Thanks to her show-stopping performances, Brooke Burke wowed the nation when she took home the Mirrorball Trophy in 2008, winning Season 7 of “Dancing with the Stars.”
Now, at age 50, Burke is looking better than ever and in a chat with Muscle & Fitness Hers, the television personality and fitness coach shares an exclusive booty workout along with the lifestyle choices that keep her looking so great.
“Back in the day, I did many, many Weider covers,” reminisces Burke, who spent a great deal of time in Golds Gym on Venice Beach. “I won’t even tell ya, it’s gotta be 30 years ago, but I’ve a lot of history, and a lot of gratitude.”
In the early days of her career, after studying broadcast journalism, Burke set television screens alight, landing presenter duties on shows such as “Wild On!” and CBS’s “Rock Star,” but her exceptional physical abilities came to the forefront when Burke was able to combine dance and a flare for gymnastics on “DWTS.”
Still, despite acing the judges’ score cards, this perfectionist, knowing what she knows now, would like to take her experience and do it all over again. “It’s so terrifying while you are in it,” says Burke. “And it’s such a grind. I wasn’t a dancer, so just retaining the choreography and dealing with the pressure of that live audience… I wish I could go back and do it again! I always have that one vision of doing that one dance again with Derek [Hough].”
Brooke Burke Body
A digital fitness pioneer
Following her stunning dance victory, Brooke Burke was in awe of the core strength shown by the dancers, and with digital fitness beginning to evolve on social media and on other platforms, the fitness model developed “Brooke Burke Body,” one of the first apps to offer fitness challenges and guides for exercises that can be done at home. “I’ve always been into fitness, I’ve had several DVD deals, but now on a smart television, and on our phones, to be able to train with people and connect, was something that was really important to me,” she says. “I’ve trained with some of the best of the best and I know now, how to train my body in less time and do it more efficiently.”
These days, online fitness training has become a full-time gig for Burke, who says that she loves being given the opportunity to inspire people and help them on their journeys toward a healthier lifestyle. A great deal of work goes into the Brooke Burke Body app, and the workouts aren’t cobbled together on an iPhone. Instead, her content is stunningly produced. “I choreograph everything, and it’s really coming from two decades of experience,” says Burke. “It’s figuring out the body, and how to target-tone to sort of sculpt and lift, and build the right muscles. And, how to hit all those trouble areas. Quite honestly, it just doesn’t happen running on the treadmill or a StairMaster or the bike … having a yoga mat, and some light hand weights, and understanding compound moves and how to get your heart rate up and to create a burn is really what these workouts are designed for.”
Burke says that pushing through the burn is important for making positive changes to the body, sharing that there are no quick fixes when it comes to fitness. “It’s a lifestyle, and it’s a commitment” she says. “I like the sense of accomplishment that I get mentally, from doing those things for myself.” Looking fab at 50, Burke is a huge advocate of Tru Niagen, a Nicotinamide Riboside supplement that has been shown to aid cellular health, vital for helping us with training, recovery, and the aging process. She’s says it’s been beneficial in a host of ways, including raising her cellular energy levels, rate of cellular recovery, and supporting sleep patterns. “Anti-aging is a really common question that comes up for me,” shares Burke. “I wish there was a secret tip but I do a lot of different things … I will go on a limb and say that if there is one supplement that we should all be taking, it is Tru Niagen.”
Burke, who is currently recovering from ACL surgery, is aware that people will come to her workouts with different health conditions, and so one size will not fit all. For that reason, her workouts differ in length, and intensity. “I think we need to wrap our head around the fact that doing something is better than doing nothing,” she says.
Get the Brooke Burke Body
Brooke Burke has provided Muscle & Fitness Hers readers with an exclusive booty workout that is part of the Brooke Burke Body app subscription. Get your free trial here!
All of her workouts are designed with the pause button in mind, so those that are not quite ready for the full workout can build-up in stages, completing as much as they are comfortable with. “Maybe you will get through 30-seconds, and then maybe the next week you are able to do a minute,” says Burke. “I like to tell people to start small, in order to take out the intimidation factor and the fear, because that’s why a lot of people aren’t working out.” Burke also points out that she does the full workout alongside her viewers, coaching them through the whole thing, unlike many trainers that will only demonstrate a few reps and leave their students to do the rest. “If I’m on an off-day and I fall out of balance, I don’t edit that out,” she says. “It’s perfectly imperfect. I wanna keep it real because I want people to know that every day is different.”
