By: Celebrity Fitness Trainer, Brent Bishop
As the warmer weather approaches, many of us feel the urge to shed a few pounds, tone up, and get in shape for summer. Hollywood trends often influence our approach to health and fitness, but do they work for everyone? If you’re not inspired by your exercise routine, you may ultimately lose motivation. While not all celebrity workout routines suit everyone, specific trends can provide excellent fitness inspiration and results.
Timeless Trends in Celebrity Workouts
Some of the most enduring and influential workout trends include boxing, HIIT (high-intensity interval training), yoga, and spinning. Group training has gained immense popularity, with various studios emerging rapidly. The social aspect added accountability, and sometimes a competitive environment can enhance program adherence, fun, and overall results. Research shows that HIIT can yield significant weight loss and conditioning results, making it a celebrity favorite. HIIT involves short bursts of high-intensity activity followed by periods of lower intensity. This method is often incorporated into workouts like hill sprints or spin intervals. Applying this approach to weight training in a high-intensity circuit can be more time-efficient than traditional strength workouts and can help boost metabolism over time. Minimizing rest between exercises can reduce your workout time by half while promoting an elevated metabolism for hours post-workout. Over several weeks, you’ll notice an increase in overall caloric expenditure and improvements in body composition, energy, strength, speed, and cardiovascular endurance. Incorporating full-body, multi-joint movements that engage your entire body can enhance muscular balance, core strength, and joint stability, demanding more from your body’s systems.
For beginners, it’s recommended to start at a comfortable level and master the basic mechanics before progressing. Hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions can be valuable for establishing good technique, building a strong foundation, and safely advancing to more complex movements.
Incorporate HIIT into Your Routine
Try adding HIIT into your weekly strength training routine as you work towards your summer fitness goals. Complete three rounds of this five-exercise HIIT-inspired circuit to promote strength, speed, endurance, and favorable body composition.
HIIT the Weights Circuit
- Deadlift
- Start with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width, gripping the bar wider than your knees.
- Engage your core, lats, and hamstrings, keep your spine straight and shoulders back.
- Drive through your heels to the top of the movement as you contract your glutes.
- Return slowly to the starting position while maintaining form.
- Repeat for 15 reps.
- Box Jump
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees bent, and swing your arms while jumping onto the box.
- Land on the box, absorbing your body weight through the mid-foot.
- Jump or step back down to the starting position.
- Repeat for 30–60 seconds.
- Single Arm Dumbbell Split-Snatch
- Start in a deadlift position, holding a dumbbell in your left hand between your knees.
- With your core tight and spine straight, quickly drive out of position while splitting your feet so the right foot goes forward.
- Lift the dumbbell simultaneously with a bent elbow
- Land by absorbing your body weight through the front heel while pushing the dumbbell up so that your arm is in a locked-out position
- Repeat for 15 reps, then switch sides.
- Plank Walkout
- Start in a hand plank position with your core engaged and chest directly above your hands.
- Walk out one hand at a time to a distance where you can still maintain a neutral spine position.
- Repeat for 30–60 seconds.
- Single Arm Balance Row
- Hold a dumbbell in one hand and keep the opposite foot on the ground.
- Keep your spine straight and core engaged while pulling the dumbbell to your rib cage.
- Slowly lower back to the starting position.
- Repeat for 15 reps, then switch sides.
By incorporating these exercises into your fitness regimen, you’ll be well able to achieve your summer fitness goals. Consistency and proper form are vital to seeing results and avoiding injury.
