You only have to look at your average celebrity to realise they’ve mastered the art of fitness. While some stars turn to expensive cosmetic treatments to look like they’ve got their wellness in shape, most actually favour good old-fashioned exercise to take care of their wellbeing – and it shows. The question is; how do they do it – and how can you do it too? We’ve got the skinny from the trainers that helped to shape the gorgeous bodies you see on screens today, so how do you sculpt an a-list figure?
1. Jessica Biel’s arms: Valentine’s Day star Jessica Biel has arms that even Michelle Obama would kill for, and it’s all thanks to the push-up power favoured by her LA trainer Jason Walsh. Walsh admits, ‘When I say this is a must-do exercise, most women look at me like I’m crazy, but everybody I train ends up doing push-ups at some point because they are so beneficial. They help you get incredible arms!’
2. Halle Berry’s back: Anyone who’s ever seen Catwoman knows how amazing Halle Berry’s back is – that costume didn’t leave much to the imagination – and her secret weapon for getting superhero-ready was Harley Pasternak, an LA–based trainer and author of 5-Factor Diet. According to Pasternak, dumbbell back rows are the key to Berry’s back: ‘This exercise strengthens the rhomboids, the muscles in your upper back that connect your shoulder blades to your spine, giving you a toned back and much better posture. You’ll look great in backless dresses, too!’ Do three sets of 20 reps to have a back like Berry.
3. Jennifer Anniston’s bum: While J-Lo might make headlines for her delicious derrière, another Jennifer who has a backside that would suit anyone is Friends star Jennifer Anniston. Her trainer Cameron Shayne, creator of the popular Budokon yoga–martial arts programme, asserts that the dancing half-moon kick is the top-bottom move for sculpting buns to be proud of. ‘This exercise combines yoga to stretch the lower back and open the hips with martial arts to tighten and shape the butt,’ Shayne explains. ‘The result is a strong, lean backside.’ Shayne advises you do your dancing half-moon kick in 12 rep-per-leg stints.
4. Gwyneth Paltrow’s legs: Sure, she has her own healthy cookbook, but the true reason behind Gwyneth’s amazing legs is Tracy Anderson, fitness expert and creator of the Tracy Anderson Method. Anderson details how she used the crossover leg lift to help shape the Ironman star’s pin-up pins: ‘This exercise works your entire leg, particularly the hard-to-tone outer-thigh area that’s a problem for a lot of women.’ However, to get proper Paltrow pins, you need to aim to do 25 reps per side to begin with, eventually working up to 50 reps in a set.
5. Jessica Alba’s abs: In order to play a member of the Fantastic Four or a dancer as she did in Honey, Jessica Alba needed kick-ass abs and Ramona Braganza, trainer and creator of the 3-2-1 Baby Bulge Be Gone programme, helped her achieve them with the twisting plank. Braganza comments, ‘This is an excellent exercise for both the obliques (your side ab muscles) and the transverse abdominus, the muscle that acts like a girdle and cinches in your waist.’ However, one top move isn’t enough if you want abs like Alba’s; you also need to start doing some squat thrusts. ‘The Squat Thrust is a very effective move for your upper and lower abs—plus it burns loads of calories,’ says Braganza, who recommends that you do 10 reps of squat thrusts at a time.
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