Nina Agdal Does Push-ups on Cars to Fit in Workouts
Photo: Getty Images
On Saturday, Nina Agdal was munching avocado toast and fried eggs in East Hampton. On Sunday, she was bikini-clad with Leonardo DiCaprio in Malibu. And before and after her flight? She did push-ups on the hood of a Buick Envision. Seriously.
“It’s the best way to wake up your core for a long flight,” says the Copenhagen native, who stars in the car giant’s new campaign. “Plus, you won’t add bulk on your arms, even though you’re still toning them. You shouldn’t do a lot of them anyway. More than 20 is too much.”
Agdal learned the trick from trainer Akin Akman, who puts the model through his seriously intense (read: you will hate life for 30 minutes, but OMG, the results!) bootcamp method whenever she’s in New York. “I think during Fashion Week, you’ll start seeing a lot of models doing sets on their rides between shows. My friends are already doing it.”
“I don’t actually have a car yet,” she continues. “I mean, I drove in a parking lot in Miami, and I thought I was doing so well. But my ex-boyfriend set up cones. He said, ‘Nina, you know, if that were a car instead of a cone, you would have just gotten into an accident. So I want to take Driver’s Ed.”
No, Nina, you don’t.
“Yes, I do!” she insists. “We don’t have it where I’m from in Denmark. And I think it would be so fun to sit in class, like I’m still in school.”
Except 'class’ will include dozens of high school kids, all armed with smartphones documenting her every move…
“Ohhh,” she sighs. “Yeah, maybe I’ll find a class just for adults, then. But I do really want to take driving class, get my license, and be safe.”
But if you don’t have a car? “Citibike!” she declares, echoing Mr. DiCaprio’s man-of-the-people preference. “I bike everywhere. It’s a good workout and it’s so much fun. The first time I did it, it was after a boozy brunch with… a friend.” (Okay.) “I thought, 'This is the best idea ever.’ Of course, it was not a wise move. I almost got run over a hundred times. But once you get the hang of it, it’s the fucking best. You zoom in and out of traffic like you’re invincible. You feel like it’s a video game. You see how many cars you can pass. You see how many traffic lights you can make. You see how many delivery bikes you can pass! I live near Park Avenue, and when I go uptown, I make eye contact with the Domino’s delivery bikers and I’m like, 'You’re going down.’”
And finally, onto-ahem-current events.
“Hey Nina,” I laugh, “I googled you today.”
“Oh god!” she shrieks. “And?”
“And your grandmother told the Daily Mail that you and Leonardo DiCaprio are in a serious relationship…”
“I know,” shrugs the 24-year-old. “It’s kind of hysterical, right? First of all, my grandma is like 75 years old. She’s in Denmark. And she’s on Twitter, she’s on Instagram, she’s on Facebook. She’s really into the internet. And I’ve told her, 'It’s fine to follow all my accounts, but only if you’re okay with what I do! If you’re okay with my pictures, and you don’t make negative comments about my choices, then I’m fine with it.’ But Grandma, she’s a special one. I don’t know what happened with [The Daily Mail]. I’m not going to ask. I’m just like, 'Well, this is hysterical.’
Because you can’t keep a secret anymore. You literally can’t. That’s the lesson.”
