Do Hollywood Celebs have luck genes? No!

Hollywood celebrities and mega pop stars generally have one thing in common - they stay in great shape. Why? Because they have a huge incentive to be in the best shape possible. Not only is acting and touring physically demanding but how they look is a vital part of their personal brand. So, how do they stay in great shape? Do celebrities have lucky genes that mean that they can dance, sing, act and stay slim and toned? No, of course not. They have to work hard to stick to a strict, healthy and well-balanced diet.

However, although celebrities are by no means special in terms of health and fitness we can learn a lot from what they do because their position allows them to afford the best in personal fitness and diet advice. Their personal trainers may not talk about specific individuals but they do generally design the same type of fitness regime for each of their clients. Also, some celebrities do share their exercise routines and diets with the public through interviews and in their own microblogs.

Beyoncé - Crash Diets or Hard Work?

One of the most famous figures at the moment is Beyoncé. In Beyoncé we have a typical case where the media have mostly got her wrong. She is in great shape as a result of a healthy diet and regular, intensive workouts. However, before filming Dreamgirls she went on a short fast to lose more weight quickly.

Since then people have been looking to this form of dieting to lose weight in the misguided belief that they will look like Beyoncé if they do. This is simply not true though. She was only ever on the Master Cleanse diet for a few weeks and for the rest of the time she works out hard in the gym and does a lot of cardio exercise as well as resistance training. She is in great shape because she works very hard to maintain her health and her figure, not because she starved herself for a short period in 2006. It is over 5 years since Dreamgirls was filmed and believe me, Beyoncé has not been on a lemonade fast since then!

Angelina Jolie - Lucky Genes or Sweat and Tears?

So what about Angelina Jolie? Always slim, always with heart-throb Brad Pitt, always looking great. What is her secret to staying slim? Well, in addition to the extra fitness training she does for her films, such as kickboxing classes and intensive gym workouts she also uses yoga on a regular basis to stay in shape. Yoga can be very intensive and physically demanding. In fact. Madonna also attributes much of her physical fitness and strength to Ashtanga yoga workouts. One particular sequence of movements, the Sun Salutation, provides an excellent full body workout which tones and tightens muscles as well as burns a lot of calories. A daily Ashtanga yoga routine can burn as many calories as a daily run. It is a great way to stay in shape.

So, as you can see, celebrities really are not genetically gifted in any way. They all work hard to maintain their bodies. They sweat, they hurt, they exercise regardless of mood or motivation, they do not binge eat at weekends or skip workouts because they are feeling a little tired. For celebrities staying in shape is vital to their career development. That is a huge incentive but really it should not be a greater incentive than just staying in shape to live a long and fulfilling life.

Jon Wade is the founder of MotleyHealth.com which provides information and advice on health and fitness. He studies celebrity diet and workouts and applies his education in the Health Sciences to report on the best workouts and diet plans. He is also author of the popular Low Gi Diet Plan which teaches you how to eat a healthy diet to aid weight loss.