Celebrity Fitness for the Rest of Us
Many people have an empty jealousy of Hollywood celebrities: they claim that if they were born with the same genetics, and were luckily enough to run into the right producer at a party, they would have the same fame. Like with many endeavored, these people are overestimating how much luck the successful have and underestimating how much work goes into becoming and staying that successful. Celebrity fitness is an ongoing challenge for those who are famous and being constantly judged on their looks, and there are good lessons to be learned for those of us who are not Hollywood icons.
For one, many actors have had to do extreme workouts to get in proper shape for their movie roles. There have been cases where an actor has had to get thin to the point of being unhealthy for one role, then needed to put on pounds of muscle for another role shortly afterward.
These results are way beyond what most people need to achieve to reach their goals, and the process of learning them is no simple matter no matter how genetically blessed these actors are. Each of their workouts required serious commitment, which non-celebrities also need to put in for best results.
Celebrity fitness is made easier by several advantages that most of us do not have. These include dedicated personal trainers and nutritionists, who ensure that the actor works out efficiently and also replenishes the body with the right mix of protein and other nutrients between sessions to get the most benefit out of training. Those without access to these experts need to master the knowledge themselves, which is often easier than many people suspect.
The first step is choosing an effective workout program. There are a number of good choices out there that emulate the challenge of celebrity training without needing quite as much time investment. One quality option is CrossFit, which gives a daily rotation through a number of different exercises to thoroughly train different muscle groups. Another is P90X, which has a set cycle of exercises that you repeat while favoring various muscle groups and training conditions.
There are plenty of other choices, and the important point is to pick one type of training program and follow through. The largest mistake of most people aiming to get fit is haphazardly jumping from method to method without putting in the time to see real results. Meanwhile, typical celebrity workouts are focused on having the actor follow the same ideology consistently until until they are in the shape that they need for a role.
The other key aspect of effective physical training is managing nutrition. While odds are that you do not have access to a personal chef, you can find a good diet to follow for building strength and getting lean. One popular choice for fitness elites is the Paleo diet, which focused entirely on the types of food available when our metabolisms evolved in our primitive days: lean meats, organic fruits and vegetables, no processed foods and grains, etc.
As with choosing a fitness program, there are a number of options that will work. The zone diet has worked well for many, as well as following simpler systems of eating a certain amount of protein each day and a controlled limit of fat and carbs. Your challenge is to research these choices and pick one that you can maintain over time.
While the rich and famous have advantages in this area, celebrity fitness is something that can be matched by anyone with the drive to research and choose good systems, then stick to them through the pain periods. Focus on the basics of exercise and nutrition, then follow through until you reach your goals.