Stories about fitness guru Ramona Braganza always begin with a list of Hollywood A-listers she has 3-2-1d into shape.
By 3-2-1 Im referring, of course, to Braganzas proven method of personal training. By Hollywood A-listers Im referring, of course, to Jessica Alba, Ryan Reynolds, Zac Efron, Halle Berry, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Beckinsdale, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel and Amanda Seyfried. (No big deal.)
Cardio, circuit, cardio, circuit, cardio, core: this is the essence of Braganzas 3-2-1 method. With an actor on a set you have very little time. You know you have to do weights, cardio and get to the abs and youve got 30 minutes to be effective, explains Braganza. Its a good formula for people who maybe dont know what to do in the gym.
Cardio is broken into three segments, which Braganza recommends mixing up. You always want to shock your body and do things you dont usually do. Its called muscle confusion, she says. During the circuit set, about 10 minutes each, youll use three body parts at once, such as your legs, chest and triceps a split inspired by bodybuilding. Braganza focuses on technique and tempo, squeezing the muscle at the top and bottom of a movement and really connecting with them every time. The core work at the end, she says, in inspired by her gymnastics background.
Born to Indian parents in Germany and then raised in small-town Ontario, Braganza was a competitive gymnast her entire young life, always with Hollywood stars in her eyes.
I saved all my pennies to get there, she remembers. In the Golds Gym fitness scene of the 1980s she moved to L.A. and tried out against 1,000 other girls for the Raiders cheer squad. Braganza got one of 15 spots.
Cheering is really for the camaraderie, for the experience, for the fact you get into clubs for free. Its being a mini-celebrity in a big celebrity world. Most of the girls that were doing it were either trying to be actors or they were nurses or teachers, says Braganza.
The gig paid $60 a game and required three rehearsals a week, not to mention weigh-ins. Braganza recalls that once, to help control her weight, she tried the infamous Beverly Hills diet. I did that for two weeks and my mouth broke out into big sores. I thought I was going to die there was so much acid in my stomach because all you ate for two weeks was pineapple and papaya. But, she continues, over the years [cheerleading] offered lots of opportunities. It really furthered the girls careers. I found fitness. I walked into Venice [Beach] Golds [Gym] and that was it.
Fitness modelling, landing the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine and entering the first ever Miss National Fitness contest in Las Vegas followed (I had to tumble, wear a cocktail dress, and talk, she summarizes of the event). But in the end it was the classic Hollywood Im-not-really-a-waitress-story that launched her success.
I was working in the restaurant at The Sports Club L.A., which was the first fabulous gym of the time with elevator and valet parking and all these celebrities who went there, she remembers. There, she served a successful Hollywood producer who knew she was a Raiders cheerleader and had a history of gymnastics. (Sidenote: I suspect Braganza was shrewd enough to have made sure the producer knew she wasnt only a waitress.) Soon that producer had her working with Jennifer Love Hewitt on The Byrds of Paradise, then on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and finally on Dark Angel, with Jessica Alba. The X-Men movie came calling next, and when Halle Berry let go of longtime celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak, she turned to Braganza.
They work hard; its not just showing up at the gym, says Braganza of her celebrity clientele, which certainly explains the lightning-fast, drool-worthy post-baby bodies of Berry and Alba. (Braganza trained them through that with her 12-week 3-2-1 Baby Bulge Be Gone method.)
Fifty per cent of your results come down to what you put in your mouth, she says. You can have wine three, four days a week. But at the same time you want to be sure you put your three days working out in. If you want to make gains its four days a week. And if you want to look like a movie star its five to six days a week.
Within the 50 per cent eating rule theres an 80/20 rule, Braganza explains, which means eat consciously and cleanly 80 per cent of the time and kick back the other 20 per cent. Braganza also applies her 3-2-1 method to food: three meals, two snacks and one litre of water (minimum) per day.
You have to try to keep fitness really simple. Thats the key to keeping it long term, she says.
And the celebs? Do they actually eat? I ask, praying she divulges that actually they are total freaks of nature who eat ice cream every night and still lose weight.
If theyre on a movie thats one thing, but between movies they do their own thing. Halle makes really good soup and thats her snack all day long, says Braganza.
So eat soup if you want to be a Bond Girl? I wonder aloud.
Its really about time management and how bad you want it, replies Braganza. Its going to be a little painful to start with. It always is. Id do it 20 maybe 30 minutes at first. You have to ease into everything. Take the cardio down to five minutes, not 10 each. And if you have a day and youre just exhausted and all you want to do is run for 20 minutes then get out of the gym, do that.
Her 3-2-1 weight loss program works for men and women because its high intensity and zaps calories, though she says she trains men much differently if theyre trying to build muscle mass, only using the method once a week as a circuit. But worrying about the scale cant be the focus of your life, she says.
You have to monitor where youre comfortable in your clothing and try to keep it at that over the years. You will gain a certain number of pounds as you ageI think its about five pounds every ten years, its not very muchbut your body shifts. Im 50 now and I dont plan to be like I was at 20. You have to be the best you can be at whatever age you are.
Ramonas workout DVDs can be ordered online at RamonaBraganza.com
