Get fit and healthy, Hollywood style
When not interviewing some of the biggest names in Hollywood, American television personality and actress Zuri Hall is also spreading positivity through AlphaBabe, a website that aims to help women reach their goals through a healthy lifestyle. She shares some of her health and fitness tricks with us.
How do you keep motivated to stick to a fitness programme?
It’s not always fun to go to the gym or to sweat but I always feel good after. When it comes to trying to get motivated, it really is thinking about the reward. Also, I’m just trying to get ahead of the game. So I’m trying to step up my game, but it’s a very recent thing for me.
What role does diet play in your fitness?
When it comes to diet, I’m all about moderation. I don’t deprive myself of food when I want it, but I don’t eat to the point where I’m full or uncomfortable. That’s something that I really encourage people to do. I’m ok with having leftovers or picking at the food later but I find that eating in small portions — and eating slowly and intentionally — allows my brain to catch up to my body and to tell me: “Hey, you’re full.”
Is there a go-to exercise that you enjoy to train specific muscle groups?
I’m loving resistance bands. I think they’re a much easier, simpler way to tone and it doesn’t take a lot. I’ve also been doing a lot of donkey kicks, squats, and lunges, as well as some stability and core work and small weights. I also love yoga. For me, the core strength that comes with a weekly yoga practice is really great.
How do you manage to keep fit when you have very little time on your hands?
On Saturdays and Sundays I’m more flexible so I can commit to an hour-long workout. And I mean sweating, higher resistance, really kicking my butt, just for that hour. During the week I honestly don’t have more than 20, maybe 30 minutes to dedicate to fitness on any given day so I’ve been doing the resistance bands — a quick 20-minute workout. I’ve also been doing cardio and I am running more frequently.
What about people who don’t have access to a gym?
I encourage people to do home workouts. Whether you don’t have access to a gym or maybe you can’t afford a monthly gym subscription, all you need is a small at-home setup. The resistance bands you can get for $20 (R290) a pack. You can get a few dumbbells — I normally do like a five-pound (2.2kg) dumbbell or a 10-pound (4.5kg) dumbbell. Then I use my yoga mat that I roll out on my living room floor and I just watch YouTube videos.
What YouTube videos can you recommend for home exercises?
I just did a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout a couple of weeks ago. It kicked my butt but I loved it. It was 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off and it took no equipment — so you’re only working with your body. The YouTube channel is growingannanas. I highly recommend Yoga with Adriene. I love that she has different yoga videos for exactly what you need. She has great morning videos and deep-stretch videos, which are my favourite.
This article first appeared in the March 2021 print edition of S Mag.