Penelope Cruz is looking fantastic (and not in that “I had a tummy tuck and lipo right after my c-section” kind of Hollywood way) after giving birth to a beautiful baby boy in late January 2011. Penelope Cruz can be seen in the upcoming movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (May 20 2011) as well as on the cover of Vogue’s June 2011 issue. If you want to know how Penelope Cruz can look so wonderful just four months after giving birth – then keep reading!
Penelope Cruz Diet and Workout
Before getting pregnant, Penelope already looked fantastic. Like a few Hollywood stars (January Jones comes to mind) the 5ft 6in actress has the slim, feminine actress body type. I think you would call this look the “I don’t workout” look (versus someone like Jessica Biel, who clearly has a good amount of muscle tone) as you really can’t see any visible muscle tone or shape. This is a look that is natural for some women (some people naturally don’t eat a lot or skip meals on a regular basis, have attractive natural body fat distribution, fidget a lot to burn off calories, etc) but not most – meaning – this is a look that takes effort in order to look effortless.
There are a few consistent mistakes that most women make when trying to get a lean Hollywood inspired body like Penelope Cruz -
Workout Mistakes
Doing the wrong workout! Most actresses claim to either not lift weights at all (and instead do yoga or pilates and lots of cardio like jogging) OR you will see a crazy “toning” workout with 15 different arm, abs, and thigh exercises that are supposed to “firm you up.” Both of these approaches are wrong for this look (except for women with a naturally thin body type.)
High Rep Weightlifting is NOT the Way to Stay Small
Too many workouts for women focus on doing lots and lots of isolation exercises to firm up problems areas like your waist, arms, and thighs. This will not work. If you have flab, wobble, or jiggle anywhere on your body – this is fat, not “weak” muscles. Trust me, no matter what size your muscles are under your skin, fat, and fluids – they are firm and tight – not droopy.
The most important thing to understand is that doing lots and lots of light reps still stimulates muscle growth – this is why you can add bulk over time to your waist, arms, and thighs by doing 500 crunches, four different tricep and bicep toning exercises, and endless leg lifts (or stair climbing/recumbent biking 5 days per week for 45 min…) This situation is made worse by the fact that these kinds of workouts also do not burn excess body fat – adding muscle without removing fat is what is making you look bulky! If you don’t want to add size to specific muscle – avoid over training period. This is probably the single best piece of advice out there – and I give credit to Visual Impact for Women on this one – check it out.
Yoga is not the secret to being thin
Exercise routines like yoga and pilates are great for improving posture (this will make you look a lot thinner), relaxing, improving flexibility, and enjoying the company of others – but honestly – in almost every case these workouts are really inefficient at burning excess body fat – the real reason most of us look bulky and not long and lean. The calories burned in the average yoga workout are about comparable to walking. Not too bad, but nothing compared to cardio weight circuits or interval training, which can burn a ton more calories in 30 minutes…
Running to lose weight is not the best idea
Many many actresses attribute their slim, no muscle look to jogging. The average woman at home then thinks – if I start jogging, I’ll lose weight and be thin too! Here’s the problem – jogging is really really hard on your joints if you carry more than 22% body fat (as a woman.) This repeated joint impact will cause many people a lot of pain in the feet, ankles, and knees. At this point you either have to scale back your workout (and thus stop burning calories) or do something else (and you have to be really creative to come up with workouts that don’t use your lower body), or like some people – you insist on pushing through the pain barrier until you are injured and have to stop working out completely. This is when most people quit working out completely.
If you need to lose excess body fat – don’t start with jogging. You can burn an intense amount of calories through safer methods like cardio weight training (which is zero impact.) Then, once your weight is down – jogging safely is a very realistic option (although honestly, its STILL not the most efficient fat burning cardio workout – more on that later.)
Here’s an example of a cardio weight training circuit from Holly at Fit Yummy Mummy -
Why this method is better –
- The time you spend working out is shorter yet you still burn a good amount of calories (more than jogging slowly or jog walking for sure!) if you push yourself to lift at a good pace (not super slow) and use weights that are challenging for you. In the video Holly is using what look like two 12lbs hand weights. You can start at 3-5lbs. You just need your weights to be heavy enough that you consistently get your heart rate up, feel somewhat winded – yet can still push yourself at a fast pace with good form.
- It protects your joints – using weights allows you to do fewer reps, which means less repetitive motion. Even if you do some jump squats or jumping jacks as part of a circuit, the time you spend should be no more than a few minutes for the whole workout – not 20-30min if you went jogging.
Do Cardio Smarter – Not Longer
Cardio needs to be a integral part of you fat loss plan, however this does not mean long hours of cardio (usually done jogging or on an elliptical trainer) is the best plan. Initially doing 20-40 minutes of steady state cardio will work, especially for people who are not in great shape. This will work for your first month or so. However, over time you will notice that you are not losing weigh they way you were before (and the longer cardio sessions you are doing will start to feel much easier.) This is a sign that your body has become more fit and more efficient at working out. If you do not add difficulty, your weight loss will stagnate.
Most people make the mistake of adding additional time to their cardio sessions. This is a bad idea. You can only add so much time to your cardio workouts before you start to experience drops in your fat burning hormones (due to overexertion) and various aches and pains due to overuse. Instead what you want to do is increase intensity – this will get you back on track burning fat and spending less time in the gym. Win win.
Interval cardio is simply a cardio workout where you alternate periods of high intensity and low intensity work. (As opposed to a cardio workout where you use the same level of intensity the whole time – walking at 4.0mph on a treadmill for 45min, for example.) You can do interval cardio either on a machine at the gym or at home.
Why is this better?
You burn more calories in the same amount of time simply by adding a few periods of higher intensity work. This doesn’t need to start out at some crazy level in order to see the effects. Simply switching from walking for 20min to walk/jogging can double your calorie burn. From there all you want to do is steadily increase the intensity (and possibly duration) of your work periods.
Here are intervals explained by Holly at Fit Yummy Mummy -
For more information on how to burn fat fast using cardio weight circuits and high intensity intervals – check out this post where I explain everything.
Penelope Cruz’s Hollywood Secrets to Bouncing Back After Baby
Penelope looks great here at the Oscars! Notice she is also sporting a slimming tan and probably wearing a really good pair of spanx to hold her new mom tummy in. Its normal to have a little Mom belly in the first few months while your organs shrink back down and move back into place.
Secret #1 – Start out in good shape because you don’t know where you’ll end up 9 months later.
This is really the most important tip there is. Once you become pregnant – what you eat, how much you eat, how you feel – its all going to be outside your control. I know when I went in to my pregnancy, I expected to continue to eat the same foods and follow the same exercise program like nothing changed. This turned out to be completely impossible for me – I felt horribly ill all the time, suffered from migraines, and lost ALL appetite for natural foods (fruit, vegetables, etc) for months.
If you can go into your pregnancy at a fitness level and weight you are really happy with – this is probably the single best decision you can make. Celebrities like Penelope Cruz look fabulous a few months after giving birth because they went into pregnancy at a low weight (maybe even under weight for many) and high fitness level. Being in shape and happy with your body is one of the best things you can do to ensure that you feel as good as possible throughout your pregnancy. Consider setting aside 3 to 6 months to get in shape before getting pregnant because this is the time where its still possible to really control what you eat, what your body looks like, etc.
Secret #2 – Try to Gain a Healthy Amount of Weight for You
I think its safe to say that we are becoming obsessed with the skinny pregnancy and rapid “get your body back after baby” workouts and diets. I am also glad to say that Penelope Cruz avoided this trap and looked healthy and beautiful throughout her entire pregnancy. Being pregnant in Hollywood is becoming more high pressure by the day.
It used to be that all a actress had to worry about was getting her body back after baby (so she could continue to work.) Now, Hollywood stars are photographed through their entire pregnancies, feel a lot of pressure to look “camera-ready” nearly every day! In fact People magazine has an entire section on their website devoted to following pregnant celebrities. This additional scrutiny leads many stars to avoid gaining as much weight as possible (think how many stars these days look like popsicle sticks that swallowed a basketball.)
Back in the day, gaining weight – even getting fat during pregnancy was considered normal. Of course that was back before we knew that excessive weight gain could lead to health problems for mothers and babies, and that exercise is generally completely safe for pregnant women. Now it seems that attitudes are shifting in the opposite direction – all weight gain is bad, women are strongly encouraged to eat larger quantities of their existing low carb – lean protein – salad heavy diets, and to exercise as much as possible (for health but lets also be honest – to avoid fat gain.)
Here’s the deal – minimizing pregnancy weight gain (but keep it healthy, listen to your doctor) and staying as fit as possible will help you bounce back faster. On the other hand, if you cannot stomach anything but carbs for nine months and feel sick exercising – listen to your body and don’t let anyone make you feel bad about yourself. You will be able to get back into shape and lose the weight later.
Tips for Exercising While Pregnant -
1. Stay consistent. If you were working out when you became pregnant, keep working out. Do what you can to avoid skipping workouts as once you stop, you may not start again.
2. Keep weight training (or at minimum doing bodyweight-only exercises.) Lifting weights during pregnancy is completely safe (even if you get funny looks at the gym) unless your doctor says otherwise and one of the best ways to minimize pregnancy aches and pains later. I highly recommend that you train you glutes and hamstrings as much as possible as this is where a lot of the strain from your growing belly goes. Otherwise, if your muscles are weak – this is what leads to bad posture and excessive lower back pain.
Two exercises to try:
Here is an example of how to do goblet squats (skip the part when you push the weight out horizontally – this is a variation you do not need to do):
And here is an example of how to do box squats:
3. Keep walking or doing cardio of your choice for 20-30min three times per week. If your lower body cannot take the strain, I recommend water walking. You might feel silly doing it at first, but once you feel the huge relief in your aches and pains – you’ll be sold.
More Pregnancy Fitness Tips (from Fit Yummy Mummy)
I wish I looked as amazing as Holly!
What You Need to Know About Pregnancy Fitness and Ab Exercises (from Fit Yummy Mummy)
Three Great Ab Exercises for Pregnancy – Second and Third Trimesters (from Fit Yummy Mummy)
Working your core will also help relieve lower back pain while pregnant. In the video above, Holly will show you how to work your transverse abdominus to prevent Diastasis recti – the separation of the rectus abdominis muscle (your six pack area essentially) into right and left halves. Exercises shown – transverse isolation, planks (front and side as well as on a diagonal to make easier) and bird dogs.
Thanks for stopping by! On your way out be sure to check out Visual Impact for Women and Fit Yummy Mummy!
