On Instagram we see influencers with a heart-stopping body and a very busy life: trips, poses, publicity… Non-stop. Which leads us to ask ourselves in many cases: where do they find the time to train? What will your routines be like? And your diet?
Anabel Hernandez ( @anabelhernandz ) and Julia Palazón ( @juliiapege ) are two influencers from the fitness world who have told ABC how they combine their lives with physical training. Anabel Hernández is also very involved in the fashion industry and travels a lot due to her work, which means that she sometimes has to juggle to be able to practice exercise. In the case of Julia Palazón, her Nursing studies and the 12-hour internship shifts sometimes steal all the time and energy that she would like to take advantage of to do CrossFithis main sport.
Do you want to know the secret of both so as not to give up and be able to carry it all out? At ABC we tell you.
How did you start with the topic of sports?
Anabel Hernandez. I started very young, from the age of 15 or 16. I have always really liked training and for me it is a lifestyle. It’s very difficult with our work to organize or have the habit of exercising every day, but I always find a time to go to the gym or, if I’m in a hotel, I try to have a gym or go to the beach or a nearby park.
Julia Palazon. In my case, I have played sports all my life, the typical ones from when you are little, like swimming or dancing. But six years ago I started doing machines in the gym. There came a time when I got tired of this, I couldn’t handle the machines anymore being alone, I needed something new that made me curious and that I could do with other people. Then a cousin of mine signed up for CrossFit and he kept insisting that I was going to love it. So I went with him and I’ve been there for almost three years.
Do you have a personal trainer?
A.H. Yes, with a personal trainer and nutritionist, because for me food is my gasoline. Both go hand in hand: to do a good workout you have to eat well. It’s true that I don’t always have the coach and many times I have to do it alone, from what I say about the trips, schedules… But I do try to have it, that’s what Julia says, sometimes you go to the gym alone and it’s harder for you to motivate yourself and giving 100%, while with a coach there is no failure, always demands much more from you. Therefore, I prefer working with a ‘coach’, with a friend or in this case with Julia.
J.P. I also supplement it with food, but I left the subject of the nutritionist a couple of years ago. I started with a nutritionist when I was little, but following a strict diet was not for me. Even so, I understood what my body needed to have energy when training, and since it is not that I have a clear and strict objective, but that it is simply about looking good, having energy to train and being comfortable with myself … As for the coach, in CrossFit classes you have him there with you to the fullest, demanding, motivating and correcting everything.
How are your routines?
A.H. Every week I do not follow the same routine, because for work it is very difficult to follow the same hours and days. There are some weeks that I can train every day but at different times. Sometimes I have trained at one in the morning so as not to go to sleep without doing sports. That’s why I can’t tell you a specific routine, but I train as many times as I can and, if I don’t have a gym, I sit alone in a corner where I have a hole to do sit-ups or I go running. We travel a lot and there are weeks that I can exercise every day and others that I train well in the gym for two days.
J.P. I have difficulty training every day, which is what I try every week, because I’m studying Nursing and right now I’m internship with 12-hour shifts. So if I leave the hospital at eight, between being dead after working 12 hours, getting home and having a snack (because I can’t train without having eaten something) it is impossible for me on the days that I have a shift. I still try to exercise every day. A CrossFit class, at least in my gym, is made up of a warm-up, a strength part and the WOD, which is about 15 minutes at the top where both cardio and strength are done.
Anabel, are your routines usually functional training?
If I do five days a week, I try to train upper body, lower body and the rest I do a bit of everything. If I feel that the day before I have not worked my lower body much, I do it again, and if my body allows it and I don’t have soreness, I also do cardio (about 30 minutes each time I train), and there are days that I only do cardio.
How important is rest?
A.H. I really like to sleep and for me rest is super important. It is the moment in which the body regenerates and recovers, and it is very pleasant.
J.P. The truth is that I rest less than I would like. I don’t know why I always get involved in doing things and end up sleeping less than I should, but it is true that when I rest well I notice that I perform a lot. As for the rest day, I think this is a bit obsessive, but if I can get some activity on that day, I do that too.
How do you motivate yourself when you don’t feel like training?
A.H. Want is power. The days that you have less desire to train count double. This is how I have it fixed in my head and I try to motivate myself in this way. Training is also a habit for me, and when you already have the habit, if you don’t exercise you feel bad, because you need to get that energy out. For me, training is like a psychologist, because if I’m stressed or nervous it’s my escape route, and when I finish practicing sports I feel enormously satisfied.
J.P. As Anabel says, it’s a habit, it’s like eating. Sometimes I sign up for the class without thinking about whether I feel like it or not and when I’m there I realize that I don’t feel like it, but it’s too late to back out. But very rarely do I feel like training, these are days when I am very tired and my body can’t take it anymore.
In the case of abs and flat stomach. Is diet more important than exercise itself?
A.H. Completely. For me, 80% is food. Obviously you have to train too, but in my opinion, if you want to have a flat stomach, you have to eat healthy.
J.P. Yes, without a doubt, the flat stomach is food. But, on the other hand, there is the shape of that flat stomach, which is where the issue of strengthening it comes in. In addition, in CrossFit it is no longer doing the abdomen simply to make it look beautiful, but it is a very important complement to be able to do the rest of the exercises.
They have commented on it a bit before, but what is your diet like? Is it very strict?
A.H. When I say that I have a nutritionist, it does not mean that I diet. He sends me a list of foods that we have previously discussed and since he has been with me for a long time he knows what I like and what I don’t, so when it comes to eating I always like what I get. I may have to be more strict if we have a target weight or fat percentage one week, but right now I have a lot of experience and I know what to eat and what not to eat. However, this is a lifestyle. I have already learned to eat healthy, I know what I have to eat and my diet is very rich in protein; in carbohydrates, obviously, because I have to have energy to train; in good fats, such as avocado, extra virgin olive oil or nuts… I don’t eat any saturated or ultra-processed fats. I try to have my food baked, steamed, boiled or in the air fryer. I never eat fried, besides they make me feel bad. I think my body has gotten used to eating healthy and as soon as I eat fried foods or anything like that, I get sick the next day.
J.P. I corroborate what Anabel says… [risas] because I have seen her ‘chungui’ for eating badly the day before. In my case, I know my body and I know the energy I need if I want to train well. As I said, I left the nutritionist a few years ago, but I consider that it is very important when it comes to teaching you how to eat, knowing what is good, what is not, and what is good for you. I think that I already have that base of education in food, although obviously new things are always learned and you never know everything. It is also true that I am a lot of giving myself whims. I really like to eat and when I feel like something I eat it.
How do they do it when they travel? It’s more complicated?
A.H. Yes, but it’s what I said before: wanting is power. Any restaurant you go to, you can eat healthy. No problem. In Italy I always ask for grilled chicken with baked potatoes, fish or gondola pasta, which is spaghetti with only clams. You can also order ‘prosciutto’, sweet ham, a bit of ‘mozzarella’, pasta al pomodoro… But of course, if you go to Italy and ask for a carbonara or pizza, well no, but like here in Spain. Eating sushi is not bad either, a puree… You have to know how to choose and educate yourself in this aspect. When you go to a restaurant, even if everyone asks for something that you really want, you have to put up with it. It is your lifestyle, like someone who is celiac.
J.P. I can’t do that, I have weaknesses… [risas] I love to enjoy everything and sometimes not just the breast. That costs me a little more to be honest.
Do you take supplements?
A.H. I don’t usually take supplements, although I have occasionally had a shake for breakfast before going to training, but not frequently.
J.P. Usually neither. In any case, I use some protein to complement a snack or lunch, but not as a regular thing. I believe that with food and rest you can get the energy you need to train, at least in my case.
