If you’ve had trouble sticking to your fitness routine amid the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re far from alone. Despite having personal trainers and home gyms at their disposal, even celebrities have found it challenging to stay fit—and fitness expert, TV personality, and actor Brooke Burke is no exception. In an exclusive interview with Eat This, Not That!, Burke opens up about her relatable struggle to stay motivated over the past year.

When asked if she found it more difficult to stick to her workouts amid the pandemic, Burke candidly replies, “To be honest, yes.”

“Let’s face it: fitness can be boring and not everybody loves it,” says the multi-hyphenate star.

Burke, who recently launched a Summer Slim Down series via her Brooke Burke Body app, says that not having the camaraderie she usually finds in the gym was one of the biggest adjustments for her.

“The heat and intensity of being in a large class are different from the at-home experience,” she admits, noting that she particularly missed going to in-person SoulCycle and yoga classes amid COVID lockdowns. However, Burke says that she has a newfound appreciation for at-home workouts.

“I do believe in the digital gym at home,” she says. “The benefits are more efficient for both time and money. I have to work out smarter and harder to break a sweat. My programs on the Brooke Burke Body app do exactly that.”

RELATED: This Total-Body Home Workout Builds Strength and Burns Calories Fast

“I have learned to embrace the burn, crave the sweat, and understand the benefits of pushing through a workout and the energy that it creates.”

Despite the challenges of juggling a busy schedule and navigating life at home during COVID (with four kids to take care of, no less), Burke says that she has made a point to keep her wellbeing—and the “me time” her fitness routine provides—a top priority during this challenging period.

“Time has always been an excuse, so I’ve had to design a life schedule that works for me,” she says. “I’ve had to put myself on top of my to-do list.”

For more celebrity news delivered to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter, and check out our exclusive interview with Rob Lowe on the diet and exercise routine that keeps him fit!

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Halle Berry has long been open about the importance of sticking to a specific diet and exercise routine as a means of managing her type 1 diabetes. To stay consistent with her workouts, Berry sticks to exercises she loves—and she just revealed which fitness routine is her favorite way to stay strong and toned.

Read on to discover which workout Berry calls her favorite, and for more go-to celebrity exercise routines, check out Vanessa Hudgens Just Shared Her Intense Butt Workout.

In a series of black-and-white photos posted to her Instagram account, Berry revealed that boxing is her preferred exercise routine.

“I hear it’s #NationalFitnessDay 🥊 🥊 This is my favorite way to stay fit. What’s yours?” she captioned the series of pics.

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It’s not boxing alone that Berry relies on to get her heart pumping, however. In an April 2021 interview with W magazine, Berry revealed that she’s a major fan of martial arts workouts. “Jiu jitsu and judo have become my fast favorites,” she explained.

When she wants to improve her mental and physical wellbeing in one fell swoop, Berry turns to yoga.

“One of the most helpful stress-releasing practices for me is yoga. To me, it’s a physical form of meditation that allows me to move negative energy out of my body,” she told Women’s Health in 2020, noting that she tries to practice yoga at least three times a week. “It’s like the stress just lifts right out of me.”

And for more on your favorite stars’ fitness routines, Ariana Grande Calls This Workout Her “Happy Place” in New Pic.

Exercise is such a crucial part of Berry’s routine that she’s even launched her own workout series. During the pandemic, the actor teamed with wellness company rē•spin to create a series of free at-home workouts incorporating her favorite exercises.

“Workout with me, @peterleethomas, and all of our @respin trainers in new martial arts-inspired exercises, plyo and more. They are what keep me sane and I am excited to be bringing them to you,” Berry told her Instagram followers.

And for more stars committing to fitness, check out A-Rod Just Shared the Weight-Loss Plan That Helped Him Shed His “Dad Bod.”

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La La Anthony has undergone a major physical transformation during her time in the spotlight, shedding 15 pounds just a few years ago. While, between the pandemic, her busy schedule, and parenting son, Kiyan, 14, La La’s got plenty on her plate. But, she’s managed to maintain her weight loss and keep her health a priority over the past year.

In a new Instagram post, La La revealed the exact foods she’s eating to stay fit and healthy. Read on to discover the star’s exact diet and workout routine. And for more insight into your favorite celebs’ workout routines, check out Christie Brinkley Beams In New Beach Pics—Here’s How She Stays Fit.

When it comes to her diet, La La prioritizes keeping her energy up with whole foods packed with protein, fiber, and essential nutrients. In an April 22 post to her Instagram Stories, La La revealed the exact meals her personal chef, Tashia, whips up to help her maintain her weight loss and stay healthy.

So, what’s on the menu? Shrimp and vegetables, lightly-seasoned fish filets with asparagus and cherry tomatoes, and lean beef with Brussels sprouts.

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It’s not just her diet that’s helped La La achieve her fit figure—she admits that she’s had help getting into shape from trainer Kirk Meyers, founder of The Dogpound, where celebs like Addison Rae, Kaia Gerber, and Noah Centineo also work out.

“I come here almost every single day and Kirk, the owner, has become one of my closest friends and a real inspiration in my life for getting myself together and focusing on myself,” she told E! “I definitely have lost weight. I definitely feel better about myself, more toned, have more energy.” In addition to Myers’ weight-based workouts, La La told HollywoodLife, “I love to box.”

While La La has admitted in the past that milk chocolate is her “biggest weakness,” she says she’s been able to tame her cravings with healthier alternatives.

“I’ve found other things that taste healthy, like dark chocolate. After a while, you train your taste buds to not want it as much,” she told the New York Post.

For more on how your favorite stars stay healthy, check out This Is Bella Hadid’s Exact Diet and Workout Plan.

Despite her busy schedule, La La has made self-care a priority amid the pandemic.

“I’m that person that’s there for everybody all the time and I’m stretched so many different ways,” she explained during a 2020 episode of Girlfriends Check In. “I just feel like there’s not always a lot left over for me, so that’s something I’m trying to work on and not feel guilty about it.”

However, she said that giving herself some much-needed “me time” in small doses has been a major benefit to her overall wellbeing.

“Once you start doing it, you realize that you have to find ways to recharge and rejuvenate—even if it’s just taking five minutes to meditate,” she told Health in April 2021.

And if you want to know how celebs stay in such great shape, check out “Bachelorette” Star Andi Dorfman Reveals Exact Workout and Diet in New Bikini Pics.

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If you find exercise simply too much of a chore, you’ll be interested in a new military-led study whose findings were recently published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, which sought to answer perhaps the single biggest question that those who prefer to live a more sedentary lifestyle have been asking for eons: “What is the bare minimum amount of exercise one needs to do to keep ‘fit?'” Read on for the clear answer provided by the study. And for more news from the front lines of science, see why This Super-Quick Workout Is Scientifically Proven to Work, According to the Mayo Clinic.

Finding a benchmark minimum for exercise is obviously relevant for those who serve in the military—and especially for the personnel who are deployed overseas and may find that they don’t have as much time to log in the weight room. As such, the study was led by Barry Spiering, formerly Nike’s research director, who oversaw a group of researchers at the United States Army Institute of Environmental Medicine. Ultimately, the researchers loosely define keeping fit as “preserving endurance and strength.”

There are three main fitness components that the researchers highlighted: how often people should train, the volume of the training (distance, reps), and how intense those sessions are. The experts reviewed a series of previously conducted studies for answers.

“In general populations, endurance performance can be maintained for up to 15 weeks when training frequency is reduced to as little as 2 sessions per week or when exercise volume is reduced by 33-66% (as low as 13-26 minutes per session), as long as exercise intensity (exercising heart rate) is maintained,” concludes the study.

So, if you like to run or swim for cardio, Spiering and team say that you only need to lace up your shoes—or put on your swimsuit—twice a week for less than half-an-hour at a time. Also, while you can bring down your frequency and your reps, you shouldn’t shirk the intensity. If you’re working out for 13 minutes, make it count.

“Strength and muscle size (at least in younger populations) can be maintained for up to 32 weeks with as little as 1 session of strength training per week and 1 set per exercise, as long as exercise intensity (relative load) is maintained,” concludes the study. “Whereas, in older populations, maintaining muscle size may require up to 2 sessions per week and 2-3 sets per exercise, while maintaining exercise intensity.” And for more fitness news, see Why Everyone Is Going Crazy Over This Viral Walking Workout.

The researchers observed that one of the three aforementioned components was the most important when it comes to maintaining a bare minimum for fitness: exercise intensity. “Our primary conclusion is that exercise intensity seems to be the key variable for maintaining physical performance over time, despite relatively large reductions in exercise frequency and volume.”

So if you’re only hitting the gym one or twice a week for a small amount of time, you need to maximize that time by keeping the intensity of your workouts high.

Remember, the point of the study is not to see how much exercise people need to do to be fitter. Rather, it was to pinpoint exactly how much exercise is required to maintain a healthy state of endurance and strength. This is about finding a “bare minimum.”

With this benchmark in mind, you can take steps to actually grow your strength and fitness levels, and improve your health. If you only need two days a week to maintain your endurance levels, you can grow from there. If time is an issue—and it always is—remember that there are plenty of reasons why high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is such a popular way to train and keep fit. Vigorous bursts of exercise test your muscles, your heart, and your lungs, and science has proven that—when contained to reasonable lengths—it totally works. But let’s face it: The single biggest benefit to short bursts of training is arguably the fact that they’re short bursts. Why camp out at the gym for hours when you can reap the benefits in 10 minutes or less? For further proof, see why This Workout Drives 29 Percent More Fat Loss, According to Science.

Read on for More Great Workouts from Eat This, Not That!

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For many years, mental health went overlooked. All over the world, countless people silently struggled with conditions like depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. In many cases feeling thoroughly alone and not knowing where to turn. Fortunately, a lot of progress has been made in recent years, with increasing levels of focus placed on mental health care and more ways for people to deal with these difficult emotions, sensations, and challenges when they arrive.

But how can we try to safeguard ourselves from mental health problems in the first place? Well, there’s no way to eliminate the risks entirely, but one thing you can work on is increasing your mental and emotional fitness levels. In the same way that people pursue physical exercise to get stronger and improve their physical health to reduce the risk of injury and illness, we can also make ourselves mentally fit and ready to face possible challenges that lie ahead. 

Here are some simple ways to make it happen.

1. Meditation

One of the best methods for improving mental fitness and emotional clarity is meditation. It’s a practice that has been used for literally thousands of years in various cultures and parts of the world to help people relax, clear their minds, de-stress, and become more mindful. And it can be of great help to those wishing to boost their mental fitness in the modern world too.

Various studies have looked into the benefits of meditation, finding that those who meditate regularly tend to be more focused, positive, and able to adapt to new changes and situations in life. In short, it can help to make you better prepared for challenges that lie ahead. One of the most effective methods is mindful meditation, which is all about focusing on your feelings and connecting with the world around you.

“Meditation is a vital way to purify and quiet the mind, thus rejuvenating the body.” – Deepak Chopra

2. Calming Exercise

For those who want something a little more active than meditation but still wish to focus on mental health, as well as physical strength and stamina, calming exercises might be the ideal compromise. This kind of exercise can include the likes of yoga and stretching, helping to balance the body and mind, toning muscles while also harmonizing your mental state, improving balance and coordination while also reducing stress and promoting a sense of calm.

Calming exercises can be a great way to both start and end the day. First thing in the morning, they can help to focus your mind and prepare you for the day ahead, and in the evenings, they’re perfect for letting go of any stresses or worries of the day that has passed, preparing you for a peaceful and pleasant sleep ahead.

It’s common knowledge that a healthy sleep schedule is vital for general health and wellness, but few people are aware of just how important sleep really is for one’s mental health. Various studies have linked a lack of sleep or sleeping disorders with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Meanwhile, those who get their regular eight hours tend to be more focused, concentrated, and positive in their mood and mindset.

However, getting consistently good quality sleep is often easier said than done, and many people can struggle to drift off each evening. To remedy this, try to make some changes. Reducing screen time before bed, for example, can help your mind get into a more restful state. Yoga and meditation can also help, and some people find that white noise or soothing sounds help them rest more easily.

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin

4. Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is also one of the keys to mental fitness, but what exactly is it? Well, the term itself might sound complicated, but it’s actually quite simple, and it can play a big part in helping you become a better-rounded person.

Cognitive restructuring is all about changing the way you view the world, yourself, and various situations in life, both at home and at work. It’s about becoming more open-minded by taking different views into account and looking at situations from different perspectives.

Let’s say you have a big presentation coming up, for example, and you’re struggling with stress about how it might go wrong. Cognitive restructuring can help you see the situation from other views, finding the precise issues you’re worried about and addressing them gradually to move towards a more positive state.

Overall, it’s clear to see that mental and emotional fitness are of the essence in today’s world. With reports suggesting that 1 in 4 people have mental health disorders of some kind, and countless individuals struggling with day to day stresses and concerns, looking after your mind is absolutely vital. With these methods, you can start to sharpen your mental fitness levels and face life more positively and effectively.

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