I Tried Kaley Cuoco's Workout Routine, And Her Regimen Was Intense, Even For Someone Like Me Who Regularly Works Out
Hi! I'm Fabiana, and by now I've established that I'm a person who genuinely enjoys exercising and eating healthy. I've written posts about how I started my fitness journey, how I became a morning workout person, and I've even tried a few celebrity workout routines.
It's been some time since I've ditched my go-to gym routine of strength training and HIIT-style workouts to endure an intense celebrity workout. After trying both Jennifer Lopez and Kourtney Kardashian's workout routines, I think my muscles just finished being sore. I'm kidding, but they were intense! Now, I'm back, and this time I'm trying Kaley Cuoco's go-to gym routine.
I learned from doing some quick research that Kaley began working with her LA-based personal trainer, Ryan Sorensen, after the actor had to undergo shoulder surgery and was recovering from it.
According to an E! News story, since then, Sorensen said he and Kaley train one to two times a week doing full-body workouts that consist of resistance training, conditioning, and stability work. You can also read more about her workouts with Sorensen at Cosmopolitan. After learning this, I made sure to take notes on her specific exercises to plan out my workouts for the week ahead. From all that I read, I was well aware that Kaley's workout routine was definitely not for beginners. I kept this in mind going into my week of workouts.
I decided to do four days of workouts with two days of an active recovery mixed in — Kaley supposedly tries to get in 10,000 steps a day and does yoga when she's not working with her trainer — and one day of rest.
The week would go like this:
• Monday: Full Body
• Tuesday: Cardio (elliptical)
• Wednesday: Full Body
• Thursday: Cardio (jump rope)
• Friday: Yoga
• Saturday: Walking
• Sunday: Rest
DAY ONE: It was time to get started! First up for the week? A full-body workout.
I tried my best to replicate some of the exercises Kaley does while also coming up with some of my own and using hers as inspiration. In an Instagram clip — Sorensen posted back in September when he was helping Kaley get Emmy-Award ready — she is seen doing lunges with a medicine ball slam. I don't own a medicine ball, so I instead did static lunges on each leg and lifted and lowered a single 15-pound dumbbell overhead for three sets of 10.
From there, I did three variations of a plank — a regular one on my forearms and a side plank on each side — for a minute each. I also added in some squat presses — squatting with weights held at my shoulders and lifting the weights above my head when standing up from the squat. Full-body workouts are no joke, and I'm already predicting that I'll be sore tomorrow.
DAY TWO: I was never more thankful for a cardio day than the way I was today considering both my upper and lower body were hurting.
To be honest, cardio days are not my jam. I don't mind mixing in cardio with weight training because dedicating a day solely to cardio usually has me rolling my eyes. But considering I'm sore pretty much head to toe, I happily laced up my sneakers this morning and hopped onto the elliptical. Sorensen has Kaley run on a treadmill, but I instead went at a fast pace on the elliptical because that's all I had access to.
I have to admit, after a solid 30 minutes of sweating it out, my muscles did feel less sore, so I was happy with that.
DAY THREE: Although my muscles were still recovering from Monday, I conjured up another Kaley-inspired full-body routine for today's workout. 😬
According to Cosmopolitan, Kaley's full-body routine also includes kettlebell swings and dumbbell presses while holding a boat pose. I did three sets of 12 for both exercises, and sheesh, I was dripping in sweat by the time I was done. From there, I did some variations of lunges with dumbbell curls and snatches. I did the same set and rep count for these moves.
I was surprisingly feeling good today — despite some soreness from earlier this week — so I followed in Kaley's steps and made sure to get in close to 10,000 steps today, which isn't that easy when you work at a desk all day.
DAY FOUR: It didn't surprise me that by this point in the week when my alarm went off for my morning workout, I buried my head under my pillow and thought of a few excuses I could use to justify me skipping today's workout. But then I thought to myself, What would Kaley do?, which prompted me to hop out of bed and quickly make my way to my workout area in my basement before I changed my mind.
Kaley is a fan of jumping rope — another form of cardio that isn't my favorite. Are we seeing a trend here? I'm 5'9'' so I always feel clumsy and awkward jumping rope, but for the sake of this post, I had to do what I had to do. I put on some music and started hopping away.
I did intervals of 30 seconds jumping rope with 10 seconds of rest. I then increased that to 45 seconds of jumping rope to 15 seconds of rest. In total, I was jumping rope for about 20 minutes, which was enough to cause me to be dripping in sweat. Let's just say this was a humbling workout.
DAY FIVE: Praise be that today was an active recovery day, which meant I couldn't just lounge on my couch watching Netflix; I actually had to move my body but not necessarily at an intense rate. I opted for yoga because Kaley is a fan of yoga.
I found a 25-minute yoga flow workout on YouTube, which felt great considering it's been a long week so far of full-body workouts and sweaty cardio sessions. This yoga flow consisted of a downward-facing dog, a warrior pose, and a child's pose. As I first moved through the poses, I felt all my soreness, but after some time I was moving seamlessly from one pose to the next, and by the end of the 25 minutes, my soreness was almost completely gone.
DAY SIX: Despite having a few complaints this week, I was feeling good about my efforts in the gym following Kaley's workout regimen. I woke up feeling way less sore and ready to take on a nice, long walk.
Showtime / Via giphy.com
I laced up my sneakers, wore my fitness watch to keep track of my steps, put in my headphones, and went on my way. I tried to move at a quick pace to get my heart rate up and really break a sweat. I ended up walking for just about 3 miles, which made me feel really good. There's nothing like a good power walk to feel accomplished!
FINAL THOUGHTS: Done and DONE!
NBC / Via giphy.com
Overall, I'm really happy that I tried Kaley's workout routine for the week. Don't get me wrong — the lengthy full-body workouts left me feeling sore and like I wanted to throw in the towel and quit, but I was proud of myself for sticking with it. I learned new exercises and did moves that were a bit out of my comfort zone like that boat pose with an overhead press — those were brutal. Anytime I follow celebrity workouts, I always have a newfound respect for how hard some of them work in the gym.
A few things I wanted to point out to keep in mind:
• Kaley's workout is probably more for intermediate skill sets, rather than total beginners. I personally think before someone jumps into doing complex moves in the gym, it's important to first learn the basics. Kaley's routine consisted of a lot of moves that I even had to think about before attempting.
• You can do this workout with minimal gym equipment. I modified a few moves due to the lack of equipment — such as the lunge with the medicine ball slams — and it was still very doable. I did the entire week at home — and the only equipment I really utilized were basic weights.
• Whether you're just starting out in your fitness journey or you're a gym pro, remember to listen to your body. It's also important to take precautions and practice proper form to prevent injuries.
