I've been following the fitness footsteps of various celebrities, from Nicole Scherzinger's workouts to The Rock's intense exercise schedule, but it's actress Michelle Keegan's workout routine that has piqued my interest the most.
Since her Coronation Street days, I've had a pretty sizable girl crush on Michelle, 35. Having met her a few times, I can say she is as lovely as she comes across on TV, plus she’s a beauty with a gorgeous physique. With Michelle back on our screens in Netflix drama Fool Me Once, we wondered how the actress maintains such a toned figure.
Through my intensive research into Michelle Keegan's workout routine, I gathered that she follows a healthy lifestyle comprising of exercise, good food, supplements and balance, which is key to sustaining any routine.
What is Michelle Keegan's workout routine?
Michelle doesn't post much on her social media about fitness. So, I did a deep dive to find out.
© InstagramPreviously, Michelle has revealed that she enjoys lifting weights and splits her days, focusing on different parts of her body. Speaking to Cosmopolitan UK, she admitted that she focuses on arms one day, then legs the next - exactly how I would normally resistance train myself.
Michelle is also realistic. She's not a slave to her exercise regime.
© Instagram"I just don't punish myself, it’s not my life to go to the gym. If I can go to the gym I will, if I can't, I can't," she said to Cosmopolitan.
On top of her weights routine, Michelle loves High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). She's spoken about doing HIIT before weights and likes to work out in the morning.
"I prefer to [workout] in the morning to get it out the way, but it is literally whenever I can fit it in that I'll go. If I go early in the morning, I tend not to have breakfast first and I do feel better afterwards because then I feel like I've set myself up for the day. But warming up takes longer in the morning, it takes longer to get going," she told Cosmo.
© InstagramAs for cardio? Michelle has admitted to 'hating' cardio. Although she does say that a few years back she did about 40 minutes of it per session.
Alongside fitness, Michelle has a balanced diet. She enjoys a bit of everything - even a McDonalds and a Magnum in bed. So, I figured during my week of working out like Michelle, I would eat my normal meals, balancing healthy food with treats.
WATCH: Michelle Keegan invited her followers into her workout
Michelle Keegan's workout routine
Monday
Today, I chose to create a workout similar to the one that Michelle shared in the Instagram reel above.
As Michelle enjoys HIIT before weights, I thought today I would do a weighted HIIT session.
So, using the moves in the reel and my own, I created the below. I went for 40 seconds of each with a 20 second rest between, for five rounds.
Front squats with dumbbells
Dumbbell alternating reverse lunges
Back rows
Press ups
Bicycle crunches
This was a perfect 25-minute workout before I headed to a breakfast meeting. It hit my lower, upper and core without tiring my body out too much.
© InstagramTuesday
Time for a leg day today with a spicy HIIT workout beforehand.
I kept my HIIT workout to bodyweight only, targeting the lower body. Then, my 30-minute weight session that followed involved 3 sets of 10 reps of 5 moves. I kept it simple as from what I gather, Michelle doesn't overcomplicate her workouts. If you fancy a lower body workout, why not give the below a try?
HIIT - 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off, 3 rounds.
Squat jumps
Burpees
Lunge jumps
High knees
Weights
Barbell squats
Barbell hip thrusts
Leg press
Barbell lunges
Dumbbell squat walks - 10 steps/reps each leg
Wednesday
Michelle admitted to Women’s Health UK that it was husband Mark Wright who got her into HIIT workouts during the Covid lockdowns.
She's also said that she sources her HIIT workouts from YouTube or gets inspiration from Instagram. Fitness stars such as Alexia Clark and Amanda Finnie are who Michelle turns to for ideas. So I did the same.
WATCH: Alexia Clark's challenging workout
I scoured Alexia Clark’s Instagram (she's an incredibly fit, toned beauty by the way with millions of followers) and found a bodyweight routine…
Alexia didn't give any timings for this workout, so I opted for 60 seconds of each, followed by a 20 second rest. I did the entire circuit five times.
This didn't really feel long enough, so I also did the below…
Michelle Keegan loves online workouts
Thursday
The arms got it today. In keeping with Michelle's splits, I went for an upper body day and did the below moves, 10 reps of each, three times. If you fancy giving this a follow, head to YouTube where you'll find an array of easy-to-follow how-to videos.
Barbell shoulder press
Dumbbell bicep curls
Dumbbell tricep extension
Press ups
Dumbbell forward raise
Now, I know Michelle isn't much of a cardio fan, but she used to be. So why not mix old and new?
After an arm day, I opted for a 40-minute run. Ahh, my blessed cardio. This felt great.
Friday
Rest day Friday. I was swamped with work and other commitments today and decided to follow in the thinking of Michelle and use the 'I simply can't make it' approach.
I did go out on a long walk to break up my workday, as I can't sit still all day.
Saturday
Saturday cycle anyone? Michelle admitted to Women’s Health that during lockdown she got into cycling.
© Instagram"I didn't even know what cleats were. I really got into it, and I really, really enjoyed it. So hopefully, when it gets a bit warmer, I’m going to start cycling again. Sometimes I used to do it on my own and do 14 miles," she said.
With Michelle an avid cyclist, I decided to hop on the bike for, you guessed it, 14 miles. Now, as my outdoor road bike was sadly stolen last summer, I opted to use the Watt bike at my gym.
With the resistance up, I put my headphones in and biked. It felt great and what I love about biking alone, is that I can just zone out and be in my own world. Unlike a spin class (which I despise FYI), biking alone is just you, the bike, and some tunes. I can see why Michelle is a fan!
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Sunday
I gave another one of Alexia Clark's workouts a go; this time, a dumbbell abs circuit which left my core in tatters.
Alexia Clark's core workout was intense
It was short and sweet, and I spent the rest of the day resting and catching up with friends. That's what Sundays are for, right?
What did I learn from a week of working out like Michelle Keegan?
You don’t need to work out for long every day
Michelle's routine proves that you can get an effective workout without hammering the treadmill for hours. The mix of short and sharp HIIT workouts, alongside resistance training, took me just under an hour, which is a nice 'normal' amount of time. I have followed many celeb workouts which have required a hefty time commitment…so this felt like a dream.
Resistance training boosts your mood big time
There really is nothing better than feeling muscles working and lifting heavy weights.
What's even better is the feeling of knowing you’re getting stronger. I always recommend tracking the weights you use at the gym or the rep count/rest time over the weeks so you can continue to develop and get stronger.
Plus, it's seriously motivating knowing that the weight you were lifting a year ago is now small fry compared to the weights you're lifting today.
Instagram is actually a great source for workouts
With Michelle admitting to being a fan of Insta fitness stars such as Alexia Clark, I thought I'd browse online to see what all the fuss was about. Although there's a lot of nonsense on social media, and workouts curated by those who simply don't have the correct qualifications, there are many, many inspirational workouts and ideas to be found.
Whether it's a move you didn't know existed or a fun time format to follow, it's worth following some hashtags on Instagram to see what you can find.
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