14 DAY TRIAL // It's no secret that Kelly Ripa is ripped. In the latest issue of Good Housekeeping, the talk show host goes into the details of her strict workout routine – and explains why she simply has to work out daily, or she won't at all.
A couple of years ago, paparazzi shots of Kelly at the beach made the round online, getting all kinds of reactions from fans.
Mostly, they were in awe at how fit she was: not just slender, but actually ripped.
In the interview with Good Housekeeping, Kelly explains that working out is something that she does by habit daily, something that has become an addiction for her.
“I work out every day. It's part of my life. That's one of the benefits of having kids in school full-time. I'm usually done with work around 11am, so I have time before I pick the kids up from school,” she says.
Exercise for her isn't just a means of looking good, it's also a means of feeling good.
“I do it more for my insides than my outside, but the outside gets a nice benefit, too. I feel like my mind is a little quieter when I exercise,” she says.
Kelly recalls that it was her husband of 15 years who talked her into working out more, right after the birth of their son in 2003.
A few months after giving birth, Kelly became aware that she was feeling exhausted all the time and was barely able to carry her son up a flight of stairs without becoming short of breath.
She started working out at her husband's suggestion and has not stopped since. Of course, the routines have evolved and are now considerably more complicated and challenging, but only because she gets bored of doing the same exercises over and over again.
“I work out with a trainer, Anna Kaiser, three days a week. We do what I would call cardio ballet and power yoga. I take spinning classes at Soul Cycle [in New York], which I love, and I run. I get bored, so I like to mix it up a little bit,” she says.
“I try to make my heart beat out of my chest, hard-core, once a day for at least a half hour. I think that's very important,” Kelly explains, adding that her family has a history of heart condition, so she wants to keep hers as healthy as possible.
However, she also tries not to push herself too much, giving herself little breathers whenever she feels like she's not up to it.
“If I'm exhausted and I just don't feel like it, then I don't do it. I am a human being, after all. But I also know I'm the kind of person who, if I take one day off, well, it's very easy for me to take the next day off and then quit exercising. If I don't do it every day, I won't do it at all,” Kelly says.