Red, White and Royal Blue star Taylor Zakhar Perez takes us through his leg day workout. He discusses his current philosophy to staying fit and keeping his body in great shape. The Kissing Booth actor also explains how he has gotten in shape for some of his most icon roles - a lot of which require him and his body to look his best.
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00:00I mean, I feel like maybe for Kissing Booth when I read the script and Marco was described as this just like God
00:06And I was like, oh, okay. Well
00:10Guess we have to kind of get to work. Hey, I'm Taylor Zakhar Perez and I'm gonna show you how I work out
00:24Feel like I was forced into fitness
00:26I was like a chubby kid and my parents were like you need to be in a sport
00:29So I chose swimming and I swam for 10 years. I like a very high level
00:33I think just having that 5 a.m. Practice every day and 2 p.m
00:37Practice so like being in the pool for three and a half hours a day all year
00:41Created that pattern that I just always want to be having like some kind of routine going on red white
00:47I get picked up at 4 30 in the morning sometimes and get home by 7. So it's really just dedication
00:52I always ask to stay in a place that has like a gym in there or I'll go steal kettlebells from the gym and bring
00:57Them in my room and get up at 3 in the morning and work out for 45 minutes because for me
01:01It just is like the day starter like it gets everything flowing in your body like the synovial fluid in your body
01:07I guess your brain going and just firing because if I wake up groggy
01:10And you have to go on set you have to say lines just kind of a miserable day
01:13Even if it's a day you succeeded in the morning, you know
01:17You're six o'clock seven o'clock workout and it kind of just kind of makes everything feel better. I
01:22Travel a lot. Sometimes it's hard to be consistent
01:25Like if I'm not home and if I'm not taking a class or like have my Peloton or something like that
01:29Just something that's normal to access. So I thought today would be cool to do a leg workout
01:35That wasn't crazy machine heavy and incorporating some cardio with some strength and like something that you can kind of do anywhere
01:43Okay, so today's warm-up is a functional football training
01:46And so we're gonna start with scoops, which I think really likes to you know
01:50Loosen up the full back of the leg my philosophy around fitness now
01:55I think it's definitely shifted like I used to spend maybe two two and a half hours at the gym
02:01It was like a social thing. You have your boys and you weightlift and now I'm like hour and 15 minutes max. I
02:11Think I've just really shifted my focus on on what I'm putting into my body what I'm what I'm eating
02:16So then I don't to go to the gym as much and still maintain my physique and this is a quad stretch with a
02:22calf raise with a big reach to the ceiling
02:25My mom always said it's all about
02:27moderation eggs in the morning with avocado and like maybe some some type of toast lunch is like a pretty big lunch and then
02:34Try to eat less for dinner, which is really hard
02:36Try to stay away from wheat unless it's like out of Europe if it's like a semolina flour from Italy
02:42I'm like, okay, like it doesn't mess with my body as much side-to-side
02:46Lunges pivoting back and forth. I usually do this for like 20 yards. So you get like a real good stretch and a good warm-up
02:57Growing up my mom was really mindful on health like she was an organic
03:02nut organic treats and our breakfast cereals were organic and we just thought it was like I
03:08Don't say it's not cool just people weren't eating like that
03:11And so for us we wanted like those Lunchables you wanted the gushers fruit by the foot and she's like I'm not buying that for
03:17You so we go to our friends houses and eat that all the time
03:19Like I remember a friend said like this giant snack drawer of like Costco size
03:23Junk food and it was incredible and then an active runners lunge with a with a chest over
03:37Now
03:42We have a back lunge with a twist on both sides I
03:47Mean I feel like maybe for kissing booth when I read the script and Marco was described as this just like God and I
03:55Was like, oh, okay. Well
03:57Guess we have to kind of get to work after I was cast
04:00We had about a month and so I was already kind of in good shape
04:03But I just had to like maybe get a little bit tighter from that
04:06I just wanted to stay in shape because when I don't work out
04:09Like my body feels it like my lower back or my legs are just like I'm always
04:14Trying to be like just always moving the body on a daily basis
04:18All right. So this first exercise is a hip thruster
04:21Usually if you need a pad to put on your hips, so you don't hurt yourself
04:24If you don't have one of the bar pads, I would just grab a yoga mat because they're pretty much in every gym
04:31Finished swimming and I was like, okay, I guess it's time to go to the gym
04:33But I just didn't do it correctly
04:35learning actually was tough because I
04:37Hurt my back multiple times like through my neck out just because of improper lifting for me now at 32
04:44I'm like, okay
04:45This is the body that I have for the rest of my life and I just have to protect it
04:48And so now instead of like lifting very heavily
04:51I just lift enough to challenge myself not hurt myself because I think it's good for everything about in your body
04:57It's just to have a good workout. We're gonna do some cable machine single leg back lunges
05:04All right, usually I'll do this with a bar at an angle but since we don't have the holder for it today
05:09we're gonna do it on the cable machine and
05:13Make sure it's a nice solid weight that one leg can handle and just kind of burn it out with like 8 to 12 reps
05:20I think leg day is like the most important day
05:23just for
05:25Strengthening obviously, but just keeping your body
05:28I think at either at the age that you are or keeping it younger than you are and I think like that is the key
05:34To having and living like a long and healthy comfortable life
05:38This one I hate it's a resistance band trainer
05:42Resistance training is tough and I like to incorporate this into my leg days
05:46You're kind of just always active while you're on this piece of equipment
05:52so you kind of step back a little bit and make sure it's tight and
05:56You do side to side steps and you can also jump it's like a resisted jump and it pulls you right back down and it's
06:02Difficult, but today we're just gonna do side to sides with a hold and a knee
06:07going in and out
06:11So the step up with dumbbells I do a little bit differently I make sure I do a march on the top of the
06:18bench every time just to like make sure
06:20My body knows where all the weight needs to go keeps the balance in that front foot and keeps, you know
06:26Everything active and in alignment
06:31Like I love the all-in podcast it's great or like a Dax Shepard podcast
06:35But when it comes to working out, I just need upbeat music. I mean even just
06:42What what's my my go to I thought good a nice house music is good
06:46Like a tropical house like just something that keeps the mood up and makes me want to be there or some nice 90s
06:53Like R&B remixes that are fun
06:55Next we have some side lunges. I'll usually use two dumbbells
06:59maybe
07:0125 pounds each but today I'm gonna use a kettlebell and it's really all about form making sure that 90-degree angle in
07:09your
07:10Leg that's stepping out and engaging your entire leg. That's supposed to be active
07:16I
07:21Know a lot of gyms don't have quad machines
07:24They have the seated quad machine
07:26so I like to get on like a higher bench and grab either a kettlebell that can fit on your shoe and do single leg
07:32quad lifts or
07:34Like a 40 pound weight that'll go between your feet and then you lift and hold for about a second or a second and a half
07:41It's kind of like cooking. I think working out like you have all these ingredients that
07:45You're putting into this dish
07:47But if you forget one of them at the store and you have an alternative in your pantry or in your fridge you can use
07:52it deadlift
07:54Deadlifting make sure you have the proper form. You're gonna hurt yourself if you don't
07:59So go light just use the bar or you can even use a trap bar, which is great and do you know?
08:07Five to ten and just learn what feels good on your body
08:12And
08:14So then I'm incorporating a burpee jump turn which kind of gets your heart rate up and
08:20In this it's just kind of a killer
08:22finisher
08:37I'm Taylor the car Perez and thank you for joining me for my workout
08:41You