May 27, 2022 – 15:37 BST
Lucy Gornall
What happened when writer and personal trainer Lucy took on Victoria’s workouts?
If there’s one celebrity whose workout and diet regime is continually talked about, it’s former Spice Girl turned fashion icon, Victoria Beckham. The mum-of-four, who always seems to look perfect, has previously admitted to being very disciplined when it comes to fitness and diet, and let’s be honest, it shows.
MORE: Victoria Beckham shares the secret to her toned glutes– and it’s so easy to follow
I think it would be avoiding the elephant in the room if we didn’t raise the fact that VB is very slim. Personally, I’ve loved Victoria Beckham since the Spice Girl days when I was pretending to be her in the living room whilst clutching a homemade microphone that my dad made out of a golf ball and a kitchen roll tube (inventive, right?) right up until the present day watching her makeup tutorials on Instagram.
WATCH: Victoria Beckham showed her toned arms on Instagram
But there is no denying that David Beckham’s wife boasts a super sculpted physique, which she credits to her intense fitness regime.
READ: I tried David Beckham’s gruelling workout and here’s what I thought (once I recovered!)
SEE: Inside David and Victoria Beckham’s amazing home gym
Yeah, I’m a fan. So obviously decided to try her routine for a week just to see how it went…
What is Victoria Beckham’s workout routine?
Victoria Beckham has an intense workout routine
Mrs. Beckham has discussed her workout routine many times in the past. In fact, typically it seems that cardio and some strength were her go-tos. This year, she mixed things up a little along with the help of her trainer Bobby Rich.
SEE: Victoria Beckham’s secret for super toned arms: 3 moves to try at home
In the past, Victoria kicked off her daily workout between the hours of 5.30am and 6am. Speaking to The Guardian’s Weekend magazine, she explained that she’d do 7km on the treadmill, incorporating a mix of jogging, running and fast uphill walking.
Victoria Beckham spends a lot of time in the gym
“That’s the only time I watch TV – boxsets, documentaries – so I look forward to that. It takes 45 minutes,” said Victoria.
She then follows this 7km with a PT session, which she revealed consists of “30 minutes legs, 30 minutes arms, toning and conditioning, then loads of planks and that kind of thing for my core.”
That’s a pretty hefty chunk of time spent working out.
MORE: Victoria Beckham reveals the first thing she does every morning – and it may surprise you
Now, I will add here that I typically get up at 5.30am every weekday, however, I can’t just roll into a gym. I have to get on a train and travel for 20 minutes to reach my Fitness First gym at London Bridge. Maison de la Beckham has a dedicated workout room (which she’s flaunted on social media before) complete with cardio machines and weights.
SEE: Inside David and Victoria Beckham’s amazing home gym
Speaking of the benefits she feels from a morning workout, VB said it gets her ready for the day, adding: “It clears my mind. It’s also where I have lots of ideas. It’s a time when I’m not on the phone, I’m not with the children, I’m not with David; I can literally just be left alone.”
Since 2022, however, Victoria has mixed things up a bit and is seemingly focusing on a “less is more approach”, working out for less time, and incorporating more weights into her training.
Victoria Beckham works out with personal trainer Bobby Rich
Her trainer Bobby Rich (a lovely guy that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several times) has spoken out about the training regime that Victoria now follows, saying that her previous exercise routine wasn’t really doing much to help improve her fitness levels.
“She was ready for a change,” he said to Women’s Health this year.
Victoria has posted photos of herself on social media looking super strong, working with dumbbells, weighted plates and even resistance bands.
She also recently explained that she loves weights. Speaking to Grazia, she said: “I’ve even got those special gloves to wear! It’s good to switch things up and keep your body guessing. I’ve got so much more muscle tone now.”
READ: Weightlifting shoes are the game-changing gym buy for toned glutes
Oh, and she does a lot of squats apparently. Great stuff!
The two-hour workout fandango has also been binned it seems.
Victoria Beckham gave fans a glimpse inside her home gym
“Depending on what block of training we’re carrying out, the sessions vary anywhere between 35 to 90 minutes. An important point I wanted her to understand – and that most people struggle with – is that a 35-minute session can at times be more beneficial than a 90-minute session. But we got over that hurdle pretty quickly,” Bobby explained.
On top of this, VB has also been spotted at various boutique classes, such as spin, barre and boxing.
SEE: Victoria Beckham displays athletic figure during ‘relentless’ workout – husband David reacts
For the sake of my one-week training à la Victoria Beckham, I decided to create a workout routine based on workouts old and new, working out every day and incorporating a real mix of exercises.
How many workouts does Victoria Beckham do each day?
My research has concluded that Victoria works out once a day. Hurrah. As for how long, she’s previously spoken about doing two-hour workouts each day, which, for the average Joe, is pretty unattainable. Y’no, life and that.
However, according to her trainer Bobby, she now does workouts that can last just 35 minutes, which is certainly doable.
So, during my week of Victoria Beckham-style workouts, I will be mixing up the lengths, from half an hour through to two hours.
Day 1: 35 minutes of weights
Today I opted for a mixture of dumbbell and barbell moves, working at a level of intensity that really challenged my muscles. As it was a short workout – in keeping with VB’s new 2022 regime – I wanted to really make sure I worked hard.
Working out like VB means using a barbell
I was going to kick off my workout with some apple cider vinegar… In the past, VB has shared her love of apple cider vinegar on Instagram, saying: “Be brave! Two tbsp first thing on an empty tummy!”.
I actually have an issue with histamine, and with vinegar being incredibly high in histamines, I sadly (or not so sadly) had to give this one a miss. But I can’t imagine it would have made much difference to my workout. Anyway…
MORE: Victoria Beckham reveals she drinks this every morning – and it might surprise you
As I kept the weights high, or low with more reps, my body really felt it and 35 minutes turned out to be all I needed. I’m used to doing longer than this and never feel like 35 minutes is long enough, but I was proven wrong. Thanks to VB for the inspo!
Day 2: THE OG (aka 7km run, 30 minute arms, 30 minute legs, and a lot of core work)
Victoria Beckham hits the treadmill
Today I opted for the workout Victoria claimed was her everyday go-to back in 2019.
For my lower, upper and core routine, I opted for a mixture of hip thrusts, lunges, split squats, leg press, shoulder press, bicep curls, bent-over rows and shoulder raises. This was followed by planks, leg raises and various styles of sit-ups.
By the end I felt like I’d worked every part of my body (which, technically I had), from my heart and lungs, through to my glutes, legs, arms and abs.
MORE: Victoria Beckham reveals £31m London home as you’ve never seen it before
Although it took a while, this was a great day. I felt energised and feel like this is something I could do a few times a week. However, I’d want to make sure I was building up the weight and mixing up the moves and reps, just to keep my body challenged.
From a PT perspective, this is the only way you’re ever going to see changes to your body; increasing the weights/reps, decreasing rest times or mixing up the speed of a move to keep muscles under tension longer.
Weights play a big part in Victoria Beckham’s daily workouts
It would also be worthwhile to perhaps split the 7km run into intervals, working on speed and also incorporating uphill work, to challenge the legs a little.
Day 3: Boxing like Beckham
Victoria has shared a snap of herself in the past hitting a boxing bag while rocking some pretty shapely abs. Oh, and she also got involved in a boxing class back in 2018 in Kenya, supporting a Sport Relief project.
Evidently, VB isn’t unfamiliar with a pair of boxing gloves so I took to my usual gym, Fitness First London Bridge Cottons, to smash a bag for 45 minutes in their boxing room.
Victoria Beckham is incredibly toned
I needed this today to be honest. Do you ever have those days where things just go wrong? When you pour orange juice on your cereal and put your jeans on back to front? Yeah, one of those days. So, whacking a punch bag in intervals of three minutes really did offer some relief. I left the gym happy until I realised my sports bra had been on inside out the whole time.
SEE: 12 sports bras with the best reviews: From Marks & Spencer to Lululemon
Day 4: 60 minutes weights and a barre class
Another weighty day, although I avoided wearing gloves like VB does. Here I focused on the lower body, working in supersets (two moves back to back for ultimate burn!) before going on to a barre class later in the day.
Victoria Beckham credits her peachy bum to weight training
Barre is great for toning thanks to small movements, repeated many times. Victoria has notoriously slim, sculpted arms; could this be down to her love of barre?
SEE: Victoria Beckham shows off radiant summer glow in silky bathrobe
Considering I throw a lot of weight around in the gym, and do incorporate pretty intense exercise into my regime, a low-impact workout such as barre left me in tatters. My arms and glutes were screaming by the end. I’m not a barre girl usually but honestly, this has turned me.
READ: The benefits of barre workouts
I will now be going to barre once a week, without question.
Day 5: 7km uphill and walk and run, plus 30 minutes of conditioning
Mixing up VB’s love of the 7km and her new love of weights, I spent about 70 minutes in the gym on day five.
The 7km was mostly a run, however, for 1km I placed the treadmill on its maximum incline and speed-walked up it. This is so good for the lower body and I do think people really underestimate the power of a good uphill walk!
SEE: Best trainers for women for every kind of workout
Following my 7km session, I loaded up a barbell and did half an hour of various moves including cleans (where the bar is pulled up from the floor to shoulder height), deadlifts, shoulder press and also using cardio machines such as the rower and the assault bike.
The whole thing was sweaty, but it felt great. I felt strong and I felt hungry!
SEE: Victoria Beckham’s daily diet she’s eaten for 25 years is not for the faint-hearted
Day 6: Spin class
Victoria has been spotted several times in the past heading to boutique spin class, SoulCycle in LA. Always glam, always chic and weirdly, never sweaty when she leaves.
Victoria Beckham does a variety of different workouts to maintain her figure
Anyway, I’ve said it before and I will say it again; I despise spin. A class at London’s Psycle was actually pretty fun though and it was nice to do a workout off my feet and take some time off the treadmill and weights.
The thing with spin is that you can make it as hard or as easy as you like; the level of resistance you use is really up to you. So, it’s nice to know you can go fairly easy if you want more of a chilled workout.
Victoria Beckham does treat herself to rest days sometimes
Day 7: Rest day
And chill. I went for a long walk with friends and ate. A lot.
What did I learn from training like Victoria Beckham for one week?
Well, what a week! It’s been a mixed bag, incorporating cardio, weights, and other enjoyable classes such as boxing and spin.
SEE: Victoria Beckham unveils opulent marble bath at £31m home
I did think that training like Victoria would be the.hardest.thing.I.ever did, but actually, it was great as all the workouts were right up my street. I do appreciate that I actually wrote out the workouts myself, but they were certainly inspired by Mrs Beckham.
I think I’d like to maintain the whole run/30 min lower/30 min upper/core routine going forwards as an occasional workout when I have more time and want to target every part of my body.
Girl Power reigns!
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