What It's Really Like To Do The Workout Of A Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Model
By Elizabeth Narins for Cosmopolitan
As a fitness editor, I don’t run marathons, but I do test out a lot of different fitness techniques and trends. I break a sweat almost every single day. But like most humans, I bear little resemblance to the women who model bras and “wings” at Victoria’s Secret’s annual fashion show.
Romee Strijd, 19, who will model in the show for the first time this year, works out every day, sometimes multiple times per day. She does up to three sessions per week with Mary Helen Bowers, a former New York City Ballet ballerina and creator of Ballet Beautiful, a fitness technique based on the small, graceful movements that whip ballet dancers into shape. Bowers trained Natalie Portman for Black Swan, and has worked with a bunch of current and former VS models, including Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, Lindsay Ellington, Miranda Kerr, Erin Heatherton, Lily Aldridge, and Doutzen Kroes. “I love working with the [VS] girls,” Bowers said. “They train so hard and take such amazing care of their bodies.”
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I joined Bowers and Strijd for a workout session to see exactly how hard they train. (Watch the video below to see for yourself.)
After swapping my sneakers for ballet shoes, I joined Strijd and Bowers on a mat. By the time Strijd arrived at Ballet Beautiful, she’d already done a cardio session. (I, in turn, had skipped my morning workout. Who has the time for two workouts per day?!)
Strijd likes Ballet Beautiful because she says it keeps her muscles lean without bulking up, which models like to avoid. “It’s really intense, really hard, but good,” Strijd said. Bowers took us through a full-body workout, which included bridges, various leg extensions, pliés, and some simple arm raises with 1-pound wrist weights. She tailors the moves for different clients based on what they want to work on — say, extra ab exercises for new moms or extra butt work. (To clarify: VS models don’t exactly have “problem areas” — but they are real humans with real bodies that have different needs.)
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The exercises don’t look particularly grueling, but rack up 20 or 30 reps of each movement with perfect form (important!), and you’ll feel the burn in places you probably don’t begin to touch at the gym. For our 30-minute session (though private sessions leading up to the show can last two hours), we started on the floor and then progressed to standing moves with 1-pound wrist weights. Strijd and I both felt burned out toward the end of each set.
Strijd dismissed the notion that she was born with a seemingly perfect figure. “I’m sure there are some girls who have good genes, and it’s easier for them to stay skinny or in shape,” she said. “But healthy eating and working out and taking enough rest and sleep is important for everyone — it gives you a glow as well.”
"Before a show, I try to stay away from processed foods," she added. "I feel better when I eat healthy stuff."
On a typical day, she eats some combination of fresh fruit, seeds, yogurt, and almond butter. “I try to mix it up everyday with something else,” she said. After her workout, she refuels with an apple, some nuts, juice, or a smoothie. For lunch and dinner, she steers toward homemade meals of baked fish or chicken with veggies and spices.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have cravings: “I really like all the pumpkin spice things — like pumpkin-spice muffins — that are all around. They confront me on every corner of the street! But you have to limit it.”
Her last memorable indulgence: “After the VS casting, my boyfriend was waiting downstairs with a little, little carrot cake. Sometimes you have to treat yourself. But you have to maintain training after.”
Which Strijd will most definitely do — at least until she takes off those famous Angel wings.
In a special offer to Yahoo Health readers, Ballet Beautiful is offering 25 percent off their exclusive Custom Workout program — daily online workouts specifically designed for the areas you want to target — for one month. Just enter the code BALLETFIT at checkout.
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