Firm Up With Fitness Secrets Of The Stars

From eDiets - The premier online diet, fitness, and healthy living resource

Ah, to dream the impossible dream.

Well, wake up and get crackin' -- a fab body is well within reach. Your first step: soak up the sage advice of in-demand trainer to the stars Harley Pasternak.

Hollywood's hottest celebrities pay good money to get Harley's help, but you can get a free sample today simply by reading on!

Harley may not have taught the taut stars mentioned above, however he has sculpted the likes of Angela Bassett (How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Stephen Dorff (Deuces Wild), Jim Caviezel (Angel Eyes), Emmanuelle Chriqui (On The Line), Eliza Dushku (Bring It On) and Swiss supermodel Julie Ordon.

“Celebrities are human beings like you and me,” the Canadian fitness guru says from his home base of Toronto, Ontario. “They have to work just as hard, sometimes harder. When they’re shooting a film or show, their day may start at 6 a.m. and end at 8 or 9 p.m. After a long day, they have to muster up the energy to go work out.”

Before bringing his special brand of training to Tinseltown, Harley made a name for himself as director and founder of Bodiworx Health & Fitness and Entertainment Health. Although he and his crack team of 12 trainers teach Joe Average, Harley specializes in training those in "the biz." We're talking actors and entertainers who require dramatic physique transformations for specific film or television projects.

He recently contributed to the fitness book ABSolution (High Point Media), writes a monthly column for Real Solutions magazine, and hosts The Right Fit on WTN (Women's Television Network).

Two of the big names he's currently working with include Dorff, who starred alongside Wesley Snipes in Blade and Dushku, who most recently appeared in Soul Survivors. Harley said he had to mold Dorff so that he is absolutely shredded, while Dushku had to sport a sexy, sleek stomach, especially since shell be wearing cut-offs and crop tops.

Depending on his lead time between when he gets started with a client and when they begin filming, training can be downright rigorous and demanding.

“Sometimes a client gets shipped up before the movie starts filming so I have time to work with them and get them prepped,” he explains. “The intensity depends on when a particular scene is where their bodies are revealed, whether it’s two months into filming or from the beginning of filming.”

A typical workout week: 6 days of cardio and 5 days of resistance training. A healthy diet is a must for Harley's clients.

He stresses that without following a balanced meal plan, you’re less likely to see a payoff from working out. The body-sculpting specialist is quick to mention that to achieve the same results, you can follow a less stringent regimen over time. While the average person is trying to get fit or lose a couple of pounds, celebrities have specific goals that must be reached within a specific timeline.

The average non-film client comes in three times a week for strength or resistance training which usually begins with five minutes of moderate cardio. That is followed by aggressive stretching and then 30 minutes of intense weight training. Harley recommends his clients also do five days of cardio... 30 minutes at a pop.

For optimum results, Harley swears by the philosophy of multi-variable training, MVT is a training system where the variables (position, duration, activity, reps and rests) are constantly changing. This forces the body to adapt, thereby stimulating muscle growth and promoting fat loss. It also helps determined dieters avoid those unwanted plateaus.

Now that you're clued you in on how Harley gets his clients in shape, he’s sharing the secrets on how you can achieve similar results. Get started today and tomorrow you’ll be one step closer to the body of your dreams.

ARMS/SHOULDERS
Make sure you take a balanced approach to working the shoulders. Often people neglect the back of the shoulders. You have to hit all aspects of this area to get a nice rounded shape. Some recommended exercises: the dumbbell shoulder press, dumbbell laterals, and rear dumbbell shoulder flies.

Also, you want to work the triceps more than the biceps. The triceps muscles are double the size of the biceps muscles. Developing the triceps muscles will help your posture. If the biceps muscles are too tight, the biceps pull the shoulders forward causing you to slouch.

LEGS
Make sure you have balance between the muscles in the front of the thighs and the back of the thighs. Too often people neglect the hamstrings. You have to do a lot of unilateral leg exercises (where you use one leg at a time). These would include lunges, step-ups and single leg presses.

ABS
This is one of the most overworked muscle groups. The best way to get rid of the abs-covering layer of fat that many of us are saddled with: cardio exercise and a healthy diet. When the layer of fat is gone, you will begin to see the fruits of your labor. Variety is the key to working the abs. Use different exercises to work them. Some effective exercises include resist-a-ball crunches, hanging knee raises and double crunches.

BUTT
There really are no exercises that isolate the butt. But, you do work your butt when you work your legs. Lunges, step-ups and squats will not only tone your legs, but they'll also affect your bottoming out backside as well!

For more info you can contact Harley Pasternak at bodiworx@yahoo.com

ABSolution

back to top