I recently had the pleasure of attending the three day PERFORM BETTER SUMMIT in Chicago.

All the top guns were there attending or presenting: Cressey, Boyle, Hartman, Dos Redos, Gray Cook, Versteegen, Jose Antonio, Boyle, Brian Grasso and one of my favourite buds, Alwyn Cosgrove.

Talk about information overload.

Alwyn introduced me to his "trainer friend" Val - none other than L.A.'s Supertrainer to the stars Valerie Waters.

To our good fortune, Valerie agreed to let me pick her brain and learn some of her celebrity sculpting secrets.



Mike: Val, thank you so much for agreeing to this. How about we start off by having you tell us a bit about your training background and where you are today?

Valerie: I actually come from a body building background. I read everything I could when I was young (of course this was mostly Muscle & Fitness Magazine) and tried all the different exercises and training programs, not to mention the diets. When I first started training clients I used many of these same techniques. I soon learned that most people don't want to work with quite that much intensity and with only 2-3 days per week to train someone, do I really need one just for arms? I first started experimenting with circuit training about 15 years ago and I have used some version ever since. I found I can get so much more done in the same amount of time and with better results. Of course literally hundreds of hours of study, many continuing educations courses and meeting and learning from Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle and Alwyn Cosgrove has changed the specifics of the circuits or thoughts behind them. Working with hundreds of women, many of them high profile, also shaped my training protocol.



Mike: Jennifer Garner, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Berkley are but the tip of your client roster. Do you have any favourite clients or memorable workout stories ?

Valerie: Well, I very clearly remember getting a call from "a girl named Jennifer" who said she was going to be playing a spy and needed to get in shape. We had so much fun deciding what a butt kicking super spy should look like and then we had had 3 weeks to get there. Thus began an eight year relationship with the beautiful Jennifer Garner who is every bit as nice as you think she is.

One of my favorite stories, and one I have used many times as an example, is when Jennifer Lopez first came to me to get ready for the movie Out of Sight. One of the first things she said to me was: " I have a big butt. I like my big butt, guys like my big butt, I don't want to make it smaller." (This was before she was praised in every magazine for her shapely behind.) When she worked out, she did not tie a sweatshirt around her waist or hide her curvy figure under baggy clothes. She loved her body as it was, while still acknowledging the things she wanted to work on. I believe she was instrumental in changing the way media viewed curvy women and helped many women feel good about their bodies even while working to improve them.



Mike: For these celebrities to look the part year round, you developed the "Red Carpet Ready" plan. Could you tell us about it?

Valerie: Red Carpet Ready is my 6-week, get in the best shape of your life program. It was developed over years of having 6 weeks or less to get a celebrity ready for a Red Carpet event, a photo shoot or a movie or television role. All the workouts in the book were tested on my clients. The program will produce dramatic results in a short period of time without having to spend 3 hours a day hours in the gym. Each workout is about 45-60 minutes per day, 5-6 days per week. The diet is the same one my clients follow. By the end of 6 weeks, eating the Red Carpet Ready way will be a habit. You won't have to think about it.



Mike: I know you've been getting Rachel Nichols ready for the upcoming GI JOE movie. Could you give a sample circuit you'd use to give a female and action hero body?

Valerie: Of course. I actually just posted this on my blog, and I called it the Action Hero Workout #2. Click here: http://valerie-waters.blogspot.com/



Mike: In Chicago, I got to try your torturous but highly effective "VALSLIDE". Folks, for those of you currently using those "pie plate" gliders; they don't hold a candle to this baby! Val do you want to tell us about it?



Valerie: I am really proud of the Valslide and the results it produces. It is being used by everyone from Physical Therapists and pro athletes, to stay at home moms and business executives. The sliding action is so much smoother than anything else I've tried and you are able to mimic most slide board exercises without requiring so much space or investment. Not only are the results amazing but the Valslides are so small and light that they can easily fit in a purse or back pack. All my clients travel with them.

Mike: Val, people tend to believe celebrities don't work out as hard being more genetically blessed and makeup enhanced. I've looked at your workouts Val- from movement prep to planned circuits of functional exercise compounds you echo the best of Cosgrove to Boyle. Is this typical celebrity training?

Valerie: I don't think people realize how hard most celebrities work to look as good as they to. There is tremendous pressure on them, particularly the women. They are like the rest of us, in so much as they too would like to sleep in or lie on the couch and watch American Idol. However, if that's the only time they have to workout then they get up and do the workout. They also like pasta, ice cream, chips & guacamole but they indulge in these very seldom and only in moderation.

I am not sure about all celebrity trainer's programming but I can tell you my workouts are designed to produce a very specific look. I may borrow from Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle and Alwyn Cosgrove but then I tweak it for my girls who want to be fit and toned but not overly buff. Alwyn & Mike like to quote Bruce Lee and I am following suit: "Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own." This is what I have done.



Mike: Now you've been training celebrities for a good 17+ years, but you look like you'd get "ID'd" at the bar. What are your personal secrets to looking the part of the proverbial Hollywood trainer?

Valerie: Thank you so much! There is something to be said for eating clean most of the time, exercising consistently, getting adequate rest and wearing sunscreen!



Mike: And if our readers want to find out more about you and your methods/ training tools, where should they go?

www.valeriewaters.com

www.valslide.com

www.redcarpetready.com

Mike: It was a pleasure meeting you Val.

I think all of us Coaches foraging for lean protein and fresh veggies in the Chicago Convention Center brought us all closer together.

(How many sandwich fillings can one eat?)

I've already ordered a set of Valslides to use with my clients. So for all of them tuning in, be afraid you guys . .be very afraid.

Thanks again Val.

Valerie: Thanks Mike!