Working out is great for your mind, body and soul. It’s not just about burning calories, it’s also about those feel-good hormones and endorphins that breaking a sweat delivers! We’ve been working with celebs and their trainers for years, and this list has the best of the best! Be sure to also check out our top picks for the best diets and snacks plus our favorite gym bag essentials from the 2019 HollywoodLife Fitness & Health Awards.
BEST CELEB-APPROVED WORKOUT CLASSES
The Tracy Anderson Method
The Tracy Anderson Method is a danced-based workout in a hot room that creates long and lean bodies thanks to repetitive motions targeting “small, accessory muscles.” Tracy has studios in New York City, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, Madrid and private sessions available in London, plus over 170 DVDs and an online studio so everyone can follow her method. Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow are just a couple fans of The Tracy Anderson Method. Workouts are switched every 10 days to ensure no one ever “plateaus.”
Body By Simone
Celebs like Taylor Swift, Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Aniston have all taken Body By Simone classes. Our editors are obsessed, too. “Body by Simone is a workout that’s not only fun and confidence-boosting, but effective,” says HollywoodLife.com‘s On-Air Reporter Ali Stagnitta. “Created by Simone De La Rue, the classes are a mix of dance cardio and toning with either body weight, bands or light weights. The dances are always unique and fun and the instructors are constantly supportive, so even when you’re on your 30th burpee of the class, you’ll want to keep going because the teachers give you the confidence and support to believe in yourself and stay strong!”
CorePower Yoga
With over 200 studios nationwide, if you’re looking for a great yoga class, look no further. The most popular classes are the CorePower Yoga 1 (C1), CorePower Yoga 2 (C2), Yoga Sculpt, and Hot Power Fusion. Stars like Michelle and Malia Obama, Drew Barrymore, Julianne Hough, Lea Michele, Yara Shahidi, Kaley Cuoco, Gwyneth Paltrow have all been spotted at studios.
SoulCycle
With 88 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, celebs like Lea Michele, Kelly Ripa, and Bella Thorne love this mind, body, spirit spinning class. Done in the dark, sometimes with just a candle illuminating the room, music blasts as you ride your stationary bike to the beat. Some classes include minor choreography on the bike, and there is a hand weights portion for arms. You’ll feel euphoric after a class!
Rumble
Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber love this full body boxing-based workout. With studios in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Noah Neiman, the co-founder of Rumble Boxing, tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY, that Rumble “is a full body workout — boxing helps generate that athletic lean and desirable physique. Our strength training and conditioning circuits utilize body weight calisthenics and weighted exercises. I think we transform minds before we transform bodies. I’ve had countless self-proclaimed workout haters, saying how surprisingly fun and addictive they found Rumble to be. If you can have a strong brand identity and are still able to cater to the casual fitness enthusiast, a seasoned athlete, or even the person who has traditionally hated the gym space then you have a big WIN!”
Noah continued, “My philosophy is, if you have fun, you’re going to stay consistent. If you stay consistent, you are going to get results. Fun is the common denominator that makes any experience worth returning. It has to make you FEEL something. You should look forward to your workout — you should be in a space that makes you want to work harder than you would by yourself.”
305 Fitness
Celebrity fans of this danced-based class include Miley Cyrus, Hailey Baldwin Bieber, Sophie Turner, Lais Ribeiro, Ashley Olsen, Amanda Seyfried and more. Sadie Kurzban, the Founder and CEO of 305 Fitness tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY about her inspiration: “I wanted to create a fitness brand that was speaking directly to me and my friends. Most fitness brands have felt so exclusive, so white-and-thin. I wanted 305 to be about giving-no-f*cks, gender-bending, break-the-rules. I wanted to create a space where everyone felt welcome to let their freak flag fly, free of judgement. Classes are 55 minutes of non-stop dancing and moving. Class focuses on a ton of cardio, with some resistance and flexibility work, too. Dancing is incredible for our coordination, agility, heart health and memory. And it’s SO MUCH FUN! 305 Fitness is a place where people come together to celebrate, to connect, to feel free.”
SLT
Celebrity fans include Hailey Baldwin Bieber, Sofia Vergara, Nina Agdal, Karlie Kloss and many more. SLT stands for strengthen, lengthen, tone, and this Megaformer-based workout will do just that. Though you don’t move fast, the slow, controlled motions seriously set your muscles on fire…in a good way! This class delivers major results, and fast.
AKT
Founder Anna Kaiser tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY, “At AKT, we focus on combining muscular endurance with power to create a strong, lean figure in the most efficient way possible. All of our classes are interval based, the most effective way to train your body. The intensity and length of the cardiovascular and muscular endurance portions vary from class to class, creating a well-rounded program designed to support each member’s strengths and weaknesses. Most boutique concepts are based around a single modality and instructors are told to lead a workout within a given genre. That means every class is different and the class experience depends solely on the instructor. Our workouts remain the same for three weeks, so that people are constantly challenged to improve their muscular and cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, and flexibility. Then we change it up to prevent plateauing.”
“AKT has four different class modalities that are a mix between low rep/high weight to improve muscular strength, and high rep/low weight to improve muscular endurance. I like to take a personal training approach to group fitness, so that you feel inspired and motivated the entire class, and can reach your fitness goals.”
Peloton
Peloton has three NYC-based studios for cycling, running / bootcamp and yoga, however, their at-home model is really the most beneficial for everyone and anyone to reach their goals. A bike can be bought or financed and is delivered to your door. There are over 10,000 live and on-demand classes available, bringing that NYC in-studio energy to your home.
Orangetheory Fitness
Orangetheory Fitness’ co-founder Ellen Latham tells HollywoodLife.com, “Orangetheory’s workout is designed to give members more results, more confidence and more life. We are a science-backed, technology-tracked, coach-inspired group workout giving people a longer, more vibrant life. Orangetheory takes heart-rate interval training to a new level of performance! Each workout incorporates endurance, strength and power elements through a variety of equipment including treadmills, rowing machines, suspension training and free weights. The one-hour, heart rate-based interval training class centers around the science of Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption or ‘EPOC.’ This enables you to burn more calories long after your workout is over. Here’s the key: Twelve to twenty minutes in this ‘orange zone’ at 84% or higher of maximum heart rate will provide maximum benefits during the workout, enabling more calorie burn for up to 36 hours following the session. How great is that?” There are over 1,100 studios in 49 states and 22 countries, and celeb fans include Erin Andrews and Christina El Moussa. HollywoodLife’s Photo Director Paige loves it, too. “I just recently joined an Orangetheory Fitness gym & I am obsessed. I used to think it was for very athletic people, but everyone can workout at their own pace. The instructors really pay attention to you, making sure you are doing the routine correctly, efficiently & safely. For people on a time crunch like I am — they maximize your 60 minutes of working out to target your heart rate in the fat burning range. My friends and I try to take at least one class together a week and I have never been more excited to workout! I love that they they email you your stats from the class immediately after! It’s great motivation for all the hard work you just put in. I’m always leaving the class ready to schedule my next!”
STRONG by Zumba
Loved by celebs like Ashley Greene and Victoria Justice, STRONG by Zumba is NOT your mom’s dance class. STRONG by Zumba CEO Alberto Perlman tells HollywoodLife.com: “We started STRONG by Zumba because each time that we would take a traditional, high-intensity class, we were uninspired and disconnected from the music. We noticed that in the movies, composers are able to build a certain intensity and emotion through music, so we decided to create distinctive routines with signature moves and score the music to the workout. We sync sounds and amazing beats to movement. Our fitness philosophy is that your body is your machine so we provide effective, high-intensity moves and hack your willpower through the unique experience of Synched Music Motivation. You are doing a routine of different moves — from squats and jumps to burpees — the beat drops and ‘bam!’ each punch has a sound attached. You can’t help but feel like a superhero! It really works all parts of the body. There are very targeted movements that will strengthen your glutes, legs, obliques and the heart, of course, because there’s a ton of cardio. SBZ has shown me what true body sculpting looks like. Bodies are transformed to be athletic and agile, with a lower body fat percentage and toned muscles.”
BEST CELEB TRAINERS
Tracey Anderson
Tracy is an expert in catering to celebrity clientele. She has famously transformed the bodies of a-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, Alessandra Ambrosio, Victoria Beckham, Olivia Palermo, Olivia Wilde and many, many more. Gwyneth believed in Tracy and her method so much that she became business partners with Tracy after she helped her lose the baby weight after her second child.
Simone De La Rue
Simone’s Body By Simone classes are loved by Nina Dobrev, Julianne Hough, Jennifer Garner and many more. She has sculpted countless celebs with her dance-based workouts! She’s also a featured trainer on Khloe Kardashian‘s Revenge Body.
Lacey Stone
Lacey has worked with celebs like Casey Wilson, Justin Chambers, Mary Louise Parker, Kelly Osbourne, Kiernan Shipka, Nicole Kidman and more. “I saw there was a need for women to learn to use their bodies in a way that was less about how they look and more about how they feel. As an athlete, I was trained to use my body as a weapon or a tool to perform and that is the root of what my brand is about. It’s not about being masculine or feminine — it’s about being strong in who you are from the inside out,” Lacey tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “Through my transformational Comeback Camp programs, I teach women what it takes to have sustainable change through pattern-breaking workouts and mental toughness practices. I believe that everyone can have the body of their dreams; it just takes the right coach to help them believe it for themselves. No trendy workouts, no quick-fix diets or fancy trainer will get you sustainable change…. You will change you because you are magic.”
Anna Kaiser
Anna trains Kelly Ripa and Shakira, among many others! She tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY, “As a dancer, I constantly struggled to find ways to keep myself in shape. I would go through phases of focusing on Pilates or yoga or barre, but then struggled with the idea that I was not getting enough cardio. As a result, I began overtraining and became tired of doing the same boring routine that I felt was not giving me the full-body training I needed. I wanted to create a culture and a brand that combined the personalization of private training with the community and electric experience that a boutique studio offers. I found that the consumer would plateau after only a few months of working out at a single modality studio (barre, Pilates, yoga, spin, etc.) because the workout wasn’t changing. With my background, I was able to combine my expertise in anatomy and exercise science with my knowledge and talent as a choreographer and dancer, to create a new take on efficient and effective workouts. I founded AKT as a solution, providing members with an ever-changing workout experience focused on something no other fitness concept does — a kinetic approach to physical wellness with a cutting edge in pop fitness culture.
I would love to inspire everyone to be active 4x per week in a way that makes them truly happy and within a supportive community. I feel that this would make everyone less stressed, less anxious, more motivated, more focused, happier, healthier, and more efficient overall. We have started to become a culture of voyeurs. Let’s get back to LIVING and living well, together.”
Gunnar Peterson
Gunnar trains Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Beckinsale and many more celebs and pro athletes. He tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY that everyone needs to make fitness a priority. “That pays dividends in every other area. Everything you do inside the gym makes everything you do outside of the gym better. You’re improving your circulatory system. You heal faster. You sleep better. You function better. You’re less likely to be injured. You’re more resistant to disease and illness. And when you go to the Khloes, the Kims, the Jennifers, these aren’t people who are training for a month and taking a month off or really crushing it for three months and then not doing anything for two … That’s not how it works. All those people are at the top of their field. I’ve been doing this for 29 years. When I look over the years at the people I’ve worked with at the top of their field, across the board, they work hard and they’re consistent. There’s something very refreshing about that to me because that’s quantifiable. Work hard, have success — I like that. It’s never a fluke.”
Harley Pasternak
Harley has trained celebs like Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus and says it’s NOT just about “hitting the gym.” He tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY, “It’s a holistic thing. You need food. You need movement. And you need sleep. Those are equally important. I think something that holds people back is the fear, the intimidation of it all, like, ‘Ugh, gosh, I’m scared to go to a gym and do this and the pain and the workout.’ Keep it simple. Maybe you don’t go to a gym. Maybe you workout at home. And that’s great — small steps to get there. I think people have to just bite off a little bit at a time, rather than looking at this giant ominous thing to get in shape. Don’t think about getting in shape. Think, ‘I need to walk around the block once today.'”
BEST FITNESS APPS
My Fitness by Jillian Michaels
Studio Tone It Up: Workouts
Rather than a focus on shedding pounds, it’s all about setting goals, and feeling great. Karena Dawn and Katrina Scott created the Tone It Up community, which includes workout content, food, lifestyle tips and encouragement from other women. It’s a friendly, non-intimidating atmosphere!