Balance: Healthy Hollywood Living‘American Idol’ Trainer Marco Reed’s Tips for the Rest of Us
When "American Idol" crowns a new champ, that lucky winner gets a lot more than just a record deal -- newfound fame, a shot at an amazing career, a new wardrobe, and, oftentimes, even a personal trainer to help build up much-needed strength before the whirlwind begins. That trainer is Marco Reed. Recently, the fitness expert shared with Self magazine the five areas he focuses on when working "Idol" contestants -- and a wide variety of other clients -- and how all of us can incorporate his strategies into our own lives. Check out his tips below.
1. Stress Management
For performers (and anyone under pressure), rest between tasks -- meditation and visualization both enhance your state of mind.
To use this idea at home, Reed suggests: "Take five to 10 minutes every day to breathe and visualize success. Inhale for a count of four, hold for a count of two, then exhale for a count of eight. This will help calm you. Visualize an ideal state of being regardless of the outcome of your upcoming event (meeting, game, show, concert, etc). We have no control of how things turn out. We do have control of how we handle ourselves."
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2. Stamina
Like being on stage, sometimes rushing around to complete all the tasks in our lives can feel like a marathon.
Reed suggests: "Incorporate a variety of exercise methods. Circuit training is a quick way to work your entire body and increase your strength, as well as boost your cardiovascular level."
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3. Energy Level
We not only need to be able to get through our days, but also maintain high energy levels throughout, just like "Idol" contestants.
Reed suggests: "The irony is that to increase energy levels, you need to get away from all the things that 'pick you up.' Try reducing caffeine to one cup per day. [Get] 8 hours sleep, [consume] 30% protein per day, replace coffee with green tea and replace high glycemic carbs (breads, sweets, muffins, candy, sugar, sweet cereals) with low glycemic carbs (sweet potato, brown rice, quinoa, beans)."
4. Body Sculpting
It's all about muscle confusion.
Reed suggests: "A variety of workouts keeps you from adapting and thus allows you to continue improving. Vary your exercises, reps, amount of weight, rest time, etc. Incorporate balance exercises and agility drills."
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5. Nutrition
Well, we all need to break bad eating habits, right? But especially when we're busy, traveling or under stress.
Reed suggests: "Test your body fat and find out your muscle mass. You can get a pretty good idea of how many calories you need to eat. Women are usually between 1300 [and] 1600 calories. Men are usually between 1800 [and] 2400. One thing I do with clients is [have] them eat primarily protein and veggies for 3 days. Then every fourth day they put back in the fruits and starches. This method works because you don't have to count calories and it weans you off of your overwhelming carb cravings. I have a book coming out later this summer that spells this eating method out, 3+1 Getbeyondfit Diet.
More Celebrity Features on Yahoo!:
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Kristin Chenoweth: 'Everything in Moderation'
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