Meghan Markle has always followed a well-rounded fitness routine to maintain her screen-ready figure, including a healthy diet, yoga, and a wide variety of full-body workouts. But inquiring minds want to know: How exactly does she do it?
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00:00Meghan Markle has always followed a well-rounded fitness routine to maintain her screen-ready
00:05figure, including a healthy diet, yoga, and a wide variety of full-body workouts.
00:10But inquiring minds want to know, how exactly does she do it?
00:15The most effective form of exercise should involve the activation of more than one group
00:18of muscles.
00:19For this reason, you can't go wrong with a full-body workout, which targets several muscle
00:23groups and fitness concerns.
00:25And indeed, Meghan Markle's Toronto-based trainer, Craig McNamee, told Women's Health
00:29in 2020 that she prioritizes her health and an active lifestyle, sharing,
00:34"'When she gets to the gym, there's no real complaining.
00:37She gets down to business right away and really enjoys it.'"
00:40"'Why do I look like Meghan Markle at the end of this mini-crowd?'
00:43"'We are on our way.
00:44You're doing fantastic.'"
00:45Complaining during a workout is practically a rule for some people, so this comments a
00:49great deal about her commitment to fitness.
00:52Markle followed a specific, customized routine with Concrete Goals while working with McNamee,
00:57who went on to explain,
00:58"'Generally speaking, we had a full-body approach.
01:01And since Meghan was on screen, we really focused on posture.'"
01:04To do that, Markle's trainer created circuits that targeted her back, lower body, including
01:09glutes and hamstrings, and her core, particularly the abs, obliques, and pelvic floor.
01:15Meghan Markle is a devoted, lifelong yogi, a practice rooted in family ties and childhood
01:20memories.
01:21According to Women's Health,
01:22"'My mom was a yoga instructor, so that practice is in my blood.
01:25I love an intense vinyasa class, and even better if it's blasting hip-hop and done in
01:30a dark room with candlelight.
01:32The best.'"
01:33Vinyasa is a form of yoga that involves continuous movement and breath.
01:37Instead of holding a single pose and resting in between, vinyasa requires you to flow from
01:41one pose to the next by synchronizing your inhalation and exhalation.
01:46In a 2015 interview with Best Health, another former Markle trainer, Duncan Parvianen, shared,
01:52"'There are so many benefits that come with the practice of yoga.'
01:55A few benefits of vinyasa yoga include increased flexibility and muscle strength, greater happiness,
02:01increased mental focus, a greater ability to relax, decreased anxiety, and better sleep.
02:07Muscle gains, anxiety relief, and a sleep aid?
02:10We're sold.'"
02:11What's more, Markle also told Shape,
02:13"'I do a lot of hot yoga, moksha yoga specifically.
02:16This contemporary form of yoga involves vigorous yoga sessions in a heated studio to draw out
02:21toxins and burn more calories."
02:24On top of yoga and full-body workouts, Markle is also a fan of Pilates and similar fitness
02:29programs.
02:30In 2017, she told Harper's Bazaar,
02:32"'Pilates Platinum' is hands-down the best thing you could do for your body.
02:36Pilates Platinum is a Pilates chain owned by Markle's friend, Heather Dorek, that utilizes
02:40a mega-former machine."
02:42Markle went on to say,
02:43You keep coming back for several reasons.
02:45First off, your body changes immediately.
02:47Give it two classes and you will see a difference."
02:49Sebastian Legree of Legree Fitness estimated that Markle was practicing mega-former Pilates
02:54approximately three times per week while living in the U.K.
02:58He told the Daily Mail,
02:59"'She goes to Studio Legree in London and went to Power Pilates in L.A. Women love it
03:04because it's a graceful way to weight train.'"
03:06Additionally, Markle also reported that she relied on fitness DVDs by Tracy Anderson when
03:11she worked as an actor.
03:12Speaking with Shape in 2013, she said,
03:14"'I've been doing the Tracy Anderson DVDs for five, six years almost now, and I just
03:19find the results are great, and you can do little 15-minute increments.
03:23I'll do them in my trailer, just find those little bits of time that help, and at the
03:26end of the day, you've had a full workout.'"
03:29In an interview with Women's Health, Markle explained,
03:31"'Running has always been my form of moving meditation, which I relish because it allows
03:35me to get out of my head.'"
03:37She also shared with Best Health that she used to run more often, before she started
03:41working on suits, as her typical workday began at 4.15 a.m., which didn't leave much
03:46time for jogging — or sleeping, for that matter.
03:49Because of situations like that, Markle has learned to diversify her exercise routine
03:54whenever possible to adapt to various schedules.
03:57That said, running remains one of Markle's favorite activities despite her shifting schedule
04:01and priorities.
04:02In fact, nothing can stop the Duchess from partaking in her go-to cardio workout, least
04:07of all a pair of creaky joints.
04:09She told Best Health,
04:10"'As I've gotten older, running has become hard on my knees, so I can't run outside the
04:14way I used to, but I'm still planning to run a marathon.'"
04:18Although Markle is accustomed to leading an active lifestyle, she struggles to keep up
04:22her daily routines amid other responsibilities now that she's a wife, mother, and increasingly
04:27public figure.
04:28Taking care of herself isn't simply about looking good.
04:31As she told Best Health,
04:32"'I make sure that I take care of my skin and body, especially with the work hours I
04:36And I don't just take care of myself for aesthetic reasons, but because how I feel is dictated
04:41by what I'm eating, how much rest I'm getting, and how much water I'm drinking."
04:44In her interview with Shape, Markle specified,
04:46"'I eat mostly just fish and veggies, but I am also a foodie, so on the weekends, all
04:51bets are off.'"
04:52And when it comes to her favorite weekend go-to snacks, Markle likes red wine hot chocolate,
04:57which is exactly what it sounds like.
04:59On her now-defunct lifestyle website, The Tig, Markle wrote,
05:03Combining two of every lady's classic loves, wine and chocolate, this remarkably easy yet
05:09decadent dessert has been the talk of the town this season.
05:12It's needless to say that as an entrepreneur and mom, Markle works hard so she can make
05:16room in her life for her favorite foods in combination with an overall healthy eating
05:21regimen.