Squats and Lunges for a Body like Jessica Simpson’s

Long criticized and ridiculed for her yo-yoing weight, and especially for her recent gain of a couple of pounds, Jessica Simpson has managed to get back to the enviable shape she had when she was filming for “Dukes of Hazzard,” as her latest photo spread reveals. She didn’t do it alone, though, and the road there was none too pleasant, as personal trainer Mike Alexander reveals in a recent interview with Shape magazine (via How Celebrities Lose Weight).

As fans must know, Alexander is the same man who also helped Jessica tone her legs and bum for the famous hotpants in the aforementioned movie, a task that sounds much easier than it actually is. After being harshly criticized for gaining weight, Simpson is again back with the trainer, working on staying healthy and getting toned. The secret to the already amazing results, Alexander says, is tons of squats and lunges.

“I can’t promote squats and lunges and step-ups enough, because those are all exercises that you can do with your own body weight and you can do them anywhere with very little or no equipment.” the famous trainer says. Indeed, as Jessica also admitted a couple of days ago, squats and lunges do make the central point of a training session with Alexander. However, that’s not to say that a diet is not also required, as the trainer says that what you eat as you’re trying to lose weight is of vital importance.

“Diet is very important. You have to eat really clean because every calorie counts at that point. At the same time, you don’t want to cut out too much. It’s important to eat because if you don’t your body’s going to hang on to the calories it does get and go into starvation mode. For exercise, I’d recommend doing two-a-day workouts: In the morning do cardio and in the afternoon do a quick weight workout with high reps. That will burn fat and create muscle tone.” Mike Alexander further explains.

Alexander is not only famous for his extremely successful collaboration with Jessica Simpson, since his impressive portfolio also includes training stars like Ashlee Simpson, Kristin Chenoweth and Amanda Bynes. Alexander has a B.A. in Health / Fitness Management from Baylor University in Waco, TX., a post-graduate degree and plenty of certifications from the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, and runs the MADfit training studio in Beverly Hills.