Jillian Michaels Shares Her Workout Routine and Recovery Methods

Jillian Michaels has been assisting individuals in reaching their fitness goals for almost 30 years – and she’s now exposing her success secrets.

“The bottom line is, you really kind of need all [different types of workouts], and you want to try to incorporate [them] all,” Jillian Michaels, 49, said while promoting her iTOUCH Wearables brand. “The most important thing [is] it doesn’t have to be perfect.”

Michaels rose to recognition as a trainer on the reality series The Biggest Loser after getting licensed as a personal trainer and founding her Beverly Hills sports medicine business in 2002. Having spent decades in the health sector, Michaels has come to feel that there is no such thing as the “best” sort of workout.

“When it comes to different types of training, whether it’s strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, HIIT training, they’re all important,” she told us. “It’s like asking, ‘What’s more important, Vitamin C or Vitamin D?'” So you don’t have to feel overwhelmed.”

Recovery is almost as vital as the activity. “The reality is that when we’re sore after a workout, what’s going on is we have these micro-tears in the muscle, and that’s a good thing,” Michaels said. “When you’re hurting, you want to drink a lot of water.” Staying hydrated, obtaining enough rest, and engaging in some modest aerobic activity will help you recuperate faster.”

Above all, Michaels cautioned against overtraining muscles. “Don’t go train that same muscle again, because then those little mico-tears can become a little bit bigger, and then you get into over-training,” she went on to say. “Recovery is really important, and that comes with rest.”

Fasting before a workout may be “trendy,” but Michaels isn’t sold. “Depending on your fitness goals, the reality is that you should probably eat a little something before you go to the gym,” she informed us. “[Fasted workouts] are less effective, based on everything I’ve read and everything I’ve experienced doing this since I was 17 years old.” … When you have blood sugar on hand, you have more strength.”

When it comes to nutrition, Michaels says the trick is not to “overthink it,” but having a balanced lunch or snack at least an hour before hitting the gym may offer a crucial surge of energy. She usually has a protein drink, yogurt parfait, or peanut butter and banana whole grain toast for breakfast.