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40 Jennifer Aniston-Approved Diet And Fitness Habits You Should Try – Women’s Health
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Fact: Jennifer Aniston has looked jaw-droppingly fit and healthy for decades. But, TBH, shes really hit her stride these days. At 50, Jen has ridiculous abs, glowy skin, and legs even Rachel Green would die for. But while Jen works hard, she also seems to be pretty chill about her approach to health. Here are the health and wellness habits she swears by to capture that truly JA vibe.
1 Get into planking
To challenge her, Jennifers trainer Leyon Azubuike told Womens Health that he has Jen do plank flow, where she starts in a standard plank, then moves to a side plank, then moves to plank with shoulder taps, and so forth.
2Don't take your fitness too seriously
"I went from being a crazy workout girl to sort of saying, 'My body wants a little bit of a break,'" Jen told Women's Health. "So I kind of stay with more simple stuff and taking walks and not being neurotic about working out and eating right. I started to enjoy life a little bit more. The only downside to that is theres that couple extra pounds and about 4,000 pregnancy rumors, but you know, other than that, it feels great."
3Stretch your core
"We do a lot of things that stretch the core, so well do things where shes hanging on a pullup bar, then she pulls her knees up and brings them back down, Azubuike told Womens Health.
4Think outside the sit-ups
Jennifer loves doing V-ups and using an ab wheel, Azubuike told Womens Health. "Well use a sit-up to shock the body occasionally, but its not a major part of our core regimen, he said.
5Don't rush your workouts if you have the time
Jen doesnt pop in and out of the gymshe spends up to an hour and a half working out during each exercise session, Azubuike told Womens Health.
6Be flexible with your workouts
Everybody has someplace they need to be, and Jennifer is no exception. Azubuike told Womens Health that he uses a training technique called "periodization" with Jen, which adjusts things based on her schedule. "Depending on where we are in that cycle dictates the duration and intensity of Jens workout," he says.
"If I know Jen isnt filming anything, its a different phase than if I know she has something coming up tomorrow. If shes going to be walking up to receive an award, Im not going to destroy her legs in the gym the day before."
7Read up on intermittent fasting
"I do intermittent fasting, so no food in the morning," Jennifer told UK outlet Radio Times. "I noticed a big difference in going without solid food for 16 hours."
8Find time to sweat, no excuses
Sometimes Jen will work out in the middle of the night when shes shooting. "She has to respond when I say go," Azubuike told Womens Health. "If she has a shoot at 3 a.m. and we need to work out before that, lets go...we respect each other in that regard, so its a constant back and forth with mutual respect and understanding."
9Find your beast mode once in a while
Azubuike made it clear to Womens Health that he doesnt go easy on his famous client. She definitely should be commended, because when I get into go-mode, Im in go-mode, he said.
10Eat nutrient-rich foods
Azubuike told Women's Health that hes big on his clients (including Jennifer) eating nutrient-rich foods, like mix of healthy carbs, protein, leafy greens, and bright, colorful veggies.
11Get. Some. Sleep.
You wont find Jen up at the crack of dawn. She told Radio Times that she usually wakes up at 9 a.m.
12Try resistance bands
They factor big-time into Jens workouts. "We box, we jump rope, we do strength training, we do a lot of work with resistance bandswere big on resistance bands," Azubuike told Womens Health.
13Mix up your workouts
Azubuike told Womens Health that hes constantly rotating Jens workouts. Its always hard, shes consistently being challengedIm a big fan of switching things up, so the body reacts in a positive way and changes, he said.
14Try boxing
"Its the longest workout Ive actually stayed with consistently other than yoga," Jen told InStyle. Theres something about the mental aspect of boxingthe drills, your brain has to work, youre not just sitting on a bike. Its amazing.
15Don't be bullied into weight loss
According to the book, Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of Friends, author Saul Austerlitz said that Jen faced a lot of pressure over her weight and looks during her time on the show. She had to lose thirty pounds if she wanted to stay in Hollywood, he wrote.
Jen previously addressed this in the 90s. "The disgusting thing of HollywoodI wasn't getting lots of jobs 'cause I was too heavy," she told Rolling Stone in 1996, as reported by Harper's Bazaar UK. "I was like, 'What?!'"
16Make exercise a consistent habit
Making exercise a regular part of your day is clutch. Jennifer told Radio Times that she tries to do five workouts a week.
17Keep pushing through challenging exercises
Jennifer didnt love using a jump rope when Azubuike first tried her out on it because she thought it was challenging, her trainer told Womens Health. But she kept at it. "I just made her keep on doing it, and now shes great at it, he said.
18Have compassion for past relationships
Hating on exes never helped anyones mental health. Jen is friendly with both of her ex-husbands. Justin Theroux regularly slides into her Instagram comments and was even spotted at her Friendsgiving dinner this year. Ex-husband Brad Pitt was also spotted at Jens 50th birthday party, per People.
19Own your morning
When Jen wakes up, she takes a mindful approach to her day. She told Radio Times that she has a celery juice and meditates before jumping into a workout.
20Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
Jennifer has inspired her own yoga instructor, Mandy Ingber, to stay well-hydrated. Jen is definitely somebody that has encouraged me to hydrate," Ingber told ABC News. "She is a hydrator from way back in the day."
21Set aside time to pamper yourself
Jen told Australia's Now to Love that she makes time to pamper herself one day a week. "Sunday is my spa day. I usually do a little mini facial time where I just give myself a good scrub, use a mask, and then the new Aveeno hydrating facial," she said. "I leave it on overnight and when I wake up I have that dewy, glowing, twinkling skin."
22Watch your water intake before a workout
It wont end well for you. If you pound water right before your workout, youll just feel heavy and full and sluggish the entire time, Azubuike told Womens Health.
23Get a little sunbut wear sunscreen
Jennifer is all about hanging out outside, but she wears sunscreen. I still sit in the sun...you need that vitamin D for a glow and your mood, Jennifer told Vogue.
24Find a puppy love
Jennifer's adorable dog Clyde is her BFFshe even takes him to work sometimes.
25Dont let yourself get thirsty
"The common misconception about hydration is that you should wait until youre thirsty, and then drink until youre full," Azubuike told Womens Health. Instead, he said, you shouldnt even let yourself get to that point.
Being hydrated all day is important for your energy, and in turn, your workouts. Just be careful about chugging RIGHT before.
26Eat healthy fats
As far as food goes, Azubuike told Womens Health that he encourages Jennifer to reach for healthy fats. "I love avocados, coconut oil, salmon, fish oilanything thats a good form of fat is great," he said.
27Experiment with pre-workout snacks
Something like peanut butter and banana can be a good pre-workout snack, Azubuike told Womens Health, but its not for everyone. "It takes trial and error to see what works best," he said.
28Keep a fitness journal
Azubuike recommends this. "Write down how certain foods you ate make you feel during a workout," he told Womens Health. "And also journal what days you mentally werent checked in as well, and why, in case that made an impact. Maybe its because you didnt sleep well, it was rainy outside, etc."
29Pencil in recovery days
Jennifer told People that she usually takes off on Sundays to give herself a little time to recover from all the badassery she drops at the gym the rest of the week.
30Bring a good attitude to every workout
Hey, Jen does. Shes very diligent. She is ready to work out hard, every single time she hits the gym, Azubuike told People. Whether it be a 45-minute session, whether it be a two-hour session, shes always ready to go.
31Be consistent
Azubuike told People that Jen is incredibly consistent and hardworking, and that makes my job a little bit easier. Shes a very good, natural athlete.
32Mix up your yoga
Jen told People that shes big into taking a spin-yoga class several times a week, which is 25 to 30 minutes of spinning and then 30 to 40 minutes of yoga.
33Learn to crave exercise
Of course I [get bored], Jen told People. Its when I take breaks and then I get back into it, thats when its hard. But once Im back into it, I love it and I crave it.
34Switch up your cardio
I usually do a trifecta of cardio, Jen told People. Fifteen minutes on the bike, 15 on the treadmill running and then 15 on the elliptical. You have to shake it up, you know, muscle confusion.
35Work out even when you dont feel like it
Jen has learned a little trick that works for her. Bite the bullet. Just bite the bullet and do it, she told People. Think of a wonderful pasta or Mexican meal that you want to have on the weekend and dangle that in front of you like a little carrot.
36Do body weight exercises
Jennifer told People that shes big on using her own body weight for workouts. Or, if shes at the gym, shell add a little weight. Grab little five-pound weights if you have nothing else, and just move them around, she said.
37Have a go-to smoothie
Jennifer is big into a fruit-filled smoothie made with bananas, cherries, blackberries, a greens powder, a collagen peptide, a little cacao powder, chocolate stevia drops, and chocolate almond milk, she told People. You can see I like chocolate-flavored. I don't like protein taste."
38Lean into that endorphins high
You know what, there are days I go I cant and I dont want to, and I think you just have to listen to your body, Jen told Womens Healthand she'll take those days as rest days.
And then there are times when you go, 'Really? Do you really not want to?' And then if you just say, OK, Im going to get on some machine for 10 minutes, you just start to get the endorphins going. Then you feel great, and you just keep going. So sometimes you can actually override the I dont want to work out.
39Freeze some fruit for a snack
Jennifer told Womens Health that she loves to nosh on frozen grapes. I like the red onestheyre really easy and delicious, she said. They give you that frozen crunch. I was at a spa one time, and they gave me a little cup of frozen grapes after my mud bath soak or whatever. It was sort of like, This is genius.
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40 Jennifer Aniston-Approved Diet And Fitness Habits You Should Try - Women's Health
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