Advertisement

Why You Should Work Out 5 Times A Day (Like Jennifer Aniston)


She eats five meals per day too. Should you? (Photo: Getty Images)

Jennifer Aniston’s sculpted arms, gorgeous legs, and slim figure has inspired more than a little body envy over the years. And, at 46 years old, she still has the body of a woman half her age. How does she do it?

Kathy Kaehler, a celebrity trainer who has worked with Aniston, along with Drew Barrymore and Kim Kardashian, tells Yahoo Health that her clients exercise and eat throughout the day — but it’s in small doses. When Kaehler worked with the former "Friends" star, Aniston squeezed in five-minute high-intensity workouts five times a day (along with a daily run), and ate up to five small meals a day. Her go-to meals were scrambled eggs for breakfast, white fish for lunch, and a grilled chicken taco for dinner, along with dark chocolate squares, blueberries, and goji berries as snacks in between.

“It’s a much better approach, especially for people who have resistance to exercise and use the excuse that they don’t have time to get in a workout,” says Kaehler.

An example of one of Aniston’s five-minute workouts: one minute of non-stop skipping, one minute of tricep dips, one minute of tricep kickbacks, one minute of push ups against the wall and one minute of push ups on the floor.

While working out five times a day sounds a little intense, at five-minute bursts, she’s really only sweating for 25 minutes daily, plus a run. Of course, that involves a lot of changing into and out of workout gear. Is it really better than hitting the gym just once a day?

It can be, says Doug Sklar, a certified personal trainer and founder of New York City-based fitness training studio PhilanthroFIT. “Finding short windows of time where someone can do high-intensity training is more realistic for most people than working out for a one-hour block,” he tells Yahoo Health.

Aniston at the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards. (Photo: Getty Images)

It’s not just mental: Those short, high-intensity workouts can effectively speed up your heart rate and metabolism quickly and get your blood pumping ASAP. And Sklar says sprinkling the workouts throughout the day may have an added bonus: “Since you’re regularly moving from your resting to active metabolic rate, there’s potential to burn more calories.” While a longer, low-intensity workout may burn more calories during the actual workout, he says repeated high-intensity workouts can keep your body burning calories at a higher rate throughout the day.

Consistency is key to reaping the benefits of this type of workout structure. “If you do the high-intensity workouts throughout the day and then take a week off, it’s not going to change your metabolic rate,” says Sklar.

Related: 5 Carbs That Can Actually Help You Lose Weight 

Of course, Aniston is eating throughout the day, too — and that’s a smart move, says Samuel Accardi, lead dietitian for nutrition intelligence company Mind Plus Matter. His company advocates that people eat up to seven smaller meals a day rather than two or three larger ones.

Why? It can regulate your blood sugar and minimize insulin spikes. He explains why that’s important: When you eat a large meal (that includes carbohydrates), your blood sugar elevates rapidly, causing insulin to be released. This insulin release results in storage of energy, which can then turn into fat. After the insulin spike, your blood sugar will stabilize and then begin to fall. If your next large meal isn’t for another five or six hours, your blood sugar will drop below the normal range, which can result in a breakdown of your muscles.

Accardi tells Yahoo Health it’s “crucial” to plan meals in advance and to eat before you’re hungry, since we’re often tempted to just grab whatever is available at that stage.

But seven meals? It’s not as intimidating as it sounds. Here’s a sample of what someone could eat if they’re striving for that kind of meal schedule, according to Accardi:

Breakfast: Two eggs with one slice of sprouted grain bread

Snack: Greek yogurt with half of an apple and a small piece of dark chocolate

Lunch: Kale salad with a variety of vegetables, wild salmon, and quinoa

Snack: A small handful of almonds, turkey jerky, and some fruit

Snack: Air-popped popcorn

Dinner: Four ounces of grilled chicken, sauteed broccoli and spinach with garlic, and one baked sweet potato

Dessert: Cottage cheese with a few strawberries

“The key here is minimal wasted calories and minimal processed foods,” Accardi says, noting that the calorie count for this schedule is still fairly low even though it seems like a lot of food.

Related: Do Food Labels Miscount Calories? Kind Of. 

Kaehler stresses that her diet and exercise plan is an effective way for everybody to stay fit. “We don’t use our bodies as much as people did in the past,” she says. “You can take a spinning class and then sit on your ass for the rest of your day, or you can keep moving—and this approach can burn more calories.”

If Jennifer Aniston is the proof, well…

Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Health on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Have a personal health story to share? We want to hear it. Tell us at YHTrueStories@yahoo.com.