Many people exercise for one reason or another. Most forms of exercise, such as jogging or lifting weights, can be seen everywhere. However, many new and different workouts have also been invented over the years in an attempt to break the monotony and repetitiveness of typical exercise, sometimes with very strange results.

10 Prancercise

In 1989, fitness buff Joanna Rohrback was exercising down Hollywood Boulevard wearing ankle weights. She added rhythmic arm movements to her steps and was struck by the result that she described on YouTube as a “springy, rhythmic way of moving forward, similar to a horse’s gait.” Feeling that she was onto something, she dubbed her new workout “Prancercise.” In 1994, Rohrback wrote a book, Prancercise: The Art of Physical and Spiritual Excellence, which was not published. The entire idea ended up on the back burner for almost two decades.

For most of the 2000s, Rohrback was prevented from exercising due to an illness which lasted nine years. In 2013, however, she began to work out again, resuming her Prancercise moves and posting a five-minute video detailing the concept on YouTube. The video went viral, and soon, others began galloping down halls and streets and filming their own YouTube videos.

Rohrback’s book is now published, and Prancercise has its own website. In addition to physical exercise, Prancercise is also described as liberating practitioners from tired gym routines and allowing for self-expression. Prancercisers move to their preferred music in whatever way feels natural to them.

The unusual workout does have the benefit of being low impact and easily doable for most people. The use of ankle weights can make it a bit tougher. Prancercise isn’t high-intensity exercise, but it will get your heart rate up and can help beginners and people who are restarting exercise after a long hiatus (like Rohrback herself) to get used to regular activity.

9 High Heel Workouts

High heels aren’t always comfortable, and frequent wearing of them has been shown to have negative effects on the body. A 2011 study indicated that high heels may make women more likely to suffer osteoarthritis in the future, particularly in the knees. The shin muscles, quadriceps, and stabilizing knee tendons are placed under extra strain. So are the calves, which can be permanently shortened. The same is true for the Achilles tendon. In addition to the strain placed on all of those muscles and tendons, some scientists think that walking in high heels burns fewer calories because the shoes slow a person’s walking speed.

Exercising in such strenuous footwear might not sound like a good idea, but high heel workouts exist, and gyms even offer classes. These classes look much like a typical fitness class, except that everyone is moving around in high heels. One workout program, Heel Hop, bills itself as a means of reducing the pain and discomfort from high heels through strengthening the body. Other stated benefits include increased cardiovascular strength, a leaner lower body, a smaller waist, increased muscle tone in the legs, and improved confidence and dance skills.

Working out in high heels will indeed burn calories and strengthen the legs, though it’s argued that the visible benefits may mask underlying, long-term wear and tear on the legs. You might want to consider stretching beforehand.

8 Fifty Shapes Of Grey

Whatever your opinion on it, you probably know about E.L. James’s hugely popular Fifty Shades of Grey and the eponymous feature film. Now, there is a workout that features exercises based on the novel’s sex scenes. Fitness personality Kristen James (no relation to Fifty Shades’s author) has developed “Fifty Shapes of Grey,” a 13-exercise routine that can be easily performed with only a chair and mats. The sexual theme of Fifty Shapes is evident in the names of the exercises, which include “seductive squats” and “sexy scissors.”

Physically, Fifty Shapes of Grey primarily builds flexibility and core strength. The ultimate goal of the workout is to give you both the confidence and physical fitness needed to reenact Fifty Shades’s sex scenes in your own bedroom or to simply have better sex in general. Some of the exercises are performed standing on the tips of your toes, possibly because performing the exercises while wearing stilettos would be injurious.

7 Kangoo Jumps

The decidedly unique-looking shoes known as Kangoo Jumps (presumably a play on the word “kangaroo”) were developed in the 1990s for athletes to reduce the impact of vigorous exercise. Techniques designed to develop explosive strength can repeatedly place joints under strain equivalent to five times Earth’s gravity. Kangoo Jumps combat that strain by lengthening impact time enough to allow the muscles to properly absorb impact energy. Studies have shown that they reduce impact stress by as much as 80 percent while protecting joints.

When running on Kangoo Jumps, the entire foot strikes the ground, as opposed to the heel striking first, and is rebounded upward. Users have likened it to running on a trampoline. Running in Kangoo Jumps burns 25–50 percent more calories than regular running, and the core gets more of a workout from stabilizing the runner.

In more recent years, Kangoo Jumps have moved beyond athletic training and into more popular use. Bouncy dance classes have appeared in gyms, and Kangoo running groups and boot camps also exist. Gyms and classes aren’t necessary, however, as anyone can buy their own pair online. Though they make for a harder running workout, use of the shoes is said to be surprisingly easy to master. As of this writing, we do not know if anyone has attempted Prancercise while wearing Kangoo Jumps.

6 Europlate

How about a workout where you barely have to move? If that sounds good, then you might like Europlate, a type of machine featuring a vibrating plate upon which a user sits or stands in various ways. The plate vibrates at 30–50 hertz, and the vibrations cause muscles to contract and stretch like they would during conventional exercise, just more effectively. In fact, the producers of the product even claim that spending 10 minutes on a Europlate is equal to an hour-long workout.

These vibration machines supposedly provide many benefits. For one, muscles are exercised without the strain and impact of traditional workouts. Bone density, circulation, metabolism, strength, stamina, and muscle tone are improved. Fat is burned, and joint pain is reduced. The body is even detoxified through increased lymphatic drainage.

With vibration machines becoming more popular and appearing in more gyms, you don’t necessarily need to drop a few thousand dollars to gain access to one. There is debate over what benefits sitting and shaking on a Europlate actually provides, however. A 2009 study did show that obese women using vibration plates lost more weight than those using conventional exercise. But it’s important to use the machine properly for maximum effectiveness. If it feels easy, it’s not being done right.

5 Chair-A-Cise

Finally, there is a workout that you can do. Chair-A-Cise, like the name suggests, is done entirely while sitting in a chair. Personal trainer Daryl Madison developed the program as a means for anyone to benefit, regardless of their condition.

Many of the typical obstacles that may prevent someone from adopting a regular fitness regimen do not apply. If someone doesn’t have time to go to a gym, they can still do Chair-A-Cise at home or even on a lunch break. Hotels tend to have chairs, so frequent travel isn’t a problem. The program is also easy for beginners and people with injury or weight issues.

Exercising while sitting in a chair might sound counterintuitive, but Chair-A-Cise supposedly provides an effective workout, even for veteran athletes. (To be fair, Madison is certified by the American Council on Exercise and has over a decade of experience as a trainer.) Adding dumbbells to the movements and increasing the tempo can increase the program’s difficulty.

There are currently four Chair-A-Cise programs available, varying in time and intensity. For example, Chair-A-Cise Turbo is a short but intense version optimized for busy schedules. That one may work for reading KnowledgeNuts.

4 Zuu

High-intensity interval training has become popular in recent years, and Zuu offers a new and unique way to keep your heart rate up. Invented in Australia by Nathan Helberg in 2010, Zuu is gaining worldwide attention, with classes now also offered in the US, the UK, France, and Japan. Fans of the workout include Sir Richard Branson, sports teams, and militaries.

It’s probably no coincidence that Zuu sounds like “zoo,” as the workout primarily involves an instructor shouting the name of an animal and the participants moving like that animal for 30-second intervals. Some people also make the corresponding animal sounds. Among others, the moves include the gorilla, the frog squat, the bear crawl, and the iguana. Zuu also features a few movements that aren’t animal-themed.

As silly as Zuu participants may look, the workout is hideously effective. Fifteen minutes of Zuu can burn 500–1,000 calories. Exercisers are typically covered in sweat and may not even make it through the 15 minutes. To make it even more difficult, Zuu can be done while wearing a resistance harness, which has been compared to being on a human-sized leash. Classes tend to be quite a spectacle, but few participants care, citing how good they feel by the end of the workout.

3 Horse Riding Fitness Ace Power

Horseback riding can provide more of a workout than you might think. In terms of energy cost on the body, which is also known as “metabolic equivalent of task” (MET), riding a horse requires 5.5 METS on average. (For reference, sitting here and reading this article uses 1 MET.) The energy cost drops to 3.8 if the horse is walking and rises to 7.3, roughly equivalent to playing squash, at a full gallop. Regular riding has also been shown to improve muscular strength, particularly in the quadriceps and hamstrings. Cleaning the horse’s stall can provide moderate exercise, too.

Granted, horseback riding requires open space and, more importantly, a horse. Horse Riding Fitness Ace Power may change that, however. Using a seat like that of a bicycle, this Korean exercise machine rocks up and down in a manner meant to simulate the motion of riding a horse, which supposedly confers the benefits of horse riding. Users of Ace Power look as though they are hip thrusting in their living rooms. The suggestive appearance of the workout has drawn comparisons to the infamous Shake Weight.

Looks aside, there are also doubts about the machine’s effectiveness. It doesn’t mimic the movements of a horse particularly well and only moves in a single, repetitive way. The arms receive no exercise at all, and some fear that Ace Power could cause back problems. One could arguably get a slightly less repetitive workout from a bull-riding machine at a local bar.

2 Waterwalkerz

Spanning the line between exercise device and party favor, Waterwalkerz are endlessly likened to hamster balls for humans. Originally popular in China and Japan, they’re now showing up in other countries, too. People sealed inside the inflatable plastic spheres use them to walk across water in a manner that does indeed resemble a hamster in a ball. A device to inflate the balls is provided, and their plastic is durable enough to be used on pebble beaches without fear of puncture.

You can spend about 30 minutes inside a Waterwalker before you run out of air, assuming you last that long. Walking in one is not as easy as it looks. Even standing is a difficult balancing act. As shown in the video above, one TV reporter claimed that it would easier to fight Mike Tyson. Walking, running, spinning, and stumbling in the plastic balls provides a full-body workout, especially for the abdominal muscles. Waterwalkerz likely serve as a great way to tire out children at parties, too.

1 Pao Facial Fitness

Whether through conventional or unconventional means, there are many options available for those seeking a full-body workout, but what about exercise for the face? According to spokesman and world-class footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, Pao Facial Fitness fills that niche. A rather simple-looking device made from ABS plastic, Pao consists of a mouthpiece with two weights attached to long, flexible extensions. To use it, you simply place the center part in your mouth and shake your head up and down.

The shaking action is said to exercise the muscles of the cheeks so that a more youthful smile results. The greater and lesser zygomatic muscles are conditioned, as is the risorius muscle, leading to a better-contoured smile. The shape of the mouthpiece is also designed to force the lips into an “O” shape while using Pao, which works the orbicularis oris.

Pao’s weights come in 18, 23, or 28 grams, depending on the desired intensity of the workout. Shaking your head with Pao for 30–90 seconds twice a day is all it takes. If used properly, Pao can tone the face without straining the jaws and teeth.

Anthony’s tried a few odd workout experiments of his own, but he didn’t think to put them on YouTube.

Celebrity workout routines are all the rage right now. From the fittest to the most famous and even the ones that are straight-up bizarre, people everywhere are trying to copy their favorite celebrity’s workouts.

It’s no secret that celebrities have access to the best trainers, personal chefs, and workout facilities in the world. They also have more time to work out than the average person, so it’s no surprise that some of their routines seem like they were pulled straight from a sci-fi movie.

So we’ve rounded up 10 celebrity workouts that will either drive you insane or work wonders on your body.

10 Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chris Pratt’s Workout Routine

Chris Pratt is well known for his many roles in movies and shows, from his role as Andy Dwyer in the sitcom Parks and Recreation to his role as the velociraptor trainer Owen Grady in Jurassic World. He prepared for each role he portrayed to show the correct body shape and weight the character needed.

And it was no different when he landed the lead role as Peter Quill in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In order to prepare for his role, Pratt had to get shredded and lose a lot of weight through workouts and diet. In a span of six months, he dropped more than 60 pounds (27 kilograms) with the help of his personal trainer, Duffy Gaver, and nutritionist, Phil Goglia. For five of those six months, Gaver trained Pratt with four to six sessions a week of workouts.

According to Gaver, Pratt’s workouts consisted of bodybuilding in the first two months, then equal parts bodybuilding and conditioning workouts like treadmill/rower circuit, calisthenics, and weight lifting in the next two. The final month consisted mostly of conditioning workouts like cardio, swimming, biking, and more.^[1]

9 How Jennifer Lopez’s Workout Keeps Her Looking Good

We all know about Jenny from the Block back in the early 2000s. Jennifer Lopez made wearing cargo pants and a tank top look good, and it was all the rage back then. Now JLo is in her 50s, and she made being in your 50s look like you’re in your early 30s!

How does the singer/actress keep her youthful looks (and abs) at age 53? JLo’s secret to looking good is a healthy diet, a workout regime, and being confident in your body no matter the size—as long as it’s healthy.

JLo’s diet consists of all organic, non-processed ingredients. She eats whole foods like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, and sweet potatoes. When it comes to vegetables, she eats leafy greens, but she avoids corn and carrots. She also adds protein to her diet with egg whites, white meat, and even grass-fed beef. Protein is what aids her in her workout and helps her build her muscles.

JLo’s workout consists of weight lifting, at-home workouts, and dancing. Her personal trainers, David Kirsch and Dodd Romero, train with her for roughly an hour at the gym around four to five times a week. Romero revealed that JLo focuses on different parts of her body with each session to balance her muscle development. When the gym is closed, JLo doesn’t just stop her workouts. She’ll continue her workout at home with her own routine. Her home routine is a run around her garden, kettlebell swings, and push-ups.^[2]

8 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Rock Solid Weekly Workout Routine

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a person who inspires people of all ages, genders, and sizes to strive for a healthier lifestyle. Whether it’s his inspirational quotes or his rock-solid workout, he is the man everyone looks up to when wanting to work out.

That’s why we’re lucky that The Rock shared his weekly workout routine so that even you can strive for a healthier lifestyle. He often starts his day by getting up early and going for a run for about 30-50 minutes, either outside or on a treadmill. Then he’ll enter the gym and start his workout for the day, focusing on one body part each day of the week.

On day one, he focuses on his legs, and on day two, his back. Day three involves his shoulders, and on day four, he focuses on his arms and abs. The next two days include workouts for his legs again and then his chest. On day seven, he rests and focuses on eating huge meals to help in his muscle build-up. He eats about five meals a day which consist of a lot of protein and other healthy foods.

As insane as his daily workout sounds, The Rock couldn’t have done it without drive and motivation to achieve what he wants.^[3]

7 Gigi Hadid’s Model Workout

Gigi Hadid is well known for being a television personality and her runway walks on Victoria’s Secret shows. As a fashion model, Hadid needs to maintain a balanced workout and diet in order to keep her model body.

Hadid does boxing, volleyball, and weight training as her methods of working out. Even while traveling, she keeps up with her daily workout. She sometimes changes to other cardio workouts just to shake things up a bit. Her routine throughout the week consists of boxing or alternative cardio on Mondays, full-body training on Tuesdays, boxing again on Wednesdays, another full-body training on Thursdays, boxing again on Fridays, and finally, she rests on the weekends.

Hadid matches her workout regimen with a diet consisting of protein with as little carbs as possible. She also indulges herself with burgers since it’s well-known that Hadid absolutely loves them. Along with her diet, she also takes supplements like multivitamins and protein shakes to help with her health and muscle build-up.^[4]

6 Zac Efron’s Workout for Baywatch

If you watched the original Baywatch, then you know that the show consists of chisel-bodied characters going on beach rescues. So when Zac Efron was cast for the newest rendition of Baywatch, he knew he needed to work to achieve the body the show is known for.

That’s where Los Angeles-based personal trainer Patrick Murphy comes in. Murphy is no stranger to Hollywood actors seeking his help in training for a role, and he’s the architect behind Efron’s intense training for Baywatch. In order for Efron to achieve the body he needs, Murphy needed to construct a training regime that needed to change over time.
The workout is basically a full body 10 to 20 drop set routine. The first thing in the routine is the dynamic warmup with wall press, standing leg swings, alternating reverse lung with trunk rotation, and hip stretch with a torso twist. Then it’s time to move on to the drop-set exercises:

• Exercise one consists of 10 dumbbell lateral raises and 20 Dumbbell lateral raises.
• Exercise two consists of 10 to 20 kettlebell squats.
• Exercise three consists of 10 to 20 floor dumbbell chest presses.
• Exercise four consists of 10 to 20 dumbbell stiff-leg deadlifts.
• Exercise five consists of 10 to 20 incline bench dumbbell rows.
• The last exercise consists of 10 to 20 cable ab crunches from the knees.

Efron’s workout set changed over time, starting with two rounds per set until he ended up doing four rounds per set.^[5]

5 Henry Cavill’s Training Regimen for The Witcher

Henry Cavill is no stranger to the gym. He’s been working out since he was a teenager, and he knows what it takes to get results. But when it came time for him to prepare for his role as Geralt in The Witcher, he knew he was going to need a workout regimen that would push him past his limits.

With the help of his strength coach, Dave Rienzi, Cavill had the workout kit to stay in shape for his role in The Witcher. The routine starts with Cavill doing cardio in the morning. Then he focuses on certain parts of his body.

For his glutes and hamstrings, he does Romanian deadlifts using a resistance band and hyperextensions on a glute ham machine. For his obliques, oblique static holds. For his shoulders, 3-way shoulder raises. Finally, for his biceps, he does dumbbell curls.^[6]

4 Ryan Reynold’s Workout for the Perfect Deadpool Body

Ryan Reynolds is known as one of the most popular celebrities in Hollywood, and his body is the reason why. His workout routine is what helped him achieve his perfect body for Deadpool, and it’s also what helps him stay in shape when he’s not busy filming a movie.

His workout routine was aided by Don Saladino. an NYC trainer.

Reynold’s workout to prepare for his role as The Merc with the Mouth consists of doing warmups first before every workout, then he does five rounds each of kettlebell swings, front squats, barrel bench presses, general pull-ups, and farmer’s walks. He always rested for 30 seconds between rounds before moving on to the next.^[7]

3 Alessandra Ambrosio’s Diet and Workout for Victoria’s Secret Show

Victoria’s Secret is known for bringing out the best in its models. But it takes more than just a good makeup artist to look that good. Alessandra Ambrosio is a successful Victoria’s Secret model, and she knows how to stay fit. She works out every day, and her diet plan is pretty strict.

Ambrosio does around an hour to an hour and a half of daily workouts. She admitted that it might be longer if she’s with friends or family. Her fitness trainer, Tracy Anderson, helps her prepare for weeks before a Victoria’s Secret Show by doing a full-body workout.

Her diet depends on whether or not she’s home or traveling. From eggs and avocado on toast for breakfast to Brazilian bbq and sushi for dinner.^[8]

2 Don Wildman’s Insane Workout

Don Wildman possibly has the most intense workout ever, and he’s a 75-year-old man! His “The Circuit” workout consists of sixteen groups of exercises that are done with no rest in between. This is done three times a week because I can’t even imagine doing it six times a week.

Let’s quickly go through all sixteen groups of The Circuit:

Group 1: seated dumbbell shoulder presses and seated dumbbell curls
Group 2: seated machine shoulder presses, propped external rotator exercises, seated leg raises, and side crunches
Group 3: pec deck flys with simultaneous crunches and lying rotator cuff rotations
Group 4: seated machine bench presses and seated leg raises
Group 5: seated lever rows and sit-ups
Group 6: lat pulldowns and cable crunches
Group 7: leg presses
Group 8: barbell upright rows and alternating sit-ups on an exercise ball
Group 9: ab machine side crunches and machine back extensions
Group 10: machine squats and calf raises
Group 11: lying leg curls and neck extensions
Group 12: leg extensions
Group 13: machine bicep curls and regular and alternating sit-ups
Group 14: seated dips and seated scissors
Group 15: lateral raises, side neck extensions, and leg lift with splits
Group 16: front neck flexions and machine crunches ^[9]

1 Jason Momoa’s AR-7 Workout

Jason Momoa is a celebrity in the entertainment industry known for his roles as Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones and Aquaman in DC’s Aquaman film series. He is also a fitness fanatic, known to follow a workout routine that keeps him at the top of his game. This is where the AR-7 Program comes in.

The Accelerated Results 7 (AR-7) Training Program was created by personal trainer Eric Laciste. This unique workout program was designed to get anyone in tip-top shape fast, so this was exactly what Momoa needed to achieve his body for the role. Momoa’s AR-7 workout focuses on working out specific parts of his body for each day of the five days of the week.

On Monday, he’ll work on his chest through flat and inclined bench presses, inclined bench dumbbell presses, plate push-ups, and chest dips. On Tuesday, he’ll work on his back through medium grip and close grip pull-ups, reverse grip chin-ups, seated pulley row, and reverse grip BB bent-over row. On Wednesday, he’ll work on his legs through bodyweight and bodyweight jump squats, stiff-legged deadlifts, and barbell back squats.

On Thursday, he’ll work on his core through medicine ball slams, kettlebell swings, burpees, leapfrogs, and 40-yard sprints. On Friday, he’ll work on his arms and shoulders through barbell military press, bodyweight dip, diamond push-ups, dumbbell curls, and dumbbell triceps extensions.^[10]