The past two years have been transformative for actress and fitness expert Brooke Burke. After 12 years together, the 49-year-old filed for divorce from husband David Charvet in 2018—and began a journey of self-discovery. “We are so committed to finding fulfillment through falling in love, marriage, and raising a family,” says Brooke, “but learning how to fall in love with yourself is very important too.”
That’s why the mother of four, cancer survivor, and founder of the fitness app Brooke Burke Body is focused on carving out time for herself—and using techniques like breathwork and meditation to dig deeper. “I like guided meditation,” she says. She’s also curated a number of Spotify playlists (with names like “Serenity” and “Meditation Affirmations”) for when she wants to zen out. “Some are instrumental; some have words. Music inspires my thought process.”
All this is to say that for Brooke, wellness isn’t just physical—it’s mental too. But when she does want to work up a sweat, she’s figured out a fitness routine that’s clearly working for her. Chief amongst her exercise mantras? Embrace the bite-size burn. “I’ve learned how to work out more efficiently at this stage of my life. I spend less time exercising because I do compound moves using multiple body parts—like squat presses or down dogs into planks into pushups. I can do a total-body workout in 15 minutes, head to toe.”
Read on for 5 more ways Brooke Burke keeps her fitness routine fun and effective.
1
Butt workouts are essential to her routine.
Yep, butt exercises are a major part of Brooke’s workout routines. She likes doing four-week challenges and programs so that she doesn’t have to “think” about the workouts she’s doing, too. “It’s the best way to change your body,” Brooke explains. And yes, like her bite-sized burns, Brooke can get in a great booty workout with just 15 minutes of her time.
2
She focuses on light weight, high rep arm workouts
Brooke loves using light hand weights that help her build muscular endurance in her upper body and engage the core, adding strength and balance to multiple areas of her bod at once. (Again, multi-tasking FTW!)
3
HIIT workouts are her cardio.
PSA: Even when you’re focused on building strength in your body, it’s still important that you get in your cardio, too. Brooke’s approach to cardio? HIIT workouts galore. “You push it as hard as you can, and then you rest and recover, and then you do another set,” she explains.
She now perfers quick HIIT workouts to other forms of heart-pumping exercise. “I think it’s hard to just go high intensity for 30 minutes or 45 minutes the way that we used to do classes. Now, I like big bursts of cardio. And then, several minutes of recovery instruction.” Noted!
4
Yoga’s her fav form of active recovery.
As any athlete knows, recovery is an essential part of staying healthy and in shape. For Brooke, that comes in the form of long stretching and yoga. “I think stretching to recover is super important,” she says. “That’s how we are able to get through more challenging intense workouts.”
5
She takes a no-weights, no prob mentality to at-home workouts.
Ever used things like wine bottles, couch pillows, or kitchen pots to do your workout? Since lockdown started, Brooke’s been super into untraditional workout equipment. “I have a lot of workouts where we’re using chairs, towels, water bottles, no equipment,” she explains. “I just choreographed kitchen burn to show everybody that if you’re creative and you’re committed to your wellness, you can get it done at home with little to no equipment and have some fun doing it.”
Madeline Howard
Editorial Assistant
Madeline Howard is the editorial assistant at Women’s Health.
Amy Wilkinson
Amy Wilkinson is an entertainment editor who also specializes in health and wellness.
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