Despite getting some backlash for going on a controversial cleanse to lose half a stone in the lead up to the 2018 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian has been keen to document her fitness and weight-loss journey in recent months, dedicating hours in the gym with several personal trainers.
And, following her luxurious beach-filled getaway with sister Kourtney in Turks & Caicos in April, the sisters’ Personal Trainer, Amanda Lee, is now opening up about their exact training regime.
In an interview with E! News, Lee - who incidentally went to school with Kim - revealed she’s focussed on toning, lifting an heightening the women’s bodies, so tends to target the lower body, such as their bums and tums.
They Do A Lot Of HIIT
‘With them and for myself I'm really big on HIIT training which is high intensity interval training, so it's mostly geared towards toning, lifting, tightening and fat burning, even though that's not a main goal,’ she said.
Alternating between weighted medicine balls and hand-held weights to vary their strength training, the personal trainer said she likes to keep Kim and Kourtney’s sessions varied, focussing primarily on squats and lunges.
But They're Never Too Far From A Resistance Band
She said: ‘We work a lot with resistance bands, we work a lot with a step, you've seen it I'm sure in a lot of my workout videos where we do little routines with the step, with the bosu ball.
‘We mostly focus on routines with those three and I would say we do a lot of side walking squats with the resistance band, we do a lot of step-up combinations with the step, we do a lot of like jumping squat combinations with the bosu ball. We do a lot of like leg lift donkey kicks, outer thigh exercises, just a little bit of everything.’
How Often Is 'Often'?
With their busy schedules filming their hit television show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and promoting their business endeavours, it’s a miracle how Lee finds the time to fit into the reality star’s day-to-day routines.
As a result, the trainer revealed she ends up training Kourtney every weekday and Kim just two times a week for approximately one hour.
Burpees Are Not The Favourite
When it comes to sweating it out in the gym, the fitness expert admitted that, like most people, the sisters both hate burpees and box jumps, but love donkey kicks and the clam because they can ‘really feel the burn’.
‘I have to say they never complain, there's never anything that they don't do,’ she added. ‘They're pretty motivated, they really give it their all and they really get the most out of the workout every time.’
But What About Diet?
Last week, Kim explained what really goes into her healthy eating regime and how she incorporates ‘cheat meals’ into her diet plan.
‘I’ve been really strict with my diet, recently,’ she wrote. ‘When I grocery shop, I buy lean protein, carbs, fruits and veggies, but every once in a while, I like to treat myself and have a cheat meal. It can be so hard (and boring) to eat really clean all of the time.
‘A cheat meal allows me to enjoy food without feeling like I'm overindulging. My trainer, Mel [Alcantara], instructs that you should schedule a cheat meal about once every 10 days. This way you won't lose any of the progress you've made at the gym.’
I mean, we can barely hold out 10 hours before hallucinating about cheesy fries so we can only imagine restraining ourselves for 10 days.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
