Celebrities are just like us. That is, unless you’re talking about the celebrities who are in amazing shape and have barely any body fat.
We wanted to know how Angela Bassett, Boris Kodjoe, Halle Berry and other Black stars over 40 manage to keep themselves looking great and seem to be aging in reverse, so we scoured the Internet for the secrets to their fitness success.
We already know that Black don’t crack, but these celebs are taking that expression to a whole new level.
Angela Bassett has been #fitnessgoals since What’s Love Got to Do With It. So when she spilled all of her fitness secrets, you know we had to be there to take notes.
The actress told Laila Muhammad her diet requires her to eat clean 85 percent of the time, with daily veggies and no fats for the first four days of the week. The last three days, she says she eats good fats, including coconut oil, salmon and almonds. She says she doesn’t eat dairy or flour and only eats Ezekiel bread, which is made of whole grains and legumes without refined flour or sugar.
When it comes to her workouts, Bassett went on to tell Muhammad she works out with a trainer to keep herself accountable. Of course you won’t miss a session if you’re paying for it, right? She says she focus on cardio on Mondays and Tuesdays, strength building on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and ends the week with a nice massage.
For Tracee Ellis Ross, looking great runs in the family. Don’t we all wish we had Diana Ross’ genes? But the 50-year-old actress and entrepreneur works really hard to keep herself in tip-top shape. “I love sweating; it’s one of the ways that I process everything that goes on during the week and move it through my body,” she told POPSUGAR in an interview.
The Black-ish star swears by The Tracy Anderson Method, a low-impact workout developed by celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson which targets smaller accessory muscles by doing lots of reps with light weights. And if you’ve ever seen a clip of Tracee Ellis Ross getting her Tracy Anderson workouts on, you know they work up a serious sweat.
Besides being an amazing actress, Kerry Washington is known for turning heads on very red carpet she graces. The 46-year-old actress and mom credits her amazing figure to a rigorous fitness routine centered around Pilates workouts which help strengthen the core and increase flexibility. Check out this hilarious TikTok of the actress working out with a hip hop soundtrack.
Before he got into acting, Omari Hardwick had a successful college football career at the University of Georgia, so he knows a thing or two about staying in shape.
In this 2020 Men’s Health Facebook video, the 49-year-old actor shows off a typical workout session including bicep curls, squeeze presses and sled pushing. We’re tired just watching him.
At 56, Halle Berry still stuns wherever she goes. The actress counts on celebrity trainer Peter Lee Thomas to keep her looking her best. In 2022, the pair shared one of Berry’s fitness routines on Instagram which includes sit-ups, Russian twists, squats, burpees, lunges, side knees and skaters all while holding a towel. Thomas recommends doing 10 to 20 reps of each exercise.
Actress Naomie Harris says swimming, kickboxing, yoga and Pilates are her favorite ways to workout. But according to the 46=year-old, getting a good night’s sleep is just as important as working up a sweat.
“Everyone focuses on [exercise],” the actress told Women’s Health in 2020. “But, if you’re only getting five hours sleep a night then it doesn’t really matter and you’re probably doing yourself a disservice. Sleeping is incredibly important – specifically good quality sleep.”
If you follow Method Man on social media, you already know that he does not play in the gym. The 52-year-old rapper shared his 5-day weight routine with Men’s Health in 2020, which consists of legs on Mondays, shoulders on Tuesdays, back on Wednesdays, chest on Thursdays and arms on Fridays. He says his early morning sweat sessions helped him battle insomnia. Clearly, his hard work is paying off.
Actress Gabrielle Union is 50 years old. But she doesn’t look like she’s aged a bit since her Bring it On days. Part of her secret to staying in shape is sticking to a pattern of healthy eating and 15 - 20 minutes of daily cardio with strength training and Pilates sessions mixed in. She also credits her hubby Dwayne Wade for helping her stay motivated to work out, frequently posting pics and videos of the pair’s hard core sweat sessions. And while she tries to maintain a healthy diet most of the time, the actress says she doesn’t mind indulging every now again and prides herself on, “eating what the hell I want and not thinking about it,” as she told Women’s Health.
For Morris Chestnut, his diet really depends on whether or not he’s getting ready for a role. The 54-year-old actor told Men’s Health when he’s working, he maintains a strict diet consisting of 5 - 6 meals per day. Foods like egg whites, turkey bacon, broccoli, sweet potatoes and chicken breasts are usually on the menu. But when he’s off, Chestnut says he is guilty of eating bad carbs and sweets. You only live once, right?
At 57-years-young, actress Viola Davis is aging like fine wine. But to play the role of a fierce female warrior in The Woman King, she had to get into fighting shape. To get ready for her role, the actress trained five hours a day for three months before production started. Her workouts included an hour of running, two hours of martial arts, and two hours of strength training, according to Shape.
And her diet was just as intense. As cast trainer and nutritionist Gabriela Mclain told Shape, Davis’ meals consisted of complex carbs like sweet potatoes, quinoa, and brown rice as well as lean beef, chicken, fish, and eggs. Between meals, she had two protein or carb-based snacks. She also drank a gallon of water a day to help her maintain her energy.
Boris Kodjoe plays a firefighter on Station 19, so staying in shape is a priority. The 50-year-old actor told Men’s Health that as he gets older, he’s traded in the heavy weights for more resistance and body weight exercises to protect his joints. But that doesn’t mean he takes it easy in the gym. His high-energy workout includes jump squats, jump lunges, tennis swings and mountain climbers.
Rocker Lenny Kravitz has always made his health a priority. A dedicated vegan, he has been eating a mostly raw diet since 2016 and even grew most of his own food during the COVID pandemic. Kravitz shared his fitness routine with Men’s Health Australia, which includes cardio sessions in the mornings, with weightlifting during the day and more cardio just before bed.
Shemar Moore has always been known for being in great shape. But he had to step up his game in a major way to get in shape to play his character, Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, a Los Angeles S.W.A.T. team leader on the television drama series S.W.A.T.
In order to look the part, the actor told Men’s Health he mains a high protein diet which primarily consists of egg whites, chicken, lean red meat, and fish. Moore added that he eats 4 to 5 meals a day with a range of 200-300 grams of protein per meal.
When it comes to his workouts, the actor and new dad has a serious regimen that includes a combination of cardio, cross training and weight training. There are even some explosive pushups in there (you actually have to lift your hands away from the floor!).