Paula Abdul’s Exercise

Do you want to look amazing by getting in shape like a dancer? Follow American Idol’s Paula Abdul and Lipstick Jungle’s Brooke Shield’s workout regime below, designed by their Personal Trainer, Karen Voight, and be on your way to a sculpted, lean body with elegance, strength and perfect posture.

According to kickfitsports.com, this mini-circuit makes your workout time fun and efficient by combining movements that raise your heart rate and target your shoulders, abdominals, buttocks, and thigh muscles all at once. With some of the exercises, don’t be surprised if one side of your body is more difficult to train than the other side. We all have a more dominant side, but it is important to train them equally. Keep it up and you will develop balanced symmetry and stand tall with a strong sculpted sleek physique!

Exercise Routine

Before beginning this routine, warm up with something as simple as walking on a treadmill, cycling, or a brisk walk around the block. It should take about 8-10 minutes to slowly raise your core temperature and prepare your body for the workout.

Each exercise should take about 1 ½ minutes with 15 seconds to set up for the next exercise. Focus on great form while you do as many repetitions as noted. As you get stronger, progress by cycling through the circuit twice and then three times, for a more advanced level.

1. Crunches on the Stability Ball – Abdominals

A.  Lie your back and buttocks on a firm stability ball with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent. Place your hands behind your head to avoid using your neck muscles.

B.  On an exhalation, contract your abdominal muscles, bend forward at the waist, and roll your head, shoulders, and upper back off the ball. Be sure to pay special attention to “closing” the rib cage and compressing your back into the ball. Do 12 repetitions.

2. Plank – Chest, Shoulders, Abdominals, & Quadriceps

A.  Start by laying face down on the ground. Place your elbows directly below your shoulders, with forearms parallel to each other and the palms of your hand facing the floor. Curl your toes under and bend your knees.

B.  Contract your abdominal muscles, straighten your knees, and balance on your toes and forearms. Maintain a strong center to avoid over-arching your lower back and sagging at your waist. Keep the hips at shoulder level and pull your abdominals in toward the spine. Maintain this position for 30 seconds, then bend your knees and lower your hips to the floor.
3. Knee Push Ups – Chest, Triceps, & Shoulders

A.  Begin by kneeling with your knees hip-width apart. Place your hands on the floor shoulder-width apart with your fingers pointing forward. Pull the abdominals in toward your spine.

B.  Keep your torso in a straight line and lower yourself toward the floor until your elbows are bent about 90-degrees. (You don’t need to touch your chest to the floor.) Contract your chest and push yourself back up. Check that you are pressing evenly over the palms of your hands. Avoid rolling to the outer edge of your hands. Keep your hips down and lift your belly up to prevent overarching your lower back. Do 12-16 repetitions.
4. Weighted “Figure 8” – Shoulders & Abdominals

A.  Start from a seated position, legs bent at a 90-degree angle. Hold a 5 lb., dumbbell or medicine ball above the head with both hands. Roll back halfway or until you feel your abdominal muscles tighten. As you hold this position, focus on slowly and deliberately squeezing all muscles from the chest to pubic bone.

B.  Begin to make “Figure 8” movements with both hands holding the weight. Work across the body from right to left. Continue until you have completed ten (10) “Figure 8” motions. Then, roll up and return to the start position. Do 3 repetitions.
5. Rotational Squat – Quadriceps, Buttocks, & Shoulders

A.  Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart and your toes facing forward. Hold a 5 lb., dumbbell or medicine ball in front of your chest. Bend your knees into a squat and rotate your upper body to the right. Keep both arms straight and your hips and knees facing front.

B.  Shift your weight to your left leg, straightening it as you lift your right knee in front of you. Simultaneously, rotate your torso to the center and raise your arms above your head. Remember to keep your arms straight throughout the entire movement. Step down and repeat the squat, rotating to your right for 8 repetitions. Switch legs and repeat on the other side.
6. Rear Lunge with Knee Lift Balance – Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Buttocks, Abdominals, & Shoulders

A.  Begin by standing with feet together and hands at your sides. Lunge back with your left leg, bending both knees to 90-degrees. Make sure your right knee is directly above your right ankle. Straighten and raise both arms overhead, palms facing inward with your biceps near your ears. Pause for 2 seconds, pulling in your abdominal muscles to support an upright spine.

B.  Simultaneously, push off with your rear left leg. Straighten and balance on your right leg with your left knee bent in front of you. Open and lower your arms to the side at shoulder height. Hold for 3-4 seconds. Circle your arms down and return to the start position. Do 8-12 repetitions. Switch legs and repeat.

Complete this circuit one (1) time if you are a beginner, two (2) times if you are at an intermediate level of fitness, and three (3) times if you are advanced.
Remember to always cool down before you finish this workout. You can do this by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, raise your arms overhead and lean your upper body to the left as far as you can while still breathing comfortably. Return to center and lean to your right side. Return to center, lower your arms to your sides, and roll your shoulders in a circle, then reverse. Finish by placing your hands at your hips and hinging forward with a straight back to stretch the backs of your legs and hips. Be sure to breathe fully and deeply throughout all of these cool down movements.

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Megan Fox is an American actress and model. After having a successful career as a model, she launched her acting career in 2001, in which she played a supporting role as Brianna Wallace in Holiday In The Sun, starring opposite Ashley Olsen. Fox then guest starred in various television series, including What I Like About You, Two and a Half Men, The Help, Ocean Ave. and Hope and Faith. Fox’s breakout role was playing Mikaela Banes, Shia Labeouf’s character’s love interest in the blockbuster film Transformers, a role for which Fox won and was nominated for various Teen Choice Awards. Read on to see how she got in shape for that role.

Here is the Workout Routine Megan Did for Her Role in Transformers. Megan hired a personal trainer who had her do a time compressed body-weight routine. This is a very similar routine that many of the stars are doing. Robert Downey Jr. did a similar type of workout for Ironman. Her trainer obviously understood the benefit of sticking to bodyweight intervals to keep her body slim, sexy, and functional without bulking up. which is similar to famous actors such as Brad Pitt and Daniel Craig use as well.

How she got to look so good

Here is the workout routine Megan did for her role in Transformers: Megan’s workout relied heavily on planks. Hollywood trainer, Craig Ballantyne has a video page which shows several variations (will give link to that page later). Planks are by far the best move for women to get sexy, flat abs like Megan. A Brief Ab Circuit: After blitzing her abs with planks, she would then spend 15-20 minutes doing a circuit that involved knee ups, leg swings, and ball leg lifts. This is done in an interval like fashion…hard effort with just a little rest and back to a tough exercise. The idea is to do 3-4 different exercises back-to-back, rest 30-60 seconds, then do it again. Repeat for 15-20 minutes. It is harder than it sounds!  She then took advantage of the increased heart rate by finishing off with 30 minutes of cycling. This was done with low intensity (I’ll explain why intervals, followed by low intensity cardio is extremely effective at getting lean). Why Megan Fox’s Brief Workout Burns Fat Like Crazy: You have probably heard that High Intensity Interval Training is great for getting lean and burning fat. This is true, but there is a flaw… Interval Cardio is great at releasing fatty acids from fat cells (basically releasing fat into the bloodstream) but is not good for using these fatty acids, once released. Low Intensity Cardio is great for using fat for energy, but isn’t good at releasing fat from the fat cells in the first place. Megan Fox’s Workout Program was a Hybrid Approach. She used body weight intervals to release the fat from the fat cells, followed by low intensity cardio to use these fatty acids for energy. The result was that Megan had a smokin’ body for Transformers. This is what Megan’s diet plan included leading up to “Transformers”. Megan still eats whole food sources instead of processed foods and avoids grains. This is similar to what many people call the “Paleo Diet”. Which is similar to eating like our ancestors. A description of the Paleo Diet: Avoid Grains. Hunters and Gatherers ate fruits and vegetables as their carbohydrates. The human body was meant to eat fruits and vegetables, not grains. Lot’s of natural sources of protein things like nuts, eggs, and meat is a great source of protein. Fats are good for you. Yes, you heard it right. Megan Fox’s diet has a good amount of fat. She eats an ounce of almonds and a few eggs ever day.

Get Megan Fox’s training routine right now!

If you follow this routine you may not end up looking like Megan Fox, but your body might!

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