Today, Jennifer Aniston says she’s the “most in shape” she’s been in a long time, thanks to her favorite workout routine.
The 56-year-old actor is no stranger to fitness. But after decades of pushing “too hard” at the gym, she says she’s now listening to her body and focusing on low-impact training — and it’s left her more sculpted than ever.
Aniston doesn’t credit her current physique to some high-tech workout machine or ultra-exclusive workout class, but instead a simple, full-body routine lasting less than an hour that she can do from home, a hotel room, or anywhere.
Aniston is encouraging others to embrace accessible and effective on-the-go workouts through her partnership with Pvolve, a full-body fitness method that combines low-impact exercises and resistance equipment. On April 10, Pvolve and Aniston launched their new “Sculpt Anywhere“ campaign and travel bundle.
Aniston recently spoke to TODAY.com about her current workout routine and how her approach to fitness has transformed over time.
Low-impact, full-body sculpting exercises
Aniston loves to mix things up, but her favorite go-to routine at the moment is called the “sculpt and burn,” which blends cardio with low-impact strengthening exercises to improve power, stability and overall heart health. “You can hit every part of your body pretty efficiently,” says Aniston.
“I love the way we start the workouts with a big heart-opening (pose), getting into a staggered stance then opening our arms and twisting get our joints all warm and mobilized.”
The workout utilizes simple equipment like ankle bands and gliders, as well as bodyweight exercises such as planks, and the guided 50-minute sessions are easy to fit into her day. “You can curate your workouts given your time, space, equipment, what part of the body you want to work out,” says Aniston.
Aniston say’s it’s important to be able to maintain her routine when she’s on the go — which is pretty much always. The actor says she always brings a travel bag with a few pieces of lightweight equipment with her to get a full-body workout from anywhere.
While Aniston is a fan of low-weight, high-rep exercises, she says she has also learned about the importance of strength training with heavier weights. “(It’s important) to build our muscles for bone support and joint support, especially as we grow older,” says Aniston.
This exercise routine has been a game-changer for Aniston, who wishes she’d learned about the benefits of low-impact workouts earlier in life. “Not only are they approachable, they’re as effective,” says Aniston.
Listening to your body
“I just wish I had a workout like this in my 20s and 30s because I wouldn’t have all of the injuries that I have ... from banging and bashing my body as hard as I did,” she adds.
“I really destroyed my joints from running or boxing ... and not to put down any of those (workouts) ... but for me, I would personally go too hard.”
Aniston’s current goal is to exercise efficiently without doing any harm to her body — especially in the last few years after she aggravated a previous back injury from 2021.
“I did a movie and I injured myself right towards the end. I was doing this harness work, and I had an old lower back injury that kind of got pissed off,” says Aniston.
At the encouragement of a friend, she tried low-impact resistance training. “I could rehabilitate my injury by strengthening everything around it, so I didn’t have to sort of sit out on the bench like I usually do and just to wait for the injury to heal,” says Aniston.
Today, Aniston says she’s injury-free and feeling better than ever. “I personally feel like I’m the strongest and in the most in shape that I’ve ever been,” says Aniston.
Now, Aniston always listens to her body first and adjusts her workouts accordingly with the help of her trainer, Pvolve’s Dani Coleman. “Know your body and let your pain be your guide,” she says.
Aniston has left the hard and fast gym mantras she lived by when she was younger in the past. “I always thought that you have to push your body; it has to be an hour and a half; it has to be, ‘no pain, no gain,’ and all of those things that we’ve been told and it’s just not the case,” Aniston says.
“You don’t have to break your body or spend hours in the gym. ... Remember, we want this body to carry us through the rest of our lives, through a second and third act, so we need it to be on our side.”