They might have big-budget personal trainers and access to the best gyms in the world, but celebrities still need to work hard to stay in shape — money can’t buy motivation or commitment.
These famous fitness fans know what works for them and rely on certain things to help them stay strong and healthy. Here are some workout secrets from celebrities who love to get their sweat on.
Fitness queen Jennifer Lopez knows the importance of drinking plenty of water, both before and after a workout.
“Drinking plenty of water, especially before a workout, can help you push harder and get more out of your exercise routine,” she told Hello! “I try to keep my body hydrated and well rested after every workout. That way, I’m ready to hit it hard again the next day.”
Lopez also ensures her diet consists of healthy foods (“I always carry fruit and veggies with me to give me something to snack on between meals,” she said) and aims for eight hours of sleep every night.
According to her trainer Harley Pasternak, Lady Gaga gets enough cardio from performing — so she focuses on strength training when she works out. Pasternak told Us Weekly that Gaga does a 35-minute strength training session at least five times a week, with the aim of toning the entire body. The sessions include moves that don’t require much equipment other than weights, such as bicycle crunches for the abs and overhead dumbbell tricep extensions for the arms.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPVsvlmgiQ3/
Brandy says her fitness routine is different every day, but she always includes some boxing.
“I box three or four rounds every day,” she told Huffington Post. “I love that cardio.” When she can’t get to the gym, Brandy does pushups to warm up and work out every part of her body.
“I also do squats — about 30 of them for three sets,” she revealed. “Jumping jacks are also good when you’re by yourself and not going to the gym. Those are my go-tos.”
Gwyneth Paltrow is a longtime devotee of the Tracy Anderson Method, but that isn’t all she does to stay fit.
“Usually, I just try to eat pretty clean during the day — good proteins and lots of vegetables and not too much grain or sugar, and nothing baked — and then I tend to eat whatever I want for dinner,” she told Shape. But, she adds, “Our diets are so full of inflammatory foods that I think we need to do increasingly extreme things to combat it.”
To that end, she takes supplements — a multivitamin, fish oil, and various herbs. She also tries to take time to meditate and enjoys trying new cleanses.
It’s clear from Kate Hudson’s Instagram that Pilates is a huge part of her fitness regimen.
“Pilates makes my day better and that’s just the straight truth! Every time I finish a class I feel two inches taller, lighter, and more grounded,” Hudson captioned one video.
She’s a big fan of exercises on the reformer machine (a frame with a flat platform called the carriage, which rolls back and forth on wheels inside the frame) to increase balance, flexibility, length and strength.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtjOeVrHRRT/
Despite being a businesswoman and mom of four, Victoria Beckham finds the time to work out every single day.
In an interview with The Guardian’s Weekend magazine, she revealed that she spends two hours every morning working out, starting at around 6 a.m. with a 7-kilometer run on the treadmill, followed by a session with her personal trainer.
Rather than see it as a chore, Beckham said that her daily workout is “a really positive thing for me. It’s part of who I am now, and I really enjoy it.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvD-XdBg9Lz/
Model Bar Refaeli is another celebrity who likes to document her fitness journey on Instagram. This often features a BOSU ball, which looks like half of a stability ball atop a platform. It can be used with either side on the floor. In one video, Refaeli balances on the ball with one leg while holding onto pulleys.
“As you can see, I’m all about getting back in shape #addicted,” she captioned the post.
In an interview with Shape, actress Allison Williams revealed that her workout regimen consists of two different things: SoulCycle for cardio and Core Fusion for strength and toning.
“SoulCycle is basically a dance party on a bicycle, and you burn calories and it’s so fun,” she said. She also adores Core Fusion, a mixture of Pilates and barre work that is available at Exhale Spa locations.
“It’s really hard and kicks my butt,” said Williams, who added that “on a good week” she tries to do two sessions each of SoulCycle and Core Fusion.
https://www.instagram.com/p/0WB5OQmU2B/
Jessica Biel has always been athletic, but some of the sports she played as a kid took their toll on her body.
“I spent so many years of my young life playing soccer and jamming my knees, running and sprinting, and so many years as a gymnast gashing my body … I realized, as I got older, I can’t keep this up,” Biel told Shape. In recent years, she’s relied on yoga for both physical and mental benefits.
“The breathwork helps me feel that I’m connecting my mind and the breathing to the different movements — that to me feels like I’m connecting to my body in a way that I don’t do on a normal basis,” she said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiNLvw6nb0K/
Model Gigi Hadid builds strength by prioritizing certain moves: donkey kicks, bicycle crunches, bicep curls and tricep extensions. When she’s in New York, she works out every day for an hour with her trainer Rob Piela, founder of Gotham Gym. Piela told Women’s Health that they include high-cardio boxing sequences of jabs, elbows and uppercuts along with knees and kicks in the routine. He added that people wanting to imitate Hadid’s routine should aim for 20 reps of each move.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtdjyV5nLL8/
Lea Michele is another famous SoulCycle fan, but she also likes to get fit outdoors.
“I hike all the time,” she told Us Weekly. “We have so many great trails here on the West Coast, so I love being outdoors and I love getting a workout outside.” To fuel her body for regular hikes, Michele uses a clean approach.
“Every single thing that I put into my body is to nourish and fuel my body,” she said. “I’ve always felt that food is fuel so what you’re eating is going to help your body. So I don’t eat junk food, I don’t eat processed food. I keep only fresh and healthy ingredients in my home so I can feel my absolute best.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs6PfnpH0Ca/
She’s a tennis champion, but in a video with Vogue, Venus Williams revealed that she has a fierce fitness regimen off the court. Her regular routine starts with air squats, followed by side-lying clams and a few sets of medicine ball crunches. Williams also holds a plank position for as long as possible, throwing in some variations and leg kicks to increase the intensity. She finishes it off with sit-ups with weights and some exercise ball push-ups.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsHjS5mlCQG/
Model Alessandra Ambrosio keeps her workouts varied, relying on a range of exercises and different classes to keep it interesting, and she doesn’t always work out for hours.
“It all depends on what I’m doing that day,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “If I’m going on a hike or playing volleyball with my friends it might be longer but I don’t usually spend more than hour and a half in the gym.” Ambrosio also makes sure she eats well and drinks plenty of water and green tea.
https://www.instagram.com/p/7F-qHqKbs2
Demi Lovato shared her love of mixed martial arts (MMA) and jiu-jitsu with Well + Good, revealing that she finds them “really fun.” To ensure she really focuses on her training, she tries to unplug completely.
“I don’t really listen to a playlist when I work out,” she said. “I just kind of go off of what’s on in the gym because I’m listening to my trainer.” Although she trains hard, Lovato also makes sure she gets a day off to rest.
“Workouts are something that I like to balance,” she said.
Zoe Saldana has worked with her trainer Steve Moyer since 2009, with a focus on staying lean and strong. Moyer told Shape that to get Saldana in shape for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” he tailored workouts to fit around the actress’s work commitments.
“When she’s in town, sometimes workouts last a full hour, sometimes it’s 30 minutes,” he said. “I’ll do lots of cardio and core if I know I won’t be seeing the client the next day. If I know we are working out on consecutive days, I split the workouts according to body parts.”
A full body workout with Moyer starts with a leg exercise — squats, for example. This is followed by a core exercise such as plank pushups and then a cardio activity like jumping lunges.
https://www.instagram.com/p/3J0vdHop-Q/?
Sofia Vergara works with trainer Jennifer Yates to keep fit. The actress often works out for 5-7 days in a row, but also benefits from extended breaks from physical activity.
“She takes a lot of time off when she’s busy,” Yates told Marie Claire. “It’s fine to give yourself a break — your body comes back stronger. You have to let your body rest, even if you’re working out a few days during the week. That’s why we rotate with Sofia. We have days in between when she rests. If you exhaust the muscles, you’re more prone to getting injured.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/3HkudeLpW9/
The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, TheDelite may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website.
In her book “Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life,” Gisele Bündchen shared details about her fitness routine, revealing her love of yoga and kickboxing as well as a range of outdoor activities like biking, skiing and surfing. For the model, the secret is to find what you enjoy, to make exercise less of a chore.
“Some people exercise to get a great body. I exercise for sanity and clarity, too,” she wrote.
Intense is the word to describe Kate Upton’s workouts. Her trainer David Kirsch told Elle that their circuits include “lots of core, butt and thigh shaping and toning.” They also use resistance bands and stability balls. Kirsch has Upton boxing to tone the arms and doing lateral lunges for the inner thighs, too. The trainer’s advice is to make time for a couple of circuits, first thing in the morning.
“No one can tell me they don’t have 10 or 15 minutes extra minutes a day,” he said. “I don’t believe it. You don’t have to do 90 minutes.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrQsdhVBhbr/
A hardcore workout that gets a great sweat on is Ashley Graham‘s go-to.
“I love working out and love being active,” she told mindbodygreen. “I feel my best when I go to the gym five days a week and work with my trainer at Dara Hart at NYC’s Dogpound.” However, Graham knows that balance and recovery is key for long-term fitness, revealing that she likes to use a foam roller and also visits myofascial release therapist Alan Willoughby when she’s in Los Angeles.
“It’s been huge for my recovery game, and I don’t even get massages anymore,” she said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl6GvLbHIyt/
In order to build muscle mass and strength to get the physique she wanted for her Netflix show “GLOW,” Alison Brie restricted her cardio to a slow jog every few days.
“Alison received enough conditioning from the work we were doing with weights,” the actress’s trainer Jason Walsh told Well + Good. Brie revealed that the weight training she did instead was a huge confidence boost.
“Heavy lifting is so empowering — you really feel like a badass,” she said. “By the time we were shooting the show, I was deadlifting 165 pounds, hip thrusting up to 300 pounds, and doing multiple sets of 10 pull-ups.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuPJ_6whArQ/
Hilary Swank shares all her fitness tips on Instagram and engages her followers by asking them to think about their own fitness goals and their real reasons for working out.
Swank recommends having a “mission statement” to help with the motivation to make fitness an integral part of your life. The actress clearly loves to try new ways to keep fit — she shared a picture of herself wearing tap shoes and revealed that it’s been a dream of hers to learn how to tap dance.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVNXYErl7Ev/
Ellie Goulding works out in the gym (and the boxing ring) as often as possible, but when she’s on the road she uses an online program to keep up her fitness regimen.
“There is a brilliant online yoga school called YogaGlo,” she told The Cut. “For a monthly subscription you can take any class and you can choose the difficulty level and the duration. It’s perfect for someone always on the move.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtVTnuznXFW/
There’s no need to wonder how Britney Spears stays in such great shape — she shares a lot of her fitness routines and tips on Instagram.
In one video, Spears showed her followers the nine moves she relies on to prepare for her stage show: sumo jump squats, Bosu ball crunches, side leg raises, kettlebell swings, band donkey kicks, donkey kicks on the ground, downward facing dog crunches, the yoga move chaturanga and a sitting side stretch.
Drew Barrymore‘s trainer is Marnie Alton, the founder of barre studio Barre Belle. Barrymore has shared her Barre Belle experience on Instagram and credits Alton for her recent weight loss.
The admiration goes both ways, as shown in Alton’s Instagram post below. According to the website, Barre Belle involves a “combo of energizing strength and flexibility training for a full body workout that burns fat, exercises the heart and targets all areas of the body: from the arms and abs, to thighs, seat and back.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BstrtzCHB4T/
It can be hard to work out when you’re traveling, but actress Shay Mitchell has some tips.
She told Shape that while she tries to stay in “a cool boutique hotel that has a sick gym,” she always ensures she has lightweight, portable equipment with her to work out in her hotel room.
“I always bring a jump rope with me and sliders — they’re like furniture sliders,” she said. “If I don’t have weights, I’ll lift stuff that’s heavy. You can find a way to work out anywhere.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuUjDE0nlmR/
Tracee Ellis Ross told Health that the best thing she’s ever done for her body is “talk nice to it.” In the same vein, she seeks out physical activity that makes her feel good about herself, such as the Tracy Anderson Method’s workout.
“I love the studio atmosphere, I love how beautiful and sexy and long and strong I look when I work out, and I love the loud music,” Ellis Ross said. “I find that, as adults, we stay so regimented in our movement, even if we get on a treadmill. The music changes all the patterns, and my body gets to move freely, so you feel amazing — which is ultimately the point of the workouts, too.”
