S
taying in shape is all in a day’s work
for many daytime stars, but keep-
ing healthy while doing it is also
key. Matthew Atkinson (Thomas,
B&B), who previously worked as a trainer,
is a knowledgeable source when it comes
to pacing oneself in the gym. “Getting
in a good workout sounds awesome, and
people who experience it feel great, but
when it comes to getting into that workout,
you can help prevent injury with mobiliz-
ing and stretching,” he says.
To that end, Atkinson suggests, “Spend
10 minutes stretching your entire body.
It’s really important to come up with
a mobilization and stretching regimen,
regardless of the workout you want to do.
Find a routine that you don’t have to think
about, that you can just blow through in
5-10 minutes. Do it every day when you
wake up and do it right before you work
out. Do a routine that warms up your
entire body and then focus on stretching
the areas you are going to work. If it’s
chest day and I’m going to do a lot of
bench-pressing, then spend a little extra
time warming up your shoulders and your
chest and those sorts of things. If you’re
running, make sure you take care of your
quads and that sort of thing, but be sure
you warm up your entire body.”
Victoria Konefal (Ciara, DAYS) recently
suffered a workout setback. “I kickbox a lot
and I hurt my wrist last week,” she reports. “Ithought it was going to be okay but it’s still
in a lot of pain. I’ve been wearing a brace for
about a week. It’s because I overexerted. I
was actually teaching Olivia [Rose Keegan,
ex-Claire] how to kickbox because she was
interested. I got really excited and hit too
hard without the proper form, so now I’m
suffering. It’s not that serious. I can definite-
ly move it. It’s just when I move it at certain
angles, it’s pretty painful.”
To help get her back into form, “I’ve
been doing a combination of things to speed
up the healing process,” Konefal explains.
“I’m stretching it every day, multiple times
a day. I’m also wearing a brace, taking a lot
of ibuprofen, and icing it. I’ve also been tak-
ing Epsom salt baths. It’s amazing.”
Stacy Haiduk (Kristen, DAYS) has a
recurring injury that she tries her best not
to aggravate. “My biggest thing is I throw
out my back a lot from a long-time-ago
injury that I had when I was in gymnas-
tics,” she relays. “What I’ve learned from
working out more and more is that you
have to build your core muscles up. I work
very hard to keep my core muscles strong
so that my back doesn’t give out. It still
does from time to time. I realized that I
wasn’t using my core when I was moving
the bed or something like that. That’s one
of my biggest things that I have to always
remind myself when I’m doing some sort
of workout. Even just working in the
garden. I like to run and I like to do yoga.Let’sLet’s Get
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Stars share their top tips for staying fit