There’s activewear, and then there’s the new wave of tech-enabled athleisure proven to make your workout even more effective. We’re talking about exercise gear that can tell you which muscles are working hardest, sports bras that will track your heart rate, compression leggings that actually look cool, and more clever innovations in activewear that will change the way you work out.

Keep clicking to shop, because, really, you’re basically wasting your time wearing anything else.

MORE: 50 Pieces of Affordable Activewear That Will Motivate You to Move

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During the lead up to New York Fashion Week, I was struck with an idea for what I thought might be a fun story: I’d work out and eat exactly like a runway model for a full month to try and give readers a glimpse into what those women really go through in order to maintain their 34-24-34 measurements. Surely it can’t all be genetics, right?

After some research, I found the Manhattan-based trainer I wanted to work with—a buzzy guru who almost exclusively trains models, and who’s known for being tough but effective. Although I’m choosing to keep her name confidential due to the outcome of my experience, I can tell you her clients include some of the top runway names, including those who have walked for Marc Jacobs and Victoria’s Secret.

I’ll spare you every detail and cut right to the chase: I swiftly discovered I am not supermodel material. In fact, I was dumped (over text!) by my trainer within a week. “I don’t think we’d be a good trainer-client fit,” she declared. And while at first I was indignant, she was right: I neither have the time nor the drive to spend hours every day planning and prepping food, jotting down every single thing I consume, and sticking to an ironclad regimen.

However, it wasn’t a total waste of time—we were together for a whole week, talking up to three times a day—and I did pick up a few pointers about how models train that will both blow your mind and change the way your approach fitness.

Models are basically just bodybuilders with different goals.

During our first session, my trainer let me know that her models are dedicated and if anyone lets her down, they get booted. She also stressed that there’s no particular time of year that models train hardest—her girls are professionals who need to maintain a certain physique year round, which means they stick to a strict diet and exercise routine every single day, whether it’s leading up to Fashion Week or not. The way she approaches training is more like bodybuilding: Through a careful combination of physical activity and nutrition she’s able to sculpt, shape, tone, shrink, or boost different parts of your body. She spends hours each night crunching numbers to come up with food and diet plans that can be transformational. So the inevitable question came: What would she be changing about me?

After sizing me up, the trainer told me she would be shrinking my hips, thighs, and possibly my waist a little. We’d work on exercises to elongate my neck and bring down my shoulders, one of which she noticed was a touch higher than the other. She was “alright with my calves” but kindly pointed out that my quads were overdeveloped, which she put down to poor technique at the gym. Oh, and if she wasn’t training me with the intention of looking like a supermodel, she’d also broaden my shoulders “to balance out the wide hips,” however that wasn’t ideal for a model, so we’d have to work on it after the story. Yay.

Technique is more important than speed.

Throughout our first workout session, we focused mainly on technique. Interestingly, we spent a lot of time just doing basic exercises—like squat jumps, skipping, mountain climbers, and lunges–very slowly, being hyperaware of technique while also holding each pose longer to make sure I was using the correct muscles. She emphasized the need to use my butt and thighs in the leg workouts, rather than relying on my (apparently oversized) quads.

You need to weigh your food. Obsessively.

In supermodel land, you’re expected to weigh every single thing you eat, according to the trainer’s plan. This varies from person to person, but I, mere mortal, did not even own a food scale and relied on my personal judgment for portion sizes. Strike one.

The diet’s restrictive, but still balanced.

While very strict, the food plan included a balanced lineup of vegetables, chicken, fish, eggs, and some fruit. Not on the list: potato, rice, and takeout of any kind. Also not on the list: alcohol. When models switch from their kick-starter diet to a maintenance plan, they might have “a couple of vodka sodas a week,” but wine would forever be off the table if I wanted legs like Gisele thanks to its high calorie count and the fact it’s not doing your skin any favors.

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It matters when you eat, not just what you eat …

You’re supposed to eat breakfast as soon as you wake up; a meal consisting of a cup of egg whites, vegetables, half a cup of protein and an orange. “Normally you would have several diet changes as your fitness level improves and metabolism goes up, and we may add more snacks in” my trainer added. After breakfast, I ate every two or three hours until around 6 p.m. Also, she told me it’s really, really important to eat right after exercising, and instructed I actually take my next meal to the gym and eat it there. An unlikely scenario indeed.

… But get ready for a ton of protein and vegetables.

My second meal of the day—usually a chicken breast or white fish, grilled vegetables or green salad, and sweet potato—was scheduled for the bizarre hour of 10:30 a.m. Lunch followed a few hours later (same meal, just swap the sweet potato for berries), and I was encouraged to take fish oil supplements with both. Dinner was always a struggle: half a cup of cottage cheese mixed with a spoonful of almond paste, sugar-free cocoa powder, and a pinch of stevia, and as many vegetables as I liked—which, while it’s no steak or pasta, doesn’t taste as terrible as it sounds. Then, because I’d eat at around 6 p.m. as instructed, I was faced with a long night without snacking or social dinner plans. Or wine.

You won’t be dining out, but you won’t be saving money either.

Here’s the other thing: Eating out is completely off the table when you work with this particular trainer, so my social life became non-existent. As did my Seamless bill—and while you’d think this would be good for my bank account, my first Whole Foods grocery shop set me back around $280 for less than a week’s worth of food. Mostly, that cash went towards replacing my condiments—like swapping regular tomato sauce with the sugar-free version, seeded mustard with the lower calorie yellow mustard, and buying nut butter that only contained nuts.

Working out is actually the easy part.

Way easier (and more fun) than the high-maintenance diet was the exercise component of this plan, which included running for an hour at nine miles per hour, or interval training on the step machine for one hour. Weight training also featured prominently, repeating the moves I re-learned in our first session. I was allowed a day off each week and most sessions went for about an hour, plus time to stretch.

At the end of the day, the dedication and level of organization it takes to follow a food and diet plan this detailed will absolutely not work for a mere mortal whose livelihood doesn’t revolve around how you look. I have no doubt my body would have completely changed if I decided to stick to this way of living—I noticed my stomach was flatter within a few days—but it’s hard to justify it when I have a job, a social life, school, and the glass of red wine currently in my hand as I write this.

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As an actress, model, and former 2012 Miss Universe, Olivia Culpo (she was the first American winner since 1997) is known for her glowing skin and killer body, and regularly posts healthy food hacks on Instagram, so, of course, we’re curious to know exactly what she eats and how she works out.

At a recent launch event for Clinique Pep-Start, we were able to ask her just that, grabbing the model to ask her to share a look inside her food and fitness diary. We learned she’s a Pilates and barre class kind of girl, thinks CrossFit is the devil, and begins her day by meditating. Scroll on to see exactly what Culpo keeps in her kitchen, the easy snacks she swears by, and the food app she uses daily.

For breakfast I had:
Oatmeal with peanut butter.

For lunch I had:
Pho with chicken.

For dinner I had:
Tuna tartare.

Today I snacked on:
A Kind bar and green apple.

My go-to healthy drink is:
Green tea.

(Clinique)

The one thing I would never eat is:
Frog legs.

My all-time favorite workout is:
FlyBarre or Pilates.

My guilty pleasure food is:
Ice cream—mint chip or cookie dough.

My signature healthy dish is:
I make an awesome balsamic glazed salmon with sautéed spinach and root vegetables.

The health app I couldn’t live without is:
This is not a health app, but I am obsessed with Wine and Dine. You can follow me there!

The top three songs on my workout playlist right now are:
“Pillow Talk” by Zane, “Juicy” by Biggie, and “The Zone” by the Weeknd.

The next big health and fitness trend will be:
Dancing.

The health trend I just can’t get behind is:
CrossFit.

My favorite healthy restaurant is:
Sweet Green.

My favorite healthy snack is:
Almonds.

On Instagram I’m obsessed with following:
Net-A-Porter, FWRD, and Sofia Vergara.

(Clinique)

The three ingredients you’ll always find in my kitchen are:
Mint, coconut oil, and turmeric.

My biggest health tip for travelers is to:
Sleep as much as you can and drink tons of water.

The best part of my job is:
Being able to be creative every day.

I start an average day by doing:
Meditation.

My favorite activewear brands are:
Michi, Prism, Kora.

My winter health tip is:
Moisturizer with coconut oil.

If you’re the type of person who can work up a sweat without music pumping, well, good for you—but you’re definitely an anomaly. Most of us mere mortals rely on the heart-pumping beats of Beyoncé or Rihanna to get us moving.

It’s no coincidence that you feel as though a good song is the only thing that can get you through the hill climb in Spin class: There’s plenty of research to show that listening to a killer track at the gym can actually improve your workout and make you feel more motivated—or at least make the session less grueling.

One study shows that working out with music makes the exerciser less aware of their physical exertion (read: pain), and can benefit athletic performance by an impressive 15 percent. In fact, the music you listen to when working out actually stimulates the motor area of the brain as to when to move. So, basically, a solid tempo can help keep your own speed in self-paced movements like running.

So if you’re looking to shake up your workout routine (and instantly up your motivation levels) with an injection of fresh music, keep clicking. We spoke with 14 major fitness influencers—from Instagram stars to celebrity trainers and even fitness models—to find out what songs they’re listening to at the gym right now.

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When Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen’s chef revealed that the couple has sworn off a group of foods called nightshades because “they’re not anti-inflammatory,” he ignited widespread curiosity and, probably, a lot of frantic googling. Now, anti-inflammatory eating has moved from something discussed by doctors and dietitians to becoming a buzzy phrase we’re all regurgitating, and with good reason—it may help you avoid some nasty illnesses and possibly even lose weight.

Essentially, the diet focuses on avoiding foods that have been linked with or do not actively fight inflammation, or as sports nutritionist Marie Spano, MS, RD, CSCS, CSSD, explained, it’s a “broad term that loosely defines dietary principles tied to lowering inflammation.”

To be totally clear, inflammation naturally occurs when your immune system attacks foreign objects (like a microbe, chemical, or plant pollen) and in this situation can protect your health. However, if that inflammation sticks around even when you’re not fighting off a potential infection, that’s a bad thing. This type of chronic inflammation has been linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and Alzheimer’s.

“Chronic inflammation is like a slow-burning flame inside your body—you may not notice it right away, but over time it is either a contributing factor to a number of chronic diseases or a side effect of certain diseases,” warned Spano.

It’s not a crash diet that’ll make you lose a quick 10 pounds, but consistently choosing anti-inflammatory foods does dramatically reduce your risk of illness, and will likely help you drop a few pounds or at least keep your weight stable, especially since several anti-inflammatory foods are present in the Mediterranean diet, which has been shown to help you lose weight in a healthy way.

To make easing into an anti-inflammatory diet relatively simple, here’s a list of what to eat and what to avoid.

What to avoid:

Unsurprisingly, Spano recommends cutting out a lot of the fun stuff if you’re hoping to see long-term health benefits: “Oftentimes these diets are void of alcohol, partially hydrogenated oils, refined carbohydrates, and fried foods.” So steer clear of inflammatory foods like white bread, pastries, fries, sugary sodas, red meat, processed meat, margarine, and alcohol.

As for avoiding nightshades, which include mushrooms, tomatoes, and eggplant, Spano points out that it’s only necessary if you have a specific sensitivity.

“[Tom and Gisele’s] chef took one component of nightshades—lectins, which are not digested by the body—and made a gigantic leap from ‘not digested’ to ‘they wreck the lining of the gut and cause autoimmune disease,'” she said.

What to eat:

Foods shown to combat inflammation include green leafy vegetables, olive oil, tomatoes, nuts, fatty fish such as salmon, and fruits such as strawberries and blueberries. “Many of these diets are high in fiber and plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, peas, and lentils, while including fatty fish or omega-3 supplements, tea (black, green or oolong), plenty of water and high-quality oils for cooking,” Spano explained.

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A couple of weeks ago, I found myself at a gym class interviewing Sports Illustrated model Nina Agdal. We were chatting about fitness, her activewear wardrobe, and her diet (lots of Fage Greek yogurt, FYI) when she started getting super worked up about rowing classes. “I really want to try one; I see everyone starting to do it,” she told me excitedly, adding that the celebrity and model crowds are “obsessed.”

A little bit of research revealed that Agdal is totally spot-on: Rowing studios are popping up all over New York right now (Row House! Throwback Fitness! CityRow!), a major sign that this trend is primed to take off across the country—plus, ClassPass predicted that rowing classes will be this year’s biggest fitness trend. Intrigued, I signed myself up for sessions at Row House and CityRow to see what all the buzz is about.

You should know that I rowed for a few years in high school, before it was trendy—and while I wasn’t particularly talented at it (15-year-old Jasmine fell out of the boat—often), I do remember being in the best shape of my life when we were competing. I also remember land training sessions on the rowing machines being among the most brutal workouts I’ve ever experience, slamming the muscles in my legs, arms, abs, and shoulders, while also rendering me completely breathless. So I knew a 45-minute rowing class wasn’t going to be easy, but at least it was on dry land.

Thankfully though, I discovered the 2016 version of rowing classes aren’t just going through predictable motions. Instead, I was guided through high-energy intervals between the machines and floor work that targeted my entire body in a way regular spin classes just don’t. The uninitiated might think rowing is an arm and shoulder workout, but it’s really a fat-burning exercise that works your entire body.

Within about 30 minutes, my legs turned to jelly, my arms were burning, my heart rate was through the roof, and I felt just about ready to quit, but the combination of loud, adrenaline-pumping music and a take-no-prisoners attitude from the trainers (and, to be honest, other class members) meant that just wasn’t an option. Amazingly, even my abs hurt, as it takes real effort to keep the right technique and avoid hunching over as you get tired (a major no-no, the instructor told me).

While I didn’t pick up on the cult vibe you feel when walking into a SoulCycle class, most of the other exercisers were obviously regulars, and these buzzy studios certainly have potential to overtake the Spin class craze. Personally, I think it’s easy to see why men and women keep coming back—the class was downright addictive, and I’m already booked in for my next session.

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In addition to toning up your legs, arms, and abs, rowing is a seriously effective way to drop pounds, with research showing that a woman weighing about 125 pounds can burn well over 350 calories in just 30 minutes on a machine. CityRow’s lead instructor Jared Stein told me he’s even seen heart rate monitors and calories counters read “between 700 to 1200 calories, depending on the class and instructor.” To put that into perspective, the large serving of guacamole and chips (which is supposed to serve eight) at Chipotle is around 800 calories, or 100 calories per person.

It’s not just the potential for a fat-burning workout that drew me to visit a rowing studio and the real benefit of this fitness trend is that you can burn calories and work your entire body with a relatively low risk of injury. “Rowing is a very low impact exercise, meaning that your joints are not being forcefully impacted on a hard surface. This of course reduces the risk of injury and the wear and tear on your body, ” Stein explained, adding: “Importantly, rowing recruits about 80 percent of your musculature—you use your legs, core, and arms to activate your entire posterior chain. This provides a unique efficiency for those who are strapped for time.“

So next time you go to book yourself into a spin class, why not try something different—your arms, abs, and butt will thank you for it.

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There are a few things I miss about living in Australia, but almost on par with friends, family, and my Chihuahua-Pomeranian is Sydney fitness class F45. That was, until I overheard at bloggers chatting at a fitness launch about the intense 45-minute circuit workout expanding across the United States. This is exciting news, guys, and let me tell you why.

F45 whips your body into shape fast—after doing the class three or four times per week for two or three weeks, I saw a dramatic improvement in muscle tone all over my body. While there are dozens of high intensity workouts available on Classpass, I’m yet to find anything quite as effective in New York, where I now live.

During an F45 class I never burned less than 500 calories and the format—which involves changing exercises every minute from a roster of over 2,500, pumping music, and nine plasma TV screens counting down the time until your next break—makes it impossible to feel bored or demotivated. One minute you could be sprinting, and the next rowing, squatting, lunging, or setting your abs on fire with planks. It is the holy grail of fitness classes, IMO, and I’ve tried an absolute ton. It also happens to be the class everyone—including Aussie models and fitness bloggers—wants to Instagram.

While the $60-a-week financial commitment to join F45 is hard to swallow, the fee gives you a free pass to as many classes as you like. And, considering my gym membership in New York is basically on par, this doesn’t seem like such a bad deal.

Right now there are classes open in across California, New York, Michigan, and Ohio, with a bunch more about to open across the country. “This is merely the beginning of the expansion,” founder Rob Deutsch told us. “Our head office is in the process of relocating to the U.S., and we’re aiming to sell 150 franchises by the end of the year.” To work out whether there’s a class near you, check out the F45 website.

As you may have already heard, working out is not my thing. I struggle with every aspect of it, from finding the motivation to exercise to actually getting to the gym or the Spin class or whatever—which, come to think of it, is pretty much all there is to it. So simple in theory, so much more complicated in practice.

The (somewhat) obvious solution, one might say, would be to try working out at home. People do it all the time—they swear by Kayla Itsines’s routine, or some Pilates videos they can do on a yoga mat on their living room floor. I see commercials for Daily Burn every time I watch Hulu, which is often. But for one reason or another this has never appealed to me any more than the gym does. It’s all the same, just with a change of scenery.

However, with that said, I have changed my tune ever so slightly. Because, as of, like, two weeks ago, I’m kind of into Hula-Hooping. I didn’t even mean for it to happen!

What did happen, regardless of whether or not I meant for it to, is this: A far more fitness-minded coworker donated an Empower Cardio Core & More Customizable Weighted Hoop she’d received to my cause. It sat untouched next to my desk for a few days before I remembered that it was there and carted it home via subway. Upon arrival, I arranged for my boyfriend to assemble the hoop for me, on the grounds that I was “too beleaguered,” which he did. Then, on the wings of a second wind, I got to hooping. And I haven’t stopped since.

JK, of course I have, because I only do it for probably 10 minutes a day, in front of the TV, and only while I’m home alone because I’m too embarrassed to be seen. Also, it’s hard: An out-of-shape person like myself cannot simply pick up a Hula-Hoop and start going at it for two hours. I’m not some kind of savant, you know. But even so, I’m convinced that Hula-Hooping for exercise is the way of the future. It’s low (or no) impact, it’s fun, it helps improve your balance, it burns calories, you can do it while watching TV, it strengthens your core, you can do it while watching TV, and so on and so forth—and you will, in fact, actually sweat.

The kind of hilarious, kind of horrifying downside is that the hoop gave me bruises at first on my stomach and hips, which according to Internet reviews is very common. But I didn’t let it deter me, and within a few days of regular hoopin’ the bruising situation subsided.

Should you ditch your regular fitness routine in favor of all hooping, all the time? Eh, probably not. But for People Like Me, who really have a hard time putting forth the effort to do any kind of exercise, it’s a great, (relatively) painless way to burn some calories and remind yourself that you can, indeed, move your body if only you try just a little. For me, that’s a big coup: Hula-Hooping may not be the most involved way to work out, but it’s encouraging to remember that I’m not a lost cause just because I’ve dry-heaved in every SoulCycle class I’ve ever spent $35 on. Highly recommended!

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Let’s start with the fun news: More than 50 percent of women will have at least one urinary tract infection (an infection caused by fungi, viruses, and bacteria in the urinary tract) during their lives. And with each UTI, the risk that you will continue having recurrent infections increases. Some women have three or more UTIs a year. Joy!

Commonly, these delightful infections are treated with a seven- to 10-day course of antibiotics, but there’s a widely held belief among holistic health experts that you can mitigate mild symptoms naturally and avoid a trip to the doctor altogether—or at least feel some relief while you’re in a Uber to the emergency room.

Before you start experimenting with natural home remedies, you first need to work out whether what you have is actually a UTI. This kind of infection can be confirmed only by urine tests at a doctor’s office, but there are some common symptoms that give you a pretty good indication that you’re suffering from a UTI.

Manhattan-based urologist Dr. Philippa Cheetham, MBChB, MRCS, MD, FRCS, explained what you should look for: “Symptoms include burning or stinging pain on urinating, frequency of urination, urgency to urinate, lower abdominal pressure or pain, feeling of incomplete bladder emptying, getting up at night to urinate.” And while there are a bunch of natural remedies you can try at home, they’re obviously not suitable for everyone: “I would advise against home treatment if any of the following occur with a UTI: fever, chills, and flu-like symptoms; blood in the urine; back pain suggesting infection to the kidney; or if you’re pregnant, the symptoms persist beyond 48 hours, or if you have history of recurrent UTIs,” explained Dr. Cheetham.

However if you’re just experiencing run-of-the-mill discomfort, home remedies could be effective. Personally, I’ve had a lot of success by drinking a shot of raw organic apple cider vinegar three times a day when early symptoms set in—possibly thanks to the beneficial bacteria found in sediment that lurks at the bottom of the bottle. That’s not your only option, though—we broke down five recommendations from holistic health experts to treat your UTI at home.

Unsweetened cranberry juice
This is perhaps the most common at-home treatment for urinary tract infections—and with good reason. “Proanthocyanidins found in unsweetened cranberry juice can help prevent the bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall,” explained medicinal herbalist Daniela Turley, adding that “the jury is out” on how effective this is when fighting an acute infection, so you might only see results with mild symptoms.

Various herbs
“Another home urinary antiseptic is thyme,” said Hurley who suggests using the fresh herb to make a strong tea (brew with the lid on) and have a cup every three hours. She also points out that other, less common herbs might do the trick, although they make take effort to find. “Try a urinary antiseptic herb like artostaphylus uva ursi (Bearberry) and barosoma betulina (buchu). I like to recommend them with a diuretic soothing herb like corn silk, which contains compounds that soothe the irritated bladder wall,” she suggested. She also recommends taking immune-boosting herbs such as echinacea and goldenseal.

Baking soda
Holistic nutritionist Lee Holmes recommends drinking a concoction of baking soda and water to alkalize your system. “It helps to neutralize the acidity of your urine and relieve pain and discomfort,” she explained. “All you need to do is mix one teaspoon baking soda with a big glass of water until it dissolves.”

Probiotics
Specifically, you should eat kefir, fermented vegetables, and probiotic yogurts. “The evidence from the available studies suggests that probiotics can be beneficial for preventing recurrent UTIs in women, and they also have a good safety profile,” explained Turley.

After the infection has cleared, Turley suggests kidney tonics to her patients, such as “pellitory of the wall or rehmannia” to stop the UTI coming back. “I find that if you do this last stage, rather than just treat the acute infection, clients who have suffered for years with recurrent UTIs say they never come back again,” she explained.

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High-intensity interval training—or HITT—is a phrase being thrown around by fitness pros ad nauseam to describe any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and periods of lower-impact exercise, but there’s been a lot of research to back up the claim that working up a sweat this way is way more effective at torching calories than just sticking to a continuous pace.

One Canadian study found 10 minute-long sprints on a standard stationary bike with one minute of rest in between three times a week will do more for your muscles than hours of biking at a consistent, less strenuous pace. So it’s not surprising then that some of the most popular (and effective) fitness studios in the country use HIIT as the foundation of their classes. From rowing to cycling and even trampoline classes, there are hundreds of HIIT studios to try out right now, but to save you the hassle, I tested out four of the best—and found out how you can re-create those workouts at home.

Flywheel

What to expect: A 30- to 60-minute class on a stationary bike that also incorporates dumbbells for an extra challenge. Also, I enjoyed the music almost more than the class itself, which is a bonus.

By working some of the larger muscles in your body for up to 60 minutes, you’re guaranteed to torch fat: “Flywheel classes consist of interval training, which causes your heart rate to spike and then come down repeatedly. This is the best way to keep your heart rate elevated all day, and when your heart rate is elevated all day, your metabolism is higher. You are also working the largest muscles on your body—your legs, which means you need more energy, which ultimately leads to a higher calorie burn,” said Flywheel Master Instructor, Holly Rilinger, adding that you can expect to burn an impressive 600 to 800 calories in one class.

What the studios look like: Each class studio is designed with stadium-style seating, which means no one’s view of the instructor is obstructed. When the class is on, the room is pretty dark, and some use LED lighting for special effect. There’s a leader board at the front of the class, which will tell you who’s working the hardest—and no, you don’t have to include yourself on the board if you don’t want to.

How to try it at home: If you have a stationary bike at home or a gym membership, here’s how you can re-create some elements of Flywheel away from their studios. “Music is a key ingredient to my classes,” said Rilinger. “My suggestion is to create a playlist of 10 or 11 of your favorite songs. This playlist can include a variety of music and tempos. Pedal to the beat of the song. At key moments when the music picks up, pick up the pace and head into a sprint. Most songs have three key moments where this happens. When the song is slower, imagine you are on a hill and turn up the resistance,” she explained.

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Bari

What you can expect: This hybrid workout blends dance cardio, trampoline cardio, and slower muscle-sculpting moves in either a 30-minute or 55-minute session. I’m personally obsessed with the trampoline element, as I felt as though it delivered a much deeper burn than most other HIIT classes I’ve done in the past, and it’s completely low impact and great for your joints—and, yes, my muscles were sore for days.

“Typically high-intensity training calls for a ton of impact on your joints, but because one of our primary modalities is trampoline cardio, we’re able to achieve that same high-energy and high-calorie burn while minimizing joint impact. You feel like you’re running on clouds, but your heart rate skyrockets,” explained Alexandra Bonetti, founder of Bari.

A big bonus is that you can expect to torch between 600 and 800 calories in Bari’s cardio classes: “It’s one of the most effective and efficient forms of training because you burn more fat, build a healthier heart, and increase your metabolism,” Bonetti said.

I tried a private session, but group classes are available—and much more affordable. All the prices and the schedule are available on their website.

What the studios look like: Clean, airy, and welcoming, with some added character in the form of neon signs.

How to try it at home: “To emulate trampoline cardio, alternate one minute of quick jump-roping with one minute of light, slower jump-roping. Be sure to keep your abs engaged through both forms of cardio. For full Bari workouts at home, stay tuned for our online workouts debuting this spring,” said Bonetti.

Tone House

What to expect: Even after the short warm-up, I was completely exhausted—but don’t let that put you off. If you can handle the first 10 minutes of the class, you can definitely stomach the following 50. Basically, you follow a circuit for the first half of the class that includes a row of obstacles lining the far wall of the gym and instructions on how you should move around them (like, for example, frog jumps). Then you sprint back up along the other side of the gym to start the circuit again. It’s extreme!

“The workouts are team-oriented, and the competitive, motivating, and encouraging atmosphere guarantees optimal fitness results,” Tone House’s founder, Alonzo Wilson, told us, adding that the class utilizes movement-based training, which is “critical to making any physical improvements, from burning more calories, improving overall strength and endurance, and gaining more flexibility.”

If you do this workout regularly, you’ll likely see quick results that include enhanced coordination, agility, balance, and motor control—and, of course, weight loss: “The utilization of more muscle groups or the entire body during a training session expends more energy and results in a more effective and efficient workout rather than targeting or isolating specific muscles,” Wilson explained.

While Wilson said that the number of calories burned depends on each individual’s exertion, people have burned more than 1,000 calories in the 60-minute class—impressive!

What the studio looks like: Tone House is lined with black Astroturf, and the dim lighting and thumping music keeps you motivated.

How to replicate a class at home: Try to master a push-up scorpion. “Begin in high plank push-up position. Complete one push-up and then flip over to the left so that you’re in a backwards table top. Extend the right hand and left leg up to touch. Flip back over to high plank and repeat. Do for one minute, flipping to the left and then one minute flipping to the right (and then left hand touches right leg),” suggested Wilson.

(Substance Blog)

CityRow

What you can expect: This class isn’t easy and involves alternating intervals on and off the row machine for 45 to 50 minutes. I liked that the class targets the whole body, and the fast pace means I never had a chance to get bored.

“Our classes are programmed specifically to test you in short, medium, and long time durations while constantly varying the movements and asking you to perform them at a high intensity; but more so, our emphasis is on safety, good movement, and only adding load (weight) when it’s appropriate for that individual athlete,” explained head trainer Jared Stein.

What the studio looks like: “My studios look like CrossFit gyms; they have all the toys you could want,” Stein said.

How to replicate a class at home: Stein recommends a workout centering around 21, 15, then 9 reps of burpees, air squats, and tricep dips (off a couch or counter). “Perform 21 repetitions of the burpees, air squats, and dips, then continue right into the round of 15, and finally into the round of 9. This is meant to be done as fast and as safe as possible,” he said, adding: “It’s short, it’s simple, and it’s 135 reps!”

It’s Friday, which is about the only excuse we need to spend some serious time appreciating the aesthetics of some very, very good-looking male athletes on Instagram. These guys are at the top of their (track and) field—ugh, had to—and, thanks to all that exercise, they’re also outrageously hot.

Behold, the 25 hottest athletes to follow on Instagram, from NBA pros and tennis stars to international surfers, Europe’s sexiest football players, and even some gymnasts (who knew!?).

MORE: The 45 Most Naked Celebrity Instagrams of All Time

Sadly, most of us won’t ever get the opportunity to work out with Kim Kardashian’s or Rihanna’s trainer, and the woman behind Shakira’s and Sarah-Jessica Parker’s abs won’t ever whip our obliques into shape before summer. Instead, we asked them—and a few other fitness pros—to share their grocery-store shopping lists, which offer insight into their own eating habits.

From the guy who sculpts the world’s most famous butts (Hi, Kim and J.Lo) who explains what postworkout snack will make your gym session more effective to Drew Barrymore’s trainer laying down the rules on how often you should be eating to avoid weight gain, these experts might make your next trip to Whole Foods that much healthier.

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When it comes to supermodels, Christie Brinkley is about as iconic as they come, with a career spanning three decades and dozens of magazine covers, from Sports Illusrated to Allure and Playboy. While she may have kicked off her career during the ’70s, time has been very, very kind to the infallible 62-year-old, who we assume has been eating something or working out in a way the rest of us haven’t heard about yet. Case in point:

Christie Brinkley: un-freaking-believable at 61-years-old. Getty Images

Naturally, when the opportunity presented itself to chat with Brinkley at an event to launch her latest campaign with denim brand NYDJ, we immediately needed to find out what she eats and how she works out. Here’s what she told us.

For breakfast I had:
A fruit plate at the hotel.

For lunch I had:
Just leftovers!

For dinner I had:
A salad with lots of kale.

Today I snacked on:
Almonds and apples.

My favorite smoothie ingredients are:
Kale, avocado, oranges, lime juice, ice and a bit of coconut water.

The one thing I would never eat is:
Meat!

The three ingredients you’ll always find in my kitchen are:
Leafy greens, seasonal fruits, and fresh herbs.

Christie Brinkley in 1983. (Getty Images)

My all-time favorite workout is: 
Swimming in crystal-clear, turquoise water.

I think that the next big health and fitness trend will be:
No more “denyieting” and instead it will be about taking a positive approach [to food and exercise], and switching to a healthy approach on what you can do for yourself.

The health trend I just can’t get behind is:
Anything that forces you to deny yourself or that is too restrictive–you are setting yourself up for failure. You have to be able to enjoy life and not feel guilty.

My favorite healthy restaurant is:
I think any restaurant can be healthy, it’s all what you choose.

My favorite healthy snack is:
Apples and a handful of nuts.

My favorite Instagram accounts are: 
@visualhealth and @deliciouslyella.

My signature healthy dish is:
For me, variety is the spice of life!

If it’s workout motivation you’re looking for, there few people better equipped to dish out advice than the fit women who earn a living from their commitment to exercise. Which is why we chatted with world champion surfers, a big U.S. track star, yogis, and even a professional ballerina to find out how they shake themselves out of a workout slump, and get motivated to hit the gym. Here’s what they came back with.

Stephanie Gilmore

“I’ve never trained as much in my career as right now after returning from injury and it just feels so good. I get excited to go back. It’s all about getting started and pushing through that day after muscle soreness. If you get a couple of sessions under your belt, and take a ‘rip the bandaid off’ kind of approach, then it becomes addictive. Definitely find a song that pumps you up, play it loud and make sure you mix it up. Training should be fun so be sure to find the physical movements that you enjoy and incorporate them into your workouts. I also have a sweet tooth so the idea of being able to order that brownie after lunch assists in the overall motivation!”—Stephanie Gilmore, six-time world surfing champion

“Take a group exercise class like yoga, barre or dance. I’m not the type to work out alone and I love the energy of being in a room full of dedicated people. You have the support of the group and can encourage each other to keep going. Create a great class plan to keep your workouts new and exciting.”—Judy Thureson, former professional dancer and Fabletics master

Under Armour

“Crank up the tunes! Once I get music in my ears and body I am ready to rock.”–Natalie Uhling, Athlete, Under Armour ambassador, and Instagram star

Bianca Cheah

“It helps to always have inspiration around me. A few things that get me motivated are scrolling through Pinterest’s sports luxe fashion images, buying new activewear, setting a new workout playlist, packing my gym bag for the day (the night before) so it’s staring there at me first thing when I wake up, booking in my workouts for the week and setting alarms to remind me to workout, setting a new workout area at home with a space that’s just ready to walk into and practice in to save time driving to a class, and leaving work early so I have a couple of hours free of an afternoon to get my butt to class. Oh, and Easter eggs as rewards!”—Bianca Cheah-Chalmers, yogi and Sportluxe.com founder

Ballet Beautiful

“When it comes to motivation I like to think about results. Focus on how great you feel (and look!) after your workout rather than how busy or tired you might feel before you begin. It’s important to keep things positive and fun so that your workout feels like a reward rather than a punishment or a drag.”—Mary Helen Bowers, professional ballerina and founder of Ballet Beautiful

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“I think my biggest source of fuel from a mental standpoint is my faith, which is what drives me. I get stronger every day by learning from my successes and failures and using that to fuel what I do the next day. When I have a big disappointment I come back to where my identity is because it’s easy to have your identity be your success or your failure. That’s not what defines you.  

After a workout, I’ll rehydrate and consume Muscle Milk Mobilized Amino and Protein immediately. But I have a big sweet tooth and need to replenish sugars, so I’ll bring a treat–candy, cookies, anything I’ve been craving. I don’t listen to music during a race, but my latest training playlist includes songs from Daft Punk, David Guetta and Jesus Culture.”—Sara Hall, track and field champion

Nude Girl Yoga

“Plan your weeks training in advance, write it down in your calendar and prepare your sessions to be easy as possible. Put your training clothes out ready already the day before, set up in advance a walking or running session outdoors with your friend, or try to find a type of sport that you are really excited about. Getting started is always a difficult thing but once it becomes part of your everyday routine, you start to automatically find time for it.—Nude Girl Yoga

Vimmia

“Having a list of exercises to get done before finishing a work out is motivating for me when I’m in a rut. If I am traveling my trainer sends me work out programs to follow so that I don’t get off track.”—Nina Agdal, Sports Illustrated model and Vimmia activewear ambassador

Amelie Boone

“Set specific and measurable goals to keep you focused on progress, such as signing up for a race or a competition. And along the way, set mini-goals (such as, shaving five seconds off a five mile time or adding 10 pounds to your deadlift). When you train with a purpose, it becomes much easier to motivate yourself to work hard to reach that goal.”—Amelia Boone, three times Tough Mudder female champion

“I have inspirational quotes on my mirror that remind me of how awesome I am becoming! A favorite is ‘Do today what others won’t so you can do tomorrow what others can’t.’ Keeping a journal of your fitness activity helps a lot too.”–Christmas Abbott, fitness influencer and Viber public chat ambassador

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If there’s anyone on the planet we trust to give us advice on how to get a bigger, curvier, perkier behind, it’s the guy who trains Kim Kardashian. In addition to working out the Kardashian family, Beverly Hills–based PT Gunnar Peterson also trained Jennifer Lopez, who you can objectively say is also the lucky owner of a pretty incredible, very-famous derriere, and is also the man behind other terrific ass owners, Ciara and Dakota Johnson.

When we asked, Peterson said that he would have to give the “best ass award” to his wife (cute) but admitted that his clients are also close contenders. He explained that when a woman wants to get a curvier butt, she’s usually referring to “enhancing the gluteus maximus and medius while keeping (or making) the waist small.” Specifically, women are wanting to create a “shelf at the top of the butt and distinct separation where the glutes meet the hamstring at the top of the back of the leg.” So think: Kylie Jenner in bodycon.

He also shared with us some recommendations of how you can get an ass of Internet-breaking proportions all for yourself, without the fee of a celebrity-vetted trainer. Specifically, he makes his clients focus on lower-body exercises such as “squats and lunge variations.” Next time you hit the gym, try doing 8 to 12 repetitions of squats and side lunges, followed by hip bridges. “I can’t recommend a weight because everyone is different. The weight should be whatever causes your form to fail between 8 to 12 reps,” he suggested. When it comes to doing the hip bridges, Peterson suggests using a weight plate, sand bag, or medicine ball on your bikini line as resistance. Or try doing single leg bridges with no weights.

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The biggest mistake women make when trying to build a bigger butt is simply giving up too soon and not trying hard enough, so be sure to experiment with heavy weights: “The biggest mistake is that women aren’t lifting heavy enough in fear of getting big. They should push themselves!” Peterson advised. When it comes to the frequency with which you should hit the gym, that differs for everyone and will take some testing out to come up with a perfect time frame: “Allow time in between heavier lifting days for your body to adequately recover,” he cautioned, adding, “This varies drastically between exercisers, so trial and error will be the best way to gauge.”

In addition to exercise, what you eat is important too—and also how much you eat. Peterson actually recommends eating more while you’re trying to get a curvier backside. “Consume quality calories above and beyond your normal caloric intake,” he said. “Start with 250 to 500 supplemental calories daily and make sure you’re happy with your progress.” After trying out the diet, if that feels like too much food, you can then pull back a little on the additional calories. “You need to eat adequate calories and get plenty of sleep, which is when your body recovers and builds muscle,” Peterson said.

And no, he’s not suggesting you inhale fries or Chipotle to get those extra calories: “Protein and carbs you need to eat right after your workout, whether it be a protein shake with a fruit or chicken or fish with a sweet potato,” he explained. It’s also best to stick to whole foods rather than protein bars or protein shakes; however, he concedes that these are OK “if you’re in a real bind” and advises to pick ones with a high-protein to low-sugar ratio.

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It was recently brought to my attention by a celebrity personal trainer that after more than a decade of gym-going, I wasn’t squatting correctly, and my sloppy form wasn’t doing my body any favors. Specifically, the way I—and apparently many other people–rush through a set of squats often means technique is compromised, and instead of my butt doing the heavy lifting, the quads and the front of the thighs compensate. The PT told me this leads to “chunky thighs” that would only get worse the more I worked out. Yay.

On a mission to perfect my form, without the cost of weekly sessions with a celeb-vetted PT, I discovered Athos, a clever fitness startup creating tech-enabled activewear. I’ve tried basically every wellness gimmick out there, but this one truly excited me. Here’s why: By syncing up with an app on your smartphone, the clothing can tell you whether you’re exercising correctly and how hard. Bingo!

“The leggings can track muscle effort in real time and also [your] heart rate,” cofounder Dhananja Jayalath told me. “By seeing what your muscles are doing, you can better understand if you’re working the correct muscles to the right extent and if you’re balanced left to right.”

Athos has tech-enabled activewear for men and women.

Right now, the brand has pieces for men and women, with the activewear starting at $149 for capri leggings, and the tracking device (which you attach and detach from garments and use interchangeably across the entire line) is $199. I ordered the capris and device and then downloaded the free app.

The first thing I noticed about the Athos leggings when they arrived was that they look basically exactly like regular workout pants, except for a ton of sensors on the inside. There’s also a small pocket on the side of the leg, which is where you clip in the tracking device—a piece of technology that uses Bluetooth with your smartphone, where data gathered from the sensors is stored.

“The sensors read surface EMG (electromyography), a technology that has been used in sports performance institutes for years to help athletes improve form. With EMG, we can understand how your muscles are working in real time to give you the visibility to things that you can’t feel or see in the mirror,” Jayalath explained. 

After I paired my Athos device and phone, the app prompted me through some assessment exercises to test the sensors. All good. Next, I jumped straight into my workout, focusing on basic lower-body exercises such as squats and lunges to evaluate the technology and ace the technique. Muscles being used heavily burned bright orange or red, and secondary areas lit up blue or light yellow. You can see my (slightly imperfect) squat here, which I was able to fix within 10 minutes of tracking my muscles and adjusting my technique. It really made the whole thing simple—way simpler than trying to follow a personal trainer’s instructions while watching yourself in the mirror.

The app showed me in real time what muscles were working.

After you’re done, a report pops up, explaining exactly how hard you worked each area of the sensor-covered areas of your body. As someone who has tried dozens of gimmicky fitness-tech innovations, I have to say this one’s damn impressive, and useful—particularly if you’re new to exercise and don’t want to pay for weeks of personal training, or if you’re a regular who wants to get the most out of every session.

I was shown a full breakdown of my workout.

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Periods are, and always will be, an irritating fact of life. For some women, though, they’re more than just an inconvenience—they’re downright debilitating. If you fall into the latter category and your period arrives with excruciatingly painful cramps that leave you struggling to get out of bed, the culprit could be endometriosis. It’s actually not as unlikely as you might think: Right now there are 176 million women suffering from the condition—one in 10 in the U.S. And thanks to celebrities such as Padma Lakshmi and Lena Dunham becoming particularly vocal about their struggle with the disease recently, the term endometriosis is getting a lot more attention from mainstream media.

Dr Iris Orbuch, director of the Advanced Gynecologic Laparoscopy Center in New York City, specializes in advanced laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis and is one of the country’s top experts in the field. She appears in new educational documentary “Endo What?” and told us that endometriosis is usually accompanied by symptoms including “painful periods, painful sex, infertility, constipation, painful bowel movements, right and/or left sided pain, and back pain.”

Dr Orbuch said it usually takes a woman suffering with a lineup of painful symptoms 10 or 12 years to get an accurate diagnosis. “The reason is that there are masquerading symptoms which involve multiple organ systems (gynecological, gastrointestinal, and sometimes urological), as well as inability to diagnosis endometriosis via traditional imaging modalities.” She means that even women with advanced endometriosis show up with normal results when given an ultrasound, CT scan, or radiological imaging. “Endometriosis can only be diagnosed at the time of laparoscopic surgery,” she added.

Even then, after a decade of doctors appointments, tests, and pain, treatment options aren’t great: “The gold standard for treatment is laparoscopic excision of endometriosis. This surgery is very difficult; most say more difficult than cancer surgery. That is why excision of endometriosis is performed by less than 100 physicians in the country,” Dr Orbuch said. The risks of this surgery could include a reaction to anesthesia; infection; bleeding; adhesions; or injury to bowel, bladder, or reproductive organs. Some patients respond well to being on birth control pills, which is believed to temper the symptoms; however, that’s not the answer for many women.

There are natural methods that women have found to help with pain, and Dr. Orbuch recommends her patients eat a low-inflammatory diet and keep away from processed foods. She’s also seen acupuncture, mindful meditation, and yoga help.

Still, the options are underwhelming, and there are millions of women around the country who know this firsthand. We spoke to five women—some who were featured in “Endo What?”—to find out what it’s like to live with the condition, how they were diagnosed, treatments they’ve tried, what’s worked, and what hasn’t.

How she was diagnosed: “The pain can be so excruciating in moments that I can’t do anything but lie down and wait for the pain to pass with a heating pad on my stomach. My pain started around the same time as my first period—I remember I was at a Taylor Swift concert when the pain episode first hit. Since that moment on, I had to go to a number of specialists both in Boston and Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic. Before I was diagnosed with endometriosis, the chief gastroenterologist‎ doctor at a hospital in Boston told me I had functional pain, basically saying that I was making it up for attention. The doctor told me to stop confusing my body with my thoughts, which was frustrating because I knew I wasn’t making this pain up.

I didn’t find a diagnosis until October 2011, almost a year and a half later after my first pain attack. During that year of diagnosis, I missed almost three months of school.”

Treatments she tried: “I’ve gone to chiropractors, which helped with some pain and other times didn’t help at all. I did acupuncture, which made my symptoms worse. I did pain therapy, which didn’t help. I also did reiki and acupressure at Children’s Hospital Waltham, which did help, but not enough to make me stop missing school. I have also had two laparoscopies [surgeries] for my endometriosis, but they didn’t decrease my pain a substantial amount. I’ve been on tons of different medicines, but the only medicine that has helped me a lot is Synarell. But even with that, I’m still not back to living a normal life.”

How she was diagnosed: “I began experiencing absolutely debilitating cramps in middle school, causing so much pain it would make me feel faint. Eventually this monthly symptom became a daily reality, along with throbbing lower back pain, pulsating pain in my ovaries, and a constant pulling sensation that I would later learn was a combination of copious amounts of adhesions and my ovaries being adhered to my abdominal wall and colon.

I think the biggest misconception about living with endometriosis is that the pain a woman experiences is limited to just her monthly period. I had pain morning, noon, and night on every day of my cycle, regardless of if I was on the pill or not. When I was 28 years old, my daily pain was still taking its toll, and my last three gynecologists assured me my pain was normal. I attended a family wedding and was in so much pain I was unable to dance. A week later I fainted at work. I called my gynecologist and asked her to perform an ultrasound. She did, and I received a call a day later with the news: “You have 5 chocolate cysts, which means you have endometriosis, which is easily treatable with birth control.”

Treatments she tried: “After three months, I was sick of this form of  ‘treatment [birth control],’  and my pain was becoming unbearable. After telling [a new doctor] my story of 15 years of pain, seven doctors, endless questions, and no answers, Dr. Albee said he was positive I was stage IV, and he wanted to perform surgery on me as soon as possible. I was formally diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis. The only thing that got rid of my pain was having excision surgery. The recovery was a long time for me, but now (two years post-op) the only time I experience pain is when I should—during ovulation and my period, not all the time. And it’s mild. ”

How she was diagnosed: “I always had reasonably painful and exhausting periods but thought that was normal. I had been getting progressively ill and tired over a number of years, but on the occasions that I asked doctors, [I] was told I was just too busy and needed more rest. I had a pretty busy work, social, and travel life, so was easily convinced by that theory. In hindsight, it is not normal to feel that fatigued so often. Increasingly often, I felt like I had the flu, with body pains and a general feeling of malaise, but no viral symptoms. They did blood tests but never followed up when the tests came back negative for anything that could cause pelvic pain—except for a gynecologist who put me on six courses of antibiotics to cure me of a ‘stubborn gut bacteria.’

By 2014, I had developed gynecological pain and was given topical estrogen cream that is usually given to postmenopausal women, under the presumption that I had thinning padding in my tissue.

Symptoms got worse, and I am told that the constant pain I experienced for six months was akin to the contraction pains in the early hours of childbirth. I knew I had to take a different approach to my next medical appointment and did something I now recommend to everyone—I typed out a full list of my medical history, family history, and current symptoms for my doctor. A new doctor felt sure I had endometriosis, plus asked a few simple questions that no other doctor had thought to ask, which made it clear that I also had interstitial cystitis (IC), pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD), and central nervous system centralization. There is an 80- to 90-percent correlation between endometriosis and IC, so I now realize that this was no surprise.”

Treatments she tried: “I now know that much of my pain was from IC (bladder inflammation). Using the IC Diet app and starting new medication helped. I immediately started physical therapy, which gave me genuine relief. I wish that more people knew that interstitial cystitis and pelvic floor dysfunction often occur with endometriosis. Recognizing those symptoms can be useful in diagnosing endometriosis, by association.

I had robotic laparoscopic surgery last November. It turned out that the pain that had seemed like appendicitis was because I had endometriosis on my appendix, so my appendix was removed, as well as 16 endo implants [displaced endometrial tissue throughout the abdominal and pelvic area].”

How she was diagnosed: “My endometriosis has expressed itself only through gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms like constipation, bloating, distention, abdominal pressure, and indigestion. I never had any trouble with my periods. My symptoms started all of sudden after taking a double dose of birth control for a few weeks (the OB told me that this was a good way to get started on birth control). I went all over the country trying to get a diagnosis and believe I only got one because I have a doctor in the family and a mom who wouldn’t give up.

Treatments she tried: I have had robotic laparoscopic surgery, which helped a little, but I still suffer a lot from the same symptoms. I have had to start taking so many different laxatives and IBS-related medicines, but nothing has really worked. I am trying to look for other ways to control the abdominal pressure and constipation.

How she was diagnosed: “The vast majority of my symptoms are GI-related, like nausea, bloating, food sensitivities, as well as full-body symptoms like fatigue. I first had symptoms at 16 and wasn’t diagnosed until I was 29 years old, so 13 years of misdiagnoses, pain, and infertility. As a teen, I was told both by my pediatrician and my primary-care provider that the cramps were normal and nothing to worry about. I was given painkillers to use for a day or two when pain was the worst, but no one ever explored what could be causing these extreme symptoms. I was only diagnosed by accident when I had surgery to have an ovarian cyst removed. Three surgeries later (the first two of which were ineffective and did more damage than good), and I manage my symptoms much better.”

Treatments she tried: “I’ve tried hormonal treatments, nutritional changes, and complementary therapies like acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, massage, and more. The only thing that actually treated endometriosis is quality excision surgery. All of the other things can help manage symptoms, but they do not treat the disease.”

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Tanya Mityushina is hot. So hot, that the 23-year-old Russian model was named one of Sports Illustrated‘s 2016 Rookies, and appeared in the magazine’s Swimsuit Issue this year. Naturally, the beauty—who’s also done work with Victoria’s Secret and dabbled in acting— is also an Instagram hit, with 70,000 followers, thanks to a feed that’s as aspirational as it is sexy.

Needless to say, it’s part of Mityushina’s job to look amazing pretty much at all times, so—with the hopes of stealing some of her diet and exercise tricks—we asked her to fill out the latest edition of our Food and Fitness Diary.

I start an average day by: Drinking Bulletproof Coffee

Today I ate for breakfast: Yogurt with berries and a banana

The one thing I’d never eat is: Oysters

The three ingredients you’ll always find in my kitchen are: Coffee, butter, and bacon

My edible guilty pleasure is: Bacon!!!

Today I had for lunch: Butternut squash and quinoa soup

My favorite workout: PopPhysique and resistance training

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated

Today I had for dinner: Three-bean chili and a quiche. And an espresso ice cream over hot chocolate. It was Friday, after all.

Cocktail of choice: I don’t drink!

The top three songs on my workout playlist right now are: Knights of Cydonia by Muse; Running up That Hill by Kate Bush; Radioactive by Imagine Dragons 

The three Instagram accounts I’m obsessed with: @trotsko_masha: She’s so beautiful. @si_swimsuit for inspiration every day, and @bulletproofcoffee to keep me in check.

The fitness trend I just can’t get behind is: Cycling. I can’t get over the crotch pain.

Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated

My go-to healthy restaurant: I don’t really go to those…

If I need to shape up before a big event, I: Cut [down] on liquids. 

Today I snacked on: A juice and an apple 

My go-to activewear pieces are: Anything from Nike—they know what’s up.

The best part of my job is: Meeting different creative people from all over the world, who I might never see again. Every day someone shares something new with me, and that helps me keep my mind open.

Candace Napier

As a human being living on this earth, it’s normal to deal with some level of anxiety—I mean, practically everyone I know pops a Xanax from time to time—but mine is worse than average, to say the least. It’s persistent and unreasonable and sometimes makes it a challenge for me to function at full capacity. At certain times in my life, my anxiety has propelled me forward because I’m afraid of what will happen otherwise, but most of the time it causes me to shut down. This is not ideal.

I dislike talk therapy, avoid discussing my feelings in too much depth, and have tried just about every anti-anxiety drug on the market to no relief. This is how I ended up seeing a hypnotist.

When I walked into Theta Spring Hypnosis to meet with founder Alexandra Janelli, I didn’t know what to expect. I also didn’t care. I’ve done meditation before, and I think hypnosis is only marginally more “woo woo” than what’s now become a medically recognized Thing You Must Do. I knew that there would be no mind control involved and that Janelli has been called “an expert in stress management and relaxation,” so with that in mind, I was down for whatever.

I sat in a very comfortable chair, and Alexandra and I got to talking. After discussing my struggles for a bit, she told me that I was living and operating in a state of fear, which reminded me of “Donnie Darko.” It is also definitely true. She asked how long I’ve been experiencing this kind of debilitating anxiety; I said forever. For example, when I was seven, I had a panic attack in a Chinese restaurant because I was afraid of death by drowning and could not be consoled. I was nowhere near water at the time.

Alexandra said that having anxiety for as long as you can remember is almost better than developing it later on—I’ve been so anxious for so long that I’ve learned how to work with it. We talked a lot about me and my problems for a while before the actual hypnosis began, which is very important for Alexandra’s practice. “In order to have the highest success rate with new associations to be created, a client and the hypnotist must determine the type of hypnotic suggestions that would resonate the most for the desirable change,” she explains. “It’s imperative in my job to listen for empowering words the client is using, ask the right questions, and even help them get in touch with deeper emotions and thoughts through perspective-shifting questions.”

So, those “hypnotic associations?” That’s what hypnotism is all about. It’s about taking those core emotions, the bad ones, and reframing them in a more positive, productive way that takes you out of the ‘victim’ state of mind, the sense that these things are happening to you and that you can’t do anything to stop them. Alexandra refers to the way people function with this equation: Thought + emotion = action. This was a revelation for me—you have a thought, you feel an emotion, and then based on that, you do something. Makes sense!

Here is what happened: I laid back in the reclining chair and was given explicit instructions to breathe (which I was already doing, but probably not well enough). The way the hypnosis started off was a lot like meditation—deep breaths, focusing on Alexandra’s voice instead of the stuff inside my head, relaxing my muscles from head to toe, that “feel your weight in the chair” thing you’ll recognize if you’ve ever spent some quality time with OMG I Can Meditate.

There were some visualizations; I was meant to imagine myself walking up stairs, but I’m not great with visuals so I mostly just thought about all the times I’ve walked up stairs in my life. Everything she said to me was pleasant and supportive and soothing, a lot like the meditation I very occasionally do, except tailored specifically to me with affirmations that Alexandra and I agreed would be helpful to me. My session involved her telling me that everything is going to be OK, which I loved. I’d really like for someone to follow me around at all times, telling me that everything is going to be OK.

Here is what didn’t happen: I did not fall completely under Alexandra’s control. I did not divulge any important government secrets. (I also do not know any important government secrets.) She didn’t swing any pocket watches or pendulums in front of my face. She did not tell me, “You are getting very sleepy.” I wasn’t in a “trance,” in fact, I felt way alert and receptive to what Alexandra was saying to me, which were all nice things. The hope is that those positive affirmations will work their way into your psyche through the hypnosis, which she describes as “a deep state of relaxation with an acute focus, which allows a user to open their subconscious to create change.”

I left Alexandra’s office feeling like I had a new lease on life, a sensation that quickly dissipated after I waited 15 minutes in line for a kale salad. But the mantras that she drilled straight into my subconscious have sprung up in my day-to-day—one of the big ones is “zoom out,” a reflection of my tendency to think that literally everything at all times is the end of the world, which then leads to a fight-or-flight reaction that never ends well. Minor disagreement with boyfriend? I’m moving out. A little bit under the weather? I have terminal cancer and will be dead within the week. Oh, the human brain! (Mine, to be more specific.)

As a willing participant, I did actually find the process beneficial to my often very negative train of thought, but if you’re skeptical, or don’t want to see results, it won’t happen. You gotta believe! But I don’t think it was hypnosis alone that brought me back to my senses, though it definitely helped to put those more positive associations into my head. It was also the way I talked about what the hell was going on with me and my crippling anxiety, and having that bounced back to me so that I could see it through someone else’s lens, which is far more productive than thinking everything to death. Zoom. The fuck. Out. Perspective is everything.

(Also, Alexandra has an app coming out, so if you want to try hypnosis without spending all of your money—it’s expensive!—give it a try. You really don’t have anything to lose, except your friends might think you’re weird.)

P.E Nation’s first collection is filled with sporty outerwear and streetwear-inspired gym clothes.

You may not know the name Pip Edwards, but as an Aussie who worked in the Sydney media industry, I sure as hell do. Before taking on a design director role at one of Australia’s biggest streetwear chains, Edwards was the accessories designer at Sass and Bide and (very successfully) freelanced as a stylist. Her style–which I guarantee you is plastered over every single Australian street-style blog—embodies all the things you love about the way girls dress Down Under. She’s nonchalant and sporty—a total tomboy—and mixes high and low designer pieces like she was born wearing the stuff.

Now, Pip has her own label and has fittingly decided to introduce a line of streetwear-inspired athleisure named using her initials: P.E Nation. The first collection launched this month and is available for you to shop online right now (yes, the brand delivers to the U.S.) In July, the line—with pieces ranging from $69 to $179—will also drop at stores such as Carbon 38, Bandier, Equinox, and Urban Outfitters.

I chatted with the stylist-turned-designer to learn a little more about her label, the new Aussie swim brands she’s wearing (and that you should be too), the Instagram accounts she obsesses over, and her own personal style.

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StyleCaster: Why launch athleisure?
Pip Edwards: Activewear speaks to my lifestyle. I’m a super-active mother, I love fitness, and I love sportswear, especially street sportswear. I actually collect trainers. The penny dropped when it dawned on me that my initials also stand for physical education! Everything just seemed to align.

What sparked the idea for P.E Nation?
[My cofounder] Claire Tregoning and I worked side by side at Sass and Bide. I was senior creative and she was senior designer, and we literally sat next to each other for the whole time we were there. About a year ago we had lunch, and the idea just stemmed from that! Between us, we realized that we had all the skills and experience we needed to get this idea off the ground.

Pip Edwards wearing P.E Nation. Getty Images

Do you design the collections yourself?
Claire and I do the ranges, color palette, and prints together. You must remember because we have worked together for so long, we’re so on the same page; it’s almost like we’re one. We regularly have design days, these are my absolute favorite days. It’s when Claire who actually goes away and turns these ideas into designed tech packs.

I love that the activewear looks like something you could wear outside the gym. How do you come up with your designs?
I get inspiration from everywhere. Mainly high-end fashion trends from the runway. P.E Nation is definitely fashion-driven. Inspiration also comes from artists such as Ellsworth Kelly with regards to color-blocking. Inspiration also comes from the street, it comes from ’90s music, but mainly it comes from within Claire and I and what we know we need to live a fashionable functional lifestyle.

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What sets P.E Nation apart from other activewear and athleisure brands?
P.E Nation has a very strong confident tomboy aesthetic. It has a nostalgic feel to it, in a retro kind of way, yet it is still modern with its current street influence. You actually can wear it from the gym and then on to the street and get on with your day, without feeling like you’re in gym gear. Or you can wear it with denim for the perfect street-style look.

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What words describe your style?
Urban sport, street, tomboy, denim.

What Instagram accounts do you check regularly?
Veronika Heilbrunner, Kate Bosworth, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Ground Zero Official, and My Theresa to name a few—but mainly models, retailers, photographers, and friends.

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What’s the single beauty product you can’t live without?
Paw paw ointment.

What’s your signature scent?
Ooooh, not sure I want to give away my combo haha—but I will: Dior Bois D’Argent mixed with Tom Ford Vanilla Tabac.

What’s the one thing we’d never catch you wearing?
A dress. Very rarely do I wear one.

What up-and-coming Australian fashion brands do you think everyone should know?
Double Rainbouu is a super-fun unisex Hawaiian shirt brand that I love. Ten Pieces is another awesome up-and-coming brand that’s one to watch. In terms of Aussie brands, I love Ellery, Lover, Bec and Bridge, Josh Goot, Camilla and Marc, and Maticevski—they’re all awesome, and all happen to be my mates!!

Is there a particular swimsuit or bikini brand you’ll be wearing this summer?
The new brand on the block is Matteau—the cut, the fit, the colors are just exceptional, and Ilona (the designer) is one stylish lady! It’s honestly the most flattering swimwear I have ever put on, and I live in swimsuits. Fella is another Aussie brand that is killing it—super-sexy, fun prints and great cuts!

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What fashion trend do you struggle to get behind?
That true bohemian is just not for me. Elements I can cope with, but overall, it’s not for me.

If money was no object, what would you be wearing?
Saint Laurent. However, after the recent shows, Balenciaga is right up my alley.

Do you use any apps to edit your Instagram photos?
AfterLight and Whitagram.

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