Blake Lively welcomed her fourth child a few months ago, but you’d never know. All eyes have been on her recently as she’s returned to the public eye after giving birth, and it’s easy to be impressed by her fit figure. And although some may assume the 35-year-old actress is hitting the gym for hours at a time or on a strict diet, her personal trainer, Don Saladino, revealed her diet and exercise routine is anything but. In a new interview, he said his clients — including Blake, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Cindy Crawford — are “never doing anything unhealthy” and are focused on building strength while eating a well-balanced diet.
“These women understand the importance of being strong and they understand the importance of getting in enough energy. They don’t starve themselves,” Don told E! News on May 8. “If every woman came to me and they said, ‘I want to put on muscle,’ that would probably allow me to get everyone to their goal.” He added, “That’s what I’ve been doing with thousands of people now, teaching them: ‘Let’s try and put on muscle, you won’t look muscular, but you’ll have that lean, athletic body that you want.'”
And if people come to Don with the goal of looking like Blake Lively, well, they can. He created a six-week “Train Like BlakeLively” program that is supposed to help women get their fitness goals within reach. The exercise part of his program focuses on strength training and walking, and places emphasis on feeling good rather than working up a sweat to burn up every last calorie you have.
For the Gossip Girl alum, movement is her favorite part, according to Don. “She’s a great mom, she’s got four kids jumping on her and that’s hard on the body, right? Coming into this workout and having a series of movements that are going to restore the way she feels and allow her to develop a high level of energy is really important,” he explained.
Feeling good comes with the right attitude, so Don always wants his clients to know when the right time to push themselves is and when it’s time to give themselves a break. He said Blake is superb at doing this. “Blake’s really done a great job in coming into the gym with a great attitude and moving and having fun. Like any other human being, sometimes you want to be there and sometimes you don’t. I think accepting that makes it very real and that’s something that people like to hear because they understand that someone isn’t always perfect and always nailing it,” he noted.
Don previously told HollywoodLife that if a full workout isn’t in the cards for the day, he encourages a 20-minute session. “If someone’s having a really difficult time getting into doing exercise, 20 minutes a day-plus [is good],” he told HL EXCLUSIVELY. Specifically, he recommended doing “a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular.”
In terms of food consumption during the program, Don doesn’t instruct Blake to go on any tedious diets. In fact, he encourages his clients not to have a calorie deficit at all. “Calories are energy,” he stressed. “And that’s why you see people who are eating too little calories, they can’t lose weight. Their blood sugar level is low and their energy level is low, so they are not moving as frequently anymore.”
The only thing Don asks his clients to focus on in terms of diet is their TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure. “[This] means there’s a certain amount of calories that they burn in a day when they’re sitting and then there’s a certain amount of calories they burn in a day when they’re moving,” Don explained during his chat with E!. “And when you bring those numbers together you have your TDEE. How many calories do you need to consume to break even? My goal is to get people there through high-quality food.”
So, to round up Don and Blake‘s workout program: Get yourself moving and fuel your body well. Sounds simple enough! Don also said he recommends walking 10,000 steps a day, drinking more water while cutting back on alcohol, and getting more rest.
And if you’re still unsure if Don’s methodology is the real deal, take it from Blake herself. “Turns out you can’t lose the 61 pounds you gained during pregnancy by scrolling through Instagram & wondering why you don’t look like all the bikini models,” she said in a testimony on his website. “Thanks, Don Saladino, for kicking my A double S into shape. Feeling very proud.”