When superstar entertainers Denzel Washington, Julianne Moore, Mary J. Blige, and Lenny Kravitz wanted to get into shape, they turned to renowned fitness expert Kacy Duke. She is author of “The Show It Love Workout,” a founder of Equinox Fitness Clubs, and one of the world’s most sought-after personal trainers. She shares with Newsmax Health her secrets to getting a better body for beach season.
The key to getting in — and staying in — shape is finding exercises you really enjoy doing, and being committed to the routine, she says.
“Choose the exercises that you really love to do — even just three — and just do them,” she advises. “But do them in a manner where you keep moving and get your heart rate up, and I’m telling you you’ll find yourself on your way.”
These days, burpees, which combine strength training and cardiovascular exercise, are popular, and she recommends them for a fast, intensive workout session. Fifteen minutes of burpees will “get you revved up and ready to go,” she says.
One thing that often gets in the way of working out consistently is not being ready to do it whenever a busy schedule allows, she says.
“You have to be ready and prepared, and that means keeping a gym bag packed and ready to go in your car and at your office because you need to nix the excuses,” she says.
Setting your mind to the idea of being healthier and committed to getting fit also is critical to hitting workout goals, she says.
“It’s important to realize that not all of us are meant to be world-class athletes, but you have to start somewhere. It’s an evolution; it’s not a revolution. … If you really want the results it starts up here,” she says, referring to her head.
Appreciating your body and finding joy in the fact that you can move helps build the mindset you need to stay faithful to getting healthy, she says.
“Because gratitude is the best attitude,” she says. “Let me tell you something — you have to love your body in its current form however flawed you may think that is and then you can go about transforming it …Then you become the architect of your body.”
One thing Duke is grateful for is the opportunity to work with talented performers such as actor Denzel Washington, to whom she says she owes a lot of her success.
“He’s really trusted me with his body. I’ve done many movies with him,” she says. “He always says, ‘You’re the boss; tell me what to do.’ ”
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