Jennifer Garner and Her Fit 83-Year-Old Mom Share the Exercise Routine That Keeps Them Feeling Young (and Strong)
Jennifer Garner comes by her healthy habits (including smoothie breakfasts, salad lunches and a biscone or slice of pumpkin bread for dessert every so oven for #balance) very honestly. Her 83-year-old mom Pat is not only active, but she's also kept it up daily for eight months. So to celebrate Pat's commitment to her trainer-designed exercise routine, Jennifer joined her for a workout-and brought us along for the ride on Instagram:
"All right, let's make a circuit," Jennifer says as they step into Pat's full-room home gym.
"Walk around the gym five times, probably," Pat suggests, so they can both warm up.
They then find Pat's waist-height sturdy ballet bar that runs along one of the room's walls, and do five incline push-ups with their hands on the bar and their bodies slanted. Although they stop at five, Pat says her trainer Mike Irving (who helped her create a safe, sustainable and strength-building routine) says that "more is always better."
Getty Images / Taylor Hill
Next, the strong mother-daughter duo finds the free weights for five biceps curls, five shoulder presses and five front raises.
Related: Exercising Regularly Could Lower Your Cancer Risk By 77%
As they take a few more laps around the home gym to get their hearts pumping and sneak in a little more cardio (which is terrific to reduce dementia risk, by the way!), Pat admits to Jennifer, "You know, I would make straight As in college, and a C in my one hour of phys ed."
Jennifer replies, "Well, I bet you're in a lot better shape than the people you went to college with, Mom." Which causes Pat to laugh and admit, "Yeah. Probably mostly dead" (which causes Jennifer to fittingly caption the video "🙈"-our feelings exactly!).
They repeat the circuit several times, adding in some resistance band exercises and one-leg balances on a step. Along the way, Jennifer asks, "If you have music on, does it motivate you?"
Pat says that she prefers to play HGTV in the background, so the pair continue on as an episode of Home Town streams in the background. Any commercial breaks are a signal to walk more laps. During one walk break, Jennifer asks, "Mom, do you ever see me in a commercial while you're exercising? Do you stop and…"
Pat says, "Mmhmm. We always comment, 'well, there's Jennifer,'" as she keeps strolling on.
"This is a testament to your endurance and your strength," Jennifer says, as she leans in to give her mom a congratulatory hug.
At the end of the four-minute video, Jennifer asks Pat if trainer Mike will be impressed, which makes Pat giggle and say, "He's always impressed. He tells everybody he has this 83-year-old woman who closes all of her ring" (referring to the activity-tracking "rings" on her Apple Watch; buy it: $329.99 today, normally $399.99, Target or $349.99 on Amazon). According to Jennifer's caption, Pat has closed those rings for 241 days and counting!
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Inspired to try an at-home workout yourself after watching Pat and Jennifer crush that circuit? Discover the 6 best at-home exercises, according to a personal trainer, plus learn how working out at home helped me get stronger than ever (seriously!).
