Halle Berry has one of the fittest bodies in Hollywood, so we spoke to her longtime trainer, Peter Lee Thomas, who told us how she stays in such killer shape.
There’s no doubt that Halle Berry, 52, is genetically gifted, but she also works incredibly hard for her flawless physique. Peter Lee Thomas, who’s been training the John Wick actress for almost five years now, tells HollywoodLife that Halle typically exercises five days a week for an hour to an hour and a half. We asked Peter to share one of Halle’s exact workouts and here’s the routine that he gave us EXCLUSIVELY. “With Halle, what I often do is create a circuit with five exercises that she rotates through,” explains Peter. “Because she is so fit and such a natural athlete, we will go through this circuit five times, but for someone starting out, I would suggest doing this circuit three times.”
Pull-Ups: “Halle loves pull-ups,” says Peter. “It’s surprisingly one of her favorite exercises. With the pull-ups, she will do a couple of pull-ups with her full body weight and then she will do the rest with assistance. I have a resistance band made of rubber that I loop around the bar above her and then she puts the band around her feet and performs a pull up as she normally would, the band just gives a little extra help.” Resistance bands are available online or if you don’t have those, you can use one of the assisted pull-up machines that are found in most gyms. Although Peter says Halle “usually does 10-15 reps and on a good day even 20,” he suggest beginners start slow with 6-8 reps and then work up from there.
Push-Ups: After doing one round of pull-ups it’s time for Halle’s second favorite exercise, push ups. “Halle will normally be able to do 20 push-ups in one streak unbroken. But for a beginner, I would suggest starting with 8-10 pushups,” says Peter. And if regular push-ups are still too hard, you can also lower your knees and do them that way until your upper body gets stronger.
Tire Flipping: The wildest — and funnest exercise of Halle’s circuit is tire flipping and it’s exactly what it sounds like, says Peter. “With Halle, I use a giant tractor tire that weighs about 200 pounds, but starting out I would recommend getting something smaller. Tire shops that fix cars have access to old used tires from UPS trucks or school buses, those are good for beginners. Then what you do is you just flip it. You want to squat down and get your hands underneath it as if you are moving your friends couch and just flip the tire. You keep your chest up, your butt back, squat down and squeeze your fingers underneath it and you flip the tire using your body. It’s important to keep your form perfect, don’t ever want to round your back or you can get injured. It’s also very important that you wear gloves, like gardening gloves, because a lot of the time there’s debris sticking. Halle does anywhere from 6-10 reps of this because the tire is so heavy.”
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Sandbag Squats: According to Peter, sandbags are something Halle loves to train with. “The sandbag I have her use is 60 pounds You can buy them online in all sorts of weights and for a beginner I recommend a lighter sandbag, maybe 30 or 40 pounds. Put it on over your shoulders, across your back and then squat down. Halle does anywhere from 10 – 20 reps or more but if you’re starting I would recommend starting low with 6 to 8 reps and then working up from there.”
Battle Ropes: Battle ropes will make you feel like you’re training for an action movie just like Halle. As Peter explains they’re a long rope that’s originally found in a shipyard but can now be found in lots of gyms. “Battle ropes are really fun. It’s a long rope that traditionally comes from a shipyard and it’s a workout tool that is used a lot by the Navy Seals. You take the rope and you put it around anything, a telephone pole in the street, a tree trunk at the park you can even put it around your husband and have him step on it. There are a variety of things you can do with them but the most common one that I do with Halle and that is a good one that a beginner would start with is called the wave. You do it with both hands, the opposite end of rope in each hand and you’re just moving your arms up and down and creating a wavelike motion. Halle will do that for anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds nonstop.”
Once you have finished cycling through the five exercises, start all over again at the top of the circuit. Of course it’s always important to go at your own pace and listen to your body. Try to get through it three times, or if you are feeling especially heroic, go for five like Halle. And if you want more insight into Halle’s fitness routine, you can follow both Halle and her trainer Peter on Instagram follow for fitness Friday tips!
