Working out shouldn't be a sacrifice to a woman's curves but a celebration of feeling fit and being your best self. Modern Family's Sofia Vergara, who has trained with celebrity trainer Sebastien Lagree for ten plus years on his Megaformer machines, is a perfect example. "Sofia wanted to do a high intensity workout that would be low impact on her knees," Sebastien told HOLA! USA. "She started coming three days a week and now has a couple machines in her house."
And despite the fact that Joe Manganiello's wife doesn't love to hit the gym, she has found a method that works to keep her "booty" and body in shape. For women like the 44-year-old actress who want to lose inches but maintain their shapely figures, Sebastien said, "There are ways that you can do it, but you really have to balance out the nutrition to losing a little bit of weight which means eating less or changing your diet with the right amount of exercise."
Sebastien is the creator of the Lagree Fitness method Photo: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times
The trainer, who has also worked with Jennifer Aniston, Alessandra Ambrosio and a slew of other top models, noted that "diet alone will get rid of both the inches and the curves. Muscles are what will help you to keep your curves." Now, the Los Angeles-based trainer is helping clients around the world get a proper workout in a significantly reduced amount of time with his new machine Supra. Spare 25 minutes and follow these best practices so that you too can strengthen and tighten your figure with these total-body exercises.
H: Are you achieving the same results in 25 minutes as you would during the hour workout?
Sebastien: You can actually see better results in 25 minutes than in an hour. I knew that I had to basically get 50 minutes worth into 25 minutes so the supra is not like a traditional machine. It’s actually this Megaformer that inclines and tilts. When you work out with that level of intensity, you don’t have to work out for that long.
H: What are the best practices for your abs, arms, legs and glutes?
Sebastien: For abs, it would be a plank. If you have no access to anything you can do a plank on the floor and that would actually strengthen and tone your shoulders, triceps, chest, abs and torso just the way you want it. If you could invest $10 on a tool, I would say invest in the ab wheel.
For legs, the lunge is the best leg exercise you can do anywhere. Target exercises such as squats are a great way to keep your butt while losing the fat.
Sofia Vergara has used Sebastien's Megaformer machine for over 10 years Photo: Instagram/@sofiavergara
H: What kind of results are expected after the workout?
Sebastien: There are two types of results. One is muscle strength getting endurance and finding your balance and then there is losing weight. Muscle toning, strengthening and balance will happen after the first session. You're already going to find tightness in your abs and you’re going to feel that your clothes are actually fitting you better. When you come back the second time, a lot of the exercises that you couldn't' do the first time you are now able to do.
H: How do you encourage people to stay motivated and to keep going during a workout when it seems to get tough?
Sebastien: I think different people are motivated by different things. I always tell people to focus on what they can do. Half the battle is you have to challenge your body, because if you don’t, the body is not going to grow. When you are able to overcome obstacles one by one the motivation comes with that.