Assumedly, it’s fair to say that here in Australia, we tend to abbrev, well, pretty much everything. Not only that, but we’re impartial to knocking together a nickname for anyone who asks (or doesn’t ask) for it.
After our exclusive chat with Jennifer Aniston, where she lets us in on her new go-to exercise trends and the foods that keep her fuelled, we’re dubbing this super-relaxed star Zen Jen.
This is because, along with her personal trainer, at-home sleeping bag-style saunas (yes, really) and slogging it on ye ol’ gym faithful, the treadmill, the 48-year-old Aveeno spokesperon is also all about finding her inner-chill through strength-conditioning classes that are as physically effective as they are mindfully meditative.
And she has the mind, body (!!!) and soul to prove it.
Screen-shot ready, this is how she does it…
Her go-to sweat sessions
Mixing things up throughout the year, Jen explains that 2017 is about being back in the gym, sweating it out with an interval-loving (cringes) PT.
“I’m working with my trainer who has me pushing really heavy things, throwing heavy things and whipping around ropes and crawling across the floor,” she says. “He’s a fabulous trainer, but it’s very different to what I usually do.”
“I love The Class by Taryn Toomey [a yoga-based strength class also described as a cathartic mind-body experience], which I freakin’ love and am addicted to,” she says.
“It’s like a massive moving meditation that’s therapeutic and physical – it ticks all the boxes. It’s 75-minutes long and it’s a pretty powerful experience.”
These pictures were taken FIVE YEARS apart. Can you guess which is the most recent? (Answer: the snap on the right…)
Aside from her PT sessions and The Class, Jen has a few at-home workout tips for those among us who are too busy to make it to a group-training class.
“I’ll run on a treadmill and do intervals for 45 minutes just to get a really good sweat and burn going,” she continues, adding that along with getting her heart rate up, she finds a calming, rejuvenating solace in infrared saunas.
“You can buy portable ones online,” she says, “but I do think they have them in spas now.”
“It’s like jumping into an infrared sleeping bag for an hour, which does so much good for your cellular rejuvenation and detoxification.”
What Jen now eats for her fit frame, including the one thing she had to train herself to enjoy
Appearing in movie after movie (and, sometimes, bikini after bikini), Jen maintains a regular diet that’s loaded with the kind of good-for-you foods that all of us probably have in our very own kitchens and pantries.
“I was never a breakfast person, so I’ve had to make myself become a breakfast person because it’s such an important meal,” she says.
“Usually a smoothie would be my best go-to in the morning because it’s simple and easy. In the cooler months, I love oatmeal with cinnamon and bananas.”
Her typical lunch involves eating protein with salad or vegies, followed by a snack – like an apple and a soup – in the arvo.
Dinner is much of the same for Jen, but she won’t deny herself a treat afterwards!
“I treat myself to a frozen yoghurt for dessert if I want to have a sweet fix,” she says.
“I do a little frozen yoghurt, but I’m not a sweet person. My downfall is savoury: it’s chips, it’s cheese – all of the salty and savoury stuff. I mean, I can look at a chocolate cake and do nothing with it; it doesn’t affect me in any way [laughs].”
Lucky…
^^ You feel the same, right?
Why she exercises is just as important as how she trains
Mindfullness, it truly is a powerful thing (trust us, science says so…), which is something Zen Jen can certainly attest to, with this perpetually busy celebrity admitting that understanding why you work out is imperative for achieving the results of the workout you choose to do.
“It’s vital to exercise – not just to stay strong, to not become lazy. It’s such a game-changer if I have an injury and I can’t sweat or move my body, I just start to feel such a difference in my mood,” she says, explaining that exercising extends far further than solely focusing on your abs or core.
“I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about meditation that gives me such a charge in the morning for me to take on the day – things will just roll off me in a much easier way.”
^^ Us post-Jen health hacks. Smug.
