Fit & Fabulous

Celebrity Trainers
By Pamela K. Johnson

workout tips from

Celebrities invest thousands of dollars to get terrific bikini-ready bodies and toned six-pack abs. To help sculpt your own five-star body, consider following the advice and workout tips of three top celebrity trainers, life coaches and yoga teachers to get you ready for your next red carpet event.

4 2 SUMMER ISSUE 2012 HEARTANDSOUL.COM

PHOTO: Thinkstock

JEANETTE JENKINS
http://www.thehollywoodtrainer.com
Why be mediocre when you can be the best? Jeanette Jenkins asks.The Hollywood Trainer has whipped into shape such clients as Terrell Owens, Christina Applegate and Kelly Rowland, with whom she teamed up for the workout DVD, Sexy Abs with Kelly Rowland. Here are some of Jenkins favorite workout moves:
BIKINI BOOT CAMP While holding dumbbells that are challenging yet still manageable for you, extend your arms to either side at shoulder height and bend them at the elbow. Next, bend your knees, bring your arms down to your feet and curl your arms up so that your fists are near your shoulders. Then, straighten your legs and bring your arms over your head, lightly tapping the weights together. Repeat 10 times. SIGNATURE BOOTY BLAST Reverse Lunge with Deadlift To start, stand upright with your feet hip-distance apart, pulling your abdominals tight. Step your right leg 3 to 4 feet back onto the ball of the foot. Keeping that leg straight, bend your left leg, lowering into a lunge (a muscle-strengthening exercise), while keeping your knee directly over the ankle. Straighten your left leg and slowly begin to lift your right leg behind you. Continue to tilt your upper body forward until it is parallel to the floor. From the side, you should look like a T, with your upper body and right leg forming the top of the T, and your left leg, which is still on the ground, forming the base of the T. Repeat 15 to 25 times using each leg. RED CARPET RESULTS Design a workout that emphasizes your trouble spots. During your cardio program, add five 30- to 60-second cardio blasts, where you increase the speed of whatever exercise you are doing, while maintaining good form and technique. Afterward, avoid sugar and carbohydrates for two hours to maximize the fat-burning process. Hit the steam room to release water, acids and toxins through your sweat glands the day before or morning of your event.

PHOTOS: David Heisler

SUMMER ISSUE 2012 HEARTANDSOUL.COM 4 3

TRAINING TIPS Make your workouts challenging. Push yourself. Dont walk if you can run, and dont do 10 reps if you can do 25. Complement your workout with a healthy meal plan. Eat plenty of whole foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, lean cuts of meat and whole grains, and less processed foods. Eat the appropriate amount of calories for your body. (You can calculate this accurately at http://www. thehollywoodtrainer.com.) Do at least two to three different styles of training for muscular strength and endurance, and cardiovascular fitness and flexibility. Work out with fitness buddies and music that moves you.
Singer Kelly Rowland with Jeanette Jenkins, The Hollywood Trainer.

RAMONA BRAGANZA
http://www.ramonabraganza.com
Its not about attaining a Hollywood body, says Ramona Braganza, who has trained celebrities such as Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway. Being fit, she maintains, gives you a higher quality of life as the years roll on.My role model is my mother, who is a Zumba teacher in her mid-70s, Braganza says. Her favorite workouts include:
LIE DOWN/STAND UP This can be done with any low platform in your house, including a bed or bench. Begin with feet hip-width apart, facing away from the low platform with your arms extended forward. Sit down keeping your back straight, while slowly lowering your body and keeping your abdominal muscles contracted until you end up in a lying position. Immediately contract your abdominal muscles and begin to roll your body back up into an upright position, pushing through your heels to stand back up. Try this with dumbbells to add resistance and work your upper body. Repeat 10 times. SIGNATURE ARM MOVE Jab/Cross Punches Holding 3- to 5-lb. dumbbells in each hand, stand with feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent. Keep your arms to your side while bending your elbows and raising dumbbells to chin height. Twist torso to the left while extending your right arm as you throw a punch. Return right arm back while twisting to the right and extending the left arm out to throw another punch. Continue to throw punches side to side (a right/left punch combination counts as one rep). Repeat 20 times. Perform three sets of 20, taking a 15-second break in between each set.

PHOTO: Brittany Veinot

4 4 SUMMER ISSUE 2012 HEARTANDSOUL.COM

Ramona Braganza Keeps A-listers Fit & Fab

Hollywood starsthey are just like regular
women. And Ramona Braganza should know. The taut 50- yearold Los Angeles resident is the go-to trainer for some of the most beautiful and fit Hollywood actresses today. The former gymnast and Raiders cheerleaders list of clientele reads like a whos who of gorgeous Eva Mendes, Halle Berry, Ann Hathaway, Jessica Biel and Scarlett Johansen, among many others. Braganza says that images of flawlessness tell only half the story. We have these images of these people and see them on the red carpet looking perfect but many of these female stars go through the same issues most women go through, explains Braganza, who has been training the Hollywood elite for almost two decades. Sometimes they show up [to work out] struggling. At the end of the day were all just people, some of us are insecure, some times we lack confidence, other times motivation. Braganza began her career in the 1990s, training then unknown young actress Jessica Alba. Shes been training Alba ever since, recently helping the young mom shed postbaby weight. Braganza, who was born in Goa, India, raised in Canada, and today calls LA her home, credits her fitness success to her belief that she has humanized Hollywood and that fitness comes naturally to her. Fitness, she believes, begins inside. You have to make up your mind that you want to be fit, she explains. And while genetics play a huge role in why Halle, Eva and Jessica look so fantasticgenes are only the beginning. There are basics to having a fit body, Braganza says, and it starts with eating healthy meals and taking care of the mind, body and soul. As far as fitness goes, she says there are key ingredients to success setting a big goal, which she calls the Cat Suit that you want to fit into (think Halle in Catwoman); keeping daily, weekly and monthly goals; finding a workout activity that you love; and confidence, consistency and a willingness to work hard. She also believes that its important to mix up workouts to prevent boredom and keep it fun. Some days youll find Braganza Skype training her clients from across the globe, other days shes in her 48-foot truck mobile gym training stars on set during filming breaks. Other times shes climbing Kilimanjaro. This summer, shes busy training the Housewives of Vancouver and being the spokesperson for YouTonics, a collagen protein that is great for skin, nails, hair and an energy boost. I like drinking my vitamins, says Braganza, but for the past two months Ive added a shot of YouTonics in the morning and Ive noticed the difference. I feel stronger and have more energy. And with the list of hot bodies to train, this rock hard trainer needs all the energy she can get. Sandra Guzmn

Actress Jessica Alba

Actress Eva Mendes

PHOTOS: Landov

SUMMER ISSUE 2012 HEARTANDSOUL.COM 4 5

RED CARPET RESULTS Visualize the outcome you desire. Set short- and long-term goals and write out a plan to achieve them. If you have an event in one- to-three weeks, try the following: Eat foods (produce, dairy, meats and fish) that you can find around the perimeter of a grocery store. Most foods that come in bottles, cans, and jars have preservatives and are high in sodium. If you have only a few weeks to get ready, reduce your sodium intake to avoid bloating. Stay hydrated through the day by drinking a minimum of one-to-two liters of water daily to keep your metabolism cranking. TRAINING TIPS Eat a light snack before every training session; it helps your trainer bring out the best in you. If youre working out without a trainer, have a program in place and keep a journal of your daily workouts and progress so you dont waste time in the gym. If you sign up for a boot camp, make sure you stretch beforehand and only do what you can. Dont try to keep up with everyone else. Listen to your body and know your limits.
Actress Halle Berry

ROBIN DOWNES
http://yogaflava.blogspot.com
Working at warp speed in the entertainment industry, Robin Downes became stressed out. When she turned to yoga to relax, she found a new career helping stressed-out entertainers. Her clients have included Russell Simmons, Lisa Raye McCoy and Steve Harvey, who hired her to work one of his golf tournaments.
Having the ability to relax gives you the ease to be dynamic, Downes says. Her Yoga Flava brand mixes ancient moves with contemporary grooves and helps celebrities unlock tensions they unknowingly hold in their bodies. SUN SALUTATION Downes Salute to the Sun is a flowing series of 12 poses intended to improve the strength and flexibility of your muscles and spinal column. It warms up your body, while toning your

4 6 SUMMER ISSUE 2012 HEARTANDSOUL.COM

PHOTOS: Landov

abs. Once you familiarize yourself with the steps, try to move as smoothly as possible from one pose to the next. 1. Stand on a yoga mat or towel and start with feet hipwidth apart, hands at your side. 2. Inhale as you bring your palms together in prayer position at your chest. Exhale. As you inhale again, raise your arms overhead, keeping your palms together. 3. Exhale and bend forward until your hands touch your feet. 4. Inhale as you step the right leg back, arch your back and lift your chin. 5. Exhale as you step the left leg back into plank position. Keep your spine and legs in a straight line, while supporting your weight on hands and feet. 6. Inhale as you lower your knees, your chest and then your forehead, keeping your hips up and toes curled under. 7. Inhale as you stretch forward Actress LisaRaye McCoy and bend back. Keep your arms straight. 8. Exhale as you curl your toes under, push up with your arms, your chest and then your hips. Your feet and hands should still be on the ground, and your body should look like an upside-down V. 9. Inhale as you bring your right leg forward, with your left leg still stretched out, keeping the top of your left foot flat on the floor. Lift your chin. 10. Keep your hands on the floor as you exhale, straighten the right leg and bring the left leg forward. 11. Inhale as you stretch your arms forward and over your head. Slowly bend backward from the waist. 1. Exhale as you gently return to your original position. SIGNATURE MOVE: YOGA FOR THE FACE 1. Look up while stretching your neck. Use the back of both hands to sweep upward all the way along the front of the neck for about half a minute. 2. From the jawbone, sweep upward with the back of your index and middle fingers toward the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) near the ear. Repeat on the other side of your face. Hold the skin at this joint for 10 seconds. (Its like pinching your own cheeks, only closer to the ear.) Repeat five times and then move to the other side of the face. This helps to reduce bagginess developing around the jaw line. 3. Using the pads of the index and middle finger of your left hand, on the left side of the face, sweep from the top of the nose bridge across the cheeks and up to the top of the ears. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat on the other side. This helps to lift the cheeks.

4. Make a V shape with your index finger and middle fingers. Close your eyes. Place your index finger just below the eyebrow and your middle finger below the eye itself. Use the pads of the fingers to gently sweep across the eye. Continue the movement into the hairline and hold to reduce bags. 5. Using three or four fingers, depending on the width of your forehead, begin at one temple, sweeping up your forehead into your hairline, continuing across to the other temple. This helps to reduce lines. RED CARPET RESULTS When you get to those red carpet moments in your life, you want to feel rested, centered and ready to rock the house. Guided meditation can help you learn to relax, so you get more rest when you sleep and be more mindful when youre awake. To meditate: Sit cross-legged, relaxing your shoulders and resting your palms, facing upward, on your knees. Close your eyes and turn your awareness inward. Connect with your breath, staying aware of inhaling and exhaling. You are seeking a quiet body/quiet mind. Continue to breathe deeply as you imagine inhaling energy from the base of your spine all the way to the tip of your head. Your spine is like an antenna that you want to keep straight and activate as a receptor for higher consciousness. Imagine energy emanating from the base of the spine, and rising through the chakras, or energy points, of your body. Imagine that energy extending out through the crown of your head and connecting with universal energy and the flow of life. Bring your hands to prayer position, inhale fully and exhale fully to finish. TRAINING TIPS Find a trainer with a temperament that works for you. Do you want a drill sergeant, a nurturer or someone in between? Ask for references. Know the parts of your body you want to improve. Discuss how many days and hours per week will be needed to achieve your goals, and if the trainer can work within your budget. Write out your goals and a timeframe to achieve them. Get a scale and have a friend measure your progress. If youre thinking about a boot camp to rev up your exercise program, be honest about whether youre willing to rise at the crack of dawn with drill-sergeant-type trainers who usually lead the classes. If an exercise isnt working for you, find out how you can modify it. Y

SUMMER ISSUE 2012 HEARTANDSOUL.COM 4 7