intensely, which means you burn far fewer calories than if you go hard for that same amount of time.
- Snack smart. Fuel yourself 20 minutes before a workout with a protein bar. But don’t down a sports drink or coconut water after—you’ll be drinking calories when water would be fine.
- Switch up your workout. Muscles get smart and strong fast, so change your routine every ten days. It takes that long to make a change in your body, but over time a workout gets static and less effective
GUNNAR PETERSON
www.gunnarpeterson.com/
Celebrity clients: Αngelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Kim Kardashian, Sofia Vergara
- Rethink your workout goals. Instead of jumping rope for ten minutes, do it for 100 jumps. If you measure accomplishment by time, there’s no incentive to go harder.
- Cut out foods like rice, grains, pastas, oatmeal, and potatoes, as well as sodium, since all of these make your body retain water, which blurs, to a certain degree, definition and muscle separation.
- Think you’re too busy to exercise? Put it in perspective: you can be done with an effective workout in less than an hour: five minutes for a warmup, 30 minutes for a workout, and five minutes for a stretch and a cool down. By the end, that’s 40 minutes.
ANDIE HECKER
www.balletbodies.com
Celebrity clients: Ginnifer Goodwin Natalie Portman Kristen Bell
- Do cardio for at least 40 minutes. Yes, a 15-minute burst is better than nothing, but it takes 35 minutes to burn off blood sugar before your body can start metabolizing fat.
- Move your entire body. You burn more calories when you work your upper and lower body at the same time. Jumping on a mini trampoline while doing different ballet arms, using a weighted jump rope, or swimming for 20 minutes are all good options.
- Get your butt in shape with this series: Lay on your back with both feet on a step or bosu, knees bent, and pulse your hips up toward the ceiling 50 to 100 times. As you’re moving up, concentrate on pulling your lower abs in. Next hug one knee to chest, keeping the other foot flat on the step. Do a single leg bridge, this time with pulsing up for 30 to 40 reps. Switch legs and repeat.
HARLEY PASTERNAK
www.harleypasternak.com
Celebrity clients: Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga, Megan Fox, Katy Perry
- Lose the liquid diet. Don’t do juice fasts or cleanses—they’re not effective, sustainable, or healthy.
- Walk while you talk on the phone. You’re more likely to eat when you’re sitting than when you’re moving around.
- Be active all day. It’s not only what you do in the gym, but also what you do the other 23 hours a day. Take the stairs, park far away, or get out of the cab and walk.
- Change the way you think about exercise. One hour of spin class will not make up for an entire day of being sedentary. Instead, try moving all day. Get a pedometer, and go for a minimum of 10,000 steps, if you can.
RAMONA BRAGANZA
www.ramonabraganza.com
Celebrity clients: Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway, Kate Beckinsale
- Don’t obsess about the scale. You need a way to monitor your body, but clothes are a better indicator. Every week, try on the same pair of jeans.
- Give yourself a break. Working out five days a week is great; six or seven isn’t better. Your muscles actually react better when they have downtime to recuperate.
- It’s up to you whether you are fit and healthy—and not only by doing exercise, you also need to eat right. If you’re trying to lose weight, have half the portion you would normally have, and eat carbs early on in the day, before 3pm. If you eat right 80 per cent of the time, you can eat what you want the rest of the time without feeling guilty.