The other day I wrote about how celebs eat while preparing for the red carpet so today’s post is how they work out. Now, I am not saying that if you do these exercises you are going to look like Emma Stone or Halle Barry, but they won’t hurt.
Although I have never been a celebrity myself I am pretty sure that we all have one thing in common with them: busy schedules – maybe even busier schedules. Which means, just like celebrities, our workouts need to be intense and efficient as who can afford to waste time these days?
We are going to start with a cardio makeover. I know many of you are guilty of showing up at the gym and going into autopilot. You head to your favourite piece of cardio equipment, press start and then turn off your brain. Pretty soon 20 or 30 minutes has passed and there isn’t a bead of sweat on your forehead. This is only 30 minutes of your day where you have to forget about all that has happened in the day and all that is going to happen and focus on you. And I am going to make it easy for you.
Start by picking a new piece of cardio (or maybe even a cardio class, like spinning or HIIT). Next, get on it as you normally do and spend the first 3 minutes doing your regular routine, except that regular routine has now become your warmup. You are going to proceed with a 30 second interval, where you take yourself out of your comfort zone, where your heart beats fast and you breathe rate increases. Accomplish this by either moving your body faster or increasing the resistance on the machine. You will recover for 30 seconds, then start a 60 second interval. You will recover for 60 seconds then do a 90 second interval. You will recover for 90 seconds and then do a 2 minute interval, recover for 2, push for 3 then recover for 3. Then warm down, or stay at a steady pace for 4 more minutes.
Now, you can stop here, or if you have the pleasure of being able to spend a little more time than normal in the gym, or this is your day of just cardio, do the same routine but go in the opposite direction. Looks like this:
30 hard – 30 easy – 60 hard – 60 easy – 90 hard – 90 easy – 2 minutes hard – 2 minutes easy – 3 minutes hard – 3 minutes easy – 4 minutes steady state – 3 minutes hard – 2 minutes easy – 2 minutes hard – 90 easy – 90 hard – 60 easy – 60 hard – 30 easy – 30 hard
Now for the strength portion of this workout I am going to keep it quick and sweaty. There are 8 exercises and you will start with the first one, then do the second, back to the first, then second then third. Then back to the first, second, third, fourth. Get it?
Here is your workout:
1 – 30 second Front Plank
Play around with this exercise each set. Start by just holding steady, then the next time reach your arms out long, alternating right to left, then tap each foot out to the side, then drop your hips from side to side (like a typewriter), then shift your body weight forward and back, then alternate dropping your knees towards the floor, then drop both knees to the floor at the same time and last reach your opposite arm and leg long.
2 – 30 second Back Bridging
Start with a simple back bridge hold, then lower and lift your glutes, then hold high and march on the spot, then do single leg hip lifts, then do single leg lowers, then hip drops side to side (like a typewriter) then keep your hips up and open and close your knees.
3 – 30 second squats
First set is a regular squat, second is a plie squat, third is a jumping jack squat, fourth is a jump squat, fifth is a 180 degree jump squat (where you jump and rotate 190 degrees before landing in a squat) and the last is a low pulsing squat.
4 – 30 seconds of pushups
Just regular pushups from your knees. Keep it simple.
5 – 30 seconds mountain climbers
Go as fast or as slow as you like with these. I like them slow as I feel my core working a lot more efficiently but if you want a leg and lung burn then pick up the pace.
6 – 30 seconds lateral skater hops.
7 – 30 seconds side plank (each side)
8 – 30 seconds burpees
Try not to rest between exercises and move quickly from one exercise to the next. This is a hard, but quick, workout that shouldn’t take you any longer than 20 minutes.
Have fun!
Attached - Jenna Dewan out for a walk with her dogs yesterday in LA.
