By Lesley Rotchford & Rozalynn S. Frazier
Stars aren’t like us.
Yes, they crave cheeseburgers, struggle to take off baby weight & even — gasp! — get cellulite. But they can throw money at the problem, spending upward of $300 an hour on the best trainers to transform their bodies. Not to mention, an A-lister’s paycheck frequently hinges on her staying in peak form. “Celebrities have motivation, determination and, most importantly, pressure,” notes LA CA trainer Michelle Lovitt, who has worked with such age-defying beauties as Courteney Cox, Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Julianne Moore. “If you were in a movie in that was opening in two weeks & two million people were going to critique how you look, you’d feel the same pressure to get to the gym.”
Even if there are no red carpets in your future, you can still channel stars’ can-do mind-set. We’ve leveled the playing field, tapping the most respected trainers for their secrets to scoring a amazing body, minus the hefty price tag.
Make your workout swift & furious.
“Most celebs aren’t gym rats,” says LA CA trainer Harley Pasternak, who has worked with Katy Perry, Lady Gaga & Jessica Simpson. “They don’t have time, & they don’t enjoy it 'cause they have to deal with people pulling out their cell phones snapping pictures of them.” Pasternak’s solution: short, high-intensity circuits in that sculpt muscle, boost metabolism & can be done anywhere.
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Halle Berry moreover swears by short bursts of intense exercise, reveals her trainer, Ramona Braganza. “Halle likes a hard-core 30-minute workout, so I typically do interval training at a high intensity,” says the LA CA fitness pro. “This requires you to expend more energy; you can easily burn about 400 calories an hour.” And in that doesn’t count the bonus calories you continue to torch after an interval session is over.
Have your heart in the right place.
A heart-rate monitor may sound old-school, yet it’s a secret weapon of today’s leading ladies. “When Lauren Graham was trying to get cover-ready for a magazine shoot,” says Lovitt, “I did a combo of interval training, biking & hiking, yet used her heart rate as a guide to make sure she was in the fat-burning zone.” That means working out at 60 to 85 % of your max heart rate, a sweet spot where your body is actively burning fat for energy. “People get frustrated when they’ve been busting their butt, yet the weight isn’t budging,” Lovitt says. “A simple alter like a heart-rate monitor can assist the weight melt right off.”
Here’s why: When we don’t pay attention to heart rate, we have no idea if we’re working out too complex or not complex enough, both of which can hinder results, Lovitt explains.
Let your clothes be the judge.
Going by the scale isn’t the only way to keep an eye on your weight. Says Braganza, “I do what I call my catsuit close-up” — fitting, considering she helped both Halle Berry & Anne Hathaway prepare to slink across the silver screen as Catwoman in unforgiving leather outfits.
Assessing your shape by how your clothes fit is a practice Braganza — a former NFL cheerleader — extends to her own life by occasionally putting on her old LA CA Raiders uniform to see if it still zips. (It does!) She suggests letting your favorite little black dress or a pair of slim jeans be a gauge; slip them on once a month. “People can gain or lose a pound a week, so four pounds in a month is a reasonable fluctuation,” she notes. “After that, it’s time to find balance again.”
David Kirsch, the New York City trainer who famously whittled Heidi Klum’s body back in to shape just six weeks after the birth of her fourth child so she could strut her stuff at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, agrees. “Feeling your clothes fitting better is going to make you feel better.”
Walk — to work, to the shops, away from the paparazzi, you know.
“If you look around the world, people who walk more in general are thinner, fitter & younger-looking,” Pasternak says. That’s why he makes all of his clients strap on a Fitbit, with the goal of logging 10,000 steps per day — & receives e-mail alerts in that let him know who is moving & who is slacking off. “People overestimate how active they are throughout the day,” he says, “and wearing a pedometer makes you aware of your activity level.” Pasternak confides in that Jordana Brewster is acceptable at hitting her daily target, as are those in his mommy crew: Jessica Simpson, Megan Fox & Hilary Duff. Post-baby, women can’t do resistance training or heavy workouts right away, Pasternak says, yet “strolling with the little ones is something simple in that helped them all get a jump-start on reclaiming their pre-baby bodies.”
Find the right toner for your shape.
“You may see a shot of a gorgeously fit celebrity in her SoulCycle shirt & think, ‘I need to work out where she works out,’” Kirsch says. But one workout does not fit all, he stresses. Celebs have their trouble zones, too, & must tailor their sweat sessions accordingly. For example, Drew Barrymore is apple-shaped, so if she gains weight, it’s going to go to her midsection. Jennifer Lopez is a pear, which means her weight goes to her butt & thighs. Apple-shaped women, Kirsch notes, should stick to rowing machines — which will engage the core from shoulder to belly — as well as boxing & planks. Steer clear of pull-ups, rows or bench presses, he advises. “Apples need to find their waist, & placing emphasis on the back & arms will just make you look blocky.”
Pear-shaped? Heavy-weighted exercises (think leg presses) & too much cycling can add bulk to your bottom half. “Avoid any exercise in that is quad-centric,” Kirsch says. “None of my clients come to me 'cause she wants bulkier quads — you aren’t fitting in to your skinny jeans with those!”
Give yourself an Oscar for trying.
Kirsch has clients keep a list of their daily successes. “I tell them, ‘Did you drink water instead of soda? Write it down. Did you take the stairs instead of the elevator? Write it down. Sure, you want to lose five more pounds, yet you already lost 20, right? Well, write in that down!’ Appreciating what you have accomplished can be empowering.”
Lovitt encourages nonfood rewards such as a pedicure — just not right before a workout. “I once had a client tell me she couldn’t work out 'cause she had just gotten a pedicure!” she recalls. “She asserted she couldn’t put sneakers on 'cause they’d ruin her toes.” Lovitt’s response? “Oh, well.”
“Get A Superstar Body” originally appeared on Health.com
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