While Daenerys Targaryen might have more pressing things on her mind on Game of Thrones besides diet and exercise, the truth is that Emilia Clarke takes her healthy lifestyle pretty seriously.
The 30-year-old actress embraces her trainer and cookbook author James Duigan‘s approach to health and fitness, which is to live a balanced life.
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For one thing, Duigan says to ditch the diet mentality and stop counting calories.
“The only thing that works is balance,” the Australian Clean and Lean for Life: The Cookbook author told Whimn. “The minute you begin to weigh your food, count your kilojoules, or beat yourself up for going out for dinner, it’s over.”
Duigan says the better approach is to focus on all-around health — and the same goes for exercise as well.
“The payoff of exercise is to energize you and make you feel good, you don’t want to be dragging yourself out of a class with a sore knee,” he told Healthista.
In fact, Duigan says that even if you’re exercising for weight loss, not to focus on burning maximum calories and eating as healthy as possible. Instead, push your body but also listen to its limits.
“Let’s just say for argument’s sake someone wants to lose weight,” he said. “The best way of doing that is focusing on your health and looking after your body, not punishing and working against it because your body will slow down and hold on.”
Duigan also encourages you to remember to treat your body right even after you’ve finished working out.
“One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to not warm-down after a workout,” Duigan told Whimn. “A cool-down will help to gradually push the lactic acid out of the muscles, whilst allowing the blood to circulate throughout your body and carry important nutrients and oxygen to your muscles and cells and assisting in the growth and repair of muscles.”
So what, exactly, does Duigan recommend for a body like the Queen of Dragons’? He says to make your workouts mobile, meaning that you could do them anywhere. More specifically, he suggests using resistance bands and bodyweight exercises.
“I always recommend to my clients to take a resistance band away – it’s the perfect travel partner and the best way to stay in shape whilst travelling,” he told Whimn. “Using resistance bands can help develop a beautiful, long, lean body, without placing your muscles under extreme pressure,” he said.
Check out this HIIT workout from Duigan that can be done in 20-25 minutes. Complete four continuous rounds of the five exercises below. Do 40 seconds of each exercise, then rest for 20 seconds until each of the four rounds is complete.
- Squats
- Pushups
- Alternating reverse lunges
- Plank
- Skipping/jumping jacks/mountain climbers
