Dame Helen Mirren has shared how she has performed the same 12-minute workout routine for the last 60 years to keep in shape.
The beloved actress has featured in some of the biggest movies in Hollywood of the years and says she likes to stay healthy by taking on a workout she’s followed for the past six decades. Dame Helen revealed to Woman’s Weekly that her fitness regimen doesn’t involve costly gym memberships but a short routine once favoured by the military.
She explained: “[Exercise] doesn’t mean joining expensive gyms. I’m a big believer in the Canadian Air Force women’s exercise regime which is 12 minutes.
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“It is an exercise regime that starts from very low and easy, then if you follow it through it can become quite difficult. I’ve never gotten past the second level but it’s a nice little exercise programme.”
The routine, dubbed XBX (ten basic exercises), was developed by Dr Bill Orban in the 1950s to boost fitness among new female recruits of the Canadian Air Force. It includes 30 seconds each of toe touching, knee raises, lateral bending and arm circling.
On top of that, it includes two minute of sit-ups, one minute of chest and leg raises, another of side leg-raises, two minutes of push-ups from a kneeling position, one minute of leg lifts and a three-minute combination of running and hopping.
Despite adhering to the strict military routine, the 79-year-old admitted that she occasionally indulges in a less-than-healthy habit. “I’m the first one at the fish and chips,” she confessed in 2021.
She also shared her belief that our diet can affect our mental wellbeing, advising to work from the “inside out”, adding: “But what you’re putting inside your body does influence how you feel about yourself, so start there.”