Tracy Anderson has worked as a personal trainer to some of Hollywood's biggest stars - including Jennifer Lopez and Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow.
We caught up with her to talk about how she keeps in shape and gives us some tips on how to get your body ready for the summer.
- You’ve been a personal trainer to the stars for many years now, including Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow. How did you get into this line of work?
Well before I ever trained a celebrity I had done nine years of developing my fitness method and transforming hundreds of different women, so it was all word of mouth, and Gwyneth was just at the right time when I thought celebrity training was something I could do.
I’m happy that I took that path because now so many women that I would’ve never been able to reach now benefit from it
- What is your personal fitness regime that keeps you in such good shape?
I do my Method, every day. 30 minutes muscular structure work, and at least 30 minutes of dance aerobics
- With summer just around the corner, women will be most self conscious about their thighs and tummies. What are your tips for getting a beach body?
Start now! You don’t want to diet to get your beach body, go and enjoy your time at the beach and eat, and then lose your figure.
You need to start now and actually make fitness a part of your lifestyle and then you actually enjoy it and keep it.
Don’t feel like you have to be perfect, even if you can’t get perfect this summer, next summer you can
- Some women don’t feel comfortable at or can’t get to the gym, so what sort of exercises can be done at home?
My new program, Metamorphosis, is all about women being able to identify what their problem areas are.
I’ve already figured out why they have them, and this gives them the custom prescription that can actually transform them
- So obviously exercise isn’t enough on its own, we also have to eat healthily. So what are your tips on a balanced diet?
The only time that diet is an issue is when you have really unhealthy diet habits and you eat unhealthily every day, or you’re someone that eats three unhealthy meals a day.
When it’s out of control like that you have to recalibrate yourself back to having a healthy relationship with food. And that is where that awful word ‘diet’ comes in.
But hopefully we can get women to the place where they don’t have to live like that, where you can do your exercise program each day and you can pick the meal that means the most to you and have the bread, have the steak if you want, have the dessert, have a couple of glasses of wine.
But you couldn’t also have had pancakes and eggs for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly for lunch: pick the meal that means the most to you and adds to the quality of your life in the greatest way and then the other two meals you eat really healthy and very low calorie.
Or you can just eat balanced all day long if that’s what you like, but you just need to make sure that you get enough highly nutritious food
You also don’t want to eat the same thing all the time. You need to make sure that if you have steak one night, you eat fish another night, eat chicken another night
- Have you get any advice for women like me who shudder in horror at the thought of putting on a bathing suit or bikini?
I just think don’t focus on it. You don’t have to wear a bikini, but if you can’t stand the way your body looks there’s a problem there.
She can’t cover up a problem because it seems like it’s such a big hill to climb, and not participate in such a nice thing because she’s let her body go so much.
That’s a sign; she doesn’t need to be in a bikini, but she does need to feel like she’s able to swim
- You’ve worked with some of the biggest names in showbusiness over the years. What has Jennifer Lopez been like to work with?
She is one of my favourites. She’s incredibly talented. She is a woman who is very empowered and knows what she wants, but isn’t afraid to say ‘I’m a woman’s woman’.
It’s so refreshingly uplifting when you meet her, because she’s truly a very empowered and giving woman - and smart.
Tracy Anderson is a member of the ‘J-Team’, working with Venus global ambassador Jennifer Lopez.
For more top tips and exciting content from Tracy and other members of the J-Team visit Facebook.com/GilletteVenusUK
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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