Celebrity personal trainers reveal the moves to shred weight and stay fit at home

Lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease, with restaurants and pub gardens opening for al fresco dining next week while gyms are set to open for solo workouts from Monday. 

But those who prefer group exercise classes won’t be able to get back into real-life classes until Mid May, while many who have caught the fitness bug said they’ll never renew their memberships opting for home workouts instead, saving money while staying cautious of the ongoing threat of Covid-19.

A recent survey of 2,572 people by OnBuy.com found just 63 per cent of gym goers have renewed their membership post-lockdown, meaning they’re at risk of losing up to 37 per cent of their revenue.  

If you’re anxious about sharing machines with people, or keen to keep your living room as your gym, there’s plenty of exercises you can do at home – with or without  equipment – to stay fit and healthy.

Speaking to FEMAIL, four top personal trainers – including Gunnar Peterson who’s favoured by Hollywood’s elite and the Kardashians – revealed the best way to workout including why it’s so important to focus on recovery.

Anya Lahiri, from Barry’s Bootcamp UK, recommends a mixture of cardio and bodyweight resistance when working at home – adding that cookbooks and tea towels can be used as weights and extra resistance. 

Gede Foster, the head of UK’s top fitness app FIIT revealed focusing on large, compound exercises is the way to go if you don’t have much time, such as squats and planks.

Here, FEMAIL reveals top tips for getting fit at home from some of the world’s most sought-after trainers.

USE COOKBOOKS IF YOU CAN’T GET YOUR HANDS ON WEIGHTS

Anya Lahiri, a Master Trainer and Head of Curriculum at Barry’s Bootcamp UK recommends a mixture of cardio and bodyweight resistance when working at home.

The fitness expert helped bring Barry’s to London from the US back in 2013 after teaching at the original studio in West Hollywood. The celebrity-loved intense 60-minute class claims to burn 1000 calories per session.  

Like the classes in Barry’s famous ‘red room’, Anya recommends a mix of cardio and bodyweight resistance for home workouts, adding that you don’t need to fork out on expensive equipment too.  

‘I’ve been using a lot of cookbooks and towels in my Instagram live classes. Cookbooks have been a great alternative for weights and can also be used as a step for lunges and to elevate push-ups and towels to pull against for resistance. 

‘People have been very creative during lockdown especially with the shortage of dumbbells on the market. 

‘I’ve had clients using sacks of potatoes as weights, chocolate boxes filled with coins, rucksacks filled with shopping items and leggings/tights used as resistance bands,’ she added.

USE A TEA TOWEL FOR EXTRA RESISTANCE 

Ashley Verma, the founder of Define London, agrees with Anya, saying you can make do with what you have around the house while working out.

The trainer, whose clients include Jourdan Dunn, Pippa Middleton, Kelly Rippa, and Poppy Delevingne, told FEMAIL: ‘The intimidation of working out at a big box gym is long gone and now I want to shout from the rooftop “Don’t be intimidated by working out from home.  Your goals are achievable and motivation can be found.” 

‘I have transitioned successfully and easily to online personal training and group sessions because I have led from day one with my training that your own body weight is going to be your number one piece of equipment to create a stronger, confident , more defined you. 

‘I advised all my clients when we made the move over to virtual due to Covid-19 to not fuss if all the weights were sold out on Amazon. 

‘You can make do with what you have around the house. Wine bottles, filling up a backpack with books, a tea towel all came in handy to add extra resistance to the workout. 

‘Some of my best sessions with clients comes from them clearing space in their home and we hit crazy cardio sprints into controlled and elevated postural lifts.’ 

FOLLOW ONLINE CLASSES TO ENSURE YOUR FORM IS CORRECT 

Fitness expert Anya said that it’s really important to make sure moves are done correctly before adding weights which can lead to injury – suggesting checking your form on online classes or YouTube videos from reputable and qualified instructors.

‘The most likely mistakes are incorrect form which worryingly can lead to injury.

‘Following reputable and qualified instructors online classes are the best option as they will talk you through form correction properly but the best option is signing up to an online zoom class like Barry’s At Home so the instructor can have their eyes on you and make sure you are safe and doing the exercises correctly,’ she went on.

While she admitted she ‘missed her treadmill’ she said she’s been recreating hill sprints outside and has ‘never been fitter’.

‘My online classes and Instagram live classes mean I’ve had an audience and there is nothing like a camera on you to make you hold a squat a few seconds longer. 

‘I think lockdown and the availability of online classes has made exercise more accessible to many people who may have been nervous to step into a gym,’ she added.

REDUCING STRESS IS KEY

Gunnar Peterson, who trains stars including Jennifer Lopez, Kris and Kendall Jenner, Kourtney, Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Kate Beckinsale, Sofia Veraera and Angelina Jolie told Femail he’s been working in the fitness industry for three decades, and that endurance was the key to his success.

The trainer, who also works as Director of Strength and Endurance for LA Lakers, also said reducing stress is vital for improving your overall fitness and health.  

‘If you want to gain muscle, make sure you’re actively working on reducing stress,’ Gunnar said. 

‘Work on actively reducing stressors in your life, because it’s tough to gain muscle if you’re stressed all the time just because of the signals that sends your body. 

‘The other point is make sure that you’re eating adequately right because muscle has to be made from something.’

PRIORITISE REST & SLEEP 

Gunnar explained that rest and recovery is extremely important when building fitness and that the ‘no pain no gain’ mentality is ‘outdated’.

Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, he said: ‘You can’t just train your way fit and that’s coming from a trainer. At some point, you have to relax and let all the work you’ve done bloom and blossom. 

‘You’ve prepared the meals good you done the training good at some point, rest. Relax, recover. You have to take that as seriously as you do your training. You’re not building when you’re in the gym, you’re tearing down.  

The personal trainer added that recovery is ‘hugely overlooked’ and that the ‘no pain, no gain’ adage is outdated.   

‘People took that pretty seriously and it caught on right, it’s catchy and it rhymes.  People think I can get up earlier, I can short my sleep when I can get that extra workout I can run an extra mile, I can do an extra set. 

‘If you’re looking for optimal health, recovery is the pillar that you might be shorting. I’m not saying don’t push yourself I’m saying, take a 10,000, foot view of your programming, are you getting adequate recovery? Are you sleeping enough? 

‘And then if you’re not sleeping enough maybe look to that instead of adding on additional training, maybe add on additional sleep. Are you getting adequate water are you limiting your caffeine before bed? Do you reduce the electronic devices? 

‘If you want to make the most out of the work you put in in the gym, you have to make sure that what you’re doing outside the gym is is serving that’.

AVOID STARTING WITH INTENSIVE WORKOUTS

Gunnar also said that going straight into intensive working out is not the best thing to do for anyone who has lost fitness in lockdown.  

‘They’d be better served figuratively literally and figuratively walking before you run. Don’t just go out for a jog, you need to build up to that. 

‘Maybe go for build up to that maybe it’s a walk, maybe it’s a hike in the hills, and then you build up to a run. If you’ve put on 30 pounds (two stone, two pounds) in lockdown, you can’t just go out and start pounding the pavement. 

‘That may not be the best thing for you, you may be better off instead of trying to do a three mile run, doing a two mile hike and getting your sleep under control, getting your diet under control reducing your stress levels all those things,’ he went on.

FOCUS ON BIG MOVEMENTS SUCH AS SQUATS AND PUSH UPS

‘Unless you tell me you’re training for a specific sport or activity, mixing up different cardiovascular protocols is key as well as making sure you don’t neglect, strength training,’ Gunnar added.

‘If you’re at home, grab a couple of soup cans, grab a couple of litre and a half bottles of water and put some movements together. Think upper body, lower body, upper body, lower body.

‘Do a set of squats or rear lunges and then do a set of push ups and then do a plank and then do a side bridge, and then jump rope or march in place for 60 seconds and then repeat, and then repeat. 

‘And let’s see how you feel in 24 hours. Do a workout that focuses on big movements.

‘So think squats, push ups, pull ups, crunches, planks, side hip bridge, something like a rotating press, so you’re getting all the planes of motion in five, six, seven, eight movements, go through it twice if you haven’t trained in a while. 

‘And if you have go through it three times. And then the next day, do something, cardio-focused, outdoors if you can, if that’s available to you.’  

FOCUS ON PLANKS AND GLUTES IF YOU SIT A LOT 

Gede Foster, from London, who works as  Head of Fitness at Fiit, the No.1 rated fitness app in the UK App Store, told FEMAIL the best exercises for people who have spent hours at their desks in lockdown.

The trainer made the transition from physical to digital fitness in early 2019 to play her part in delivering the very ambitious Fiit mission: to get every body moving.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Gede, who works as a personal trainer and Pilates instructor said: ‘Planks are one of the best exercises you can do for your core.  They work all the layers of your abdominal muscles as well as your glutes, back and shoulders. 

‘If you want maximum results in a short space of time compound movements should be your go to. Compound movements involve several large muscle groups and multiple joint movements in the one exercise. 

‘This is going to demand the most energy from your body compared to isolated exercises.  Some examples are: Squats, Deadlifts, Thrusters, Squat cleans, ground to overhead, clean and press, lunges, bent over row, or chest press.

‘Again pick compound movements listed above if you are short on time. Superset your exercises to minimise the rest.  For example you could do 10-12 reps of squats, straight into 10-12 bent over rows as there is no overlap as you circuit from lower body to upper body.’