How Celebrities Stay Fit

Tabloids pounce on celebrities wherever they go and gloat over their bloated bodies between filming movies, TV shows, or music videos. Yes, famous people have to eat sensibly, diet, and exercise too. Most of them weren’t born to be thin and all of them are getting older. Notice that middles thicken around even the celebrity waistline. How do famous people fight flab? Here are some of the favorite routines and diets.

Spin Class

Lots of famous women seem to favor cycling indoors on bikes going nowhere. At least they can workout together away from cameras and crazy fans, out of the hot California sun. Spin class is intense. Participants say they burn tons of calories, sweat a lot, but they are inspired by top trainers and a routine that never becomes, well, routine. Intensity is varied and keeps you guessing.

Bootcamp

It doesn’t matter who the trainer is, although famous people have favorites. Bootcamp is grueling. This is high intensity interval training in a group and while it works you hard, fans say Bootcamp is fun too no matter how much the sergeant — I mean trainer — barks at you.

The idea is to switch rapidly through various sets of moves working the whole body. Many moves challenge multiple muscle groups simultaneously: more sweat per session and an efficient use of time. Regular change prevents muscles and metabolism from getting into a rhythm so you burn more calories than if you were to go jogging for the same period of time.

Belly Dancing

You might be asking the same question most regular people want to know: what belly? Celebs rarely have any fat to shake. For once here’s a workout in which, aesthetically speaking, famous bods aren’t as attractive. You really do need a bit of tummy if this is to be true belly dancing, but the workout is so intense your fat will burn off right before your eyes too so you won’t keep you’re ab flab for long. Any workout performed to music is easier and dance-style programs are the best. You feel like you’re having fun, not working out. Zumba and other Latin workouts are also popular for this very reason.

CrossFit

This isn’t a new fitness regimen but oldies can still be goodies (just look at Sally Fields and Meryl Streep). Some programs (like certain actresses) never truly get old. CrossFit is a method in which you switch from cardio to weight training with dumbbells or kettlebells, plyometrics, and so on. It’s similar to interval training, actually, but there’s lots of crossover between workout methods.

Boxing

Forget traditional pugilism: boxing for movie stars, models, and popular musicians is a non-contact blend. Trainers take aerobic style moves or Pilates and add them to regular boxing punches or they shake it up by adding kicks. There might not be a lot of jumping up and down, and why should there be? Many workout experts claim that high-impact aerobics does more harm than good. It’s perfectly possible to keep an amazing figure without jumping, bouncing, and putting strain on your joints. Boxing offers the benefit that men can do it too without feeling out of place, not that celebrity men usually care about that sort of thing. With their tightened, toned bodies and firm muscles they can do what they like.

MMA

The likes of Jason Statham and his martial-arts buddies aren’t the only ones who can take down an intruder with their bare hands. MMA is popular around the world, favored by young men, and completely intense. You don’t just get a workout; participants come out looking and feeling bruised but ready to handle whatever fight scenes writers create for the screen (that is, until stunt doubles fill in).

Yoga

It might seem like just a series of poses, but yoga can be hard work, especially hot yoga. A teacher turns up the heat in the yoga room while directing students through some of the tougher poses. Forget gentle yoga for relaxation: you sweat and melt fat even in mountain pose.

Hitting the Gym

A lot of actors and actresses simply go to the gym or find a favorite running trail. They don’t subscribe to gimmicks: just hard work and dedication. You won’t see them on exercise videos or promoting a particular training regimen. Theirs is a quiet, traditional sort of routine anyone can do.