Fitness
8 things Nina Dobrev has revealed about her exercise routine
Actress Nina Dobrev, known for her hit roles on the sitcom Fam and supernatural drama The Vampire Diaries, is a hard hitter off screen as well. In recent years, the former competitive gymnast has spoken about her love for fitness and working out, which runs the gamut from walking to strength training. What’s for sure though, is that she needs ‘to sweat every single day somehow’. As she celebrates her brand-new engagement, WH shares favourite movement tips from this multi-talented knockout.
1. She sticks to a regular workout regimen
Starring on Fam give Nina a schedule that she calls ‘the most consistent that I’ve had so far in my career’. Because of that, she’s been able to stick to a regular workout regimen. This is a significant benefit for Nina, a former competitive gymnast and natural athlete who actually sounds as if she means it when she says, ‘I just love working out’.
2. She exercises in a variety of ways
Nina’s current fitness obsession involves what she likes to call a ‘workout cocktail’—a mix of yoga, running, weight training, boxing, and group classes, depending on the day. ‘Doing something different [each day] has been the most fun, and I’ve seen the most benefit because you shock your system.’ She’s strong and lean now, as opposed to ‘skinny fat’ [when you look thin but actually have a high body-fat percentage], which is how she felt when she was doing only hot yoga years ago.
3. On most days, she walks her dog and works up a sweat
On a typical morning, Nina gets up several hours before her call time so she can walk her dog, Maverick, work out, relax in the steam room, and shower. ‘I need to sweat every single day somehow, even if it’s just in the steam room’, she says. “Some days are better than others, I’ll be honest with you. Some days, Maverick gets a shorter walk than she probably deserves, if I’m running late or don’t have it together or press the snooze button 18 times too many.’
4. She takes rest days when necessary
‘Everyone has off days, and if someone says they don’t, then they’re probably lying,’ she tells Refinery29. ‘The key is to take it day by day. If you don’t feel like working out or eating healthy one morning, just take some time to yourself and hit the refresh button. Tomorrow is a new day.’
5. She incorporates elements of workout-split training
Her Les Mills Coach Lissa Bankston opens up to Today about Nina’s go-to workouts. ‘I usually incorporate something I call ‘push, pull, rotate’ where we train the upper body, lower body and core with those three modalities. And Nina loves working her core and her butt — so there’s always a little finisher of core and butt work too!’
6. She built a home gym during Covid
Speaking to Shape, she reveals that Covid pushed her to turn one of her rooms into a home gym. ‘I used a personal trainer and relied on a lot of outside sources for my fitness — especially because I used to be so busy traveling and working. But once I was home, I realised I didn’t have much [gym equipment] at home so I went into a mad dash.
‘I started slowly, over time, accumulating equipment and things that I could use to move my workouts at home,’ including a treadmill and stationary bike.
‘It’s really nice to have that flexibility of working out, whether it’s really early in the morning before I got to set, or really late a night when I get home from set, or after a long flight.’
7. She multitasks, using exercise to learn her lines
‘When I’m done shooting and I have to memorise the next day’s work, I can sit on the bike with my script and exercise, and learn my lines for the next day,’ she says to Shape.
8. She makes sure she’s properly fuelled
An intro to trainer Lissa Bankston also gave Nina an education in nutrition. These days, Nina takes in more calories than she used to; she tries to eat every two hours to keep her metabolism stable. “I feel healthier’, she says to Women’s Health. ‘You’re happier when your body is full, your brain functions better, and you’re a nicer person. I would get hangry, I think, because I was so busy running around that I wasn’t the best version of myself.’ She’s more particular about her diet, too. ‘I’m getting older and more conscious of what I eat and how I eat it and what I do,’ she says.
Read now: How to practise self-compassion and build confidence
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