Celebrity fitness special: Candice Swanepoel and Erin Heatherton's body secrets
South African Candice Swanepoel and fellow Victoria Secret's Angel Erin Heatherton are two of most sought after models of the moment and the twosome have been pulling out all the stops to make sure they look their best.
Here their personal trainer Justin Gelband tells Starlounge how he has helped his super fit clients get into shape.
"Candice has been training regularly with me for over four, Erin for two," Justin tells Starlounge. "When models come to me generally, they aren’t in bad shape. For me to see a change, it’s going to take two or three weeks."
The trainer says that Candice, 22, and Erin, also 22, always put the hours in when it comes down to their health and fitness regimes and can work out four to five times a week for up to 75 minutes at a time.
"As with any other clients, there’s no quick fix... I train women like women. Women want to feel more fluent with their bodies.
"They don’t necessarily need to loose lots of weight, they generally just need to tone which they need a lot of elongation and stretching exercises."
Justin caters to their needs by including Pilates, yoga or kickboxing classes into their routines several days a week.
The models tend to use equipment like bands and discs (Sliders) which are effective in making the body work as a whole, and ensure that as many groups of muscles as possible are being challenged at the same time.
"Candice does a lot of work on her hips and work to lift her butt.," he explains. "She’s an ex dancer and wanted to look lean and to lengthen her body so we do more Pilates too.
"However Erin works a lot on her inner thighs, so we do a lot with the resistance bands. She also wanted to strengthen her knees, work on her stomach and generally look fit, long and lean when she started."
Justin works with both girls on keeping different sets of muscles strong, because they use different ones on a daily basis within their work.
"Models need strong knees, ankles and hips," he explains. "Candice or Erin might have a shoot which is going to involve carrying shoulder bags, wearing high heels or carrying wings down the catwalk for a Victoria’s Secret show.
"This means we have to focus on those different areas and also their postures so they can manage everything."
So what do the models do to keep fit when they are not training with Justin?
"With Candice, she does Zumba and yoga," he says. "When Erin isn’t training with me she might do yoga. Otherwise, the girls eat very well. Like everyone else I work with, they don’t eat a lot of sugar, salt, have no alcohol and carbohydrates."
Candice and Erin, who hails from Illinois in the US, also follow the blood type diet, something which Justin swears by.
"I was introduced to the method by the DJ, Paul Oakenfold and I tried it myself,’" he smiles.
"It gave me tons of energy. Basically you find out if you are an A, B, AB or O blood type and follow the list of foods Dr D’Adamo suggests."
Justin is currently teaching ModelFIT, a New York based fitness class in which he incorporates the same moves and exercises he teaches his model clients.
Justin’s Top Runway Ready Tips:
Drink water or Green Tea
Cut out Salt
For sugar have berries and fruits which suit your blood type.
Cut out alcohol
Stick closely to foods that are easily digestible- refer to your blood type positive foods
Workout 30-45 minutes daily to release any stress
Always vary your workout routine (one day spin, one day walk, one day run, swim or box)
By Emma Bussey / Starlounge
Photos: Getty Images and WireImage
